Lasagna

Every time I make lasagna I try a new recipe. I think I've finally found the perfect one at allrecipes.com.

Ingredients 

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I love the flavor of the sausage)                                                   

3/4 pound lean ground beef                                                    
1/2 cup minced onion                                                                     

2 cloves garlic, crushed                                                                     

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes                                                                     

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste                                                                     

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce                                                                     

1/2 cup water                                                                     

2 tablespoons white sugar                                                                     

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves                                                                     

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds                                                                     

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning                                                                     

1 tablespoon salt                                                                     

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper                                                                     

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley                                                                     

12 lasagna noodles                                                                     

16 ounces ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)                                                                   

1 egg                                                                     

1/2 teaspoon salt                                                                     

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced                                                                     

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese                                                                           

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Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Yesterday I bought a rotisserie chicken from costco.

I always feel so weird about throwing the carcass away. It feels so wasteful or something. 

So I googled homemade chicken stock and whaa laaaa. 

Put your carcass in a big pot. 

Add:

1-2 carrots

1-2 celery

1 onion

1-2 garlic cloves 

Anything else you want

Salt and pepper to your liking

Cover with enough COLD water to cover the carcass and vegetables. 

Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. 

Simmer for 60-90 minutes UNCOVERED. 

Strain the liquid. And there you have it. 

My conundrum is how to store it, but I just put two cups per zip lock bag, and stored them in the freezer. It made about 16 cups I think?

It's a bit experimental, so I'll update with any new findings. 

Peach Cream Trifle

Tis the season for peaches.  I make this dessert every year during peach harvest. I've tweaked it a little over the years, but I'll post the origional recipe and add my two bits in.

Ingredients:

1 angel food cake loaf (I sometimes make my own pound cake depending on how much time and care I want to put into it, Mary now you know how much I care. I use Martha Stewart's recipe http://www.marthastewart.com/274847/pound-cake-recipes/@center/276954/great-cake-recipes)'
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 C cold water
1 3.4 oz pkg vanilla pudding
1 tsp vanilla
1 pint whipping cream whipped (I don't add sugar to whipped cream, I think the swt cond milk and pudding adds enough sweetness and I like to add sugar to peaches to get the juices flowing)
4 C sliced fresh peaches (I add sugar, see above)

In a large bowl combine swt cond milk and water, mix well. Add pudding mix, beat well. Chill 5 min. Stir in vanilla.  Fold in whipped cream.

Cut angel food cake (or pound cake) into cubes. Arrange 1/3 of cake on bottom of trifle bowl. Put 1/3 sliced peaches on top of cake then add pudding mixture on top of peaches. Repeat 2 more times. 
*If you don't have a trifle bowl you can use a  9x13 pan and just do two layers.