Panera’s Mac n cheese is the bomb. there is no other comparable Mac n cheese out there
Lasagna
- Thread starter ISUCyclones2015
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Panera’s Mac n cheese is the bomb. there is no other comparable Mac n cheese out there
I have issues with gluten and the best thing I have found is eat the regular stuff and take some Imodium with it. I love gluten pasta when eaten right away but if allowed to sit in the sauce for any long period (even to bake in something like lasagna it really seems to turn to mush.
I kind of have an unhealthy obsession with cheese. So I do agree with some posters here that we tend to over sauce pasta dishes. I'm probably guilty of over cheesing my lasagna. I grew up with jar sauce and cottage cheese because my parents were all about cheap and easy. Nothing wrong with that. I however love to cook so once I was on my own I started tweaking my recipe until I got it right (for me).
I'm definitely team ricotta. Mix it with an egg and basil. Get than nasty soup inducing cottage cheese out of here.
I also start with a noodle on the bottom of the glass pan. There will inevitably be fluids that work their way down and help cook the noodle so you don't need to add sauce or anything. I do however like my lasagna to have a little crisp to it. This method can produce a more firm bottom layer that helps with serving and adding a bit more texture.
I make my own sauce and while cooking down the sauce it tends to thicken up a bit. You can't have it too thick otherwise the noodles struggle to cook through.
Protein - sausage is amazeballs. Grew up on beef and enjoy that as well but for the love of god please add some seasoning.
My top layer tends to be a thin layer of sauce with a nice layer of mozzarella on top of that. When pulled out of the oven it's then served with fresh grated parmesan (not the wood pulp stuff).
Damn it...now I want lasagna.
I'm definitely team ricotta. Mix it with an egg and basil. Get than nasty soup inducing cottage cheese out of here.
I also start with a noodle on the bottom of the glass pan. There will inevitably be fluids that work their way down and help cook the noodle so you don't need to add sauce or anything. I do however like my lasagna to have a little crisp to it. This method can produce a more firm bottom layer that helps with serving and adding a bit more texture.
I make my own sauce and while cooking down the sauce it tends to thicken up a bit. You can't have it too thick otherwise the noodles struggle to cook through.
Protein - sausage is amazeballs. Grew up on beef and enjoy that as well but for the love of god please add some seasoning.
My top layer tends to be a thin layer of sauce with a nice layer of mozzarella on top of that. When pulled out of the oven it's then served with fresh grated parmesan (not the wood pulp stuff).
Damn it...now I want lasagna.
- Mar 27, 2006
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There is no scenario where cottage cheese is superior to ricotta in lasagna.
I do a partial cook of my noodles. Have them suck up enough water so they are not rigid. This also lets you reduce the sauce and liquid needed for the noodles to soak up from the ingredients. Always start with noodles on the bottom. I like extra noodles.
- Mar 27, 2006
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You pretty much nailed it.
You have to season the ricotta. Takes it to a different level. Sausage is way better than beef. And homemade sauce is better than anything out of a jar. I'm not talking about using your own tomatoes. Good quality canned tomatoes are fine. And for the cheese, skip the pre-shredded stuff. It has anti clumping agents in it to keep the shreds from sticking together. They're not bad, but fresh grated mozzarella tastes better. Also fontina is a good add in as well.
Did you hear what Mythical Chefs Josh & Nicole had to say on that topic?
What did you think of that Will It Lasagna? episode of GMM
I’m fully onboard with your Mac and cheese take. It’s all the same and almost never that memorable. Mac and cheese is for 5 year olds.
Agreed that panera has solid mac and cheese.
The one place i'll risk it is BBQ places- they seem to be more likely to go for a gooey mac and cheese that usually turns out well. Also, one fast food place that does mac n cheese well is chick fil a. They make a baked mac n cheese that's gooey with that baked cheese on top, its pretty good and goes well with spicy chicken.
Agreed. My parents did/do this all the time. Again I think its being the product of depression era parents and finding ways to make food go further.
If you want to try something fun though, skip the milk and go straight to warmed cream cheese. You want to talk about melt in your mouth fluffy eggs....
I was at a friends when his dad did this and I was not sure what I thought about it. They were some of the best scrambled eggs I've ever had. You really should warm the cream cheese up before trying to blend it with the eggs (prior to cooking) so it blends better. I've done cold cheese and well, it just sort of clumps. Still good, but not as great.
Agreed. My parents did/do this all the time. Again I think its being the product of depression era parents and finding ways to make food go further.
If you want to try something fun though, skip the milk and go straight to warmed cream cheese. You want to talk about melt in your mouth fluffy eggs....
I had always heard sour cream for scrambled eggs. I do milk because I feel it makes them slightly fluffier than just adding some water. If doing omelets then I add water, but scrambled is milk.
I'll just leave this here: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes...bolognese-pasta-italian-homemade-ricotta.html
And yes. It is GOOD.
And yes. It is GOOD.
I can't wait to see what the real off-season threads start to look like!
I've never tried anything but milk for scrambled eggs. I didn't realize that was a cost-savings thing. What are other options?
Oh, put cinnamon and vanilla in your french toast mix, too. Half and half if you have some to use up. And marscapone on top.
Oh, put cinnamon and vanilla in your french toast mix, too. Half and half if you have some to use up. And marscapone on top.
I'm going to have to disagree here, as this is not a correct analogy to the OP's post. A patty is but part of the burger. If I got to McDonalds and buy two double cheeseburgers and smush them together I don't get to say I ate one cheeseburger, unless of course the wife asks.
Now if you simply double the meat for your lasagna and keep everything else the same this analogy would work. In that case, yes, you have one lasagna.
What you have here is two separate and distinct lasagnas.
