Mom’s Lasagna

Top reasons why you should make this as soon as possible:

1. Mom’s lasagna is amazing. No bias here. You can ask Mr. Ginge

2. It is the most requested birthday meal in our family. Mom had to implement  a rule that people couldn’t ask for the same thing because everyone was requesting lasagna.

3. Because leftovers ( if there are any) are way better the next day.

4. It has magical properties. It turned my pasta-hating father into a lasagna-eating fool.30 years ago. True story.

5. It is the perfect vehicle for cheese. And it’s even better with cheesy garlic bread.

6.It freezes incredibly well, so you can have surprise / spur of the moment lasagna-that-is-already-next-day-better, without having any of the work. (just don’t tell anyone it’s in the freezer….shhhhh…..)

7. Because it is the ultimate comfort food. Nuff said.

Mom’s Lasagna

makes 1 9×13 pan (about 12 servings)

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef ( or any lean ground meat. We’ve used turkey, chicken, moose, venison. Basically, any ground meat you have on hand)
• 1 can ( around 2 cups) tomato sauce
• 1 box lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions
• 1 lb / 500gr shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, stirring for a few minutes until fragrant and the onions are translucent.  Add the ground beef, stirring to break up and continue cooking until no longer pink. Add the tomato sauce, bring to a simmer to heat.
2. In an ungreased 9×13 pan ( we almost always use glass), lay some cooked noodles length wise in the bottom of the pan. Spread some of the sauce over the noodles, then spread some cottage cheese over top. Sprinkle with mozzarella and  parmesan cheese.  For the next layer, lay the noodles width-wise, top with sauce, cottage cheese and shredded cheese. Repeat with remaining layers. ( I usually get about 5)
3. For the top layer, top noodles with sauce cottage cheese, then sprinkle with mozzarella. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, and sprinkle with parmesan.
4. Bake uncovered in an oven preheated to 350°F for 1 hour, broiling for the last 5 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

Make this. Make this now.

-Mel

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I linked this recipe to The Weekend Potluck , Recipe Sharing Monday, and Strut Your Stuff Saturday!

Click the links for more great recipes!

Tomato Soup Cake

Wait, wait, wait!

I swear I’m not crazy. Just bear with me  a little bit. It’s good I swear.

Honestly, if I didn’t just tell you I made a cake out of a can of tomato soup, you never would have guessed it. But you see, I’m all about honesty here. And it’s way to good not to share.

I have been  making this cake forever. I do believe it was the first cake I ever made from scratch, out of a cookbook I had been given for Christmas one year. And me, being the rotten child that I was, developed a certain smugness ( that only an 11 year old can) when it came to this cake:

Here try a piece of this delicious cake. What’s in it you say? Oh, you’ll never guess in a million years! You give up you say? Welllll….. TOMATO SOUP!

You know? Like it was boogers or slime or something equally as gross going into this cake. (Which by the way, didn’t)

And honestly, that’s how you got people to eat it. I brought it to  a church potluck one time, and my sister ( in her excitement and unfortunate attempt at shock and awe) went around telling the entire congregation that I had made tomato soup cake. That poor cake did not get touched

Many months later, I made it again, swore my siblings to secrecy in a way that only an older sibling can, and brought it to the pot luck. When people asked what kind of cake it was , I simply said a spice cake, and boy did it fly. 😉

Although I don’t remember this, Mom had to go through the same thing with us, trying to convince her very picky family to try it out, ensuring us that no, it did not taste like tomato soup, that yes it was actually good, and no, she was not lying to us. And she really was right ( although she had prior information because it used to be a cake that her mom would make all the time).

So, what I’m saying is that tomato soup in cake is good and tasty thing. Especially when you want a comforting and spicy cake, that’s slathered in cream cheese icing.

Tomato Soup Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting: 

makes one 9×9 cake. Adapted from Company’s Coming: Kids Cooking  circa 1996

For the Cake:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 can ( 10 oz) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Cream Cheese Icing:

• 1 pkg ( 8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 – 3 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp lemon zest

1. Preheat your oven to 350 °F. Grease and flour a 9×9 square cake pan.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, spices and  salt and set aside.
3. In large bowl or the bowl of your mixer, beat together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Dump in the can of tomato soup and mix until it’s combined with the butter mixture.
4. Pour in the flour mixture, stirring slowly, until it is smooth and all combined, being sure to scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl.
5. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack completely.
6. Meanwhile, in another bowl, beat together the cream cheese and the butter until smooth and combined.
7. Gradually add the icing sugar to the butter mixture, beating until smooth and creamy. Stir in the grated lemon zest, then spread onto your completely cooled cake. If you find the icing a bit thin, then just stick it in the refrigerator for a bit until it firms up a bit.

– Mel

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I linked this recipe up to The Weekend Potluck, Strut Your Stuff Saturdays, and On the Menu Mondays! Click the links to check out more great recipes!

Gran’s Cabbage Rolls

In our family, birthdays=food.

Every year for my Mom’s birthday, Gran would make cabbage rolls. Every year, it was a birthday treat she looked forward to. When Gran passed away, Mom decided that they were far too much work for a meal that the rest of her family would complain about and refuse to eat. So that was then end of them for a little while. Dad would try and bring her home ones from the store every now and then, but they never compared to her moms.

About 6 years ago, when I was looking for a birthday gift to get Mom, she asked me to make her cabbage rolls, then told me how to make them. That first year was a disaster. I didn’t bake them quite long enough, made them too thick and left the rinds in the leaves. Undeterred, she asked for them the following year, and gave me a few more pointers. The following year she asked me to make a few more so she could freeze some to enjoy throughout the year. Then Mr. Ginge caught on, and started dropping not-so-subtle hints that he wanted in on the cabbage rolls too. So it’s stuck. Every year, the week of my Mom’s birthday, I pick a day and it becomes Cabbage Roll Day.

I will warn you, this truly does require a whole day, or if you aren’t up for that, then a day for rolling and a day for baking. Try and pick a cooler day because it’s hot work, and believe me, since the last week of August isn’t always cool, it’s no fun to make these when it is hotter than hell in the kitchen . As I mentioned, these freeze and reheat beautifully, and the recipe doubles, triples, or ( if you are crazy like me) quadruples wonderfully.

If you’re wondering, that makes approximately 215 cabbage rolls.

Gran’s Cabbage Rolls

makes enough to feed an army.

• 1 – 2 large green cabbages.
• 2 lbs ( about 1 kg) of ground meat. Half beef and half chicken is our favourite.
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
• 1 tsp each  salt and pepper
• 1 1.36 L (46 oz)  can of tomato juice

1. Find the biggest pot you own, and fill it with water ( I use my canning pot). Peel the outer, rubbery leaves off your cabbage. Remove the core. I do this by carefully slicing diagonally around the core, three times. This makes a triangle around the hard core, which you then should just be able to yank out. Set the pot on the stove, dunk your cabbage into it, cover and let boil. Yes, boiled cabbage will stink up your house, and every member of your family will complain about it,  but it is a necessary step.  You will want to boil the cabbage until the leaves are tender and the leaves have become translucent.
2. While your cabbage boils and smellifies your house, combine the meat, rice, salt and pepper. Smoosh it all together with your hands or a wooden spoon, then set it aside. This will help soften the rice a little bit before it gets baked.
3. The outer leaves of the cabbage so cook first, and should peel away from the cabbage easily with some tongs ( if they haven’t already floated off) If they won’t peel away, then carefully lift the cabbage out of the water with a couple of big serving spoons into a big bowl, then carefully peel away the leaves, cutting away some of the core if necessary. When they are still hot, but cool enough to handle, cut away the tough rib. For the larger, outer ribs, cut the leaves in half.
4. Scoop out 2-3 tablespoons (or larger if desired) of the meat mixture and roll into a thin sausage  shape. Place in on the boiled cabbage leaf, fold both sides over to cover then roll. Place seam side down and pack tightly in a roasting pan (see below), then continue with the remaining leaves, peeling from the cabbage as necessary. If you are finding that the leaves are getting too small or hard to roll, discard the remaining cabbage, and boil a second as above.
5. When all of the meat mixture has been used up, heat the oven to 300° F. Pour the tomato juice over the cabbage rolls, just enough to barely cover the top, otherwise it tends to boil over and is murder to clean out of your oven. The juice will thicken up and create a lovely rich sauce.
6. Cover them with the lid, then pop them in your oven for 6 hours, making sure to check them every 2 to top up the tomato juice.  In the last half an hour remove the lid to brown the tops a bit.

Slow Cooker Alternative

1. Prepare the rolls as above. Pour a little of the tomato juice into the bowl of your slow cooker, then pack in the prepare rolls.
2. Pour the remaining tomato juice over top, then cook on high for 8 hours. These cabbage rolls will be a lot lighter and will have a much runnier sauce.

Serve with some crusty bread and butter

-Mel

P.S. Please excuse the  terrible photos.

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I linked this recipe up to The Weekend Potluck , On the Menu Monday,and Strut Your Stuff Saturdays ! Click the link for more great recipes!

Improv Challenge: Greek Pasta Salad

I won’t lie. Corn and Butter stumped me.

For this month’s Improv Challenge,  hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, I knew exactly what I was going to make. One thing immediately comes to mind when I think of Tomatoes and Peppers: Greek Pasta Salad.

When I was in high school ( and for a short time after I graduated), I worked as a cook in a small local restaurant  that did catering on the side. Especially in the summer.  Many nights were spent not only cooking, cleaning and prepping for the next morning, but also prepping for an upcoming event they were catering. I won’t lie, I hated the catering jobs. You were always fighting for space in the small kitchen, it was almost impossible to get on top of prep work, they made ten tons of dishes,  and it always meant you were in for an extra long shift.

The good part about it is that you were almost always rewarded with a bowl of this pasta salad. It was sooo good. I lucked out one day, and was able to take some home with me.  I stuck the containers in the fridge, told my mom there was some leftovers from the restaurant there and then thought no more of it until I got home from and early shift the next day. It was gone. All gone.  And Mom was asking how they made it.

So we tinkered with it, and found something just as irresistible. My brother will literally mound this on his plate.  And it turns out we weren’t the only ones who thought so.  Whenever we took it to get-togethers, we were almost always asked for the recipe. A friend loved it so much, that when she got married, it was my job to bring the salad to the showers, Jack and Jill, and rehearsal dinners. Both her and her new mother-in-law ended up with the recipe afterwards.

Greek Pasta Salad

• 450g / 1 lb uncooked fusili or other curly pasta
• 1 pint container of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup green onion, chopped or 1/2 red onion chopped ( Red onion is prettier in the salad, but gets to be overpowering if you  make it ahead of time)
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
•  greek dressing (recipe below) or store-bought creamy feta dressing.

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Rinse the pasta slightly ( otherwise I find you get a solid lump of pasta) then chill.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, cherry tomatoes, green pepper, onions and feta. Before serving, pour in the dressing and mix well. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Greek Dressing

adapted from the restaurants house dressing and Best Recipes ever

• 1 cup sour cream or greek yoghurt
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 – 1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp olive oil

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sour cream, feta cheese, garlic, oregano, parsley and 1/2 tsp pepper. Pulse a few times to combine and break up the feta.
2. Add the vinegar and the olive oil and pulse for about 30 seconds. Give the dressing a taste and add the remainder of the pepper if desired. We like it quite peppery.
3. Pour over your salad or into a container and store in the fridge.

Seriously, eat this now.

And don’t forget to check out what others came up with using tomatoes and peppers!

-Mel

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I also featured this recipe on The Weekend Potluck, the Stone Gable, and Strut Your Stuff Saturday. Click the link to check out more great recipes.