The lasagne of anxiety

[ppfuf]

I'd volunteered to help with the food plan for Estrella this weekend. Fortunately, last Monday I wrote to the coordinator to ask about scheduling because (back in my day!) Estrella was a weekend event. I thought I'd be able to hand the lasagnas over on Sunday. Whoops! So instead of making lasagne on Saturday as planned, I did ingredient prep on Tuesday and did the stacking and baking part on Thursday. It worked pretty well, aided by my cleaning lady coming on Wednesday.
Three little lasgnes, all the same: bottom layer sauce, noodles, ricotta with goat cheese and egg, zucchini rounds, thin-sliced garlic, sprinkle of cheese (cheese mix: 2 lbs mozzarella, 1/2 lb emmentaller and 1/2 lb gruyere) and a little sauce. 2nd layer: noodles, meat (2 lbs spicy Italian sausages, 1 lb mild sausages from Dittmer's and 1/4 lb salami chopped and fried), pesto, onion mix (white onions, shallots and leeks chopped fine and cooked in the salami grease), more sauce and cheese. 3rd layer: noodles, chopped artichokes, sauce and lots of cheese!  I also made a fourth lasagne with mushrooms (reduced with shallots) instead of artichokes, but that one went into the freezer for a future dinner.
The anxiety-inducing moment was in the middle of ingredient-prep on Tuesday my dad called to say mom was getting an unexpected cat scan after her surgery. My dad never calls. He must have been very worried. She's all right now, after several drug fuck-ups that extended her hospital stay until late on Sunday. I'm not sure why anybody bothers to keep charts anymore, obviously nobody reads the damn things. Grr! 

On Saturday, GM made dinner, inclduing a savory 

Souffléed Corn and Cheddar Pudding (Gourmet, March 1983) 


In the sauce-pan:
1/2 stick (4 Tbl) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 tesp Dijon-style mustard
1 1/2 tesp salt
1/4 tesp cayenne (or to taste)
4 large egg yolks

In a large bowl:
1/4 stick (2 Tbl) unsalted butter
4 slices of white bread (crusts removed)
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 1/2 cups cooked corn (drained and gently squeezed)
1/2 pound Good sharp cheddar cheese, grated

In the electric beater:
4 large egg whites (room temp)
pinch cream of tartar
pinch salt

In the soufflé dish:
butter to coat
sprinkle of finely grated parmesan

Hot water for a bath.
Buttered tin foil to cover soufflé dish.

Preheat oven to 325F

In a saucepan melt 1/2 stick (4 Tbl) of butter over moderately low heat, add the 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, and cook the roux, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the 2 cups half-and-half in a stream, whisking, bring the sauce to a boil, whisking, and simmer it, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the mustard, the salt, and the cayenne, remove the pan from the heat and beat in the egg yolks, 1 at a time.
Spread both sides of the bread with the remaining 2 Tbl butter and cut the bread into very small cubes.  In a large bowl, combine the bread, the 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions, 1 1/2 cups cooked corn, 1/2 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese, with the sauce. 
In another large bowl beat the 4 egg whites with the cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks.
Stir one-third of the whites into the corn mixture and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Spoon the mixture into a buttered 1 1/2 quart soufflé dish, set the dish in a deep baking pan, and add enough hot water to the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the soufflé dish. Bake the pudding, covered in buttered foil, in a preheated moderately slow oven (325F) for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake for 30 minutes more, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Serves 6.



Comments

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Have you been reading Salman Rushdie? Your title reminds me of a character in "Midnight's Children," a woman so disappointed by life that it all comes out in her cooking.

Ah, found some pertinent quotes here, such as the "curries of disquiet" and "birianis of dissension."
http://www.litkicks.com/MidnightsChildren/

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that. I'll try to find it, as I read the similarly-themed _Like Water for Chocolate_ a few years ago and liked it very much.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

It's about growing up during the partition of India/Pakistan when India gained independence from Britain. I love Rushdie's writing and this is a good one.

[falzalot.livejournal.com]

Those lasagnas were OMG FANTASTIC!!!! Thanks so much for sending them!!!

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, I'm glad you liked it.

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Corn Casserole, by WednesdayAddams
http://www.giraffeboards.com/showthread.php?t=11946

"My grandmother made the world's best corn casserole and thoughtlessly went to her grave without sharing the recipe. My dad doesn't know; it isn't like he paid attention when women were cooking. Great guy, my dad, but he has a few blind spots. For the last two years, I've been trying to re-create her recipe and I think I may have gotten it.

2 cans or 3 c. fresh, cooked corn, divided
1 1/2 c. milk
1 c. heavy whipping cream
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 jalapenos, seed pods removed & diced fine
1/4 c. flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, grated

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a medium casserole dish with butter or spray. In a food processor, combine half the corn kernels and whipping cream. Pulse several times until the corn is mostly pureed (you can cheat and use one can corn, one can creamed corn, but canned cream corn is crap). Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and jalapenos in butter until soft. Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Keep adding butter 1 tbsp at a time until golden. Add the milk and cook, whisking often, until thick and smooth. Stir in corn mixture, the other 1 1/2 c. of corn, cornmeal, sugar and cilantro. Add salt & pepper to taste. Pour mixture into the casserole dish and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until cheese is golden and beginning to brown. Convince yourself to wait until it's cool enough to eat. Which I clearly was not able to do. My tongue is burnt."