Potato Casserole

I'm not entirely certain why I keep turning on the oven as the weather heats up. I'll just blame it on the fact that we've got too much ground beef sitting around.

Anyway. I was actually hoping for something similar to what my cousin brings to almost every family xmas dinner, but this substantially different, mostly because I needed a main dish, and not a side. It's like a shepherd's pie, but with layers of scalloped potatoes, kinda.


Ingredients:
2 cups ground beef
0.5 tsp ginger paste
0.5 lbs mushrooms, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 large potatoes, thinly sliced
4 cups shredded cheese
250 mL cream, mixed with 125 mL milk
seasonings


Method:
Brown beef with ginger. Drain away the fat.
Add mushrooms and lightly sautee.
Turn off heat and mix in onions and pepper.
Season as you wish. (We used garlic powder, pepper, oregano, basil, paprika)

Preheat oven to 425F.
Assemble the casserole. If you have a large casserole dish, great. We had a round 3L and a deep square 2L, I think.
Layer like so: potatoes, meat mix, sprinke some cheese, potatoe, meat mix, cheese. Use your judgement for how thick the layers should be. Leave room so the liquid doesn't boil over.
Pour in the cream/milk.
Cover and bake for 35 minutes.
Reduce heat to 400F, uncover, and bake for another 30 minutes, until top is brown.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


Comments:
The red pepper made this tex-mexy. I felt like I needed salsa.

The original recipe called for mixing the seasonings with the cream and then pouring it on. I found this caused uneven distribution of taste.

Some potatoes were still semi-crunchy, but letting stand took care of it.

The v-slicer rocks! We used it for all except the mushrooms.


Verdict:
Good, but not really a stand-alone dish.

Beef Stroganoff

After realizing that I'd need lunch, and that Will would be left to his own devices for dinner while I worked an evening shift, something relatively quick was needed. (Will sometimes has this college mentality where chips and pop is considered a meal. I didn't want to risk it.)

Ingredients (probably makes 4-6 servings; it's hard to tell, since we haven't eaten it yet):
1 pkg egg noodles
2 cups frozen peas
2 cups (about 0.5 lb) ground beef
1 tsp ginger paste
1 onion, diced
2 cups (or so) mushrooms, sliced
1 cup stock (beef/chicken/veg), seasoned with Worcestershire and Maggi
1 small tub (250ml) sour cream


Method:
Cook the noodles with some oil. Near the end, add in the peas. Drain and set aside.
In a 4L pot, brown the beef with ginger.
Add in onions and saute.
Add mushrooms and cook.
Add stock and noodles and heat through.
Turn off the heat and stir in sour cream.
Enjoy!


Comments:
The addition of Maggi really makes it Chinese-y. Don't ask; it just reminds me of Chinese dishes.

The ginger is optional, but I find it cuts out that heavy beefy smell.

We buy ground beef in large amounts when it is on sale and portion them into 4 2-cup ziploc tubs, hence the odd measurement in the recipes. I think one tray of beef is about 1kg, so 1 tub would be about 250g. I could be completely off, though.

The mushrooms release a lot of water, which helps to create the sauce. If you don't use mushrooms, you'll need to add in more stock.

I used lean ground beef and 7% sour cream. Regular sour cream is 14%, and there's also fat-free, if you're worried about that.

I was going for quick and easy, so no other veggies. Otherwise, I would've added zucchini, celery, and maybe eggplant. (... maybe not, since Will doesn't like eggplant).

Stroganoff's supposed to have more sauce. I purposely made it a bit drier because it's mostly going to serve as lunch, and I didn't want mushy noodles.

Verdict:

The taste test was good. Will have to see how well it holds up through a reheat cycle.

Lasagna

Yesterday was my first half day in a long time, so I thought I'd make something.

Ingredients (Makes 6 servings, though Will ate 2 in one go)
9 lasagna noodles, cooked, rinsed and drained
250g or so of ground beef
1 tsp of ginger paste (optional)
1 bottle/can of pasta sauce
1 carrot, chopped
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced
1 orange pepper, diced
1 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced
Seasonings (oregano, sugar, salt, pepper, cayenne)
1 package frozen spinach, thawed, and squeezed of excess water
1 tub cottage cheese (500g)
340g mozzarella, shredded


Method:
In a large bowl, mix together cottage cheese and spinach.

In a large pot, brown the beef with ginger.
Add mushrooms, carrots and pepper.
If the mushrooms release a lot of moisture, drain, and add pasta sauce and zucchini.
Cook the sauce and season as you wish.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Assemble the lasagna:
Put a small amount of sauce on the bottom of a rectangular pyrex dish.
Layer like so:
Noodles. Trim the noodles to fit and use the trimmings to fill in gaps.
Sauce. Sprinkle with a bit of mozza.
Noodles.
Spinach and cottage cheese mix.
Noodles.
Sauce with some mozza.
Noodles.
Sauce and top with the rest of the mozza.

Bake until the cheese is bubbly. Then broil at 400F to brown the top.

Enjoy!


Comments:
This filled my pyrex to the very brim and there was still sauce leftover. A large Corning casserole dish could probably hold more, and the noodles would probably fit better too, with each layer having 3 noodles, instead of a length of just short of 1 noodle, and a width of just more than 2. (Provided, of course, that the noodles come in standard sizes). Oh, and it was a lot of cottage cheese for that size dish.

I don't like that beefy smell, so hence the ginger.

Things probably would've gone faster if I had used the v-slicer.

This is a bit blurry, but there are the layers.

Verdict:
A bit of work, but worth it! Cheaper and waaaaaay healthier than the frozen stuff.

Spinach Gomae

I've always loved this, but really only ate it at all-you-can eat places because only then could I eat to my heart's content. A simple, refreshing recipe for the coming summer.

Ingredients:
1 bunch spinach
0.5 tsp sugar
4 tbs white sesame seeds, toasted and ground
1 tbs soy sauce


Method:
Dissolve sugar in soy sauce. Add more sugar if you like it sweeter.
Mix with sesame. Add more soy sauce to taste, if desired. Set aside.
Wash spinach and cut into 3 cm pieces.
Boil spinach and rinse with cold water.
Drain well, gently squeezing out excess water.
Mix with sesame sauce.
Cover and chill until serving. This step also allows the water to creep out and thin the sauce. Serve immediately if you want the sauce to stay chunky.


Comments:
It is tastier to toast the sesame yourself. Just heat it in a pan, stirring to prevent burning, until fragrant and golden.

I also ground the sesame myself, using the dry mill of my bamix hand blender.



Verdict:
We used two bunches and ate it all in one go, one bunch for each of us ^^

Baked Pork Ribs

Ribs were on sale, something like $12 for 6 pounds. The hot food section of Save-On is always so tempting with the fragrance of the bbq sauce slathered on the ribs, so we decided to do our own, at a fraction of the cost.

Will did most of the cooking for this one. I was the helper ^^


Ingredients (serves 6)
6 lbs ribs
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 cups ketchup
3/8 cup worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
6 tsp mustard powder
2 cups water

Method:
In a large bowl, mix together everything except the ribs.
Spoon some sauce onto the bottom of a large, lidded roasting pan.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Brown the ribs with a little bit of oil.
Place one layer of ribs in, and top with some sauce.
Repeat until all the ribs are in. Make sure the surface is well covered with sauce.
Cover the pan and bake for 1.5 hours.
Check on the ribs and redistribute the sauce as necessary.
Bake uncovered for another 1.5 hours.
Enjoy!


Comments:
Will found the recipe, and it is very similar to the pulled pork I made earlier.

The amount of ketchup was a bit of an approximation. I had a new bottle of it, and figured that 3/4 of the bottle would work.

I am very happy that I got to use the pan. I had purchased it with the intention of making a turkey, but then could not find a rack that would fit. It all works out, eh? ^^


Verdict:
YUM!  Parts were a bit chewy, but still really good. Chester liked the bones, too =D

Prime Rib

Will usually takes care of the mid-week cooking, especially since I picked up that after-school contract. Getting home at 6 is not conducive to cooking. His parents gave us a prime rib that was on sale at Walmart, so into the oven it goes.


Ingredients:
1 seasoned prime rib


Method:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Set the meat on a rack in a shallow pan and bake.
After 1.5 hour, reduce heat to 350F and cook for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven, cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Comments:
The turkey rack would've been way to big, so we just used a circular thing that we use to prop up plates when steaming dimsum.

Will said that he should've reduced the heat after half an hour.

Will used our pyrex baking dish, which is a good 2 inches deep, and it turned out fine.

We had slow-cooked veggies to go with it, and I just have to say that I'm not that big a fan of rosemary. Next time, it'll be oregano.


Verdict:
Yum! (Probably because it was salty...If I had marinated it, I would've had to get over the mental hurdle of adding so much salt to give it taste.)

Hot Mango Sandwiches

Frozen mango was on sale a while back, and we bought a bag with the intention of making mango pancakes. Since then, we got a sandwich maker, and the package of mango is still unopened. Let's see if mango sandwiches are any good.



Ingredients:
Sliced bread
frozen mango pieces, slightly thawed
Butter

Method:
Make the sandwiches as per your maker's instructions.

Verdict:
It needed more sugar, but otherwise worked as a snack

Orange Chicken

Seasaltwithfood's got tonnes of really tantalizing recipes. There are quite a few that I've bookmarked. This is the first to be tried. Fingers are crossed.

Ingredients:
6 Chicken legs with thighs
zest from 1 large-ish orange
Juice from said orange
3 stalks of green onions, finely sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbs chili flakes
1.5 tbs sugar
3 tbs soy sauce (ours was Lee Kum Kee double deluxe, which had some sugar in it)
1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs sesame oil
0.5 tsp salt


Method:
Rinse chicken and pat dry.
In a bowl, mix together all other ingredients. Use half to marinate the chicken and set aside the rest.
Marinate 4-5 hours in the fridge, turning every hour to ensure even coating.

Preheat oven to 400F.
Place chicken in a roasting pan and bake for 25 minutes.
Turn and spoon on sauce and roast for another 25-30 minutes, until done.



Comments:
While making the marinade, I noticed that there was a bitter undertone. It disappeared after baking.
I did not have peanut oil, and it was still ok, although since I don't know how it's supposed to taste, that's really subjective.
Mine looked nothing like seasaltwithfood's. I suspect that in my race to use my oval roasting pan, I conveniently forgot that chicken releases juice while cooking. It would've been better to use the roasting rack. Next, I think the marinade was too chunky and liquidy. Next time, I will try pounding it with the mortar and pestle to get a paste. That way, I can also grind in some peanuts to substitute for the peanut oil. But, I'd need to let the stuff sit for a bit so the chili flakes have a chance to rehydrate before grinding.



Verdict:
Fail at being orange chicken, but good for something to have with rice. The sweet ginger taste was nice.

Pasta Milano

One of my go-to dishes at Macaroni Grill was this. To be quite honest, I don't remember how it tastes, only that it was cream based, with mushrooms, bowties, and chicken. For whatever reason, I remembered it having asiago cheese. How fortuitous that asiago was on sale ^^. Through the magic of google, I found this recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4)
500g bowtie pasta, cooked and drained
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 chicken chicken breasts, butterfly-cut
1 heaping tsp minced garlic
thyme
sage
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
500mL half and half
1 tsp chicken boullion
150g asiago cheese, finely grated
1 tbs cornstarch
4 tbs sundried tomatoes, chopped.

Method:
Fry bacon, drain and put into a large bowl.
Fry the chicken. When it is almost done, add in garlic, thyme and sage.
Remove from heat, let rest a few minutes, then slice and add to bacon.
Sautee the mushrooms until they release their moisture. Add the contents of the pan, including the mushroom juice into the meat bowl.
Turn the heat to medium/medium-high and heat up the cream.
Whisk in cheese and boullion and mix until the boullion has dissolved, and the cheese has mostly melted.
Stir in the cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbs of water.
Add in the meat, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes and heat through.
To serve, toss with pasta.


Comments:
I only later remembered that it was called Pasta Milano and went a-hunting for the recipe. It's just as well, because the first recipe I found didn't even call for cheese.

This really needs something tangy, like capers or sundried tomatoes, or even just lemon juice to offset the bitter aftertaste of the cheese.

It is not necessary to make this totally smooth (I don't even know if it's possible, because I didn't have a whisk.


Verdict:
I like it, but I don't think it's quite on the mark.

Japanese Hamburg Steak (ハンバーグ)

I saw on Nicole's blog that she had made these, and whilst planning for this week's meals, I realised that we had some bread that was in danger of molding, and beef that could potentially get freezer burn. Perfect.

The reason for not using her recipe eludes me, but I found a recipe for this here.

A bit of background:
This is a pretty popular dish in Japan, especially in bentos. You'll also find it in Western restaurants. It's remniscient of Salisbury steak, or a meatloaf. The sauce makes all the difference.


Ingredients (Makes 6 patties):
2 cups ground beef (probably about 1lb)
1 egg
0.25 cup milk
4 slices whole wheat bread
1 small onion, finely chopped
Maggi seasoning
Ground pepper
Ketchup
Worcestershire sauce


Method:
Sautee onions in a fry pan. Set aside.
Toast the bread and break into pieces to fit into a dry mill (I have a Bamix hand blender) and process in batches to get crumbs.
In a large bowl, mix together milk, eggs, Maggi and pepper.
Mix in beef, bread and onions with your hands and thoroughly incorporate everything.
Flatten the mixture to the bottom of the bowl and make 6 equal sections.
Take a section, roll it into ball and pass it back and forth between your hands to force out air pockets.
Make a patty with an indent in the centre and set on a plate.
Repeat with the other five sections.
Heat up a fry pan and brown the patties (You'll probably have to do it in batches).
Put in a layer of hot water, cover, and steam on medium-low for about 10 minutes to thoroughly cook.
Repeat as necessary to cook all the patties.
To make the sauce, put in equal parts ketchup and worcestershire sauce into the pan, mix and heat.
Serve with rice.


Comments:
For those new to cooking, the egg helps to hold the meat together, and the bread keeps it moist.
I just have to say that while I had no problems handling the meat, I didn't like trying to wash the grease off my hand after. The fat had actually solidified under my nails, and it was a pain washing it all away.


Verdict:
Good! There's lunch for the next day.