I know my way around the kitchen.
I can cook up some decent vittles - and I often do.
Most of my meals are a one-off. I cook enough for two, clean up the pots and pans. No leftovers. But, sometimes it works to make a bigger batch, if that batch lends itself to easy reheat and serve. Not too taxing on the creative culinary cerebrum. It has been a long time since I made 'Suneson's Southwestern Lasagne', but the time seemed right to pull out this old favorite and make a batch, which would lend itself to reheat and serve for several meals.
A lazy hot Sunday afternoon, the kind that melts one's ambition under the Texas heat and humidity. I'd rather nap in the a/c and watch my ambition drip onto the bedroom floor than get up and do something about dinner in the kitchen. So, when the half-felt question comes up, "What you want to do for dinner?", the easy answer is: I'll just reheat the SW Lasagne in the oven. I'll call you when it is ready.
I pull the foil covered leftover lasagne dish out of the fridge and place it in the oven. Of course, I like everyone else in the world, recognize the United Nations' International Standards for leftover foodstuffs. Not that any of us need any reminders, but herewith;
1. Leftovers placed in plastic containers are to be covered with plastic lids, or if no lids fit, one is to cover the plastic container with plastic wrap.
2. Leftovers placed in glass or aluminum containers can be covered with aluminium foil.
These universal standards for leftover, refrigerated foodstuffs are simple, clear and well understood.
As I check Southwestern Lasagne reheating in the oven, I notice that there must be some bacon grease that has spilled onto the bottom of the oven, and it has caught fire. I casually throw a fist full of flour onto the flaming grease, and the grease fire just envelops the flour and burns it as well, unfazed. More flour, more of the same. The fire continues. Dang stubborn I think to myself. Against better judgment, I fill a cup with water to try dowsing the flames with dihydrous oxide (H2O). It is then that I notice I have molten globs hanging from the wire rack, like icicles beneath the aluminum foil. Then it registers with me on this hot and lazy Sunday afternoon - that smell, yes, that is burning plastic!
I shovel out the foil-covered lasagne and the molten plastic base to cool outside, while I extinguish the small flames in the oven. I spend the next week whittling Tupperware plastic off the wire oven racks and heating elements.
Maybe this is nature's way of telling me not to eat leftovers?
Suneson's Southwestern Lasagne
1 lb Ground Beef
1 lb Ground Pork Sausage
3 (8 oz) Cans Tomato Sauce
1 Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Fennel Seed
1/4 Cup Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
1 tsp Sugar
1 TBSP Basil
16 oz Sour Cream
12 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 1/2 tsp Oregano
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 Fresh Tomato, Coarsely Chopped
1 Fresh Green Bell Pepper, Chopped
9-12 Corn Tortillas
Lightly brown sausage and beef in a large skillet; drain.
Add tomato sauce, heat until simmering.
Add onion, garlic, salt, fennel, cilantro and basil; stir occasionally.
Let sauce thicken, 30-40 minutes.
Line bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch casserole dish with corn tortillas cut into strips.
Spoon on 1/3 of the meat sauce,
cover with 1/3 of sour cream and
sprinkle 1/3 of mozzarella on top of sour cream.
Repeat layering process once again.
In separate bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and oregano, set aside.
For third and final layer, add tortillas, sauce and sour cream as before, then top with chopped tomato and bell pepper.
Cover with last third of mozzarella and dust with Parmesan and oregano mixture.
Cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Serves 8.
Reheating instructions: DO NOT disguise leftovers in plastic container with aluminum foil. Heat only glass and aluminum containers in the oven.
Melted plastic does not enhance the taste of Southwestern Lasagne! Nor, does it clean up as easy as you might think
I can cook up some decent vittles - and I often do.
Most of my meals are a one-off. I cook enough for two, clean up the pots and pans. No leftovers. But, sometimes it works to make a bigger batch, if that batch lends itself to easy reheat and serve. Not too taxing on the creative culinary cerebrum. It has been a long time since I made 'Suneson's Southwestern Lasagne', but the time seemed right to pull out this old favorite and make a batch, which would lend itself to reheat and serve for several meals.
A lazy hot Sunday afternoon, the kind that melts one's ambition under the Texas heat and humidity. I'd rather nap in the a/c and watch my ambition drip onto the bedroom floor than get up and do something about dinner in the kitchen. So, when the half-felt question comes up, "What you want to do for dinner?", the easy answer is: I'll just reheat the SW Lasagne in the oven. I'll call you when it is ready.
I pull the foil covered leftover lasagne dish out of the fridge and place it in the oven. Of course, I like everyone else in the world, recognize the United Nations' International Standards for leftover foodstuffs. Not that any of us need any reminders, but herewith;
1. Leftovers placed in plastic containers are to be covered with plastic lids, or if no lids fit, one is to cover the plastic container with plastic wrap.
2. Leftovers placed in glass or aluminum containers can be covered with aluminium foil.
These universal standards for leftover, refrigerated foodstuffs are simple, clear and well understood.
As I check Southwestern Lasagne reheating in the oven, I notice that there must be some bacon grease that has spilled onto the bottom of the oven, and it has caught fire. I casually throw a fist full of flour onto the flaming grease, and the grease fire just envelops the flour and burns it as well, unfazed. More flour, more of the same. The fire continues. Dang stubborn I think to myself. Against better judgment, I fill a cup with water to try dowsing the flames with dihydrous oxide (H2O). It is then that I notice I have molten globs hanging from the wire rack, like icicles beneath the aluminum foil. Then it registers with me on this hot and lazy Sunday afternoon - that smell, yes, that is burning plastic!
I shovel out the foil-covered lasagne and the molten plastic base to cool outside, while I extinguish the small flames in the oven. I spend the next week whittling Tupperware plastic off the wire oven racks and heating elements.
Maybe this is nature's way of telling me not to eat leftovers?
Suneson's Southwestern Lasagne
1 lb Ground Beef
1 lb Ground Pork Sausage
3 (8 oz) Cans Tomato Sauce
1 Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Fennel Seed
1/4 Cup Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
1 tsp Sugar
1 TBSP Basil
16 oz Sour Cream
12 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 1/2 tsp Oregano
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 Fresh Tomato, Coarsely Chopped
1 Fresh Green Bell Pepper, Chopped
9-12 Corn Tortillas
Lightly brown sausage and beef in a large skillet; drain.
Add tomato sauce, heat until simmering.
Add onion, garlic, salt, fennel, cilantro and basil; stir occasionally.
Let sauce thicken, 30-40 minutes.
Line bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch casserole dish with corn tortillas cut into strips.
Spoon on 1/3 of the meat sauce,
cover with 1/3 of sour cream and
sprinkle 1/3 of mozzarella on top of sour cream.
Repeat layering process once again.
In separate bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and oregano, set aside.
For third and final layer, add tortillas, sauce and sour cream as before, then top with chopped tomato and bell pepper.
Cover with last third of mozzarella and dust with Parmesan and oregano mixture.
Cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Serves 8.
Reheating instructions: DO NOT disguise leftovers in plastic container with aluminum foil. Heat only glass and aluminum containers in the oven.
Melted plastic does not enhance the taste of Southwestern Lasagne! Nor, does it clean up as easy as you might think
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