Goodness in a three by three square

Last Night's Lasagna (not pictured: the first two pieces)

The lasagna was outstanding! And it was wonderful to be able to pop it in the oven and lie down on the living room floor for an hour while I waited for it to cook. That's about all I can manage at the moment.

It was a little bit soupy. Just a little. But I'm afraid if I had left out some of the liquid from the tomatoes, say, it would have been too dry, which is a much more dire tragedy in the world of lasagna. I removed the foil about halfway through, rather than waiting until the last ten minutes, and that seemed to help.

Good Ol' Lasagna

As some of you know, I am anticipating some news in the next week or so on my first attempt at a novel. I keep imagining my manuscript as a figurine (with arms and legs kind of like Gumby's, except that it is made out of paper and wearing a top hat for some reason) strolling around Manhattan to meetings with publishers, shaking people's hands and fanning out his pages seductively while editors nod with approval.

And then, in some of the darker daydreams, he gets a little touristy and goes to the top of the Empire State Building, where he promptly blows off the edge, scatters all over Fifth Avenue, and disintegrates under the tires of taxis.

[insert nervous laughter here]

And that is how I decided to make something really time consuming for tomorrow's dinner.

Instructions:

Take everything that isn't milk out of the crisper (if you don't live somewhere with milk-in-a-bag, you won't get this) and dice it up. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a big pot. Dump in onions, carrots, parsnips, and anything rooty that takes a long time to soften. Cook until soft, five to ten minutes. Add several garlic cloves, minced, and cook another minute. Splash in something liquid (I love sherry, and sometimes it even makes it into the food) to deglaze. Then put in one large can of crushed tomatoes and one large can of whole or diced. Add whatever other vegetables are lying around. I had two zucchinis and some swiss chard, which I sliced into strips, plus a couple fresh tomatoes.

Now, some people would say that I should have added meat back there, and the thing is, I intended to, but blinding anxiety has a way of impeding cognition. When I realized my mistake, it was too late, as I wasn't about to dump raw hamburger into the mix. So I browned it in a separate pan and added at the end to the sauce. No big deal.

Add to this a lot of black pepper, basil, oregano, etc. No salt is needed with canned tomatoes but if you have a death wish, be my guest.

Now for the cheese. Shred mozzarella until your arm falls off or you have three cups, whichever comes first. Then add enough cottage cheese to make a thick spread. Or ricotta is even better, but I didn't have any on hand.

Spray a 13x9 pan and begin your layers with a scoop of sauce. This keeps everything from sticking. Add the pasta sheets (I had a multigrain fresh in the freezer but whatever is fine--I never cook them first regardless), then a layer of cheese, and repeat until it is going to overflow and make a mess of your fridge. Don't do what I did and continue adding ingredients like some deranged person and be surprised when it overflows.

I really was surprised. It's like I'm stupid or something.

Finish with parmesan cheese, cover with foil and cook at 375 for an hour, removing the foil in the last ten minutes to let the parmesan brown. Mine is still in the fridge to wait for tomorrow, which will come in handy, since by then I will probably be spending most of the day crouched in the back of the closet.

It's quite possible I've left out a major step here. I'll post a picture tomorrow and let you know how it turns out!

Bon Appecheap!

Today's New York Times has a great article on food magazines downshifting from luxury ingredients to less expensive recipes and teaching people how to use leftovers to make a dish stretch. There's also a nice description of how food magazines have evolved since WWII.

Bravo to a more economical approach to cooking! Fancy food is fun, but overweight, in-debt Americans need help learning to cook simple, nutritious dishes that are inexpensive and easy.

All hail bacon!

This post might seem to contradict some things I've said in the past about eating healthy. Bacon is full of saturated fat, calories, and sodium. But you know what else it's full of? Happiness. And the USDA recommends happiness as part of a balanced diet.

It is in that spirit that I give you potato cheddar soup with bacon, based loosely on the Epicurious recipe.

Fry half a pound of bacon in a pan. Before you do, though, watch this tutorial. What can't the internet teach you how to do? It must be how W. got through his first term.

Remove the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving the grease in the pan. That's right--the basis for this soup is bacon grease.

Chop up one onion and cook it in the grease. Let it get soft. As I've mentioned, I hate an undercooked onion. When it's just about ready, deglaze the pan with some sherry or wine to get all the sticky yummy bits. Then pour the mixture into a soup pot.

Stir 1/4 cup flour into a measuring cup containing 1 3/4 cups water. Then add to the onion mixture, along with 2 cups give or take of chicken broth and a pound of cubed potatoes. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the potatoes are cooked through and the soup is thick and bubbly.

Now here comes the lily-gilding part. Stir in a cup of shredded cheddar cheese or some plain yogurt. Or not. Puree in a food processor if desired, or not. We had it chunky and it was great. At this point you could also chop up the cooked bacon and add it to the soup, but we elected for BLTs instead.

Enjoy!