Homemade Lasagna (About 1 hour)

We usually go out to eat on Saturday nights but this week, we went out on Friday night and then ate in on Saturday. On my blog, you can read about the dinner out here (link coming soon) and you can read MTH's review here (link coming soon).

Here's the quick lasagna that I made last night. Note that it feeds enough for an army so be prepared for leftovers if there's only two of you like me and and MTH.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
29 oz petite diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato paste
oregano, to taste
salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste
16 oz skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
Parmesan cheese (use how much you like)
mozzarella cheese (use how much you like - I tried not to make it too cheesy)
12 lasagna noodles, boiled

Preparation:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the ground meats until almost no pink remains. Add the onion and green pepper. When they are translucent, add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Add the spices to your taste. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes. Taste again and add more spices if necessary. Mix the ricotta, egg and Parmesan cheese.
In a 9x13 pan, start with a small amount of sauce (2-3 spoonfuls). Place 4 noodles across the pan. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers ending with sauce ensuring that the sauce covers all the noodles. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Let set for about 10 minutes before serving.

Cuban Picillo Sandwiches (Less than 20 minutes)

Last night, we made these sandwiches for dinner. We thought they would be fun to eat while we watched The Simpson's Movie. I also made some baked sweet potato fries. The sandwiches are supposed to be made with ground pork but I couldn't find any at my grocery store. They had ground lamb and ground veal but no ground plain pork. They also had bulk Italian sausage and other types of bulk sausage which are of course, ground pork. But, they have other spices in them. Anyway, I substituted ground turkey for the ground pork. I'm sure that the ground pork would taste even better. Hopefully, the next time I make these sandwiches, I'll be able to find the ground pork. My plan is to use half ground turkey and half ground pork (they'll be slightly healthier!). Also, the original recipe called for raisins. Neither MTH nor myself like raisins so we left them out. If you like raisins, then you may want to try them. You add 1/2 cup golden raisins with the spices and the tomatoes.

Adapted from Cooking Light, October 2005

1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
8 (1 1/2-ounce) whole wheat hamburger buns

Cook onion, garlic, and pork in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain and return mixture to pan. Stir in next 5 ingredients (through tomatoes). Reduce heat, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in olives. Toast the needed buns. Spread about 2/3 cup picadillo mixture on bottom half of each bun; cover with top half of bun.

We had leftovers which I'm sure will taste even better on Monday.

Green Chile Tortilla Roll-Ups (About an hour)

This recipe is another easy one. You could make up different flavors. You could also add ham instead of turkey. I'll definitely make these again for future get togethers.

Adapted from cooksrecipes.com

1 (4-ounce) can Diced Green Chiles
4 ounces neufchatel, softened
1 cup mixed shredded Mexican cheeses
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
sliced turkey
4 (6-inch) fajita-size flour tortillas

Combine green chiles, neufchatel, shredded cheeses and hot pepper sauce in medium bowl. Spread 1/2 cup cheese mixture over each tortilla. On some, add some slices of turkey. Roll up. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut each tortilla roll into ½-inch slices.

Thanksgiving Dinner

This year, MTH and I were on vacation for a week until Thanksgiving Day. Therefore, when we returned on Thursday, we didn't have any fresh food in our house. It was interesting trying to find a place that would be open. We ended up at Murphy's, A Grand Irish Pub. There was a roaring fire and not much cigarette smoke. I ordered the Irish stew and MTH ordered the surf and turf (not very Irish :). The Irish stew was very good. I was impressed with the taste. Unfortunately, their bread is from the freezer so the meal was not the best that it could have been.

On Friday, we did our Thanksgiving Dinner. We had TV, QY and QY's husband over. The menu was as follows:

Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries and St. Felicien for starters
Grilled Marinated Turkey Tenderloin
White Sweet Potatoes
Sherried Green Beans and Mushrooms
French Bread
Homemade Pumpkin Pie

So, it wasn't totally traditional but it was still very good. Here are the details:

Grilled Marinated Turkey Tenderloin
Ingredients:
turkey tenderloin
olive oil
white wine vinegar
spicy mustard
salt and pepper
Directions:
Mix the olive oil, white wine vinegar and spicy mustard to taste. Put the turkey tenderloin and marinade into a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour but no more than 6 hours. Turn the grill on high to heat it up. Take the turkey out of the marinade and salt and pepper each piece. Cook on high for 9 1/2 minutes on each side. Test the largest piece to make sure it's done.
Note:
My Mom made this with my sister the day before and gave me the idea for how to do it. I have a feeling that ours turned out differently since we have somewhat different ingredients.

White Sweet Potatoes
Bake the sweet potatoes on 400 degrees Fahrenheit until they are soft. We actually tried to make a sweet potato souffle but it didn't turn out. I'll have another post later that tells you about what I tried to do with the sweet potatoes instead.

Sherried Green Beans and Mushrooms
Ingredients:
fresh green beans, cleaned and snapped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
assorted mushrooms, cleaned and chopped but left in large pieces
3 tablespoons cream sherry
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the garlic and mushrooms. At the same time, microwave the green beans in order to start the steaming process. Once the mushrooms soak up the olive oil, add the sherry. Let the mushrooms simmer for a few minutes. Then add the green beans and let them steam on top until they are done to your liking. Serve with some slivered almonds on top.

French Bread
Although I've been known to make many different types of breads, the directions for this one is to go to the bread section of the grocery store and buy a French baguette.

Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
5 to 6 tablespoons cold water
1 can of pumpkin pie mix (follow the directions on the can)
Directions:
Mix the flour and salt together. Cut in the shortening until it resembles peas. Add 2 tablespoons of water in the center of the bowl and gently mix to start to create a ball of dough. Add 2 more tablespoons of water and make a larger ball of dough. Add 1-2 more tablespoons in order to form the rest of the dough. Place the dough on a piece of waxed paper. Wrap the dough in the paper and then in plastic wrap. Put into the refrigerator for at least one hour to let it rest. Now, just follow the directions on the can to finish up a wonderful pumpkin pie.

Let me know what you did for Thanksgiving. Any old traditions that you'd like to share? Any new ones that you started this year that you expect to continue?