It's Sunday morning of Week Eight.
It's Sunday!
On today's menu is Spiced Waffles with Caramelized Apples and Bacon. I love these waffles! I came across this recipe several years ago. They take more time to make than typical waffles but they are oh so worth it! They are spicy aromatic crisp waffles covered in sweet, tangy caramel apples and drizzled in sweet maple syrup. Perfect with bacon!
On the dinner menu is thick, rich, cheesy, and beefy Lasagna. I wanted to learn how to make perfect lasagna during the first year of my marriage when my husband came home from work one day and said some woman at work was attending culinary school - and that she had brought in lasagna that was so thick it wasn't messy but was still perfectly saucy and cheesy. I made it my goal to figure out how to do that. My mom had always made messy lasagna with layers that fell apart when you tried to served a piece. And one day- I found the perfect recipe. It cuts into perfect pieces - and the layers stay together with the tender flat pieces of pasta "glued" together with Italian seasoned beef, rich marinara sauce, ricotta parmesan cheese. I LOVE this lasagna recipe.
For dessert is
lemon bundt cake with
cherry frosting. My husband's absolutely loves lemon bundt cake. I've tried several different recipes until I found one that has a distinct lemon taste. I don't like it when a lemon bundt cake is almost indistinguishable from a white cake. I like this one a lot. Plus, bundt cakes are so pretty and really no more difficult than any other cake. The pan does all the work by cooking it into a pretty design. Then you just
drizzle frosting over and you have a very pretty dessert.
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| Spiced Waffles with Caramelized Apples and Bacon |
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Lasagna and Broccoli with Lemon Bundt Cake
BREAKFAST:
1. Peel 6-8 apples then slice and core them.
2. Melt a cube of butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Add 1/3 cup of sugar to the melted butter.
4. Stir and cook until sugar dissolves. Then add apple slices.
CHECK ON THE APPLES PERIODICALLY WHILE YOU MAKE THE WAFFLE BATTER AND COOK THE WAFFLES. TURN THE APPLES AND STIR THE SAUCE - THEY WILL SOFTEN AND CARAMELIZE.
5. While the apples cook, start the waffles. Heat up the waffle iron(s). I doubled the recipe for my family. So add 2 cups of flour to a large mixing bowl.
6. Add 12 Tablespoons of sugar to the flour.
7. If you don't have buttermilk on hand (like I never do) then combine/12 cup of milk with a Tablespoon of vinegar and set aside to let it sour.
8. Add a Tablespoon of baking powder to the flour/sugar mixture.
9. Add a Tablespoon of cinnamon and a Tablespoon of ground ginger.
10. Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. The recipe calls for white pepper but I only had black so I used that.
11. Add 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Mix well.
12. Melt 1/4 cup of butter or margarine and let cool.
13. Make a "well" in the middle of the well mixed dry ingredients. Pour 4 Tablespoon, the 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup buttermilk (or soured milk) and 2 eggs into it.
14. Mix just until well blended - do not over-mix.
15. Generously grease both sides of the hot waffle iron.
16. Pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the batter onto the bottom of the hot waffle iron and spread a little to make sure it will fill all the corners once you shut it. Then close the waffle iron. Cook until the light indicates it is done.
17. Meanwhile, make sure you are watching the apples - stirring often. The apples should be soft now. They should have gone from light to darker golden brown as the sauce caramelized. When the apples are soft, add about 2/3 cup of heavy cream and gently stir into the sauce.
18. Turn the heat on the apples to LOW. Let simmer while you cook the rest of the waffles.
19. The sauce around the apples will evaporate and thicken - it will cling to the apples. Then remove from heat.
20. Serve the waffles with apples on top.
21. Drizzle syrup over the apples and waffle. ENJOY!
DINNER:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop an onion.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a Tablespoon of olive oil and let it heat up a bit.
3. Add a heaping spoon of chopped garlic to the hot olive oil and then pour the chopped onion on top.
4. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
5. Add 1-2 pounds of ground beef. Break into pieces with the side of a fork.
6. Cook until browned all the way through.
7. Sprinkle generously with Italian seasonings like: oregano, basil, garlic.
8. Salt and pepper the meat too. Mix well. Set aside.
9. Put a 15 oz. container of ricotta cheese and 2 eggs into a bowl.
10. Add a Tablespoon of Italian seasoning and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese to the ricotta. Mix well.
11. Add a cup of grated mozzarella to the ricotta mixture.
12. I don't usually do this but I did this time and I liked it - I put the ricotta mixture in my Ninja and "pulsed" it until it was more spreadable (not completely smooth though.)
13. Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Set the meat mixture, lasagna noodles (uncooked), 2 jars of marinara, ricotta mixture, about 2-3 cups of shredded mozzarella and some grated parmesan around the dish.
14. Pour about a cup of marina sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish and spread across.
15. Layer 4 uncooked lasagna noodles on the sauce. I like the flat kind (not the curly ones). They won't fit exactly but that's fine.
16. Divide the ricotta mixture into thirds. Spread one of the thirds across the noodles in the dish.
17. Divide the seasoned ground beef in half. Spread one half across the ricotta.
18. Sprinkle about a cup of grated mozzarella on top of the beef.
19. Spread a cup (or a little more) of marinara sauce over the mozzarella.
20. Layer 4 more uncooked lasagna noodles over the sauce.
21. Spread one of the two remaining thirds of ricotta mixture over the noodles.
22. Spread about a cup and a half of marinara sauce over the ricotta mixture.
23. Layer 4 more uncooked lasagna noodles over the sauce.
24. Spread the last third of ricotta mixture over the noodles.
25. Spread the remaining seasoned beef over the ricotta.
26. Spread a cup of marinara over the meat.
27. Layer the last 4 uncooked lasagna noodles over the marinara.
28. Pour the remaining marinara over the noodles.
29. Spread a cup or two of mozzarella over the sauce. Then sprinkle grated parmesan generously over the top.
30. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour to an hour and a half.
31. Let sit about 15 minutes before serving. ENJOY!
DESSERT:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan. Put 6 eggs in a bowl of warm water to bring to room temperature.
Then add a cup (2 sticks) of butter to the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Add 2 cups of sugar to the butter and turn mixer on medium - let butter and sugar mix until light and fluffy.
3. If you don't have buttermilk (like I never do) now is the time to sour your milk. Add a Tablespoon of vinegar to one cup of milk and set aside.
4. Add the 6 eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.
5. Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice, mix well.
6. Put 3 cups of flour, a teaspoon of baking soda and teaspoon of salt in a medium sized bowl. Mix well.
7. Pour about a third of the flour mixture into the batter. Mix lightly on low.
8. Add the cup of buttermilk (or soured milk). Mix lightly for a minute or two.
9. Slowly pour in the remaining flour mixture. Mix for a minute or two.
10. Add 1/4 cup of heavy cream, mix until combined.
11. Pour into greased bundt pan.
12. Bake for one hour or until golden and springs back after a light touch.
13. Let cool 10-15 minutes, then dump it upside down onto a serving platter.
14. Make lemon frosting or slightly heat up a can of lemon frosting and pour it over the top of the cake.
15. ENJOY!
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