The Cookbook Experiment: Aunt Lauretta's Lasagna

Sunday's cookbook experiment is courtesy of a lovely lady named Martha Lee Cash! I have known her and her husband and family for almost forever. Don and Martha Lee are two more heroes of faith that I greatly admire.  I grew up with a few of their children and love them all very much.

This recipe is from her Aunt Lauretta.  I had to try it because....oh my, here comes the confession! My last name (married) is Maurizi. That is Italian! My husband was raised Italian around all these amazing women who could cook. Conquering good Italian cooking is a passion of mine. What I would give to spend time in the kitchen with Nick Stellino! But, anyway, here is the confession: the first time I ever made lasagna was almost six years ago. It was a total flop! So bad a flop I never attempted it again. This cookbook experiment and a recipe coming from Martha Lee, I decided to try it again. I am glad that I did! It was wonderful and everyone loved it.

Aunt Lauretta's Lasagna

(2 1/2) cans Italian tomatoes
(4) 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
(2) teaspoons salt
(3) teaspoons dried oregano
(1/4) teaspoon onion salt
(2) cups minced onions
(1) cup Parmesan cheese
(2) cloves garlic, minced
(1/2) cup olive oil
(2) pounds ground chuck or round steak , ground
(1) pound lasagna noodles
(1 1/2) pounds Ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
(3) packages Mozzarella cheese

In large saucepan, combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, and oregano.  Simmer uncovered. In skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned. Add ground meat. When meat loses color, add to tomato sauce.  Simmer 2 1/2 hours. Cook lasagna as directed on box. Drain. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In bottom of two baking dishes, place few spoonfuls of sauce. Top with crisscross layers of noodles, then half of ricotta; top with 1/3 of mozzarella and 1/2 the Parmesan. Repeat again ending with sauce. Top with mozzarella and bake until bubbly.

My take-a-ways for this recipe:

• I knew I would not use the 1/2 can of leftover Italian tomatoes so I used all of the 3 cans.  
• I did not know what size the cans of Italian tomatoes were to be so I used the regular 14.5 ounce ones.
• I really like a hint of basil in my tomato sauce so I added this with the oregano.
• Please do not buy cheap Parmesan. There was an article recently about all the "wood pulp" some manufacturer's use to keep the grated cheese from sticking together. I used Murray's Parmesan Reggiano and grated it myself while the sauce was bubbling away.
• I should have realized that the lasagna noodles were going to be VERY HOT and VERY STICKY! I used a cookie sheet sprayed with a little cooking spray to spread out my lasagna noodles so they would not be stuck together. I used a set of tongs but still burned the mess out of my fingers! I'm sorry Aunt Lauretta but next time I am going to use no-boil noodles! Does that make me "wimpy Italian"? I hope not.
• I was not very good at splitting up the ricotta cheese on the fly. I should have separated it before I needed it. And truthfully, I think I would have liked a lot more on it than I put on it.
• There was no size for the Mozzarella cheese packages. I thought I would be okay with one large bag that they have at Kroger but sadly I was wrong. I needed at least two of them.
• This recipe was AMAZING! Thanks to Aunt Lauretta and Martha Lee I am no longer afraid to make lasagna. I can only improved from here!

The Cookbook Experiment: Dinner - Hamburger Rice Skillet

My daughter and I are cooking every recipe from this cookbook over time:

This is the cookbook from 2006 that our church, Princess Anne Plaza Baptist put together.

Tonight's recipe is from the most incredible Sharon Giambrone.  It is called Hamburger Rice Skillet.  My favorite part about this recipe is that I have all the ingredients in my fridge/cupboard.  Talk about making it easy on me as I don't like to leave the house very much anymore!! Thanks Sharon!! I love you!

Hamburger Rice Skillet
(1) pound ground beef
(1) med. onion in rings
(1) med. green pepper, chopped
(1) clove garlic, minced
(1) cup of medium grain rice
(1)16 ounce tomatoes, diced
(1) 8 ounce tomato sauce
(1) tsp. Worcestershire sauce
(1/2) teaspoon of basil

In skillet, cook beef, onion, pepper and garlic until brown, drain.
Add rice, cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, basil, 1 1/2 cup of water, 1 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, simmer 25-30 minutes until rice is tender. Stir occasionally.

I have to tell you, this is on the stove bubbling away right now and it smells like a little piece of heaven! Always trust an Italian cook!

I can't wait to put this plate in front of my Breezy!

Chicken Marsala done the Crystal Chef way

The challenge was actually to use the Parrano cheese BEFORE eating it all. Challenge accepted. I had not made my Chicken Marsala in years so I decided this would be the perfect time to roll that recipe back out. It is one that I have not added to the list  and it needs to be here for my children so they know how to make it when I am gone.

My ingredient list started with the following items from the grocery store:

1 wedge of Parrano Originale Cheese

1 package of Parma Prosciutto Di Parma

1 package of thinly sliced chicken breasts (tonight I am only using 3)

8 ounces of sliced button mushrooms

1 good bottle of Marsala wine

If you can't find Parrano in your area, you can go here:

Parrano Cheese

It starts with my homemade seasoning mix. In a teacup I add the following:
1 - tablespoon of black pepper
1 - tablespoon of onion powder
2 - tablespoons of salt
2 - tablespoons of garlic powder
1 - tablespoon of dried leaf oregano
1 - tablespoon of cayenne
1/8 - tablespoon of chipotle chili powder
Mix well.

Add one heaping teaspoon to 1/2 cup of flour and combine well.

Heat approximately 3 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high in a skillet until very hot but not smoking and then add 3 tablespoons of butter.

Dredge three pieces of thin sliced boneless chicken breast in the flour mixture and place in the hot skillet (be careful as it may pop). Cook approximately three minutes each side until golden brown on  then transfer to a plate.

Add three more tablespoons of butter to the pan and then add the 8 ounces of chopped mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are golden brown and have given off their liquid.

Add 1 cup of a GOOD Marsala wine. Trust me on this one. If you use a cheap one, it will taste cheap. The one I used was imported straight from Italy...hey, I'm Italian! What did you expect? Bring the Marsala wine to a boil, scraping the bottom to remove any browned yummy bits. Let this continue until it has reduced by half.

Next add 1 cup of chicken stock. Cook for about three more minutes until the sauce starts to thicken up. Lower your heat and settle your chicken back into the skillet. Spoon a bit of the sauce of the chicken. Next is the FUN part. Turn down the heat to medium low.

Open your package of Citterio prosciutto di parma and lay about one half of a slice on top of each piece of chicken. Next slice your Parrano Originale cheese and put two generous pieces on top of each piece of chicken.

Add two more tablespoons of butter to the sauce. As it melts, swirl it around in the sauce. Continue to spoon some of the sauce around and on top of your chicken. This will help melt the cheese and enhance the flavor of the the prosciutto.

Now, I know, I should have made a side of pasta or some smashed potatoes to go with it. I chose asparagus because it cooked itself in the oven. My meat and potato man was not very amused with me but I had not made this in so long I wanted to focus on getting it right. He survived. I put the leftover sauce in a container in the fridge. It was so good I could seriously just drink it. I might just do that tomorrow for lunch....with the leftover Parrono cheese.

"Italian" Meatloaf

I struggle lately with using ground beef. I am becoming more and more vegetarian as I get older. I am not exactly sure why, it's certainly not because of the animal factor. My body just seems to be rejecting the majority of it. BUT despite the fact that I am not all that interested anymore, I still have a house-full of people who DO eat meat.

Tonight I decided to make a meatloaf but I did not feel like making it my usual way with a combination of ground chuck (poor chuck!) and hot Italian sausage, mostly because the sausage was still frozen! Inspiration struck, however and I went at it with a couple of my other favorite Italian items.

It started with about a pound to a pound and a half of ground chuck. Next I added two packages of dry Italian dressing.

And then, to me, the most important ingredient is the Parmesan cheese. You can do it if you want, BUT I highly urge you not to...use that awful green container of shredded "Parmesan" cheese that is shelf stable. Yuck! Don't do it! For just about a dollar more you can get REAL GOOD Parmesan. And here is my favorite:

This is Sartori grated Parmesan cheese. You can get it at the specialty cheese section at your local grocery store.  I highly recommend it. It is a mellow yet perfectly wonderful Parmesan. Here is the web link to their website:

Sartori Cheese

I used approximately 1/3 cup of the Parmesan. I added the cheese and the dry Italian dressing into the raw ground chuck (poor chuck!). Then I formed them into small meatloaves because I wanted it to cook faster than a large hunk of meat would.

Make sure to knead the spices and the cheese into the ground chuck very well. I put them in on of my favorite Pyrex blue 9" x 13" pans and put in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. Bake until no longer red in the middle, approximately 35 minutes (times will vary depending on your loaf size and oven! Check the middle before stopping the oven for doneness)

About 20 minutes after the meat was in the oven, I put a new bag of Schwan's bow-tie pasta and veggies in to heat and serve with the meatloaf. I probably should have made more but I just really did not think there was anything else I could add except, maybe, for bread.

When the meatloaf was finished, it was so moist and tender. I believe it was the Parmesan that kept it so amazing.

This is what it looked like....not a whole lot on the plate but the family ate it up! And the asked for seconds. It turned out wonderful and I even ate it. I'm telling you honestly, my secret weapon in a lot of my food is that wonderful Sartori cheese.

Chicken Caprese Pasta

One of my favorite Italian dishes is a caprese salad. I decided it was time to take that salad concept and turn it into a healthy and yummy dinner dish. Here is how I did it.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a glass baking dish put some boneless chicken (I used sliced chicken tenders). I used approximately one pound of chicken tenders.  To this I added 7 cloves of smashed and chopped garlic. Next I squeezed some fresh basil paste onto the chicken.  It is your preference how much as to how much basil you like. I used almost a tablespoon.  I sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top as well and put it into the oven to bake.

 This is the basil I used. It was in the fresh produce department and is a wonderful tool.

While the chicken is baking, use a small saucepan and melt two tablespoons of butter (not margarine) and add one medium yellow onion, sliced and chopped.  To the onion and butter add two medium zucchinis chopped small.  Sprinkle with a little bit of salt to sweat out the zucchini.  Saute until soft.

Prepare one pound bag of macaroni, boiled al-dente in salted water. Assemble the pasta like this:

Place your finished chicken tenders that have been chopped in the bottom of your bowl.
Next add the sauteed zucchini and onions.

To the top of this, add your drained hot pasta.

On top of the hot pasta, squeeze approximately three tablespoons of the basil. More or less to your taste preference for basil.  After you add the basil, add the following:

(1) pound of FRESH mozzarella cheese, chunked
Murray's Cheese

(6) medium size Roma tomatoes, chunked

Give this all a really good stir so that the basil gets blended in well, the chicken and tomatoes and cheese are distributed evenly as possible.

This dish was so fresh and flavor-able I almost slapped MYSELF! I hope you try it. My whole family enjoyed it!

Scraps from the Crack sticks!

I really enjoy making the Crack sticks.  The Shabbychicks are some AWESOME LADIES! But after making the Crack sticks I was leftover with the crusts from all that white bread.  The first time I made them, I fed the leftover crusts to the ducks in the neighborhood.  However, the ducks have disappeared! I have no idea where they went! It's not winter! I wonder if they flew North for some cooler weather?

The frugal mommy in me would not allow me to just throw them away again.  As I was making Italian pasta for dinner, I decided to turn those crusts into croutons.

I took all of these lovely crusties and cut them into squares and threw them back in the bowl. Next went in:

(1) tablespoon onion powder

(1) tablespoon garlic powder

(1) tablespoon dried basil

(1) stick of butter

Throw in the spices and mix around with the bread squares.  Melt the butter and pour over the squares and mix well.  Spread on a sheet pan and bake in the oven at 350 until dry.  Watch carefully so it does not burn.

I added these to the top of my pasta dish with a little Parmesan.  It was really yummy! And no wasted bread!!

THE GREAT DEBATE: flat dumplings versus biscuit dumplings

Which do you prefer snake or bison meat?  That lovely sentence was typed by my son when I turned my back to stir the dumplings.  My original sentence said "Which do you prefer, flat dumplings or biscuit ones?"

I am making chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight but it is not the way my mother taught me.  It is the way my husband likes.  He has always had his dumplings from Anne's Old Fashioned dumplings.

I have never used this before I got together with my sexy Italian husband.  I am still on a learning curve using them.  My mother always used Bisquick and made biscuit dumplings.  They are my favorite, especially when I put a stick of real butter in right before I start dropping the biscuit dough because it creates a line of butter through the dumpling.  My middle child does not like the biscuit kind but she does like the flat ones.

So.....I just boiled my boneless chicken thighs (I like using them because they have more flavor than the white meat in my opinion) and then pulled them out to shred them.  I added the dumplings plus (I know my step-kids will shake their heads at this next statement LOL) I added a can of Campbell's  Cream of Chicken Soup.  I added the chicken back and now it is boiling. Soon the dumplings will be done and we will eat.

I think I may make biscuit ones soon.....