Al Dente

Weekend Recipe: White Lasagne with Parmigiano Besciamella

Like most people, when the weather turns cold and dreary I head straight for comfort foods like pastas, hearty soups and stews, roasts, and potato dishes. Few pastas set the cold-weather tone as well as a good lasagne. This one from the April 2008 issue of Gourmet features a white sauce instead of the usual tomato sauce, and uses no-boil noodles to cut down on the prep time. Dig in!

White Lasagne with Parmigiano Besciamella

Ingredients:
3/4 cup minced shallots (about 6)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3-3/4 cups whole milk
1 cup rich chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup dry Marsala
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 pound grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup), divided
12 (7-by-3-inch) no-boil egg lasagne sheets

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in the middle.
2. Cook shallots in butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add flour and cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, 3 minutes. Add nutmeg, then slowly whisk in milk and stock. Bring to a boil, whisking, then simmer, stirring occasionally, just until sauce lightly coats back of spoon, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool to warm, stirring occasionally. Stir in eggs, Marsala, sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 cup cheese.
3. Spread about 1-1/4 cups sauce over bottom of an 11-by-8-inch baking dish. Cover with a layer of three lasagne sheets. Repeat layering three more times, then top with remaining sauce and remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, until browned, 45 to 55 minutes.

Note: Sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered (once cool).

Serves 6.

--KitchenMaus

Gobble Up Those Ghosts and Goblins...Before They Get YOU!

Not only does it suddenly seem to be October (and mid-October at that), but everywhere I look I see ghosts and goblins galore. Yes, Halloween is upon us, and with it scads of cute and sugary treats dance before our eyes. Here are a few I came across just this morning, worthy of a link and a pic to frighten up your Friday:

• Ghostly chocolate caramel apple
• Halloween cookie bouquet
• Eyes cookies (these may be my favorite!)
• Spooky Rice Krispies treats
• Mummy cookies (so cute!)
• Black cat chocolate caramel apple

Stay tuned between now and Halloween for more spooktacular treats!

--KitchenMaus

Fat Sandwich Company Opening Second Location

What? You've never heard of Fat Sandwich Company? That may be because you don't go to the University of Oklahoma. FSC opened almost two years ago at Sooner central and they're about to open a new location at the University of Illinois (my alma mater). I'll be there in November so you'll see a review of the place in early December. You can read all about the opening at The217.com.

The real reason I'm mentioning this seemingly insignificant news item is because FSC has a sandwich that could kill you. And you know I love food that's so over the top that it's deadly. For $25 you can buy a sandwich called "Big Fat Ugly". It consists of two rolls, four cheeseburgers, a double cheesesteak, a chicken cheesesteak, gyro meat, grilled chicken, bacon, sausage, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, mac n cheese bites, fried mushrooms, jalapeño poppers, pizza bites, onion rings, hash browns, American cheese, mayo, and ketchup. Eat this six pound, football-sized monster in less than 15 minutes and your sandwich is free.

Here's a video of a young Sooner taking and failing miserably at the Big Fat Ugly Challenge.

Big Fat Ugly Challenge from LaughingNearYou on Vimeo.

--Spanno

Cooking with a Corpse? Probably Not a Good Idea in a Restaurant

As seen in an article on Reuters, Jaswinder Singh was recently cooking up kebabs at his London establishment with a corpse nearby propped on a sofa. It turns out it was an employee who passed away from, according to a police, unsuspicious circumstances. It also turns out that the death happened in the middle of a rush, so Mr. Singh didn’t have time to quit serving kebabs. Which, to me, seems a bit odd. But hey, while I’m not a restaurant owner, I have worked a lot in the service industry, and understand the “customer first” aesthetic. Maybe he was just taking it to an extreme level? Though this doesn’t account for the chicken in corner that police found defrosting in a pool of blood and flies, or the other employee they found smoking and spitting on the floor “repeatedly.” So, maybe it wasn’t customer focus at all, but a new “have dinner with the dead” marketing scheme. Either way, he has now been “banned from managing food businesses and fined 3,800 pounds.”

--A.J. Rathbun

Happy Hour Drink Recipe: Hot Buttered Rum

It's fall and it's cold. To me that means Irish coffee, hot totties, and hot buttered rum. Here's a great recipe for hot buttered rum from epicurious.

Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients:
2 or 3 ounces dark rum
Twist lemon peel
Stick cinnamon
2 cloves
Sweet cider
1 tablespoon sweet butter
Nutmeg

Directions:
1. Put the rum, lemon peel, cinnamon and cloves in a pewter tankard or any heavy 12-ounce mug that has been rinsed in very hot water to warm it.
2. Heat the cider to the boiling point and pour into the spiced rum.
3. Add the pat of butter and stir well.
4. Grate a little nutmeg on top. A cube of sugar may be added as well.

--Spanno

The Newest Packaged Salad Danger

Supplied by the helpful folks at Break.com, this image makes me think we should pay more attention to what's in our packaged salad...

 

--AndreaLeigh

Beer at Burger King?

Burger King is claiming that you'll be able to buy burgers at their upcoming "Whopper Bar" locations. I know, it's weird to think that if you sat down at a Burger King, you could be eating an actual burger. What's that? They already sell burgers? Really? I've had Burger King around four times and never once was I given a burger. I ate something called a "Whopper", but I couldn't tell what it was. I'd say the predominant flavor was "burned". That's a flavor, right? Like when you drink a Coors Light, the flavor is "cold"--which is a step up from Bud Light who has given up on the whole flavor thing and is now pushing something called "drinkability". This amazes me. Bud's biggest selling point is that it's drinkable? Antifreeze is drinkable. You'll probably die, but at least it tastes good. Unlike Bud Light.

What was my point? Oh, yeah. Beer. At Burger King. Seriously. I covered this Whopper Bar thing in March, but the addition of beer to the menu is a new development. Whopper Bars are going to be smaller than regular Burger Kings and only sell Whoppers, "grab-and-go" products, and possibly beer. Am I missing something here? Other than Vegas and a few places in Florida, can you get beer to go? It seems very European. I have no problem with BK going European, but they'll need to step up their food prep. Nobody wants a food-borne illness, but "flame-broiled" doesn't have to mean "charred meat puck".

Read more about the King's new direction at the Wall Street Journal.

--Spanno

Twice-Baked Potatoes with Beets--A Harajuku Feast?

Despite the naughty beet naysayers out there (you know who you are
and shame on you) I made the last beet recipe I intended for Beet Week. I welcome constructive criticism from anyone who actually tries one of these recipes and finds it displeasing. Bring it on--but prove you tried it.

Last night my older son exclaimed with delight, "Purple potatoes! Yay!" while my younger one said, "I wan bite dat tato." Let me tell you it feels SO GOOD to fill children with healthy food. Besides having the
children, taking good care of them tops the list of lifetime achievements. Feeding them well contributes mightily to the feeling of success. A twice-baked potato is a veritable boat of goodness sailing right into their tummies. With lots of yummy butter and sour cream, you can mix in just about any healthy veggie and it will go well. I went with the classic trio of ham, broccoli, and cheddar. In addition to using beets for their nutritional value, I used them to show how fun the color is. Chopped broccoli mixed in makes a very preppy potato for your next theme party. Grated orange cheddar on top makes for a technicolor delight, or a happy harajuku feast.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 large baking potatoes
salt
pepper
milk
1 stick of butter
1 8-ounce tub of sour cream
2 thick slices of cooked breakfast ham, cubed (I use Wellshire Farms Sunday Breakfast Ham)
2 handfuls of broccoli florets with some stem, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup roasted, pureed purple beet
grated cheddar for topping

Directions:
1. Bake potatoes for an hour or so in a 400-degree oven.
2. When potatoes are done, cut butter into pieces and put in large mixing bowl.
3. Halve potatoes and scrape out the middles, putting the hot potatoes in the bowl with butter.
4. Stir and mash potatoes and melted butter together, adding salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add sour cream and beets and stir together.
6. Add chopped broccoli and cubed ham, stirring together.
7. Add milk to thin the mixture and achieve your desired texture. Taste now, because it won't change during cooking. Get the spices/flavor correct now.
8. Fill each skin with potato mixture and top with grated cheese.
9. Cook in oven until warm all the way through and cheese melts, about 20 minutes.

--Sweet B

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Banana Tart

No, I didn't just randomly type delicious words into the title. This ridiculously amazing-looking dish was created by the owners of The Bleeding Heart Bakery in Chicago, IL.

Image courtesy of flickr.

--Spanno

How to Tip a Monkey: Double the Tax and Add a Banana

I was out of the office most of this week (eating my way around Austin, Texas) or else this video of monkey waiters would've earned Breaking News status here on the blog. As chronicled by Ed Levine over at Serious Eats, a Japanese tavern has enlisted two macaque monkeys--Fuku-chan and Yat-chan--to wait tables. While it appears they're mostly on bottle service they also bring over the occasional hot towel.

--BTP