Chicken, Spinach and Quinoa Lasagna

I like that I can hide behind my blog and you have no idea what a fruitcake I am at times. Hyperbole?  Love it.  Absolutely and obviously ridiculous thoughts and comments? Yep, those too. The very smell of rubbing alcohol and overall aroma of a medical office ?  Forget about it.  I sit there looking as calm as can be all the while fighting inclinations to run screaming out of the room in a full panic.   I almost told the  nurse after my first shot that I was pretty sure I could actually feel all of the toxins spreading through my system and killing me.   But alas, I sat quietly for the entire round of shots because while I'm half mental freakazoid, I'm also half awesome.  

Yep, I am fully immunized for an upcoming trip to Cambodia and Thailand with one of my very favorite organizations --LightBridge International.    This trip opportunity came up quickly and it feels like a bit of a scramble to get everything ready and in place in such a short time.  We'll be heading to Minefield Village in Cambodia first to spend time with families living in areas once filled with land mines  from the Khmer Rouge regime.  We are then heading over to the Burmese Refuge Camp on the Thai-Burmese border and after that, visiting with the kids (and my sponsor boys) in Chiang Mai.  It's a crazy packed two weeks and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful opportunity. 

I do not feel so blessed to have been stuck multiple times with killer bacteria today.  

Brooklyn says "suck it down drama queen--I get them every year".

Lasagna is great comfort food after an afternoon spent as a pincushion.   I can't actually remember the last time I made lasagna. Shocking right?  Lasagna is really one of those foods that should be made often. 

I've had some success and a lot more failures when it comes to making homemade pasta but I am determined to master it.  I read an article that the extra gluten in bread flour helps the pasta stick together better and after trying bread flour, I'm a convert. The pasta made with bread flour holds together nicely while running through the pasta roller. 

And of course the quinoa--it's pretty phenomenal in lasagna.  With the quinoa, you can get away with fewer layers of lasagna noodles and the quinoa makes a nice hearty lasagna.

Lasagna is a little bit of work to throw together but you can make a couple at the same time and freeze the extras (unbaked) in the freezer for a little lasagna love anytime you feel like it. 

Chicken, Spinach and Quinoa Lasagna

Pasta Ingredients

2 cups bread flour

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

1 10 oz frozen package spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess water

3 cups ricotta

2 eggs

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 cup grated parmesan

8 oz mozzarella (sliced or shredded)

1 lb ground chicken

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

24 oz  favorite tomato pasta sauce

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup red wine

Directions:

1. Add all pasta ingredients to Kitchenaid mixer with dough hook attachment.  Turn power to 2 and mix for 6-7 minutes or until dough is smooth and indent pressed into dough bounces back.  Cover and let rest 30 minutes.
2. While dough is resting prepare the chicken ragu.  Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium.  Add chicken and garlic and cook through. Add tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar and red wine to the chicken and simmer over medium low heat while pasta dough is resting. 
3. Flour a working mat and place dough on mat.  Sprinkle flour on top and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.  Switch to pasta roller and roll dough through until desired thickness.  I used # 8 for my final thickness.
4. Add ricotta, spinach, eggs, quinoa, salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder and parmesan to large bowl and mix thoroughly. 
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
6. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce in a baking dish in an even layer(will make enough for 9x13--I split into two smaller pans). 
7. Cut lasagna noodles to correct size and layer over sauce.  Spread spinach quinoa mixture evenly over noodles, cover with another layer of ragu and a layer of mozzarella.  Repeat 1-2 more times ending with a  topping of mozzarella. 
8. Bake for 30 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting. 

Eggnog Crumb Cake

I know the very mention eggnog sends a visceral shudder through some people.  I am not one of those people--I think eggnog is a grand thing really.  I don't think I could just chug some of it down in a glass but eggnog in baking, or even a splash in coffee once in awhile is okay by me.  Coming from a girl who hates sugar or flavored creamers of any kind in her coffee, that's a statement.  

I especially love one big fat cup of eggnog in a super-fat-crumb-topped coffee cake.  Yes indeedy. 

Does anyone else pass on the big KitchenAid mixer often for the quick convenience of a hand mixer or is it just me?

The eggnog flavor comes through pretty nicely in this coffee cake and those rich brown sugary crumbs are the perfect addition.  I still swear by the crumb topping from the New York Times recipe years ago.  When you melt the butter first and mix in the flour to make a moist crumb that you can aggressively squeeze  pinch into big fat crumbs in a delicate and lady-like manner, well, you have the perfect crumb cake. 

Crumb cake should be served with coffee.  As should everything really. 

Eggnog Crumb Cake

Ingredients:
For the Crumb Topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour

For the Crumb Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar

2 large eggs
1 cup eggnog
1 cup greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Eggnog Icing

2 tbsp butter melted

3 tbsp eggnog

1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a tube pan. 
2. In a large bowl, beat together together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time. 
3. Beat in the eggnog, yogurt, nutmeg and vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. 
5. Add dry ingredients into into wet ingredients and stir until just blended.
6. Spread the batter into the greased pan and tap on counter to remove air bubbles. 
7. Make crumb topping. In a medium bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Add flour and stir thoroughly.  (Can make earlier but may need to reheat prior to remelt butter...melted butter creates a damp crumb that can easily be crumbled into big crumbs)
8. Crumble crumb mixture into big pieces over top of batter. 
9. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
10. Cool on rack for 5 minutes.  Place a plate on top of the cake and flip the cake over onto the plate.  Place serving plate on bottom of cake and flip cake over to right-side up. 
11. For icing whisk together butter and eggnog in a small saucepan over low heat.  Bring to a simmer for 2 mins, whisking constantly.  Cool and whisk  in confectioners sugar.  (Can skip the simmering of the eggnog if you are going to be refrigerating the crumb cake)
12. Drizzle icing over completely cooled cake

Salt Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Christmas baking has begun....happy, happy, happy indeed.  You know what's just as happy as  Christmas baking in my opinion? 

These....

Who knew such goodness existed?  I'm a Dove's dark chocolate girl through and through.  I have some in the car, some at the office and of course, some at home.  I've never ventured to any of the other flavors since they are either milk chocolate (travesty right? ) or flavors that don't turn my head for a second glance.  Until these of course.  These caramels are the really soft oozy caramels similar to Frans  and they have that dark Dove chocolate shell.  Nothing every really comes all that close to Fran's Gray Salt Caramels but these are pretty darned scrummy. They are a Target exclusive flavor so you'll need to head into that bullseye wonderland but who doesn't go to Target weekly really?   Dove's and Target--I love you both dearly. 

I used a standard pudding mix chocolate chip cookie recipe for that soft chewy cookie texture.  If you prefer a crispy cookie, you can opt for a different cookie recipe.  The Dove's caramel is really the star of this show. 

These are best still warm  and ooey and gooey, but the caramel stays soft even as the cookies cool. 

Salt Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (3 ounce) packages vanilla instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 package Dove Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolates

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
3. Beat together butter, sugars, vanilla, and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy.
4. Beat in eggs one at a time
5. Gradually mix in flour mixture.
6. Stir in chips (batter will be stiff).
7. Scoop out one tsp cookie dough and flatten.  Unwrap Dove chocolate and place on cookie.  Scoop out additional 1 tsp cookie batter, flatten and lay over top of Dove square.  Pick up cookie and Dove layers and seal edges well.  Finished cookie should be slightly flattened.
8. Repeat with remaining cookie dough
9. Bake  for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and cool on cooling racks

Puppy Personalities

In my last post I lamented over misplacing my Thanksgiving pecans but found an awesome replacement faux pecan pie recipe.   Someone dear asked me after the post though if I hadn't actually lost pecans last year as well.  Well wouldn't you know it...some quirks are definitely ingrained to the core.  

My last post also had a very serious looking puppy face and after I posted, it finally struck me that Brooklyn must really only being humoring me because her sweet little puppy smile disappears the moment she thinks she's posing for the camera.  Yes, smile.  Anyone who's ever been anywhere near a Boston Terrier knows they are hardly serious little dogs.  Their smiley, "everything is sooooo hyper exciting" personality is what draws me to them.  Along with that smush face of course.  But really, it's a smush face that's much cuter when it's smiling.  The posed pictures are hardly an indicator of her happy little personality.

I recently offered to take some pics of a coworker's dog since she'd graciously offered to watch Brooklyn when I was out of town one weekend.  Her puppy is the complete opposite of mine.  While they share a smush face, he's definitely mellow and much(much) bigger than Brooklyn.  Isn't he a cutie?

When I heard how well they got along though despite their size difference, I was definitely excited to watch them play.  

Yep, there is that happy, excited puppy personality I love.  

Not Quite Pecan Pie

Hope you all had the happiest Thanksgiving and a well deserved 4 day weekend!    It's still surprising to me how much menu planning and prep goes into the day and how quickly the meal comes and goes. 

Puppies may sit for pictures in front of Christmas trees, but they really prefer Thanksgiving.  Yes, puppies LOVE Thanksgiving. 

Like many of you, I planned my ingredients for the Thanksgiving cooking and baking extravaganza.  Somewhere in the process of putting groceries away, ingredients are bound to get lost in this house and this time it was the pecans.  You would think that an ingredient as important as pecans would be sheltered and cared for right around Thanksgiving time...since pecan pie is essential Thanksgiving eats in my mind.  Once a year that overly-sweet pie tastes just perfect after a little turkey and mashed potatoes.

Somehow, I managed to misplace those pecans so thoroughly that I had to come up with a  backup plan that didn't involve the running out to the craziness of grocery stores the night before Thanksgiving. 

A little internet searching and I found a recipe from Christy at Southern Plate for a pecan-free pecan pie  Yep, pecan pie made without pecans.  

Even better, pecan pie made with pretzels instead of pecans.  Genius. 

The idea that pretzels coated with butter and sugar could replace pecans seemed a little daring to me, but have to say I loved, loved, loved this--maybe even as much as pecan pie. I used my own favorite maple pecan pie recipe and then topped it with the pretzel recipe from Christy's blog.  The result was a pie that was almost indistinguishable from real pecan pie--the only giveaway was that some of the larger pretzel pieces gave a crunchy cookie texture to some bites(which I kind of really liked).  No one else had a clue that it didn't have pecans in it until I told them.  Really.   Shocking right?  This is definitely a make again recipe--maybe pecan pie will become a twice a year affair. 

Look what I found after the pie was cooling.  Of course. 

Faux Pecan Pie

adapted from Southern Plate

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Pie filling ingredients:
1 c pure maple syrup
1/3 c packed brown sugar

1/3 c white sugar
3 large eggs
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

"Pecan" topping:
1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare pie crust.
2. Whisk together pie filling ingredients in large mixing bowl until well combined.
3. Pour into pie shell.
4. For topping, combine all ingredients in medium bowl and stir well to coat pretzels.
5. Sprinkle topping evenly over pie.
6. Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour, covering with foil halfway through baking if needed to prevent over browning.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before serving. (Best made day before serving