Lasagna - Better than it sounds!

Sometimes its better not to know the origins or a recipe of a name. When I checked food trivia for Lasagna, I found that the word lasagna started with the Greek lasanon which means 'chamber pot'! Later the Romans used the word to humorously refer to a 'cooking pot'. Only later did the Italians use the word lasagne (plural of lasagna) to mean a dish cooked in such a pot. The dish cooked in that pot was flat sheets of pasta layered with minced meat and tomatoes topped with grated cheese. Soon, the word lasagna was applied to the pasta itself.
I'm not sure I'll be able to think of lasagna as quite so appetizing again! But I have a recipe that can help dissolve those unappealing origins of the lasanon pot. This recipe uses the no-cook lasagna noodles, so its a quick and easy prep. It also includes spinach, a good way to get that nutritious veggie on the table. I doubled the ground beef and reduced the onion in this version which was originally from Taste of Home. You can make your own spaghetti sauce, or use a combination of jarred sauce and water/tomato sauce/spaghetti seasoning. Just make sure you have equal the amount of liquid (about 6 1/2 cups).

Beef and Spinach Lasagna

2 pounds ground beef

½ medium onion, chopped

2 jars (26 ounces each) meatless spaghetti sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

9 no-cook lasagna noodles

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, garlic, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine the spinach, ricotta and 1 cup mozzarella until combined.

Spread 1 ½ cups meat sauce into a greased 13-in.x9-in.x2in. baking dish. Top with three noodles.  Spread 1 ½ cups sauce to edges of noodles. Top with half of the spinach/cheese mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and mozzarella.

Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 – 15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. 

Happy Birthday Cake

I had a birthday this week - one of those celebrations that is a cause of joy (after all was MY day), and for adults, dread (am I really this old?). Birthday trivia tells me that I'm only 13 in dog years. I spent part of my birthday watching national news as President Obama took his first oath, then followed the next day with the festivities that a Presidential inauguration includes. I'm old enough to remember hearing President Kennedy say in his inauguration address "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country".  So I have no trouble remembering which day the President's inauguration will be.
Birthday cakes are tradition. Possibly from the ancient Greeks who made round cakes to represent the full moon to honor their goddess of the moon, Artemis, and topped them with candles to look as if they were glowing like the moon. I have many special memories of birthdays - and yes, I was a spoiled only child, I still have the pink cake topper and candleholders that graced my birthday cakes as a child. This year I planned my own cake - a cranberry white cake I'd been wanting to try. We shared it as dessert after dinner  with close friends and cousins Marlen & Sharon.

Cranberry Layer Cake

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 pkg. 2-layer-size white cake mix (I like Duncan Hines)

1 cup water

⅓ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1 Tbsp. finely shredded orange peel (I use jarred from the spice shelf)

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:

1.     Rinse cranberries in cold water; drain. Coarsely chop cranberries; set aside. Grease and flour two 8 x 1 ½-inch round cake pans. (I think it helps to also line the pans with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.

2.     In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, the water, oil and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed just until combined. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in cranberries, 1 cup pecans, and the orange peel. Divide between prepared pans, spreading evenly.

3.     Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25–30 minutes for the 9-inch layer or 30-35 minutes for the 8-inch layer or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.

4.     Place one layer on a serving plate. Spread with some of the Cream Cheese Frosting. Top with the second layer. Spread top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Sprinkle with the ¼ cup pecans. Serve immediately or cover loosely and store in the refrigerator. Let chilled cake stand at r4oom temperature about 30 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings.

Cream Cheese Frosting: In a large mixing bowl, beat one 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened; ½ cup butter, softened, and 1 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in enough powdered sugar (4 ¾ – 5 ¼ cups) to reach spreading consistency. Stir in ½ teaspoon finely shredded orange peel. Makes about 3 ¼ cups.

Shrimp Risotto

We really don't always eat beef! And when we choose something else shrimp is a treat. Often we order it when eating out, and occasionally I fix a shrimp recipe at home. When a new 'sample' magazine came in the mail - Cuisine At Home - I was tempted with the Shrimp Risotto recipe. It even used arborio rice, which I had a partial package left from another recipe - a double winner. And this recipe is so good, I'll even buy the special ingredients to make it again. The magazine says four servings, but I increased the amount of shrimp and rice and we've eaten it for at least 8 servings! (as good as it is, we're hoping its almost done).

For the Shrimp Stock:
1 pound shrimp (unsure about measuring the shrimp before or after peeling and removing the tails, I bought 1 1/2 pound, cleaned them and used 1 pound 5 ounces)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I use a concentrate called "Better than Bouillon". 1 teaspoon in 8 ounces of boiling water equals 1 cup of broth)
1 cup chopped leek greens (leeks? not in our small town store! Celery worked well)
9 black peppercorns
4 fresh parsley sprigs (its January in Kansas - I used about a tablespoon of dried parsley)
2 bay leaves
For the Risotto:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped leaks whites (celery again)
1 cup dry arborio rice
3/4 cup dry sherry (I substituted more broth mixture)
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2  tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan

Directions: Peel and devein the shrimp; set shrimp aside. Place shrimp shells and remaining stock ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer stock for 10 minutes. Strain stock through a colander into a bowl; discard solids. Return stock to saucepan over low heat.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add leek whites (celery); sauté 2 minutes, then stir in rice and sauté 2 minutes more. Do not allow rice or leeks to brown.
Deglaze pan with sherry (broth), stirring until liquid evaporates. Add 1/2 cup of warm stock; stir until absorbed. Continue adding stock 1/2 cup at a time until all stock is used and rice is tender, 20 - 25 minutes.

Stir in peas and shrimp; cook until shrimp are pink and firm, about 5 minutes. Season risotto with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg.
Off heat, add 2 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with Parmesan.

The reheated leftover are just as good as the first time served! 

Red Velvet Cake

The name - Red Velvet - sounds like a mystery novel, or a steamy romance story! Well, this is a cake - but one with many stories about it. Here are a few I've found with my Internet research....

This creamy red decadent cake is usually thought of as a Southern speciality, but one theory is that the recipe was first baked in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. This story, around 1930, involves a woman who loved the cake so much she asked for the recipe, and after receiving it, she also received her hotel bill with an additional charge of $350 for the cake recipe! (Does this remind you of the Neiman Marcus $1000 Cookie recipe story?) 

The Southern origins of the cake are attributed to the love of cocoa, one of the main ingredients. The legend is that the ingredients of vinegar and buttermilk will turn the cocoa into a deeper red color. In all the recipes I've seen, the deep red color comes from an alarming amount of red food coloring. Thus another story develops, that of a spice and food coloring salesman in the depression who developed a recipe using a whole bottle of red food coloring to make the deepest red batter possible, and did very well with advertising his products in living color. Another story tells of bakers who during World War II could not get the red food color because of food rations, and used boiled red beets instead of food coloring for their secret recipes. This cake was even part of the story of the 1989 film Steel Magnolias - remember the armadillo-shaped red velvet cake served as the groom's cake? 

Whatever the stories are, this cake that may have first been considered a rich man's cake because of the once-expensive ingredients, is very affordable for us common folk now. My favorite recipe includes a Duncan Hines "Moist Deluxe Red Velvet Cake Mix" that can be whipped up quickly without staining your fingers and counters with all that food coloring! 

Red Velvet Poke Cake

Ingredients:

1 box Red Velvet cake mix

ingredients needed to make cake (eggs, oil & water)

1 (3.4 oz) box instant cheesecake-flavored pudding

2 cups milk

frozen whipped topping, thawed (1/2 - 3/4 tub)

10 Oreo cookies, crushed (optional)

red sugar sprinkles (optional)

Directions: Prepare cake mix according to package directions for a 9x13" cake. When cake is baked, remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then, with a wooden spoon handle, a spatula handle, or other utensil, begin poking holes in the warm cake.  

Make sure the holes are deep and large enough for pudding to get all the way to the bottom of the cake. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together pudding mix with milk (the original recipes call for 2 pudding mixes and 4 cups milk. I think 1 mix + 2 cups milk is enough). Pour the pudding over the cake, pouring right into the holes as much as possible. Spread it all out using the back of the spoon, gently pushing pudding into the holes. 

Put the cake in the fridge to set and cool, about 2 hours. When the cake is completely cool, spread whipped topping completely over the pudding layer. Top with crushed Oreo cookies and red sugar sprinkles. 

Remember to refrigerate this cake before and after serving. It makes a festive and moist cake. When I served it at a family dinner, many thought the pudding 'tunnels' were strawberries baked into the cake.