Cooking on Cape Cod

After a LONG day of travel, we finally got back from Cape Cod last night.  I love going out there to see Greg and Matt and their girlfriends, Mary and Jessie.  But, cooking in Auntie Barbara's kitchen is a bit challenging.  Over the years I've added critical items like a grater.  But, there are still a LOT of items missing.  Like, knives that really cut.  And, soup spoons.  And a grabber that's not in two parts...  So, I consider it to be kind of like camping.  We started with the kids favorite meal - Chicken Caesar Lasagna.  It's easy to make and is a family favorite.

Chicken Caesar Lasagna
one rotisserie chicken
1 or 2 jars alfredo sauce
1 or 2 packages frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 jar roasted red peppers, chopped
1 tbs lemon juice
9 lasagna noodles
1 pkg grated 5 Italian cheese

Boil the lasagna noodles.  While they're boiling, pick the meat off the chicken.  Mix it with the sauce, spinach, roasted red peppers and lemon juice.  Schmear a bit of the sauce mix on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Lay 3 lasagna noodles over that.  Top with 1/3 of the sauce mix, followed by 3 more lasagna noodles, and so on until you have three layers.  Bake at 350 for 45 min.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for another 15 min.


The next night we wound up at our favorite pub to watch our Colts and have dinner.  Captain Parker's has won all kinds of clam chowder cook-offs.  We started with cups of that, of course.  I had a little piece of the best prime rib I think I've ever had.  Tender, flavorful, juicy.  Perfect.  Turns out the Captain was there and wandered in to say hello.  He wound up giving us a couple of their mugs as mementos.

Friday, we wandered toward Sandwich (the quintessential New England town) stopping at various galleries and book stores and shops.  I was on the hunt for a couple more Christmas presents and some stocking stuffers.  Found them!  On the way we saw a sign for LOBSTERS.  So, we found it on the way back and meandered up the driveway.  Turns out the guy has a tank on his front porch packed with lobsters he caught that day.  YUM!  The "tree" in the front yard was a mountain of lobster pots strung with lights.

Saturday we had glop and roasted broccoli.  Another family favorite with a newbie - to them at least.  It's the 4th time we've made the roasted broccoli in a month!

Glop
What a name for a dish.  This started when I was in 8th grade cooking class.  We made a dish with macaroni, tomato juice, hamburger and cheese.  Over the years, I've tweaked the recipe more than a bit. 

1 lb ground round
1/4 c Andria's steak sauce (believe me - this is the best - order it online)
1 package Kraft mac and cheese, prepared according to directions
1 can diced tomatoes with their juice
2 tsp basil
10 oz Cracker Barrel extra sharp cheddar, grated

Brown the ground round with the Andria's.  Drain the liquid into a fat strainer and pour the good stuff back in.  Mix everything else in and enjoy!

Sunday was Lou's Barbecue Beef, Jane's rice and clean up the kitchen for five salad.  Lou's BBQ Beef was in the 10/26/09 post.  Jane's rice was what we always had as kids with fried chicken livers.  That was a huge treat - still is. But, now, I fix Jane's rice with lots of different things.  It's kind of a haphazard recipe - no specific instructions.  You'll wind up with about 3 cups of rice so you'll want to start with about a cup of uncooked rice.  Uncle Ben's converted is the best.  Take a measuring cup if you're more comfortable using that to determine the amount of liquid.  I've done this one so long that I just eyeball it.  Drain a 4oz can of mushrooms - pieces and stems - into the measuring cup.  Add white wine for another 1/3 -1/2 of the liquid.  Then, use water for the rest.  Dump the liquid, rice, a package of dry onion soup mix and the mushrooms in your saucepan and cook until the rice is done.  If it starts to get too dry, pour more wine or water in.  Chef's choice!