Janice's Manicotti

In my house, we like pasta dishes a lot.  So when a friend told me she liked to make this recipe for special occasions, I said I'd like to try it.

My friend, Janice Berru, was happy to share this recipe with me, providing helpful hints at the top of the page!  It was a big hit with my guys, as they gave it 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.  Janice was pleased when I told her that her recipe was blog worthy and that I would be sharing it soon!

I began by preheating the oven to 350°F.  I then placed the sausage in a large skillet and browned it over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooked.  While that was cooking, I began heating water to boiling in a Dutch oven to cook the manicotti according to the package directions. 

To the browned sausage, I added the chopped garlic and cooked an additional 2 minutes to let the garlic cook, but not brown.

I then added the spinach, stirring to combine and cooked it an additional 5 minutes.

Once the manicotti was cooked, I placed the pan in the sink and started a stream of cold water running into the pan to replace the boiling water.  This stops the cooking process and by keeping the pasta in water, it prevents the pieces from sticking together.

In a large bowl, I beat the eggs using a fork.  Then I added the ricotta cheese, basil and salt, stirring to combine.

To that mixture I added the sausage mixture, stirring to combine.

After greasing a 9- x 13-inch baking dish, I added enough pasta sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the dish.

After removing a manicotti shell from the water and blotting it with a paper towel, I filled it with the sausage mixture using a spoon.  I found it easiest to fill from one end first, then turn it over and continue  from the other end.  This is a messy process.  I repeated this with the rest of the pasta, placing them in the baking dish as each one was filled.

I poured the remaining pasta sauce over the top of the manicotti.

Then I sprinkled the parmesan cheese on top.  I covered the dish with foil and baked it in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes.  I then uncovered the dish and baked it for an additional 10 minutes.

I served this dish with Leon Salad (previous post) and some garlic bread.  What a treat!  Enjoy!

Janice’s Manicotti

1 box manicotti

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bag fresh spinach, chopped

2 eggs

1 (15 oz.) contain ricotta cheese

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 jar pasta sauce

¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a Dutch oven, bring water to a boil.  Add manicotti and gently boil for 7 minutes.  Remove pot from heat, place in sink and run cold water into pot, replacing the boiling water with cold water.  In the meantime, cook Italian sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.  Add garlic.  Sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, making sure the garlic does not brown.  Stir in chopped spinach and cook an additional 5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs; stir in ricotta, basil and salt.  Stir in sausage/spinach mixture.  Fill the manicotti tubes with the mixture.  Lightly grease a 9-x13-inch baking dish and spread enough pasta sauce to lightly cover the bottom.  Place stuffed manicotti in baking dish.  Pour remaining pasta sauce over the filled shells and sprinkle with cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.

Farmhouse Pork and Apple Pie

This is one of my favorite dishes to make during the cooler months when I don't mind having my oven on for a while.  This recipe makes a lot of food that is extremely tasty.  I will warn you, that I have written on my recipe that the preparation time for this dish is 1 1/2 hours and the cooking time is 2 hours, so it takes some time to put this on the table, but it is oh so worth it!

I tore this recipe out of a magazine years ago, but there is nothing on the page to indicate which magazine it came from.  Because this makes so much, I like to put some in one baking dish for my family and the rest in a disposable pan to share with another family in need.  It also freezes well.  My guys give this dish 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.

In a large skillet I fry the bacon, which I've cut into about 1/2-inch pieces, over high heat.

Using a slotted spoon, I remove the bacon from the pan and place on several layers of paper towels to drain.

I add the chopped onion to the bacon drippings, and cook until they are tender and translucent.

Using a slotted spoon, I remove the onions to the bacon to drain.

While the onions are cooking, I begin cutting the pork into 3/4-inch cubes.  Handling about 1/3 of the pork at a time, I dredge the cubes of pork in flour.

I then add them to the bacon drippings, adding oil if needed, and cook over medium heat until browned.

After fully cooked, I remove each batch to a large bowl.

To the pork, I add the bacon and onions, tossing to combine.

About this time, I preheat the oven to 325°F.  I then stir in each apple as I peel, core, and chopped them.

In a small bowl, I combine the rubbed sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Rubbed sage is different from any other dried spice I've ever used.  The best word I can use to describe it is fluffy, so it's a bit hard to mix with the rest of the spices.

I make sure I mix them well to ensure they are evenly distributed in the dish.

I then add the spices to the pork and apple mixture, stirring gently to combine.

The apple cider and water get added and stirred into the mixture.

This mixture then gets put into the baking dishes.

I cover the dishes with foil, whether freezing for a later use or baking immediately.  I place it in the oven and bake at 325°F for 2 hours.

About 1/2 hour before the baking time is done, I peel, cube and boil the potatoes and mash them with a bit of butter and salt.  When the dish comes out of the oven, I spread the hot mashed potatoes over the top of the dish and it's ready to serve!  The recipe says that 3 tablespoons of melted butter can be brushed over the top of the potatoes and then placed under the broiler for 5 minutes to brown the top, but in our house, the aroma is so enticing that my family never waits long enough for that step to begin eating!

I guess it would look prettier if it was browned nicely on top, because this way it just looks like a very full dish of mashed potatoes!

I usually serve this dish with a green salad and rolls.  To me, this is comfort food at it's best!  Enjoy!

Farmhouse Pork and Apple Pie

1 pound sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 medium onions, chopped

3 pounds boneless pork, cubed

¾ cup all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil, optional

3 medium tart apples, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 cup apple cider

½ cup water

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

½ cup milk

5 tablespoons butter, divided

Additional salt and pepper

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp.  Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.  In drippings, sauté onions until tender; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Dust pork lightly with flour.  Brown a third at a time in drippings, adding oil if needed.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.  To pork, add bacon, onions, apples, sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Stir in cider and water.  Place mixture in an oven-proof baking dish and bake at 325°F for 2 hours or until pork is tender.  In a large saucepan, cook potatoes in boiling water until tender.   Drain and mash with milk and butter.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove baking dish from oven and spread potatoes over pork mixture.  Optional:  Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and brush over potatoes.  Broil 6 inches from the heat for 5 minutes or until topping is browned.

Snickerdoodle Turtle Dessert

Whenever I ask my guys what dessert they think I should make for a particular occasion, this is always what they say they want.  The most recent time was for my youngest son's birthday.  They can't seem to get enough of this one!  This dessert will satisfy anyone's sweet tooth for sure!

My sister got this recipe from her mother-in-law, Sina Gage, and quickly shared it with me close to 30 years ago.  It has to sit for 24 hours before serving, so I don't ever make it on a whim.  If my guys ever gave out 10's for anything I make, this for sure would get that score, but it definitely gets high 9's from all of them.

To begin, I preheat the oven to 350°F.  Then, in a large bowl, I place the German chocolate cake mix and 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk.  It's important that you use evaporated milk as opposed to sweetened condensed milk.  I begin to stir these ingredients together . . .

. . . before adding the melted butter so that the milk doesn't react in any way to the hot, melted butter. 

I continue to mix until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

I then spread and press half of the cake mixture into a 9- x 13-inch baking dish and place it in the oven to bake at 350°F for 7 minutes.  I set the remaining cake mixture aside to use later.

When done, it should not resemble a baked cake, but it will have puffed up during the baking time.  I leave this to cool a bit while starting the caramel layer.

After unwrapping the caramels, I place them in a medium saucepan and combine them with 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk.  I melt these together over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

As the caramels melt, at first it looks as though they are just coloring the milk, but after a couple of minutes, you'll see that they are actually melting into the milk.  At this point, I start to stir more frequently.

The result should be a completely smooth caramel mixture.

I pour the caramel mixture directly on top of the cake mixture.  

I usually have to spread it a little bit to get it to the edges of the pan.  I learned the hard way not to start melting the caramels before the cake comes out of the oven.  It was too soft to spread the caramel to the edges and started lifting and making a mess when I tried.  That's why I always wait until the cake comes out of the oven before melting the caramels to allow it to cool enough before adding the carmel mixture.

I sprinkle 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips directly on top of the caramel layer, trying to add them as evenly as possible.

Then, I add the chopped pecans in the same manner.

The reserved cake mix becomes a bit stiffer as it sits, which makes it easier to handle for this next step.  Taking a small amount of the dough, I roll it into about a 1-inch ball, using my hands.

I then flatten it out on my hand.

I remove it from my hand and place it on top of the pecan layer.

I repeat this until the top of the dish is covered with the flattened dough balls.  Back into the oven the dish goes for an additional 10 minutes at 350°F.

As with the first layer of the cake mix, this layer puffs up during baking.  The dish needs to sit out on the counter for at least 24 hours before serving.  This allows time for the caramel layer to set, otherwise it will ooze when the dessert is cut into pieces.  After it cools completely, I cover it with plastic wrap until I serve it.  This dessert is pretty rich, so I don't cut the pieces very big.  I figure people can always take a second serving, if they can't live without it!  That is the case with most people!  Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Turtle Dessert

1 German chocolate cake mix

1 (12 oz.) can Carnation evaporated milk, divided

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) butter, melted

14 oz. package Kraft caramels

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a medium bowl, mix the cake mix, ½ of the evaporated milk, and melted butter together.  Spread half of this mixture in a 9- x 13-inch baking dish, setting the other half aside.  Bake at 350°F  for 7 minutes.

Unwrap caramels and combine them in a medium saucepan with 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk over medium-low heat.  Stir often until all caramels are melted and mixture is smooth.  Spread over cake layer.

Sprinkle pecans and chocolate chips evenly over caramel layer.  Form remaining cake mixture into 1-inch balls and flatten them out.  Place on top of pecans and chocolate chips.  Bake an additional 10 minutes at 350°F.  Cool completely and let stand for 24 hours before serving to let caramel set.