Mexican Taco Lasagna

Tonya found a new recipe for us to try.

Ingredients

12-13 soft flour 6-inch tortillas

2 lbs. ground beef

2 packets taco seasoning

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 cups diced red onions

1/2 cup diced green onions diced

1/4 c chopped Jalapeño optional

Kosher salt to taste

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

3 cups of taco cheese or Mexican style cheese shredded

1 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

sour cream garnish

diced green onions garnish

Directions

In a small bowl, combine red onions, green onions, Jalapeño pepper, tomatoes, salt to taste. Set aside.

In a large skillet, brown meat and drain grease. Add taco seasoning and stir.

In a medium pot, bring heavy cream and butter to a boil, stirring until thickened. Remove from heat and add 2 cups of cheese. Add Cajun seasoning and keep warm.

In 9 x 13 casserole, layer 4 tortillas (cut so they fit in bottom of casserole), ground beef, cheese, and tomato mixture.

Repeating until you have 3 layers finishing with the cheese sauce on top.

Add last cup of cheese on top of entire casserole.

Place in 400 degree oven covered for 20 minutes then remove and let cool. Garnish each serving with sour cream and green onions.

Gingerbread Cake

My friend Bonnie had asked for this recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 large egg

1 cup molasses

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup very hot water

banana for topping

fresh whipped cream , for topping

Vanilla Cream Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease a 9x13'' pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl cream together the sugar and butter until smooth and light. 

Add the egg and molasses and mix well. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. 

Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir to combine. Slowly pour in the hot water and stir until smooth (batter will be thin). 

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. 

Serve warm, topped with fresh sliced bananas, whipped cream, and vanilla cream sauce.

For the Vanilla Cream Sauce:

Add sugar, butter and cream to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter has melted. 

Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. 

Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving over cake. 

Fudgy Brownies

If you find these brownies are a bit on the semi-sweet side, add more sugar to the batter.  You will notice no "chocolate" is added to this recipe.

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup rounded unsweetened cocoa powder (slightly more than 3/4 cup)

1/4 rounded teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

2/3 cup chopped pecans, optional

Stuff you will need

Sauce pan

Metal Mixing bowl

Mixing spoon or spatula (Do no use wire wisk, trust me)

8x8 baking pan

Parchment paper

Directions

Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 325 degrees F. 

Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. (This helps when removing the baked brownies from the pan, once cooled).

Add enough water to a saucepan so that it is 2 inches deep. Heat water until barely simmering.  Test to see if the mixing bowl bottom will touch the water.  If yes, you have too much water.

Combine butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in the mixing bowl. 

Place the mixing bowl over the simmering water. Stir the mixture occasionally until the butter has melted and the mixture is quite warm. Don’t worry if it looks gritty; it will become smooth once you add the eggs and flour.  (You can use a wire whisk here if you like)

Remove the bowl from heat and set aside for 3 to 5 minutes until it is only warm, not hot. Stir in the vanilla with a spoon. Then add the eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one.  (Wire whisk ok here too)

When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until fully incorporated, then beat with the mixing spoon for 40 to 50 strokes. (The batter will be thick and this is where you will regret using the wire whisk). Beat vigorously here. You want to see the brownie batter pulling away from the sides of the bowl (if you do not have the strength to do this by hand, use a hand mixer, NOT an immersion blender). If you are adding the pecans, this is when you would add them. Spread batter evenly in lined pan.

Bake the brownies for 25 minutes.  The brownies may look under baked.  But it will continue to cook as it cools on the cutting board.

Cool completely then remove from pan. See how easy it was, now that you left the two sides overhang with the parchment paper?

For the cleanest lines when cutting, place brownies into the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up. 

Cut into 16 squares.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Homemade Mashed Potato Cakes

Back on the internet and found something that caught my eye.  Tried it and it's a keeper.

Pro tip, give yourself about 90 minutes to make these.

Ingredients

Filler

6 medium potatoes

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup of chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Outer Layer

2 eggs

2 cups Panko Breadcrumbs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons butter

Stuff you will need

Large pot

Vegetable Peeler

Colander

Potato masher

2 x Mixing bowls

Frying pan

Spatula

Paper towel

1/4 cup measuring cup

Directions

Peel the potatoes and put the peels into the composter or the green bin.

Cut the potatoes into chunks and boil till tender.

Drain the potatoes and put back into the pot and let sit for about 5 minutes. (You may feel tempted to add milk or butter...  DO NOT)

Add the cheese, egg, onions, salt and pepper.  Mash.

Transfer mashed potatoes to a mixing bowl.  Put the mixing bowl in the fridge for about an hour.

Using your 1/4 cup measuring cup, take out the potatoes and form into a patty.  About 3 inches round and 1/2 inch thick.

Makes about 8 patties.  (I made 9, but I used some pretty big potatoes)

Using the dirty potato mixing bowl, crack your eggs and scramble them up.

In another, shallow mixing bowl, put the breadcrumbs.  I didn't start with 2 cups.  I started with about a cup of bread crumbs and then added more as needed more.

Dip your patties, one at a time, into the egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs.  Make sure to cover the sides of the patties.

Let the bread crumb covered patties sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

Add about 1/4 a cup of oil and 1 tablespoon butter to the frying pan.  Heat to about medium heat.

Make sure the oil is HOT.

Add about 4 patties at a time.  Cook 3 minutes per side.  (Pro tip, tilt the pan and add the patty, so that the oil doesn't splash all over your stove.  DO NOT insert the tip of your finger into the hot oil.  My finger tip is still sore.)  You can avoid the splashing oil if you got a second spatula.

Remove the cooked patty onto a plate covered in paper towel to absorb any excess oil.

OPTIONAL - So that you don't have freckles on the second batch of patties, dump the oil into a container that can handle the hot oil.  Give the frying pan a quick wipe with a paper towel.

For the price of oil and paper towel, I didn't mind the freckles on my patties.  My wife didn't mind either.  Make sure to give the fussy kids (this may include grand children) the first batch of Potato Cakes as they may whine about the burnt freckles on their Potato Cakes.

I had mine with salt and pepper.  My wife, added a little bit of  ketchup on the side.

Variations...

Serve with sour cream.

Add crumbled bacon (6 slices) into the filling.

Remove the cheese and insert salt cod (Fish cakes).

I didn't have Panko Bread Crumbs.  I used the Italian Bread Crumbs you get at Atlantic Superstore.

The left overs did microwave ok.  But obviously lost the crunchy outer layer when I did that the next day.  An Air Fryer may have been better for the re-heat.

Are you making these for breakfast?  Make the potatoes the night before, add the ingredients and mash them.  Transfer to mixing bowl, cover with saran wrap and put in the fridge.  The next day, the potatoes are ready to make into patties.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!