1/2 pound bacon, crisply fried and crumbled
1 cup finely grated swiss cheese
1 large bunch green onions finely sliced
4 eggs
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 deep pie crust
Preheat oven to 425°.
Prebake the pie crust and cool before filling.
Sprinkle the crumbled bacon, finely sliced onion and grated swiss cheese evenly into crust.
Beat the eggs, whipping cream and seasonings until well blended. Pour over mixture in pie crust.
Bake 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 300° and bake an additional 35 minutes or until just golden and knife comes out clean.
Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.
I did something really crazy yesterday.
I turned. My heat. Off.
I know that may not sound like much. But if you know me. Then you know that this is actually quite momentous. (I’m that girl who walks around in three sweatshirts. In the middle of August. And is still shivering.) My roommates and I almost broke out some bottles of wine (Thirsty Thursday anyone?). Decorated the apartment in some neon crepe paper. Put up a disco ball. And had a “rager” (or whatever it is the kids are calling it these days). We would have. Except that we had an exam the next day.
But no more talk of that. Because it is the weekend. And not only that. It is warm out.
Get this.
Spring might actually have arrived.
Needless to say. I am thrilled. Ecstatic. Jubilant. I am jumping. For. Joy.
Except for one tiny thing.
I’m going to miss winter food. Hearty casseroles. Winter squash. Sweet potatoes.
Down-home-stick-to-your-ribs (and your thighs) comfort food.
Stuff that you wouldn’t dream of eating during the summer. Because. Well. People are going to be seeing your thighs.
Plus who (other than me) wants to spend all day slaving over a hot stove in 90 degree weather?
No one. Thus. It is time to move on.
And so. To commemorate what is possibly the only beautiful thing about winter. I give you my favorite lasagna recipe. Otherwise known as. My swan song.
Classic Italian Lasagna
Serves 8, adapted from Giada DeLaurentis
3 cups tomato sauce (I cheated and used a jar from Whole Foods. All fresh ingredients – tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil. I will post the exact brand next time. It’s my favorite jarred tomato sauce.)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
4 cups part-skim ricotta
3 eggs
1 lb lasagna noodles (I didn’t end up using the whole pound, just enough to fill my tray. I also used no-boil noodles.)
1 lb frozen spinach, thawed and patted dry
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup parmesan
1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. In a saute pan, preheat the olive oil. Cook the ground beef, breaking it up into small pieces with a spatula as you go. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder if using. Cook until browned, then remove from heat, draining any excess liquid, and set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the ricotta and eggs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish, spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Add a layer of the pasta sheets. Over this, spread all of the ricotta mixture, followed by all of the spinach. Arrange another layer of pasta. Spread all of the ground beef over this, followed by half of the mozzarella. Add another cup of tomato sauce. Arrange the final layer of pasta. Spread the remaining tomato sauce over THIS and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and then bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
OUR FIRST VISITORS!!!
A fun time IS INDEED being had by all, and why not… Jackie’s favorite Aunt, her cousin, his wife and a teenage daughter (teenagers, god help me) have come to our little condo in paradise and we are having the time of our lives!
!Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. As always, I am so surprised when I CAN COOK THAT!
But today, I want to be a little less surprised. Meaning… When company is coming and you want to make a good “foodie” impression on them… Do you try an exciting new sounding recipe, create something from the top of your head, do your best tried and true recipe… Or work a new interpretation of a tried and true…
Somehow, I have decided that making the same thing in exactly the same way is not very appealing to me. So, I decided to make one of my better recipes, but add a bit of island flair…
Last week on my “normal” site, I posted a recipe for Terriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad. I had gotten the recipe from a fellow blogger, Melanie from THE SISTER’s CAFE. I did a very unusual thing for me… I followed Melanie’s recipe as she wrote it. If you go to her post (click HERE), Melanie listed a few additional ingredients as optional. But really, if you have a plate of spinach, do you need to add parsley? Adding the oranges and water chestnuts was already inching the price up. So, unless you have them on hand, do as I did and leave out the craizins and parsley, … Here is what she wrote…
Spinach Salad With Teriyaki Bowties
submitted by Melanie sisterscafe.blogspot.com
16 oz. Bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled
1 – 2 bags of fresh baby Spinach
2 small cans Mandarin Oranges
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1 can Water Chestnuts
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds, toasted
2 cups torn cooked ChickenDressing:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2/3 C. Teriyaki Sauce
5 Tbs. SugarCook bowtie pasta according to directions, drain and cool while whisking the dressing together in a large bowl. Marinate cooked bowtie pasta in the dressing for 1 hour or longer in the fridge. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the teriyaki sauce and pasta over the salad, toss together and serve. If it’s just a few of you, make individual salad servings; keeping the salad and bowtie sauce separate for the rest of the week (no one likes a soggy salad).
This sauce is terrific! Beyond terrific in fact. The whole thing blended so well. It was a perfect addition to my new series on what to do with those rotisserie chickens that are so cheap here in paradise… a raw whole chicken is $10… A precooked rotisserie chicken is $6… If I can get a good explanation for the price difference, I would be very interested… But in the mean time, I am buying one a week, and posting a series of recipes on what to do with the leftovers… but I digress…
Cake
1 cup (6 ounces) chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 teaspoons instant coffee
3 large eggs
1 cup (6 ounces) chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 cup (4 ounces) heavy cream (non dairy whipped topping, unwhipped)
Topping
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted in a 350°F oven till golden brown, about 10 minutes
Yield: one 8″ cake, 12 rich servings.
For more flourless recipes and more Passover Recipes, drop by at My Sweet and Savory and Comfy Cook.
1 pound (4 sticks) butter
PURE
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup Parrot Bay coconut rum
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
When I was in college there was a local grill that did the most amazing fish I’d ever had. I hate to admit that was before Cajun or Blackened became popular. I spent many years trying to duplicate their red snapper after they closed their doors.
PAN FRIED RED SNAPPER with LEMON BUTTER
1 pound Red snapper, cut to portion size
1/4 cup red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large very ripe lemon, juiced
zest from the lemon
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pinto was still sputtering when he approached her.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry.
He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.
He said, ‘I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.’
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.
Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, ‘And think of me..’
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps.. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair.. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her
Feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.
After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.
There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: ‘You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.’
Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.
Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the Money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard….
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, ‘Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.’
There is an old saying…… ‘What goes around comes around.’ Today I sent you this story and I’m asking you to pass it on. Let this light shine.
Don’t delete it, don’t return it. Simply, pass this on to a friend.
Good friends are like stars…..You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.
