Lasagna

Lasagna is basically one of my favorite things of all time. It is a delicious mixture of some of the best things in the world, so anyone who says they don't like lasagna is just a crazy person. Unfortunately I was busy chopping, sauteing, and dicing while I was making it so I didn't take very many pictures. I do have one of the final product though, and I think it speaks volumes about how amazing this meal was.

It tastes every bit as good as it looks, and it's really simple to make. I start by browning about a 1:1 mixture of hot Italian sausage and ground beef; about a pound of each. I like my lasagna slightly spicy, so I add to that mixture crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper, 1/4 tsp of fennel seeds, and lots of basil, oregano, and thyme. Around a teaspoon of each at the minimum. While that's browning, I mince about 4-5 cloves of garlic. That might seem like a lot, but I'm a big fan of garlic. Add however much you think is appropriate depending your taste buds. Also chop one large onion and some kind of bell pepper; I prefer red because it's slightly sweeter and less bitter. When the vegetables have softened I add two 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes, about a tsp of sugar, and I let that simmer for at least 30 minutes. While it simmers I prepare the cheese mixture. I grated a block of provolone (you can use mozzarella or pretty much any Italian cheese) and around one cup of Parmesan cheese as well. I took half of the provolone and added it to two containers of ricotta cheese along with the full cup of Parmesan. Then I added three eggs. The eggs are going to make the cheese more spreadable as well as keep the structure firm after you slice the lasagna. At this point you're going to want to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. You'll need a pan that is about 13x9x3". You can usually buy a disposable one at the grocery store if you don't have one. It's usually even called a lasagna pan. Lasagna is all about layers and I usually start with the sauce. You want to have just enough sauce to coat the bottom then you put down a layer of noodles. I always buy Barilla brand if possible because they don't need to be precooked, which is way more convenient. After the noodles you spread out the cheese mixture. If it doesn't seem like it's spreading very well I just add a little milk to help out the texture. Keep repeating in this order until you get close to the top of the pan. At that point, I usually add a layer of sauce on top of the last layer of pasta, which I follow by adding the rest of the provolone cheese, and I grate some more Parmesan onto the top. I also start cooking the pasta with tinfoil over the top, which I remove after about 30 minutes to allow the cheese to brown. It should take 45 minutes to an hour to cook. It's usually safe to bet that the pasta is cook and everything is hot once the sauce starts to bubble at the edge of the pan. Such an amazing dish and it's great to serve to friends because it makes a large amount of food. Also it's usually even better the second day, so enjoy some delicious leftovers.

Pizza Burgers

I love cheeseburgers and anyone who doesn't had better have very good reasons. That being said, you can only eat regular cheeseburgers for so long before you need to change things up. I have been been eating pizza burgers for a very long time. As a matter of fact, when I was very young the only way my parents could get me to eat homemade cheeseburgers was to essentially make them essentially the same way I'm about to describe. For this meal, I made one of my favorite dishes: American fries.

Yum looking at that makes me want to grill these again soon. When I make burgers I always use ground beef that is 80% lean. This was actually ground sirloin, and although my personal preference is ground chuck it really doesn't matter that much. I generally buy what's on sale, which is why I had sirloin here. For pizza burgers I season them with salt, pepper, basil, oregano, a little thyme, and just a sprinkle of crushed red pepper. Some people like to mix their seasonings in with their ground beef when they make burgers, but I always avoid this. I try to work the meat as little as possible because I think it results in a more tender burger. As for the actually cooking process, I always grill my burgers unless I am absolutely craving burgers and I have no other choice but to cook them on the stove. Again, this is a preference. Some people love griddled or pan fried burgers. When I grill burgers, I let the grill heat up on its highest setting for at least five minutes. The most important part of grilling burgers is getting a really good sear on them. It's where a lot of the flavor is going to develop, so make sure your grill is nice and hot before you put the burgers on. I like my burgers cooked medium, which usually takes about ten minutes depending on the fluctuations with your grill's heat. I learned to grill from my dad and he always taught me to give everything a 90 degree or 1/4 turn in order to get those nice pretty grill lines, so I wait about 2.5 minutes then give them a 1/4 turn. At five minutes I flip, then repeat. Flip them once. No more. This is especially important with ground meat because it has a tendency to fall apart if you move it around too much. Now let's discuss those American fries.

Yep. Duck fat. This was a Christmas present from my brother and sister-in-law, and it's AMAZING. Potatoes fried in duck fat are pretty much the best thing EVER. However, if you have never used duck fat, be warned the first time you put it into a hot pan you might be surprised by the smell. It smells like you've been roasting a duck in your oven for like an hour, which is awesome, but is really strange if you're not expecting it. Enough about the duck fat. The potatoes were par-boiled. For anyone not familiar with that, it means that you boil the potatoes until they are only slightly soft, but still firm in the center. I boil them whole and peel the skins off afterward. It's important to boil them whole because what makes these potatoes so delicious is that when you slice them some of the softer parts of the boiled potato gets stuck on and that part is what gets incredibly crispy and awesome. 

There they are in the pan all seasoned and getting tasty. These were seasoned with salt, white pepper, thyme, and a little bit of chipotle powder to add a little bit of heat and smokiness. Side note, I've begun to like white pepper even more than black pepper because it has slightly more fruity/floral flavor and it's delicious. 

Here's what you're looking for once they're close to being done. You can see that the extra potato that I was talking about earlier has browned up and crisped up to make these really crunchy. Another name that I have for these is potato encrusted potatoes because that's essentially what the par-boil does.

Here is the finished product where you can see an important part of the pizza burger, the marinara sauce. I actually just use store bought marinara because if I'm just making burgers I don't want to take the time to make homemade marinara. A couple of suggestions for that are Classico marinara sauce, or I actually use Contadina pizza squeeze. Another nice touch that you could do would be to add pepperonis after you flip the burgers. I make them the way I had them as a kid so I don't, but that would certainly add some more flavor. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as I do!

Country Style Texas Ribs?

You may be thinking to yourself, "What the hell are country style Texas ribs?" Good question. It's the same one I asked myself when I picked up the package at the store, but they looked delicious so I got them anyway. I wasn't really sure how to cook them either, but they looked like a cut of meat that would be delicious if cooked slowly. Plus they were labeled as ribs so it seemed like the thing to do.

There they are in all of their beefy delicious glory. I am a huge fan of thyme with any kind of beef and particularly slow roasted or braised beef, and that is exactly what I put on the ribs. Salt. Pepper. Thyme. Nothing else needed. Since it's grilling season I decided I would sear them on the grill instead of on the stove.

I know. I should have eaten them right at this point because they look awesome, but these was more deliciousness yet to come. I put them in a pan and roasted them in the oven at 260 degrees. I know 260 seems odd, but that is the lowest setting on our oven for some reason. I left them in for around 3 hours until they were nice and tender. I served them with mashed potatoes that to which I added a little bit of marble jack cheese and green onions, and I made grilled asparagus simply seasoned with salt and pepper. Unfortunately the asparagus was neglected while I was mashing the potatoes, and they were very overcooked.

If it looks like there is a sauce on the ribs it's because there is. There was a TON of awesome brown stuff in the pan, so I removed the ribs and added water to deglaze the pan. I made a slurry with cornstarch and water then added it to the drippings, and let it reduce until it was like a slightly runny gravy. These ribs were delicious. I would definitely purchase them again (if I can ever actually find them).

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Grilled Chicken, and Bruschetta

Going to the University of Minnesota means gaining access to the nearly limitless resources that a large public institution has available. However, this a food blog, and I'm not talking about academics. I'm referring to the U's very own farmer's market, which inspired me to make this dish. As I viewed all of the delicious fresh produce on my way to class, there was one item that stood out: beautiful multi-colored cherry tomatoes. It was not the first time in recent months that this particular ingredient had provided me with inspiration, so I already knew exactly what to make. Earlier this summer while the cherry tomatoes were starting to turn ripe in my parents own garden, I came across a recipe for Michael Chiarello's Pasta Pomodorini and it turned out to be a winner. Since cooking for me is about experimentation I rarely follow a recipe exactly although admittedly I didn't stray too far on this one. It starts by just crushing the tomatoes in your hand. I recommend using a deep bowl and putting the tomato as deep into the bowl as possible because you WILL get tomato juice all over the kitchen. After that heat some olive oil in a pan and mince fresh basil and garlic. When the oil is hot add the basil and garlic and sautee just so the garlic softens a little. Then add the tomatoes and cook until quite a bit of the moisture evaporates and the tomato flavor is nice and concentrated. At this point while I was home I added some white wine to put a little moisture back into the sauce, but since I didn't have any at school I just added some of the water I cooked my pasta in. That's all that it takes to make the sauce. I added the noodles to the sauce, let it cook together for a minute or two, and served it. The dish looks like it's going to be really boring because the sauce doesn't appear to coat the noodles at all, but it ends up actually being very flavorful. I served it with some sliced chicken breasts that I grilled with basil and marjoram for flavor. I also put olive oil on a piece of ciabatta bread, grilled it, rubbed garlic on it, and served it with chopped tomatoes to which I added fresh chopped basil, salt, pepper, olive, and a little sugar.

Red Chicken Chili?

I don't know what to call this dish other than chicken chili, and not of the white variety you may be used to. I start by roasting chicken (whatever you have, I used three hindquarters and wing tips for extra flavor) with half an onion, a carrot, two celery stalks, and a few cloves of garlic at 350 degrees for an hour in a dutch oven or other large heavy bottomed pot. After an hour put the pot on the stove and add water to cover all ingredients making sure to scrape up all of the delicious brown fond on the bottom of the pan. Add two to three tablespoons of fresh cilantro, a tablespoon of dried oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 3-4 hours ideally. The longer the better; if the pot gets low on liquid just add more water. Strain the stock reserving the chicken flesh. If you don't have the time, store bought stock will do, and simmering it for maybe a half hour with some garlic and cilantro will add extra flavor. The stock can also be prepared ahead of time and either refrigerated if used quickly or frozen. Leftover chicken will do to add back in later if you're using store stock. Next I roasted two peppers on the grill; a poblano and a red bell pepper. I chopped these up and sauteed them in the same pot that the stock was made in. When they are softened a little I added three cloves of minced garlic and sauteed this until the garlic was soft. Then add the stock back in, about six cups. Next add one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, add the reserved chicken back in, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro (this can be done to taste as some people don't like cilantro, but it adds a nice freshness to the dish) and cayenne pepper to taste. Simmer this for another 3-4 hours, or sooner if you don't have the time. Again the longer the better because all of the flavors are going to mesh together over time. While this is going slice some corn tortillas into half inch strips and fry in a small amount of oil until golden brown, then remove to a paper towel and add salt. Again if you're short on time store bought tortilla chips will do. At this point your delicious soup should be ready to enjoy. Serve with the tortilla strips, grated cheese, and more fresh chopped cilantro.

Peach Season

Summer means peach season. Peach season means it's time for one of my favorite desserts: grilled peaches. Super easy and delicious. I'm partial to doing everything possible on the grill so I make my caramel sauce accompaniment on there as well. I start by heating the grill on low and putting a small pan on the grill with a tablespoon of butter; emphasis on small by the way. When the grill's hot and the butter is melted cut your peach in half and remove the pit. Sprinkle cinnamon on each half. Next brush the flesh side of each half with butter and place them flesh side down on the grill. Add approximately a tablespoon of brown sugar to the remaining butter and take it off of direct heat; it doesn't have to be exact the caramel is nearly impossible to screw up. I also like to add a little extra cinnamon to the butter-sugar mixture. After 5-6 minutes turn the peaches 90 degrees to get some beautiful grill lines. After another 5-6 minutes flip the peaches and let them cook for approximately the same time; just until both sides of the peaches are soft. After turning the peaches add about a tablespoon of cream to brown sugar butter mixture. This will make the caramel have a much smoother less gritty texture. when the peaches are soft they're done! At this point plate them and brush the flesh with the caramel. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and drizzle remaining caramel over the top. This is super easy to make and easily adjustable to different taste preferences. A small dash of cayenne would add a nice heat contrast or some chipotle powder for added smokiness along with the heat.

Well it's been almost precisely three months, but I'm back from hiatus because the world needs to see this one. I made grilled pizza last night and couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. That is easily the most round I've ever been able to make a pizza and the cheese was perfectly brown and bubbly. You can even see some of the beautiful grill marks I was able to get on the crust. It was also incredibly easy to make.
I followed Mark Bittman's recipe for pizza dough, which is incredibly simple; it hardly even requires kneading. I let it rise for about three hours and then plopped it out of its container onto a floured pizza pan. The dough was very easy to work as it wasn't overly elastic, so I was able to stretch it out to the edge of the pan without it tearing and with a fairly consistent level of dough throughout. Then I threw it on the grill that had been preheating on high heat for probably twenty minutes so that it was really hot. I turn down the two burners that are directly below the pizza to medium after I put it on and then shut the lid and let it cook for about five minutes. After the five minutes I flip it and put on the sauce and toppings. Then I let it cook for another five to ten minutes. Basically at this stage I'm just looking for the cheese to melt and the bottom crust to get a little crispy. Now here's the secret that I discovered last night: once the cheese is melted and the crust is crispy enough that it can support itself take the pizza off and put it directly on the rack of an oven preheated to 500 degrees. That is key because on the grill the toppings don't get very hot or cook, but if you put it in a very hot oven the cheese will brown up, the topping will cook, and you'll still maintain that grilled flavor and crispiness. It tasted just as good as it looks by the way.