Italian Seasoned Tuscan Bread

This is the seasoned bread I make on occasion. Everyone loves it.

1 medium to large loaf Tuscan bread.  With a large serrated knife make deep horizontal and vertical cuts into bread watching carefully not to cut your fingers.  Once sliced to your liking using a heavy drizzle open slices and drizzle olive oil deep into all openings. Sprinkle heavily with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings. Wrap in foil bake 350degrees approx. 15 minutes. Remove . Allow to cool slightly and it pulls apart for easy eating! Great for serving with an antipasto or meal.  My family loves it.👍

Easy pleasing comfort food!

From my kitchen to yours,

M. j.

Easy Lasagna Cups, My Way

I love using ingredients and food items I have hanging around my kitchen so today I decided to use several ingredients that I had and put together my version of Lasagna cups.  I had pasta sauce with 4 meatballs in my frig and a small zucchini too so this is today's Lasagna cups that we had for dinner.

I used my large muffin pan and made 6 large lasagna muffins.  Two of which I used thinly sliced zucchini since I only had 4 meatballs.  I lightly sprayed the muffin pan before I started to layer.

You can easily make this recipe and you don't even have to use the meatballs.  Using thinly sliced veggies will I am sure work well.  Since you only bake them for approximately 30 minutes make sure your veggies are thinly sliced. I think eggplant, mushrooms, yellow squash or zucchini would work fine.

 Happy Cooking!

 


6 oven ready no cook Barilla lasagna noodles(soak in a large pan of warm water approximately 10 to 15 minutes)  so they are slightly pliable then cut  in half.  Will equal 12 pieces.
6 tsp. ricotta cheese
6 slices fresh mozzarella sliced in half or you can use prepackaged shredded mozzarella
6 medium cooked meatballs squished with fork or thinly sliced veggies (I used thinly sliced zucchini in two)
1 qt. pasta sauce, homemade or jar you choose
freshly grated cheese
fresh or dried basil
parsley

Spray large muffin pan with cooking spray.  Place one of the half slices of lasagna noodle on bottom.  Press meatballs slightly before adding to cups with a fork.  Add one meatball and some pasta sauce, then a piece of mozzarella and 1 tsp. ricotta, sprinkle grated cheese and basil/parsley mix over cheese.  Top with the other half of the lasagna noodle and push down slightly.  Top with pasta sauce, grated cheese and grated mozzarella.  Bake covered 25 minutes, remove cover and bake an additional 5 minutes.  Remove from oven allow to set for 10 additional minutes and serve.

Nana's Homemade Chicken Ravioli: My first 50

Nana never made meat ravioli and as I'm thinking back to how Nana prepared meals, I'm thinking chicken and potatoes were used a lot in meal preparation.  I lot of meatless meals...

Mom used to tell me they ate a lot of potatoes.. She came from a family of seven and I think potatoes were also reasonable in price so beef was a rarity and maybe that's a good thing.. Nana lived to 93 and Mom's oldest sister is 100 , mom is 91and her other sister is 89. Her remaining youngest brother is 84.

I just better get to my recipe and stop with the chat..

Look at how much filling I still have..I will be making a few more of these..

Here it is:

1 1/2 lb. cooked chicken( I used chicken breasts)  I boiled them with a bit of salt and let them cool
1/2 cup seasoned or unseasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated cheese (of course I use Pecorino Romano)
1/4 cup chopped spinach cooked and drained well
1 egg beaten
1 tablespoon water if needed to hold together

chicken and spinach filling

Chicken and spinach in my processor

When chicken has cooled process chicken and spinach until desired consistency..Add egg , cheese and breadcrumbs and bit of water if needed.  Refrigerate until ready to use!!!  


Dough:

4 cups regular flour( you can use half regular flour and half semolina if you like)
5 whole eggs
1 tbsp. oil
1/4 cup water plus a little more
1 tsp. salt

Mom said this recipe makes 140 Ravioli.. 

Now to get on to making them.. I was going to wait until tomorrow to start but here is the first 50..  Check out the pictures it looks like I'll be making some more later..

Happy Cooking!!!!!

My macaroni machine..I'm back in business!

I use a pizza cutter to section pieces of dough..

I usually go several times to make my dough the right thickness

After putting a small amount of filling fold in half and seal and then dip a fork in flour and seal again making a fork mark around the ends

My first 50!!!!!!

Happy Cooking from my kitchen to yours,

11/5/11
4/17/15

Mom's CreamyCabbage

One of my mom's favorite dishes was her creamy cabbage.  My brother and her loved it and so did all her neighbors...She supplied the neighborhood with it.  She just loved to share food and her grandchildren loved it too.

I've been thinking of her and how wonderful she baked and cooked and as I talk about her these food memories are very dear to me.  I hope you enjoy them as well.

I'm going to post her recipe as I remember.  I make mine a little different than hers but I think you may enjoy her recipe.

2 lb. ground pork

1- 15 oz. can sauerkraut drained

1 1/2 tsp. salt.

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 large head cabbage washed cored and sliced in small to medium slices.

1 small can tomatoes or tomato sauce(mom used Contadina tomato sauce, I use Hunts tomato sauce

2 + small cans water

1 whole onion grated

1 large potato grated

In a very large pot place a few tablespoons olive oil.  Add ground pork, grated onion, salt and pepper.  Fry breaking up ground pork into small pieces on medium heat until browned. Add sauce or tomatoes, water, cabbage and sauerkraut. Cover slightly and toss every so often.  When cabbage has reduced and is soft add a little more water if necessary and cook until all cabbage is tender. Taste test to make sure you have enough salt.  Now peel a large potato, grate it and while stirring add the grated potato to thicken the liquid slightly.. My brother and her often had sliced fresh bread on the side.

The above recipe is the way my mom made creamy cabbage.

I don't add the potato but basically all the same ingredients and I use my crockpot.  After it is cooked to my liking I ladle some over mashed potatoes. 

Happy Cooking!

Crockpot instructions:

Cabbage, sauerkraut, salt, pepper, onion, ground pork, a small can hunts sauce and one to two small cans water. Place all ingredients in your crockpot on high 3 hours then low 3 hours. Or if you want it to cook 👨🍳 low all day it will be About 6 hours. 
An hour before serving grate one large peeled potato into ingredients to thicken if you desire.

Mom made hers in a huge Dutch oven on top of the stove adding 1 cup or more liquid. She then added grated potato and allowed to thicken slightly.

My way is in a  crockpot served over mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

From my kitchen to yours,

Homemade Chicken Soup, Dumplings optional

You can easily make homemade  chicken soup in your crockpot.  Do as exactly below and set your crockpot to low for approximately 6 to 8 hours. Cut or shred chicken for recipes where chicken is used. You can freeze in bags for casseroles as I do. Saves time!! And you can freeze the broth too.

Yesterday I made homemade chicken soup which most of us know how to do but I'll post it anyway..Lots of good quality chicken , carrots, celery and onion are put into this..

Some people add parsley or a tomato as well .  It depends on you. 

Updated photos and recipe  12/29/23

Chicken soup with shredded chicken carrots and orzo.

Homemade Chicken Soup

12 cups cold water
1 1/2 lb.+ chicken breast or several chicken parts (My mom always used chicken parts(even the neck)of the chicken)  ( I like chicken breasts because they made soup sweeter)
4 peeled carrots
1 whole  medium onion
2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste 

1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon 
celery tops, dried celery, parsley or several celery cut in large pcs.
1  whole tomato(if desired for color)

Wash chicken, add to cold water with the rest of the ingredients and slowly bring to boil over medium heat.  Once it has come to a boil add Better than Bouillon, turn down to low and cook slowly approximately 2 hours or more until chicken is tender and pulls apart.  Take chicken and carrots out and cool slightly.  Cut up chicken and carrots.  Strain soup(discarding onion and celery) add chicken and carrots. Cook your favorite pasta(noodles) and add to soup.

Note:   I add Acne de Pepe and Orzo but thin fine noodles as well as others work well. Drop dumplings make this soup even heartier.

Makes several servings and freezes well...Happy Cooking!


Drop Dumplings:

In medium bowl beat egg with fork add water and salt. Fold in flour.  Bring a medium pot to boil, drop batter using a 1/2 of a small teaspoon(see photo).  Stir while adding so as not to stick to bottom of pan. Cook on medium heat until noodles come to top.  Cook for several minutes more. Drain and add to soup along with some noodles.

From my kitchen to yours,

5/24/11

updated  3/8/17

12/29/2023