Cooking to Combat Cancer 2

April and May bring two very important events that mean a lot to me. Two events that will bring awareness to many people. These two events are part of the effort to kick cancer's ass. Because seriously? Cancer's ass deserves to be kicked. Thoroughly. This first post is for Cooking to Combat Cancer 2 - an annual event held by one of the most beautiful souls I've ever met.. Chris. She's the author of Mele Cotte, a wonderful friend, and a cancer survivor. Thank you for doing this every year, sweetie.. your contribution to helping us to never forget is so very important. Love you!! In November of 2005 I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.. one radical hysterectomy later, and I was cancer free without much physical fuss. Meaning, I did not get sick. Mentally, there was fuss.. lots of it. When you've always taken for granted that you'd have kids one day.. and then are told it ain't gonna happen.. yeah, that kind of messes you up some. But, as I've said a million times over, I'm alive. I'm (relatively) healthy. I'm lucky. And I'm grateful for the chance I've been given. Six years before my own brush with cancer, I was introduced to it's devastation when my great uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer. Coming from a large Italian family, I had many, many aunts and uncles. My father was 1 of 14. Yes, you read that right.. my dad had 13 brothers and sisters. And although I did love my paternal aunts and uncles very, very much.. it was my mom's great aunt and great uncle, who I was closest to. My Auntie Ann and Uncle Sol. My Auntie was and still is my mom's best friend. They are only 10 years apart, and they grew up together more like sisters than an aunt and her niece. So we spent a lot of time with them. I consider my Auntie as my second mom.. for it was easier for me to talk to her than my own mother sometimes. And my uncle.. well.. he tortured me. har! My uncle never passed up the chance to pick on me, to annoy me, or to embarrass me. But this predicament I was in wasn't such a bad thing. No, for all of his fun had at my expense, the only thing that I took from all of it was how much attention he lavished on me. As I'm told often, I was the first girl in a family of boys. My uncle adored me. And I adored him. When such an amazing man was taken away from us so abruptly, it felt like a betrayal. How could this be?? This was a man who loved his family so much, he was loved by everyone he met and he was such a wonderful uncle to my sisters and I. Actually, he was known to my youngest sister as her grandpa.. as both sets of grandparents had passed years before she was born, he and my auntie took on the role. I rarely ever told my uncle how much I loved him. I assumed he always knew. As a matter of fact, the only time I can remember actually saying to him how much I loved him was right after he had the surgery to remove part of his lung.. he cried. I'd never seen him cry before. And he told me he loved me back. This was our first and only spoken exchange of our feelings for each other. He passed a couple days later. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I was wrecked. I still am.. several years have passed and the pain isn't as constant as it was before, but I still can't control the tears and the hurt inside when I think about him. Oh how I wish that I would have told him how much I loved him until he was sick of hearing it! How I hate that I just assumed he knew. Although he didn't say the words to me either, and even though I knew from earliest memory that he loved me very much.. I still wish that I would have said the words out loud to him more than once. Just as I always knew his unspoken feelings for me, I can only pray that he knew my unspoken feelings for him. The recipe I am about to share doesn't really remind me much of my Uncle Sol.. no, we were more of the pizza, soft pretzel, Twix bars kinda eaters. hee! But this recipe contains a few ingredients known to help cancer stay away, so I find it very fitting. I also find it very delicious and I'm glad we finally tried it. It's a simple recipe for Salad Niçoise, which comes to us from Nice, France. This is a salad made up of seared tuna, blanched green beans, tomatoes, steamed red potatoes, boiled eggs and of course, Niçoise olives. Everything but the tuna is tossed with a simple vinaigrette which adds just the perfect tang. And the tuna is usually seared quickly on each side, then placed on the salad in thin slices. Never being one to follow a recipe to the T (Other than Daring Baker challenges!!!), I decided to coat my tuna in toasted sesame seeds first. We fell in love with this salad immediately and it will become a common quick dinner in my repertoire. The tuna is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for a healthy heart. The green beans have been shown to prevent or slow genetic damage to cells. The garlic and scallions in the vinaigrette contain a number of compounds believed to slow or stop the growth of tumors. And the tomatoes contain lycopene, which has been shown to be especially potent in combating prostate cancer. So all in all, this salad is not only delicious and quick, but very good for your body. Salad Niçoise Makes 2 generous servings, or 4 small servings 8 oz. fresh Ahi Tuna or Albacore - (try to find sushi grade - you won't be sorry) 1 TBS olive oil or cooking spray (recipe for sesame seared tuna below) 1/4 pound green beans, trimmed and blanched - (I suggest salting the boiling water) 3/4 pound of new red potatoes, quartered and steamed until fork tender - (My trick here is to put 2 crushed garlic cloves on the bottom of the steamer basket.. it gives the potatoes a light garlicy flavor that's delicious) 1/4 c. red onion, either thinly sliced or minced 1/4 c. pitted Niçoise olives 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved 1-2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and quartered Vinaigrette 2 TBS. Champagne vinegar - (I used Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar) 1 TBS. fresh tarragon, chopped 1 tsp. Dijon mustard 1 small shallot, minced 3/4 c. olive oil sea salt, to taste ground black pepper, to taste Arrange salad ingredients in separate piles on a large serving platter. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and then lay thinly sliced tuna on top. OR you can go non-traditional and put all ingredients in a large bowl with the vinaigrette and lightly toss (which is what we did). Serve alone, or with garlic toast. If you want to use the same tuna that we did the recipe is as follows (I cut the recipe in half for one 8 oz. tuna steak): Sesame Seared Tuna Courtesy of Allrecipes.com 1/8 c. soy sauce - (I used reduced sodium) 1.5 tsp. mirin (Japanese sweet wine) - (We omitted this because we didn't have any) 1.5 tsp. honey 1 TBS. sesame oil - (Sesame oil is VERY strong.. I cut this down to 1 tsp.) 1.5 tsp. rice wine vinegar 4 (6 oz.) tuna steaks 1/4 c. sesame seeds 1 TBS. olive oil In a small bowl, whisk together the soy, mirin, honey, sesame oil & the rice wine vinegar. Spread the seeds out on a plate or shallow bowl. Dip the tuna into the soy mixture, making sure the whole steak is coated and then press the tuna steak into the sesame seeds - coating both sides well. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron or other heavy skillet over high heat until it's VERY hot. Place tuna steaks in pan and sear for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. You can go longer, but you chance the possibility of burning the seeds and over cooking the fish. Slice thinly and place warm tuna over Salad Niçoise. And hey.. if the opportunity to share a Twix bar with someone you love arises afterwards.. why not take it? :) xoxo

Italian Tuna and Pasta - Killer Combination!

When I saw this dish on one of my most favoritest blogger's blog I knew immediately that I'd be making it this week for dinner. The favoritest blogger? The extremely talented Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen! The dish? Pasta Shells with Italian Tuna and Artichokes! The verdict? Delish! Now being me, I hadda fiddle with this just a lil to give it an Italian spin and because of some personal preferences. And how easy it was to add and/or take away from what is a magnificent base recipe for my playing around fun. I had to omit the artichokes, as he won't eat them - so I subbed sliced hearts of palm instead. I had a lovely bag of baby spinach and some grape tomatoes that were screaming to be used so I tossed them in as well.. Ohhhhh God was this dish is a winner! Granted, you must like canned tuna to dig this dish, because you really taste it. I think that was my favorite part, because to me, Italian tuna in olive oil is a special treat - especially when used in this way where it's one of the main ingredients. The sauce on it's own was very light and flavorful. It really needed nothing else, but again.. me being me.. I added a handful of Pecorino and a few ladles of the pasta water. It made the sauce just the right kind of creamy while still keeping it light. Delish! And so it is with great gratitude that I express my thankfulness at being lucky enough to have seen Patricia's post featuring her friend, Terry, who is the author of this recipe. After making a recipe of Patricia's and cross posting about it, this time it was Terry's turn to provide the recipe and well.. Thanks to you too, Terry! :) Below is my take on this light and super easy pasta dish - as well as my submission to this week's Presto Pasta! hosted by the lovely, Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. =) Pasta Shells with Italian Tuna, Grape Tomatoes & Baby Spinach Adapted from the recipe, Pasta Shells with Italian Tuna & Artichokes by Terry & Patricia 2 6 oz. cans imported Italian tuna in olive oil 1 10.5 oz. can of hearts of palm, pre-sliced ¼ cup capers, drained (I had to omit the capers in mine as I couldn't open the damn jar!) 1 large garlic clove, minced 2 tsp. olive oil 1 bag of baby spinach 1/2 of carton of grape tomatoes (about 10-15) freshly ground black pepper to taste 1/4 c. of grated Pecorino Romano cheese 12 oz. medium pasta shells Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook pasta. While water is coming to a boil, in a large enough skillet to accomodate all ingredients (including cooked pasta) saute the garlic in a 2 tsp. of olive oil, over medium low to medium heat, until lightly golden. Add the tuna with the oil, hearts of palm & tomatoes and saute until the tomato skins slightly wrinkle, about 3 minutes. When water comes to boil, salt it generously, then cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Right before your pasta is ready, add the baby spinach to the tuna mixture and fold until the spinach is wilted. Using a pasta spoon or slotted spoon, transfer the shells and add them to the skillet with the tuna mixture. It's okay if you don't drain the shells completely with each transfer. Alternately, you can drain the shells in a colander, just keep a 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water to make the sauce. Once you've transferred the shells, sprinkle the Pecorino over everything and stir until sauce is creamy. If it's dry, add a little of the pasta water in small amounts, you don't want to use so much water that it washes out the wonderful flavors of this dish. Finish the dish with a sprinkling of black pepper or a few turns of a cracked pepper mill. This makes enough for 4 servings, or 2 generous servings and a kick-ass lunch the next day! :D *Note: Patricia and Terry did not cook the tuna mixture, but mixed it in a separate bowl big enough to accomodate the cooked pasta. Once the pasta was done, it was mixed in with the tuna mixture, or as Patricia calls it, the salsa cruda. I decided to saute all my ingredients over med heat so that my tomatoes would cook down a little and to make sure my spinach wilted properly. So either way you want to prepare this dish, you'll get excellent results.

Honey-Gingered Pork Tenderloin

Hi! I apologize (again) for the lack of posts lately.. I'd like to blame it entirely on the upper respiratory infarction I was dealing with for a couple weeks, but alas, I can not. I just haven't been inspired much to cook new and exciting(to me) things lately.. I've got the culinary blahs. *sigh* Hubbs has become the chef and chief bottle washer of late and he's made some interesting dinners. He even attempted a "Dorie"! Unfortunately the crust got burned and that took away from the rest of the cake, but I give him a BIG A+ for effort! You have to give the man credit, he's terrified of baking and doesn't attempt it often. God love him. ;) In case you're wondering, it was his own creation of Dorie's Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte and her Quick Classic Berry Tart or Dorie's Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Classic Berry Tart-Torte. Mmm hmm.. Yeah, he wanted cheesecake and I wanted the berries I had bought to be used up.. so there ya have it. =) Slightly burnt but lovely none-the-less ;) Moving along.. Last night I decided to give him a break and got my arse in my lil kitchen. And although I have a huge fear of pork (yes, my dislike of most cuts of pork has turned into an all-out-terror because of this lil gem that about made me hurl.) I had pork tenderloin hanging out in the freezer so I figured I should use it up. After perusing Recipezaar, I found exactly what I was looking for - something sweet and savory with a lil Asian kick to it. This recipe boasts that it tastes like the lil BBQ ribs that many Asian restaurants serve. The author didn't lie. The sauce is very reminiscent of those BBQ ribs. And I even took a major shortcut by not marinating the tenderloin. I just seared the meat and threw it into the oven to finish cooking, while I made the sauce seperately so that I could spoon it over the tender pork medallions. I can just imagine how even more flavorful this dish would have been had I the time to marinate. So the good news is, if you don't have the time to marinate the pork you'll still end up with quite a delicious dinner. Honey Gingered Pork Tenderloin Courtesy of "FlemishMinx" and Recipezaar.com The recipe below reflects my changes. 2 (3/4 lb.) pork tenderloins Salt & Pepper 2 tsp. vegetable oil 1/4 c. honey 1/4 c. soy sauce 1/4 c. oyster sauce 2 TBS. packed brown sugar 1 TBS. fresh minced ginger 1 TBS. minced garlic 1 TBS. ketchup 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1/3 c. chicken stock 1 TBS. cornstarch (or enough as needed) (optional) Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400º F. Sprinkle tenderloins evenly with salt and pepper; rub seasoning into meat. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Place both tenderloins in skillet; cook until well browned, 3 minutes. Using tongs, rotate tenderloins 1/4 turn; cook until well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat until all sides are browned. Transfer tenderloins to rimmed baking sheet and place in oven (reserve skillet if making pan sauce); roast until internal temperature registers 135º to 140º on instant-read thermometer, 10 to 16 minutes. Once out of the oven, cover loosely with a foil tent and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. In still hot skillet, combine the first 9 sauce ingredients with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes and then add the chicken stock and cornstarch (if using). Continue to simmer until desired thickness. Slice well rested tenderloin into 1/4 to 1/2 inch medallions and arrange on plate. Drizzle sauce over medallions before serving. If serving this dish to guests, keep in mind the sauce is quite strong and might be best to be served on the side. My Notes: If you are going to marinate the tenderloin first - place pork into a large ziplock bag or a shallow baking dish, whisk together first 9 sauce ingredients in a bowl, and pour over pork. Close bag or cover dish and place in refrigerator to marinate at least 8 hours, but 24 is better. Turn at least twice during this time. When ready to cook, continue on with recipe as instructed above, using reserved marinade for sauce. No no!! Don't go anywhere yet, I'm not done! I need just another minute or two of your time to show off the bestest Valentine's Day card I've ever received before. Ya'll know how I love home made cards, right? Well feast your eyes on this masterpiece: @}`~,~~., My sweet friend and fellow monthly baking clubber (uhh girls? We really need to decide on that name), Brilynn, made me this V-day card, ya'll!! I cropped the top of it where she writes that this card should get her into the dork club (Which I am President, CEO and Queen of) - which made me chuckle and also confused me a bit.. As I had inducted her MONTHS ago and made her Vice President of All That Is Dorky - apparently she didn't get the memo. huh. Thank you, Bril! I heart my hearty homemade card! :D

Pork Medallions with Port Wine & Mustard Sauce

I don't recall if I've ever mentioned my most favorite restaurant in alla world? It was a small place that looked like any other small restaurant/bar - I don't really recall anything that special about the atmosphere. But the food? Oh dear sweet Jebus. It was fantastic. Unfortunately, the owner couldn't keep the place open - which shocked the hell outta me as it was ALWAYS packed. Rumors were the owners of the building upped his rent and he couldn't afford it.. other rumors were he got into a lil tax/money trouble.. whatever - the bottom line was I didn't have my favorite place to eat anymore and I was more than a lil sad. =( Their signature dish was pork tenderloin medallions in a port wine & mustard sauce. not only did they give you TWO pork tenderloins (I ate for days!) but this sauce that was poured over them was amazing. So amazing that in all the years we went there - I never had anything but the pork medallions. I just couldn't imagine anything else being as good. Wayne, my Mom and some friends always ordered different items and never was there a complaint, but for me.. it was that damn sauce. It's been a good 4 years or so since the restaurant closed. I've tried to recreate this sauce twice now. The first time was kind of close - but it called for pears. There were no pears in the original, but I thought what the hell and tried it. It was good.. very good. And then I lost the recipe. Mmm hmm.. so I tried again just this week. Not even close, quite frankly. I decided to just dump and pour and hope for the best. Well I didn't get the sauce I was hoping for, but I did get quite a fantastic sweet & tangy sauce that really went well with the pork. The first thing you'll notice when you taste is it's sweetness, but then you'll taste the mustard's tang and the port wine is very nice in the background. I think the only thing I'll change the next time I make this is to cut down on the brown sugar a bit. Hubbs didn't work that day so he wanted to contribute to the meal. I asked him to find a good side dish, preferably potatoes. He decided on an Onion and Potato Casserole that was quite nice, although probably not the best accompaniment for the medallions. Next time something lighter to offset the richness of the sauce might be better. But I'm including this recipe as it was very tasty and would be a fantastic side dish for just about any meat prepared a different way. Port Wine & Mustard Sauce 1 c. Port wine 1/4 c. dijon mustard 3/4 - 1 c. beef stock 1/4 c. brown sugar 1 TBS. butter Pan drippings After you've roasted your pork (I roasted mine in the same skillet I used to sear it in and then carefully made the sauce in the same skillet - keeping a thick kitchen towel over the handle at all times to remind my dork arse that it was searing hot) remove it to a dish and cover with foil to keep warm. In the skillet add the 1 c. of port wine sauce, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula to lift off the lil brown bits of goodness. Simmer the wine until it reduces by half. Add the mustard and about 1/2 c. of beef broth and continue to simmer until this has reduced by 1/2. Finally add the brown sugar and more broth depending on how thick you want the sauce to be. I don't think I added much more the second time - maybe a 1/4 cup or so? Anyhoo, simmer this slowly until you've reached the consistency you'd like then add the butter and stir until your sauce becomes silky. Drizzle over medallions and serve. Onion and Potato Casserole 3 c. sliced onions (2 large onions) 2 TBS butter 1 (10.5 oz.) can condensed cream of celery soup 1/2 c. water salt and pepper to taste 1/4 tsp. dried thyme 6 med. potatoes, sliced thin and parboiled 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese Preheat oven to 350º F. In a skillet, cook onions in butter until lightly browned. Add soup and water, season with salt and pepper and thyme. Arrange potatoes and 1/2 c. of the cheese in a buttered 2 quart casserole. Pour onion mixture over potatoes & cheese and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned. Serves 4 My Note: The only thing thing he did differently was cut the recipe in half.

Steak Tips with Mushroom Sauce

Please forgive my lack of posting of late. It's been a strange beginning of the new year for me regarding my kitchen activities. Other than my submissions for a couple foodie events, I just have not cooked anything new that I haven't already blogged about until this past weekend! I really don't know what my problem is (hopefully was). Thankfully this past Sunday morning, I woke with a huge desire to spend most of my day in the kitchen. It was cold and rainy outside and the only things that I wanted to do was cook and wash clothes. I know.. the clothes thing.. I'm weird.. but I love how my house smells in the winter while doing laundry, call me kooky. =) And so I took out a very nice sirloin and made up my mind that I was going to do something different with it. I spent a good portion of my morning going through some of my cookbooks and then online - and as I'm finding more often than not, I found the recipe I wanted to make on allrecipes.com. Steak Tips with Mushroom Sauce - yum! I haven't had that in YEARS. This recipe was quite good and we've decided that I'll need to make this again. The mushroom sauce is dark, rich and hearty. The flavor is outstanding - beefy, mushroom-y & onion-y. It was a snap to pull together with hardly any prep and I had dinner on the table in less than an hour. I chose to serve these over buttered noodles, but rice or smashed potatoes would work nicely. A nice sized hunk of crusty bread is also recommended to sop up the last of the delicious sauce. Steak Tips with Mushroom Sauce Courtesy of AllRecipes.com and Amy The recipe below includes the changes I made. To see the original recipe, click Amy's name. l pound sirloin steak, cut into bite sized pieces 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef consomme 16 oz. of a good beef stock 1 small carton white button mushrooms, sliced 2-3 TBS. butter 1 clove garlic, chopped 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste 1 shallot, finely chopped 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour Preheat a medium skillet to medium-high heat and melt 1 TBS. butter. Add sirloin pieces and cook until desired doneness. Remove steak and keep warm under foil. In same skillet, melt another TBS. of butter and sautee the shallot until transparent, then add mushrooms, and cook, uncovered, until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove mushrooms from pan, and set aside. Deglaze the pan with the can of beef consomme and half the beef stock. Increase heat, and bring to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil until it has reduced by 1/3. When the sauce is reduced, stir in the remaining beef broth, and garlic. Return to a boil, and continue to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Sauce will be thin like au jus. Whisk in flour, and cook until the sauce is the desired thickness. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Stir in the mushrooms and steak. Serve over buttered noodles, rice or smashed potatoes. My Notes: I only used about a pound of sirloin steak for the 2 of us and substituted more beef broth and a can of consomme for the wine in the original recipe due to the fact that I was too lazy to run up to the store to buy a bottle. :P I also subbed button mushrooms for the portobello because they are what I had on hand - but next time I'll most definitely use portobello, as I'm sure they add so much more flavor. A HUGE, GIANT THANK YOU!! To my dear, sweet friend Meeta who went above and beyond to teach me how to take a focused picture with my new camera. lol Seriously, I was ready to take the damn thing back and buy a disposable camera until she taught me the correct way to use it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Now I heart my new lil camera. :) Ohh and someone asked.. it's a Canon PowerShot S2 SI, very different from my lil Olympus C150 that only had 2 bottons. heee!

I Went South of the Border for My Lasagna

I made this a couple nights ago, because another slice of turkey was going to make me implode. I found the recipe in one of the Cooking Light magazines, but their recipe was basically vegetarian and although it did sound tasty, we wanted beef. I kept searching for something but the idea of a mexican lasagna sounded really, really good. So I used their "technique" and subbed ingredients I had on hand. Simply put, you substitute corn tortillas for lasagna noodles. Layering the tortillas between ground beef (ground chicken or turkey would work really well too) simmered in taco seasonings, cheese, salsa, black olives and sliced green onions. Bake until the cheese is golden and bubbly and you've got a quick dish that turned out pretty good. It was like a deconstructed taco! The corn tortillas were a lil tough though and the next time I make this I will use flour tortillas, for sure. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention.. my version is no longer of the "light" variety. Imagine that! Although it could easily be taken there again by using ground chicken or turkey breast and reduced fat cheese and sour cream. Which I think would still be delicious. :D Mexican Lasagna Lisa's Way Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine - find original recipe here. 1 lb. ground sirloin 1 tsp. vegetable or canola oil 1 TBS. chili powder 1 1/2 tsp. cumin 2 TBS. Worcestershire sauce 1 pkg. 6" corn tortillas (usually 10 in a package) 2 c. Mexican blend shredded cheese or Monterey Jack cheese 1 jar salsa (I used a chunky garden-style salsa) 1 small can of sliced black olives 5 green onions, sliced thin Cooking spray Sour cream (optional) Preheat oven to 400º F. In a large skillet brown the sirloin with 1 tsp. oil, add the chili powder, cumin and Worcestershire sauce. Spray an 8" x 8" Pyrex baking dish with the cooking spray and layer 4 of the tortillas on the bottom. Sprinkle a handful of cheese on the tortillas and then a layer of beef over the cheese. Next comes the salsa, a few tablespoons will do ya. Then sprinkle olives and green onions, followed by another small handful of cheese. Repeat layer starting with 2 tortillas laid diagonally over cheese. Top this layer with the last 2 tortillas, the remaining cheese and the remaining green onions. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven or until the cheese is bubbly. Let set for about 5 minutes so it's easier to cut and serve. Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream and more sliced onions, if you so desire.

Pan Pierogi

If you are a lover of Pierogi then this dish is for you. The recipe can be easily double or tripled for a great potluck contribution. This potato dish can be made as a side dish or with the addition of meat, a main dish that'll knock your pierogi loving socks off. Easy to put together and made with ingredients that most have on hand, it's a quick dinner for those nights when time seems to slip away. Filling and tasty, it's one of our favorites. You can switch up the cheeses, meats, or even add flavorings to the potatoes and create your own version. The inside is creamy and the lasagna noodles get a little crunchy on the edges (the part I like the most!). This is a perfect Autumn/Winter dish.. try it! :D Pan Pierogi 1 large vidalia onion, either sliced thinly or diced medium 2 TBS. butter 9 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente 3 c. smashed potatoes (I cheat and use a bag of pre-smashed potatoes - Yoder's brand) handful of fresh, snipped chives* 1 c. sour cream* 2 c. shredded cheese (I'll usually use 1 c. swiss and 1 c. sharp cheddar) 1 package of Keilbasa sausage, sliced on the diagonal* (I use Hilshire Farms) 1 TBS. butter Preheat oven to 375º F. Butter a 8" x 8" baking dish - I usually use a glass Pyrex. Saute the onions in 2 TBS. of butter until lightly browned and carmelized. I like to buy the regular smashed potatoes and then in a med. saucepan I heat them and add the sour cream and chives. This is optional. You could add the potatoes cold or buy the flavored kind or smash your own - do whatever you feel is best. Place 3 lasagna noodles in the bottom of your baking dish and then spread about 1 c. of the smashed potatoes on top. Sprinkle potatoes with 1/2 the onions. Next layer is the cheese, I usually do a small handful of each flavor (making sure to reserve some for the top). Top with the sliced keilbasa, if you are using. Then start your layers again; noodles, potatoes, onions, cheese, sausage. Top with last 3 lasagna noodles and the remaining cheeses. Slice off excess lasagna noodle so that it's flush with the top of the dish. If you don't, the excess noodles will burn. Dot the top with 1 TBS. butter and bake, uncovered for 45-60 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes so it will set up and make for easier cutting. *Note:The chives, sour cream and Keilbasa are optional - use whatever you want or leave plain. Also, if I have it on hand, I sometimes like to add about a 1/2 c. of sauerkraut to the onions when sauteing. Adds a nice lil zing! :D