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Butternut Squash Lasagna

10/26/2017

1 Comment

 
Tis' the season for all things butternut squash. Disclaimer, I didn't actually make stacks with that many layers, the pic is two pieces on top of one another. Just tryin' to keep it real with ya! Also,  you could sub slices of squash or zucchini if you're going for a low-carb or gluten free version.

Also, I did not start with actual whole squashes. My local grocery store (Heinen's) sells squash that's already been peeled and cubed, THANK GOD - and I'm pretty sure it was more than just one squash because there was a lot. It's kind of a b*tch to peel and cube one of those things - definitely something you have to be in the mood to do.

I was thinking about adding in a layer of kale or spinach, but realized that I forgot to grab it at the store. I feel like it would probably be pretty good with some sauteed kale mixed in. If you want to do more with this recipe and add in some color, I would try that!
Butternut Squash Lasangna
What you'll need:
  • Standard size box of lasagna noodles for a 9 x 9 size baking dish.  (If you're going make a 9 x 13 pan of lasanga, I might by two boxes.) 
  • 2 butternut squashes, peeled and cubed - cubes should fill an entire large baking sheet.
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 large white onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, peedled and minced
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 3-4 sprigs of fresh sage leaves
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream (milk will work too, but I prefer cream)
  • Ricotta cheese - I used a medium sized tub of it (16 oz)
  • Sartori Cheese Black Pepper Bellavitano cheese - parmesan or mozzerella will work here too (I would say about 1/4 cup per layer of lasagna)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
What to do:
  1. ​Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and spray with a non-stick like PAM.
  2. Toss the butternut squash cubes in a large bowl with olive oil, minced garlic, chopped onion and salt/pepper.  Pour it all out onto the baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes.
  3. Cook the lasagna noodles according to directions on package or box. When they are done I would seperate them so that they don't stick together and rip by the time you're ready to use them. Olive oil helps to keep them from sticking together. 
  4. Split the roasted squash into two even portions - try to keep one portion to just squash and no onion or garlic pieces. 
  5. Mash the half of the squash without onion or garlic pieces with a fork in a bowl so that it kind of turns into a mashed potato texture and set it aside.
  6. Brown the butter in a  large skillet on medium heat. (Keep stirring it around on and off until it browns.) Add in the fresh sage leaves so that their flavors mix with the butter. Once the butter is brown-ish, remove the sage leaves and set them aside until the end for topping.  The leaves should be kindof crispy.
  7. Add the portion of the roasted squash with the onion/garlic into a food processor with the brown butter and cream. Blend for a minute or two. You can add in more cream or milk if the sauce is looking too pasty and thick. 
  8. Grab a  deep baking dish and spread butter all over it so that the lasagna noodles won't stick to it. Pour a little of the sauce from the food processor into the bottom of the pan and spread it around.
  9. Trim the edges of the noodles if you have to, but make sure they fit perfectly into the size of the pan. Start the dish with two layers of the lasagna noodles. I always like to do double noodle layers because I think it holds things together better - and, I also just love noodles. Lol.
  10. Next, take the mashed squash and spread it out as evenly as you can on top of the lasagna noodles. Do the same with the ricotta cheese on top of the squash. Then sprinkle a thin layer of black pepper bellavitano - or other cheese choice on top of the ricotta.  Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt and pepper.
  11. Repeat processes 10 + 11 until you run low on ingredients. When you get towards the end, try and make sure to end the layering with lasagna noodles on the top.
  12. Pour the sauce you made in the food processor on top of the masterpiece and spread it around. 
  13. Shave some fresh black pepper bellavitano cheese and parmesan ontop.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  14. Cover the lasagna pan with tinfoil and bake for one hour at 400 degrees.
  15. Let it cool and set for about 30 minutes before digging in, otherwise it will fall apart. Top with more cheese shavings and the crispy fresh sage leaves. 
  16. FOR CUTTING: use a really thin sharp filet knife without any teeth - start to cut through it a little bit by sawing gently and then go in at an angle. It should slice nicely that way.
  17. EATTTTT UP!!
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Mushroom, Garlic + Ricotta Wonton Ravioli

3/27/2017

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Making ravioli with wonton wrappers is quite the game-changer. They are sort of thin and whatnot but it all worked out and I didn't have to make it rain flour in my kitchen while attempting to make my own pasta sheets.

This recipe makes enough filling for about 12 raviolis and they are pretty large so it's more than than you would think. Comment below if you have questions!  
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What you need:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups button mushrooms
  • 1 garlic clove
  • fresh thyme (I used leaves from around 5 sprigs)
  • fresh basil (I used 4 big leaves)
  • Salt and pepper 
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
  • Wonton wrappers 
  • FOJ Alfredo sauce 
What to do:
  1. Warm the olive oil in a skillet and cook the mushrooms, garlic, thyme and basil in the oil for 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. In a food processor, blend the contents of the skillet with the cheeses. If you don't have a food processor you can just chop it up really small and try to mash it with a spoon.
  3. From here, put the ravioli filling into a zip lock bag and let it cool in the fridge for 15 minutes.
  4. Lay down wonton pieces and put a tablespoon sized dollop of the filling in the center. With a brush, or your finger - pain water along the edges of the wonton. Place another wonton wrapper on top of the wet one with the filling and seal the edges.
  5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook each ravioli for 2-3 minutes.
  6. Make FOJ alfredo sauce (I would add in a little wine too) and use that to coat the ravioli before serving!
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Pierogi Po Boys

2/28/2017

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Pierogi Po Boys
This is one of those recipes where I had to try and figure out how to make things work on the spot, so basically I was running around the kitchen like a crazy person spilling boiling water everywhere and burning my fingers while trying to perfect this outrageous idea. At one point I almost cried because I thought I wasn't going to be able to make things work. I seriously think I scared my sister who was witnessing all of this go down. Oh yea, the pierogi recipe I used made about 6 pierogi buns, so there's that before I forget. 

So it was really hard to get the pierogi buns to curl up in order to hug the hot dog, they ended up just staying flat. When I picked up the assembled deal it basically ended up being eaten like a taco and I guess there's really nothing wrong with that, right? I actually did put a taco holder into the large pot of water in which I was boiling the dough, to see if the buns would stay sort of folded..but nope. And I even tried to put the pierogi buns back into the taco holder and bake them in the oven for a little but nope, again. They truly wanted to be as flat as Kyrie Irving thinks the earth is. Lol. 

Polish boy sandwiches are huge staples in CLE. I'm pretty sure they are traditionally made with kielbasa, but I'm indifferent to that tradition because well, you know how I feel about hot dogs. I'm always sort of hesitant to post photos of these things because there's always 1-2 trolls who will ream you out for not making it right. TO EACH THEIR OWN. Let's just leave it at that, people. Seriously, check my insta post. I bet there's at least one comment calling me out.

Comment if you have questions! This is a tricky one!

What You'll Need

  • An oval shaped cookie cutter - I didn't have one handy, so I used a big spoon that was kind of oval-ey and pressed it into the dough to outline the shape so that I could cut an oval out
  • Pierogi dough - I used this recipe
  • Butter and a handful of diced white onion
  • Hot dogs - grilled, boiled..whatever
  • Fries - crunchy, shoestring..whatever
  • Slaw - I prefer creamy but you can use any kind
  • Hot sauce, any kind - I used Cholula

What To Do

  1. Make the pierogi dough. While it's resting - preheat the oven for the fries and put a large pot of water on the stove and bring it to a low boil.
  2. Pop the fries into the oven while you make the pierogi buns. I would probably start cooking the hot dogs when you're boiling your last batch of pierogi buns.
  3. After the dough has set, roll it out to be about 1/4 inch thick. Note: this is about twice as thick as pierogi dough.
  4. To make the pierogi bun, you'll want to cut out ovals shapes. (Picture a hot dog bun opened up and laid flat- that's about the size you're going for.) After you cut it out, roll it a little with a rolling pin until it makes a nice shape and size to wrap around whatever size hot dog you're working with.
  5. Drop the dough ovals into the boiling water and cook them for 8-10 minutes.
  6. Fry the pierogi buns in a skillet with butter and onion. The longer you fry them the crispier they will be so it's up to personal preference for how long to cook them.
  7. Assemble. Start with the pierogi bun, then the hot dog, then the slaw, then fries and douse the whole thing with hot sauce and pig out!
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Flamin' Hot Cheeto Fries

2/20/2017

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Well this was fun. I saw these things a while back somewhere...from some food truck...from someone's Instagram post...and there's no way I'm gonna remember any more details than that, lol. Since then, every time I walked past a Flamin' Hot Cheetos bag at the store I was reminded of this glorious creation. So I finally threw a bag into my cart and decided to make this happen. I used a cheese sauce recipe from Serious Eats, and then freezer isle fries and the hot Cheetos.  It was seriously so easy to make... and FYI, if you don't have a food processor I'm sure you could put the Cheetos into a ziplock bag and beat it like a caveman until you get the little crumbs to form! If you decide to go that route, good luck. ;)
Foods Of Jane

What You'll Need

  • Fries - I used Ore-Ida crunch fries 
  • Serious Eats cheese sauce
    • 1 cup shredded cheddar
    • 1 tbsp constartch
    • 1 8oz can of evaporated milk
  • About 2 cups of Flamin' Hot Cheetos

What To Do

  1. Preheat the oven to cook the fries according to the temperature it says on the bag. Fries usually take about a half hour so pop them into the oven and start your Serious Eats cheese sauce. My sauce didn't turn too silky so I had to keep adding in heavy cream after I ran out of evaporated milk. I also added a few dashes of chili oil to keep the cheese from becoming too solid.
  2. Blend the hot Cheetos in a food processor until they turn into an almost dusty texture.
  3. Once the fries are done, pour the cheese all over them and then top everything with the hot Cheetos crumbs. 

If you have a question about this recipe, please leave a comment below and I'll respond!
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Baked Brie + Bacon Grapes

1/22/2017

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I've never been a big fan of grapes, but they were in my fridge from when I had friends over a couple weeks ago, and I didn't want to waste them so I decided to pair them with bacon and cheese and welp, the rest is history. 

Until recently, I didn't really eat brie a whole lot, because there are just so many different kind of cheeses out there that I sometimes tend to forget about one after I haven't eaten in in a while. Now that brie has come back into my life, I've been eating it non-stop. My favorite way to eat it is with honey and pretzel sticks. But I wanted to do something fun and different so I attempted baking it for the first time (instead of zapping it in the microwave.) 

I used 8 oz of brie and that's def enough for 2-3 people. If you're trying to feed more that that, I would just buy a larger brie wheel add more grapes and bacon into the recipe and you'll be good. The whole thing took me about 20 minutes so it's easy to whip up!
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What you'll need:
  • 8 oz brie 
  • 6 slices of extra thick cut bacon
  • 1-2 cups grapes
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • rosemary or thyme
  • pretzels, chips, whatever
What to do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
  2. Remove the brie's plastic wrapping and throw it away. Place the brie circle it on a sheet of oven safe parchment paper, or a greased up sheet of tinfoil. The flat part goes directly on to the sheet and the part with all the folds should be facing up, FYI.
  3. Once the oven has hit 375, cook the brie for 10 minutes, you'll notice the top starts to brown a little which means it's done.
  4. Slice the bacon into little cubes (you'll want to use a super sharp knife for this part unless you want to cry because it will get frustrating with a dull knife, trust me, lol.)
  5. Cook the bacon until browned and crispy, and scoop it out of the skillet and onto a paper towel. Be sure the leave a thin coating of bacon grease in the skillet, you can dump out any excess. 
  6. Dice half of your grapes in half, and pour all (the whole and halved) of them into the skillet while it's still hot from the bacon. Pour the honey on top of the grapes, and stir to mix everything around. Treat the grapes just like grape tomatoes, let them sizzle until they start to blister, then take them off the heat. 
  7. Once you remove the brie from the oven, and put it on a plate - top it with the goods. If you're actually serving it at a party I think it looks nice with a few sprigs of rosemary, you could use thyme too, 
    1. Note: If you want your bacon to be sweet, add it into the grape/honey mixture and combine all that. If you want your bacon more salty, add it on top of the brie before you pour the grapes and honey. Or sprinkle it over the top of the brie and honey - just keep it separate. I probably just confused the hell out of you, but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say. 
  8. Grab some pretzels, chips, whatever for dipping. And EAT! :) 
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Herby Sausage-Gravy Grilled Cheese

4/11/2016

1 Comment

 
So, insanity happened today in the form of grilled cheese. I feel like my arteries are really mad at me, but my taste buds are justifying their hatred. Everything is going to be FINE - just make this please and eat it so you can understand how I am feeling at the moment because I'm not really sure what else to say right now. 
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Ingredients: 
  • 1/2 lb pork sausage
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced 
  • 4-5 sprigs of fresh sage, chopped
  • 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 stick butter
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 cup 2% milk
  • Softened butter to spread on both sides of bread slices
  • 2 slices of thick bread  (I used a loaf of rosemary bread from the local bakery)
  • 4 slices of havarti cheese
  • 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
Instructions:
  1. Get your hands dirty and mix together the raw sausage, minced garlic, chopped sage, red pepper flakes, salt and coarse black pepper until combined. 
  2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and break apart the sausage mixture while tossing into the hot oil. Cook until the sausage isn't pink. (About 10 minutes.)
  3. Remove sausage from the skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving the grease in the skillet. Set sausage aside. 
  4. Melt a few slices of butter in the skillet and whisk in the flour. You should get a pasty texture. Once you've created the flour/butter paste, add in the milk, whisking slowly. The milk should thicken and turn into gravy. Add more milk if it becomes too thick. 
  5. Add the sausage back into the skillet. And now you have some of the best damn sausage gravy you'll ever eat!!
  6. Next, get out another skillet - one that has a matching lid, and put it on the stove and turn the heat to medium. 
  7. Butter both sides of each slice of bread and put them next to each other in the skillet with two slices of cheese covering each one. Cover with the lid until the cheese is melted. (About 5 minutes.)
  8. Scoop and stack as much of the sausage gravy as you would like onto one of the slices of bread, and cover with the other slice. Cover with lid and let cook for about 3 minutes, then flip and let the other side cook for about 3 more minutes.
  9. Once the cheese is melted and everything is all gooey, remove the sandwich from heat and dust with fresh Parmesan and more sage. WARNING: it's messy, but oh so worth it. 
1 Comment

Pepper-Jack Stuffed Buffalo Chicken

2/8/2016

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Holy Balls. That is all. 
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Ingredients: 
  • 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
  • 1 lb ground chicken (breast or thighs) 
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 10-15 Pepper-jack cheese cubes
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • oil for frying
Instructions:
  1. Marinate the ground chicken in buffalo sauce for 2+ hours. Heat frying oil. Combine the flour, bread crumbs and salt in a mixing bowl.
  2. Season the chicken with garlic powder and mix in the egg. Form the ground chicken into patties about the size of your palm. 
  3. Place 1-2 cheese cubes in the center of the patty and fold the patty up and around the cheese and roll meat into ball.
  4. After you've made sure all the edges of the meat are sealed around the cheese, dip it in the bread crumb mixture and coat the entire meatball. 
  5. Fry the meatball in oil until cooked all the way through. (About 10 minutes.) Serve while hot. You can also coat the meatballs in extra buffalo sauce for more flavor. 
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Sausage Gravy Breakfast Pasta

11/7/2015

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So I'm officially BFF's with Chrissy Teigen now that she quoted a photo of my recipe on twitter and said "Holy amazing idea". THANKS CHRISSY, I love you. 

Anyways. I woke up this morning really determined to come up with something funky. I've been craving biscuits and gravy lately and I'm clearly always in the mood for pasta. The sausage gravy works perfectly as a nice creamy pasta sauce and I love salty pork sausage forever. The combination of all these things is honestly great--the only thing I would switch out is probably the type of pasta I used. All I had at home was spaghetti, if it were my choice I would of used some conchiglie pasta so that the gravy could fill it's pockets and there would be more deliciousness in every bite. Random thought: What if somebody made sausage and gravy ravioli or pierogis. UGH, YUM!!!!
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Ingredients:
  • 12 oz pork sausage
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 2 1/2 cups of milk (whole is best)
  • 1 teaspoon each of salt and coarse black pepper
  • about a half box of pasta; 1/2 lb
  • 1 egg per person eating
Instructions:
  1. Set up two pots with water on the stove, one will be heating to cook pasta, the other for the eggs. Cook the pasta according to package instructions and set it aside, and hold off on the eggs until you are almost done. 
  2. While you're waiting for the water to boil, cook the pork sausage in a large skillet until finished/not pink, use a slotted spoon to remove most of the sausage and transport it all onto a paper toweled plate. Be sure to leave the grease in the skillet.
  3. Whisk 1/3 cup of flour with the leftover pork sausage grease. Add in the salt and pepper and whisk until you get a thick base.
  4. Add the milk in 1/2 cup at a time and keep whisking until it thickens up and turns into gravy. 
  5. Once your water is boiling for the eggs, carefully drop them in. I find that adding a teaspoon or so of baking powder helps make them easier to peel afterwards. Once your eggs have been placed in the boiling water, take them out after exactly 6 minutes and run them under cold water to chill. Peel carefully and slice in half, and place them on top of your pasta and sausage gravy bed!! 
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Low-Carb (Cauliflower Crust) Buffalo Chicken Pizza

9/8/2015

1 Comment

 
Buffalo chicken was basically my first love. I'm so into anything that's flavored buffalo and my go-to at restaurants is usually something buffalo-chickeny. My dad recently started a low-carb diet and asked me if I could make my cauliflower crust pizza-- little did he know I would be setting this master piece down in front of him at the dinner table. 

So in my initial instagram post I said that I used 3 eggs instead of 2 while assembling the dough for this pizza crust. It made the cauliflower crust sooooo much more pizza-like!! The texture and tasted resembled regular dough so much more than ever before which awesome because my favorite thing is tricking my tastebuds into eating healthier. The "ranch" is made out of a combination of skim milk and greek yogurt with tons of garlic/onion powder, dill, and some other seasonings so I'll tell you how to make healthy ranch as well!! 

Here's the link to finding my cauliflower pizza crust recipe: Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe
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Ingredients: 
[Pizza]:
  • 1 large cauliflower pizza crust (ingredients and recipe here)
  • 2-3 buffalo marinated chicken breasts (the longer you marinate the better)
  • 1 cup of your favorite buffalo wing sauce (this will split up to use for different parts)
  • homemade healthy ranch sauce for drizzling (see below)
  • 1/3 cup of queso dip (heated and I used Costo's)
  • 1 cup of your favorite shredded cheese

[Healthy Ranch Sauce]:
  • 1 cup greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • 2 tablespoons skim milk
Instructions: 
[Pizza]:
  1. Marinate the chicken breasts for 2 hours minimum, the longer you marinate the better. 
  2. Prepare the cauliflower pizza crust according to directions.
  3. Heat up queso sauce in microwave for 20 seconds and add about a tablespoon of buffalo sauce. Spread the mixture over the pizza. 
  4. Top the pizza with cheese, and then add the sliced buffalo chicken pieces. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees. 
  5. Remove from oven and swirl on the buffalo and ranch sauces one at a time! Slice up and serve!

[Ranch Sauce]:
  1. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix until thoroughly blended. 
  2. TIP: If the sauce isn't thin enough you can add more milk, or add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. 
1 Comment

Breakfast Pizza

8/16/2015

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I love the salty taste of roasted red peppers, and I've had a pizza similar to this at Flour Italian Restaurant on the East Side of Cleveland so I figured I would take a stab at remaking my own version. This pizza would also be great with some breakfast sausage or some bacon as well! My options were limited!! 

Cooking the eggs into this pizza is kind of tricky. If you're not feeling brave enough to crack them right onto the pizza, I might suggest frying them a for a little bit in a pan and then placing them on top of the pizza. It might help a little with the uncontrollable spread of the 'watery' egg whites. Also, be really careful when cutting this pizza because the yolk will spread around and the peppers aren't the easiest to slice up with a pizza cutter. Try using a sharp knife, that could help keep things less messy. 
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Ingredients:
  • 1 large pre-made pizza crust
  • 1/3 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (I used muenster)
  • 1 jar (about 2 whole) roasted red peppers
  • 2-3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon parsley 


Instructions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 
  2. Spread out the tomato sauce evenly on top of the pizza crust. 
  3. Drain the roasted red peppers and slice into smaller pieces if they are whole. 
  4. Spread the cheese over the pizza and then place the red peppers evenly around the pizza leaving 2 small spaces open for the eggs.
  5. Bake the pizza for 8-10 minutes and then pull it out of the oven. Crack each egg separately into small bowls and then carefully pour each egg onto the parts of the pizza that aren't covered with red pepper. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the eggs are cooked and the cheese is completely melted. 
  6. Garnish the pizza with parsley or basil, slice, and serve. 
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Cucumber & Dill Pumpernickel Bites

7/17/2015

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Makes: 2 dozen snacks

Takes: 20-25 minutes

Recently I was asked to come up with some finger-food ideas for a catering job. I have to say, this is seriously the freshest, coolest snack I've ever tasted. The herbed and flavorful cream cheese with the cool cucumber, bland pumpernickel, and tang of the fresh dill and other herbs creates a delicious complimenting taste. Be careful, once you have one you just want to keep munching. 
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INGREDIENTS:
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano 
  • 1 tablespoon dried dill
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 package of pumpernickel squares
  • 1 large cucumber, sliced thin
  • 24 small sprigs of fresh dill for garnishing

DIRECTIONS:
  1. Combine cream cheese and dried herbs in a bowl and mix with a fork until well blended. 
  2. Spread the herbed cream cheese on each piece of pumpernickel bread. Optional-- sprinkle with coarse black pepper and sea salt for more flavor.  
  3. Place cucumber slices on top of each piece of bread and garnish with fresh dill. Refrigerate till serving!!
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POUUUUTIIIINE + Quail Eggs

4/26/2015

2 Comments

 
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Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Serving Size: 3-4

Tinier things are always so cute. That's why I chose to work with mini quail eggs instead of regular eggs.. the good news is that even though the egg shell is all brown and speckley--they taste exactly the same as normal eggs. Phew. 

I love Chef Jonathan Sawyer's animal style poutine at The Treehouse Tavern downtown Cleveland, I wanted some so bad today.. but I was feeling too lazy and poor to make the trip down to East 4th. Unfortunately I didn't end up using real cheese curds. I couldn't find a place close enough that sold them!! I've never actually seen any place that sells them and like I said I didn't feel like traveling too far or spending big bucks because well, let's just say Sundays are my lazy days. I ended up using a soft provolone cheese and it tasted just fine with everything. I also ended up using freezer isle french fries! Ore-Ida has a newer designed package of "Country Style French Fries" that says, "Sea salt & Olive Oil". They honestly tasted really similar to home made french fries--nothing like gross freezer aisle french fries, I swear! So if you don't feel like going through the process of peeling potatoes (yikes) and deep frying them, then don't worry! Go buy the Ore-Ida's, no one will ever know.  ;)

So poutine can come with plenty of different toppings, but my favorite has always been animal style... which means fries with gravy, meat (pork belly), and cheese. It's kind of awesome that you know it can't be good for you with all of the carbs/grease, but at the same time it's just way to fricken' good to care.

I don't want poutine, I NEED POUTINE!!!!! <3 
Ingredients:
  • About 4 cups french fries
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 garlic clove; minced
  • 1 tablespoon worcester sauce
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of coarse black pepper
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 2 cups of cubed mozzarella or provolone cheese (room temp or slightly warmed)
  • 2-3 cups of pork belly cut into half inch cubes
Directions:
  1. Prepare the french fries, I made mine in the oven so I put them in there to bake for 20 minutes while I made the gravy.
  2. Cook the minced garlic clove in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent. Pour in both the chicken and beef broths, worcester sauce, apple cider vinegar, and black pepper. Bring the gravy mixture to a low boil.
  3. In a separate skillet, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Let it brown with the flame on low/medium for about 3 minutes. Slowly stir in the broth mixture cup by cup while whisking. Once fully combined let it all bubble for about 30 minutes until it's consistency is thicker and gravy-like. The size of the mixture in the skillet will decrease in size by about half, just an FYI. 
  4. Pour your fries in a large bowl, or make a bed of them on a plate. Top with the cheese cubes, and pork belly. 
  5. Prepare the quail eggs by frying them sunny side up just like you would with a regular egg. The quail eggs are tiny so be very gentle when cracking them. I suggest cracking each one into a tiny bowl before pouring the egg onto the hot skillet. They only need to fry for 2-3 minutes since they are so small. 
  6. Smother your fries, cheese, and pork belly bites with the hot gravy. Top the dish with the eggs and some coarse black pepper then serve!! You can put scallion on top too if you want. 
2 Comments

BBQ-Glazed Bacon 'Sushi'

4/24/2015

1 Comment

 
I've been seeing a lot of videos lately that show people taking unique approaches to different types of "sushi", and this one was by far the most interesting. I decided to give it a shot, and it turned out delicious! It's basically a cheese burger wrapped in bacon, rolled up just like sushi. It's topped with crunchy onion straws and glazed with barbeque sauce.... so much awesomeness. 

PS-- even though grease isn't the best thing it the world for you, the bacon sushi is low-carb! :)

You could use a sushi roller to help roll up your bacon, ground beef, and cheese, but you can also do it with your bare hands just as easily. The more careful you are when you roll it up, the better the results. It was so fun to make! Food is my favorite kind of art. 

Serving size: 2 rolls, 12-15 bite sized pieces
Total prep/cooking time: 50 minutes- 1 hour

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Ingredients:
  • 16 pieces of bacon [I used Oscar Meyer traditional]
  • 1/2 lb of ground meat
  • 1 teaspoon of ground meat seasoning. [I used Flavorgod 'everything']
  • 4 cheese sticks, whatever flavor is your favorite!!
  • 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
  • 1 cup bbq sauce [I love Bubba Q's BBQ sauce]
  • 3/4 cup french fried onions or onion straws
Directions:
  1. Assemble two separate lines of 8 pieces of bacon laid flat and side by side on 2 pieces of wax or parchment paper. This will for the outer layer of your roll--it's the bacon blanket! The bacon strips should run vertical, up and down. Be sure that all the sides/edges of the bacon are overlapping each other a tiny bit so that the ground beef wont fall out once you roll the 'blanket'. 
  2. Season the ground beef with whatever type of seasoning you prefer.
  3. Split the ground beef in half flatten each portion on top of each bacon blanket to make a layer 1/2 inch thick. I only covered half of the bacon with ground beef but feel free to cover all of the blanket if you are feeling super carnivorous. 
  4. Lay your cheese sticks horizontally--towards the bottom half of your bacon blankey, trim off any edges that hang out over the outside of the bacon [and now beef] blanket. 
  5. Tightly tuck the pieces of bacon at the bottom of your blanket up and over the cheese sticks, and begin to tightly roll up your meat blanket. When you're done, it should look somewhat like the picture of the uncooked meat roll down below in the gallery.
  6. Brush some sweet chili sauce on your bacon rolls and put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Take out your bacon rolls and brush with BBQ sauce--then bake for an additional 15 minutes.
  7. Remove the bacon rolls from the oven and brush with BBQ one more time, then cover the roll with the crispy onion straws. Slice carefully with a sharp knife and serve! 
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Lasagna Carbonara Stackers

3/24/2015

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Instead of traditional pasta carbonara with spaghetti noodles I decided to try something different. Just kidding--the true story is that I only had one kind of pasta in my pantry today, so this was my attempt at incorporating lasagna noodles into a carbonara dish, because I was craving the combination of the creamy sauce with salty pancetta so badly today. 
Ingredients:
[Carbonara Sauce]:
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 5 tablespoons of crumbled parm cheese
  • 3 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon flour


[Pasta]:
  • 1/2 lb [about half a box] Lasagna noodles 
  • 1/2 cup peas
  • 1/2 cup pancetta
  • 1 unbroken egg yolk
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Directions:
  1. Boil a large pot of water and prepare lasagna noodles according to package. 
  2. While waiting for your water to boil, combine milk, butter, 2 broken egg yolks, garlic, parmesan cheese, and flour in a medium sized skillet. Whisk for a minute, and simmer on low-medium until it reaches a thicker sauce texture. This should take 8-10 minutes. Be careful not to let the sauce burn, keep the flame low while simmering and be sure to stir it frequently. 
  3. After you've finished your sauce, pour it into a bowl, cover, and set aside. Rinse out the skillet and place it back on the stove. Add the peas and pancetta, sautee for 10-12 minutes while stirring occasionally. 
  4. Once the lasagna noodles are cooked, drain them and rinse with cold water to cool. Line them up on a sheet of wax paper. Cut the noodles into 3 x 3 inch squares.
  5. In order to get the egg yolk to put on top I suggest cracking the egg in half and separating the yolk from the egg white  very carefully with your fingers. When you have the yolk by itself, carefully place it in a little ramekin or sauce container until you need it for the final step.
  6. The stickiness of the drying noodles will hold the lasagna stack together. Make a pile of noodles on your plate, you want to layer every other noodle with it's ridges on opposite ends as the noodle before it. After about 8-10 noodles you will have a solid stack with a little bit of a dip in the middle. Fill the dip with a few dollops of sauce [about 3 tablespoons], and spread the sauce so that it drips down over the sides of the lasagna stack. 
  7. Once the sauce has spread, sprinkle the peas and pancetta. Clear a little spot in the center for the final egg yolk and place it on top and you're all done! Enjoy!
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Giant Chicken-Parm Ravioli Burger

2/2/2015

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Today was the best and worst kind of day, a snow day. I was so excited that I didn't have to report to class downtown but I also didn't really have the option of going anywhere else because of all of the snow. [Not to mention it's -15 degrees.] 

Instead of curling up on the couch and watching a movie by the fire I decided to make an absolute mess out of my kitchen. However, the mess lead to the creation of this parmesan-chicken ravioli burger, so I won't complain any further. 

PS--I used a whole pound of chicken!! This burger is so big you could share it with another person for sure, or you could even make two small ones, just depends on how big your appetite is! 
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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 25  minutes


Serving size: 1 giant burger



Ingredients:
1 lb of ground chicken
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of parsley
1 tablespoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of garlic salt
5-6 cheese ravioli
Marinara or Tomato sauce
Brioche buns
Arugula 




Directions: 
  1. Combine ground turkey, parmesan cheese, black pepper, and parsley in a bowl and shape into a burger patty with your hands. 
  2. Cook the burger [either on the grill or over a medium flame in a skillet]. About 12 minutes each side, and be sure to cover the burger with a lid so that the inside cooks all the way through.
  3. Butter both brioche buns and season them with garlic salt. [They can be toasted but I put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.] 
  4. Boil the ravioli, drain, and set them on top of a paper towel to dry off. The stickier they are on the outside the more they will hold together on the burger!
  5. Heat desired amount of marinara sauce. 
  6. Assemble the burger, it helps to put the arugula on the bottom so that the chicken juices don't make the bottom bun soggy.  
  7. Enjoy :) 
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Paprika Pasta Pizza!

1/24/2015

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Serving Size: 1 med pizza

Prep Time: 25 mins

Cooking Time: 10-15 min

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I had a really hard time saving enough penne noodles and sauce to make the actual pizza, because the flavor alone of the pasta is so delicious! I made a creamy white sauce and seasoned it with paprika and garlic. The flavor reminds me of chicken paprikash, which is another one of my favorite meals. I don't know about you but I love carbs, so the combination of pizza and pasta is straight magical. Make sure that you use enough cheese so that the whole top of the pizza is covered, because the cheese acts as a net when it melts and it holds all the pasta together for when you slice up your za. 
Foodsofjane

Ingredients: 

  • 1 pizza medium crust
  • 1/2 lb of penne pasta
  • 4 cups of heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons of paprika
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
  • 1 cup of shredded cheese
Picture

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Boil a large pot of water for the pasta (about 4 cups of water), and prepare it according to box instructions. (Prepare the sauce while you are waiting for your noodles to cook.)
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
  3. In a large skillet combine 4 cups of heavy cream, paprika, garlic, and salt. Turn on the flame to medium, and mix the ingredients in the skillet.
  4. After the mixture begins to bubble, stir it and reduce heat to simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Be sure to stir it every 2 minutes until the sauce has reached a thicker consistency similar to tomato sauce. (If the sauce isn't stirred the cream will burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. 
  5. Spread about 1 cup of sauce onto pizza crust, and mix the rest of the sauce with the prepared penne noodles. 
  6. Cover the entire pizza crust with the pasta coated in sauce and cover with the mozzarella cheese. 
  7. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and looks browned. Slice and serve it while it's still hot! :)
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Deep Fried Macaroni & Cheeseburger Buns

1/3/2015

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foodsofjane
Makes two hamburger buns [enough for one burger]. 

This was honestly so fun to make. I can't really eat a whole lot right now, let alone open my jaw because I just had to get my dry sockets from my wisdom teeth taken care of yesterday. But I woke up feeling super creative and in the mood to cook something really cool. A few days ago I was thinking of making a ramen burger, but then decided to go with the latest trend of the "deep fried mac and cheese" burger bun. 

I made the macaroni and cheese a few nights ago and put the leftovers in two bowls in the fridge, and forgot about them for a couple of days. So as I was ravaging through my fridge like a maniac this morning I ran into them and got really excited.  

My brother and I love to deep fry together, we made all sorts of stuff today; deep fried chicken, and deep fried blueberry waffles [which was actually SO COOL, because it was like a waffle coated with a pancake].

I like deep frying with pancake batter better than breadcrumbs because it sticks so much better to whatever you are deep frying. You'll notice the batter really sticks together and doesn't separate or fall apart once you drop it in the hot oil! 
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