The power of lasagna...

Ok, true confessions here...my last posting was September 30th of last year...my intention with this blog was to write on somewhat of a weekly basis or whenever the mood struck or something inspired me to write....then life took and unexpected turn in our family with my dad's illness and I poured all of my extra energy into helping my pop in any way I could...that period of time lasted for much longer than I thought, but thankfully here I am, several months later and back in the kitchen.

I've learned a lot of things over the last few months and most of all what an amazing community of friends and family we have...I always felt like I knew and appreciated that, but now even more so. A dinner dropped off at our door, phone calls with contacts in the medical world, rides home and playdates for our kids, invitations to cozy dinners in friend's homes... just to name a few of the gestures meant the world to me, and I will pay it forward knowing how incredible those simple acts of kindness get you through the tough times and make you stronger...

Ok, enough of that...let's talk lasagna...comfort food...who doesn't feel just a bit better tucking into a wedge of pasta with layers of oozing cheese, perhaps some scrumptious meat, tomato, or bechamel sauce? Over the years I have made many lasagne always trying to find that perfect balance of flavor, not too heavy, and something that cries out for a beautiful glass of italian red wine. Pair that up with a very simple salad with nothing but beautiful baby lettuces and a shallot vinaigrette and I'm a happy girl.

I have two friends that had big things happen this week, and even with the beautiful hot weather we've had, I still felt myself gravitating towards the urge to get in the kitchen and make lasagna to pack up for their families. I dashed home after school dropoff and set up an assembly line in my kitchen with 3 big pans and after much deliberation decided to whip up the Barefoot Contessa's lasagna with sausage, tomato-basil sauce and goat cheese. It's such a crowd pleaser and doesn't take hours to make. My other favorite is Marcella Hazan's Bolognese version with nothing but fresh pasta, a slow simmering Bolognese and Bechamel with a touch of Parmagiano-Reggiano, but it does take hours to make.

I'll let you in on a little secret-I'm now partial to using the no bake lasagna noodles. I have made many batches of fresh pasta sheets and I have to say the flat (no ridge) kinds of no-bake noodles are shockingly good when you don't have time for the real deal. I like to call myself a purist (never have owned a microwave, never will) but even I can appreciate the convenience of these. Happy accidents can happen in the kitchen...once before a dinner party I was so proud of my beautiful homemade pasta rolled out and ready in the fridge for the next day. Hours before the party started I dropped my noodles into boiling water only to watch them dissolve before my very eyes. I was crushed,and in a pinch ended up buying the no-bake kind and haven't gone back since.

So without further ado, I give you the recipe, courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa...keep this in your files and remember making an extra one and passing it along to a friend is lovely gift indeed!

Lasagna with Sausage, Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese

2 T. olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 medium onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ lbs. sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes in puree
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ lb. lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese (best if you use whole milk kind)
5 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus ¼ cup for sprinkling
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
¾ lb. pound mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8-10 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 T. of the parsley, half the basil, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15-20 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill at large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain.

In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of the parmesan, egg, remaining 2 T. of parsley, remaining basil, ½ t. salt, and ¼ t. pepper. Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9x13 rectangular pan, spreading the sauce evenly. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one third of the sauce. Repeat the layers one more time ending with the last 1/3 of the sauce. Sprinkle with ¼ cup of parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.

To make ahead, refrigerate unbaked, and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serves 8.
Kelly Molloy Whalen
Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook

Who knew museum food could be this good?

Today I took my two year old daughter to the Academy of Sciences for the first time. The grand splash opening was last week and I thought I'd avoid the crowds and head over on a Tuesday morning.

For those of you who haven't been yet, the Academy is another one of those reasons that make me feel so lucky to live in San Francisco. To have the world's "greenest" museum right in our city is a privilege. Standing on the steps glancing across the way at the De Young Museum, the beautiful ampitheatre in the grove of trees, and the Japanese Tea Garden made me realize my children have one of the most special and interesting backyards I can imagine.

We walked through the tropical rainforest, ogled at the T-rex skeleton, flirted with the penguins, and marvelled at room after room filled with beautiful aquariums. Now for the best surprise of all...the "cafeteria food", and I'm not kidding...

Charles Phan of the Slanted Door and Out The Door is behind the food in the cafe and I think I may have discovered my new favorite lunch secret. Everything is set up in stations, and you roll your tray along the requisite metal bars while browsing the selection. Forget about everything you know about grabbing cold pre-made sandwiches out of a cooler. Try and decide between temptations such as: Vietnamese Shrimp and Pork Rolls, Beef Pho, Pumpkin Curry, Steamed Chicken and Shitake Mushroom Buns, a Moroccan Tagine, and a number of baked goods to rival some of the best bakeries in the city.

The restaurant, The Moss Room, is scheduled to open for dinner on October 7th...I've made a reservation to try it, so stay tuned. Loretta Keller of COCO500 and Bizou is in charge of the restaurant and I love her cooking. Can't wait to check out the "live wall" while sampling her latest menu...

I'll add this to my list of of my favorite solo "field trips" while my kids are in school-a place with beauty, education, and great food!

Popover Pans and Antique Mustard Pots

A few weeks ago I finally stopped into a store I've had my eye on for quite some time. It's called What's Cookin' and is located on Divisadero near the big car wash. It's a tough neighborhood for parking, so I kept telling myself I'd stop in when I saw a great place to park and didn't have both kids with me (it's a tiny shop overflowing with a disaster waiting to happen of breakables with my two year old daughter). The day finally arrived recently when Oliver and I were on our way to a street party near Delfina restaurant in the afternoon...

For those of you interested in new and antique and/or gently used kitchen tools, small appliances, and lovely little touches such as french dijon mustard crocks; this is what I call a treasure hunt store. I could spend hours in this place mulling over the mix of copper pots, antique silverware, old french market signs, vintage blenders & every conceivable kind of pastry mold you can imagine. My son Oliver was with me and he was fascinated with all of the gadgets, and most especially a hand-cranked flour sifter, just like the one my grandmother used to own. An hour later we left with the sifter, a few cafe au lait bowls, a pretty little white and cobalt blue french mustard jar for little kitchen flower arrangements, and a traditional popover pan.

As I mentioned yesterday, Saturday was a drizzly day in our neighborhood in the city and we were all happy to be lounging in our pjs after a busy week of school and work. I declared 11am "family cooking time", and decided this was the time to give the ol' flour sifter and popover pan their turn in our kitchen. As you read more of what I write, you'll notice I tend to cook things based on some idea I've had stuck in my head whether it's a type of cuisine, one particular ingredient, or in this case trying to replicate the wonderful treat of fresh popovers served with strawberry butter at the Rotunda restaurant atop Neiman-Marcus in Union Square. Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it already, I'm very aware of the fact that I am guilty of writing with lots of run-on sentences, and occasionally a few too many exclamation marks or ... (whatever those are called)...Ok, back to the subject at hand.

Popovers to me are one of those good old fashioned treats that remind me of dinners in restaurants as a young girl on the East Coast or something my grandmother, Nanny, would serve. I can remember having dinner at a place called The Yankee Silversmith with my grandfather, Papa Ed and he'd go there for their popovers, pot roast, and Grapenut Pudding for dessert (yes, made with Grapenuts cereal). They are so simple, so utterly delicious and so similar to another of my favorite foods we rarely see, Yorkshire Pudding. I'm fascinated how the same type of batter of flour, eggs, milk and some melted butter can evolve into a puff of wonder-somewhat crunchy & crusty on the outside, soft & tender with eggy wispyness on the inside.

The recipe I'll include here is from a great book, Cook's Illustrated The Best Recipe. I use it for traditional classics such as Quiche (the best recipe I've ever tried), and my all-time favorite Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. The recipe for popovers includes a thorough investigation and description of why popovers puff as they do without any leavening agents, and for food nerds like me, it's good stuff to read and fun to explain to my son in kindergarten who hears it like a science experiment. The piece de resistance for this is the Strawberry Butter. When I pulled the tray of golden beauties out of the oven , we ate them pulled apart, warm and slathered with the butter. This is a time to make no apologies for butter dripping down your chin-get a nice big napkin and eat some fruit and non-fat yogurt for breakfast the next day, should there be any lingering guilt hanging around. A little note, these can be made in a muffin pan as well-not quite as dramatic in presentation, but delicious nontheless.


Popovers (Courtesty of The Best Recipe)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more melted to grease pan)

Preheat oven to 450. Place empty popover (or muffin) pan to heat while making batter. Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl. In another small bowl whisk together milk, eggs, and melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients all at once and whisk just until blended.

Remove hot pan from oven and lightly brush interior of pan and rims with melted butter. Fill each cup half-full with batter. Bake without opening oven door for 20 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until popovers are rich brown in color, 15-20 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Makes 6 in popover pan, and 12 in mufin pan.


Strawberry Butter: Mix 2 parts softened unsalted butter with 1 part strawberry jam and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

A little bit more about me...

It's a drizzly Saturday morning in the Richmond district of San Francisco...what a perfect excuse for me to finally begin my blog. Thanks to my friends and family for your interest in reading more about my latest adventures in the kitchen.

Without rhyme or reason, I will write purely from the perspective of what strikes me as something particularly delicious, fun, or interesting, whether I'm cooking in my own kitchen or out and about in the city or elsewhere. For those of you who don't know me as well, I'm a wife and mother of two, a five and a half year old son and a two and a half year old daughter. I'm a professionally trained cook from Tante Marie's cooking school in San Francisco after spending ten years in the software industry. I teach privately to individuals in my home or theirs, and do lots of cooking for my family and friends at our dinner parties.

I've been interested in cooking since I was a little girl. I grew up with two grandmothers who loved to cook, and parents who encouraged my tastebud adventures with such things as letting me order Baked Alaska in restaurants at a young age. I generally fall asleep with a pile of cookbooks at my bedside, and wake up in the morning mentally paging through the catalog of recipes in my head I've stumbled upon.