I have no idea what a pastitsio actually is, beyond delicious, but lately Cooking Light has had a couple of recipes for it that have been amazing. Here is my take on it... It's a cheesy wonderful casserole, with excellent leftovers.
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked rotini, whole wheat works well
16 ounces baby bellas, cremini mushrooms, or regular mushrooms, or a mix
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic or equivalent garlic powder
1 tsp Penzey's Bavarian Blend or 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/3 tsp kosher salt
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups milk
2 tbsp flour
1 brick lowfat or fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup grated mozzarella (reduced fat is okay but not fat free)
Mince the onion and chop the mushrooms finely. Saute together in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms give up their liquid and it mostly evaporates. Add the garlic, salt, and herbs. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the tomato sauce.
Add the milk into the skillet and whisk the flour in while it's still cool (you can't whisk flour into a hot liquid). Cook and stir until bubbly and thick. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the cream cheese and parmesan, stirring until they melt and become smooth. Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and stir.
Pour half of the pasta mixture into a medium sized casserole dish. Spread the mushroom mixture on top, then add the rest of the pasta mixture on top of that. Finally, sprinkle the mozzarella on top of the whole thing.
Bake at 400 until the cheese melts, then serve.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Italian Cauliflower Casserole
From Cooking Light but edited to make it a more filling meal for active folks like us. To make it lighter you can reduce the amount of beef and/or cheese. To make it non-dairy just use Veggie Shreds for the cheese. You can leave off the breadcrumbs if anyone is gluten intolerant or can't have carbs.
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
1 large yellow onion, minced
4 garlic cloves or equivalent garlic powder
1 tsp sriracha or ground red pepper to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, ideally a garlicky or herby one
1/2 cup grated garlic and herb cheddar
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup bread crumbs
Steam the cauliflower 5 minutes or until it's crisp-tender. Drain and place in a large casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheddar.
Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes until it begins to soften. Then add the beef, stirring to crumble, and raise the heat to medium-high. Keep stirring and cooking the beef until it is all browned. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper while the beef cooks.
When the beef is done, stir in the tomato sauce and heat through. Pour the meat mixture over the cauliflower and stir to combine, gently so the cauliflower doesn't crumble.
Sprinkle the parmesan and bread crumbs over the top of the casserole. Broil for 4 minutes or until golden, and serve.
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
1 large yellow onion, minced
4 garlic cloves or equivalent garlic powder
1 tsp sriracha or ground red pepper to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, ideally a garlicky or herby one
1/2 cup grated garlic and herb cheddar
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup bread crumbs
Steam the cauliflower 5 minutes or until it's crisp-tender. Drain and place in a large casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheddar.
Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes until it begins to soften. Then add the beef, stirring to crumble, and raise the heat to medium-high. Keep stirring and cooking the beef until it is all browned. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper while the beef cooks.
When the beef is done, stir in the tomato sauce and heat through. Pour the meat mixture over the cauliflower and stir to combine, gently so the cauliflower doesn't crumble.
Sprinkle the parmesan and bread crumbs over the top of the casserole. Broil for 4 minutes or until golden, and serve.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Candied Walnuts
My favorite salad and pretty much the only one I ever bother to make.
Ingredients (for 1 serving, multiply out for the number of servings you want):
1 cup Baby spinach
1/2 cup Sliced strawberries
1/4 cup Walnuts
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp organic sugar or light brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
Dash cinnamon
1/2 tbsp olive oil or walnut oil
1 tsp vinegar, either red wine or balsamic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sweetener, such as sugar or Ideal or Splenda
1/2 tbsp minced shallot
To prepare walnuts, melt the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the walnuts and sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the coating seems crispy/crumbly, or until it begins to smell a little like popcorn or generally "toasty." If it begins to brown, REMOVE FROM THE PAN at once or it will burn.
To prepare dressing, just whisk the oil, salt, sweetener, and vinegar together until smooth. Stir in the shallots.
Place the spinach on individual plates or in a salad bowl and top with the strawberries, then the walnuts. Allow people to pour the vinaigrette on themselves, since the liquid will make the walnuts not crisp anymore if it sits on them too long. Delish!
For extra fanciness, you can cook the walnuts with maple syrup, and/or use maple syrup as the sweetener in the vinaigrette. It's extremely delicious. Honey works, too, for the dressing but not for the walnuts.
Ingredients (for 1 serving, multiply out for the number of servings you want):
1 cup Baby spinach
1/2 cup Sliced strawberries
1/4 cup Walnuts
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp organic sugar or light brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
Dash cinnamon
1/2 tbsp olive oil or walnut oil
1 tsp vinegar, either red wine or balsamic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sweetener, such as sugar or Ideal or Splenda
1/2 tbsp minced shallot
To prepare walnuts, melt the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the walnuts and sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the coating seems crispy/crumbly, or until it begins to smell a little like popcorn or generally "toasty." If it begins to brown, REMOVE FROM THE PAN at once or it will burn.
To prepare dressing, just whisk the oil, salt, sweetener, and vinegar together until smooth. Stir in the shallots.
Place the spinach on individual plates or in a salad bowl and top with the strawberries, then the walnuts. Allow people to pour the vinaigrette on themselves, since the liquid will make the walnuts not crisp anymore if it sits on them too long. Delish!
For extra fanciness, you can cook the walnuts with maple syrup, and/or use maple syrup as the sweetener in the vinaigrette. It's extremely delicious. Honey works, too, for the dressing but not for the walnuts.
Herbed Oven Roast with Gravy
Here's a super simple fall favorite: an herbed roast. The herbs are all "to taste" but I will put how much we use.
Ingredients:
1 eye round roast
Salt, I use 1/3 tsp
Ground rosemary, I use 1 tsp
Garlic powder, I use 1 tsp
Ancho chili pepper powder, or paprika, I use 1 tsp
Ground black pepper, I use 1/4 tsp
Ground coriander, I use 1/4 tsp
Preheat the oven to 400.
Trim the majority of the fat off the roast, then place fat-side-up in a skillet or baking pan. Sprinkle the roast with half of the herbs and spices. Turn the roast over, fat-side-down, and sprinkle with remaining spices.
Place pan in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 and turn the roast over, fat-side-up. Bake for an additional 1 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer indicates the correct internal temperature has been reached - this will depend on the roast size.
When it's done, remove it to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes. When it's rested, slice it, being careful to collect all the juice that runs out and pour into the pan.
Stir about 2 tbsp flour into the juice until it forms a paste, then place over medium heat on the stove and stir constantly until it begins to thicken. Slowly add milk, broth or water to the paste until it's the thickness you prefer. How much you need will depend on how thick you like your gravy and how much juice your roast yields. Season the gravy with more salt or bouillon, to taste, and if you have Penzey's Bavarian seasoning mix, add a few dashes.
Ingredients:
1 eye round roast
Salt, I use 1/3 tsp
Ground rosemary, I use 1 tsp
Garlic powder, I use 1 tsp
Ancho chili pepper powder, or paprika, I use 1 tsp
Ground black pepper, I use 1/4 tsp
Ground coriander, I use 1/4 tsp
Preheat the oven to 400.
Trim the majority of the fat off the roast, then place fat-side-up in a skillet or baking pan. Sprinkle the roast with half of the herbs and spices. Turn the roast over, fat-side-down, and sprinkle with remaining spices.
Place pan in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 and turn the roast over, fat-side-up. Bake for an additional 1 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer indicates the correct internal temperature has been reached - this will depend on the roast size.
When it's done, remove it to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes. When it's rested, slice it, being careful to collect all the juice that runs out and pour into the pan.
Stir about 2 tbsp flour into the juice until it forms a paste, then place over medium heat on the stove and stir constantly until it begins to thicken. Slowly add milk, broth or water to the paste until it's the thickness you prefer. How much you need will depend on how thick you like your gravy and how much juice your roast yields. Season the gravy with more salt or bouillon, to taste, and if you have Penzey's Bavarian seasoning mix, add a few dashes.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Delicious Hamburgers
It still amazes me that there is room in this world for more kinds of hamburger. It amazes me even more that most people make BAD hamburgers. It's not hard! Here's my current recipe.
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef - ground sirloin is tastiest, but regular is good, too, and cheaper. I use low fat, like 93%. Don't listen to people who tell you that lean meat makes bad burgers cuz it just ain't so! Lean meat is very flavorful and can be juicy too.
1 tsp ground ancho chili pepper, or paprika if you don't have ancho
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp reduced-sodium tamari, which is like soy sauce but more flavorful - soy sauce is an acceptable substitute, or 1/2 tsp salt if you don't have either
Ground black pepper if you like that sort of thing - I don't, but Ariel does, so I let him put it on his burger after cooking
Gently stir the ingredients together. Be careful not to mash up the meat, since that will make it tough. A pastry cutter can work, but NEVER a food processor.
Form the meat gently but firmly into patties with your hands. You can wear gloves but don't use a press or anything, hamburgers need love.
I like to cook on a Foreman grill machine at 380 for 5 minutes, but you can do whatever you like. The important thing to remember is that you want to use a reasonably high temperature so that the meat sears a little, which enhances flavor.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE JUICE? I hear you ask! If you love your burgers dripping with juice, here is what you do: You mix in breadcrumbs, an egg, or both. You want to use about 1/4 cup breadcrumbs per pound of meat, and/or 1 egg per 2 pounds of meat. That's why I don't usually use an egg unless I'm making a large batch, since my recipe is for only 1 pound and a whole egg is too much for that.
The breadcrumbs soak up the juice to prevent it from leaking out during cooking. The egg works differently - it makes a sort of meat-juice custard inside the burger. It sounds gross but it's good. Eggs and breadcrumbs are the reason why meat loaf is always so juicy (good meatloaf, that is).
The most fun part of a burger is what you put on top! I like to pile mine with mushrooms and onions with cheese and ketchup. I hate American cheese so usually use mild cheddar or Colby-Jack, but that's a personal idiosyncrasy. Here's my mushroom-onion topping recipe, which makes enough to top 6 burgers:
1 large white onion
2 portobello mushroom caps
1/4 cup cooking sherry (optional - use broth if you don't want sherry)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp minced garlic
Butter or oil
Chop the mushrooms into pieces no bigger than about half an inch, since otherwise they are hard to eat. Slice the onion lengthwise, then cut the slices once widthwise to make them shorter.
Grease a skillet with a little butter or oil and heat over medium-high. Saute the onion and mushrooms until soft, then add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Then add the broth or sherry and scrape up any stuck browned bits, for flavor. Simmer until the liquid is almost gone.
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef - ground sirloin is tastiest, but regular is good, too, and cheaper. I use low fat, like 93%. Don't listen to people who tell you that lean meat makes bad burgers cuz it just ain't so! Lean meat is very flavorful and can be juicy too.
1 tsp ground ancho chili pepper, or paprika if you don't have ancho
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp reduced-sodium tamari, which is like soy sauce but more flavorful - soy sauce is an acceptable substitute, or 1/2 tsp salt if you don't have either
Ground black pepper if you like that sort of thing - I don't, but Ariel does, so I let him put it on his burger after cooking
Gently stir the ingredients together. Be careful not to mash up the meat, since that will make it tough. A pastry cutter can work, but NEVER a food processor.
Form the meat gently but firmly into patties with your hands. You can wear gloves but don't use a press or anything, hamburgers need love.
I like to cook on a Foreman grill machine at 380 for 5 minutes, but you can do whatever you like. The important thing to remember is that you want to use a reasonably high temperature so that the meat sears a little, which enhances flavor.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE JUICE? I hear you ask! If you love your burgers dripping with juice, here is what you do: You mix in breadcrumbs, an egg, or both. You want to use about 1/4 cup breadcrumbs per pound of meat, and/or 1 egg per 2 pounds of meat. That's why I don't usually use an egg unless I'm making a large batch, since my recipe is for only 1 pound and a whole egg is too much for that.
The breadcrumbs soak up the juice to prevent it from leaking out during cooking. The egg works differently - it makes a sort of meat-juice custard inside the burger. It sounds gross but it's good. Eggs and breadcrumbs are the reason why meat loaf is always so juicy (good meatloaf, that is).
Burger Toppings
The most fun part of a burger is what you put on top! I like to pile mine with mushrooms and onions with cheese and ketchup. I hate American cheese so usually use mild cheddar or Colby-Jack, but that's a personal idiosyncrasy. Here's my mushroom-onion topping recipe, which makes enough to top 6 burgers:
1 large white onion
2 portobello mushroom caps
1/4 cup cooking sherry (optional - use broth if you don't want sherry)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp minced garlic
Butter or oil
Chop the mushrooms into pieces no bigger than about half an inch, since otherwise they are hard to eat. Slice the onion lengthwise, then cut the slices once widthwise to make them shorter.
Grease a skillet with a little butter or oil and heat over medium-high. Saute the onion and mushrooms until soft, then add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Then add the broth or sherry and scrape up any stuck browned bits, for flavor. Simmer until the liquid is almost gone.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Babydog's Food
This is just a draft of the dog food recipe I have devised. Baby loves it but it took 2 and a half hours to make, store, and clean up after. It should not be stored longer than 2 days, so must be packaged up and kept in the freezer.
Ingredients:
5 pounds ground pork
2.5 pounds organic potatoes, chopped
3 cups no added sodium V8 juice
4 cups cooked unflavored instant oatmeal
1 red bell pepper, chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced and exposed to air for 10 minutes to develop medicinal properties
1 1/2 tsp each ground ginger and cloves to aid digestion
1 tsp potassium chloride
2 containers Lactaid cottage cheese
6 raw eggs
~1 cup frozen chopped spinach
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
Boil the potatoes in the V8 juice (this retains the nutrition of the potatoes). Cook the bell pepper and spinach in this pot as well.
Brown the pork thoroughly with the spices, potassium, and garlic. Must cook WELL to kill trichinosis. Break eggs into the meat; cook and stir until opaque.
Combine all ingredients in a stock pot. Puree thoroughly with immersion blender. Pureeing is necessary, because Babydog's gut was so irritated that it moved food through so quickly that he could not break down any chunks larger than a grain of rice.
Supplement with vitamins D and E, and use giblet meats liberally as treats, such as liver or lung. I prefer freeze dried lamb lung as easy to digest and non-allergenic, and give a sweet potato treat that is supplemented with D and E. Those vitamins must be supplemented because they are absent in the food, due to the food not containing 100% of the animal - muscle meat is extremely unbalanced nutritionally, and I have not yet found a good, affordable, digestible ingredient that contains these vitamins in sufficient volume.
WHY AND WHEREFORE:
Why pork? Because it's a less-common protein that he is unlikely to be allergic to, and it contains enough zinc that I need not supplement with zinc. I cannot afford lamb, and I do not believe that poultry is natural for dogs. Wild canids cannot not capture poultry as prey reliably. Their diet consists of ungulate meat.
Why potatoes? Because I try to avoid grain where I can, and because it is non-allergenic and nutritious with a lot of potassium. Dogs need lots of potassium in their diets.
Okay, then why add oats? Because I can afford them :( But also for their nutritional profile. They help fill in the gaps left by feeding only muscle meat instead of a whole animal. Rolled (instant) oats are soft and easy to digest, too. Also, I have had oats highly recommended to me by breeders of my particular breed of dog. Your mileage may vary. I don't think rice is as good as people think it is, though, since it tends to irritate my dogs' guts as often as not. At the very least, the rice must be pureed. Many dogs can't easily break apart the rice starches to get into the grain.
Why ginger, cloves and garlic? The garlic repels pests and also has mild antifungal properties and other healthful properties. Note that it must be exposed to air or these do not develop! The ginger is to smooth out the muscle contractions in the gut, reducing both diarrhea and constipation. It also stimulates stomach muscle contraction, which he was having trouble with - food emptied too quickly. The cloves are soothing and a mild anthelmintic; though that won't kill giardia, it may help his body keep from developing a secondary infestation of roundworms while he is weakened.
Why potassium chloride? Purchasable under the brand name Nu-Salt, this has been recommended to me by vets for all homemade diets, especially for sick dogs. Dogs need lots of potassium, especially when they have the runs and might be losing electrolytes.
Lactaid cottage cheese? Because bone bits would irritate his gut, and yet he still needs calcium. The Lactaid brand is lactose-free and theoretically easy to digest.
Red bell pepper? A rich source of many vitamins he would otherwise obtain from organ meats.
Spinach? Ground-up and cooked, it hopefully comes close to the digestibility of green tripe. Also, he has been ravenously eating grass, and I theorize he has not been able to get some mineral or other that is in greens. Just a guess, though, we will see if it helps - I only just started adding this ingredient.
V8 juice? Same thing. No digestion required when the veggies are juiced.
Molasses? A common ingredient in dog foods that also contains an unusually bioavailable source of iron, which is not as high as I'd like in the pork meat. Blackstrap has more than regular.
Ingredients:
5 pounds ground pork
2.5 pounds organic potatoes, chopped
3 cups no added sodium V8 juice
4 cups cooked unflavored instant oatmeal
1 red bell pepper, chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced and exposed to air for 10 minutes to develop medicinal properties
1 1/2 tsp each ground ginger and cloves to aid digestion
1 tsp potassium chloride
2 containers Lactaid cottage cheese
6 raw eggs
~1 cup frozen chopped spinach
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
Boil the potatoes in the V8 juice (this retains the nutrition of the potatoes). Cook the bell pepper and spinach in this pot as well.
Brown the pork thoroughly with the spices, potassium, and garlic. Must cook WELL to kill trichinosis. Break eggs into the meat; cook and stir until opaque.
Combine all ingredients in a stock pot. Puree thoroughly with immersion blender. Pureeing is necessary, because Babydog's gut was so irritated that it moved food through so quickly that he could not break down any chunks larger than a grain of rice.
Supplement with vitamins D and E, and use giblet meats liberally as treats, such as liver or lung. I prefer freeze dried lamb lung as easy to digest and non-allergenic, and give a sweet potato treat that is supplemented with D and E. Those vitamins must be supplemented because they are absent in the food, due to the food not containing 100% of the animal - muscle meat is extremely unbalanced nutritionally, and I have not yet found a good, affordable, digestible ingredient that contains these vitamins in sufficient volume.
WHY AND WHEREFORE:
Why pork? Because it's a less-common protein that he is unlikely to be allergic to, and it contains enough zinc that I need not supplement with zinc. I cannot afford lamb, and I do not believe that poultry is natural for dogs. Wild canids cannot not capture poultry as prey reliably. Their diet consists of ungulate meat.
Why potatoes? Because I try to avoid grain where I can, and because it is non-allergenic and nutritious with a lot of potassium. Dogs need lots of potassium in their diets.
Okay, then why add oats? Because I can afford them :( But also for their nutritional profile. They help fill in the gaps left by feeding only muscle meat instead of a whole animal. Rolled (instant) oats are soft and easy to digest, too. Also, I have had oats highly recommended to me by breeders of my particular breed of dog. Your mileage may vary. I don't think rice is as good as people think it is, though, since it tends to irritate my dogs' guts as often as not. At the very least, the rice must be pureed. Many dogs can't easily break apart the rice starches to get into the grain.
Why ginger, cloves and garlic? The garlic repels pests and also has mild antifungal properties and other healthful properties. Note that it must be exposed to air or these do not develop! The ginger is to smooth out the muscle contractions in the gut, reducing both diarrhea and constipation. It also stimulates stomach muscle contraction, which he was having trouble with - food emptied too quickly. The cloves are soothing and a mild anthelmintic; though that won't kill giardia, it may help his body keep from developing a secondary infestation of roundworms while he is weakened.
Why potassium chloride? Purchasable under the brand name Nu-Salt, this has been recommended to me by vets for all homemade diets, especially for sick dogs. Dogs need lots of potassium, especially when they have the runs and might be losing electrolytes.
Lactaid cottage cheese? Because bone bits would irritate his gut, and yet he still needs calcium. The Lactaid brand is lactose-free and theoretically easy to digest.
Red bell pepper? A rich source of many vitamins he would otherwise obtain from organ meats.
Spinach? Ground-up and cooked, it hopefully comes close to the digestibility of green tripe. Also, he has been ravenously eating grass, and I theorize he has not been able to get some mineral or other that is in greens. Just a guess, though, we will see if it helps - I only just started adding this ingredient.
V8 juice? Same thing. No digestion required when the veggies are juiced.
Molasses? A common ingredient in dog foods that also contains an unusually bioavailable source of iron, which is not as high as I'd like in the pork meat. Blackstrap has more than regular.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Rumbledethumps (Potato Pie)
Every nation in Europe, in fact every tiny geographical region, has its own "leftovers" dish, usually involving potatoes to glue the leftovers together. This one is particularly hearty and makes both a satisfying dinner and a fantastic leftover lunch. You can hold the slices in your hand to eat them, and they don't go bad for quite a while at room temperature, so they are good for bringing places. This is a variant of a Scottish peasant recipe called Rumbledethumps (wikipedia link). What differentiates it from, for example, colcannon or bubble-and-squeak is the addition of a cheese topping followed by baking in a plate.
Ingredients:
4 Yukon gold potatoes, with skins
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 big box or bag of baby arugula, or baby spinach if you prefer
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp smart balance or butter
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded gouda (or additional 1/2 cup cheddar)
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste (I use none, but the traditional recipe calls for lots, so it's up to you)
Chop and steam the potatoes, or bake them in tinfoil, until soft. Mash.
Saute the scallions and garlic in the butter until they begin to soften, then add the arugula and saute until wilted. Transer to a cutting board and chop (it's easier to chop them after cooking than before).
Heat oven to 350.
Sprinkle half the cheddar into the bottom of a well-greased pie plate. Combine remaining cheddar and all other ingredients (except parmesan) in a bowl and mix. Pour into pie plate and top with parmesan.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until set but not puffy.
You can eat this fresh but honestly I like the leftovers better!
NOTE: You can replace the cheese with fake cheese quite easily for the lactose-intolerant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)