Linguini and Clams

Another non-dessert recipe that I plan on cooking for myself next year! This is a very simple dish of linguini and canned clams cooked in a sauce of white wine and heavy cream. However now that I think of it, getting the white wine might be a tad bit difficult consider the idea of a college student asking for alcohol.

Lasagna

Shhhh I have a little secret to tell you. Promise you won’t tell anyone? It’s kind of embarrassing. Well here it goes. I’m not a very good cook. I mean I am pretty good at baking but cooking? I can make basically anything Italian (pasta), breakfast foods ( so easy), but normal food? I’m just ok and compared to my baking, my cooking skills are soso. Since next year I will be living in an apartment with a partial meal plan and kitchen, that means making my own food! That also means making desserts but sadly one cannot live on desserts. So this summer I have been practicing my cooking skills by making dinner for my family. I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I’ve always loved lasagna and thought I’d give it a go. It’s not too difficult, just layering, boiling pasta and baking (my area of expertise).

Ingredients
1-½ pound Ground Beef
1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Salt
3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
2 whole Beaten Eggs
½ cups Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1 teaspoon Salt
1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
(add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.
In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).
To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.
Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.
Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

Grade: A
If you’re looking for the perfect meaty lasagna this is it! It is very hearty and filling, just like a lasagna should be. I will be definitely making this next year for the girls!

Olga and Iliana’s Fried Rice

Now many people who know me know that I’m not much of a materialistic person (ish). I mean do I enjoy shopping and buying things for the kitchen but overall I don’t believe I have to have the best of everything. I mean seriously you should see my Pho car. But anyways, there are a couple of objects that I am proud of, some including my prom dress, my high heels, and my Japanese rice cooker. Well technically it’s not mine, but the whole family’s or even my dad’s since he bought it but let’s pretend now that it is mine. I am Asian, I eat rice a couple times of week, it’s part of my diet. Of course we have a rice cooker. When our old one brought, my mom went and bought a new one at Costco. However, my dad was fed up with it since the rice it was making did not taste good and as Asians we eat rice almost everyday! He went online and bought like a hundred dollar top of the line Japanese one. This one is pretty awesome. It can cook brown rice, sushi rice, and regular rice and perhaps more who knows. And the best part is, besides the delicious rice, is that is SINGS! Yup, it hums a little tune when it begins cooking and then once again when the rice is done.

Anyways, back to my title. Yesterday at our little mini get together we had the idea of making sushi. But due to complications we couldn’t, but I had brought rice over. So instead Olga and I made fried rice. Well technically she did most of the cutting and cooking, while I stirred and told her to add and extra egg, but it’s the teamwork that counts. 🙂 And the rice was delicious!

Some beautiful pictures taken by the lovely Olgie

Grade: A
Delicious!