Olive Garden's My B*tch - Easy Alfredo

There was a lot of the great lasagna that we had over the weekend left over.  Unfortunately there was no more marinara left to put on top.  We talked about having it for dinner last night with a big salad. I thought it would be as simple as just reheating the lasagna and throwing together the salad.  Wrong.

"I'm just going to whip up a quick alfredo to top the lasagna with tonight since we're out of marinara." Yep, that's Chuck.  It really didn't make the dinner much more complicated to put together, didn't take any longer than just reheating the lasagna in the oven, and switched it up deliciously.

One bite in and Chuck suggested the name of this post.  Spot on.

Here's the recipe:

Chuck's Easy Alfredo

Ingredients 

     1 T            Butter
          1 T            Flour
          1 c.            2% milk, warmed up slightly
          2 T            Parmesan cheese
          1/2 c.        Gruyere cheese, shredded
                            Fresh ground pepper
                            Kosher salt

Directions

     1:     Melt the butter in a small pan over low/med heat.

  
     2:     Once melted, add the flour, whisking often until well combined.   

      3:     Add the warmed milk, whisk together and let cook for a couple of minutes.

     4:     Whisk in the Parmesan cheese followed by the Gruyere.

     5:     Add a pinch of pepper and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

     6:     Add salt to taste if needed


It's really that easy.  Or at least Chuck made it look that easy.  He drizzled it onto the plated pieces of lasagna and we had it with salad and sourdough that was put in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of pepper and garlic salt.

Sweet Herb Turkey Meatloaf

Chuck is looking forward to this post. And maybe a little afraid of what I'm going to say? Monday, we were trying to decide what to have for dinner.  He suggested turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and brussel sprouts.  Really, he was serious.  I was excited.  Since I was itching to contribute to our meals, and he makes the best mashed potatoes in the world, I told him I would handle the meatloaf and he could handle the potatoes.  

I went to work, searching for the perfect recipe, at least for an idea of where to start.  I found one.  This one. Sent him the list of ingredients I didn't have to see which ones he did have, and which ones I needed to pick up from the store.  After a couple of suggestions I cringed when I received this text: "If you want me to look at the recipe you are using I can... If I make a suggestion ahead of time, maybe I won't annoy you so much :)" So I sent the recipe.  I had my own ideas on changing it up a little but we changed it up even more.

When he got to the house with the ingredients I was missing he offered up a lot of changes which, I appreciated, but also was a little grumpy about.  I was grumpy because I was trying to do it on my own, but only until I saw how great it was working with his suggestions. I was writing down the recipe as I went, taking pictures, making the food, and realizing why only writing and taking pictures is what I usually do.  Doing the notetaking and cooking at the same time was a little busy. I'll admit it: it wouldn't have been nearly as good without his changes. I wanted to eat the whole pan of it when it came out of the oven.

It was really good.  The meatloaf was a little sweet, the potatoes were savory, and the brussel sprouts were cooked in a tinfoil pouch with a little olive oil, a lot of balsamic vinegar, and some garlic salt and pepper, offering up a little bit of sour.

Sweet Herb Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients

     20 oz.    Ground turkey (I used the 93% lean)
     1             Yellow onion, small/medium, finely diced
     1             Small Granny Smith Apple, finely diced
     1             Garlic clove, minced
     1             Egg
     1/2 c.    Balsamic Vinegar
     1 1/2 T  Fresh basil, chopped
     1 T         Fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped
                   Kosher salt
                   Fresh ground pepper
     4 slices  White bread, crust removed, torn into small pieces
     1/4 c.     2% milk

     1 c.         Tomato sauce
     1/2 c.     Packed brown sugar (next time I will only use 1/4 c.)
     1 T          Dijon mustard

Directions:

     1:     Prep onion, apple, and garlic.  Warm a drizzle of olive oil in a pan over medium heat 
                     and add the onion and apple.  Cook until they start to become soft, add the 
                     garlic and continue to cook for about a minute then remove from heat and allow 
                     to return to room temperature. Tip from Chuck:  If it's too warm when you mix 
                     everything together it will cook your egg and ruin your dish. Tip from Ashley:  I 
                     wanted to cool it down quickly and not warm up my fridge or freezer so I stuck it 
                     outside for about 5 minutes during a snow storm, under an awning. Perfect.

     2:     In a small bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, brown sugar, and dijon mustard.  
                     Set aside.

     3:     In another small bowl, mix basil, parsley, balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt and 
                     pepper.

     4:     Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a loaf pan.
     5:     Add the turkey to the cooled onions and apples, pour in the vinegar mixture, add the 
                     egg and bread pieces.  Mix it all together, then add the milk (more or less 
                     depending on the texture of the mixture you've made).
     6:     Press into your loaf pan, poke a few holes in the top, pour the tomato sauce mixture 
                     over the meatloaf and pop it in the oven.  Bake for about an hour, until a meat 
                     thermometer reads 160 degrees.

     7:     Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes.  We soaked up some of the 
                     drippings that had risen to the top corners.

Slice and serve!

And that silly pup of mine got to eat the potatoes off of the masher after dinner. His furry feet are too slippery to sit on the wood floor!

Southwest Roasted Chicken Tacos

These were ridiculous.  Before we went to the George Strait concert on Saturday night we wanted an easy dinner at home.  This was just the answer.  With how well the chicken last week turned out, Chuck went with a similar approach.

Good ingredients were key with this one.  The tortillas we used were locally made and really fresh.  The spices in the rub were numerous but really made it great.

Southwest Roasted Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

     1           Whole chicken

Spice rub:
     2 T               Kosher salt
     1 T               Ground black pepper
     1 T               New Mexico Chili Powder (we find this in the Mexican aisle at Winco)
     1 T               Ancho Chili Powder
     1 t                 Cayenne Pepper
     1 t                 Smoked Paprika
     1 t                 Garlic powder
     2 pinches    Oregano
                           Olive oil 

     1       Red Bell Pepper
     1       Orange Bell Pepper
     1       Green Bell Pepper
     1       Yellow onion

     12      Taco size flour tortillas
               Tomatoes, diced
               Shredded lettuce
               Shredded cheese
               Sour cream
               A variety of hot sauces and salsas

Directions:

     1:     Mix together the dry ingredients for the rub in a small bowl. 

        
     2:     Clean and rinse out chicken.
     3:     Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
     4:     Drizzle olive oil in a baking dish that will fit the chicken.
     5:     Drizzle cavity with olive oil and rub in all over the inside of the bird.  Sprinkle the 
                       inside of the chicken with the dry rub, trying to get some on all surfaces.  
                       Drizzle olive oil over the outside of the chicken as well, rub to coat, and then 
                       sprinkle the rub on all surfaces.  Make sure to get in all of the nooks and 
                       crannies (armpits).  We had about 1/3 of the rub left, and saved it for another   
                       time!

     6:     Very coarsely chop the bell peppers and onion.  Stuff a little bit of each into the 
                       cavity of the chicken, until it's full.  Use the peppers and onion that didn't fit in 
                       the chicken as a bed in the baking dish for the chicken (this works instead of 
                       using a pan with a rack).  Tie the legs of the chicken together and place it in the 
                       oven.

 

     7:     Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes to brown up the skin, then reduce heat to 350 
                        and bake for about 90 minutes or until the thigh temperature reaches 165 
                        degrees and juices run clear.

     8:     Remove the chicken from the oven and then the baking dish and tent it with tin foil.  
                        Allow to rest for a bit before carving up for tacos.

 

    The peppers and onions were removed from the cavity and used in the tacos as well!

We saved the pan juices to make something later but they weren't used for anything this night. They just looked too good to throw away!

     9:     Heat up your tortillas (we warm them in the microwave between sheets of damp 
                        paper towels)
    10:    Let people dish them up!

And because we saw George Strait that night:

Grown Man Lasagna

Chuck's parents, Charlie and Tina, were in town this weekend to go see George Strait with us!  We had awesome tickets and it was an amazing show.  We had a great time.  Parents in town always means it's time to flex those cooking muscles.

They were flying in Thursday night and Boise was hit with an awful ice storm Wednesday night and although the Boise airport wasn't having many problems and they had a direct flight from Minneapolis, Salt Lake was shut down and was really messing with everyone's schedules.  Luckily they were able to finagle a flight that got in only about an hour later than originally planned. Not too bad, but it was great that Chuck had planned a dinner than was flexible!

This lasagna is MEATY and delicious. It was prepared in the early evening and then we popped it in the oven to cook when his parents arrived.  It was perfect.  It was a tedious process, and would be much more tedious if you make your own sauce at the same time.  We were lucky enough to have some frozen leftover sauce from my last batch. 

Grown Man Lasagna

Ingredients

     7 c.           Marinara sauce
     1 lb.          Sandwich size pepperoni 
     20 oz.       Ground beef
     12 oz.       Sweet Italian Sausage
     32 oz.       Ricotta
     2               Eggs
     1/2 c.        Parmesan, grated
     24 oz.       Mozzarella, shredded
     16 oz.       Lasagna noodles

Directions
     1:     Heat a large pan to low/med heat and add a single layer of pepperoni.  Fry until 
                  crispy (like bacon), remove from pan and add another single layer, and repeat 
                  process until all of the pepperoni is nice and crispy.  Remove the grease from the 
                  pan every couple of batches.  Tip from Chuck:  This process is tedious but key. If 
                  you don't pre-cook the pepperoni it will make your lasagna VERY soggy and 
                  greasy.  Be careful, they will cook quickly. Once cooked, set aside. Chuck set them 
                  between layers of paper towels to absorb any extra grease.

     2:     Brown the ground beef and sausage together in a large pan.
     3:     Mix the ricotta, eggs, and Parmesan together and set aside. Tip from Chuck: Letting 
                   this mixture sit room temperature until you add it to the dish allows it to spread 
                   more easily and the eggs help everything stick together.
     4:     Heat the marinara in a pot over medium/low heat.
     5:     Cook the pasta 3/4 of the way to al dente, drain, then place (and swirl around) in ice 
                    water to halt the cooking process.  Drain from the ice water once cool and add a 
                    drizzle of olive oil.  They will finish cooking in the lasagna.

     6:     Add about 4 cups of the marinara to the browned meat and stir to coat all meat.
     7:     Now the building begins!  

             Add a drizzle of olive oil to the bottom of the baking dish.

             Next, a thin layer of sauce.  The plain sauce you have remaining, not the one mixed 
                      with the meat. For all other layers, use the sauce with the meat - we'll use 
                      the plain sauce again at the end!

             Add a layer of overlapping pasta.

             Ricotta mixture, pepperoni, sauce, mozzarella, then repeat.

 

 

             Pasta, ricotta, pepperoni, sauce, mozzarella.

 

             Keep repeating until your baking dish is full.  We used a 12"x 12" dish.

     8:    Bake at 365 degrees for about 45 minutes.

When serving this lasagna, spoon the remaining marinara over the piece once it's plated. "All of the Italian grandmothers would be proud of how I serve lasagna."  We paired this with a salad comprised of hearts of romaine, hearts of palm, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, Parmesan cheese, and Italian salad dressing.  And a nice warm slice of fresh sourdough bread.

Between the 4 of us, including two big eaters, we only consumed about 1/3 of the pan.  LOTS of leftovers!  This would be great for a big dinner party!