Taco Lasagna

By Paul Briand

Here's a simple fusion recipe for you: The taste of tacos fused with the heartiness of lasagna.

Getting this lasagna onto the table first requires the assembling of a variety of ingredients from the market and deciding what garnishes you want to add to the dish.

Ingredients
1 pound of ground beef
1 package of taco seasoning mix
1 bottle of beer (or a cup of water)
4 soft tortillas that fit into a 9-inch pie plate
Fresh mozzarella cheese, about 8 ounces
1 package of shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees;
2. In a skillet heated to medium high cook the ground beef, add taco seasoning mix and beer (or water) and continue to stir until the mixture starts to bind up. Remove from heat and set aside;
3. Place a tortilla into ungreased glass or metal pie plate;
4. Layer in one third of the meat mixture, strips of mozzarella cheese, and a third of the cheddar;
5. Add another tortilla and another layer of meat, mozzarella and cheddar;
6. Add third tortilla and another layer of meat and cheese;
7. Top with last tortilla;
8. Bake for about 15 minutes;
9. Remove and top with your favorite garnishes.

The lasagna yields six pie-like slices. My choice of garnishes included guacamole, salsa, and jalapeno peppers. Other choices could include black olives, more cheddar cheese, sour cream, and nacho cheese sauce.

Tourtiere

By Paul Briand

Growing up, my Mom frequently exposed our family to some of the food from the Eastern Europe branches of her family tree, especially around Easter, when she would make paska, a traditional Polish egg bread.

But we never explored the culinary side of my Dad's French-Canadian upbringing. So I was pleased to find in a recent issue of the American Automobile Association magazine a recipe for Tourtiere, a traditional French-Canadian meat pie dish normally served around the holidays.

There are any number of varieties of a Toutiere. Though considered a meat pie, you can play with combinations of ground beef, pork, turkey, chicken or veal. You can add some chopped up vegetables. I used ground beef and veal, and chopped onions and mushrooms.

It's not a complicated dish, by any means, but what sets it aside is a blend of spices -- particularly cloves -- that you might otherwise associate with mulling cider or wine. I'll play with this recipe in the future. I'd like it to stand up better once I cut into it, which means I need something to hold the ingredients together as they bake in the pie crust.

Ingredients
1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of ground veal
1 onion, diced
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Pastry for double-crust 9-inch pie
A little milk

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees;
2. Add the beef and veal to a large skillet over medium high heat;
3. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic, chicken stock and spices and bring to boil;
4. Simmer on low, uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally;
5. Drain off excess fat;
6. Line a pie pan with half of the pastry and spoon the meat filling into the shell;
7. Top with the remaining pastry, crimping the edges together;
8. Cut slits in the top crust and brush with a little milk;
9. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is brown;
10. If crust browns too quickly, reduce heat to 350 degrees or cover crust edges with foil;
11. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Roasted Pork Loin with Apples and Cinnamon

By Paul Briand

This recipe came from a visit my wife Jane made to New York state for a girls' weekend with her three daughters. One of the daughters, Reilly, is a student at Ithaca College, so Jane, daughter Kelsey and daughter Eileen made arrangements to travel to Ithaca for a weekend of touring wineries and sightseeing and visiting.

Jane picked up a little brochure with information about apples, in particular apples native to New York state, such as the Empire and Cortland.

The brochure contained information about various apples and various recipes that use apples, including one for Roasted Pork Loin with Apples and Cinnamon.

I made the recipe recently for a big family Sunday dinner and it was a big hit with only a moderate amount of preparation involved.

The idea here is to create a rub for the pork using olive oil, pepper, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Also, the recipe called for two apples, I used three. And, since we couldn't find a 2-pound pork loin, we bought two loins of about a pound each.

Ingredients
2 pounds boneless pork loin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger, divided
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 Cortland apples, cored, peeled and sliced into wedges

Directions
1. Rub pork loins with a mixture of the olive oil, pepper and a 1/2 teaspoon each of the ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon;
2. Roast pork in a shallow pan in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the interior of the meat reads at least 155 degrees;
3. While the pork is roasting, mix together in a small bowl the rest of the ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon along with the wine, honey and lemon juice;
4. Place mixture in a medium sauce pan and add apples, then simmer until the apples break down into the sauce;
5. When the pork is done, let sit for 10 minutes before slicing and add pork roast juices to the mixture in the sauce pan;
6. Serve sliced pork topped with the apple sauce.

Mediterranean Fish Stew

By Paul Briand

This recipe has been kicking around in my sister Margaret's recipe book for many years, and it's a family favorite.

And I'm being literal when I use the term "kicking around" because an important part of this recipe is a topping that adds some real kick to the stew. The topping is sour cream based and includes cayenne pepper -- the more cayenne the heartier the kick.

Ingredients
(For stew)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 16-ounce cans of kitchen ready tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine
8-ounce bottle clam juice
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon each of basil, oregano and thyme
2 pounds total of white fish, shrimp and/or scallops
(For topping)
1 cup sour cream
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions
1. Make the topping ahead of time starting with the sour cream in a mixing bowl and add the garlic, cayenne, lemon and salt and mix. More cayenne equals more kick. Cover and refrigerate to give the ingredients an opportunity to marry;
2. In large pot with oil heated over medium high heat, sautee the onion and pepper until limp;
3. Stir in garlic;
4. Add the tomatoes, white wine and clam juice;
5. Stir in bouillon cubes along with basil, oregano and thyme;
6. Simmer covered for 15 minutes;
7. Bring to boil and add fish, shrimp and/or scallops;
8. Simmer for 8 minutes;
9. Serve with crusty bread.

I used a pound of fish (cod) along with a half pound of pre-cooked shrimp and a half pound of scallops. I gave both the shrimp and scallops a quick frying pan searing in hot oil before they went into the stew.

Caramel Appletizer

Editor's note: This recipe comes from my son, David, who has both skill and imagination in the kitchen.

By David Briand

I was recruited to prepare appetizers for a surprise birthday party with a Roaring 20s theme. Based on the theme, I decided to prepare one meat and one meatless appetizer, both of which would use alcohol in the recipe in celebration of the decade of Prohibition and bootlegging. I found two recipes on the internet that called for bourbon, so I went out and bought a bottle of Jim Beam.

The first was a recipe for bourbon BBQ sauce. The second was for a bourbon-infused caramel, which I knew I could use for an autumn-themed arrangement. Caramel apples are always a fall favorite, so a bag of Macintosh apples was added to the shopping list. Pairing fruit with cheese is always a hit, so I decided on a block of good old New York cheddar. The Roaring 20s, after all, was an American phenomenon. Last, I needed a base upon which to assemble the ingredients, and a crusty baguette seemed a perfect fit.

Caramel Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp butter
1 tbsp bourbon
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions
Heat sugar on high until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Once all the sugar has been liquefied, add butter and whisk vigorously until all the butter has melted. Add cream and bourbon, whisking continuously and remove from heat. Let stand for a minute, then transfer the caramel to another container. If you refrigerate it, you'll have to reheat before use.

Assembly
Cut baguette into thin slices, about 1/8 inch. Place on cookie sheet and bake on 425 degrees until toasted lightly. Cut Macintosh apples into flat, half-moon shapes. Using a vegetable peeler, slice off thin strips of cheddar.

Use the baguette chips as a base, then add a slice of cheddar, then the apple, and drizzle with the bourbon caramel. Stick a toothpick through the whole stack, and there you have it -- Caramel Appletizers.

Salmon Burgers with Caesar Slaw

By Paul Briand

If you watch Rachael Ray on the Food Channel or on her own syndicated show, you know that she can whip up a meal in 30 minutes or less. She's built a cooking career on her 30-minute meals, in fact.

So I decided this week to put Ray to the test with her recipe for Salmon Burgers with Caesar Slaw.

From start to finish, I had this meal on the table in 45 minutes. To be fair, however, I probably could have done it in the prescribed 30 minutes, but while I was doing the salmon burgers and slaw, my son David who was visiting for a couple of days was doing a side dish of homemade mac and cheese. So there was conversation. And there was beer.

But the end result was a tasty meal created with only a moderate amount of effort.

A couple of notes on the recipe. Ray calls for a 14-ounce can of salmon. I don't like canned salmon, so instead I used two 12-ounce pouches of salmon.

Ingredients
2 (12-ounce) pouches of salmon
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
Handful parsley leaves, finely chopped
2 lemons, zested and juiced, divided
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, 3 generous handfuls
Salt and pepper
4 anchovies, finely chopped, optional
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Couple handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano
2 hearts romaine lettuce, shredded
1 head radicchio, shredded

Directions
1. In a bowl with the salmon, add egg whites, parsley, the zest and juice of 1 lemon, 2/3 of the total amount of chopped garlic, the bread crumbs and lots of black pepper and a little salt. Mix together and form 4 large patties or 8 mini patties;
2. To a salad bowl add the remaining zest and lemon juice, remaining garlic, chopped anchovies, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire;
3. Whisk in about 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil and cheese. Add lots of black pepper, no salt;
4. Add shredded lettuces to the bowl and toss to coat evenly. Now, season the slaw with salt to taste, if necessary;
5. Preheat 2 tablespoons, of extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, in a nonstick skillet over medium to medium high heat. Cook salmon patties 2 to 3 minutes on each side for mini patties, 4 minutes on each side for large patties;
6. Serve salmon patties atop Caesar Slaw.

Skillet Baked Spaghetti

By Paul Briand

First off, when the directions say to use large skillet, use a very large skillet.

My 12-inch skillet was barely large enough to fit all the ingredients for this all-encompassing dish that is perfect for these crisp fall evenings.

The stirring part that described below meant a fair amount of spillage, but in the end this recipe from my local Shaw's supermarket was very satisfying.

My changes/additions to the recipe included onions and pepper, and I didn't use as much water as was suggested, mostly because I had simply run out of room in the skillet.

Ingredients
12 ounces of ground beef
4 ounces of sweet or hot Italian sausage (two links will suffice, remove the casings if buying links)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
28-ounce can of kitchen ready tomatoes
8 ounces of uncooked spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
2 cups water
1/4 cup heavy cream (I substituted half and half)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
6 tablespoons basil
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to broil, with rack down one slot from usual broiling position;
2. In a large skillet (very large skillet) coated with olive oil over medium high heat, cook the onion and pepper until onion starts getting translucent;
3. Add minced garlic, oregano and basil and stir, then add ground beef and sausage, breaking them up with wooden spoon and cooking until no longer pink;
4. Stir in tomatoes, spaghetti and water, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the pasta begins to soften (you'll know right here whether your skillet is big enough);
5. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to simmer and stir, cooking the pasta until it's al dente;
6. Stir in the cream (or half and half) and a half cup of cheese;
7. Remove skillet from burner, top mixture with rest of cheese and place under broiler;
8. Let cook about three minutes or until the spaghetti mixture surface is spotty brown.

Serves from four to six.

Please note: Handle with care and oven mitts. It's heavy and very hot coming out of the oven.