Sunday, February 12, 2012
lemon spinach lasagna
What you need:
Barilla no boil lasagna sheets… no boil is important!!!
A couple fresh tomatoes
1-2 bags of spinach…you can choose to use a lot or a little.
1 lemon, very thinly sliced
Grated mozzarella
Sauce:
3 cups of veggie broth (or chicken)
3 cups of low fat milk
1/4 cup of flour
1 cup of grated Parmesan
1 cup of grated Asiago
2 teaspoons of black pepper
A generous sprinkle of nutmeg
A small sprinkle of crushed red pepper (The spice will grow in the oven…don’t put too much!)
1 teaspoon of salt (You can adjust this, too – the Parmesan is salty, so you won’t need much.)
You won’t use all this sauce, but better to make too much than to not have enough.
Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.
White Sauce:
In a sauce pot, heat on med/low till everything is melted. Whisk till flour is blended.
Lemon topper:
Slice the lemons in to very thin rounds. In a sauce pan, barely cover them with water and bring them to a boil. Let them soften for about 30 minutes while you prep the lasagna. Remove once soft and drain on a paper towel. This is an important step – it seems semi annoying and complicated but I promise it’s worth it.
Building the lasagna:
Spray some Pam or non stick spray in to the pan so your pasta won’t stick. Spread a small layer of sauce, layer 3 sheets across the pan. Sprinkle a big layer of spinach and thin sliced tomatoes, add another layer of sauce. Add three more pasta sheets across the pan. Add a sprinkle of mozzarella. Add more sauce. Add more spinach. I think you get the point… Sprinkle some mozzarella over the top. Add tomato and lemon slices. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.
Asian Steamed Buns
ingredients:
For Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain almond milk or soy milk, at room temperature
For Filling:
1/2 pound trimmed kale or mustard greens
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 large shallots, minced
1/2 pound bok choy, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped basil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet chile sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Sriracha sauce, for serving (optional)
directions:
In a large bowl, combine the warm water, honey and yeast and let stand until foamy, 10 minutes. In another bowl, whisk the flour with the salt. Stir the almond milk into the yeast mixture, then stir in the flour. Knead the dough gently until smooth but still slightly sticky; transfer to an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, 50 minutes.
In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the greens until just tender, 1 minute. Drain well, let cool and squeeze dry, then coarsely chop.
In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the mushrooms, cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and shallots and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the bok choy, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the greens, chives, basil, soy sauce and sweet chile sauce and remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper and let cool.
Cut out sixteen 3 1/2-inch parchment paper squares. Punch down the dough and transfer to a floured work surface. Form it into a rectangle and cut into 16 equal pieces. Using floured hands, roll each piece of dough into a ball. Sprinkle the balls with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.
Working with 4 pieces of dough at a time, roll the balls out to 4-inch rounds, dusting with flour as needed. Fill each round with about 3 tablespoons of the filling. Bring the edge of the round up and over the filling and pinch the seam closed in pleats. Set the buns seam side down on the parchment squares and transfer to a baking sheet in the refrigerator until all of the buns are filled.
In a deep skillet or wok, bring 1 1/2 inches of water to a boil. Set a bamboo or metal steamer over the water. Arrange 4 buns parchment side down in the steamer. Cover and steam over moderately high heat until the dough is tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Steam the remaining buns. Serve plain or with Sriracha.
Carrot Cake Pancakes
Makes 12-4 inch pancakes
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup yogurt (I used low fat plain)
2 tbsp applesauce (plain or cinnamon)
1 cup grated carrots (I shred them on the thinnest side of a box grater.
1/2 cup raisins, plumped
Topping
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Add the raisins to a small pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and boil for about 5 minutes, until the raisins have plumped and almost doubled in size. Drain from the water and add the raisins to a blender. Let them sit and cool while you make the rest of the pancakes.
Sift the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add the yogurt, eggs, and applesauce to the cooled (they might still be a bit warm) raisins and blend until the raisins are in small pieces.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the carrots. Mix only until incorporated, don’t over mix.
Heat a skillet to low/medium heat.
*A secret to perfectly cooked pancakes is to cook them over a lower heat. If you want burnt (AKA ‘seared’) pancakes, then cook them on high. But that’s usually what you’re trying to avoid.
You can grease the skillet with butter, oil or non stick spray (I chose spray). With a spoon or cookie scoop, drop a dollop of batter into the preheated skillet. Cook the pancakes on the first side for about 3-4 minutes, until the top starts to bubble a tiny bit and the edges start to cook. Flip the pancakes and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
While the pancakes are cooking, heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Watch it closely. Don’t stir it, just swirl it in the pan occasionally. It will start to form little flakes and chunks and darken in color. Once it’s reached the brownness you like, remove from the heat and set it aside until your pancakes are done.
Stack the pancakes on your plate. Drench the stack in brown butter, sprinkle with pecans. DIG IN!
Red Chile Seafood Chowder
24 Littleneck clams, scrubbed and rinsed or 2 10-ounce cans of chopped clams
4 slices uncooked bacon, chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes, preferably fire roasted
1 canned chipotle chile
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 cups fish, vegetable or chicken broth
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnishing
1 cup clam juice
1 pound grouper, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound small shrimp (51-60 count), peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon lime juice
Oyster crackers and/or tortilla chips for serving
Lime wedges for serving
Method:
In a dry skillet heated on high, toast the guajillo chiles on each side for about 10 seconds or until they start to puff. Fill the skillet with enough water to cover chiles. Leave the heat on until water begins to boil and then turn off the heat and let chiles soak until soft, about 30 minutes. Once hydrated, discard the soaking water and rinse the chiles. Place into a blender.
Meanwhile, if using fresh clams, fill a pot large enough to hold the clams with 2 cups of water. When it comes to a boil, add the clams, cover the pot and let them steam until the shells open, about 3-5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the clams from the pot (throw out any clams that don’t open), discarding the cooking liquid. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the shells, rinse well to remove any additional grit and chop. If using canned chopped clams, drain and rinse well to remove any shell pieces and grit.
In a large pot, cook the bacon on medium heat until the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon and drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Leave 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat in the pot (reserve the rest for another use) and add the onions to the pot. Cook on medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. Place cooked onions and garlic into the blender. Add to the blender the canned tomatoes with their juice, the chipotle chile, the cumin, oregano, allspice, ginger and cayenne. Blend for 3 minutes until it’s extremely smooth.
Place the potatoes in the pot and lightly sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper. Add the broth to the pot, bring to a boil, cover the pot and cook the potatoes until they are firm yet tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat down to low and add to the pot the red chile tomato puree from the blender, cilantro, clam juice and cooked bacon. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper to taste. (Please note that the red chile tomato puree might aggressively bubble and splatter when added to the pot.) Add the grouper to the pot and cook for 5 minutes uncovered. Stir in the chopped clams, shrimp and lime juice and cook for another 5 minutes or until the shrimp is pink. Remove from the heat, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately with lime wedges and oyster crackers.
