Fresh Pasta Lasagna with Béchamel & Grilled Vegies

I thought that I had tasted great lasagna until we made this masterpiece with grilled vegetables, cottage cheese and spinach, béchamel and meat sauce and homemade pasta! You will want to start early and make this a fun afternoon of cooking.

Grilled Vegetables


Slice a variety of vegetable including zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and peppers.  Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.


Grill vegetables under broiler until they have a charred appearance.




At the same time roast 4 - 6 medium size plum tomatoes for the béchamel sauce and a bulb of garlic for the meat sauce.

To roast garlic cut of tip off exposing the ends and drizzle with olive oil.

Béchamel Sauce Recipe
2 Tlb butter 
2 Tlb flour 
2 C milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp nutmeg
roasted tomatoes
Add butter to the heated pan and then whisk in flour and cook rue till light brown. Add milk and whisk on medium heat till mixture thickens.  
Add half of sauce to blender and blend the tomatoes. Return to pan.

Meat Sauce
1 -1.5 lb ground beef
1 cooking onion
2-3 carrots
1 pepper (half yellow and half green)
1 tsp fresh tyme
1/2 C red wine (optional)
2 Tlb. tomato sauce
1/2 C water
Slice and sauté veges and the add beef and other ingredients. Medium heat till thickened.

• 1 egg (room temp) beaten
  1 C flour
  1/2 tsp salt
  2 Tlb cool water
  
  Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well and add beaten egg. Mix together till good consistency. Add water bit by bit till just right.
  
  Let dough sit for 20 minutes

Roll out dough and cut into lasagna strips.

Easy to make.

Make sure you egg is room temperature though.


After you make some pasta you are ready to assemble the lasagna.

Start with some béchamel sauce in the bottom of the pan and then a layer of pasta. 

We alternated between meat layer and grilled vegies. We  topped the grilled vegies layer with béchamel sauce. Another layer we used was a mixture of fresh spinach and cottage and parmesan cheese. 

Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. 

Cover and bake for an hour or so at 325 degrees.
Our pan was 8 by 11 inches in size. 
Remove cover for the last ten minutes.

The homemade pasta is like nothing I have ever tasted and makes all the different in the world. 

The béchamel sauce is delish.

Hawaiian Pork

This was my favorite dish as a child other than lasagna.  
Every birthday dinner I would ask for Hawaiian Pork for my special 

dinner.   Now we make it together.   
Here is my mom's recipe that I was a little reluctant to share. We doubled the recipe.  Enjoy!

1 Lb boneless pork
2 eggs
1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
(double batter)

Cut pork into 1 inch cubes. Mix up the batter so it is smooth. Dip pork into batter and fry slowly in 1/2 cup of oil until golden brown. Approximately 5-8 minutes.  Drain off fat.





Sauce  
3/4 C chicken bouillon
1/2 C vinegar
1/2 C pineapple juice
3 green peppers
1 C pineapple chunks
carrots and ketchup optional

Mix 1/2 of stock, pineapple juice and peppers.

Simmer in a pot or until clear around 10 minutes.

Add
2 1/2 Tlb cornstarch
2 1/2 Tlb soya sauce
1/2 C sugar

Add meat. 
Serve with rice.


Tastes like a fusion of Polynesian Asian.  

Thin Finn - Finnish Pancakes

I got this recipe from my cousin and my mom makes these for me all the time when I come home for a visit.  This is my first attempt!

Beat together:
2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla
1 C milk

Add to dry ingredients and whip up.
1/2 C  flour 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 Tlb sugar

3/4 tsp tsp salt
Add extra flour (2 Tbl) so it is the consistency of cream.


Berries to wrap up with.
Top with syrup.
Whip cream optional.

Heat canola oil and a bit of butter in skillet.

Put a very small amount of batter in the heated pan and 
swirl around to get thin.  They cook very fast.  Flip over
 when it releases from pan.

Serve with berries, syrup and whipped cream.

This one was rolled and sprinkled with sugar.

Keep in the oven to keep warm if you need to. Great Sunday Breakfast.

Homemade Chinese Dinner

Making Chinese food at home is easier than you think! and much better than ordering it! 

No MSG!  Fresh veges.  We deep fried all the food but you can try baking! 

Don't be intimidated, it is easier than you may think! You can also start with one item.

Lemon Chicken 
Ingredients 
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs or breast
oil for frying (canola)
crispy lettuce

Batter 
1/2 Cup flour
1/4 C cornflour
2 eggs
1 C cold water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cornstarch

Sauce
2 C broth
3-4 tsp white sugar or honey
juice of two lemons
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp cornstarch




Directions
Beat together batter ingredients till the batter is the consistency of a loose pancake.
Cut chicken into strips and dip chicken strips into batter; add to heated oil in saucepan.
Using medium to high heat brown chicken pieces for 7 to 10 minutes per side till golden brown. Remove and pat excess oil off.
Make the sauce by adding all ingredients and heat over medium heat.  Adjust ingredients to taste. Serve chicken on a bed of lettuce and pour over sauce.



Spring Rolls
Ingredients
1 package of large wonton wraps       cornstarch
oil for frying
1 bundle of vermicelli noodles
8 medium chopped shrimp
4-5 minced cloves of garlic
2 C shredded chinese cabbage  2 C bean sprouts
3 chopped green onions            1 grated carrot
3 Tlb chopped cilantro             1 Tlb grated ginger
3 Tlb soya sauce                   2 tsp sesame seed oil
8 mushrooms chopped
2 Tlb hoisin sauce and 2 Tlb fish sauce (optional)

Directions
Prepare noodles to get them soft by boiling them as per directions.
Mix all ingredients ( noodles, shrimp, garlic, cabbage, sprouts, onions, cilantro, ginger, carrots, mushrooms, sesame oil and sauces) together.

Add cornstarch and water mixture to the edges of the wonton wrapper to seal.


Lay wrapper in a diamond shape. Place 2 Tlb of mixture in the middle of wrapper.

Fold one point half way up  and the fold the sides over.

Roll to make a tight spring roll.





Fry in heated oil.

We served with homemade plum sauce but that is another story!



Another great dipping sauce for spring rolls is a combination of white vinegar, white sugar with added chopped peanuts, chilli peppers and chopped cucumber.  We LOVE this recipe.



Szechuan Ginger Beef

Ingredients
1-2 Lbs sirloin beef
oil for frying
1 green pepper, 1 red pepper and 2 carrots both cut julienne style
4-5 minced garlic  cloves                                   2 Tbl grated ginger
4 whole small chili red peppers (remove after)


1 Tbl honey or white sugar
1/4 C of each soya, hoisin, and oyster sauce
1.5 C water
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch and 1/3 C water (cornstarch mixture)
sesame seeds, peanuts and chopped green onions for topping

Directions

Saute veges in a bit of canola oil. Add water, sweetener and sauces.   Bring to gentle boil and then cornstarch mixture.

While you are making the sauce, fried beef in a couple of inches of        heated canola oil.

Add the beef to the sauce.

Add sesame oil at the end.  Garnish with sesame seeds, peanuts and green onions.

We love Szechuan style Chinese cooking!  It is flavourful, hot and spicy with lots of ginger and garlic .....two of our favs!!!

Here are the three dishes together for an amazing homemade Chinese dinner!  

We served with brown rice but jasmine would be nice.