Emealz - Easy Meals for Busy People!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Fish Lasagne

This recipe is one that I've had for years, and it is so simple but so rich and yummy. You may love it as much as we do.  And don't worry about the Food Network and how they complain about fish and cheese not going together well. It's not true. At least not in this case!  

Ingredients

  • 1 & 1/2 pounds of white fish (I used Tilapia)
  • 8 ounces of Swiss cheese, shredded (but I used a 7 oz package of sliced Swiss I had on hand)
  • 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth or stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream (or evaporated milk, which I used last night!*)
  • 8 lasagne noodles, cooked and rinsed in cool water
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 6 tablespoons of butter 


Directions

Melt butter in a medium skillet. Cut the fish into 1 inch pieces, and cook with garlic and thyme until fish flakes easily with a fork (stirring around gently; don't worry, it will break up some), around 8-10 minutes. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon.

Melt remaining butter in skillet and then add salt and flour, whisking until smooth (add a splash of the broth to help, if it's too pasty). Cook and stir this roux for 2 minutes, then slowly add the broth and milk, whisking all the while. Bring to a boil, while whisking, and stir for a couple minutes until thickened.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray or grease a 13 x 9 baking dish.  Then begin layering the lasagne. Start with 3 noodles in bottom, add half the fish, half the sauce, then top with half the cheese. Repeat layers.

Cover with foil (may want to spray it so it doesn't stick to the top of the lasagne). Bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for 20 minutes more, or until bubbling.

Let set for 20 minutes before serving.

Yum!

*The evaporated milk worked just fine as far as taste, but I will say that the cream formed a more cohesive sauce than the milk, so my milk version was a little more buttery-greasy than it is with the cream. So if you can deal with using the cream, I'd recommend it over the milk. Both are tasty, though!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

I know, I didn't take a picture, again (!). But, I hope you will trust me when I say that this is a delicious meal. My husband was slurping up a plate full before taking our son to wrestling practice. He usually just waits until he comes back, but the smell lured him in. :-)

Ingredients

*Boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or bone-in, but deskinned)
Your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/4-1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon granulated garlic (NOT garlic salt)
2 teaspoons onion powder

black pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions

Place chicken in bottom of crock pot
Sprinkle with seasonings
Cover with sauce
*Cook for 4-10 hours


You can use as many chicken thighs as you want/need. My crock pot is one of the big ones that ruins food if you cook for longer than 4 hours. I used 10 chicken thighs and one 24 ounce can of Food Lion brand 3-cheese (4-cheese?) spaghetti sauce, and cooked mine for around 4 hours (maybe a little over).

It was delish! I served this over spaghetti noodles (regular spaghetti, not angel hair), and everyone loved it. You just need to add more sauce (and increase seasonings, to taste) if using more chicken, and increase cooking time accordingly, especially if your chicken is not deboned (since that will take longer to cook)

And the biggest rule is Know Thy Crockpot!

 If you have one like mine (I think it's at least 6 quarts, if not 8), then use caution. When I say mine ruins food, it really is inedible. The first time I made a regular cook-for-8-hours meal and left the house all day, I came back to a burned, blackened mess in the bottom.There doesn't seem to be a way around this, either (I checked online and it seems to be a universal problem). On the other hand, it is boss for cooking a whole chicken!