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food, again, but I think I'm done with this topic now.
When Carrie made enchiladas for us, there was a batch of leftover chicken and a batch of sauce leftover, so we put those in the freezer. The only corn tortillas that we could find were in a pack of 100, so we had a few of those leftover, too. Last week, I went into the kitchen to make something for dinner. Feeling uninspired, I decided to make quickie quesadillas. Suddenly, I was frying up my own tortilla chips, and then defrosting the chicken, rolling it up in a flour tortilla and making chicken chimichangas covered in a cheese sauce. It was sooo good. I felt a tad guilty for using the chicken for that instead of with the sauce for another batch of enchiladas, though, but then I found out that Carrie put squash in a lasagna* and so I have to conclude that all is fair in love and food. ;) Seriously, it was fantastic. I guess I'll have to make another batch of chicken to make it all work out evenly. The chips were really good, too, so I guess I'll have to do it again to make a dent in that monster stack of tortillas in the fridge.
*I am not bothered by this, but I did find it oddly amusing. I would have picked carrots and celery if I were going to add veggies.
Since I mentioned last night that I would post this.. for no particular reason, really.. then I'll do it while I'm thinking of it and Babyo is asleep. No, this is not going to win any awards for authenticity but to be honest with you, it's damned good and I would rather have tasty food than authentic food, so I never worry about it.
K's Lasagna
1 pound ground beef
1 jar pasta sauce. traditionally, Ragu, but it doesn't matter. I've gotten cheap in my old age and have been buying the canned stuff lately. Or, make your own, I guess.
lots of shredded (or sliced, I guess) mozarella cheese
1 box lasagna noodles
cottage cheese
1 can mushrooms ("optional")
Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, put beef in a saucepan and cover with the sauce. Add mushrooms, unless you are cooking for someone who won't eat mushrooms. ;) Cook until meat is done--keep it covered unless you like having pasta sauce splashed all over your stove, walls, floor and shirt. Don't brown the meat first because that would be so, so wrong.
When everything is cooked, it's time to start assembling. In a 9x13 pan, put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom, along with a bit of cottage cheese. That's just to keep it from sticking so I don't go too crazy on the bottom layer. Put a layer of noodles in the pan. If you're lucky, they'll fit perfectly, but otherwise, just piece it together. After this, layer meat - cottage cheese - mozarella cheese and repeat until you fill the pan or run out of ingredients. Each layer (should be pretty thin, but you can go wild on the top with the cheese. I let M assemble it once and we had a cheese lasagna with a touch of sauce and noodles, and while it was GOOD, it is probably not what you're looking for in a lasagna. Bake in a 350 degree oven until done. (Boyo hates it when I say that.) It'll take somewhere around half an hour, but it will look melty and bubbly when it's done.
I make it like this because this is the way my mommy told me to do it the first time I called her to ask, after I got married. Recently, we had a discussion about how to make it and she started talking about the egg that you put in with the cottage cheese. She did not mention an egg to me when she told me how to make this, so I never add it. Also, the cottage cheese is not gross. You can't tell that it's in there, except it makes it much less dry, and gives it a better texture, than it would be if you left it out. I suppose than an actual Italian recipe would use ricotta instead but this is Kentucky, y'all, and we don't hold truck with no foreign food. God, I hate it when people do that so I guess I should cut it out myself, too, huh?
Enjoy! If you don't run out of time because of a screaming baby, serve with garlic bread, baked with a bit of cheese if you're fancy, and a salad. If you run out of time, no one will say anything about the lack of side dishes because they're really not that necessary, and if they do, then make them do the dishes for being so ungrateful. :)
*I am not bothered by this, but I did find it oddly amusing. I would have picked carrots and celery if I were going to add veggies.
Since I mentioned last night that I would post this.. for no particular reason, really.. then I'll do it while I'm thinking of it and Babyo is asleep. No, this is not going to win any awards for authenticity but to be honest with you, it's damned good and I would rather have tasty food than authentic food, so I never worry about it.
K's Lasagna
1 pound ground beef
1 jar pasta sauce. traditionally, Ragu, but it doesn't matter. I've gotten cheap in my old age and have been buying the canned stuff lately. Or, make your own, I guess.
lots of shredded (or sliced, I guess) mozarella cheese
1 box lasagna noodles
cottage cheese
1 can mushrooms ("optional")
Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, put beef in a saucepan and cover with the sauce. Add mushrooms, unless you are cooking for someone who won't eat mushrooms. ;) Cook until meat is done--keep it covered unless you like having pasta sauce splashed all over your stove, walls, floor and shirt. Don't brown the meat first because that would be so, so wrong.
When everything is cooked, it's time to start assembling. In a 9x13 pan, put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom, along with a bit of cottage cheese. That's just to keep it from sticking so I don't go too crazy on the bottom layer. Put a layer of noodles in the pan. If you're lucky, they'll fit perfectly, but otherwise, just piece it together. After this, layer meat - cottage cheese - mozarella cheese and repeat until you fill the pan or run out of ingredients. Each layer (should be pretty thin, but you can go wild on the top with the cheese. I let M assemble it once and we had a cheese lasagna with a touch of sauce and noodles, and while it was GOOD, it is probably not what you're looking for in a lasagna. Bake in a 350 degree oven until done. (Boyo hates it when I say that.) It'll take somewhere around half an hour, but it will look melty and bubbly when it's done.
I make it like this because this is the way my mommy told me to do it the first time I called her to ask, after I got married. Recently, we had a discussion about how to make it and she started talking about the egg that you put in with the cottage cheese. She did not mention an egg to me when she told me how to make this, so I never add it. Also, the cottage cheese is not gross. You can't tell that it's in there, except it makes it much less dry, and gives it a better texture, than it would be if you left it out. I suppose than an actual Italian recipe would use ricotta instead but this is Kentucky, y'all, and we don't hold truck with no foreign food. God, I hate it when people do that so I guess I should cut it out myself, too, huh?
Enjoy! If you don't run out of time because of a screaming baby, serve with garlic bread, baked with a bit of cheese if you're fancy, and a salad. If you run out of time, no one will say anything about the lack of side dishes because they're really not that necessary, and if they do, then make them do the dishes for being so ungrateful. :)
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You forgot to add the beans to your recipe! How can you have lasagna without beans? Mwhahahahaa! Seriously, your stuff was way better than what I made. I think I had too much beef in mine. I like ground beef, but am not a fan of it in large quantities (I hate hamburgers)