Squash and Hazelnut Lasagna - Sue Horwitz

Ingredients
For squash filling:
1 large onion chopped
1 hot pepper minced (optional)
3.5 lbs butternut squash, partly cooked, peeled, and cut into small cubes
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T chopped parsley
2 T chopped fresh sage
1 c. hazelnuts, roasted, skins rubbed off, then coarsely chopped

For sauce:
2 cloves garlic minced
3 T unsalted butter
5 T flour (whole wheat is best but can use white)
5 cups milk (can use some or all unsweetened soy milk)
1 bay leaf

Misc:
1/2 lb mozzarella grated
1 c. finely grated parmesan cheese
no-boil lasagna noodles

Directions
MAKE FILLING:
Cook hot pepper and onion in butter or oil until golden.
Add squash, garlic, salt & pepper to taste.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender (may need to
add some water to keep it from sticking).
Remove from heat and stir in sage, parsley, nuts.

MAKE SAUCE:
Cook garlic in butter 1 minute.
Whisk in flour and cook, whisking, 5 mins.
Add milk in a stream, whisking.  (I like to heat the milk first)
Add bay leaf.
Bring to boil, whisking constantly.
Lower heat, simmer 10 mins whisking often.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bay leaf.

ASSEMBLE:
Preheat oven to 425.
Toss cheeses together.
Butter or oil a 13x9x2 inch baking dish.
Put 1/2 cup sauce in bottom.
Add pasta sheets (w/o overlap) then 1/2 of remaining sauce, then 1/2 of
filling, then 1/2 of cheese.  Repeat to form 2 layers.  (Or do 3 layers
if you have enough room and enough filling.)

Cover with foil.
Bake 30 mins.
Remove foil.
Bake 10-15 mins more until golden and bubbling.
Let stand 15 mins before serving.


Comments

Makes 6-8 servings (I think it's more like 10-12)

Rubarb Cake from Eva

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup white sugar

1tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs beaten

1 cup sour cream (I use yogurt)

4 cups diced rhubarb

Topping

1cup white sugar

1'4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease pans

In a large bowl, stir together the 1 1/4 c sugarbaking soda salt and 2 cups of flour. Stir in the eggs and sour cream(yogurt) until smooth, then fold in the rhubarb. pour into prepared dish and spread evenly. In a small bowl. stir together the remaining 1 cup of sugar and butter until smooth. Stir in the flour and cinnamon until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean - about 45 minutes.

Implements
Here is an easy recipe. Takes one bowl for mixing - no blender or mixer required. Can be baked in one 9 x 13 pan, or two 8 x 8 pans.

Comments

Allen's Granola

Directions: 
I like my version of breakfast cereal, not as artsy other's but worth giving it a try. I make it (actually, I prefer the term assemble it) fresh every day one bowl at a time, which gives it an artisan-variability-surprise quality. 

Here is the recipe: provide a base of Grape nut Cereal, add wheat germ, raisins or either color, crumbled walnuts and/or other nuts, sliced bananas, pieces of any other fruit hanging out in your kitchen (I like apple, but strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and even pineapple are possibilities) being careful not to over fill your bowl, and finally add milk (I use 2% but full fat natural milk is better of course and cream is still better and who knows these days perhaps better for you. I have been know to use yogurt - it is so in now but really milk is easier with the complexity of this mix) and stir. For variety throw in toasted oats. 
No need to add oil, sugar, molasses or honey. 

Implements:

Bowl, spoon, imagination

Comments:

No need to worry about burning the oats, the slivered almonds or your tongue because all ingredients are cold and remain so during prep and eating. And if you do wish to add ingredients such as toasted oats and slivered almonds, toast them on their own so you can give them your full attention or subcontract that bit to your sous chef. Best to make the coffee first so that it is ready when you have completed the assembly of your cereal. Note that no measurements are required or even desireable for the assemblage. Every day is different.

Updates from Sour Chef Nirelle:

Oats are placed in a more or less flat layer on a plate, or the glass bottom of the Microwave.  Toast on high for a minute, stir, and toast again for less time, till color is just chaned - careful, they burn easily once alsmost done, so just a very light color chane is what you need.

Almonds, whole, a fistful, placed on the glass bottom of the Microwave and done for 1min 20 secs; stir, for another 1 min., or min and 20 secs.  Imperceptible change of color but a slight aroma is present.

Slivered almonds done the same way just less time.

The wheat Germ is Kretchmer's toasted wheatgerm, the only tasty one and very slightly toasted.

If you hate the Microwave idea, then do dry in frying pan stirrin constantly and bein careful not to burn by taking off flame way before you think they are toasted.  A very light toasting indeed is all you need.