Category: Certain Someone

"Pastaless" Veggie Lasagna

New Year, new ways of looking at my food. I love lasagna. I make a huge batch of it about twice a year and all my friends and family love it. My mother taught me how.Her recipe was so good that people who didn’t normally care for lasagna ,loved hers. Ricotta,2-3 types of meats,various Italian cheeses,egg,spinach, nutmeg,herbs and spices….you name it. It was so rich , good and fattening. I already feel as if I’m about to explode from all the Holiday baking and food blogging.I craved it but had to find a alternative. I decided to use grilled eggplant cut lenghtwise as my”noodle”. I also made up my own sauce with a pound of ground turkey. I grilled up some zucchini as well. I made my cheese filling using my mothers version,but with fat free ricotta,part skim mozzarella, spinach(frozen,thawed,and drained of moisture), 1 egg, nutmeg, and Parmesan. I layered eggplant,the cheese filling, the zucchini , sauce,the cheese filling,and roasted red peppers, topped of with more eggplant, sauce,then grated mozzarella,Parmesan,herbs, etc.You get the picture. I’m not kidding myself that this dish is totally healthy,but one has to take baby steps first. Certain Someone whined ‘Where’s his noodles” and looked on skeptically as I ate mine. He opted for the leftover cream sauce from the night befores butternut squash ravioli,on top of some more pasta. He was to stuffed to try mine. All in all it tasted pretty good. Like a cross between Eggplant Parmesan and lasagna. I didn’t miss the pasta at all.

German Retro Cusine…Toast Hawaii

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My Certain Someone introduced me to this retro dish back in Essen this past summer.I immediately thought “that’s so 50’s”. Its a favorite of his because its easy to cook/assemble and tastes pretty good. I even had it here as a appetizer at Chicago Brauhaus . It lives on, and on…Toast Hawaii is a typical open faced sandwich one finds in Germany( great on the carb cutting) and has a fascinating creator and history.So if you have some ham lying around , put it on some toast, add a pineapple ring or two, some Gouda, and melt away.

Aloha kãkou und Auf Wiedersehen!

New Year Traditions…Akkra,Greens,and Champagne


Happy New Year!

The other day I asked my friend Gabs what are the traditional good luck foods that they eat in Australia. She said they are not into to that as we Americans are. I got to thinking what can I do besides the normal southern style Black Eye Peas ,that we of Southern descent eat on New Years Day. I started thinking of my parents and in particular a dish my Nigerian father made at times. Akkra would be my new twist and variation of the routine Black Eye Peas . I never really got into all the Nigerian food growing up. It wasn’t that it was not good , I just got tired of my father eating the same things all the time( ‘soup’ , fufu,and rice in all there different ways). I remember he brought these black eye pea fritters called Akkra to a school “Show and Tell”, once on Nigeria. He added shrimp to them and they were a hit.I decided to add some other spices and green peppers to it. Dried shrimp,if you have it adds a great touch. My mother long since divorced from him made these from time to time as well.They are popular in Brazil and the parts of the Caribbean as well in slight variations. For New Years she was the traditional Southerner and made her Black Eye Peas and Collard Greens with lots of smoked meats. Don’t forget the Champagne for good luck! Certain Someone and I picked up these deliciously gaudy glasses in Germany. See the dollar signs? They really should be Euro signs in todays economy.They are RITZENHOFF.And what appropriate glasses to ask for prosperity in the New Year!

So here’s to a wonderful ,healthful,and prosperous New Year!

Apple Fritters

I have few days off to do absolutely nothing with Certain Someone home. Today in our shopping we bought a ham among other things. With ham I thought of apples. I love my fruits and veggies , unlike my big baby. With it being cold and homey, a craving entered my head. Apple fritters. These are really easy to make , simple, satisfying, and fattening. I couldn’t stop at one. Even Certain Someone came up to kitchen counter to have one after I offered some to my neighbor. He said they taste like apple pancakes, and they do. You can dice the apples or batter up apple rings. The choice is yours. Here’s the recipe I used.

Getting Figgy With It

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This is something that we have all had variations of. Essentially a wheel of Brie baked en croute. The most popular being with apricot preserves. I first had this starter wrapped in phyllo.I have even seen some take shortcuts and use refrigerated crescent dough. I decided to make my own pie crust and top off the Brie with some lovely fig preserves . Certain Someone and I devoured this prior to our dinner which was nicely roasting.He commented he didn’t need a entree .
Brie with Fig Preserves Wrapped in Pastry
Pie Crust
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup Manteca (lard , don’t frown it makes all the difference. Usually found in Baking aisles or Latin food sections.)well chilled.
2 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with 2 tablespoons water. Ice cold.

Also need 1 egg and heavy cream for egg wash.

1 wheel of Brie
Fig Preserves

Mix flour and salt in bowl.Cut in Manteca and butter into flour mixture until it resembles crumbs. Gradually add water/ vinegar mix . Mix until dough holds together. Divide into 2 balls and chill. Other ball can be frozen for later use depending on size of Brie.

Roll out between sheets of wax paper. Place Brie on top of crust. Top with Fig preserves liberally. Wrap crust up and around the cheese. Brush with egg wash.Bake at 350 degrees for approx 20-30 min or until crust is golden. You want the brie to be melted . Serve with crackers.