I spent this past week in Hong Kong, on my first work trip in two months. This trip felt a lot easier than some of the others I’ve taken this year, for a number of reasons. For one, it was a lot easier to say goodbye after so much uninterrupted time at home, a much-needed break after the insanity of the first 8 months of this year. And Hong Kong is such an exciting city, with great food and a ton to see, it made the week fly by.

When I’m gone for more than a day or two, I have a tendency to cook up a bunch of different meals and then leave them in the fridge. I’m not consciously doing it to make sure Trevor stays fed while I’m gone, as he’s a very good cook (despite his tendency to eat primarily chips, salsa and hot dogs while I’m gone… I think that habit is more of a celebration of his brief freedom from bounty bowls and green vegetables). But maybe I’m subconsciously doing it out of guilt for leaving so often. Regardless of the reason, I haven’t heard any complaints. This time, I left him with not one but two big batch meals, a steak and ale pie (recipe coming soon!) and a tray of this lasagna.

Over the past few months I’ve been experimenting with lasagna recipes, which I’ll admit, is kind of a fattening thing to experiment with. The first one I tried was a classic lasagna Bolognese, adapted from the over-the-top Serious Eats version. It was delicious, but it took like 6 hours to make from start to finish and was also a little too soupy (probably because I lacked patience in cooking the ragu down to the right consistency and then letting it cool). Next I tried this Wild Mushroom Lasagnette, which was much faster and had great flavors, but was a little dry. So I came up with my own version, using tons of wild mushrooms, fresh fall herbs like sage and rosemary, a rich béchamel sauce, ricotta, and grated taleggio cheese. I won’t say that I’ve reached lasagna perfection, but I will say that when I got home from my trip last night the entire tray of lasagna was gone… so I know it was good.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna

Serves 6-8. Inspired by Bon Appetit and Serious Eats.

• 2 TBS butter
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 TBS chopped fresh sage
• 1  TBS chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 lb. oyster mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• sea salt to taste
• 1/2 c. white wine
• 1 bunch Tuscan kale, leaves removed from stems and roughly chopped
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 3 TBS butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 TBS flour
• 2 c. whole milk
• 1/2 lb. taleggio cheese, grated
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1 lb. whole milk ricotta cheese

1. Finely chop the fresh herbs and mix together in a small bowl. Melt 1/3 of the butter and 1/3 of the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the oyster mushrooms to the pan in a single layer, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the chopped herbs and a pinch of sea salt. Let cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes, then flip with a spatula and brown on the other side. Mushrooms should be golden brown all over and slightly crisp when finished. Transfer oyster mushrooms to a bowl and repeat the process with the shiitakes and criminis, cooking each type separately in a new batch of butter, olive oil, herbs, and sea salt.
2. Once all the mushrooms are cooked, return them all to the pan and add the wine and kale to the pan. Simmer the mixture until the kale is tender and the wine has mostly evaporated. Add the heavy cream and simmer for 2-3 minutes longer. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Add the 3 TBS of butter to a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the flour all at once and stir into the butter to form a paste. Cook for 1 minute, until flour is lightly browned and nutty smelling. Slowly drizzle in the milk, whisking as you do to incorporate the milk smoothly into the roux. Once you have added all the milk, cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the heat. Reserve a small portion of the grated taleggio cheese to the side for topping the lasagna, then stir the rest of the cheese in a handful at a time, until it is fully melted. Stir in the nutmeg. Set the béchamel sauce to the side.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. To assemble the lasagna, place a thin layer of ricotta cheese on the bottom of a large casserole dish. Cover the ricotta with a layer of noodles. Top the noodles with a layer of mushroom filling, a thin layer of ricotta, and a layer of béchamel sauce, spreading each layer out thinly to cover the entire area. Repeat this layering – noodles, mushrooms, ricotta, béchamel – until you have used all of the filling and almost all of the noodles and béchamel. Your last layer should consist of noodles, topped with béchamel, and then sprinkled with the reserved taleggio cheese. I usually get between 3-5 layers out of this amount of filling. Place the lasagna on a baking sheet to catch any drips, and place in the oven. Bake until noodles are tender and cheese on top is browned, about 40 minutes.

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The Book: When I first heard about Melt, I was pretty skeptical about the concept of a book written entirely about macaroni and cheese. I love a cheesy bowl of pasta as much, if not more, than the next girl, but I had a hard time thinking of more than 5 interesting versions of it. Then, I met Garrett, one of the authors, during an afternoon of wine tasting at IFBC, and since he was toting around a copy of the book, I took a peek, and was genuinely impressed. Not only are all 78 recipes sufficiently interesting, the book is well thought out, well written, and packed with detailed information about dozens of different cheeses. The cheeses covered here go way beyond swiss, cheddar, and mozzarella – be prepared to be introduced to cheeses like Red Hawk, a mellow triple-creme; Idiazabal, a smoked Spanish sheep’s milk cheese; and Meadowkaas, a smooth, young Dutch cheese. For that matter, the concept of mac’n’cheese also goes way beyond what you might expect, and any dish that has both pasta and cheese qualifies – from light, fruit-filled pasta salads, to classic stovetop macaroni dishes, to a baked pumpkin stuffed with noodles, sausage, and, of course, lots of cheese. As might be expected, most of the dishes are quite rich, and you probably won’t be able to resist cooking them, so consider yourself warned. I should note, I love a cookbook where the introductory chapter actually teaches me something, and this one passes – from the differences between cow, goat, and sheep’s milk, to how different cheese types are produced, I learned a lot (and we make cheese). And I kept learning as I flipped through the book, since every recipe includes a list of alternative cheeses, wine pairings, and food pairings for the featured cheese in that recipe. I’m so glad that I didn’t let my initial skepticism keep me from this book – it’s a good one.

The Food: In general, mac’n’cheese is a pretty likable food, but I’ve had a lot of sub-par homemade versions. The Petit Basque with Roasted Garlic, Shallots, and Gemelli is not one of them. In Trevor’s words, it’s not “punch-you-in-the-face cheesy,” but it’s incredibly rich and thick and flavorful. The sweet, slightly burnt flavor of the roasted garlic cuts the tang of the cheese and makes for a very satisfying, very indulgent lunch. Trevor sounded like he was getting the best massage of his life while eating it, if that helps you imagine how tasty it is. The only downside? This mac’n’cheese is not cheap. The 10 oz. of Petit Basque set me back $16, which is more like what I expect to spend on two nice steaks, but if you treat it like the indulgence it is, I think it’s totally worth it. Scroll down for the recipe.

Recipe Shortlist: Humboldt Fog with Grilled Peaches and Orzo; Asparagus Salad with Ricotta Salata, Fava Beans, Mint, and Farfalle; Penne with Etorki Cream Sauce and Asparagus; Mexican-Style Macaroni and Cheese; Lincolnshire Poacher with Cotija, Chorizo, and Penne; Pastitsio with Kefalotyri and Lamb; Three Cheese Macaroni Casserole with Broccoli, Pancetta, and Sweet Pugliese Topping

The Craft Beer Cookbook

The Book: Jackie Dodd, the woman behind the genius blog, The Beeroness, knows how to cook with beer, arguably better than anyone else, ever. It may sound like an exaggeration to claim that, but every single recipe on her three year old blog has beer in it, and every single one looks amazing. If I were her, I would have run out of creative ideas after about two months, but her three most recent recipes – Chocolate Stout Candy Cane Cake, Salted Beer Caramel Sauce, and Beer-Brined Paprika Chicken – prove that creativity is not a problem for Jackie. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to see that she was releasing The Craft Beer Cookbook, a cookbook full of her clever beer-infused recipes (and Trevor was excited that we were going to buy more beer). It’s a cute little book, unassuming and accessible, with dozens of recipes starring bold, rich flavors. Some of my favorite guilty pleasures are included – chipotle cream, cheese sauce, carbonara – all somehow imbued with beers ranging from pale ales to chocolate stouts. A lot of the recipes are for what might be considered “football food,” and they certainly tend toward the indulgent, but the occasional lighter choice, like IPA Watermelon Ceviche or Strawberry Pale Ale Popsicles, mixes things up. Since I’m not much of a beer-drinker, I like that this book forces me to think about beer at a deeper level – what flavors are present, how heavy is it, how carbonated is it? – in order to successfully incorporate it into food. And I think it would be a perfect gift for anyone you know who loves beer and is mildly interested in cooking, as the recipes are pretty straightforward and highly craveable.

The Food: Although it was hard to choose whether we wanted to indulge in Chorizo Stout Sloppy Joes or Croque Madames with Beer Cheese Sauce to review this book, we went with the Croque Madames. Croque Madames are a simple French sandwich of ham, swiss, and a fried egg, often served with bechamel sauce. Jackie turns the bechamel sauce into a rich beer and cheddar sauce that gets drizzled over the sandwiches, and takes the whole thing over the top. I loved how easy these were to make – you just whiz the cheddar, milk, flour, and cornstarch in a blender with your choice of blonde ale, then heat with melted butter until thickened and spoon over your grilled sandwich. The beer gave the cheese sauce a noticeable and pleasant tang, making it far too easy to eat a few extra “test” spoonfuls, and I would absolutely make it again… I have the feeling it might be the recipe we turn to the next time we had a few too many beers the night before. Scroll down for the recipe.

Recipe Shortlist: Pale Ale Corn Waffles with Scrambled Eggs and Smoky Beer Cheese Sauce; Drunken Carbonara Couscous; Porter Black Bean Soup with Avocado Cilantro Cream; Mushroom Stout Sliders with Chipotle Cream; Beer-Braised Pulled-Pork Tacos with Beer-Corn Tortillas; Stout and Stilton Beef Empanadas; Stout and Cheddar Pot Pie; Chocolate Porter Fudge Cookies; Chocolate Stout Mousse with Stout-Soaked Cherries

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of these cookbooks from Little Brown and Company and Adams Media free of charge, but was not otherwise compensated for writing this review.

Recipes

Petit Basque with Roasted Garlic, Shallots, and Gemelli

Recipe from Melt. Serves 4. 

Note: Alternate cheeses for the Petit Basque include Barinaga Ranch, Abbaye de Bel’loc, or another caramelly Basque-style cheese.

• 2 whole heads of garlic
• 4 TBS olive oil, divided
• 8 oz. gemelli or rotini pasta
• 1/2 c. diced shallots (2 bulbs, peeled and roots removed)
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 2 TBS butter
• 2 TBS flour
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 10 oz. Petit Basque, shredded
• 1 TBS chopped fresh chives

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Peel off most of the outer paper of the garlic heads, but leave the heads in one whole piece. Trim off the top 1/4 inch of the garlic with a sharp knife, slicing to reveal the tops of the cloves. Place the heads in a small baking dish, drizzle with 2 TBS of the olive oil, and cover with tinfoil. Roast for 1 hour, or until garlic is soft. Once garlic is cool enough to handle, remove from the oven and take the cloves out of the skins (they should separate easily, or you can squeeze them out). Mash the garlic cloves up and set aside in a bowl.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 2 TBS of olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the diced shallots and cook until golden-brown, about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the saucepan and add to the bowl with the garlic. Add the milk to the saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until it just begins to steam and bubble, then pour into a bowl and set aside.
4. Melt the butter in the saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook until nutty-smelling and golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, stirring the whole time. Slowly pour in the warm milk, whisking to incorporate as you do. Cook the milk, still whisking, until is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic and the shallots. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in the shredded cheese until completely melted. Toss with the cooked pasta and serve immediately, sprinkling each bowl with chives.

Croque Madame with Beer Cheese Sauce

Recipe from The Craft Beer Cookbook. Serves 6.

• 1 c. blonde ale
• 2 c. shredded white cheddar
• 1 c. whole milk
• 2 TBS flour
• 2 TBS cornstarch
• 2 TBS butter
• 6 focaccia or ciabatta buns
• 1 pound cooked ham, sliced
• 7 oz. sliced Swiss cheese
• 6 large eggs

1. Add the beer, cheddar, milk, flour and cornstarch to a blender, and process until smooth. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then add the blended cheese mixture to the pot. Cook, whisking continuously, until the cheese sauce has thickened to a spoonable consistency, which should take about 6-8 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Split the buns in half and evenly divide the ham and Swiss cheese between the sandwiches. Close the sandwiches and cook on a panini press or bake in a 375°F oven until the cheese has melted (about 5 minutes in the oven). In the meantime, fry the eggs over medium heat in a frying pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray, removing the eggs from the heat when the whites have set but the yolks are still runny.
3. Slice the sandwiches in half on the bias, then place on a plate and serve topped with generous spoonfuls of the beer cheese sauce and a fried egg. Serve immediately.

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Does it feel like pumpkin has been all the rage a little bit more than usual this fall?  It does to me – I’ve even seen complaints about the internet overdose of pumpkin: “Find a new darling ingredient!” and “What about cranberries, guys??”  So, yes, I know some of you are over pumpkin.  And frankly, it’s not my favorite ingredient of all time (although who doesn’t love the occasional pumpkin muffin?).  But when I saw this recipe for Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Moussaka, I knew I had to try it out anyway.  It’s so… different.  In the best sort of way.

The first time I had moussaka I was in Budapest.  While I was studying abroad in Prague, we had a 10 day fall break during which we could travel independently.  Most people in the program took off on a city-hopping tour of Europe, trying to hit as many major cities as possible in the short time.  My roommates and I took the opposite approach, visiting only two cities, both accessible by train – Vienna, and Budapest.

I have never felt more out of place than I did in Budapest.  Don’t get me wrong – I loved the city.  Beautiful, old-world, twisty-turny, and a little bit hipster.  But I could not say a single word in the language – not even “thank you.”  I’ve never had that experience before, and I felt completely helpless.  We managed to get by for the most part, but it was embarrassing!  The next time I’m there I’ll be prepared.

Anyway, one night we decided to go out to a Greek restaurant near our apartment (we’d already had plenty of chicken paprikash).  It was like being transported – whitewashed walls with bright blue murals, two brightly lit lofts with stone arches, waiters with Greek accents, etc.  It was one of the stranger dining experiences I’ve ever had – they actually used a dust-buster to vacuum off the table between courses!  But the food was delicious, and moussaka will always remind me of that little place in Budapest, and of the whole lovey trip, for that matter.

Originally, this post was meant to double as a review of The Country Cooking of Greece.  But as I began writing my grocery list and assembling ingredients, I made too many changes to the original recipe to really make it a fair “review” recipe.  You can’t judge a cookbook on a recipe you’ve changed!  The original recipe was vegetarian, but I couldn’t imagine having moussaka without ground beef – the salty, meatiness of it is the perfect counterpoint to the creamy bechamel and the sweetness of the roasted veggies.  Then, the grocery store didn’t have any eating pumpkins, so I used sweet potatoes and butternut squash instead of all three orange veggies.  I also had to play with the ratios a bit – I had way too much squash/sweet potato for the amount of bechamel I had made.  By the end, it wasn’t really a fair representation of the original recipe – but it was super delicious.  So you’ll have to hold out for the cookbook review, but you should try this adapted recipe in the meantime.

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Moussaka

Adapted from The Country Cooking of Greece.  Serves 6-8.

For the bechamel:

• 4 TBS salted butter
• 1/4 c. flour
• 4 c. milk, slightly warmed (on the stove or in the microwave)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 c. crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the filling:

• olive oil
• 3 large red onions, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 1 medium winter squash or pumpkin (about 2 lbs), peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices
• flour, for dusting
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Make the bechamel: Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk to combine so there are no lumps.  Cook for 1 minute, until lightly browned.  Slowly pour in warm milk, whisking continuously.  Whisk the mixture non-stop until it thickens, about 10-12 minutes.  (Note, to save a bechamel that’s not thickening, melt a little extra butter (2 TBS) in the microwave and mix with an equal amount of flour – add to the bechamel to restart the thickening process).  Once thickened, pour a ladleful of the hot mixture over the beaten eggs, whisking the eggs vigorously, to temper the eggs.  Pour the egg mixture back into the bechamel, whisking the whole time, and remove from the heat.  Stir in the cheeses, and season with pepper and the nutmeg.  Set aside.
2. Prepare the filling: heat 2 TBS of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook diced onions in it for 10 minutes, until soft.  Add ground beef and brown thoroughly.  Remove from heat, and use a slotted spoon to scoop beef and onion mixture into a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. Heat enough olive oil to rise a 1/4 inch up the side of the pan in a large frying pan.  Use medium heat, and let oil heat fully before beginning frying.  Test the temperature by dipping a piece of squash in the oil – if it sizzles immediately, the oil is ready.  Dredge the squash slices lightly in flour, then fry in the oil until lightly browned on both sides.  Remove to a paper-towel lined sheet pan to drain.  You will need to do this in batches.  Once the squash is done, lightly fry the sweet potato slices (you do not need to flour these) until golden brown.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and assemble the moussaka: In a 9×13 roasting pan, place a single layer of sweet potatoes along the bottom such that they overlap slightly.  Sprinkle with half the mint and half the parsley, then top with half of the beef and onion mixture and half of the bechamel.  Cover these layers with a layer of the squash, then sprinkle remaining mint and parsley on top, as well as remaining beef and onion mixture.  Spread the rest of the bechamel on top, spreading out to the edges of the pan if possible.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until bechamel is puffed and golden.  If the top is not browning, broil it on low for 2-3 minutes and then remove.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve warm.

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