Monday, January 31, 2011

Cooking Class

In the introduction to Jamie's book, he challenges the apprentice cook to learn a recipe and then sign a "pass it on" pledge, promising that you will teach that recipe to a friend. Last year, soon after I started my food revolution, I thought a fun way to do this would be to have a cooking party. But, the more I talked about it, the more people wanted to come and the next thing I knew I was trying to figure out how everyone would fit in my kitchen. I started to make some calls to see if I could do it somewhere else and one of those calls was to my local Whole Foods. They have a culinary center and have classes and demonstrations in there weekly. My contact there, Frances, told me that they didn't really rent out the space but that my idea was very cool and asked what I thought about teaching a cooking class. I remember saying, "You got the part that I can't cook, right?" She thought it might be a great experience for their customers and it would help me fulfill the pass it on pledge. So, last Tuesday, my class was held. I was a bit nervous which is unlike me. I speak in front of people quite a bit so that part wasn't what was causing my insides to shiver. I was nervous about the cooking part. But, once I got there I met Robert who would be my helper for the evening. A graduate from the Culinary Institute of America, Robert had my back and I could tell. He made me feel right at home and I had a blast. I demonstrated three of my favorite recipes to my class: Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt, Shrimp with Marie Rose Sauce and Pot Roast Meatloaf. It was fun to make these favorites again and everyone Oohh-ed, ahh-ed and MMmmmmm-ed there way through the evening. My class was a great mix of people and it felt as if my worlds were colliding that night. I'm so thankful that they all took the time to come. I had dear old friends and new friends, work friends and mom friends, new faces in the front that I was meeting for the first time and the face of my sweet husband cheering for me in the back. I guess I did well enough, Robert said I did great and they'd love to have me back!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Catch-up Cooking Retreat

Going to my mom and dad's is like a nice retreat. The small town where I grew up sometimes seems worlds away from the hustle and bustle of city/suburban life. Husband and Kid were on a long weekend trip and going to Grandma's house seemed like a perfect idea for me and Baby. The week had been a little rough in the cooking department. As of last Friday morning I had only made two recipes for the whole week. So, I warned my parents ahead of time that I would be doing a lot of cooking. They were super excited and totally willing to help out!

Friday:
On Friday I needed a quick and easy recipe and looked again at the sauce section of the cookbook. I knew the Bacon and Mushroom Cream Sauce (pg. 270) would be perfect. It would be quick and easy and we could put it over pasta. Husband isn't a huge fan of mushrooms and I knew he'd appreciate it if I made this without him. It was so, so good and just as simple as the other sauces. Another Super Sauce!

Saturday:
Since I was at home in my seaside town, I knew one recipe this weekend would involve seafood. I headed to my favorite seafood place and got some tuna steaks for Jamie's Italian pan-seared tuna (pg. 262). We couldn't believe how good this one turned out too!
Check out the link and give it a try:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/home-cooking-skills/italian-pan-seared-tuna

Sunday:
Its Sunday morning and I'm still behind. I really like the stew recipe and I still have three more to make from that section, two toppings and one last stew. So, for dinner I picked the chicken and white wine stew again but this time put the hot pot topping (pg. 186) on it, which is like sliced potatoes. I thought it would be fun to make a dessert too since I hadn't done one in awhile and decided to make Jamie's Chocolate Fruit and Nut Tart (pg. 344) which also meant I could check off another recipe, the Sweet shortcrust pastry (pg. 346). This brought my weekend recipe grand total to 5!

Mom and Dad were such a huge help and I had a great time cooking for them. I think they were in a bit of shock that their daughter had made them so many meals. They were happy and I headed home very relieved that I had checked so many recipes off my list. Now it was time to get ready for my cooking class on Tuesday….

Recipes cooked: 127
Recipes left: 46
Days left: 41

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Interview Soup

I got an email from crofton.patch.com to interview me about my blog. We set up a time for the reporter, Cindy, to come over last Tuesday during the baby's naptime. She wanted to also get some photos of me in the kitchen starting dinner. I thought soup might be a good thing to do since it would be rather photogenic and decided to make Cauliflower & Cheese Soup. I made my list and headed to the store but when I got there I couldn't find any cauliflower. She was going to be there in just a few hours and I needed to get home so I racked my brain for something else to make. I remember I had mint in the fridge and thought of the pea and mint soup. It just goes to show you how many times I've looked at this cookbook. I picked up a few bags of frozen peas, a fresh bunch of carrots, some celery and headed home to make Pea and Mint Soup on page 132.
Cindy and I had a great talk, check it out…. Oh, and the soup turned out great too!

http://crofton.patch.com/articles/crofton-mom-is-on-a-quest-to-cook


Recipes cooked: 122
Recipes left: 51
Days left: 46

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Five Spice Powder Road Block

Asian Chicken Noodle Broth (pg. 37) is from the Twenty-Minute Meals chapter and Jamie says that it is "just like something you can get in a posh noodle bar." The pictures in the book for this are very tempting and I've been wanting to make this for a long time but there was one ingredient, Five-Spice powder, that created a major cooking road block. I couldn't find it anywhere and husband and I made several unsuccessful trips to every store I could think of and then eventually a second trip to one of them to score the missing ingredient. Mine did look a lot like the picture and it really was fast to make but I'm not sure I'm at the "posh noodle bar" level yet.
Recipes cooked: 121
Recipes left: 52
Days left: 48

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Mangled Mango

I made Jamie's Mango, Cucumber and Chile Salsa (pg. 272) for a party last Saturday. I was in charge of bringing Chips and Salsa. I chopped and mixed 10 minutes before I walked out the door. I cursed that mango the whole time. I do not like dealing with them but I love how they taste. They remind me of my honeymoon in St. Lucia where they are at every meal in abundance. I've watched quite a few "how-to" videos on how to deal with the contrary fruit and I understand the concept of how I should tackle it but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. Mine never look like they do in the videos, mine turn out to be a mangled mess. Despite my battles with the mango the salsa was bright, colorful and looked quite tasty. It was so hectic at the party that I didn't really get to taste it but it seemed to disappear so I hope that meant everyone liked it. I would like to make this one again and I think it would go really well on top of fish.
Recipes cooked: 120
Recipes left: 53
Days left: 49

Friday, January 21, 2011

Fish Cakes, Olives and Mutiny!

My revolution crew has been quite friendly and cooperative up until now. I really shouldn't complain. But last week, there was a mutiny onboard my Revolution ship.
Now I completely predicted that there would be some groaning to the evening's recipe, Salmon Fish Cakes (pg. 280). We're Marylanders, its crab cakes or no cakes! But, a deal's a deal so I whipped up some during afternoon nap and hoped for the best. I thought it would help if I made them when no one was watching me. Now, Jamie recommends that you serve the cakes with the Tomato, Basil and Olive Sauce (pg.269) which I still hadn't made and I had all the ingredients. I thought that would be a great way to check another recipe off the list and try Jamie's recommendation. So, its dinner time and everyone starts wandering around the kitchen.
"So, what's for dinner?" they asked. Without comment, I unveiled the fish cakes from the fridge, presenting them to the crew.
"Hmm. They look good," husband and kid both said. "How do you eat them? Like a sandwich?"
"Well," I said as I opened the cookbook, "we're actually going to make this sauce to put on top of them."
Practically in unison the two of them said, "No way. No olives."
"Really?" I ask.
"Really!"
Okay, so this crew has been with me for 315 days and have tasted 117 recipes and now they balk at black olives? I was shocked. I expected the salmon cakes to need some selling, not the olives. But, since I really need their support for another 50 days, I decided to throw the olives overboard and make the sauce without them.

The sauce and the fish cakes calmed the crew down and we set sail for our next port.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/fish-cakes

Recipes cooked: 119
Recipes left: 54
Days left: 50

Thursday, January 20, 2011

I LOVE SWEET POTATOES

I love sweet potatoes. Baked. Fluffed. Boiled. Grilled. You name it. I love them so much it's what I call my kids as a term of endearment, instead of say "Sweet Pea." Peas are great but they're no sweet potato. When I go out to eat, I always skim the menu first for the sides that come with each entree and I will order something based on if it has this fantastic veggie served with it.
I have been DYING to make Sweet Potato and Chorizo soup (pg.131) since I bought Jamie's book many moons ago. I hadn't made it yet because
1. I was waiting for the perfect cold winter day and
2. I needed to time it just right because unfortunately, no one else in my house shares my love of Sweet Potatoes.
Husband though does love spicy Chorizo sausage and I was hoping this would be my selling point. In order to make my recipe quota for the busy week I actually started making this soup at 8 o'clock at night. It was done in time for our 9 o'clock show. When I showed Husband what I was making he said, "Oh, I'll have a taste." Two bowls EACH later we had quickly promoted this recipe to our "favorites" list. It is amazing. We actually fought over the leftovers. He forgot to take his leftover portion to work and I ate it. And I didn't feel at all guilty about it.

Recipes cooked: 117
Recipes left: 56
Days left: 51

If you haven't tried a recipe yet, this one is a must….

Sweet Potato and Chorizo Soup
From Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
1 3/4 quarts chicken stock, preferably homemade

olive oil

2 large carrots, peeled

2 celery stalks, sliced evenly

2 medium onions, peeled and rough chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 3/4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and rough chopped

7 ounces chorizo sausage, sliced

small bunch fresh parsley, fine chopped

1 heaped teaspoon Madras curry powder

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 fresh red chile, fine diced (This is just for garnish at the end, I bought very spicy sausage so I actually topped mine with either plain yogurt or grated cheddar and also some nutmeg)

Bring the stock to boil in a saucepan. Let it simmer on the back burner.
Bring a large pot to medium-high heat. Pour in the olive oil. Put all the chopped and sliced foods (all the veggies and the chorizo) into the hot oil. Add the curry powder and mix it all up. Cook until the carrots have softened but are not falling apart and the onions have turned a little golden, about 10 minutes.
Pour in the hot stock. Give the soup a stir and let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until the sweet potato is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Season the soup with salt and pepper. Stir. Taste. Season it to your taste.
Blend the soup with an immersion blender (easiest) or by pouring it into a large blender or food processor. This part is very important and totally "makes" the soup!
Jamie says top with diced chile and serve but I used some plain yogurt and nutmeg.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Funny Pesto Story

The Kid sits beside one of her best friends (let's call her "U") for lunch nearly every day. Quite often she comes home and tells me that U's mom makes the best pasta ever! Now, I know U's mom does a lot of cooking and I imagine she's quite an amazing cook. I think there is no way I can ever live up to these expectations. After this happens a few more times I discover that it is Pasta with pesto. Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Next I find out that U has asked her mom to pack EXTRA pasta with pesto for the Kid the next time she makes it. So, I finally ask U's mom, "How do you make this amazing pesto?" She starts to laugh and says, "Its just out of a jar!"

So, this week, I MADE pesto. The Kid thought the fresh basil made the pesto a brighter green which she thought was "cool."
And guess what! At the end of dinner she said…
"Can we pack the leftovers in my lunch tomorrow?"
Smile.
Recipes cooked: 116
Recipes left: 57
Days left: 52

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Kabobs Got Me

Everyone pitched in and we assembled Jamie's Pork Kabobs (pg. 238) last week. Even though I followed Jamie's advice and made sure there was plenty of room in between each piece on the skewer I still couldn't manage to get them to cook all the way around and ended up taking them off to make sure they were done. They turned out great and I really liked the super easy rub that is used to make them but I felt a bit defeated that I needed to take them off the skewer. I will need to try this again sometime.

It looks like Jamie cooked the pork kabob recipe on Good Morning America last April, the recipe is on their site…

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=10190962

And a great video of Jamie making them…

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/video/jamie-oliver-prepares-pork-kabobs-10329806


I also had on hand the ingredients for creamy leeks (pg. 223). They just weren't our thing and sadly, this was the first in 115 recipes that we didn't fight over the leftovers.

Recipes cooked: 115
Recipes left: 58
Days left: 53

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Cold Mornings, Hot Fruit

Last weekend, I made Jamie's Stewed Fruit on page 319. There are so many great things about this recipe….

1. Its easy. Chop some fruit, put it in a saucepan with just a little water, add a bit of sugar to taste (Jamie suggests starting with just 2 teaspoons) and cook. And cook. And cook.
2. You can use whatever you have on hand. I used 3 pears, some frozen strawberries and added a bit of ginger.
3. It made my normally cold breakfast of yogurt and granola into a hot and comforting breakfast all week. It was so good I had a hard time sharing with the family.

Recipes cooked: 113
Recipes left: 60
Days left: 55

Friday, January 14, 2011

Gadget Awareness

I've been wanting to try the Evolution Carrot recipe on page 116 for quite awhile. Twice now, I was going to make it for an event but we ended up not going and it didn't get made. I love the Evolution recipes but this one was a bit intimidating because it involved grating a mess of carrots. I wasn't crazy about this idea. First of all, my cheap plastic grater broke and I haven't replaced it. So the other day when I was thinking about doing this recipe, I remembered that my food processor came with a grating blade. So, I pulled out the trusty manual. I got this 10 years ago for my wedding so I took it as a good sign when I realized I still had the manual. In no time, I had yummy, freshly grated carrots. Husband said, "Did you know it did that?"
With my most confident face I said, "Of course." ;)

Evolution Carrot Salad
pg. 116

After grating my carrots, the kid was anxious to help put the rest of it together. She picked the leaves off of the mint and cilantro stalks and she cut them up with my awesome Pampered Chef kitchen shears (gadget #38) so they were finely chopped. We tossed the herbs in with the carrots. The kid did the seasoning with salt and pepper and then helped count as we added 6 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Next comes the evolution part. Jamie then gives three more steps that you can do or not do depending on your tastes. Kid tossed in some sunflower seeds that I had just toasted on the stove and she also tossed in some chopped clementines. We stopped here but you could also add pieces of pappadams (yeah, I had to look up with those were too) and some feta or goat cheese. This was so fun to make together and the best part yet, she actually ate it!

Recipes cooked: 112
Recipes left: 61
Days left: 57

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Super Sauces

If you've been reading for awhile, you might have noticed that I talk a lot about the show "Max & Ruby." Now, if your life doesn't include children and your planet isn't inhabited with the likes of Elmo, Mickey Mouse and (god forbid) Barney than you may need a quick backgrounder on this brother and sister. First of all, they are rabbits. White rabbits. The older sister is school-aged, likes to be in charge and always thinks she is right. The younger brother is around toddler/pre-school age and he communicates mostly in actions not words. Ruby likes to be in total control of the situation, dictating what they play. She plays with Max when she is interested and ignores him when she has other agendas. Max usually is trying to get her to listen. After many attempts and despite the fact that Ruby thinks he is too little and she is smarter, Max ends up being right and helps to resolve the current dilemma. My son loves this show. Loves. Loves. Loves. We live Max and Ruby 24-7. Its kind of an obscure show. Its not the most popular but you know what, THIS IS HIS LIFE. Even at age 2, he can totally relate to this little white bunny because his sister, the kid, IS RUBY. And he IS MAX. Its quite adorable. The week before Christmas, he got an early Christmas present of three Max and Ruby books….Sunny Bunny Tales, Snow Bunny Tales and his favorite, Super Bunny Tales. I have read these books over and over and over again for 20 plus days now. My little guy runs through the house yelling, "SOOOOPERRRR Bunny!" So, when making Jamie's sauces this week, you'll understand why, on more than one occasion, I thought "SOOOPERRRR Sauces!" These sauces totally saved my dinners last week and I hope they will rescue you from dinner boredom too. They were quick, simple and you can put them over whatever meat, fish or pasta that you have around. Now, I made one awhile ago and this week I tackled three more, here are my reviews.

Cherry Tomato, Caper & Balsamic Sauce (pg. 267)
Never in my life had I cooked with capers, I didn't even know where to look for them in the grocery store, but they are darn tasty in this super easy sauce. I put it over pasta and served it with a salad topped with Jamie's Chopped Herb Oil on page 276. I'll do a write up on the oils soon but, like the sauces, they add something unexpected but easy to your weekly dinners.

Mustard, Creme Fraiche, and White Wine Sauce (pg. 268)
Ooooh….not my favorite. (Sorry, Jamie.) Maybe I added too much mustard? It was a bit on the strong side. I served it over chicken and rice. The first few bites were great but then it just was a bit overpowering which is why I think I may have screwed this one up a bit.

Very Simple Curry Sauce (pg. 271)
This will be a new staple recipe in my house. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Please try it….
serves 4
-6 scallions
-large bunch of fresh cilantro
-olive oil
-5 heaped teaspoons curry powder
-1 tablespoon of butter
-2 x 14 oz. cans of coconut milk
-sea salt
-juice of one lemon

Trim and finely slice the scallions and cilantro. Put a pan on a low heat and add 2 good "lugs" of olive oil. Sprinkle in the curry powder and the scallions. Stir around and add the butter. Cook for 20 or 30 seconds and when it's all bubbling nicely, add the coconut milk. Bring to a bill and then turn the heat down and simmer for 2 minutes. To finish, season to taste with salt and stir in the cilantro and lemon juice. Serve hot with fish or meat.
Easy, right?

Recipes cooked: 111
Recipes left: 62
Days left: 57

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Have I had a cooking growth spurt?

Plugging along through my list, I made Jamie's stew again, this time with "Chicken and White Wine" (pg. 180) as the main ingredients and I added one of his topping suggestions by putting dumplings (pg. 185) in it. I am getting quite good at this recipe. My sister came over the next day and I fed her the leftovers for lunch, she liked it so much that I sent her home with most of the ingredients to make it that night. There are so many things about that previous sentence that I just can't believe! First, the fact that I had something to feed her is amazing. A year ago my sister, my brother-in-law and my sweet little niece, Si-Wy, lived with us for about three weeks. I think I might have made them a real meal once that entire time. Fast-forward a year later and in just a week I have made them lasagna, chopped salad, chowder and stew in just a few days. I think they wish I had started this project earlier last year! Second, the fact that I had the extra ingredients to give her is something I never thought I would say. I noticed this just about a week ago. I'm learning what ingredients need to be on hand and my trips to the grocery store seem to be getting shorter and cheaper because I already have half of what the recipe calls for. WHO IS THIS AMY PERSON?!? Have I had a cooking growth spurt?

Here's the original beef and ale stew recipe. To make it with chicken and white wine substitute the beef, ale and bay leaves for 1 pound of diced, boneless and skinless chicken, 2 cups of white wine and 3 sprigs of fresh thyme. Reduce the cooking time to 1 1/2 hours.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-and-ale-stew-1

Recipes cooked: 107
Recipes left: 66
Days left: 62

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

New Year's Day Memories and Looking Back on 2010

Each New Year's Day reminds me of my great-grandmother, Lena. She lived next door to us when I was growing up. She is one of my cooking inspirations and memories of her kitchen are always fresh in my mind. I remember New Year's Day at her house very, very well. She was quite superstitious. On New Year's Day, my sister and I were not allowed to be her first visitors, its bad luck. Good luck is for your first visitor of the day to be a man. So, if we wanted to go see her or needed to take her something, Dad had to come with us and go in first. Walking into the back door of her house brought us straight into the kitchen where she was usually propped up on a stool by the big white porcelain sink. On the stove would be a pot of black eyed peas for New Year's Day, another tradition that, if eaten, would bring you good fortune for the year. She made everyone eat some, even my sister who was quite a picky eater back then, had to have a small spoonful.

Well, on this New Year's Day, I didn't make black-eyed peas (does playing their music in the background count?) but I did make Jamie's Shrimp and Sweet Corn Chowder (pg. 294) for my family. This recipe impressed everyone once again and I craved the leftovers until lunchtime the next day.

New Year's Day is not only a day "for auld lang syne" but for thinking of our more recent past. 2010 gave me this project and this blog. Thanks so much for joining me for the first part of this journey. I hope you'll stick around for a few more weeks to see if I finish.

I also hope you'll give the chowder a try and tell me what you think….

Shrimp and Sweet Corn Chowder
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
pg. 294

Serves 4-6
Ingredients
• 1 large leek washed and chopped • 1 pound of potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks • 1 quart chicken broth, Jamie says, "preferably organic" • Olive oil • 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon sliced • 1 2/3 cups sweetcorn • 1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream • sea salt and pepper • 1 fresh red chili de-seeded and chopped (I didn't have one and the chowder was great without it)• 6 cream crackers crushed

To Cook
Pour the chicken broth into a saucepan and bring to a boil
Add bacon rashers to casserole type pan with olive oil, cook until golden and crispy. Using tongs transfer cooked bacon to a plate leaving the fat in the pan.
Add the leek and potatoes to the pan and cook for 3-5 min.
Add sweetcorn and shrimp. Add hot broth and cream.
Add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 min until potatoes are tender.
Remove off heat and blend. Season again to taste.
Serve with chopped chili, crackers and bacon on the side. (the pictures in the book also appear to have parsley and not chili, I used that instead.)

Recipes cooked: 105
Recipes left: 68
Days left: 63

Monday, January 3, 2011

Christmas #3 Lasagna

Dec. 29 2010: My mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law and niece came over for Christmas #3. I figured everyone was ready for a break from holiday fare so I made Jamie's Bolognese sauce (pg. 165) and used that to make his lasagna (pg. 169). I served it with the Mediterranean chopped salad (pg.123) on the side.

I will definitely be making this one again. I talked to my dad today, almost a week later, and he said he's still thinking about it. In addition to being quite memorable and tasty, it also looked amazing on the dining room table. When I put it down, everyone said, "It looks just like the picture!" All of the kids liked it too, a huge plus. Also nice is the fact that it was pretty simple to make which is great when you have a house full of company including toddlers pushing grocery carts through the kitchen and remote control fire trucks bumping into your toes.
I hope you'll give it a try.
Recipes cooked: 104
Recipes left: 69
Days left: 66

Here's the lasagna recipe, with some notes.

(for chopped salad, see recipe and info below the lasagna recipe)



Jamie Oliver’s Lasagna – Food Revolution
Serves 4-6 (or more, we had 6 adults, 3 kids and still one piece left over)

For the Bolognese sauce:
- 2 slices of smoked bacon, preferably free-range or organic (it never occurred to me to add bacon to lasagna, the flavor just this little bit of bacon adds is amazing!)

- 2 medium onions

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 2 carrots

- 2 celery stalks

- olive oil 

- 2 heaping teaspoons of dried oregano

- 1 pound of high quality ground beef or pork or mixture of two (I used all ground beef)

- 2 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes

- sea salt and pepper

- fresh basil

- 2 oz of Parmesan cheese (I was nervous because I ran out of cheese but there was plenty and it tasted great. Be sure to leave enough to make a pretty top)
For the lasagna:
- 8 oz dried egg lasagna sheets (I used 365 brand No Boil sheets, and they worked great)

- 2 cups of creme fraiche or thick sour cream
 (I used sour cream)
- 4 oz of Parmesan cheese (For future, I’ll cut that in half)

- 1 large ripe tomato, sliced

- 4-6 basil leaves

To make the bolognese sauce:
Finely slice the bacon and chop up the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery into small dice. Place a large casserole-type pan on medium to high heat and add 2 lugs of olive oil, bacon and dried oregano – cook until bacon is lightly golden.
Add veggies to the pan and stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly colored. Stir in the ground meat and canned tomatoes.
Fill one of the tomato cans with water and add to pan (I either need to get a bigger pan or I might not add the extra water next time. The tomatoes came with a lot of juice and my pan was close to overflowing
Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper. Pick the basil leaves off and put in fridge for later. Finely chop the basil stalks and stir into pan. Bring to boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with lid on for 45 mins, stirring a couple times.

To finish the sauce:
Preheat oven to 375. Remove the Bolognese sauce from heat. Finely grate 2 oz of Parmesan into the sauce. (For future, I will not add cheese here)
Tear and stir in any larger basil leaves, keeping smaller ones aside for top. Taste sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed.

To make the lasagna:
Grate 4 oz of Parmesan. If you don’t use No Boil sheets, boil some water in a pan, then add the lasagna sheets with a drizzle of olive oil and blanch (slightly soften) for 3-4 minutes. Drain sheets and carefully pat dry with paper towel to absorb excess water. Spoon a third of the Bolognese sauce into the bottom of a ovenproof dish.
Follow with a layer of lasagna sheets. Dollop a third of the sour cream and smooth over the lasagna sheets. Sprinkle one third of the Parmesan cheese.
Add another layer of sauce and repeat with sheets and cheese, ending with sour cream and Parmesan on top layer.
Top the creme and Parmesan with sliced tomatoes and small basil leaves, drizzle with olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. After that, remove the foil and bake for 35 more minutes until the lasagna is bubbling and golden. (I placed on a baking sheet in case of bubbling over)

As for the chopped salad…confession….my dad did most of the chopping. I supervised though and the end result is that I've decided I need a bigger cutting board if I am ever to make it again. Here's the recipe…

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegeterian-recipes/mediterranean-chopped-salad-usa-version