Lasagna, Mexican Style

The weather forecast predicts low 90’s this weekend in Portland. Growing up in the Central Valley of California, I am no stranger to hot summer weather, but everyone also had air conditioning and my grandparents had a swimming pool. But that is not the case up here, and 92 degrees in PDX feels like a 102 degree day in Merced because of the humidty. However I am not going to complain about it, the rain will be back soon enough and then you may/will hear me whining! In the meantime we will try and stay cool by finding a piece of shady grass or maybe a fountain to splash in, blowing up the kiddie pool, and grabbing a cold beer....

No matter how hot that thermometer reads outside, on Sundays I always turn on my oven, even if that means being uncomfortable while I cook. There is just something about Sundays that calls for something comforting and warm to fill your plate a little fuller than usual. Whether it be pot roast, baked penne, or this Southwestern take on lasagna, Sundays are just better with a hot family style meal. Even this Sunday after I recover from my 4th of July hangover of too many hot dogs, root beer floats and sun, I know I will turn on the oven, perhaps attempting yet again to make the brownie recipe (the one that turned out so disastrous last night!), despite the heat…...

Mexican Lasagna

Feeds a crowd! 8-10 Servings

1 Pound ground beef
1 Can (15 oz) golden corn, drained
1 Can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 Cup salsa , mild, like picante
1 Tablespoon chili poweder
1 ½ Teaspoons cumin
16 Ounces Cottage Cheese
2 Eggs, beaten
¼ Cup Parmesan
1 Teaspoon Oregano
½ Teaspoon garlic salt
1 Cup Cheddar, shredded
12 Corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground beef in medium pan over medium high heat. Add corn, tomato sauce, salsa, chili powder and cumin. Simmer 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in separate bowl, combine cottage cheese, beaten eggs, parmesan, oregano, and garlic salt. Set aside. Grease large 13 x 9 baking glass baking dish. Place 6 corn tortillas on bottom. Top with 1//2 the cottage cheese mixture, then half the beef mixture. Repeat with tortillas, then cottage cheese, and then beef. Just like if you were making lasagna! Then top with the shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes!

A typical Sunday afternoon family portrait....

Ode to Strawberries Part 3: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

This last Sunday we picked up our first CSA box of the season and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. We received a nice assortment of fruits and vegetables and even a potted plant. Picking up the box is also kind of exciting, because you don’t really know what you are going to get. It reminded me of the feeling I used to get as a little kid buying one of those “mystery” goody bags at the toy store, and then eagerly ripping open the bag to see just what treasures it held. One of the treasures this week were 2 pints of fresh, red strawberries. But like anything in life, along with the treasures also come the challenges. This weeks challenge was the rhubarb. I have never cooked with rhubarb, and really know very little about it. What I did know was that it needs to be cooked for awhile, and that it supposedly goes well with strawberries. Looking at the rhubarb itself was a bit daunting. Raw rhubarb basically looks like a big fuschia celery stick. I toyed with the idea of making some sort of jam, cake, or crisp but ultimately decided on this crumble. I also toyed with the idea of not using the rhubarb at all, but that would be wasteful and I promised myself that if we purchased the CSA box this summer I would utilize every last piece of produce, so I made the crumble. And I am so glad I did! This crumble was very simple to prepare, smelled great while baking and came out of the oven, gooey, sweet and well, crumbly. This crumble topping is super versatile and I can’t wait to use it again in a month or so when raspberries and blackberries are in season!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

For the Filling:

1 Cup rhubarb, chopped roughly into 1 inch pieces
1 ½ Cup strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/3 Cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Topping:

1 1/3 Cup flour
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 Teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an 8 x 8 pan, (you could use a 9 inch pan, or a pie pan, I actually used a 10 inch oval gratin dish.) mix the ingredients for the filling together. Your hands work best for this! Spread filling evenly over bottom of pan. In medium bowl, mix together ingredients for the crumble topping until small and large lumps form. (I.e; crumbles). Sprinkle topping generously over filling. Bake in oven until topping is golden brown and bubbly, about 45-50 minutes. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Daddy's Barbecue Ribs with Pomegranate Glaze and Grilled Vegetables

My dad is a real grill master. He can make any cut of meat taste and smell delicious on his barbecue, and even tempt me to try proteins that I would normally shy away from. Um deer anyone? While deer wasn’t my favorite, it wasn’t that bad either. Whenever we have the chance to get together, I look forward to him barbecuing, it never gets old, and there always seems to be a new technique for me to learn or pick up. Last weekend, my dad was up visiting and on Sunday evening we decided to barbecue. My husband Jon really wanted to learn how to cook ribs, and my dad was going to show him how. We barbecued pork spareribs, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and onions studded with garlic. At the last minute, I realized I had no barbecue sauce, so I whipped one up, using pomegranate molasses. The sweetness of the molasses complimented the spiciness of the pork perfectly. The meal turned out so wonderful, that I thought I would share the whole thing with you. The only thing I would change about it is that I wish could enjoy barbecues with my dad more often!

Happy Father’s Day Daddies!

Barbecued Ribs

1-2 racks pork spareribs (about 5-6 pounds each)
Brown sugar
Oregano
Red pepper flakes
Dried garlic
Sea Salt
Pepper

In prepping the ribs, you will need to estimate the quantities based on the size of your rib racks. Basically, you are making your own rub and you want all the meat covered in a thin layer of seasoning. Rub seasonings all over the top side (meat side) of the ribs. On the bottom side (bone side) season with some more salt. Cook ribs covered on heated grill over low, medium-low (this part depends on how hot your grill runs!) for 1 hour, 40 minutes, turning occasionally. After an hour and 20 minutes, brush ribs with a light layer of barbecue sauce and let cook another 15 minutes. Remove ribs from grill, place on large tray, cover with tin foil, and place in oven to keep warm while you make the rest of the vegetables.

Pomegranate Barbecue Sauce

enough for 1 rack of ribs....

¼ Cup ketchup
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ Tablespoon Pomegranate molasses
1 Teaspoon Honey
1/8 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together and brush on meat!

Roasted Onion and Garlic

1 Large Walla Walla or Vidalia Sweet onion, peeled
1 Clove garlic, cut into slices
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Take onion and cut in half horizontally. Top with garlic slices, trying to wedge the garlic into the onion. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap each onion half tightly in aluminum foil and put on the grill with the ribs for 1 hour, 40 minutes . Remove from grill, keeping onion wrapped in tin foil until the other vegetables are ready.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes & Asparagus

2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼ inch wide long slices
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

Toss sweet potatoes & asparagus in olive oil until well coated. (It is best to use your hands for this part!) Season with salt and pepper. Put on the grill over low heat until asparagus is cooked through and sweet potatoes are slightly caramelized about 20-25 minutes. Remove from heat, put vegetables in serving dish. Open up onions and garlic and put on top of sweet potatoes and asparagus. The juices from the onion and garlic will run down onto the other vegetables. Don't worry, this is what you want!

Take ribs out of the oven and enjoy your barbecue!

Shell Pasta with Pancetta, Leeks, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes

It's been awhile. We have been busy with house guests the last week, I am in the middle of trying to start up a little business venture with a girlfriend (I will let you all know when that is up & running!)and my newly engaged sister is now visiting so of we have also been immersed in wedding planning! Of course we have still been eating delicious food, both dining out and eating in. Today for example, we trekked to the SE side to try the infamous "Reggie" at Pine State Biscuits. It was worth the wait and the 8 mile drive out of our way! We also had this pasta dish tonight for dinner.

I have really been into leeks lately, and this is a great way to use them. If you haven't cooked a lot with leeks, they are sort of like an onion, but milder and sweeter, they are incredible sauteed and caramelized as well. The shell pasta in this dish act as little spoons so you get bite sized scoops filled with all the ingredients. Bacon can be substituted for the pancetta, just be aware that the bacon has a much more aggressive smoky flavor than the pancetta. Bacon is more economical, but I really like the subtleness of the pancetta because it allows you to taste the blend of all the flavors! This recipe is loosely adapted from Gordon Ramsay's cookbook Fast Food.

Serves 4

1 Pound pasta shells also can be found as Conchiglie
3 Tablespoons olive oil
5 Ounces pancetta, sliced
3 Leeks, trimmed and finely sliced (white & pale green parts only)
10 Ounces Cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 14 1/2 Ounce can petite diced tomatoes, drained
6 Ounces creme fraiche
salt & pepper
parsley, chopped for garnish

In this dish it is very important to season every layer as it cooks, and not just at the end! Heat a large pot of salted water, bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over med high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown, then add the leeks, season with salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook on high heat about 8-10 minutes until leeks are tender. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Add in creme fraiche, and parsley, stir and season with salt and pepper, remove from heat. Toss in cooked pasta shells. Season to taste. Serve immediately!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Growing up in California, you eat a lot of ranch dressing. Ranch dressing is a permanent part of the California food culture, and it certainly was a part of mine as a little girl. I admittedly took it a little too far as a child, refusing any other kind of salad dressing, dipping everything from carrots and chicken tenders to French fries in the stuff. French fries with a side of ranch. Now that is quite possibly my absolute favorite way to eat ranch dressing, with fried artichoke hearts running a close second. In California, ordering French fries with a side of ranch, doesn’t bat an eye. Up here in Oregon, 90% of the time you are accommodated, but try ordering that in the Midwest, and then wait for the strange looks. In Europe, well forget about it, they don’t serve ranch there….I am glad nobody told me ranch dressing wasn’t as widely available everywhere else in the world back then, because at that age, I might never have left…..

Has all this talk of ranch dressing made you want some? Well I hope so, because it is ridiculously easy. I wish I had known how to make some years ago, I could have cut down on the home sickness! Homemade ranch dressing is also much better than that stuff from Hidden Valley.

I “borrowed” this recipe from the Gluten Free Girl , who had borrowed it from somebody named “Cookiecrumb” and I am sure Cookiecrumb borrowed it from somebody else, it is after all just a basic ranch dressing, classic and at its best.

Makes 3 cups

1 Cup buttermilk
1 Cup mayonnaise
1 Cup whole fat yogurt
1 Teaspoon dried dill
1 Teaspoon dried oregano
1 Teaspoon dried garlic
1 Teaspoon kosher salt
1 Teaspoon pepper
Juice of ½ a lemon

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into container and refrigerate. Let dressing sit for 1 day before eating, this allows all the flavors to blend together! (This is important! Leave it alone, or it won’t taste right!) Serve with anything and everything =)

These veggies are just begging for some Ranch lovin!

Ode to Strawberries Part 2: Strawberry, Walnut, & Goat Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

The weather yesterday was crazy, like a scene out of the Wizard of Oz. Sofia and I were cruising the farmers market (a mini one in the park behind my house, just started, yay!) and buying strawberries. Well I was the one buying while Sofia was “sampling” more like grabbing at all of them on the table and trying to stuff them in her mouth…Anyway, it was hot and sunny, humid, and downright uncomfortable. We walked back to the house and I stripped my little bug down to her designer Costco diaper, filled our glasses with ice water, opened all the windows and tried to cool off. Then within minutes, the wind picked up, the sky turned dark, lightning and thunder ensued and it began to hail. Yikes! Then again, it did add a dose of excitement to our day. The power in the Pearl District (where Jon works) was knocked out still today so Jon got an impromptu 3 day weekend….

Those strawberries? Well, I made a salad with them. The type of salad that makes a fantastic lunch, but add some grilled chicken and you have dinner. It is also the type of salad that comes in handy if say a thunderstorm rolls through and your power is knocked out….

Riesling would go very well with this salad!

3 Ounces goat cheese, crumbled
½ Pint sliced strawberries, sliced
½ Cup walnut halves, toasted
10 Ounces fresh spinach
¼ Cup apple cider vinegar
½ Cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses or syrup*
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

* You might be asking yourself what you would do with the rest of a bottle of pomegranate molasses, besides making the obvious vinaigrette. Pomegranate molasses actually makes an excellent marinade for meats (I have coated a turkey in it several times) and also can be used in mixed drinks.

Whisk together the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, pomegranate molasses, and thyme until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper, set aside.
Place spinach in serving bowl, top with strawberries and walnuts. Sprinkle with goat cheese, and drizzle the vinaigrette over! Serve!

Ode to Strawberries Part 1 : Lemon Yogurt Cake with Strawberry Sauce

June marks the start of the strawberry season up here in Oregon. The return of the strawberry really does scream “summer has arrived!“. (If strawberries could scream that is….). The lines outside the booths selling them at the farmers market this morning looked like something out of 1980’s Moscow. (I would have taken a picture but it was way too crowded!) Despite all that wading through the crowd in the heat, it is definitely worth it for a pint or flat of the season’s first strawberries. The different booths offer samples to customers, so you can decide for yourself which farm offers the best berries. The added bonus? Most of the strawberry farms are from Corvallis, so if you wear your Oregon State gear, (which my husband always does) you will probably wind up with a few extra berries!

Fresh berries from the farm really do taste better! They are redder, naturally sweeter, and juicier than the ones at the grocery store, because they get to ripen on the vine before being taken to market. So go and buy some strawberries now while you can, whether it be from your local farmers market, farm, or roadside stand!

Coming home with this bounty of strawberries, I was so excited! Would I make lunch with them? Dessert? Or would I just eat them all plain, straight out of the basket? After calming down from my strawberry euphoria, I realized that I could do all those things and if need be, go back and push through the crowds to buy more.....

I have a confession to make. As much as I have stated in this blog and proclaimed aloud to my family, that I hate baking, I have started to like it. Maybe it is the controlled process, the concentrated measuring, or the gleeful smile on Jon’s face when I pull something sweet out of the oven, but baking has really started to appeal to me. This weekend, I really had an urge to make some sort of lemon cake. The two recipes it came down to were by Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) and Molly Wizenberg (The Orangette). Molly’s French style lemon yogurt cake won out for two reasons: one, her chocolate chip banana bread recipe totally rocks, and two, I read that she met her husband Brandon via this recipe. Um, how romantic is that? So I had to make this cake, and of course I also had to make a strawberry sauce to serve alongside it! The way I make my strawberry sauce is more of a jammy consistency then a refined sauce. If you would like the sauce to be more syrupy, add another ½ cup of sugar, if you don’t want seeds, then pour sauce through a mesh strainer. This cake is wonderful, lemony, and crumbly, without being overly sweet. We found excuses to eat it all weekend, justifying our gluttony by insisting that the strawberry topping somehow made it healthy. I made this cake Saturday afternoon and it was gone by Sunday evening!

Makes 8 Servings

For the Cake:

1 ½ Cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking powder
2 Teaspoons lemon zest
Pinch of salt
½ Cup plain WHOLE milk yogurt
1 Cup sugar
3 Large eggs
½ Cup vegetable oil

For the Lemon Syrup:

¼ Cup powdered sugar
¼ Cup lemon juice

For the Lemon Icing:

1 Cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons lemon juice

For the Strawberry Sauce:

1 Cup sliced strawberries
¼ Cup sugar
½ Cup water
1 Teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9 inch round cake pan with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper, grease that too. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the lemon zest and mix well. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt sugar and eggs, stirring to mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add the oil and stir well, until it becomes a smooth yellow batter. Pour into the pan. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes. (Insert toothpick into center of cake, if toothpick comes out clean, cake is done!) Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, using a butter knife along the sides of the pan, invert the cake onto a plate. Remove the parchment paper, and invert the cake back onto the cooling rack. Set the rack on a baking sheet so that it will catch the dripping icing.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon syrup ingredients. Spoon the syrup over the warm cake slowly. Cool cake completely.

Meanwhile, combine strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Let cool.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon icing ingredients. Make sure to mix well so the sugar is completely dissolved. Spoon the icing over the cake. Let sit about 1 hour. Serve cake with strawberry sauce.