Comfort Food Has a Life of its Own

So graduation rolled around and as predicted... I'm still in school. Summer school to be exact, which is not the most fun way to learn, but each of us has to do what we have to. My girlfriend recently returned from Italy which has encouraged me to get back on my blogging high horse and start cooking more frequently again. What better to cook then comfort food? Oh yeaaaa

So I tried my hand at lasagna for the first time, seemed easy when I read the recipe but I didn't realize what I had in store for myself. I had to half cook the noodles and then dip them in ice water to stop the cooking? Well... as you all know I've got fairly good coordination but zero focus so... It went a little hay wire, burned some of my fingers but I got the job done. I decided to use a cream sauce instead of a heavy bolognese and I used turkey meat instead of beef.

Turkey Lasagna

The process..

Ready to bake!

Crispy!

Dig in!

The recipe I used is from the book that I forgot I had bought "Live, Love, Eat" by Wolfgang Puck, I altered his recipe only slightly.

Recipe:
6 Cups Hearty Beef Bolognese
2 Cups ricotta cheese
3/2 Cups fresh grated Parmesan
1/4 Cup Marscapone cheese
1 large egg beaten
1lb dried lasagne noodles
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 2 cups)
Chopped fresh Italian parsley
Fresh ground pepper

I went back up to my grandma's the other day and went back into the shop that sold all those amazing cook books, ya know the one where I was going to buy the salad dressing book but opted for the home cooking? Well I bought a new one! Yes thats right... more cook books. This one is called "Sunday Soup" a number of soups, sorted by season with easy and delicious recipes to maintain my apparent need for soup in my life. I decided to try out a recipe called "Spring New Potato and Garlic Soup". It sounded promising for sure, so I began my journey down potato soup lane. Easy and successful. Not gonna lie though, make sure your ready for dairy, dairy and more dairy.

Spring New Potato and Garlic Soup

Creamy...

Recipe:
12 oz new red-skin potatoes (I used yellow)
2 tsp salt
2 Cups half and half (I'd advise for you just to use 2% milk)
One 5 oz package 5 oz Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs
Ground which pepper to taste
4 tsp Parsley
4 tsp fresh chopped chives

First cup up the potatoes and boil them until soft. Then add the rest of the ingredients and keep burner on low, make sure the soup doesn't boil. Make sure all the cheese is melted and add the potatoes and warm through. Then eat!

Alright so lets see a show of hands, who loves meatloaf??
Thats what I thought everyone... and if you dont, have you even tried it? Or does your mom make really bad meat loaf? Well my pseudo Greek mom made amazing meatloaf and I recently asked her for the recipe.

Oh Meatloaf..


Mix mix mix! Its the most fun with your hands..

Forming the loaf is an art form.

Load that baby up with ketchup

Eat with delicious green beans.

It was really hard for us to stop eating it... Its all gone now. It left quick.

So recently it was a friends birthday and we went to Napa and went wine tasting and by the time lunch rolled around we were all... drunk. Well at least I was, and we ate this delicious curry chicken that my friend Lianna made. I couldnt stop eating this delicious little concoction so I asked her for the recipe. It was a Giada recipe. Knew there were no faults. Now I dont really like cabbage too much, not that I've had very much of it... I made the chicken salad the night before and ate it the next day for lunch, another thing we couldnt put down.

Chicken Curry Salad with Cabbage

Recipe:
8 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, about 8 slices (I didnt use this)
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
3 1/2 to 4 cups diced/shredded roasted chicken
1 1/2 cups shredded radicchio (or red cabbage)
4 ciabatta rolls

I could eat it all day...