[Elise] Sweet Potato Lasagna

I love lasagna, but have never really been a big fan of the ricotta cheese and meat sauce variety. Instead, over the past semester I've been working on my own recipe for awhile now. The carrot bit I got from my Danish neighbors, and the sweet potato is partially inspired by a piece of lasagna I had at a restaurant in Ithaca. Though it could certainly use some tweaking, I'm satisfied enough to share my recipe for a delicious vegetable packed lasagna.

Ingredients (measurements approximate)

16 lasagna noodles
1 sweet potato
1 zucchini
1 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 carrot
1 cup of frozen corn
2 cups of tomato sauce
1.5 cups of mozzarella
1.5 cups of mild white cheddar

I started by boiling the noodles in a large pot.

While waiting for the water to boil I peeled and chopped up one sweet potato, into inch square pieces. These I boiled in a separate pot until soft, drained, and then mashed, and set aside.

While those two were going on I sauteed some veggies. I used one onion, one zucchini and 3 cloves of garlic, but really this should be whatever you are really craving to have in your lasagna.

All of this at once isn't as crazy as it seems. The big pot takes a long time to boil, the small one less time, and the sauteing is only about 5 minutes. It's sort of like a nesting doll of cooking tasks, which all works out fine as long as you keep an eye on everything.

Next comes the layering. The start of this is a good time to preheat the oven to 375F

I started by spraying the 9x13" pan with oil, then laying down four noodles, overlapping. The first layer is just the mashed sweet potato, spread out as evenly as possible. Then four more noodles. The next layer is the sauteed veggies. First I spread about a third of the sauce down, then I sprinkled on the veggies, and then about 2/3 of the mild white cheddar shredded. Four more noodles. Then another third of the sauce. Then I sprinkled the shredded carrot over the whole thing, followed by the cup of frozen corn, and then slices of mozzarella. Four more noodles. Then finally the rest of the sauce, a ton of oregano, and the rest of the cheese (this time with mozzarella shredded).

Baked for 30 minutes, covered with tinfoil, and another 10 without, the lasagna came out perfectly. Though, I would recommend a few toothpicks in the middle to keep the tinfoil off the cheese.

[Inez] Cinnamon rolls

I made cinnamon rolls too! Like Elise, mine was highly experimental. I made a basic bread recipe ( sort of followed a recipe from Laurel's Kitchen that involved scalded milk, but I veered somewhat) and then put cinnamon/sugar/butter/[raisins] and baked it. I made them in 2 batches because I had SO MUCH DOUGH, so I ended up using 2 different methods. I'll discuss.

For the first batch, I kneaded the dough a bit after the first rise, concerned about big air bubbles. After rolling it out I slathered on melted butter and sprinkled a whole bunch of cinnamon sugar.

Then I rolled it into a log, cut it into discs, put it in a pan, let it rise again, and then baked it. While it was baking I went online to read about cinnamon buns, and some peope recommended spreading butter on top, so I did that when they came out of the oven.

With the second batch, I didn't knead at all after the first rise. I just punched it down, smushed it a bit, and then rolled it out. Then I tried mixing cinnamon sugar with butter to make a goopy mess, which I slathered (thickly) on the dough.

Also I put melted butter on top of the rolls after the second rise, before baking them. I think this helped keep them nice and soft, not at all crispy on the outside.

The second batch got much taller than the first batch, and had a nicer texture, so I think not kneading after the first rise is definitely the way to go. Also, I prefered the butter mixed with the cinnamon and sugar because I was able to to put a lot more on, which made them good and cinnamon-ey, just the way I like it!

I made way too many for just one person (I keep forgetting I'm cooking and baking for just one now) so even though I took some to work, I still made my stomach a little bit upset from too many cinnamon buns! I should have frozen some, but they were so good I couldn't stop eating them.

[Elise] Cinnamon Rolls

To bring more togetherness to the blog, Inez and I decided that once a month we would each make the same thing and each post about it. Our inaugural month's sweet: Cinnamon Rolls.

Sunday night and Monday morning, I had semi-successful, highly improvised, cinnamon roll experience.

I began by making the dough according to my Grandma's recipe. She makes excellent sticky buns, so this seemed a good place to start. From here the improvisation began. The recipe called for letting the dough rise over night, the rolling out the dough, coating it in cinnamon, sugar, and butter, rolling it up, and slicing it into discs, then placing it in a sugary, syrupy pan, and letting it rise another two hours, then baking it for 25 minutes

Not having 3 hour mornings on Modays, I waited about 4 hours Sunday night, before rolling out the dough. This made 7 rolls instead of the 15 the recipe called for, which actually worked out great because I only had a pie pan and no 9x13" pans.

The next morning I baked at 375F for the requisite 25 minutes and took it out.


After taking one out and eating it, it was delicious, warm, gooey...dough. So I went to class and came back a few hours later, put the rolls in the over for another 20 minutes, and voilà!

All in all, they were reasonable. The cooling time in the middle of the baking affected the texture some, and the dough was denser than I would have liked. However, while they may not have turned out quite the way I wanted them to, seeing what changed as I tweaked the recipe was very helpful in understanding the baking process better.

(and, alas, while my digital camera is being repaired, I only have the camera on my phone.)

[Inez] Plum cake

Jamie bought me a bag of plums when she was here, which of course I forgot about. So I made plum cake in the interest of not letting them go to waste. We all know cake will never go to waste in my house.

It's Ruby's recipe -- that is to say, it's the Joy of Cooking's spice cake, with a twist that Ruby thought up.

I seem to have lost some kitchen items in the move. Namely: measuring cup, measuring spoons, whisks, spring form pan, 6-muffin tin.... You know, the things I pretty much use the most. Luckily I didn't lose this silicone cake pan (can you really call it a pan if it's silicone?) so I used it for the cake.

So anyway, this was my dinner.

[Inez] Ode to garlic

Dear garlic, I love you.

[Inez] Gallo Pinto

This is gallo pinto as I learned to make it in Ticolandia (more commonly known as Costa Rica). I know that they make gallo pinto up in Nicaragua, too, but they don't put in all the goodies you find in gallo pinto a la Tico.

There are 4 ingredients which are key to many tico dishes, but especially gallo pinto: onions, garlic, cilantro, and salt. Especially salt. Always add more salt than you think you should.

Gallo pinto is essentially rice and beans. It is the absolute staple of Costa Rican diet, and because I'm in DC now and don't have extra money, I anticipate it becoming a staple of my diet as well.

The beans.

• Dried beans, soaked overnight
• onions
• garlic
• salt
• cilantro
• patience

How many onions you use depends on how much beans your working with. I used 1 1/2 cups dry beans and 1 medium onion. It's a matter of preference.

* Tip on chopping onions: Cut the ends off, then cut them in half from end to end. Then, using a sharp choppy knife, cut them from end to ALMOST end. Don't cut quite all the way. (See below)

This will make your life a lot easier. I cut both my garlic and my onions pretty coarsely for the beans. More garlic is better -- I think I added somewhere around 3-5 cloves.

Sautee the onions and garlic in a little vegetable oil with salt. More salt than you think you need. Then add the beans and a whole bunch of water. If you want, add some cilantro. I do whenever I have it, and while I'm not sure if it makes a huge difference, it makes me feel better to put it in.

Now, cook the beans. Bring them to a boil on high, then reduce the heat to pretty much as low as it goes and simmer covered for a long, long time. Upwards of an hour. Stir them from time to time and be sure to taste them to make sure there's enough salt. You should probably add more.

Ultimately, the beans should be soft and flavorful, and look like this:

Notice how some of them are cracked open? That's a good sign.

The rice.

• rice
• water
• onion
• cilantro
• salt
• (garlic)

There is always the question of whether or not to rinse the rice. I do when I remember to -- about half the time.

Let me explain to you about Costa Rican rice. First of all, use a medium grain rice. Basmati is too long, but will do in a pinch. Please, however, do not use short grain or sticky rice! This rice should end up on the dry side -- that's not to say it should be undercooked, but it also shouldn't have any excess moisture and certainly no stickiness.

Chop onion finely, and if you prefer, garlic as well (also finely chopped). Sautee them briefly in vegetable oil and salt. Add the dry rice and sautee it with the onions for a little while.

Meanwhile, deal with your cilantro. Some people fuss over cilantro, but I do not. I hold each end of a small bunch in one hand and twist, so that the roots and stalk can be discarded. Rinse thoroughly. Then chop it up.

Add water and cilantro to the rice. For white rice, it should be 1:1 or only very slightly more water. I used 2 cups dry rice and 2 1/3 cups water, and that was too much -- my rice was a bit sticky in the end.

Bring it to a boil on medium-high, stirring occasionally. Once it has begun to boil (watch it! don't forget about it!), put the lid on, turn the heat down as far as it goes, and set a timer for 20 minutes. (Note that this time is for white rice only.)

The gallo pinto.

• onion
• garlic
• beans
• rice
• cilantro
• Salsa Lizano
• optional: scrambled egg, red pepper

Chop your onion and garlic and sautee it on a medium heat. When the onion has started to become translucent and smells really, really good, add the beans. You should drain most of the bean juice when you add them, but not all of it. (If you find you have too much juice, cook it a bit longer to let some of it evaporate.) Cook the beans uncovered on medium heat.

When the bean juice is bubbling, add the rice. I go somewhere between 2:1 and 3:2 rice:beans, but again, a matter of preference. Stir thoroughly so that the rice becomes coated in bean juice and turns sort of brown. While this cooks -- stir it occasionally, or the rice will stick to the pan -- rinse and chop more cilantro.

When the rice and beans are hot, turn off the heat and add the cilantro.

You also need to add Salsa Lizano for it to be true Tico gallo pinto. Salsa Lizano is a mild, salty sauce made in Costa Rica. If you don't have Salsa Lizano, add even more salt to the rice and the beans. Salsa Lizano really brings all the flavors together and turns a good, hearty, filling dish into a delicious, mouthwatering, hearty, filling dish.

[Inez] Welcome to DC. (Gosh, thanks!)

So, I'm moved in to my new house in Washington, DC. Whoa, right? Life after school. It's mine.

This evening I cooked my first real meal here. Jamie was here for a few days, and she did some cooking, and since then I've kind of been eating Wheaties and pb&j. So anyway, I went to Safeway today and got the essentials of cheap cooking -- flour, sugar, baking soda, etc. Oh, and brownie mix. The push to finally make this move into actually living here was that I realized I had eggs, milk, spinach, cheese, and butter. Which basically means that all I was missing for quiche was flour.

Welcome to cooking for one.

Have you ever cooked just 7 asparagus spears? They look so sad and lonely all by themselves on the toaster oven tray. Delicious, but lonely.