Lasagna

In America I was accustomed to making one recipe for lasagna, with ricotta cheese filling or sometimes cottage cheese, a tomato meat sauce, etc. However, my husband wasn't too fond of that recipe and with reheating it would get dry. When we had this lasagna, recipe courtesy of Gunta it was another story and my husband loved it.

Our girl's in cooking class had asked to make lasagna and so we did last week- for several of them it was their first time to taste lasagna- so here is the recipe for you all (with a few adjustments)

4 persons ( I doubled it- and ended up with one apx. 9x13 and a small one for the next day)

Ingredients:

150 g. frozen spinach - thawed.
300 g. ground meat ( I use a mixture of beef and pork or just beef)
2 onion- finely chopped.
2 garlic cloves- finely chopped
2 carrots- peeled and grated.
oil
400-500 g. tomatoes (fresh, canned, sauce or paste. I used a mixture of whatever I have on hand)
1 t, salt
2 t. oregano
1 t. garlic powder

8-10 lasagna noodle
100 g. grated cheese

Cheese Sauce:
400 g. milk
2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
100 g. grated cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 
2. Chop veges and cook in a little oil.
3. Cook meat and mix with veges, add spices, and tomatoes. Cook to make a savory sauce. 
4. Make cheese sauce by mixing milk with flour and spices and cooking over medium heat stirring until just boiling. Add cheese- cook until melted. 
5. Assemble by layering all ingredients- first noodles, then red sauce, spinach, some cheese sauce, and grated cheese. Repeat with remaining. 
6. Bake until heated through and bubbly, apx. 30 min.

To see this recipe in Latvian see Gunta's blog

Honey Glazed Chicken

We made this at our first cooking/Bible event. It was good, but not as good as it usually turns out for me. I would say girls that you need to use more curry powder- I have tweaked the recipe. And cook it hotter so that it gets browner- just don't burn it.

Ingredients: For 4 servings
1/2 cup flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. red pepper
4 pieces chicken
1/4 c. melted butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. curry powder

Method:

1. Melt butter. 
2. Mix first 3 ingredients. 
3. Dip chicken in butter than in dry ingredients. 
4. Bake 30 minutes. 
5. Mix remaining ingredients with leftover butter. 
6. Pour over chicken. 
7. Cook until tender, basting several times. Bake apx. 30 min. more.

Cutlets- Kotletes

Picture borrowed from here

We love these and I love making a big batch and freezing them in meal size portions. Then I just microwave them and whip up some kind of side and salad and we are good to go with a fast meal.

Ingredients:

500 g. ground beef
300 g. ground pork
1 onion- finely chopped
3 cloves garlic- minced
1 egg
3 slices of white bread soaked in the warm water or milk.
250 g. warm milk or water
2 T of spices. ( I don't measure, but use salt, pepper and other spices).
Fine breadcrumbs.

Instructions:

1.  Soak bread in water or milk. 
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. 
3. Form patties and dip/roll in bread crumbs .
4. Fry on hot pan with a bit of oil until nicely browned. 
5. Bake 10-15 minutes in moderate oven. 
6. If you have too many than freeze.