Cooking with KP: March 2023

Ham and Cheese Lasagna with Beef Bolognese Sauce

My husband and I watched a Facebook cooking reel that made basically this same recipe, but we made some adjustments. It may seem complex, but it is definitely worth the work. Rich and hearty, it is a great family supper.

Red Sauce Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pound of ground beef
1 diced onion
3 buds/toes of garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 16-ounce cans of tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons Italian seasonings blend
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon sugar

Lasagna Roll-up Ingredients
16 lasagna noodles
16 slices of cooked deli ham, cut in half so that two will be placed on each noodle
24 slices of deli mozzarella cheese, cut in half so that 3 will be placed on each noodle (see pictures below)

White Sauce Ingredients
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
½ medium onion, diced
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon pepper

Cheeses
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (divided into ½ cup and 1 ½ cup)
1 cup Parmesan cheese (divided into two half cups)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and garlic, sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add ground beef and continue to cook until meat is fully brown (no pink). Drain grease from skillet. Add tomatoes, celery, sauce, Italian seasonings, garlic powder, pepper, and sugar. Mix well. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Cover and reduce to simmer.
While red sauce is simmering, boil 16 lasagna noodles for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. Immediately place noodles in long pans that are sprayed with cooking spray. Let noodles sit for 2-3 minutes to cool. Lay slices of ham on noodles, top with mozzarella slices. Roll each lasagna noodle with the ham and cheese inside.
In another skillet add olive oil and butter to heat. Once butter is melted, add onions and cook for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle in 3 Tablespoons of flour—one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly, add 1 cup of milk and ½ cup of heavy cream. Blend until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Reduce to simmer for 3 minutes. Stirring frequently. You want white sauce to be thin like gravy, so if the sauce thickens add a ½ cup more milk.
Pour sauce into a 9x13 casserole dish. Lay lasagna rolls on top of sauce. Sprinkle ½ of mozzarella cheese and ½ cup of Parmesan cheese on top of lasagna rolls. Cover with red meat sauce. Top with remaining cheeses and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Lasagna noodles topped with ham and cheese

Pasta rolls on top of white sauce

Old Fashioned Ranch Meat and Potatoes Casserole

Most everyone enjoys potatoes, meat, and cheese. Here is an easy to make casserole that melds these wonderful ingredients so well. You can freeze the leftover for quick dinners. It is also great to take to potlucks.

2 pounds of lean ground beef, turkey, or pork

1 medium onion, diced

1 small bell pepper, diced

2 garlic toes/buds,diced

1 package of dry Ranch dressing mix

4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken if using ground turkey

1 cup of chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk

1 Tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2-3 cups of shredded cheddar or Colby Jack cheese

1/2 Tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease with butter a 9x13 baking pan.

In a large skillet brown meat with onion, bell pepper and garlic for 5-8 meats until meat is no longer pink and onions are translucent. If you need to drain the meat, do so now and return to skillet. Sprinkle in dressing mix and let cook 1-2 more minutes.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together soup, heavy cream, chicken broth, paprika and pepper.

You will be making 3 layers, so use ingredients according. Place a layer of one third of the potatoes on the bottom of the baking pan, top with 1/3 of the soup mixture, top with 1/3 of meat, and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat layers ending with cheese.

Cover with foil and bakes for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and check to make sure the potatoes are fully cooked. If not, continue to cook, checking every 15 minutes. When potatoes are cooked, remove foil and return to over to brown/crisp cheese on the top. Let casserole set for 10 minutes prior to serving.

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Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.