Lasagna Rolls

212. Dinner tonight was Lasagna Rolls ala Giada.

My honey has been wanting to make the recipe from Giada's Family Dinners Cookbook for Lasagna Rolls. You can find the recipe here on Food Network.

The recipe uses wonderful Italian thinly sliced prosciutto.

My honey and I worked together. While he mixed the filling of riccotta cheese, I made the white sauce.

We boiled the pasta,

finished the filling,

then started the process.

Three tablespoons of filling spread down the center of each lasagna noodle.

Then roll to create a small package. After you spread the white cream sauce on the bottom of your baking dish, line the lasagna rolls side by side, 12 rolls to be exact.

Then spoon 1 cup of sauce over the rolls,

and finish with a sprinkling of 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 450 degree oven, covered for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and continue to bake for 15 more minutes.

Let the Lasagna Rolls sit for 10 minutes...then serve.

Delicious!

What a wonderful spin on the traditional Lasagna and so easy to serve. This is a keeper recipe.

"A beautiful evening can be as simple as watching a favorite movie, 

while enjoying an excellent meal (at home)."

~ Giada De Laurentiis

Easter Egg Cake Pops

211. Happy Easter!!

We were inspired by Bakerella and her incredible "Cake Pops"! Have you seen what she does??

One of her recipes were to make cookie pops so we tried them for a bake sale this Easter.

They turned out great!

We made Nutter Butter Cookie/Cake Pops.

This recipe is so simple. Just a package of Nutter Butter Cookies. Place in a food processor and chop them till crumbly.

Add 8oz softened cream cheese and blend together with a spoon till it forms a dough.

Roll the dough into round balls or shaped eggs. Dip lollipop sticks into melted chocolate then push through the bottom of each shape. Use styrofoam to stand the pops up. Refrigerate.

Melt dipping chocolate and dip the chilled pops in chocolate and then add sprinkles or leave them plain.

We also made a batch with Oreo cookies. OMG!!! They were my favorite!!!

We dipped them in Ghirardelli white chocolate, little bit of sprinkles and then stood them up in a basket.

We sold them at a bake sale on Easter and they were a big hit!

That's it! It is important to purchase melting chocolate that will be light and runny when melted. Some of our chocolate was thick and it was difficult to dip...but for the first time making them...I think we did pretty great! I found this site at CakeCentral.com where they address this issue and suggest using shortening. I will definitely try that next time!

"If life is a cake, then shouldn't it require frequent parties to share it, celebrate!"

~Wolfgang

Reeses Chocolate Cream Pie

210. If it starts with "Reeses", you know it's sure to please!

I love to make cream pies, of course because they are delicious but also the ease of preparation. Although I don't mind the long baking process, sometimes you just want something sweet, and delicious, as soon as possible.

This pie is made in the same process as my Peanut Butter Cream Pie

(recipe here) but I used chocolate pudding instead of vanilla.

The extra touch is a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup cut up.

I sprinkle my peanut butter crumbs on the bottom of the pie crust while it is still hot. My daughter asked me where the crumbs came from. I told her they were made by fairies. It's fairy dust!

Chocolate pudding has a very different texture than vanilla but it works very well. Pour the hot chocolate pudding over the crumbs. You could chop up extra Reeses Peanut Butter cups and sprinkle them over the pudding at this step.

I place cellophane over the pie and place it in the fridge for at least 3 hours or over night.

Finish with fluffy whipped cream piled high. Place the cut up peanut butter cup

on the top of the pie. Sprinkle the extra "fairy dust" over the pie and then drizzle with chocolate sauce.

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

Lucy ~ Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz

Chicken Cordon Bleu

209. Chicken Cordon Bleu -- little bundles of chicken covered in crispy wonderfulness with swiss cheese oozing from the center when cut open. Yum! I love chicken prepared this way. It always seemed like an impossible way to prepare chicken. But then I tried it, and realized, it is not hard at all. The beauty of chicken is that it will take on any shape you desire. And you can shape or coach it to go the way you would like. If you can find chicken breasts already flattened, or if your butcher will flatten them for you, that is half the work.

I mixed my recipe up a bit and used crisp bacon strips and mozzarella cheese. Because ham and swiss cheese were not in my fridge, and because I didn't want to run to the store, I tried it. And we were not disappointed.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Bacon

4 chicken breasts, flattened

1 cup flour

2 cups plain bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten with 1/4 cup milk added

1/2 pound bacon, fried crisp in strips

swiss cheese, or other cheese, cut in thick chunk

salt/pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Place three shallow bowls on your work surface. In the first place the flour, in the second place the egg and milk and beat together and in the last bowl place the bread crumbs, salt and pepper and garlic salt.

On the underside of each piece of chicken place two slices of bacon and cheese into the center.

Fold the sides of the chicken over the bacon and proceed to roll chicken into a log. Use a toothpick to hold chicken together. Dredge chicken in flour first.

Then, roll the chicken in the egg wash making sure it is completely moistened.

Last, roll the moistened chicken in the bread crumbs. Pack the crumbs tightly around the chicken and shape the chicken into a small little bundle.

Place in a hot pan with olive oil. Saute chicken, making quarter turns once the coating browns.

Continue to saute on low for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Some cooks do the initial browning and then place the chicken in a baking dish to bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. I find that the chicken dries out and looses much of its juices.

Serve these beautiful little chicken bundles on a bed of chopped lettuce or lettuce leaves.

Serve along with rice pilaf, a crisp salad and freshly trimmed and steamed buttered carrots.

When you cut into the chicken you will be delighted at the pool of cheese that will ooze from the center!

"Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing."

~Walt Kelly

Polish Cabbage Salad

208. I made a lovely cabbage salad the other day and just had to share it with you. Not only is it easy but the flavor is so unique. It has no mayo but a light oil and vinegar dressing. It's a Polish recipe and I recall having this salad during my visit to Poland a year ago. You could also use red or purple cabbage or savoy cabbage. What a nice accompaniment this would be to your meal on Easter.

Polish Cabbage Salad

1 medium head of cabbage, shredded

1 medium onion, sliced or chopped

1 small green pepper, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

1/2 cup sugar

Dressing:

1 cup vinegar, white balsamic, white or apple cider

3/4 cup salad oil

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

Arrange vegetables in layers in a bowl, sprinkling the 1/2 cup sugar over each layer.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and pour hot, over the vegetable cabbage mixture in the bowl.

Cover and let stand for one hour at room temperature. The hot dressing will blanch the vegetables and help them to absorb the dressing.

After one hour, the cabbage will decrees in volume. Mix and refrigerate. For the very best flavor, make the day before serving.

"To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist -- the problem is entirely the same in both cases. To know exactly how much oil one must put with one's vinegar."

~Oscar Wilde