Veal Piccata

I have wanted to make this since I ate it at a restaurant two years ago. WHY did I wait so long? It's super-lemony and so easy to make. You could use chicken or pork cutlets, or probably tofu.

Veal Piccata

4 veal cutlets,pounded thin
Salt
Lemon pepper
Flour
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder or equivalent fresh garlic
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (or a tablespoon of dried)

Season the veal with salt and lemon pepper, then dredge in flour. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute cutlets for 3 minutes per side, or until golden. Set aside and keep them warm in a very low oven. Add garlic powder (if using fresh garlic, add to pan first, saute 1 minute), wine, lemon juice, and capers. Bring to a boil and continue to boil until liquid is reduced by half. I use the end of a wooden spoon to as a "dipstick" to measure the level of liquid. Then, just reduce to a simmer and stir in butter and parsley. Simmer for a minute or two. Return veal cutlets to pan and coat with sauce. Serve immediately over linguini (or rice?) with lots of crusty bread to sop up the lemony goodness. If you want to be fancy, you can garnish the platter with lemon slices and parsley.

Tofu Parmesan

Don't turn your nose up! This is awesome, really!

The trick is to freeze the tofu:

Step 1: Drain the tofu well. (Cut it into three chunks, place it on a paper towel-lined plate, put more paper towels on top, another plate, and then a jar/can to weight it. I wait about 20 minutes, then change the paper towels out and do it again.)

Step 2: Wrap the tofu in plastic wrap and chuck it in the freezer overnight.

Step 3: Take it out of the freezer several hours before you want to use it. You can thaw it in the microwave on defrost.

Step 4: More draining! Slice the tofu into whatever shape you want (for this recipe, slices about a 1/4" thick), then press firmly with paper towels until it is quite dry.

Now that your have your frozen/thawed slices, here's the loosely-prepared recipe:

1 block extra firm tofu, prepared as above
bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
flour
parmesan cheese, grated
2 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1/2 t garlic powder
salt & pepper
olive oil
8 oz tomato sauce
4 oz shredded mozzarella

First, you'll need to fry up your tofu slices. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Mix up some bread crumbs with a bit of parmesan, salt and pepper, and any herbage you like.

Lightly dredge each slice of tofu in flour, then dip in the egg wash, then cover with the bread crumb mixture. Pan fry until crunchy. Try not to eat too many pieces before assemblage.

Mix your tomato sauce with the oregano, basil, garlic powder and some salt and pepper. You can use a canned pasta sauce, if you like. I've tried it both ways and found I actually preferred the tangy-ness you get from the plain tomato sauce method. Let this sit for at least fifteen minutes. (I swear, you'll get better flavour if you let it sit.)

In a baking pan, layer sauce/tofu/mozz until everything runs out, making sure you end with a nice layer of cheese. Sprinkle a layer of parmesan over the top and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes, or until nice and bubbly.

I like to serve this with some pasta and garlic bread. And I've made myself really hungry thinking about it.

Simple Tomato Sauce

This, for me, is The Sauce. It's surprisingly cheap. It's elegantly simple. It's incredibly tasty. It requires only slightly more effort than opening a jar. You'll never want to pour Ragu on your spaghetti again.

This is a recipe which has made its rounds on cooking blogs. I first saw it on Smitten Kitchen. It apparently originates here, in a book which is near the top of my wish list.

Anyway, the sauce. The Sauce. There are three ingredients in the original recipe: tomatoes, onion and butter. Yes, that's it. No pinch of sugar or cinnamon, no dribble of red wine, none of that. If you're me, and you're bad, you assault The Sauce with a couple cloves of garlic. This here is the way I make it (garlic; doubled; with residual onion bits) - that Smitten Kitchen post has the original, unadulterated recipe.

You need:

2 28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes (Any brand will work, but San Marzano are especially good. You do have to search a bit for them.)

10 T butter (I usually have salted on hand, so that's what I use. If you use unsalted, you'll probably want to have some salt nearby.)

2 medium yellow onions, peeled and halved

3 cloves garlic, minced

Put everything in your biggest saucepan. Bring it to a simmer, then drop the heat, keeping it at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir it every now and then, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot. The original recipe tells you to remove and discard the onion - me, I like the onion, and it's usually started to disintegrate by that point anyway, so I remove only the biggest, most solid chunks - and then I crush some of those up with a fork and put them back in.

That's it. For me, this makes enough sauce for a pound of noodles, and I always make that much because the leftovers are fantastic.

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

Ken loves this stuff. And I don't blame him - it's excellent. Allow me to pat myself on the back.

Get these things:

12 lasagna noodles (I use no-cook, because it saves that much time. Obviously, if yours aren't no-cook, you'll need to cook them, or you'll have a very strange lasagna.)

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 14.5 oz can vegetable broth

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (The original recipe called for marinated. I haven't been able to find marinated, so I've just been using plain hearts. There's nothing wrong with that.)

1 t dried rosemary

10 oz fresh spinach (I use bagged baby spinach, you could also prep your own, or use frozen. Make sure you thaw/drain it first, though.)

3 C tomato sauce (I use what we have on hand - usually a jarred sauce with mushrooms.)

1 C ricotta cheese

4 C shredded mozzarella

4 oz feta, crumbled (You can use plain, or one of the herbed varieties.)

Do these things:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 13x9 dish.

In a big pan over medium heat, sauté the onion in olive oil until it softens a bit. Add the garlic and give it a couple more minutes.

Add the broth and the rosemary, and bring the pot to a boil. Add your artichokes and the spinach. Reduce heat to a simmer, and let it go for about five minutes. (Assuming you're using fresh spinach, you'll want to stir a few times as it wilts.) Stir in the pasta sauce.

Now, um, make it into a lasagna, and then sprinkle the feta all over the top.

HANDY LASAGNA SCHEMATIC
(Key: * = feta, /= mozzarella, - = spinach mix, ~ = noodles, o = ricotta plops)

(top of pan)

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Cover the pan with foil and bake it for 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake it for ten more. THEN flip on the broiler and put it under the broiler for three minutes. (Yes, the broiler makes a difference. Don't you want a delicious cheese crust on your lasagna?)

Eat, and enjoy the admiration.

Vodka Sauce

Vodka sauce vodka sauce vodka sauce vodka sauce. This is the best pasta sauce EVER! Sort of. I mean, the carbanara sauce is really good too, but this one is HEALTHIER because it uses real (canned) tomatoes and (slightly) less cream. And it's good. Really, really good. I promise.

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 large shallot (really, it makes a difference. Shallots are good.)
• 1 small yellow onion
• Olive oil
• Butter
  
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 1 can tomato puree
  
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• Cayenne pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup vodka
• Flour for thickening

Chop the garlic et. al. and sauté for a few minutes in the olive oil and butter (yes, both. Because this recipe just deserves it). Sometimes I add a dash of white wine to make it an extra-drunk recipe. Add the canned tomatoes, the tomato puree, and the pepper and cook for a few minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated. Add the cream and vodka, and thicken with flour if necessary (it's always necessary).

Serve over pasta (yeah, don't forget to cook the pasta) with vegetables, if you like. It goes very well with sautéed mushrooms.