Crazy Girl's Kitchen

Get ready:

• 4 lb red potatoes, quartered
• 4 extra large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 Tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 Tsp dried dill
• salt and black pepper to taste

Now let’s play:

Put quartered potatoes and eggs in a large sauce pan. Cover with salted water by one inch. Bring to broil and then let simmer for 5 minutes or till potatoes and eggs are cooked through. Drain the water, take out the eggs, transfer potatoes to a large vessel, and stir in minced onion immediately. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Shell, chop, and stir in the eggs when cooled. Serve room temperature or chilled (about 8 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Stirring in the onion immediately into hot potatoes is to cook onion a little, so the taste of onion is more well-blended into the salad.

Get ready:

• 3 lb ground beef
• 1 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 3 whole large eggs, whisked
• 1 Tsp dried basil
• 1 Tsp dried parsley
• 1 Tsp garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup plain bread crumbs

Now let’s play:

Mix all the ingredients together by hand, and then use palms to form into 1.5-inch balls (make about 48 balls). Bake in a 400F oven for 20-25 minutes.

After-play thoughts:

Thanks to Alton Brown’s perennial effort of turning gadgets into multitaskers, mini-muffin pans are hands down the best tool for the job. The pans promote even proportion (meatballs should just fit comfortably into each cup) and even browning while holding the shape. If you use those pans that make 24 mini-muffins per pan, this recipe conveniently makes 2 pans of meatballs.

Get ready:

• 1lb (16 counts) lasagna noodles, cooked to barely al dente, drained, and sprinkled with olive oil
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 14 1/2-ounce cans tomato sauce
• 4 cups ricotta cheese
• 4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1 Tsp dried parsley leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• salt and pepper
• extra Parmesan and shredded mozzarella, for topping

Now let’s play:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat up 2 Tsp olive oil in a large saute pan, add beef (seasoned with salt and pepper) and brown until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add onion and garlic to the pan, and saute for another 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cans tomato sauce.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, eggs,, basil, parsley, oregano, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the lasagna: Measure 4 cooked noodle to the width of the pan and cut off  the portions where the noodles are longer then the pan width. Coat the bottom of a 14 inch lasagna pan with olive oil and 1/4 can of tomato sauce. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise in a slightly overlapping layer on the sauce. Then, line one end of the pan with a lasagna noodle that was measure to the width of the pan. Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over the pasta (make sure to cover the edges). Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the ricotta, and top with 1/4 can of tomato sauce. Repeat with the next layer of noodles (the only difference is to line each end of the pan with a cut-off portion of the lasagna noodles from step one), cheese mixture, meat mixture, and tomato sauce. Top last layer with noodles as the bottom layer, tomato sauce, extra shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Tap the pan to force out air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour, and let lasagna rest for 30 minutes on the counter top before cutting and serving.

After-play thoughts:

For the best result, a large deep lasagna pan or a small roasting pan should be used. From my own experience, the Pyrex 13*9 baking dish is too shallow for the job.

For the Pork Chop

Get ready:

• 4 (1 inch thick) pork chops
• 1 cup AP flour
• 2 eggs, whisked together
• 2 cups Panko bread crumbs
• salt & pepper
• vegetable oil

Now let’s play:

Pound the pork chops to about 1/4 inch thick. Season generously with salt and pepper. Coat the pork chops with AP flour on both sides, dip into egg, and coat with Panko bread crumbs (pat the bread crumbs on the chops for better results). Pour vegetable oil into a Dutch oven or a heavy bottom pot, about 2 inch deep (the bottom of pot at your choice should be bigger than the pounded pork chop). Heat up the oil to 350F. Fry the pork chops one at time until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain off the extra oil on a cooling rack over a sheet pan lined with paper towel. Serve immediately (4 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Panko crumbs make a huge difference on how crispy the pork chops come out. Most oriental markets carry them, or you can order from Amazon as I did.

For the Vegetable Curry:

Get ready:

• 2 Tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 medium carrots, diced
• 1 lb russet potato, diced
• 2 Tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 4 cups chicken stock
• salt & pepper

Now let’s play:

Turn heat to medium high. Add oil. Saute the onion for 2 minutes. Add the garlic. Saute for another minute. Add the carrots. Saute for 3 minutes. Add curry powder and red pepper flakes. Saute for another minute. Add the diced potato and chicken stock. Bring to broil. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, and stir occasionally, until potato falls apart and the sauce starts to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over rice (4-6 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Potato is often used in Asian cuisine as a natural thickener. Using potato results in a more light but creamy texture while using corn starch or flour can lead to somewhat gluey sauce.