I feel like chicken tonight.

Tonight, Aaron and I decided to make 'at home' Indian food. Although this is technically not baking... We did bake some pitas in the oven for approximately 8 minutes... does that count?
Above is our rice maker filled with Aaron's rice and seasoning that he likes.
Raw chicken doesn't really look appetizing. The point of the picture is the Patak's Doriaza Curry Sauce. Yum!


YUM.
Aaron found this, we seasoned the pita with it. Almost as good as Naan bread. Daniel Boulud has a wonderful restaurant DB Bistro I think it's called. Best Burger Ever.

The finished product. It was really good. I recommend that sauce. It's the best one out of all of them we've tried. I don't really like the chicken korma one.

The End. Flourless Chocolate Cake tomorrow!!!

I made Banana bread just to wear my new apron.

I got this sweet apron for a gift at my bridal shower.
It's fab.
I love it. So I made banana bread, just so I could wear it and have Aaron photograph it.

Banana Bread is-- Banana Bread- It's pretty self explanatory, so I'm not going to post the recipe..
Especially because I just got mine off of Allrecipes..
Yum..
this is how it started-- mashed bananas, cinnamon, eggs, brown sugar, butter, flour, soda, salt.

Aaron thought he'd get a better pic by having me touch my tongue to my nose, then catching the spontaneous part after.. but all he got was....
that. haha.

PORK

This is a baked pork recipe from Real Simple:

What you need:

• 1 2-pound piece boneless pork loin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• black pepper
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped (I Used Cranberries because I couldn't find dried cherries in the store)
  
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 tablespoon currant jelly
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Heat oven to 350° F. Season the pork with the allspice and 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
In a small bowl, combine the cherries, parsley, and mustard. Spread evenly over the pork. Lay the bacon slices crosswise over the pork, overlapping them slightly and tucking the ends underneath.


Roast for 45 minutes.

3In a small bowl, combine the jelly and vinegar. Brush over the bacon and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer registers 150°; F, 10 to 15 minutes more.
Let it rest for about 10 min before slicing.
Enjoy!

I think it turned out well! Anne & Aaron approve.
That's risotto in the background.

Cass' Not-so-Noodley Lasagna

Who could have known.. that this....

this...
and this...
could lead to.... THIS

I don't know if you're like me, but if you are.. you'll like this lasagna.
I always feel that there is too much noodle and not enough 'guts' in lasagna.

So, after a few stabs at lasagna that were less than satisfying, I decided to make my own recipe.
Here are the things I think make this experiment delicious:

1. Fresh Mozzarella
2. Zucchini
3. Sweet Onions
4. Sauce & guts: pasta

Here's what I used:

1 1/2 jars Fire Roasted Tomato (Newman's Own) Sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes w/ garlic
1/2 a sweet white onion
3/4 lb of fresh mozzarella cheese
8 oven ready-no boil lasagna noodles
5/6 lb of ground beef
Small container of Part-skim ricotta
Oregano
Basil
Pepper
Salt
Parmesan cheese

Mix Meat & 1 jar of sauce this will be referred to as meat&sauce.

First thing I did was put a bit of the meat&sauce into the bottom, followed by a bit of zucchini & onion, then the can of diced tomatoes (no juice).


Second thing, was add 4 noodles crossways.
I put some ricotta down on there... then most of the zucchini, some onion, some seasoning here & there.
Then I added all the meat sauce I had.
Then a few slices of mozzarella..


Next, 4 more pieces of lasagna crosswise.
Then use the 1/2 jar of sauce, 4 more dollops of ricotta, rest of zucchini, some onion..

and top it off with TONS of mozzarella.

Finish with some parmesan, pepper, oregano, basil, salt.

Bake at 375º for 40-50 minutes.
This will be your result. I did have to drain it a bit, but I think that the flavor was just right, so I wouldn't change the recipe I would just drain a bit out.




This was definitely the best lasagna I have had. Perfect combo.