Lasagne Pie & Caesar Salad

On the menu this time is Lasagne Pie (that's how the recipe spells it...) and Caesar Salad!  Kait’s had an odd craving for spaghetti sauce, so we’re being indulgent.  J  The recipe for the pie came from the Pillsbury Best box (i.e. Ms. Claire didn’t add it herself), but it’s vintage, so it still counts, right?  

We decided, though, that we also needed a “Ms. Claire Approved” recipe, so we added a salad with a homemade Caesar dressing, which, even though it’s not in Ms. Claire’s handwriting (or what we’re pretending is Ms. Claire’s handwriting), she took the time to type it onto a 3 x 5 notecard.  We figured that counts.  So, here we go:

What you’ll need:

For the salad & dressing:

·       ¾ cup olive oil

·       2 garlic cloves finely minced

·       1 head of Romaine Lettuce or two if small

·       1 large egg (or 2)

·       Juice of 1 large lemon

·       Salt and coarse ground pepper

·       1 tin of anchovy filets, chopped (We didn’t use these.)

·       1 cup plain croutons TBSP grated parmesan cheese

What we did:

Place garlic, minced, into a jar with oil, cover and let stand 3-4 flowers or overnight.  (We goofed on this part.  We decided kind of last minute that we were going to add something “Ms. Claire Approved” to the menu.  Ours only sat for about an hour, but it still turned out alright. We’ll let it sit longer next time.)

Wash and pat dry romaine lettuce.

Brown croutons in ½ cup of oil.  Save balance of oil.  Drain croutons on paper towels and set aside.  (We cheated on this part.  We bought Texas Toast brand Caesar croutons because, well, we like those things. J ) 

Tear romaine lettuce into bite-sized pieces into a large bowl.

When Ready to Serve and Not Before:   

Sprinkle romaine with salt and generous grind of pepper.  Toss; pour on remaining ¼ cup of garlic oil and toss so that leaves are well-coated and glistening. ( Note, here, that if you aren’t using a whole head of lettuce because there are only two of you and you won’t eat it…you probably don’t need a full ¼ cup of oil, either.)

Break a raw egg into the center of the salad bowl—yes, we know it sounds odd, but trust Ms. Claire; she kinda knows what she’s talking about—and toss vigorously so that the egg becomes a milky dressing (which it will…just keep tossing).  If it does not look like enough for the amount of romaine, use another egg.  Squeeze lemon juice over romaine, toss again.  Add anchovies (we also didn’t put any of those in our dressing) and Parmesan cheese.  Toss lightly and top with croutons.  Serve at once before it gets wilted and soggy. 

For the Lasagne Pie:

·       1 lb. ground beef

·       1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

·       1 tablespoon instant minced onion

·       1 teaspoon salt

·       ½ teaspoon of Italian seasoning, crushed

·       ¼ teaspoon pepper

·       1 can (8 oz.) Pillsbury Refrigerated Quick Crescent Dinner Rolls

·       ½ cup Daisy sour cream

·       4 slices of Mozzarella Cheese

What we did:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a skillet, brown ground beef.  The recipe didn’t call for it, but we seasoned the beef with a sprinkle or two of garlic powder and onion powder for a little kick of flavor.  After the beef is browned, drain.  Add tomato paste, onion, salt (a teaspoon seems like a whole lot of salt, but, like everything else, trust Ms. Claire.)  

Separate dough into 8 triangles.  Place in ungreased 9-inch pie pan, pressing pieces together to form a crust.  **WARNING:  If you get the crescent roll package too close to the heat, it will essplode!  Kait didn’t know this.**  

Turn meat mixture into crust...

Spread with sour cream...

And top with cheese slices.  

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  

We baked ours a little longer than 30 minutes because we wanted the cheese to be a little browner, if you like brown cheese, just keep a watch on it.  Serve hot.  

All it took was a couple of bites to prove what we already suspected—Mrs. Claire is a fantastic cook.  Even with our inattention to detail, our salad dressing turned out alright, although we’ve decided to try it again whenever we come across another recipe that needs a friend.  That’s all for this week!  Y’all come back now, ya hear!! J

Cherry Squares

After we got home with the box, we were too excited about the prospect of our culinary adventure, so we decided we had to start cooking right then.  But it was kind of late, so we decided cooking supper right then probably wan't the best of all ideas.  We also wanted to use a recipe that was written in Ms. Claire's handwriting.  So, after some very careful consideration, we decided these would be the best option for a late night snack. :) 

Cherry Squares

What you’ll need:

·        4 Cups Flour

·        1 Cup Sugar

·        2 Tsp. Baking Powder

·        2 Cups Crisco

·        1 Cup Buttermilk

·        1 Tsp. Baking Soda

·        3 Eggs

2   2  Cans of Duncan Hines Cherry Pie Filling*

Note: we halved the recipe - a whole 9x13 pan of cherry squares seemed a bit much for the two of us.

*Ms. Claire's recipe calls for Comstock Cherries. We wanted to stick with her brand suggestions if possible, but we couldn't find "Comstock" at Walmart. We opted for Duncan Hines instead. Turns out (after a bit of Googl'ing) that Comstock = Duncan Hines now...yay us!

Now, on to the recipe:

What to Do:

 Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.

Cut in crisco, buttermilk, and baking soda.  Add eggs.

If the mixture seems wet, it's ok.  Ours did.  

Alana: "Do you think we should add more flour?"

Kait:  "Well, I mean, it’s good like it is…as I lick the sides of the bowl."

           

Spread the mixture in a pan and up the sides. (We used a 9 inch pie pan.)

Fill the pan with cherry filling and top with the rest of the dough. The recipe card actually said: "Save a little bit for the top" - this was Alana's assumption of what Ms. Claire meant by that.

At this point in the process, we realized Ms. Claire had neglected to include ANY information about bake time or temp - so very Claire of her. So, like any rational semi-skilled cooks would do...we faked it. 

Bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered and another 15 minutes covered with tin foil.  At the end of the 45 minutes, take it out of the oven; let it cool for about 15 minutes.  Cut into squares or slices.  We used a pie dish, so ours were slices.  

·            

Alana:  "It’s just going to be like cobbler.  We didn’t succeed in making squares….mostly  because we made them in a round pan…"

After a few bites, we realized our assumptions were correct - it was pretty much cobbler. The breading tasted a lot like "really sweet cornbread" (according to Kait), and the overall texture was warm and fluffy. Kait best summed up our overall impression of our first adventure - 

"I'm just kinda relieved Ms. Claire is a good cook!"

Til next time, friends! 

Welcome to Cookin' With Ms. Claire

Welcome to Cookin’ with Ms. Claire.  Now, before you ask, no, neither of us are named Claire.  In fact, we have no idea who Claire is, or even if she exists.  We have an idea of who we think she is, but really, all we have to go on is this green, tin recipe box we found at a thrift store today.  There it was, sitting on a clearance shelf in the back room, full of recipes.  So, of course, it had to come home with us.  On our trek back home, we had a great idea:  we’re going to cook through the box.  Starting tonight (with cherry squares) we’re going to cook one a week.  Since we don’t know who Ms. Claire is, we’re reserving the right to eliminate, alter, or add to these recipes as we find them.  And, Ms. Claire, if you’re out there, we hope we’ll make you proud.