ham & rice cassarole

Yup, I used the "c" word... "cassarole". It's not such a bad word, in fact, it actually brings on a nice warm feeling of comfort and happiness. That is, unless you're at a church potluck supper and just counted 45 different ways to combine elbow macaroni, tomato sauce and ground beef...

This is an easy dish that can be frozen for future use, makes a great dish-to-past (hey, it IS a cassarole), or is great just served up in a bowl, and attacked with a spoon.


ham & rice cassarole

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp pure olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 c. uncooked rice (no 'minute' or boil-in-bag, please... use the real stuff... like Japanese rice)
2 c. ham, diced (we like turkey ham for this dish)
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 qt. low-sodium chicken broth
1/2-3/4 c. grated parmesan (the stuff in the green can works great for this)
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1. Set your oven rack to the middle position, and heat your oven to 375°F... being sure you remember to remove your 12" cast iron skillet first. (What? It's the only good place to store it.)

2. In a 4-6 qt. pot over low heat, sweat the onion in the butter and olive oil, along with a pinch of kosher salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.
3. Halfway through the sweat, stir in the garlic.
4. When the onion appears cooked, but not browned, stir in the rice, ham and parsley. Lightly sauté the rice and ham for 3-4 minutes. This will start to cook the rice, and give the finished dish a subtle nutty flavor.
5. Gently pour in the chicken broth and raise the heat to medium-high. Bring everything up to a boil. If you'd prefer a more risotto-like texture, add one cup of broth at a time, stirring until most of it is absorbed by the rice, then repeat with the next cup of broth. Once all the broth is in, bring to a boil.
6. Once it hits a boil, cut the heat and transfer the mixture to a baking dish, and sprinkle the grated parmesan evenly over the top.
7. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes are up, remove the lid and return to the oven for five additional minutes to crust up the top a bit, then remove and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Leftovers are freezer-friendly, and reheat easily in the microwave. Just portion out one serving in a microwave-safe bowl, and nuke of medium for two minutes. Remove, stir and nuke on high for an addition minute or two.

escarole and bean soup (revised)

Note: Hey Kids, I've been tweaking the soup a bit, so I made some revisions to this recipe.

Soup. Nothing could be easier, and more welcome on a chilly night. And I bet you're thinking "But Matt, unless I open up a can, soup takes ALL day." To which I respond...

"Nuh-uh."

escarole and bean soup (revised 1/10/09 - revisions bolded)

1 Tbsp pure olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 cooked Italian sausage links, diced*
1 heaping Tbsp minced garlic ("jarlic" is just fine for this)
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried parsley
2 quarts good chicken stock
1-15.5 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. orzo (rosa marina) pasta, cooked to package directions
15 c. chopped escarole
pinch of kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

*again, I'm using pre-cooked Italian sausage from a local shop. Try this: next time you're cooking sausage, cook a few extra and stash 'em in your freezer.

1. In a stock pot over low heat, sweat the onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil, with a pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
2. When the onion is almost translucent, add the garlic and sausage to brown.
3. After the sausage has browned a bit, add the red pepper flakes, oregano and parsley, and continue browning.
4. When browning is done, add about 1/2 c. of the chicken stock to deglaze the pot and recover all the tasty bits of onion and sausage that stuck to the bottom.
5. Once the pot is deglazed, add the remaining chicken stock, and increase the heat to medium-high. You'll want to bring the broth to boil for a about a minute or two before reducing the heat back to medium.
6. While the stock is heating, add the rinsed, drained cannellini beans to allow then to heat through.
7. Now's the time to also add the orzo. The orzo will continue to cook in the soup, so it's not a bad idea to undercook it just a bit.
8. Once the soup has come to a boil, reduce the heat to low, add all of the escarole to the pot and slap on the lid for 5-10 minutes.
Psst... come here... closer... I want to share a little 'soup secret'... just before you declare your soup 'done', add two tablespoons of unsalted butter to the pot and allow it to melt in. The butter adds a nice finish to the taste, and a nice shimmer to the broth. Trust me, this will make your diners go "oooooo".
Ladle up the soup into bowls, and garnish with whatever you choose. Personally, I like some parsley and some cubes of romano cheese (does fresh baked bread count as a garnish?) Need to 'brighten' the flavor up a bit? Just add a quick squeeze of lemon juice.

This is a great recipe for planned leftovers, or for preparing and freezing for later... somehow, leftovers never seem to make it to the freezer 'round here. :)

Enjoy!

Lazy Lasagna

Lazy Lasagna
Matt's Wife's Lazy Lasagna
Matt's Lazy Wife's Lasagna
Four Pound Pasta

Call it what you will - this dish is quick, easy, and yummy. It's family friendly, budget friendly, fridge and leftover friendly, and freezes very well.

And it's also one of the dishes I like to make (yeah - go back and note how many of MY posts have actually contained recipes. Um - yeah!)

So what are we waiting for? Let's get cooking!


Lazy Lasagna
1 lb pasta
1 lb mozzarella (I use part skim)
16 oz jar of pasta sauce**
15 oz container ricotta cheese (I use part skim)
oregano to taste
grated Parmesan cheese

** the sauce is the primary source of seasoning in this dish, other than the oregano. If you like garlic in your pasta dishes, I recommend a garlic based sauce rather than adding raw garlic because there is really no chance for raw garlic to get cooked and for that flavor to mellow. I was in a cheesy mood this go round, so chose the Four Cheese sauce. Diavolo is also a nice spicy variation.

1. Bring one gallon of salted water to a boil in a six quart (or larger) pot. Add your pasta, and cook as directed on the box. Try not to over cook the pasta, as it'll pull some moisture from the cheese sauce. Also, don't pre-cook your pasta. You'll need the heat from the freshly drained pasta to help melt the cheese. (hmm -this sounds like Matt's mac-n-cheese - but he says it so well!!)

2. Shred the mozzarella. You could use a food processer for this, but I like doing it by hand.

3. Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the cheese for later.

4. Combine the ricotta and shredded mozzarella together in a LARGE bowl. You will be mixing everything in this bowl, so give yourself some extra room. I like a stainless bowl, as the tomato sauce will stain a plastic bowl.

5. Drain the pasta and add it to the cheese mixture. Mix everything together thoroughly. Don't give the pasta a chance to cool down -the heat of the pasta will help melt the cheeses and make everything combine more uniformly.


6. Add the jar of pasta sauce to the cheese and pasta mixture. Add grated Parmesan and dried oregano to taste. **if you crush the dried oregano between your hands before adding it, it will release more of it's flavor.

7. Mix thoroughly to combine. Mixture should be on the wet and sticky side.

8. Move the mixture into a large casserole and top with the remaining shredded mozzarella. (nnd of course you can never go wrong with even MORE shakey cheese aka grated Parmesan)


9. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, or until cheese on top is bubbly and melted.

Serve and enjoy!!!

stovetop mac 'n cheese

Another mac 'n cheese recipe?!? Sure, I'm thinking we have at least a few more in store for you.

This is one of our go-to weeknight meals. It's really easy, and it's tastygood. The original recipe is from Alton Brown's Good Eats (of course), but we've been tweaking it since we first made it.

stovetop mac 'n cheese
1 lb. box elbow macaroni (we like using Barilla Plus Multigrain... but you already knew that.)
12 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
4 oz. swiss cheese, freshly shredded
4 large eggs
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper*
1 tsp. hot sauce
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk (we use fat-free evap. milk)
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed

*yup, I guess you could use white pepper so you don't see it in the final dish. I like to see the pepper in the final dish.

1. Bring one gallon of salted water to a boil in a six quart (or larger) pot. Add your pasta, and cook as directed on the box. Try not to over cook the pasta, as it'll pull some moisture from the cheese sauce. Also, don't pre-cook your pasta. You'll need the heat from the freshly drained pasta to help build the sauce.

2. While the pasta is cooking, crack your eggs into a medium mixing bowl and beat well with a whisk.

3. Combine the salt, pepper and dry mustard in a small dish, and slowly sprinkle it in as you beat the egg. Add the hot sauce and beat just a little while longer.

4. While still beating the egg, SLOWLY drizzle in the evaporated milk. Have you checked your pasta recently? Good. Set the egg/milk mixture aside until the pasta is done.

5. When the pasta is done, cut the heat, drain the pasta, and return it back to the pot. Add the butter and stir it into the warm pasta to melt.

6. While no one is looking, scoop up a spoonful of buttered pasta, sprinkle on a bit of kosher salt, and pop it in your mouth. Mmmm.... it's good to be the cook.

7. When the butter is melted, pour in the egg/milk mixture and turn the heat to medium. Stir the mixture to heat through.

8. Slowly start adding the shredded cheese by the handful, and mix in to melt.

9. When all the cheese is in the pot, and melted, continue to cook for three minutes, stirring constantly. Serve hot.
This recipe can easily be halved. Just use a small can of evaporated milk. We make it full-sized, and fridge or freeze the leftovers.

Leftovers.... hey, that gives me an idea....

...it's not his mother's meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those tricky things. Especially when you are married and your mother-in-law has her own style of making meatloaf. One that is different from how your own mother made it.

I don't know when I first started making meatloaf for Matt - or when I started venturing further and further away from my mother's recipe. All I know is Matt loves my meatloaf, the leftovers are awesome, and even my father-in-law has been known to chow one of our special meatloaf sandwiches. If that isn't ever recipe endorsement, I don't know what is.

So even though you may already have a meatloaf recipe that works for you, I will throw my own variation out there into the world of meatloaf mayhem, perchance that someone else will be tempted.
Regina's Meatloaf
(makes 4 big servings - usually gets eaten half for dinner and half as leftovers)
1 lb ground beef (your choice - I usually use 80% lean, but 90% lean works, too)
1 egg

...those are the only two ingredients that are measurable -the rest are "guesstimates"
approx 1/4 c (or more) pasta sauce of your choice (I prefer "four cheese" or "tomato garlic")
approx 1/4 c Italian seasoned bread crumbs
approx 1/8 c wheat germ
approx 1/8 c grated Parmesan cheese
approx 2 tbs coarsley chopped chive or garlic chives
1/2 small cooking onion, chopped
salt
coarse ground pepper (coarser the better)

1. Prepare a baking dish. I use a glass dish lined with foil, but you can use dish of your choice. It is best to prepare the dish first because you will be mixing this with your hands (works the best for this type of mixture -wear gloves if you like)
   
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F
3. Place the ground beef into a large mixing bowl.
4. Sprinkle the meat with a bit of salt and pepper.
5. Add the egg, pasta sauce, chives and onion.
   
6. At this point, I begin mixing everything together with my right hand, and have all the other ingredients opened and ready to add in with my left hand - that way only one hand gets all goopy.
7. Your mixture is at it's wettest now - you will be adding the dry ingredients in as you mix, trying to bring it to the consistency you want.
8. Add in fairly equal amounts of the cheese and wheat germ, then begin to add the seasoned bread crumbs, mixing as you go along. You may have to add more if your meat is particularly "wet". If you add too much dry ingredients, your mix will get crumbly and you will need to add more sauce. You want it so that it is sticky enough to hold together but firm enough to hold a loaf shape. (I know - really scientific here)
9. Shape into a loaf and place into the pan. I tend to make my loaf squarish and flatten the top slightly -this shape works well later with the shape bread we usually get for our sandwiches.
10. Now grab that coarse ground pepper -mine happens to be straight from the grinder - and cover the entire outside of the loaf with cracked black pepper. And I do mean cover!!!
    
11. Bake for one hour - let rest 15 minutes - then serve.

Serving Variations
Our standard go-to is cous-cous, frozen corn and perhaps a salad for the first go-round, although Matt whipped up a tasty side dish the night I took these photos that he will share with you soon.

Leftovers (and we DO plan on these)
Due to the long cooking time, meatloaf is usually planned for a non-working day, although we have been know to bake one late at night after our normal dinner and pop it right into the fridge for "planned leftovers."

But for the standard leftovers, our preference around here is sandwiches - crusty bread, provolone cheese, baby spinach and reheated meatloaf slices. Mmmm...

You can freeze this, too - after baking - if it gets that far.