Roasted Butternut Squash, Rosemary, and Garlic Lasagna

This is SUCH a decadent meal for a Wednesday night but it was the American Idol finale so that's something to celebrate, right? I was supposed to make this on the weekend but never got around to it. Not the most healthy option in the world, but the flavour and melt in your mouth goodness really are worth a *few* extra calories. At first, you may think that butternut squash, rosemary & garlic don't work together but once it is all warm, bubbly and melted together it is delicious!

I am trying to find out if it is Lasagna or Lasagne. Both options seem to be acceptable. Please feel free to post a comment and let me know which is correct!

Ingredients & Preparation: (From Epicurious, original from Gourmet, December 1995)

Servings: Makes 6 main-course or 12 side-dish servings.

• 3 pounds butternut squash, quartered, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 9 1/2 cups)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cups milk (I used skim)
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• nine 7- by 3 1/2-inch sheets dry no-boil lasagne pasta
• 1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan (about 5 ounces)
• 1 cup heavy cream (35%)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Garnish: fresh rosemary sprigs

Preheat oven to 450°F. and oil 2 large shallow baking pans.

In a large bowl toss squash with oil until coated well and spread in one layer in pans. Roast squash in oven 10 minutes and season with salt. Stir squash and roast 10 to 15 minutes more, or until tender and beginning to turn golden.

While squash is roasting, in a saucepan bring milk to a simmer with rosemary. Heat milk mixture over low heat 10 minutes and pour through a sieve into a large pitcher or measuring cup.

In a large heavy saucepan cook garlic in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Stir in flour and cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk mixture in a stream until smooth. Return pan to heat and simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, about 10 minutes, or until thick. Stir in squash and salt and pepper to taste. Sauce may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, its surface covered with plastic wrap.

Reduce temperature to 375°F [I missed this step (duh!) and baked at the high heat! No wonder the fire alarm went off. It didn't burn however, so no worries] and butter a baking dish, 13 by 9 by 2 inches.

Pour 1 cup sauce into baking dish (sauce will not cover bottom completely) and cover with 3 lasagne sheets, making sure they do not touch each other. Spread half of remaining sauce over pasta and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan. Make 1 more layer in same manner, beginning and ending with pasta.

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat cream with salt until it holds soft peaks and spread evenly over top pasta layer, making sure pasta is completely covered. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan over cream. Cover dish tightly with foil, tenting slightly to prevent foil from touching top layer, and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake lasagne 10 minutes more, or until top is bubbling and golden. Let lasagne stand 5 minutes.

Garnish each serving with rosemary.

Baked Salmon with Lemon & Leek Cream

My friend Melissa inspired me to make this meal today! She was making salmon this weekend and I had one in the freezer so I decided to make this for our Victoria Day dinner. I hope we get our barbecue soon (we only just got grass in the yard) because I am growing tired of cooking fish in the oven. This fish would have tasted much better done on the grill but I didn't have that option. I didn't use a recipe so I am only going to be able to give you approximate measurements.

Ingredients & Preparation:

Salmon

• 1/2 wild pacific salmon (skin on)
• herbs of your choice
• fresh dill
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Dress the salmon as you like...I added a bit of lemon & herb seasoning, fresh dill, a drizzle of olive oil and some salt & pepper. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes covered in foil at 350F or until done.

Lemon & Leek Crème (the following is a variation of the sauce I made...this one is from Epicurious. The measurements will be better than my guesstimations!).

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 2-3 medium leeks, halved, thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup whipping cream (I used crème fraiche)
• 1/2 cup of white wine (optional)
• salt & pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leeks; sauté 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook until leeks are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Increase heat to medium; add lemon juice and stir until liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Mix in cream (I used 1 cup of crème fraiche instead as I had no cream in the fridge). Simmer until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.

Transfer mixture to blender (or food processor). Blend until smooth. Strain sauce into same saucepan, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible (I didn't need to do this as the sauce was quite smooth). Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper (I also added about 1/2 cup of dry white wine at this point as the sauce was too thick. I actually preferred the flavour of the sauce once the wine was added).

I served the salmon with a side of Israeli couscous. I added chopped red peppers & parsley for colour. I also added half a vegetable bouillon cube for some extra flavour.

Banana Chips (for furry friends only!)

My dog is starting to get spoiled! I tried another recipe from the Cooking for your Dog cookbook today and made some banana chips and another batch of honey oat dog biscuits (recipe in older post). I promise our dog's friend Yoshi some treats as well, so he is getting his very own dog treat bag tomorrow.

Ingredients & Preparation:

• 2 2/5 cups whole wheat flour
• 2/5 cup skim milk
• 1 egg
• 1 puréed banana
• 1 tablespoon honey

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a mini-food processor, whiz up the banana and the milk until smooth. Add to the other ingredients and mix into a dough. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into small cubes.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment and place cookies on it. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Serve with a side of water!

Meatless Shepherd's Pie

This is so easy to make! It's something I just made up one day and my husband loved it so I've been making it ever since. It's healthy and delicious.

Ingredients & Preparation:

"Meat"

• 2 packages of Yves Veggie Ground Round (Italian)
• enough olive oil to stop things from sticking!
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 package of mushrooms, sliced
• salt & pepper to taste
• a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce - please be aware that most of these sauces contain anchovies, so if you are a vegetarian (and i'm sure you'd know this already!) try to find one without any anchovies or skip this step altogether. Thanks to Les for this tidbit!

Mashed Potato

• 6-7 medium potatoes (russet or yukon gold), peeled
• milk or cream to taste (I used creme fraiche this time)
• 2 tablespoons of butter or to taste
• salt & pepper to taste
• chives
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese for the topping

I like to make my mashed potatoes first, usually a day ahead of time if I'm busy so I'm not doing everything on the same night. If you are doing them on the same day, make your mashed potatoes before any of the other steps. Once those are finished, set aside. Preheat oven to 375 F.

Cook up all your vegetables until soft in some olive oil - start the onions first as they take longer. Once finished, set aside in a bowl. In the same pan, heat the veggie "meat" with salt, pepper and Worcestershire until warmed through. Transfer the "meat" to a corningware and pack it down a little, add the mashed potatoes next and then top with some cheese.

Pop into the oven for 20 minutes until bubbly. Move to the top rack and broil for another 2 minutes or so until the cheese is golden.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

I had a few ingredients in the fridge and freezer that I wanted to use up so I whipped up some easy enchiladas for a quick and delicious dinner. I normally make black bean enchiladas (vegetarian) so this recipe is a first for me!

Ingredients & Preparation:

Serves 2 with leftovers

• tortillas (4)
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced & sauteed in olive oil
• small red onion, chopped fine
• shredded cheese of your choice (I used mozzarella)
• tomatoes & red peppers, diced & mixed together
• 1 can of enchilada sauce (I used the mild green one today)
• salt & pepper to taste on the chicken

Cook the chicken first with the onion and salt/pepper. Once cooked, roughly cut the chicken into small bite size pieces. Put a little bit of the sauce in your casserole dish. Take one tortilla at a time and fill with 1/4 of the chicken and tomato/pepper mixture. Roll the tortilla up and place folded side down in the dish. Continue until tortillas are all filled.

Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in the oven at 375 F for about 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly on top.

Serve with a green salad for a quick weekday meal!

Honey Oat Cookies (For furry friends only!)

My dog was quite sick for the past 2 days from eating a store-bought dog treat. I stayed home with her today to make sure she was drinking water and not messing up the house and decided to make her some home-made cookies. She loves them and her tummy seems to be settled now. She is spoiled rotten!

They were very simple to make. I made 1.5 dozen and stored the remainder in a ball (freezer) for the next time I need some.

Ingredients & Directions: (Recipe from Cooking for your Dog by Ingeborg Pils)

• 1 1/4 cups of flour


• 1 1/2 cups of porridge oats


• 2 teaspoons of baking powder


• 2 tablespoons of butter


• 2 tablespoons of honey


• 2 eggs


• 2/5 cup of milk


• flour for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add butter in small flakes, honey, eggs and milk. Knead together thoroughly.

Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out round cookies shapes. Place on baking sheet with some room between them. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the cookies to dry for another 2 hours in the oven.

Serve with hugs & ear scratches!

Chicken with Preserved Lemons & Niçoise Olives

Did you know that 2 preserved lemons is $23? Neither did I. I had to buy them at this price because only ONE store in the whole region carries these as a grocery item. Needless to say, I now have preserved lemons in the fridge and have no idea what to use them for next! This dish felt like a lot of work for little return. I did not love the flavour but it was quite good overall.

I used chicken breast and chicken thighs instead of the whole bird (as recommended in the recipe). Most epicurious reviewers suggested to go this route. The flavour is very different and quite complex.

The recipe was translated from French and so it reads a little off. I started making this not realizing the recipe was only for 4 people. I was serving dinner to 7 so I quickly adjusted the amounts. I found the garlic was a bit much so unless you LOVE garlic, use only 3 cloves.

Ingredients & Preparation: (From Epicurious, Original Gourmet, October 1990)

Serves 4.

• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh gingerroot
• a 3-inch cinnamon stick
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh coriander plus additional for garnish if desired
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• a pinch of saffron threads, crumbled
• 1/2 cup olive oil
  a 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, trussed
  1/4 cup Niçoise or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and chopped
• 1 preserved lemon (small), chopped fine

In a large ovenproof kettle stir together the onion, the garlic, the gingerroot, the cinnamon stick, 3 tablespoons of the coriander, the parsley, the lemon juice, the saffron, the oil, and 1 cup water, put the chicken on top of the mixture, and season it with salt and pepper.

Bake the chicken, covered, in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 45 minutes, transfer it to a cutting board, and let it stand, covered loosely, for 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into quarters.

To the onion mixture add the olives and the preserved lemon, bring the sauce to a boil, and simmer it, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it is thickened. Return the chicken to the kettle and simmer the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the chicken is just heated through. Discard the cinnamon stick and serve the chicken with the rice pilaf, sprinkled with the additional coriander.

Morrocan-Spiced Roasted Vegetables

The spices certainly gave these veggies a new depth. While I didn't use all the vegetables suggested in the original recipe, I will list them all below for those who wish to try the dish as written. I used shallots, onions (red & white), red peppers and sweet potatoes. There were quite a few comments on these veggies - all positive!

I didn't cook the veggies as directed, instead I cooked them at 425 for 45 minutes in the middle of the oven, mixing them up twice. I did not bake the shallots first either. Next time, I won't add as much butter.

Ingredients & Preparation: (From Epicurious, Original Gourmet, February 2000)

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr
Servings: Serves 12

• 2 lb shallots, halved (or quartered if large)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 4 large red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• 2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into bits

Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss shallots with 1 tablespoon oil and roast in a shallow baking pan in lower third of oven 25 minutes. Toss together squash, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, salt, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Add roasted shallots and divide between 2 large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pans. Dot vegetables in each pan with half of butter and roast in upper and lower thirds of oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through roasting, until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes total.

Cooks' note: Vegetables may be roasted 1 day ahead, then cooled before chilling, covered. Reheat in a 350°F oven until hot, 15 to 20 minutes.