Strawberry Ice Box Cake

Ah, summer. It's coming! And know what one of my favorite things in the summer is? Berries! Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and all the unique I've-never-heard-of-that-berry that can be found at the local orchard. So to welcome in the season, here's a strawberry dessert!

This recipe has been passed down from my great grandmother. She used to make it for my mom when she was little. Yes, it does use raw egg, but if you're the type to sneak a little cookie dough before baking, then you should be fine. :)

Note: start ahead (must be refrigerated at least 3 hours)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 tbl cream (can substitute milk)
1/2 nuts, chopped (I think almonds are probably best)
1 tsp vanilla
1 box strawberries, sliced
8 oz cool whip
8 oz vanilla wafers, crushed fine

1. Cream sugar and butter until light and creamy. Add egg, cream, nuts, and vanilla. Gently stir in berries. Fold in cool whip.
2. Place half the crumbs in an 8" or 9" square pan. Pour berry mixture over. Sprinkle remaining crumbs on top.
3. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Cut into squares and serve!

Yield: 8 servings.

Root Vegetable Shepherd's Pie

Last Saturday, I experienced my first weekend without school stress! In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, I decided to have some fun in the kitchen. After seeing a post on another blog and knowing I had some ground beef in the freezer, I thought shepherd's pie was worth a try. But I couldn't just do the normal, standard recipe, now could I? Besides, I really just don't like celery and carrots. And thus my solution: create my very own shepherd's pie remix based on root vegetables!

I started with parsnips, turnip, and brown (crimini) mushrooms. I highly recommend brown mushroom, so much more flavor!

Here they are being caramelized (except the mushrooms)...ah so fragrant!

Now I added the mushrooms and some herbs

Peter helped with the beef...I'm not a big fan of touching or getting near raw meat. What a silly face. :)

Here the veggies, beef, and gravy are getting acquainted.

Top it with mashed, seasoned potatoes, bake, and:

Voila! Cauliflower! Just kidding. More like a giant delicious potato topping!

So what was the result of my experiment? Good, but not amazing. But I think the lack of amazingness is easily remedied. First, cut the amount of parsnip in half, second, use more mushrooms, and third, season more heavily. I've adjusted the recipe accordingly. I am proud to say, however, that the potato topping came out quite nicely. :) One can also add more flavor by topping it with shredded cheese. And I suppose if you do like celery but want to stick with the root theme, you could try some celery root.

Let me know if you try it!

Ingredients

1 parsnip, cleaned and diced (no need to peel if scrubbed well)

1 turnip, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, diced

5 tbl butter

dried thyme, rosemary, nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste (I sprinkle and smell)

1 lb ground beef

3-4 splashes Worcestershire sauce

3 tbl flour

1 3/4 cup beef broth (or less for a thicker gravy)

1 cup frozen peas

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and caramelize parsnip, turnip, and onion in butter (about 10 min). Add mushrooms and seasonings, stir together for about 30 seconds, then turn off heat.

3. In another skillet, cook the beef; if there is a lot of fat leftover, partially drain. Do not drain completely. Add Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper. While at medium heat, add the flour, stirring contantly, and cook a couple of minutes. Add peas and slowly pour in broth and bring to a simmer, stirring occaisionally. Simmer until thickened.

4. Combine veggie and meat mixture in a 2 quart casserole dish. Add mashed potato mixture (recipe below). Place on a baking sheet in case of spills and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until mashed potatoes nice and puffy with golden tips.

For the mashed potatoes:

Boil in salted water until fork tender 5-6 red potatoes, peeled and chopped. Drain, then transfer to a stand mixer. Beat with the paddle until smooth. Add 2 tbl cream, 2 tbl milk, 2 tbl butter, 1 egg, and salt and pepper. Cream together. Adjust liquid if necessary.

Yield: 6 servings

Stuffed Florentine Shells

This is a delicous Pampered Chef Recipe. It's meatless, and if you're like me and can't stomach melted cheese, you can easily make the stuffing with just the spinach, ricotta cheese, seasonings, and half and half.

• 18 jumbo pasta shells (you can also substitute manicotti shells)
• 1 container (15 ounces) part skim Ricotta
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen spinach chopped, thawed, and drained and squeezed dry
• 2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
• 3/4 cup half and half (divided)
• 1 garlic clove pressed
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 28 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 350, cook pasta according to directions, drain, then drizzle with Olive oil so the shells don't stick.

Mix ricotta, spinach, 1&1/2 cups of Italian cheese, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and 1/4 cup of half and half. Press in garlic and seasonings. Mix well. In another bowl whisk the rest of spaghetti sauce with remaining half and half. Pour some of sauce mix on bottom of cooking pan. Fill each shell with ricotta mixture (one scoop) I usually use my cookie dropper. Arrange filled shells in baking pan. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce. Cover with foil, bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil, top dish with remaining 1/2 cup of Italian cheese. Bake uncovered an additional 5 min. Let cool for 10 min. before serving.

I'm sorry to say I forgot to take pictures so you'll have to make do with a photoless post.

Pickled red onion 4 ways, part 3

I hope no one was waiting in anxious anticipation for the conclusion of my series on pickled red onions! It's been incredibly busy around here, what with having been working and going to school full time. But that story is for my other blog...

Here is part 3 of the amazing pickled red onion! Again, forgive my lack of precise ingredients. See this less as a recipe and more as a guide or an inspiration. Let me know if you try the pickled onion and what you do with it!

Escarole tuna wraps with pickled red onion and almonds

Make a filling with 1 can of tuna (preferably in oil), finely ground almonds, mayo, some pickling juice, and finely chopped pickled red onion. Scoop filling onto a large escarole leaf. Wrap it all together and there you have it!

Ratatouille Lasagna

Hello everyone and happy spring! Today I created a ratatouille-ish version of lasagna. It is vegetarian, delicious, and based on my favorite lasagna recipe from my friend Karen M. The secret is the cottage cheese! I hope you enjoy it as much as Peter and I did!

8 oz. lasagna noodles
12 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 medium zucchini, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (fresh if possible)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbl parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 cups spaghetti sauce (I used Wegmans portabella mushroom)

1. Stir-fry zucchini and bell pepper in a bit of olive oil under crisp-tender. Season generously (I used Italian seasoning, salt, and red pepper. I wanted to imitate the kick of Italian sausage).
2. Mix together everything but lasagna noodles and mozzarella.
3. In a greased 9x13" dish, layer half the lasagna noodles, sauce mixture, and mozzarella. Repeat. No, you do not need to pre-cook the noodles, hurray!
4. Cook, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

While I haven't actually made this, a friend of mine did, and it was delicious!

Topping
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple slices, well drained
Maraschino cherries, drained and halved
Walnut halves

Cake
1 package DUNCAN HINES® Moist Deluxe® Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix
1 package (4-serving size) vanilla-flavor instant pudding and pie filling mix
4 eggs
1 cup water (*you can also substitute pineapple juice for a moister cake)
1/2 cup oil

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. For topping, melt butter over low heat in 12-inch cast-iron skillet or skillet with ovenproof handle. Remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar. Spread to cover bottom of skillet. Arrange pineapple slices, maraschino cherries and walnut halves in skillet. Set aside.
3. For cake, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil in large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour batter evenly over fruit in skillet. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Invert onto serving plate.

Tip Cake can be made in a 13×9×2-inch pan. Bake at 350°F for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cake is also delicious using Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Classic Yellow Cake Mix.

Pickled red onion 4 ways, part 2

As much as I loved the escarole salad, I couldn't eat enough of it to use up all the pickled onion. When lunchtime came around the following day, I used it and some of the other leftovers hanging around to create this delightful sandwich! I did everything to taste, so sorry for the lack of precise measurements. You could also use leftover escarole instead of spinach leaves or some of the pickling juice instead of the red wine vinegar (if doing the latter, omit salt and pepper).

Red wine tuna sandwich with onion and spinach

1 5-6oz can tuna (they're so tricky these days with the tuna can sizes)
1 Tbl mayonnaise
paprika (to taste)
Red wine vinegar, tsp or so
salt and pepper to taste
Pickled onion slices
a handful of fresh spinach leaves
4 slices Italian bread (or bread of your choice)

Mix together tuna, mayonnaise, paprika, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Layer on one slice of bread, top with onions and spinach, and close with second slice. Repeat. Serve with fruit (I shared a grapefruit with Peter).

Yield: 2 servings