Don't Forget the Ricotta

After spending close to six or seven hours making lasagna, we were ready to eat it. The table was set, food was on the plates and we were hungry. I cut a piece with my fork excited to finally taste what Jim and I had worked so hard on.

Then it dawned on me. We didn't put the ricotta in the lasagna. Three full tubs of ricotta were sitting our refrigerator, completely unopened, because we forgot it. It seems simple enough, right? Open the tub, spoon some on each layer and you're good. That's why we forgot it.

Let me start at the beginning. Our goal was to make homemade lasagna. All of it homemade--the sauce, the pasta, fresh mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The only thing that didn't require some form of work? You guessed it. The ricotta. And that's why it's STILL sitting in my fridge and not layered in my beautiful lasagna.

Good news? The lasagna still tastes amazing. The fresh mozzarella was definitely worth it, the sauce made my apartment smell like heaven for a day and a half AND tasted delicious and making the pasta was quite an experience.

If you're in the mood for a cooking endeavor that takes some time, try making homemade lasagna. You know you'll love it and it tastes so much better after you spend all of that time on it.

Just don't forget the ricotta.

Bolognese Sauce

2 1/2 lbs. ground sirloin/beef

1 large carrot, finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

4/2 14.5 oz. cans of peeled, seeded, and diced tomatoes, drained

1 1/4 c. full-bodied red wine

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

5 sprigs thyme

4 sage leaves

3 bay leaves

4-5 leaves basil

Begin by cooking the beef over medium high heat in a large pot or stock pot. Because there's a lot, you'll probably want to cook it in batches. Remove the meat once cooked and keep in a separate container.

When meat is cooked, start cooking the vegetables in the same pot. You can keep some of the fat from the meat or use olive oil instead to sweat the vegetables, which will take about 10 minutes. Add 1/4 c. of the red wine to the pot and deglaze the pan (scrape up all of the little bits of meat and veggies that are stuck to the pot).

Return the meat to the pot after deglazing. Add the rest of the wine (1 cup) and red wine vinegar. Add the tomatoes. Stir everything together. It will look very thick and like it isn't a sauce at all. Don't worry, though. The juices from the tomatoes will come out when it starts to cook.

Wrap the thyme, sage and bay leaves in the basil leaves. This is called a bouqet garni. Tie it together with kitchen twine or dental floss. Drop this into the pot.

Let sauce simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours. Ideally, refrigerate it overnight. If you do this, reheat it for 30 minutes before using in lasagna.

Homemade Pasta

5-6 eggs

4 c. flour

2 T olive oil

Pasta Machine

Form flour into a ring with a well in the center. Crack 5 eggs into the well and add olive oil.

Stir eggs around with fingers, breaking up the eggs and destroying the wall of flour. Drag more flour from the walls into the eggs.

Continue to pull flour from the walls until dough forms.

Use a sharp edge like the back of a knife to pull up the dough and work it together. If there is still loose flour, add one more egg YOLK and then the white if the dough is still too dry.

Work into a ball. (I ended up using 6 eggs total, but the dough ended up too sticky. Next time I'll use 5.)

Divide the dough into fourths. Set the rollers at the widest setting on the pasta machine. Work a portion through the rollers. Fold the dough over in half and work through the machine again. Fold and roll through again. Continue to do this until the dough feels smooth, like suede or leather.

Adjust the knob to the next smallest setting and pass the dough through. Continue to roll the dough through the machine, decreasing the width on the rollers each time. If it gets to be too long, cut in half. Place finished layers of pasta on wax paper to prevent from sticking.

To cook the pasta, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add salt and some olive oil to prevent from sticking. Place pasta in water. We boiled 1-2 strips at a time to make it less stressful. After 30 seconds, check the pasta. It should be al dente with a bit of a bite to it still.

Hint: We made this whole recipe, and didn't need all of it. For the lasagna, you'll need two strips per layer of lasagna. In the end, we used about 6-8 strips of lasagna pasta. You can store the pasta in the refrigerator for a couple days, or you can dry the pasta for a later date. Or you can just cut this recipe in half.

Lasagna

Cooked lasagna strips

3-15 oz. containers of ricotta cheese

1 1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella, sliced

Quick Tip: Put the mozzarella in the freezer 15-20 minutes before you want to slice it. It helps firm the cheese and makes it much easier to cut it.

Bolognese sauce

1 lb Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Grease a 10 x 14 baking dish. Place 2-3 strips of the pasta in the bottom of the pan. Layer the first noodles with one third of each of the ricotta, mozzarella, sauce and parmesan cheese. Repeat for second and third layers.

Finish the lasagna with a layer of sauce, mozzarella and parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

I Lied, My Heart Actually Belongs to Sycamore

This past Thursday Jim and I went to Sycamore to celebrate. What were we celebrating? I recently had an article on fair food published in the food section of the Columbia Daily Tribune. It was my first published article, so we celebrated in true foodie style--we went out to dinner. And since Sycamore is my favorite restaurant, I had to go there.

Every time I go, I get the spinach salad to start. It's got warm and salty pancetta, spicy red onions and big leafy spinach with balsamic vinaigrette. Jim got the heirloom tomatoes, which was equally tasty.

I normally get a beef or pork entree at really nice restaurants like Sycamore. Last time we went, I got their short ribs that had been braised in ale. The meat was so tender and rich with flavor from the ale I was beside myself. Time before that? I got a pork chop with pineapple black bean salsa served on top.

This time, however, I wasn't really in the mood for a large entree, so I sampled two of their small plates: gnocchi with shitake mushrooms and asparagus, and their 3-cheese platter. The gnocchi was incredible. Gnocchi is basically potato pasta, which sounds a little odd until you actually try it. I normally don't enjoy mushrooms too much, but they gave the pasta such a deep and earthy flavor I didn't mind.

The cheese platter? Omg. That's all I can say. A slice of blue cheese, brie cheese and some goat cheese with poppyseed and sesame seed crackers, smoked almonds AND fig compote. I love goat cheese, but the big hunk of blue cheese definitely gave it a run for its money. I didn't finish the whole plate; it was intended for several people to share it. So I boxed it right up and had a very gourmet lunch at work the next day!

Jim always, always, always gets seafood. It's a little annoying because it means I can't really try his food since I don't like it all that much. He got scallops this time, monk fish cheeks last time and a tuna dish the time before that. I envy how much he likes seafood. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on so much!

Dessert? Cantaloupe sorbet. It had a pleasant consistency and subtle sweetness. They always have a cheesecake dish (my fave), a chocolate cake dish, and about four more. It's the hardest decision of the evening trying to pick a dessert from Sycamore.

Sycamore is an outstanding restaurant. The focus is on fresh, good quality ingredients prepared in ways that highlight the ingredient and not so much the technique behind it. Mike Odette, the chef at Sycamore, should sleep on my couch and be my personal chef. That's how much I love his food. The restaurant itself has a warm, elegant atmosphere, perfect for a romantic date or nice lunch. The waiters are friendly and well-informed.

It's really just about the perfect restaurant.

If you'd like to take a look at my article, just click here. It's exciting to have been given the opportunity to get published in a food section I like!

Ingredient of the Month: Peaches

I've always loved growing up in Missouri in the summertime. While the heat and humidity make me go crazy, the produce more than makes up for it, especially the peaches. They're sweet and tart at the same time and when you eat one, you need a paper towel because juice gets everywhere. It makes them the perfect Ingredient of the Month for August.

Peaches shouldn't be stored in the refrigerator because it lessens their taste. Look for peaches that have a gold-orange hue to them. If the only peaches available have a greenish color around the stem, let them ripen at room temperature for a day or two.

Canned Peaches

This past weekend, Jim and I went out to his parents' house to can peaches. I helped last year, too, but this year the peaches we were canning were for us, making it even more fun and worth it! Canning isn't really that difficult of a process, and I hope to learn how to do it well enough so that I can do it on my own someday.

Jim peeling and slicing the peaches into quarters.

After you peel and slice them, you have to let them soak in a cold saltwater bath before placing them in the jars.

When you fill the jars with peaches and syrup, you have to run a knife down the side of the jar and its contents to get all of the air bubbles out of the jar.

When the jars are covered, that's when you place them in the pot of boiling water to allow the jars to seal.

If you want a recipe for canning peaches with instructions, let me know in the comments and I'll get the instructions posted on here later.

Peach Pie Filling

We had extra peaches left over when we finished canning peaches, so we decided to freeze them. I like peaches in the fall and winter too! A simple trick anyone can use for a quick and easy peach pie, though, is to go ahead and mix the peaches with the other ingredients for peach pie filling. That way, when you want a peach pie, all you need is a pie shell.

6 cups sliced, peeled peaches
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Fruit Fresh or lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Transfer to a gallon-sized freezer bag. Make sure to get as much of the air out of the bag when closing it as possible. Put bag in freezer, and whenever you want to bake the pie, pull it out and thaw it. Prepare the pie using any pie recipe you like. How easy is that?

Grilled Peaches with Balsamic Glaze and Cream

While peaches can scream "comfort food," they can also be a very refined and elegant ingredient, especially if left simple. Try grilling your peaches for a sweet and classy dessert.

1 peach per person, cut in half and pitted

2 t. brown sugar

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

Oil for cooking surface

Whipped cream

Heat grill or grill pan to high and coat the surface with oil or cooking spray so the peaches don't stick. Place peaches cut side down and cook 3-4 minutes until thoroughly warmed and evenly marked.

Heat the balsamic and brown sugar in small pot over medium-high heat. Let sauce reduce until it becomes syrupy. This should take about a minute. When the mixture coats the back of a spoon and reduces by half, remove from heat and drizzle over grilled peaches. Top with whipped cream.

My Heart Belongs to the Pear Tree

While I love local Columbia restaurants (don't get me started on Sycamore), nothing can beat the Pear Tree in Bevier, MO. Even though it's about an hour away, I am more than willing to take the time to drive there. Even better if someone else is paying, which Jim's parents did this past Saturday (thanks!).

Jim took me there the first summer we were dating after going on and on about how amazing the food was. "You have to eat the onion rings. You haven't had onion rings until you've eaten at the Pear Tree," he would tell me. Needless to say, I was more than excited to try the onion rings, which were heaven. The batter is perfectly crisp - not soggy at all. Usually, I use ketchup when I eat onion rings, but there was so much onion flavor that I didn't even need it.

I'm a big steak girl. I couldn't be vegetarian if I tried because a good, medium steak can make my heart sing like nobody's business. So, unsurprisingly, I got the 6 oz. filet mignon the first time I went. It was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life, it was THAT good. The beef tasted unlike any other I've tasted. It was tender, perfectly juicy, and well-seasoned. When we went last Saturday, I got the same thing. It was still just as wonderful.

I like to pride myself on being somewhat of a cheesecake conoisseur. It is my favorite dessert. Lucky for me, then, that the Pear Tree makes their cheesecake in-house. While it isn't my top choice for cheesecake, it's pretty high up there. The cake itself is creamy and not too sweet so when you eat it with fruit toppings like strawberries it isn't over-the-top sweet.

The Pear Tree also specializes in batter-dipped lobster tail, which Jim raves about constantly, and prime rib. Other items on the menu include grilled pork chops, broiled Alaskan salmon in butter sauce and golden fried chicken. They also serve homemade ice cream, which can be served as is or in a very yummy after-dinner drink.

If you're looking for traditional American fare with above quality ingredients, try Pear Tree. It may be pricier (an entree runs anywhere from $17 for fried chicken to $43 for the lobster tail with steak) than other restaurants, but it is totally worth it for a special dinner. The ambiance is just as nice, with dim lighting and waiters and waitresses wearing white button-up shirts and black bow ties.

Visit http://thepeartreerestaurant.com/ for a full menu and contact information.

Hit the Cookbooks: Mustard Roasted Fish

In an effort to expand my culinary knowledge and skill, I'm going to try and use cookbooks for some of my recipes to try new ingredients and techniques. Nothing like having food splotches all over the pages of a recipe book to make you feel like a real cook!

I recently decided I was going to try fish to test whether or not I still hate it. I chose to find a recipe from Ina Garten's Back to Basics, which has beautifully simple and refined recipes anyone can cook. I hoped her recipe would be so exquisite I wouldn't even notice that it was fish I was eating.

I've never really liked seafood. I can't stand the fishy smell or taste. However, I love fried fish. Catfish, walleye, small-mouth bass - really anything with mild fish flavor and tons of fried breading. My friends and family affectionately tell me I like "pond food." I would take more offense, but pond food is delicious.

This time though, I skipped the breading. Although it took me a while to actually put the bite of fish in my mouth when I sat down to eat, it wasn't too bad. The sauce was great and helped cut through any unwanted fish flavor. It was creamy but not too heavy, which complemented the fish well.

I changed the recipe to accomodate the fact that I can't afford some of the stuff she uses. I also served this fish with parmesan roasted potatoes, and the combination was pretty good.

Hopefully I'll be getting a digital camera soon so I can take better pictures of the food I make. Until then, my built-in computer camera will have to do!

Roasted Fish with Mustard Cream Sauce
4 fish fillets (I used tilapia, but you could really use anything light)
1/4 c. sour cream
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon course ground mustard
1/4 c. minced onion

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the fish fillets in the pan. Salt and pepper the fillets well.

Whip the heavy whipping cream until it starts to look like whipped cream. Fold in the sour cream. Add both mustards and the onion. Spoon the sauce over the fish fillets, covering completely. Bake the fish 10 minutes or until the center starts to flake easily.

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
8-10 small red potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss the potatoes with olive oil until all pieces are coated. Season with as much Italian seasoning and salt and pepper as you like. Add the Parmesan cheese.

Spread evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until potato pieces are tender. Half-way through cooking, toss the potatoes around to make sure the potatoes don't stick.