Mushroom Lasagne

Wild Mushroom Lasagne
For mushroom filling:
3 cups water
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 cup)
2 pounds fresh white mushrooms
2 large zucchini (about 1 pound)
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons sherry
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For sauce:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
4 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/2 cups), plus 1 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
18 (7 by 3 1/2-inch) sheets dry no-boil lasagne (about 1 pound)
1/2 pound freshly grated mozzarella (about 2 cups)

Make filling: In a small saucepan bring water to a boil and remove pan from heat. Stir in the porcini. Soak the porcini 20 minutes. Lift out the porcini, squeezing out excess liquid, and reserve soaking liquid. In a sieve, rinse the porcini to remove any grit and pat dry. Chop the porcini and transfer to a large bowl. Simmer reserved soaking liquid until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Pour liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into bowl with the porcini. Quarter white mushrooms and in a food processor pulse in 3 batches until finely chopped. Cut zucchini into 1/4-inch dice. Chop onion and mince garlic. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat 1 tablespoon butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and cook 1/3 white mushrooms with 2 tablespoons sherry, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and they begin to brown. Add mushroom mixture to the porcini. Cook remaining mushrooms in 2 batches in butter with remaining sherry in same manner and add to the porcini mixture. In skillet cook zucchini in 1 tablespoon butter until tender and stir into the porcini mixture. In skillet cook onion in remaining tablespoon butter, stirring, until softened. Stir in garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir onion into mushroom mixture until combined. Filling may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Make sauce: In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes and whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan, mustard, and salt. Remove pan from heat and cover surface of sauce with waxed paper. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring sauce to room temperature before proceeding.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and butter a 13 by 9-inch (3-quart) baking dish.
Assemble lasagne: Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in baking dish and cover with 3 pasta sheets, making sure they don't touch each other. Spread one third filling over pasta sheets in dish and top with 3 more pasta sheets, gently pressing down layers to remove air pockets. Top pasta sheets with 1/3 mozzarella. Continue layering in same manner with sauce, pasta sheets, filling, and mozzarella, ending with mozzarella (dish will be filled to rim). Spread remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with Parmesan. On a foil-lined large baking sheet, bake lasagne in middle of oven until bubbling and golden, about 45 minutes. Let lasagne stand 20 minutes. Lasagne may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring lasagne to room temperature and reheat before serving.

Taking Requests

Okay well as I have been mulling things over I have decided that I need to start taking requests, questions, and anything I can do to help for cooking. If you have something that you are looking for specifically then I will try and find it, or if you are wanting a general topic like dessert or something send it on by. I will also do a recipe of the week were I will be posting a tried and true recipe.....with all the ingredients because usually I don't always do that. So start asking and I will start doing what I can.


And Happy Cooking Adventures!!!!

Pumpkin Cake Roll

This is one of my all time favorite dessert classics for Thanksgiving! For about the past 4 years I have made this dessert as the one main dish. In my opinion this replaces the pumpkin pie for me. It has that more elegant feel when you place it and the presentation is great!


Ingredients

Cake Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for sprinkling
1 cup fine chopped walnuts (optional)

Frosting Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar
6 oz cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For cake: Beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes, gradually beat in sugar. Mix in pumpkin and lemon juice. Combine well. In seperate bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until well combined. Spread in a greased and floured 17x10x1 jelly roll pan (I put wax paper on the bottom before greasing and flouring for easier release. Top with the chopped nuts and pat them down into the cake with your fingers lightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn out onto the already dusted towel with powdered sugar (towel at least 2" bigger than pan). Starting at narrow end while cake is hot roll up towel and cake together. Clothes pins help keep the towel rolled up.
Combine ingredients for frosting until smooth. Unroll the cake and spread this evenly over the entire surface of the cake. Re-roll and chill until serving.

Lavender-Blueberry Ice Cream

I have never had such an amazing ice cream like this! I love how it brings the feel that you are actually tasting spring and summer. Elegant and simple goes well with pies, cakes, or alone.

Ingredients
4 fresh or dried lavender flowers
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cold creme fraiche
1 cup bluberries, pureed in a blender and pressed through a sieve
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place lavender and milk in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Whisk sugar and egg yolks together in a heavy saucepan or the top of a double broiler. Whisk in the lavender-infused milk and the cream. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat, or over water in a double broiler, about 5 minutes, until thickeneed enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take care not to let simmer or eggs will curdle. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Transfer to a metal bowl, cover with a piece of plastic wrap placed on the surface, and refrigerate until cold. strain to remove lavender. Fold in the creme fraiche, blueberry puree and vanilla. Place in an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions. Serve at once or place in container and freeze until firm. Use within 2 days.

Death by Chocolate Cake

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder 1
teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate Satin Frosting recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Satin Frosting
9 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
13 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Large pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the melted chocolate and melted butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty freestanding electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beact on low speed to mix unitl smooth. Blend in half of the confectioners' sugar and the salt. Beat on low speed for 1 minute. Add the remaining confectionser' sugar and beat to combine. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 1 minute. Increase the speed to moderately low and beat for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream. Increase the speed to moderately high and beat until shiny and very creamy, about 8 minutes longer.
Cover the frosting and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm enough to spread. Rebeat the frosting for 1 to 2 minutes on moderately high spped just before using. If the frosting seem slack, or in a hot kitchen, beat in up to 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time.

21 the movie review

21 was a great thrilling suspense and action movie. You first start with the average student citizen trying to get through college and the strains of getting funds to be able to attend. You then meet what appears to be a willing teacher and aid in a college professor who offers the world to him through counting cards and taking on the casino's.
You go through the fast paced world of learning signs, signals, code words, and the dangerous life of a card counter. Here is where the supposed villian appears as a sercurity manager trying to save his job which is quickly being replaced by technology.
After experiencing another life, our main character learns the harsh reality of losing, which he has not really learned. Then after losing a large amount of money which belonged to his mentor and disobeying the rules the mentor turns on him and steals all he had won over the few months that they had been playing the system. Our main character then turns to the members of his club and tries to mend the fences with his mentor saying that they will go one more time and take the casino's for all they are worth. Then the chase leads while the security manager attempts to capture them.
Then our twist in the story comes, and after explaining everything, we focus again on our main character where he is being interviewed for a scholorship where he tells of his life expereince which is supposed to 'jump off the page."
Overall it was a good movie and fast paced, which is good and sets the mood of the story. Some of the plot lacks a little in respect to his Vegas life, its mainly casino's, and living the high life. The music selected was great. The fake people they portray at casino's were really transparent and you wonder why they were never caught before now. The refernces to history in the mentors class about stealing and betrayl were really interesting as they showed that history can be repeated and learned from. On a rating out of 10 I would give this movie an 8. Not really a family movie but a good date or group watch.

Cherry Chocolate Cookies

Going off the assumption that there will be chocolate in Heaven, or at least mine, this other chocolate recipe was born. After moving here I found that one of my friends in the ward was giving up chocolate for a year, and lets just say that I would never do that. I made this cookie recipe for him just to tempt him to give up that crazy goal. I mean this recipe would tempt me!


Cherry Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
(Recommended brand: Lindt, Godiva Dark)
4 ounces milk chocolate chips
1 cup dried tart cherries
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two cookie sheets. In a nonstick pan, toast the almonds over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 to 10 minutes, until they have just begun to turn brown and emit a nutty aroma. Turn out onto a plate to cool. Chop the chocolate bars into small chunks, no larger than large chocolate chips, set aside. In a large bowl, combine the cherries, chocolate chips, and oats and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla. Beat the mixture until well combined, about a minute. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture and beat at low speed until well combined, less than a minute. Add chocolate chips, chopped chocolate, cherries, and nuts. Using a sturdy wooden spoon, mix well by hand, until all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Using a 1-tablespoon scoop, measure out cookies onto sheets, leaving about two inches between cookies (about a dozen per sheet). Bake 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cookies are set and are slightly flattened and light brown. Cool on sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Makes 6 dozen cookies

Potato Casserole

Okay this is another creation that came when I lived on a bag of potatoes for two weeks. Here in Utah the only potato casserole available is those funeral potatoes, which I just can’t get the hang of. So when you have the ingredients and a bag of potatoes this is just to die for and will keep for two weeks in the fridge!


Potato Casserole

Ingredients
6 medium-sized or 12 small potatoes (2 pounds, 9 ounces) peeled
(Recommended type: Yukon Gold)
1 small garlic bulb or ½ large garlic bulb
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter
½ cup milk
½ cup whipping cream
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Fontina cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon white peeper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch pan.
Bring a large quantity of salted water to a boil. Place the potatoes in the boiling water and cook until done, about 40 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, cut a piece of foil into an 8-inch square. Quickly rinse the garlic bulb under cold running water and pat it dry. Place the bulb in the middle of the foil square and carefully pour the olive oil over it. Bring up the corners of the foil and twist to make a closed packet. Put the coil packet with the garlic inside into the oven and bake about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cloves are soft but not brown. Carefully open the package, remove the garlic bulb with tongs so it can cool, and reserve the olive oil.
When the garlic cloves are cool, remove them from their skins. Using a small food processor, process the garlic until it is a paste.
Drain the potatoes and place them in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the garlic, reserved olive oil, butter, milk, cream, sour cream, cheeses, salt, and pepper. Beat until creamy and well combined. If the mixture seems dry, add a little milk. Scrape the potato mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The casserole should be hot through and slightly browned. Test for doneness by scooping out a small spoonful from the middle of the casserole and tasting it

Indulgent Chocolate Cookies

Now I know that everyone has those days and sometimes those days come to often. These are my personal cure for when life has me down, or I am really craving something chocolately and delicious! At first glance you would think that there is too much chocolate but there really is no such thing!

Ingredients
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken in large pieces
(Recommended brand: Lindt, Godiva)
4 ounces milk chocolate chips
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened and divided
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened Dutch-style cocoa
(Recommended brand: Hershey’s European-style)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Vanilla icing (recipe follows)

In the top of a double boiler, melt the chips, chopped chocolate, and 4 tablespoons (½ stick) of the butter. When melted, set aside to cool briefly.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with sugars. When the mixture is the consistency of wet sand, add the eggs one at a time and vanilla. Mix in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture, beating only until combined, don’t over mix. Taking bowl off mixer clean beaters, stir in flour mixture, mixing only until completely combined and no traces of flour appear.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 25 minutes, until the mixture can be easily spooned p with an ice cream scoop.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two cookie sheets. Using a 4-teaspoon ice cream scoop, measure out a dozen cookies per sheet. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes and 30 seconds, just until the cookies have puffed and flattened. Do not over bake; the cookies will firm up upon cooling. Allow the cookies to cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer them to racks and allow to cool completely.
Makes 4 dozen

Vanilla Icing
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¼ cups confectioners’ sugar or more if needed

Beat the butter until very creamy. Gradually add the cream, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar and beat well, if necessary add more confectioners’ sugar to the icing. It should be fairly stiff, not soupy. Spread thick layer on each cookie.

Expect the Unexpected

Today’s entry is focused on the unexpected. There is nothing more frightening or more delightful than the unexpected.
In today’s world the most terrifying thing is to experience the unexpected; it is the danger that lurks in our future, the mystery that whispers in the dark. We are told that we must always be on our look out for what eludes us. This can come as an unexpected financial crisis we did not for see, an issue that arises at work, or the ever occurring betrayal of a loved one or friend. These are what we are told you must always beware of for they can ruin your life in an instant. As I have mentioned before there will always be strangers and problems that will try and force themselves into our lives. Nothing scares the general working middle class citizen more than these elements that by their very nature tend to destroy everything we hold dear to our hearts.
But there can also be nothing more wonderful than the unplanned and unexpected events that make up our very lives from day to day. These are the moments we are told we should not measure in breaths but by how many breaths these moments take away. I have watched as family and friends learn of the happy addition to their own little family. The joy and exhilaration of getting a job that you have been longing for, or the raise you obviously deserve.
What then is to be gleaned from the unexpected? It is to learn that one should not fear life. The unexpected will come whether we wish them to or not. Look forward to the future, learn from your past, live in the present moments, and take nothing for granted. Learn from your enemies for they are hidden within your friends, and hold those you trust closest to you for they will be the ones to help you up once you fall.

Starting Out

I really don't know how to start this first blog. So I decided that I would post a variety of ideas that I have written down over the past two years. I like to use these for either discussions, papers, or school assignments. I hope you find something that you can relate to....


I knew at that moment our days on playing make-believe were over. As we grow older, it becomes difficult to just believe; it’s not that we don’t want to, but too much has happened and we can’t.

Yes each new day in our lives brings with it a new set of lies but the worst are the ones we tell ourselves before we fall asleep, we whisper them in the dark telling ourselves we’re happy, that he’s happy, that we can change, or that he will change his mind, we persuade ourselves we can live with our sins, or that we can live without him, yes each night before we fall asleep we lie to ourselves, in the desperate, desperate hope that come morning it will all be true.

Yes everyone loves a scandal no matter how big or small. After all what could be more entertaining than the downfall of the high and mighty you secretly loath; what could be more amusing than the public exposure of hypocritical sinners who have tried so hard to hide their secrets; yes everyone loves a scandal, and if for some reason you are not enjoying the latest one, well the next one is always around the corner.

Sooner or later the time comes when we all must become responsible adults. And learn to give up what we want so we can choose to do what is right; of course a lifetime of responsibility isn’t always easy for it begins to wear on the soul; and as the years go on its a burden that can become to heavy for some to bear; but still we try to do what is best what is good, not only for ourselves but for those we love. Yes sooner or later we must all become responsible adults; no one knows this better than the young.

It’s impossible to grasp just how powerful love is; it can sustain us through trying times; or motivate us to make extraordinary sacrifices; it can force decent men to commit the darkest deeds; or compel ordinary women to search for hidden truths; and long after were gone love remains burned into our memories; we all search for love. But some of us after we found it wish we hadn’t.

People by their very nature are always on the lookout for intruders; trying to prevent those on the outside from getting in; but there will always be those who force their way into our lives; just as there will be those we invite in; But the most troubling of all will be the ones who stand on the outside looking in, the ones we never truly get to know.

Competition; it means different things to different people; in suburbia it means keeping up with the Jones’s; we must all understand the first rule of competition; in order to win you have to want it more. Yes, competition, it means different things to different people; but whether it’s a friendly rivalry; or a fight to the death; the end result is the same, there will be winners and there will be losers; of course the trick is to know which battles to fight, you see no victory comes without a price.

There is a widely read book that tells us everyone is a sinner; of course not everyone fells guilt over the bad things they do; in contrast there are those who assume more than their share of the blame; there are others who sooth their consciences with small acts of kindness; or by telling themselves their sins were justified; finally there are the ones who simply vow to do better next time, and pray for forgiveness; sometimes their prayers are answered.

Everyone in the world needs someone they can depend on. Be they faithful friends; determined advocates; or a loving family; but occasionally in life the people we thought would always be there for us leave. And if that happens, it’s amazing the lengths well go through to get them back.

The world is filled with good fathers, how do we recognize them? They’re the ones who are missed so terribly that everything falls apart in their absence; they’re the ones who love us long before we’ve even arrived. Their the ones who come looking for us when we can’t find our way home; yes the world is filled with good fathers; and the best are the ones who make the women in their lives, feel like good mothers.

Everyone enjoys a game of make-believe every now and then; of course the ways in which we play can vary greatly. Sometimes we tell ourselves that work won’t interfere with our family life; sometimes we imagine certain relationships to be more meaningful than they really are; occasionally we put on a show to convince ourselves our secrets really aren’t all that terrible; yes the game of make-believe is a simple one; you start by lying to yourself. And if you can get others to believe those lies, you win.

Control, it’s extraordinary the tactics people explore to obtain it. Some rely on deception; while others engage in outright trickery; then there are those who resort to extortion; why do we fight so hard for control? Because we know to lose it is to put or fate in the hands of others, and what could be more dangerous?

In a world filled with darkness we all need some kind of light. Whether is a great flame showing us how to win back what we’ve lost; or a powerful beacon intended to scare away potential monsters; or a few glowing bulbs that reveal to us the hidden truths of our past; we all need something to help us get through the night even if it’s the tiniest glimmer of hope.

It’s not always that easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad. Sinners can surprise you; and the same is true for saints; why do we try to define people as simply good or simply evil? Because no one wants to admit that compassion and cruelty can live side by side in one heart; and that anyone is capable of anything.