Lasagna

Lasagna

(From Ginny)
These are the proportions I've come up with based on my memories of making lasagna growing up, and with the help of the recipe on the Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagna box. I love using the Oven-Ready Lasagna - it's super easy and it bakes really well. I recommend assembling everything at least an hour or two before baking so it has time to sit and soak in the juices.
p.s. Barilla says this makes 5 servings but you could easily serve 10+ people with this, especially if you have garlic bread and some sort of veggies to go with it!

1 box Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagna
2-3 24-oz jars Marinara/Spaghetti sauce (we grew up with Ragu, but I prefer Newman's now)
1 pound ground beef
1 pound sausage, ground or sliced
1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1 c. (8 oz) small curd cottage cheese
2 eggs
4 c. (1 lb) mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 oz shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a large skillet, brown beef and sausage until cooked through
3. In a bowl combine ricotta, cottage cheese, eggs, 2 cups mozzarella, and 1/2 cup Parmesan; stir well
4. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
5. For the bottom layer, pour one cup of sauce and spread evenly
6. Top with 3 sheets of Oven-Ready Lasagna. The sheets will expand while baking to the ends of the dish.
7. Pour about 1 1/2 cup sauce and 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture on the first layer, top with 1/4 cup of the mozzarella, a bit of Parmesan, and 2/3 cup of the cooked meat.
8. Continue for 3 more layers
9. For the final layer, top with 3 sheets of Oven-Ready Lasagna, pour the remaining sauce, top with remaining cheese mixture, mozzarella, and any remaining Parmesan. 
10. Cover with foil and place in pre-heated oven, bake for 30 minutes, or until it starts to get bubbly. If you have a food thermometer, the center of the lasagna should be cooked to about 165 degrees.
11. Once baked, remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is brown and starting to bubble (it could start to bubble over a bit around the edges here, so put a pan underneath to catch the drips or at least turn your stove fan on).
12. Let rest about 15 minutes before cutting.

What other variations do you like for your lasagna?

Good Eats Roast Turkey

Good Eats Roast Turkey

"We've been using this recipe for our turkeys for several years now, except we don't roast it, still cook it in the Oven Bags!" -Christy

For the brine:

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger

1 gallon heavily iced water

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

For the aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

Canola oil

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Recipe from Christy

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe.html

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz shredded Jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
12 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups salsa (or less, to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, 1 cup of the cheese, and 3 Tbsp cilantro (if used).
Spoon 1/4 cup of chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam sides down in greased 13x9 baking dish. Top with salsa and remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Serve with additional sour cream, salsa, and cilantro (if desired).

Recipe from Grammie Cressy

**This is Grampa's favorite meal!**

Fritos and Beans

There is some debate as to whether this is an actual meal or not but a true Van Ness knows the answer to this...  Here is a small version of the recipe since most of us don't need to do a whole big pan anymore!

Fritos and Beans

Serves 4 people

1 28 oz can of Bush's Baked Beans (any flavor, especially if it has bacon)
About 5 oz of Fritos
4 Hot Dogs, fried or grilled
Grated Mozzarella Cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Dump beans in 9x9 pan. Slice the hot dogs and mix in to the beans. Bake in preheated oven until the beans are bubbling around the edges. Remove from oven and layer the Fritos over the bean mixture. Apply the Mozzarella Cheese liberally. Return to oven and cook until the cheese is melted and begins to brown.

For nostalgia, this must be served with apple sauce and buttered bread.

Variation:
Use Chili Cheese Fritos and Stagg Chili instead of Baked Beans and Ground Hamburg instead of Hot Dogs

Taco Soup

Taco Soup

A cool weather favorite. Two of our houses have had splats of this on the ceiling...want the story?

1 lb ground beef, browned
1 onion, chopped
1 can (15 oz) chopped tomatoes
1 can kidney, black, or pinto beans (drained)
1 can corn (drained)
1 cup salsa
1 sm can sliced olives (drained)
1 46 oz can tomato juice
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin

Mix in large stovetop cooker or crock pot. Simmer - the longer the better, several hours or so. 
Serve with tortilla chips, grated cheese, (opt) sour cream.

Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan

20 oz frozen chopped Broccoli, cooked and drained
2 c. Chicken, cooked and cubed
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 c. Mayo
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Curry Powder

Topping:
Bread crumbs
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 350*

PLACE broccoli in a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Combine soup, mayo, lemon juice, chicken and curry powder. Pour over broccoli. Crumble bread over the top and add cheddar cheese on top of the bread. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes.

YIELD: 12 servings