Home on the Range

Crockpot Cheesy Ravioli Lasagna

2011-11-28T18:24:00.000-05:00

This recipe for crockpot lasagna received quite a bit of negative feedback in the responses, but I decided to be brave and try it anyway. You need A LOT of liquid, more than the original recipe calls for, in my opinion. And it cooks quite quickly....I really can't imagine what a disaster this would have been if I'd let it go for 8 hours. Also, when it's done, it's done. It's not like most crockpot recipes where you can just let it hang around in the pot until you get to it.

It's a recipe to try if you're feeling daring. There are so many variables to consider - the thickness of the sauce you choose, the quality of your noodles, how your crockpot functions. It's yummy....IF you can figure out how to best deal with those variables.

Photo of the crockpot lasagna as made by the original poster

My lasagna turned out delicious, though I definitely made some changes. (Most notably, I used raviolis instead of lasagna noodles because that's what I had on hand. The boil-in-water time was the same for both, so I decided it would work.) Here's my version:

Crockpot Cheesy Ravioli Lasagna
1 26-ounce jar of spaghetti sauce combined with 2 cups water
10 ounces dry cheese-filled ravioli
1 cup cottage cheese* combined with 1 whisked egg
8 ounces ground beef, browned
4 ounces shredded mozzarella

Put one third of the sauce in the bottom of the crockpot. Then add half the ravioli, pushing it down so that the noodles are all lightly coated with sauce. Spread half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, then add half the meat. Pour in another one third of the sauce, then layer in the rest of the ravioli, the cottage cheese mixture, and the meat. Top with the remaining sauce, and sprinkle the mozzarella on top. Cook on high for 30 minutes then on low for about 2 1/2 hours.

* I think most cottage cheese brands are very different in texture from ricotta and make the dish too rich tasting. The only one I have found that works is Michigan brand (and it is usually substantially cheaper than ricotta). The website for it even says that it is a very dry cottage cheese and is an excellent replacement for ricotta in recipes. Most cooks, though, seem to be willing to substitute any cottage cheese. Depends on your taste, I guess!

Autumn Lasagna and Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups

2011-11-21T18:09:00.000-05:00

Back in October, my sister-in-law hosted a Harvest Party with a potluck dinner. I made Rachael Ray's pumpkin lasagna...and it was a hit! This decadent lasagna is layered with sausage, veggies, lasagna noodles and a pumpkin-bechamel sauce.

Click HERE to see my version of the recipe. Click HERE to see the original recipe. (The main thing I changed was to add some extra veggies, and I used regular noodles instead of the no boil kind.)

It looks and tastes much better than this picture from the Rachael Ray website, but here you go for some visual affect.

I also recently made these delicious Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups.

A filling of chicken, ricotta, feta, and Parmesan is rolled up in lasagna noodles and then covered with marina sauce. Click HERE to see the recipe.

I was skeptical about the feta because it's not a flavor I associate with Italian style food, but I love feta so I decided to try it. It really adds a great zip to the filling. I only made half the filling, intending to make half the recipe, but it seemed like a lot of filling to try to stuff into 4 noodles, so I still ended up with 8 roll-ups. I froze the extras, so we'll see if this is a freezable recipe.

It's a fairly quick and easy dish to make, and it's quite tasty. I don't eat a lot of pasta, but this is certainly a recipe I'd make again.

Grilled Fish with Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

2011-11-14T19:21:00.002-05:00

I'm not a fan of tartar sauce, so I'm always looking for alternatives, and this roasted red pepper aioli is certainly a great choice. Click HERE for the recipe.

Instead of mixing by hand, I put all the aioli ingredients in the food processor and whirred until it was smooth, and then refrigerated it for about 24 hours so all the flavors would mingle. For the fish, I used flounder that I baked in butter with just a bit of lemon zest and black pepper. (I didn't use all the spices on the fish that the original recipe called for because I wanted the aioli flavor to stand out.)

Served with cheesy garlic toast and steamed broccoli for a quick, easy, tasty dinner.

Simple Sausage and Bean Soup

2011-11-13T18:24:00.001-05:00

Simple Sausage and Bean Soup. Simple indeed. Dump some stuff in a pot and you have an amazing soup that is full of flavor and texture. Click HERE for the recipe.

The recipe is open to interpretation - use some kind of sausage and some kind of beans. The original poster used black beans and garbanzos; I used black beans and great northern beans. For sausage, I used a Hungarian sausage that is homemade by the butcher at the local supermarket. It's a basic stuffed sausage, like Italian sausage, and is seasoned with a lot of paprika and garlic and just a hint of anise.

When choosing your ingredients, remember that the sausage you choose is going to influence the taste of your soup as all the spices will infuse the broth.

I made mine in the crockpot, making it super simple. I browned the sausage as directed in the recipe, and then in the same skillet I sauteed the onions and garlic. I deglazed the pan with a bit of the broth, sliced the sausage, and tossed all the ingredients in the crockpot. I cooked it on high for about two hours, and on low for another four hours.

Definitely would make this again! I'd like to try it with Al Fresco Chicken Sausage that comes in a huge variety of great flavors.

Tastes Like Autumn

2011-11-09T11:41:00.000-05:00

Two absolutely stellar recipes that capture the flavors of autumn.

Autumn Chopped Salad. Cranberries, pears, bacon, feta, nuts....it's a bowlful of deliciousness! Click HERE for the recipe.

I didn't exactly follow the recipe; I used the idea and made a small salad to take to work for lunch. So I can't testify to whether or not the amounts and such are accurate.

Also, instead of romaine lettuce, I used an artisan blend of four different kinds of lettuce - two green and two purple - that I bought at Aldi's. It's a big tub of deliciousness for only $1.99! (If you can't find this blend, it's somewhat similar to spring mix.) The blend is lighter in both taste and texture than romaine, and I think it really allowed all the other flavors to come to the forefront.

And I only used poppyseed dressing, because it was too complicated to pack two dressings in my work lunch. The dressing I buy has a good sweet-sour taste, so I think it added the right balance to the salad. Finally, I used almonds instead of pecans, because that's what I had on hand.

Kinna sounds like I didn't use the recipe at all, doesn't it? :)

Dutch Baby (aka German Apple Pancake). Fresh apples sprinkled with cinnamon and covered with a nutmeggy egg custard bakes up into a flavorful yummy puffy thing. This is SO GOOD. Click HERE for the recipe. The only change I made was to cut the amount of sugar in half, and I thought it was plenty sweet enough. The tartness of your apples should probably determine how much sugar to use.

Potatoes. Potatoes. Potatoes. And some buffalo chicken!

2011-11-08T07:05:00.002-05:00

Cook potatoes once. Enjoy three meals.

Baked potatoes...in the CROCK POT! This is genius, brilliant, and awesome! Click HERE for the "recipe."

So, let's take a look at three meals with this idea. On Friday morning, before heading off to work, load up the crock pot with potatoes. That evening, you have Meal #1: grill up some fish, toss a salad, and use half of those potatoes to make loaded taters with all your favorite toppings (bacon, cheese, sour cream, broccoli, salsa, whatever you fancy!).

Take the rest of the cooked potatoes, unwrap them, put them on a plate, and pop them in the fridge. Then for Saturday brunch you can make Meal #2:

Idaho Sunrise! Cut a slice off the top of the potato, scoop out some of the potato flesh, crack an egg or two into the hole, and top with cheese, meat, veggies, herbs, etc. Click HERE for the recipe. Serve with fresh fruit and you have a complete meal.

Now, you have all that potato you scooped out to hollow the potatoes. What to do with that? Meal #3!

Cheesy Roasted Garlic Potato Balls. Make mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and Gruyere, chill, then roll into balls and fry. Click HERE to see the recipe. Roast the garlic while baking the Idaho Sunrises, mix up the mashed potatoes, and put 'em in the fridge until Sunday. Then make these Potato Balls and you have an appetizer to serve while watching football, or playing cards with friends, or watching movies, or whatever lazy thing you do on Sunday afternoon.

(The Cheesy Roasted Garlic Potato Balls were ok, but nothing to rave about. It's a kinna complicated recipe for something that comes out tasting like exactly what it sounds like - fried mashed potatoes.)

With these Potato Balls, you could also serve...

Buffalo Chicken Bites. Shredded chicken, hot sauce, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese...breaded with cornflakes...and baked. Click HERE for the recipe. This requires quite a bit of work, and creates a ridiculous amount of dirty dishes, but it is SO worth it! Yumyumyum. (And it does freeze and reheat well, as the original poster said. Bonus!)

The only change I made to the recipe was that I used only half the amount of cheddar, and I only needed 2 eggs instead of 4 for the breading process. And one word of advice: measure out the crushed cornflakes, and add them a bit at a time to the bowl you are using for breading. When the cornflakes get too damp from the egg, they won't adhere properly. Plus, if you don't need the full amount, it won't be cross contaminated and you can save it for another use.

Potato Balls plus Chicken Bites plus a veggie/fruit tray should count as a meal, shouldn't it? :)

Chicken Pot Pie Crumble (and a few other dishes)

2011-11-06T13:16:00.001-05:00

Chicken Pot Pie Crumble. This is seriously yumtastic! Definitely adding this to the list of favorite comfort foods. This recipe has your basic pot pie filling, but instead of pie crust, you make a Parmesany pie-like crumble that's sprinkled on top.

Click HERE for the recipe.

I did make some changes to the original recipe. (You can see my version by clicking HERE.) The only veggies in the original were celery, carrots, and peas. I eliminated the celery, reduced the amount of carrots and peas, and added yellow squash, green beans, and red pepper. More colour, more flavor, more nutrition. Also, the original recipe has two steps: saute the onions, celery, and carrots and set aside, then make the cream sauce. I sauteed the onions (and some garlic) in olive oil, then, without removing those ingredients, I proceeded to made the cream sauce. Finally, I cut the crumble ingredients in half.

Parmesan-Sage Baked Porkchops. Basic breaded pork gets a kick with lemon zest and sage. Quite simple, and just bursting with flavor. Definitely would make again.

Click HERE for the recipe.

Baked Spiced Chickpeas. I've made roasted garbanzos (chickpeas) before using only Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt as the seasoning, and really liked them. Kinna reminded me of CornNuts. I thought this recipe using a cumin-based spice mix sounded interesting so I tried them. Verdict: Meh. The cumin flavor is almost too strong, and the spice mixture caused them to brown too quickly so the chickpeas weren't as crunchy as I would have liked.

Click HERE for the recipe.

Corn dog muffins. So simple - a box of corn bread mix, some hot dogs, a little cheese. The idea is good, but the recipe needs some tweaking. The first batch I made, I put too much batter in the muffin tins so they formed a crown when baked, and they didn't want to come out of the muffin tin, so when I tried to remove them, the tops separated from the bottoms. (Less batter and muffin liners would probably prevent this problem.) The other thing was that I didn't like the dough to dog ratio. Although you'd lose the corn dog look, I think it would taste better if you diced the dogs into small pieces so they were incorporated throughout the dough.

Click HERE for the recipe.

Dusting off the cookbooks

2011-11-06T00:17:00.000-04:00

So, I've pretty much posted nothing interesting since moving my cooking blog over here to blogger. There were a couple reasons for this:

1. I wasn't really trying a whole lot of new recipes
2. Even when I did make a new recipe to share, it's actually a bit of a pain to write out the recipe in a way that I hope is understandable. And I take really crappy food photos. And it all just seemed like a lot of work when no one was really reading the blog anyway.

Sooooo.

I'm revamping the blog format (in a way that is partly inspired by pinterest). I'm just going to share photos and links of online recipes that I've tried, and maybe give some commentary about changes I made and opinions about the results.

There's the plan. I'll be posting soon! :)

Pee-wee's Ice Cream Bread

2011-05-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

Ice cream....bread?

I dunno. I haven't tried it, but a friend did, and supposedly it works! The recipe first appeared on twitter...posted by Peewee Herman.

ICE CREAM BREAD

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of self-rising flour
1 pint of softened ice cream

Instructions:
Butter and flour an 8"x4" loaf pan.
Mix flour and ice cream.
Put mixture in the pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350º.
Before removing from the oven, test with a toothpick; it should NOT come out clean (i.e., a few crumbs should be stuck to it).
Cool on a wire rack.

Banana Yeast Bread with Cinnamon Swirl

2011-03-08T09:10:00.001-05:00

Chef's Notes: Rotten bananas multiply in my house. It's like some weird algebraic formula regarding produce. I always toss the ugly little guys in the freezer with plans to use them for something. One day, randomly, I wondered if you could use the "bananas noir" for a yeast bread instead of the traditional quick bread.

Google answered yes.

Most of the recipes I found required a bread machine (which I don't have), but I found a few that were made the old-fashioned way. And then I wondered if, instead of putting cinnamon into the dough, you could make it like cinnamon bread with a cinnamon-sugar swirl?

And, thus, Banana Yeast Bread with Cinnamon Swirl (in all its wonderful cinnamon banana-y yumminess) was born.

Banana Yeast Bread with Cinnamon Swirl
Yields: 2 loaves

5-6 C. flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 pkg. dry yeast
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs, room temperature
2 or 3 very ripe bananas, mashed to yield 1 cup

In a large bowl, mix together 1-1/4 cups flour with sugar, salt and yeast. Heat the evaporated milk, water and butter to 120 degrees. Add to dry ingredients; beat for 2 minutes at medium speed of mixer. Add in eggs, banana and 1 cup of flour; beat at high speed for 2 minutes. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes, adding additional flour as needed. (Note: The dough is a little sticky to work with. Be careful not to add too much extra flour or the bread will be tough.)

Place dough in large bowl that is coated with cooking oil. Turn dough so that all sides are oiled. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

For bread to rise, it needs three things - warmth, moisture, and no drafts. To create this environment, heat your oven to no more than 110 degrees. (Preheat at lowest temperature and then allow to cool down slightly). Remember: if it's too hot, it will kill the yeast and the dough won't rise. When the oven is the correct temperature, place a bowl of water on the bottom rack and the bowl of dough on the upper rack. Cover the dough with a linen towel.

When the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into two equal portions. Use a rolling pin to roll each portion of dough into a 14X9-inch rectangle. Spread about 1 tablespoon melted butter onto each rectangle. In a small bowl, mix together 3/4 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; sprinkle this mixture evenly over each rectangle.

Beginning at the 9-inch end of the rectangle, tightly roll the dough and shape into loaves. Place in two greased 9X5X3-inch loaf plans. Let rise a second time, until doubled, about 1 hour.

Remove the loaves (and the bowl of water if you used if for the rising process) from the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake loaves for 45 minutes or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. (Check after 30 minutes. If they are browning too quickly, cover with a foil tent.)

Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a wire rack.

I think this would be delicious toasted and spread with Ginger Butter. I didn't try it this way though.

Have Your Cake And Eat It Too

2011-02-18T20:50:00.000-05:00

I recently read "Julie and Julie." (It was horrible. Don't read it. Watch the movie instead.) It made me want to bake Julia Child's Reine de Saba, which is the just about the most delicious chocolate cake I've ever had - all gooey and decadent. Read the recipe HERE.

I also recently read "To Kill A Mockingbird." If you've never read it, you MUST. Absolutely stellar. There are several mentions of Lane Cake in the book, so I decided to look up the recipe. It's a buttery cake (almost like a pound cake, I think) with a mixture of raisins, pecans, coconut, and bourbon between the layers and as an icing. It sounds ridiculously rich! Read the recipe HERE.

Cranberry Banana Bread

2011-02-02T16:43:00.001-05:00

Chef's Notes: Being snowed in (or iced in, to be more accurate) inspired me to bake. And I have a neighbor who has been very helpful about dealing with the weather, so I made this Cranberry Banana Bread for him to say thank you.

The original recipe (I think) is from Smitten Kitchen. I changed the spices a bit, and used rum instead of bourbon, and half wheat flour instead of all white.

Cranberry Banana Bread
(1 loaf)

1 C. smashed very ripe bananas, about 3 or 4
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon (I used rum)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
Smidge (1/32 teaspoon) black pepper
1 1/2 cup of flour (I used half wheat, half white)
1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon/rum, then the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, mix. Add the cranberries, and stir until just incorporated. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Creamy Cheesy Chicken with Broccoli and Cauliflower

2011-01-29T10:48:00.002-05:00

Chef's Notes: This is a variation on this recipe which was recommended by my cousin Amber. It satisfies that winter need for comfort food while still being low-carb and reasonably healthy.

Creamy Cheesy Chicken with Broccoli and Cauliflower
(serves 4)

Ingredients

1 pound boneless chicken thighs (or breasts)
2 C. chicken broth
2 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. tarragon
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 C. onion, minced
Fresh ground pepper
***
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
4 oz. monterey (or cheddar) cheese, cubed
***
2 C. broccoli florets
2 C. cauliflower florets

Directions

Place chicken thighs, broth, onion, garlic, and spices in crock pot and cook on low 6 - 8 hours. Shred the chicken and drain off most of the liquid. Stir in the cream cheese and monterey cheese and cook on low for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour.

While the chicken finishes cooking, steam the broccoli and cauliflower until crisp-tender.

To serve, divide the broccoli & cauliflower onto 4 plates and top with an equal portion of chicken mixture.

Calories: 344: Fat: 23; Carbs: 6.5; Protein 32

4 Pepper 4 Bean Chili

2011-01-09T19:40:00.000-05:00

Chef’s Notes: A lot of experiments led to this chili recipe that, in my opinion, is just about perfect. Often, chili is either all about heat with little flavor, or it is bland and tastes like tomato soup with hamburger. And having nothing but kidney beans leads to a boring mouthfeel.

In this recipe, four different types of peppers add a depth and complexity of both flavor and heat, and four different types of beans create a unique shape and texture experience. (I purchased the dried peppers from Penzeys.)

One notable missing ingredient is chili powder. Because chili powder is a blend of peppers, cumin, oregano, and garlic, I just added these ingredients to the recipe instead.

Four Pepper Four Bean Chili

(8 servings)

PART ONE

1 48-oz can tomato juice

4 roasted tomatoes (see note below)

1 14-oz jar roasted red peppers, chopped

1 dried ancho chili pepper

2 dried cascabel chili pepper

2 dried guajillo chili peppers

1 C. chopped onion

4 cloves garlic

1 T. cumin

2 tsp. brown mustard seed

2 tsp. Mexican oregano

2 tsp. Mrs. Dash extra spicy seasoning blend

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. cayenne red pepper powder

Soak dried peppers in hot water until soft, about 10 minutes, then cut into chunks. Sauté onions in small skillet with a bit of oil. Mince garlic cloves, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, and then mash them into a paste using the flat side of knife.

Combine all ingredients in 4-quart crock pot. Cook on low 3 – 4 hours. Remove the dried peppers. Taste. If you’d like it spicer, add 2 – 4 T. hot sauce.

PART TWO

1# ground beef (or turkey, chicken, or venison)

1/2 C. chopped onion

1 T. worchestershire sauce

3/4 C. canned red kidney beans

3/4 C. canned black beans

3/4 C. canned Great Northern beans

3/4 C. canned butter beans

Brown ground beef with onion and worchestershire sauce. Drain and rinse beans. Add beef and beans to crock pot.. Cook on warm (or low) for 1 hour.

Additional notes

I roast fresh garden tomatoes in the summer and freeze them. Alternately, you could probably use a can of roasted whole tomatoes.

You will have about 2 1/2 cups leftover beans; place the combined beans in a quart bag, freeze, and use in the next batch of chili.

Wing in the New Year

2011-01-02T19:34:00.001-05:00

Recipes for two marinades for wings that I made for a New Year's Day party.

Dr. Barbecue Wings

2 1/2# chicken wings

8 oz. hickory smoke barbecue sauce

4 oz. Dr. Pepper

2 T. Dijon mustard
1 or 2 T. hot sauce

2 tsp. Mrs. Dash extra spicy seasoning blend (or red pepper flakes)

Asian Orange Wings

2 1/2# chicken wings

6 oz. LaChoy garlic ginger stir-fry sauce

6 oz. orange marmalade

2 T. soy sauce

4 oz. water

Directions: Place wings in a gallon-size Ziploc baggie. Whisk together the marinade ingredients; pour into baggie. Seal the baggie and lay flat on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 24 hours, occasionally turning the bag to coat the wings.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove wings from marinade and spread in a single layer on baking sheet. Cook 40 minutes.

Sorry...no pic. Photos from the cell phone made them look a very unappetizing shade of purplish grey!

Cheesy Veggie Casserole

2010-12-24T14:10:00.011-05:00

Despite the presence of vegetables, this casserole is certainly not what I would call "healthy." But it's tasty, and an easy dish to take to a get-together.

Click HERE for printable recipe

Cheesy Veggie Casserole

(Serves 10 - 12)

Half of a 28-oz. bag steak fries

16 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, beans)

16 oz. bag frozen broccoli & cauliflower*

7 oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained

Two 10 3/4 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup

15 oz. jar Cheez-Whiz

8 oz. sour cream

French fried onions, optional (I detest the things and never use them)

Spread steak fries in a single layer in a glass 8X10 dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine soup, Cheez-Whiz, and sour cream; add vegetables and stir together. Pour soup-vegetable mixture over fries. For best results, cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake, covered, 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover, (top with French fried onions if using), bake additional 15 minutes.

*I find it necessary to thaw the broccoli/cauliflower blend so that I can cut any large pieces into smaller bite-size pieces. It's also helpful to sort through and discard any tough pieces of stalk.

You can make different variations of this recipe. Use all mixed vegetables. Use only 2 bags of California veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots). Omit the mushrooms. Substitute cream of celery or cream of chicken soup for the cream of mushroom soup. Make béchamel sauce to use in place of the cream of soup. Add a layer of shredded chicken or turkey (about 4 cups) between the steak fries and veggies. Use dill dip, ranch dip, or French onion dip in place of the sour cream. It's a very flexible recipe!


Bad cell phone pic of Cheesy Veggie Casserole

New kitchen

2010-12-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

I just moved my cooking blog to this address. Check back soon for new recipes!