What's It All About?

Food is something that needs to be experienced; from the simplest nuts and berries to the most complex and ornate feasts, eating is an essential part of life and the human experience. For me, cooking is a way to enhance that experience by actively choosing what to use for my ingredients, how to combine them in new and interesting ways, and sharing that with family and friends. Cooking is such a rich activity, since even the very beginnings of the art; families would gather around the fire to prepare and eat their meals. Today, the fire has become the kitchen, where we can still gather as a family of any type or size and take part in the joy and intimacy of community and food.

My hope with this blog is not to simply share recipes with you; those can be found anywhere on the Internet or in countless books and magazines. What I want to do is use the food that I create to help you foster a sense of family with those you cook and eat with, and to truly discover the Epic Experience of Food.

Welcome.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Nothing says "family meal" like a giant lasagna. And nothing says "hurry up in the bathroom" like a ton of cheese and hot sauce. This dish combines the best of both worlds: a big pan of comfort food with just enough kick to warm things up no matter the time of year. I recommend serving with a nice fresh green salad and giant slices of oven-fresh corn bread.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and diced (prepacked cooked chicken works great)
24oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce
12oz of your favorite buffalo/hot sauce (I like Frank's)
1tsp garlic powder
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 medium-large green bell pepper, chopped
6oz banana pepper rings, chopped (1/2 a jar)
1 package fresh sliced mushrooms
2 packages "oven ready" lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup crumbled bleu cheese

1 15oz container ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
1. Reserve 3oz of hot sauce, and place the rest in a bowl with the chicken; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Mix well again upon removing chicken from the fridge.

2. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Lightly grease a lasagna pan.

3. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the bowl, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Combine with pasta sauce, remaining 3oz of hot sauce, garlic powder, onion, bell pepper, banana peppers, and mushrooms. Mix well and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the egg and ricotta cheese.

4. Spread about 1 cup of the chicken/sauce mixture in the bottom of the greased pan. Layer with lasagna noodles, then another 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the chicken mixture. Spread 1/2 of the ricotta/egg mixture on top, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of noodles, 1cup of the chicken mixture, the second half of the ricotta mixture, and another 1/3 of the mozzarella. Top with a final layer of noodles, the remaining chicken mixture, and the final 1/3 of the mozzarella.

5. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 350° F for 70 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle bleu cheese over the top and bake uncovered for another 5-10 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and let stand for about 15 minutes before serving.


Enjoy, and welcome to the Epic Experience of Food!
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 24, 2012 at 6:41 PM

    Looks good! Where's the 'follow' button for the blog? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. reeserMay 26, 2012 at 2:04 PM

      Add your email address up above (on the right) for new-post notifications. Not sure if there's anything besides that!

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