Lasagna

Tonight, hubby said that the lasagna I made is the best I've ever made to date. It's in the consistency, I guess, and in my use of the sauces that he is familiar with.

Ingredients:
- 4 slices of lasagna noodles
- about 1.5 to 2 cups 1% milkfat cottage cheese
- 1 to 1.5 cup canned spaghetti sauce
- 80% lean ground beef
- 1/4 of a small onion
- 1 slice of green pepper
- 1 tp garlic powder
- dash of pepper, cumin, cinnamon
- 1 tp each of dried marjoram, thyme, oregona
- 1/4 cup red wine

Results:

5:37pm, amount of 1% milkfat cottage cheese to be used:

5:37pm, consistency of the tomato sauce with beef, onion, green pepper, and spices:

5:37pm, boiling lasagna noodles, two pieces at a time:

5:39pm, first layer (beef and cheese):

5:39pm, cheese left after first layer:

5:39pm, beef sauce left after first layer:

5:40pm, second layer (noodles):

5:41pm, third layer (beef and cheese):

5:41pm, cheese all used up after third layer:

5:41pm, beef left after third layer:

5:42pm, fourth layer (noodles):

5:43pm, fifth layer (beef):

5:45pm, sixth layer (mozzarella cheese):

The assembled casserole is allowed to sit cover in foil, until it's time to bake.

6:20pm, baking started at 375F for 10 minutes, then temperature lowered to 350F:

7:06pm, baked 45 minutes, done with bottom bubbling:

7:06pm, parsley toppings:

7:07pm, details on the top when done:

7:08pm, side when done:

Pan allowed to rest in off oven until served, no longer than 20 minutes.

7:26pm, served:

7:32pm, consistency when served:

7:58pm, consistency when cooled down:

Chinese fried noodles

We've just had a very busy week, along with a fully occupied weekend. Hubby has been running around non-stop. After coming back from a big congregational dinner, I just thought of making noodles for dinner. We've not had noodles for ages. So I tried it out. This evening, after his workout, hubby was pleasantly surprised to have noodles for dinner. The noodles are crispy and flavorful when freshly cooked. He liked the dish so much that he finished all the noodles himself. After finishing it all, he said this was exactly what he wanted for today. I love how we have grown to know each other's desires. ;)

Recipe: Chinese fried noodles (for 2)

Ingredients:
- a bunch of dried noodles
- 1 cup coarsely chopped vegetables
- 1 cup meat
- seasonings: salt, pepper, beef flavor, furu etc
- 1-2 tp spicy sesame oil
- 4 TB vegetable oil

Procedure:
1. Boil a pot of water while preparing the meat and the vegetables.
2. Fry chopped vegetables in 2 TB hot oil until lightly freshened, about 2 minutes. Then add seasonings, preferably dried ones. After mixing, take vegetables out of pan and place in a bowl. Clean pan before reusing.
3. Fry meat in 2 TB oil until almost cooked. Then add seasoning, such as furu, or liquid condiments. Cook until liquid almost dries out. Transfer to bowl. Clean pan before reusing.
4. Boil dried noodles in water. In making Chinese fried noodles, the treatment of the noodles is crucial to the dish. The noodle needs to be cooked in boiling water to almost done. They are then drained of hot water, and rinsed in cold water. After rinsing, they are drained. At this point, oil can be added to prevent sticking. Then it's ready to fry, or just to mix with the meat and vegetables.
5. Assemble the dish by mixing the noodles, meat and vegetables in pan. Frying is optional.

Zucchini and spring onion prepared:

Chicken fried with furu:

Noodles boiled, drained, washed in cold water, and oiled:

Dish assembled:

Oat bran rice congee

My congee recipe is always about the same, until recently, I think about some new experiment. Here, instead of using all rice, I use half rice and half oat bran. The flavor turns out plenty pleasant. Rice and oat are quite compatible. The oat bran makes the congee really thick.

Thickness of congee while at the very last stage of cooking:

Congee being served:

This is a very filling congee. Even though the taste of oat is subtle, hubby can really taste the difference. He likes it.

Roasted chicken legs

I seldom cook chicken legs with skin on. But when they are roasted at high temperature, it's best to have the skin on.

Recipe: Roasted chicken legs (10 pieces)

Ingredients:
- 5 chicken leg quarters
- 2 TB salt
- 1 TB garlic powder
- 1 tp onion powder
- 2 TB black soy sauce
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce

Procedure:
1. Trim off the thick layer of fat underneath the skin and trapped in-between muscles. Then cut the leg quarters into drumsticks and thighs. Keep the skin on.
2. Mix salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Rub onto the surface of the chicken. Place some seasoning underneath the skin. Then Rub a little black soy sauce on the surface of the chicken. This will give a deep golden color and a nice aroma when roasted.
3. Chill the meat overnight, covered with plastic.
4. Take meat out to warm for 1 hour on counter before roasting.
5. Place meat, skin side up on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. It's not necessary to oil the foil because fat will come out of the skin when heated.
6. Place tray in unheated oven, on top rack. Turn oven setting to broil. Set temperature to 450F. Broil until skin is lightly golden.
7. Then carefully detach each piece of meat from bottom. Move tray to middle rack. Change setting to bake. Bake until skin is deep golden. Flip and bake the other side. Lower temperature to 350F if browning happens to fast.
8. When the side without skin is lightly golden, brush it with BBQ sauce. Mix sauce with dripping for a shiny glossy. Resume baking until the BBQ sauce is caramelized.

Results:
6:04pm, marinated meat:

6:04pm, marinated meat details:

6:06pm, meat placed on un-greased baking sheet, skin-side-up:

6:07pm, tray placed on top rack of cool oven, to broil at 450F:

6:14pm, meat broiled for 7 minutes, top lightly browned:

6:15pm, dripping:

6:15pm, meat placed on middle rack, to resume baking (not broiling) at 400F:

6:15pm, new oven setting:

6:26pm, meat baked to deep golden brown, ready to flip:

6:30pm, meat flipped and baked at 350F for 4 minutes, until lightly golden, then ready to apply BBQ sauce:

6:41pm, meat done when top is coated with caramelized BBQ sauce after baking 10 minutes:

6:52pm, meat cooled a little, then transferred to plate while draining the dripping from pan:

7:08pm, meat to cool in pan, with a very thin layer of dripping at the bottom:

7:09pm, details of roasted chicken legs:

Observations:
In roasting small pieces of meat like chicken drumsticks and pork chop, actions are taken primarily based on the change of color and texture of the meat, instead of fixed time duration. This is probably because the time taken depends on the water content of the meat.