A Cooking Baker

The most memorable lasagna I ever had was at this amazing little Italian restaurant in San Francisco with my husband.  We ate outside under a patio heater in the fall, and it was one of the best meals we ever had.  But this recipe makes a pretty delish lasagna, too.  The beloved Cooks Illustrated people have done the trouble-shooting, and come up with yet another winning recipe for a classic.  We've done this for Christmas dinner, and it's great for feeding a crowd.  Give it a try! Lasagna Tomato-Meat Sauce: 1 tbsp. olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup) 6 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced (about 2 tbsp.) 1 pound meatloaf mix or 1/3 pound each ground beef chuck, ground veal, and ground pork (I've used 1/2 lb. ground beef, and half pound sweet Italian sausage) 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper 1/4 c. heavy cream (half & half works, too) 1 can (28 oz.) tomato puree 1 can (28 oz.) petite diced tomatoes, drained Ricott...

One more way to do chicken. Chicken has been done to death, but it's a cheap, healthy option for a meal.  Here's a really simple recipe to dress up boring, boneless skinless chicken breast.  You could make this with chicken tenders, too.  Garlic Chicken 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or chicken tenders) 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tsp. garlic, minced  (more or less, depending on your taste) 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese (freshly grated, not the green can!) 1/2 c. plain bread crumbs (Panko will give them a little more crunch) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  In a skillet, heat the oil and garlic to "release" the flavor of the garlic (be careful not to burn it!).  Add the chicken in 2 batches and slightly brown it in the oil and garlic.  It won't be completely cooked, but this gives it some flavor and coats the chicken with the oil.  You might need to add oil after the first batch of chicken.  In a large Ziploc bag, mix the parm ...

Mmmmmmm... Burgers... Every once in awhile, you just need to indulge in a really good burger, one that doesn't skimp on the good stuff.  Some of our favorites include one with bacon and blue cheese at a local restaurant, and the one of the best ever, the Paddock Burger at the Paddock Club in Elkhart Lake (it has short ribs on it, baby!!). Anyway, we have burgers in the summer rather often - sometimes too often, but it's nice to light the grill when it's chilly out, too.  Last night we tried a recipe from the pile I've been collecting for the past 10 years - we grab a few when we're meal planning, and then either keep to toss based on the family's ratings. The photo doesn't do them justice at ALL, but they were pretty tasty, and we'll be trying them again. English Cheddar Burgers 1 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (4 oz.) - we used Cabot Seriously Sharp 2 tbsp. onion, minced 1 clove garlic, minced 2 tbsp. steak sauce - we used A1 6 basic A1 b...

My kids ate salad last night! They don't usually do that.  Like EVER. I was prepared to offer them wraps instead, but they both said they'd do salads.  I was shocked, and then I promptly made them these tasty salads.  And THEY ATE THEM! This is an easy meal, kind of a "semi-homemade"one - quick and easy, and you can customize it to each person's liking, without too much work. Southwestern Chicken Salad 2 tbsp. olive oil + 1 tbsp. 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1/2 pkg. taco seasoning (your favorite, or make your own) Juice of 1/2 lemon (don't use the bottled stuff, ok?) 1/2 c. Ranch dressing (we used a yogurt-based one, for lower fat) 2 tbsp. salsa (your favorite kind) - maybe a little more Torn lettuce - enough for 1-2 c. per person (I used a bagged mix)   Tortilla chips (your favorite brand) Black beans (optional) 1-2 Roma tomatoes, diced (optional) 1 c. corn (optional) Freshly ground black pepper to tast...

I always keep a jar of pasta sauce in the pantry, for nights I need something fast.  BUT, I love having this sauce on hand - I know what went into it, and it's quite tasty (the kids even like it!).  It's adapted from the friend who got me started with freezer meal swaps.  Give it a try, and adjust it as you go along - depends on the veggies you have on hand, etc.  You could use ground turkey too, if you want to go that route. Hearty Meat Sauce Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Add the following to a roasting pan: 5 lb. ground beef, broken up 2 medium onions, diced 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced 1/2 - 1 c. celery, diced 1/2 - 1 c. carrots, diced (adds some sweetness)  1-2 green bell peppers, diced (add red or yellow, too if you like - whatever you have on hand) 4-8 oz. fresh mushrooms, diced (just add ‘em – cut up small enough, and the kids won't know) Cover with a lid and put it in the over for about 45-60 minutes.  Mix it up and break up any l...

I have a love-hate relationship with The Food Network.....  This was a recipe from "Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller" from 2007 on the Food Network, back when I watched it more.  There were more cooking shows, and fewer weird contests and bake-offs and less Guy Fieri (I just cannot handle the dirty mustache shots on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" - sorry - I like the idea of the show, though).  For me, it's kind of like how MTV used to show videos, and now I don't even think they do, but I'm not exactly tuning in to MTV much these days, so I could be wrong.  Anyway, I digress.  I liked Robin Miller's show, because she would make a couple meals out of similar ingredients or leftovers, so you could make one and prep one and stash it for later in the week.  They were all usually healthy, or at least healthier, too, if I recall.  On the episode that featured these, she had roasted a turkey, and then used leftover meat to make these babies for another...

It's SO easy to mess up baked pasta.  It's even easier to mess up freezer-friendly pasta.  This is another tried and true recipe from my heroes at Cooks Illustrated.  I've had a lot of BAD baked pasta - dry, rubbery, mushy, gooey, etc.  This one tastes great.  A few things to keep in mind:  you can't cook pasta to al dente if you're going to bake it - you'll overcook it, and it will be mushy and gross. Under-cook it a bit. Don't use pre-shredded cheese - it will get rubbery and crusty.  Use the mozarella and cut it up, use cottage cheese, not ricotta,.  Baked Ziti Serves 8 to 10. Published March 1, 2009. From Cook's Illustrated. 1 lb. whole milk cottage cheese or 1 percent cottage cheese 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups) Table salt 1 pound ziti or other short, tubular pasta 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 5 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 5 teaspoons) 1 (28-ounce) can toma...

Do you have a pressure cooker?? Cuz I don't - and this recipe was originally for a pressure cooker.  So.... I just dumped everything into my slow cooker, and it worked.  It just took longer.  If you HAPPEN to have a pressure cooker, and want that recipe, just let me know, and I'll send it your way.  But for the rest of us, this seems to work just fine.  We like these as "slider-sized" sandwiches, on Hawaiian bread rolls - the sweetness of those rolls, with the subtle heat of the meat is a nice thing.  You can throw it on a hoagie roll, or whatever you like, though.  Shredded Flank Steak Sandwiches 1 3/4 lb.d flank steak, trimmed Salt & pepper to taste 2 teaspoons olive oil 4 garlic cloves, pressed 1 cup low-sodium fat-free chicken broth (or beef broth) 1 large onion, chopped 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons hot s...

Any time you can combine bacon and blue cheese, I'm a happy camper.    This is a tasty recipe that can be prepped in advance and frozen, or done for dinner tonight.  If you freeze them, thaw in the fridge before baking.  If you prefer to grill the chops, go for it.  Either way, they're delish! Blue Cheese, Bacon and Chive Stuffed Pork Chops 4-6 boneless pork loin chops, butterflied 8 ounces crumbled blue cheese 6 slices bacon - cooked and crumbled (just use the real stuff, ok?) 3-4 tbsp. chopped fresh chives garlic salt to taste (or garlic powder) ground black pepper to taste chopped fresh parsley for garnish Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a shallow baking dish.  In a small bowl, mix together the blue cheese, bacon and chives. Divide into four (or six, depending on how many chops you're prepping) and pack into a loose ball. Place each one into a pocket of a butterflied pork chop, close, and secure with toothpicks....

We ALL really love this recipe. This is based on a recipe from the good people at Cooks Illustrated - I am grateful to them for getting my kids to happily eat sundried tomatoes and broccoli!  I've also made this in a huge batch and served it family-style for a dinner party (and got to use my giant Pampered Chef Simple Additions square pasta bowl (it's really big), and it was AWESOME).  If people could have licked the bowl clean, they might have - there was NOTHING left. Try this, and love it: Chicken, Broccoli, Penne and Asiago Cheese  Skillet 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares 2 tbsp. vegetable oil (or olive oil - just don't heat that to smoking) 1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup) 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp.) 1/4 tsp. dried oregano 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes 8 oz. ziti or penne (2 /12 cups) 3 c. water 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth 3-4 c. broccoli florets 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, rinsed and chop...

This is the way to go. Before I did a brief post on power cooking - as I had said, it's not really my thing.  Power PREP, however, is definitely my thing. I like to do things in advance whenever I can, and if I find a block of time to do some power prep, I go for it.  Basically, I buy large amounts of ground beef, Italian sausage, boneless, skinless chicken breast, a beef or pork roast, veggies, etc. and get them all prepped and broken down to use in future recipes. As I mentioned in my power cooking post, I like to snag packages of bell peppers from the "clearance" produce rack at Sendik's - last night I picked up 3 packages of green bell peppers, and 1 package of red and yellow peppers.  I washed them, seeded them, and then cut some into thin strips and diced the rest.  I froze them in bags to use for fajitas, add to casseroles, stir frys, and other dishes.  I did the same with some onions.  I also like to cut up celery and carrots and throw them in c...

How many ways can you stuff a bell pepper, you ask? I can think of quite a few, actually.  If you read the power cooking post, I had some extra Spanish Rice Bake, and used that as filling.  Some people like to stuff them with raw meatloaf, and bake meatloaf in the peppers.  Here's yet ANOTHER take, and it's kid-friendly even if they refuse to eat the peppers, since they can just scoop out the filling.     As I mentioned in my other post, I like to cut the peppers in half length-wise, and the fill them "open-face", versus actually stuffing them (unless the peppers are quite small).  I had some giant peppers recently, and this way, the kids were more open to trying them, and it was a more reasonable portion size.    I also like to  buy bell peppers on sale, and then freeze them in "shells" or diced, or cut into strips for when I need them, rather than be at the mercy of the grocery store, price-wise.  These could be frozen, so mak...

Power cooking just SOUNDS cool. And it is, if you're into that sort of thing... I don't do this a lot, but from time to time I make a ton of meals all in one day, and I try to use shared ingredients to keep costs lowered and cut prep time.  Some people do once a month cooking, but I just haven't felt that ambitious!  If you want to try it, just google "OAMC" or once a month cooking, and you can find a ton of sites to help.  The meal swaps are as close to that as I can get.  It is REALLY nice to only clean up the kitchen once, though, since I cook messy! Anyway, today I was feeling somewhat motivated, and I am trying to use up as much of the food we currently have in the pantry and freezer while I DO NOT GO TO  A GROCERY STORE AT ALL this week.  It's gotten out of hand, and when I get away from meal planning, I find myself being greeted by name at Pick N Save (close, but not THAT bad).  Seriously, I think I went 4 times last week - ACK!!! SO, back t...

Normally if a recipe has "oodles" in the name, I wouldn't look at it, but I did... I have a problem with collecting recipes.  And it's been a problem since college (maybe earlier) - I seriously ripped out recipes and saved them that long ago!  (I didn't cook then, though, so I was a lot skinnier).  I actually found a box before this last move that was filled with ripped out recipes I had been saving, and I somehow willed myself to recycle the whole thing without looking through it.  Good thing, too, because I still have about 10 binders of recipes I want to try - and never mind the Internet - good grief! So getting back to this recipe , I had ripped this out when I first saw it in the "American Profile" insert in the newspaper, and I found it again after tucking it away.  A friend of mine had tried it, and confirmed it was a good one, so here ya go!  Oodles of Orzo Zucchini Bake 1  cup dried orzo pasta (6 ounces) 1  tablespoon extra-virg...

This is not your grandma's chicken divan...  Not that there's anything wrong with her recipe!  But it probably has a lot of butter and cheese and mayo, so I tweaked a little bit, and with the help of the Internet, here's what I came up with.  This one's freezer-friendly, and you can use a rotisserie chicken, leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, or whatever you have on hand.  If you chop up the broccoli a little smaller, then kids tend to eat it a little better than if you've got big ol' trees in there.  I like to cook a giant package of chicken breasts and then freeze the meat (cut up) to throw in recipes.  Anyway, I'm getting off track.  Here's Chicken Divan, revisited: Light(er) Chicken Divan 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (or turkey!) 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 cups diced leek, white and light green parts only (see Tip), or white onion - then use 1 to 1-1/2 cups 1/2 teaspoon s...

These chops made me happy.  So I had a mondo package of pork chops left over from a big meal swap (sometimes I over-buy, what can I say...), and I didn't know what to do with them.  SO, I googled recipes, and found one I thought might work.  It did.  And then I lost the recipe!!!  Doh!  So here's what I think it was....  This one is easy to double, and you could also just toss them in a pan in the oven and bake them if you're not the slow cooker type. Slow Cooker Mexican Pork Chops 4-6 boneless, skinless pork chops (trim them if there's fat) 1 14.5 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 can diced green chiles 1-1/2 tsp. cumin 1-1/2 tsp. chili powder 2 garlic cloves, minced To freeze, throw all of the ingredients in a freezer storage bag, "knead" it to mix it up, and then freeze.   Thaw in the fridge and then toss in the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours (I did them all day, and they just fell apart, which was...