Fake Lasagna Bake

Hi folks! It's been ages, I know, but I've finally had some time to finalize a few more recipes. I think you'll like this one.

Every now and again you just want lasagna, but we all know how time consuming it is... this is pretty darn close and half the time, plus I think your kids will like it.

Ingredients:

1 lb mild Italian sausage. (Casing removed if you get the links)

2 cups uncooked penne pasta

1 jar spaghetti sauce (I use Ragu Robusto with onion and garlic)

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 egg

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Parmesan to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Boil the 2 cups penne in lightly salted water until al dente. (Don't under cook this one thinking it will cook in the oven, this won't be in the oven long enough.)

While the penne is cooking, brown your sausage like you would ground beef. When beef is browned, add the entire jar of pasta sauce. Let simmer on low while the pasta is cooking.

Mix your ricotta cheese, egg and Italian seasoning in a separate bowl.

When the pasta is cooked, mix it in with your meat and sauce mixture. You're now ready to assemble.

Into a baking dish, pour half your meat/pasta/sauce mixture. Level it out as best you can.

On top of this layer, spread out half of your ricotta cheese.

Sprinkle half your desired Parmesan on top of the ricotta.

Cover with one cup mozzarella.

Repeat the layers using the rest of your meat mixture, then your ricotta, then your mozzarella.

Sprinkle more Parmesan on top if desired.

Cover the pan in foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and allow the cheese to cook to desired brown-ness.

Let sit for about 5 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

Lacking in the Updating Area

Now that the holidays are upon us I plan to update soon. Been working on a rub recipe, plus we've recently acquired a Big Green Egg! Adventures abound!

Southern Fried Pork Chops

Made this for dinner last night. I think my husband proposed to me twice while eating.

Before I start, I hear this is the way that most Southern Ladies I know make them, so if it seems like I'm plagiarising that's probably why. More reiterating than anything else.

You'll need:
I package of thin cut porkchops, bone in or out, up to you.
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 cups italian bread crumbs
2 tbsp garlic salt
2 tbsp black pepper (Worcestershire pepper if you can find it, Y.U.M.)
1 tbsp red pepper
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp water

Rinse and pat your chops dry. These are going to be dipped in 3 different mixtures for the breading. In your first bowl, beat the egg with the water, set aside. In your second bowl mix the flour with half the spices and set aside. In your third bowl mix the bread crumbs and the other half the spices. Adjust the spices as you see fit. You can add all the spices to the bread crumbs as well, I personally like mine with a lot of spice so I go for the double dip.

Coat each chop in the flour mixture, covering the entire chop, and don't forget the sides. Then place the chop in the egg mixture and coat. Transfer to the bread crumb mixture and coat entire chop in bread crumbs. Place on a wire rack. When all the chops are coated allow them to "dry" on the wire rack for about 1o minutes. Put about 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil in a frying pan and cook them on medium high on each side for about 3 minutes until they reach a nice golden brown. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook uncovered for about 15 more minutes or until all the pink is gone.

Gravy you can either make a packaged brown gravy (easy! I like this option!), or you can make your own Country Gravy from the drippings off the pork chops. To do this, add a bit more oil to the pan, maybe a tbsp, and use a wooden spoon to work the bits off the bottom of the pan. On medium low, add about 2 tbsps flour to the pan and mix well. Gradually add around two cups of milk, stirring constantly. Make sure the pan isn't too hot or the milk will curdle. Allow it to come to a simmer, stirring frequently. It will thicken as it cooks. If it ends up too thin you can add corn starch or some flour mixed with water (to avoid lumps). Pour gravy over the chops and enjoy the artery hardening goodness, like a real Southerner!

Observation

Funny how I can't seem to remember 80% of the recipes I normally make without looking at my pantry first. I find myself sitting here, 15 miles from my kitchen, and I've totally lost track of half the stuff I like to cook. Talk about a work in progress!

Four Twenty Bread

What?!?!

...


This is another one of my Grandma Ann's originals. She never told me what she called it, it was just "that bread stuff!" so we gave it a fitting name. 4 ingredients, 20 minutes.

You need:
1 french baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices.
1 cup Parmesan cheese, the grated stuff in the green can, not the shredded style.
1 cup mayonnaise
1 bundle green onions, chopped

Preheat your oven to 350°

Combine the mayo, Parmesan and green onions. Go ahead and taste that. So nummy!

Spread about 2 tbsps of that mix on each slice of bread and place side by side on a cookie pan or jelly roll. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are nice and golden brown. Enjoy!

Hamburger and Mushroom Gravy

An old time favorite of my mom's while Dad was away on business trips, it's become a good standby for when you just want a lump of something comforting in your gut after a long day.

Alright, get ready to head to your specialty store for this one, it's going to get intricate up in this bitch.

You need:
1 lb ground beef. I try to do 85 or above
1 large can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 - 1 cup milk
salt and pepper

Brown the ground beef and drain off the fat. Add the entire can of mushroom soup and enough milk to thin out the mushroom soup with out making it too soupy to the beef, then salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to medium low, and when it simmers it's ready. Serve over mashed potatoes, wide egg noodles, rice, toast or even by itself.

Kungaloosh, IRL!

Have to add this one for a friend of mine.

You will need:

1 large watermelon. A spherical seedless won't do it. You need to be able to use the watermelon rind as a vessel for your finished product.
1 fifth vodka. Ok you can use less, but you'll want to cry when you run out. Midgrade is fine, don't use high dollar stuff here.
1 gallon orange juice.
ice

Now, seeing as how your MO here is to get drunk, there are a lot of ways to go about tackling this delicous but work intensive cocktail. First off, cut that watermelon in half lengthwise. Remember, it's going to be a bowl of sorts, so try to cut it in a way that it will hold liquid without wasting too much of it. With a large spoon hollow out the flesh of the watermelon. If you have a food processor, just throw the chunks in there, seeds and all, and finely puree it. The seeds will pretty much disappear. If you do not, you'll have to do some de-seeding before you mash this stuff up. We found that using a potato masher through a sieve into a large pot worked pretty well. Just make sure it's not so fine that it takes you a hundred years or so large that all the seeds get through. Depending on the size of the watermelon, this is going to end up being A LOT of watermelon puree. More than you can use in one batch, so put it aside in the fridge until you need to make more... and you will need to make more. ;)

I like to start out with a 2-2-1 ratio of watermelon juice, orange juice and vodka. I'm also kind of insane and love the taste of vodka, you will probably want to alter this depending on your tastes. The point is to make sure it all fits in the hollowed out watermelon half (if you haven't destroyed it in a drunken fit of silliness yet). Add some ice to keep it chilled, and when it's to your taste, well, get out your gravy ladle and spoon it on top of some ice and get crunk! Krunk? Whatever.

Make more using your reserves as you see fit, but be careful! The high water content of the watermelon makes this stuff sneak up on you, however, it also helps you avoid the hangover!