Fresh Eggs and Julia Child

I love having a neighbor who has chickens....it means fresh eggs for me! And they are so beautiful! And I know right where they came from and I know they're fresh. And I know the chickens. Even if one does tend to peck at me.

This week I got a dozen fresh eggs and decided to make
Eggs Benedict for dinner. I turned to my c1967 edition of Mastering The Art Of French Cooking for the recipe for Hollandaise Sauce. I had a hungry husband so there was a version using the blender (I actually used my mini-Cuisinart). Leave it to Julia Child to make things clear: this version, using the blender vs creating by hand, "is well within the capabilities of an 8-year old child" so hopefully I could pull this off!




And, viola!.... it was delicious. The entire meal was very easy to make and packed with flavor. I added oven-roasted herbed potatoes and slices of fresh tomato to the meal. In the end, there were two clean plates and we both enjoyed this very much. Try it sometime, breakfast for dinner is a great way to change things up. And don't forget to turn to Julia Child to keep it real.

Light and Delicious Spinach Lasagna

Here's a great recipe for a spinach lasagna that is really delicious and only has 272 calories per serving. I can't remember where I got this, but it's a good recipe for lasagna with not a lot of calories. Enjoy!

Light and Healthy Spinach Lasagna
1 cup onion, minced
1 tsp canola oil
salt/pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups low-fat, 1 percent milk
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 (10-oz) packages frozen, chopped spinach, squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
8 oz whole milk cottage cheese
1 large egg
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
1/2 cup Fontina cheese, shredded

To make the sauce:
Combine onion, oil and 1/8 tsp salt in large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring until softened. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir in 2 3/4 cups milk, bay leaves and nutmeg. Bring to simmer. Whisk in cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup milk. Simmer til thickened. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves. Stir in spinach and1/2 cup parmesan. Season with salt/pepper.

Process cottage cheese, egg and salt with immersion blender till smooth. Set aside.

Pour 1 inch boiling water over noodles to soften, about 5 minutes. Drain and dry with paper towels.


Assembly:
Spread 1/2 cup sauce over bottom of 13X9 baking dish. Lay 3 noodles on top, spread with 3/4 cup more sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan. Layer 3 more noodles, sauce, parmesan, Fontina cheese. Continue creating layers will all noodles and sauce are used, ending with Fontina cheese and parmesan on top.



Cover, bake on middle rack at 425 about 20 minutes. Remove foil and heat broiler. Transfer to upper rack and broil til cheese is melted, about 4 minutes.

'Tis The Season

Fruits and vegetables are pouring in at my house! I've been busy shelling peas and butterbeans, shucking corn, making peach jam, canning beans....and cooking for clients.

Today is an office day, tomorrow another client cook day....so grateful to love my job and be busy.


The vegetables have been so wonderful, especially the corn. We've been eating yellow corn right off the cob, and I got a couple dozen ears of white corn that I cut off the cob. Can't decide which I like better, but they've both been great.


I've had lots of great tomatoes too and made some great salads.






Not to mention the great watermelon and canteloupe we've had. What a great time of year.....my favorite!