Official "Dinner" Thread

Originally Posted by Jules

You can substitute any lasagna recipe with ricotta cheese with a good bechamel sauce.

Whats that?? lol.

[Jules]

Okay... I cook with the decimal system... so you'll have to convert that (use google, I'm just too lazy!)

500ml Vegetable broth
500ml Milk
80 gr Margarine
70 gr Flour
1 Bay leaf
3 Pimento "grains" (allspice)
5 pepper "grains" (I know it is not grains, I can't think of the word!)

Cut the onion as finely as you can. Melt the fat and sweat the onions until they are translucent but not browning (lower heat). Mix the milk and the broth and let it boil for a moment. Add the flour to the onions and let it sweat for a bit. Then slowly add the milk/broth mixture. Add the grains (or use some ground allspice and pepper, that's fine) and the bay leaf and let everything cook for awhile. Strain it and you can use it instead of ricotta. It should have a pretty thick consistency. Oh... you can also add some Parmesan for some more flavor.

[Pam111]

Originally Posted by Reggin

Does anybody know of a good lasagna recipe WITHOUT ricotta cheese? Seems like every one I look at calls for that nasty cheese. I cant stand it! I love lots of mozzarella in my lasagna.

I made broccoli casserole tonight. Very very good.

One of my fave casseroles is tamale pie. Made with pinto, kidney, black beans, spicy canned chili, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, hamburger, and corn muffin mix.

I would love to hear about some really good casserole recipes. I love making them.

You can substitute cottage cheese if you like that..or just skip it and put in some more mozzarella. It'll be fine

[zoe08]

Originally Posted by Reggin

Does anybody know of a good lasagna recipe WITHOUT ricotta cheese? Seems like every one I look at calls for that nasty cheese. I cant stand it! I love lots of mozzarella in my lasagna.

I made broccoli casserole tonight. Very very good.

One of my fave casseroles is tamale pie. Made with pinto, kidney, black beans, spicy canned chili, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, hamburger, and corn muffin mix.

I would love to hear about some really good casserole recipes. I love making them.

I make my lasagna with cottage and mozzarella. I cannot stand ricotta cheese.

My Nanny's recipe for lasagna:
2 lb hamburger
1 onion
noodles
12 oz small curd cottage cheese
1 package mozzarella cheese
8 oz tomato sauce
8 oz taco sauce

Cook the onion in with the hamburger.
preheat oven to 350. back 30-40 minutes.

Layer
meat
noodles
mozzarella
cottage cheese
meat
noodles
cheese
meat

I have also made it like this but instead of the tomato and taco sauce I used spaghetti sauce and it was really good like that.

Originally Posted by zoe08

I make my lasagna with cottage and mozzarella. I cannot stand ricotta cheese.

My Nanny's recipe for lasagna:
2 lb hamburger
1 onion
noodles
12 oz small curd cottage cheese
1 package mozzarella cheese
8 oz tomato sauce
8 oz taco sauce

Cook the onion in with the hamburger.
preheat oven to 350. back 30-40 minutes.

Layer
meat
noodles
mozzarella
cottage cheese
meat
noodles
cheese
meat

I have also made it like this but instead of the tomato and taco sauce I used spaghetti sauce and it was really good like that.

Thank you.

[Hairy&Stumpy]

I never use cottage cheese on my lasagna. It has too much moisture and will make it runny in my opinion.

I use ricotta, a whole tub, and mix it with two eggs and parsley and chill it for at least two hours before I spread it. For me, its a consistency thing...and drippage over the pan edges stinks.

I use one pound of hamburger and one pound of fresh Italian sausage.

I brown the hamburger with about 1/2 of a large sweet onion and about 5 decent sized garlic gloves, salt and pepper

I brown the sausage separately with fennel seed, fresh basil and marjoram and dried oregano and dried red pepper, salt and regular pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper.

For the sauce, I use one small can of tomato paste, and one large can (half drained) of stewed tomatoes that I puree in a processor. I then use one regular can of tomato sauce and water (after the meat is added.)

After the meat has drained, I add it to the sauce that is already cooking. When it has reached a boil and then simmered down now, for at least a half hour, I add confectioners sugar to taste. The amount always varies, but I usually end up around 3 teaspoons...and then let it simmer another 30 minutes or so.

I use Cremete regular lasagna noodles, and only two layers of noodles.

I only use a glass baking dish, 13x9. First a layer of sauce topped with the ricotta/egg mixture, then mozzarella (one regular bag for the whole deal) followed by dried parmesan. Then a noodle layer..making sure the noodles overlap by 1/3 of an inch. Then repeat, and repeat with just sauce and moz and parm on the top layer. The top layer has extra, extra, parm, but no ricotta.

I cook covered in tin foil for 45 minutes at 350. Then up to 400 for 15 minutes and most importantly let it set and cool for a good 20 minutes before cutting.

It is always so much better the next day, and the fennel just pops! in your mouth.

[Hairy&Stumpy]

Today, I was lazy, and figured there would be several young boys in and out of the house, so I made the Rotel dip...put it on the counter in a crack-pot, with chips and paper plates so they could come and go.

I love that stuff. Note, Rotel does have MSG, so it's probably why you love it so much, lol.

I brown 1 log of Jimmy Dean Spicy Hot Pork Sausage with at least a tablespoon of dried cumin from the Lebanese market....salt, pepper and dried red pepper and a little cayenne....drain.

Into the crack-pot goes two Original cans of Rotel, undrained with a 32 oz Velveeta chopped into squares...add meat and stir and stir. Serve with regular tortilla chips, or scoops or frito's scoops. Not very healthy, lmao...but soooo good.

The leftovers are in the fridge, and for breakfast, toast some English Muffins and then plop some of the goo on them and broil open face for 4 minutes...with and egg on the side...again, not healthy but moderation in moderation.

[MisssAshby]

Last night we had Buffalo chicken breast with blue cheese sauce and warm potato salad. It was the first time I made either one and they were delish!

Tonight we are having whatever the hubby makes - it's his night to cook since he is off and I have class.

[Gempress]

I use cottege cheese, and have never had a problem with runny lasagna. I do the same thing--mix with egg and some spices---but I use oregano instead of parsely.

I'm trying a recipe for Carribbean Jerk Chicken tonight. It sounds incredibly good. If it turns out awesome, I'll post the recipe here.

[Gempress]

Okay, last night's recipe turned out awesome. Takes a little time, but it's worth it. So here it is:

Carribbean Jerk Chicken
5 pounds chicken quarters, or legs and thighs. For heaven's sake, DON'T use boneless-skinless anything! I guess you could use chicken breast if you really wanted to, but I don't think the flavor would be as good.
1 onion
1 whole head of garlic, peeled
2 habanero peppers, seeds removed--gives a nice mild-medium heat. I personally would go for 3-4 peppers, but that's because I love spicy.
1 cup rum
1/2 cup of lime juice (about 6 limes' worth).
1 1/2 tablespoon whole allspice*
1 1/2 tbsp whole coriander*
1 tbsp black peppercorns*
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp thyme
2 teaspoons cloves*
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg


*you can substitute ground spices

Put the garlic cloves, onion, habaneros, rum and lime juice in the blender. Mix until pureed. This is your marinade.

Lightly toast the whole allspice, coriander, peppercorns and cloves in a dry skillet over medium heat (omit this step if using ground spices). Shake the pan occassionally to keep from burning. You know the spices are done when you can smell a strong, spicy smell from them. It doesn't take long. Grind up the spices when done--I just put them all into my old pepper grinder. Combine all the spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme and salt.

Put the chicken in a large bowl or freezer bag. Add the marinade and half the spices--be sure to save the other half of the spice mixture. Let the chicken marinate for 24 hours. Drain the marinade off, add the remaining spice mixture, and toss to coat. Note: Be sure to be careful with the marinade. It's full of habanero peppers. Wear gloves when working with it.

Bake the chicken in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.