How you doin’? Wow, where did November go? There are just 10 more days until Christmas. ‘Tis the season to be merry! And what a great way to begin to celebrate the end of the year holidays than with a Champagne cocktail—you can also substitute with California Sparkling Wine or Italian Prosecco. For those of you trying to make an impression on a new love… ladies love cocktails that tickle their noses.
 
Adding fresh fruit and cranberry juice to sparkling wine makes for an easy and tasty pre-holiday beverage. This cocktail is easy to convert to a non-alcoholic version as well—just sub the bubbly wine for bubbly soda water and let the kiddies join in the celebration.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
 
Ingredients 
4 cups cranberry juice
2 cups apple juice
1/3 cup grenadine syrup
1 bottle Champagne (or your favorite sparkling wine or Sprite)
 
A little water and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar for rimming the glasses
Garnish: fresh or frozen cranberries, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries
 
Directions

1. Add the cranberry juice, apple juice and grenadine syrup to a large pitcher and stir well until combined.
2. Place the sugar on a saucer.
3. Rim glasses with sugar by moistening the rim of the glass with water and then dipping the rim of the glass in sugar.
4. Fill each glass half full of the juice mixture and add a few berries to each glass as well, placing a strawberry on the rim of each glass.
5. Top it up with Champagne or other sparkling beverage of your choice.
6. Cheers to a Very Merry Christmas or the holiday of your choice.

ChefSecret:  For a more festive presentation, use red, green or blue sugar for rimming the glass.

Quip of the Day:  People who wonder if the cocktail glass is half empty or half full miss the point. The glass is refillable!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #HappyHour #ChampagneWinterBerryCocktail #Champagne #SparklingWine #Prosecco #MerryChristmas #HappyNewYear #Cheers#Holidays2023 #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                      ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? One of the best comfort foods is Lasagna—and you don’t have to be Italian to be well-comforted. Many home cooks have their own secret family recipes and there are countless ways to make this classic comfort food. If you want to serve lasagna using my recipe, it may become your new family heritage lasagna.
 
My recipe for the "Best" Lasagna utilizes a method I have used for years because it makes the creamiest lasagna you’ve ever tasted. I take the typical ingredient—ricotta cheese—and turn it into a secret sauce that elevates the whole experience. My recipe combines popular, easy-to-find, family-friendly ingredients, with an old-school, authentic Italian technique to make this lasagna unique and over the top. The creamy béchamel melts in your mouth and together with the fresh herbs, it really balances out the hearty flavor of the acidic meat sauce."
 
Of course, we're used to seeing ricotta cheese in lasagna, but it’s usually dropped in clumps on each layer. My Ricotta Béchamel Sauce gets perfect coverage for extra decadent results.
 
Making my secret sauce for this creamy comfort food is simple. It starts out like a traditional béchamel—make a roux by melting butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for a few minutes, making sure to continue whisking so nothing sticks or burns. Slowly pour in the milk and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce your heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Once you season, remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the ricotta cheese until smooth. Let it stand for 10 minutes before using it to build your lasagna. You can also make it a day before, as béchamel can easily be held in the refrigerator for a day.
 
My recipe calls for a flavorful meat sauce with fresh herbs, ricotta béchamel, al dente noodles and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
 
You will discover that your first bite was extra creamy and delicious. You will experience a velvety touch on the tongue from the bechamel sauce balanced with big, bright flavor from the red meat. The firm chew from the noodles and meat round it all out, along with the signature flavor and texture from the melted mozzarella.
 
I don’t want to brag, but I think you will find this is, hands down, the best lasagna recipe ever! The béchamel sauce makes it that much more special. The homemade sauce is well-balanced. It does take some extra time, but it is so worth it!
 
Prep time:  25 minutes
Cook time:  1 hour 50 minutes
Cool time:  15 minutes
Additional time: 15 mins
Total time: 2 hrs 30 mins
 
Ingredients 
For the basic meat sauce
1 pound ground sirloin (80/20)
1/2 pound spicy ground Italian sausage
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup cheap red cooking wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf or Italian parsley
 
For the ricotta bechamel
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-2/3 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
 
For the construction of the lasagna
cooking spray
1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
 
Directions
To prepare the meat sauce

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Add the ground sirloin and Italian sausage and cook and stir until browned and crumbly, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside in a bowl.
3. Add the olive oil to the Dutch oven and heat until shimmering.
4. Add the onion and salt and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until softened and translucent; about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the garlic and sauté until fragrant; about 2 minutes.
6. Add the crushed tomatoes, red wine, tomato paste, honey, black pepper, and crushed red pepper; stir until well combined.
7. Stir in cooked meat and bring mixture to a boil.
8. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in basil and parsley.

While sauce is simmering prepare bechamel

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes.
3. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
4. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
5. Remove from the heat and whisk in ricotta until smooth.
6. Let stand for 10 minutes.

To prepare the lasagna noodles

1. At the same time, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
2. Cook 12 lasagna noodles in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite: about 8 minutes.
3. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

To assemble the lasagna

1. Preheat an oven to 375⁰ F.
2. Lightly coat a 9 X 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Spoon 1/2 cup of the meat sauce into the bottom of the prepared dish.
4. Place 4 noodles across sauce.
5. Spoon 1/3 of remaining meat sauce over noodles.
6. Add 1/2 of the bechamel sauce.
7. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella and 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese.
8. Repeat the layers once more.
9. Top with the remaining 4 noodles, remaining sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.
10. Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.
11. Uncover and bake until golden and bubbly; 10 to 15 minutes longer.
12. Remove from the oven and let stand 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with additional fresh basil leaves.

ChefSecret: This lasagna freezes well. I like to make a large baking dish and cut it into 12 cuts and then wrap and freeze.  It will keep well for 90 days. The meat sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and the bechamel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Quip of the Day:  Why did the lasagna go to therapy? It had too many layers to peel back!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross.

#ChristmasRecipes #Lasagna #BechamelSauce #Ricotta #Holidays2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #RedCross #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
                                                                                       ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? There are just 13 days ‘till Christmas! I found out my good friend Linda is quite a holiday cook. She writes me quite often regarding some of the blog recipes that we send. This time she sent one to me… she told me that No-Cook M&M’s Christmas Casserole is quite popular this time of year. It can be ready in no time—just as long as it takes to open 4 bags of the beloved panned candy. 
 
Forrest Mars Sr., son of the Mars Company founder, Frank C. Mars, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating British-made Smarties, chocolate pellets with a colored shell of what confectioners call hard panning (essentially hardened sugar syrup) surrounding the outside, preventing the sweets (candies) from melting. Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3, 1941. Production began in 1941 in a factory located at Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey.
 
The company's first big customer was the U.S. Army, which saw the invention as a way to allow soldiers to carry chocolate in tropical climates without it melting. During World War II, the candies were exclusively sold to the military. The resulting demand for the candies caused an increase in production and the company moved its factory to bigger quarters.
 
In 1949, the brand introduced the tagline "The milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” And now you know the rest of the story!
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Yield:  20 servings
 
Ingredients 
1 bag plain M&M’s
1 bag peanut M&M’s
1 bag almond M&M’s
1 bag peanut butter M&M’s
 
Directions

1. Do not preheat an oven or pan.
2. Do not grease or spray a pan.
3. Simply open the bags and pour them into a casserole or serving dish.
4. Mix and Enjoy!

ChefSecret:  There are all sorts of different flavors these days—regular and holiday.  Mix and match as you please.

Quip of the Day:  Why was the M&M staring at the computer? It wanted to learn how to be a “smartie!”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. 

#ChristmasRecipes #M&MsCasserole #Smarties #Holidays2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #RedCross #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                                                       ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? Are you looking for a show-stopping dessert? If you don’t mind spending the time here is my recipe for making mini dessert tarts that are wickedly  cute and quite delicious. While the directions are a bit long, these little tarts are deceptively easy to make.
 
The shells taste like buttery almond cookies. The base filling is a deliciously smooth and creamy pastry cream with vanilla and brandy flavor thrills, all topped with beautiful fresh fruit.
 
You can really use any seasonal fruit. In the test kitchen, I aimed for color and shape—red raspberries, yellow mango, green kiwis and blue blueberries. The shine is from apricot jam glaze and of course a bit of whipped cream topping right before serving.
 
These pretty little fruit tarts will be the perfect finish to a Christmas or New Year’s brunch, wedding shower, or really any special occasions. Always remember everyone loves the taste of something sweet at the end of any great meal.
 
Prep time:  1 hour
Cook time:  15 minutes
Chill time:  2 hours or overnight
Bake time:  25 minutes
Yield: 15 to 18 mini tarts
 
Ingredients 
For the tart shells
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1-1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
1 cup unsalted room temperature butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Kosher salt
1 large egg, plus 2 egg yolks, divided
 
For the pastry cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1-2/3 cups whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brandy
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
 
For the fruit topping
5 cups mixed fruit, cut into bite-size pieces, if needed
2 tablespoons apricot jam
Whipped cream or mint leaf
 
Directions
To make the dough

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, almond flour and 1/2 cup of the confectioners’ sugar.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, vanilla and a pinch of salt on medium speed until smooth and shiny; about 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Sift in the remaining 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, reduce the speed to low, and cream until smooth: about 1 minute longer.
4. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined and repeat with the remaining dry ingredients.
5. In a small bowl, beat the whole egg, then add it to the dough and mix until incorporated.
6. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Using the heel of your hand, press and smear the dough onto itself for 30 seconds.
7. Form the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or preferably overnight.

To bake the tart shells

1. Preheat an oven to 375° F.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to just under 1/4-inch thick.
3. Cut the dough into squares slightly larger than the mini tart pans.
4. Transfer the dough to the tart pans and gently press it into the bottom and sides.
5. Use a rolling pin to pinch the overhanging dough off.
6. Dock the dough multiple times with the tines of a fork.
7. Place the tart shells on a sheet pan and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes or until firm to the touch.
8. Bake the tart shells for 14 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and the bottoms are just set, rotating halfway through.
9. Let the shells cool for a few minutes.
10. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and 1 tablespoon cold water.
11. Brush the egg wash on the inner and outer sides of the tart shells.
12. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes longer, until shiny and set.
13. Let the shells cool completely.

To make the pastry cream

1. In a medium bowl, prepare an ice bath.
2. Rest a similar-size bowl in the ice bath, and line it with a mesh sieve; set aside.
3. In a large pot, combine the sugar, milk, heavy cream and a pinch of salt.
4. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until steaming.
5. Remove the pot from the heat.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch until thick, smooth, and slightly lighter in color.
7. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, while whisking constantly, until combined.
8. Return the custard to the pot.
9. Place the pot over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the custard begins to thicken and boil, 4 to 5 minutes.
10. Cook for 1 minute longer, continuing to whisk vigorously.
11. Immediately strain the custard into the bowl over the ice to cool.
12. Whisk the vanilla extract, brandy and butter into the pastry cream until well combined.
13. Place plastic wrap flush against the surface of the pastry cream and let sit until it reaches room temperature; about 30 minutes.
14. Transfer the pastry cream to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble the tarts

1. Divide the pastry cream between the tart shells, filling each to 1/4-inch below the top of the shell.
2. Smooth the pastry cream with an offset spatula.
3. Arrange about 1/3 cup of the selected fruit (or mixed fruit) on top of the custard on each tart.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the apricot jam and 1 tablespoon hot water. Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of jam all over the fruit to seal.
5. Right before serving garnish each tart with a squirt of whipped cream (or a mint leaf).
6. Serve the tarts cold.

ChefSecret:  Pastry cream can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Finished fruit tarts can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
 
Quip of the Day:  Why do we have Pop-Tarts and not Mom-Tarts? Because of the Pastry-archy.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross.

​#ChristmasRecipes #Christmas #HolidayMiniFruitTarts #PastryCream #FruitTopping #Dessert #Holidays2023 #BeThankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #RedCross #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                       ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? Now you can turn everyone’s favorite tequila cocktail into the perfect holiday sipper with this Gingerbread Margarita! You’ll want to serve this signature Christmas cocktail at every holiday party.
 
Easy holiday cocktail recipes are hard to come by, but still delicious. My Drunken Zombie Gingerbread Margarita is a must-make for this year. With butterscotch, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg flavors, this cozy cocktail is just what you need. Cheers!
 
Ingredients 
1 lime wedge
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar for the rim
2 ounces spiced rum
1 ounce tequila
1/2 ounce butterscotch schnapps
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 drops cinnamon extract
Ginger beer
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground nutmeg
3-4 allspice berries
 
Directions

1. Run a lime wedge along the rim of a cocktail glass and dip the rim in cinnamon-sugar.
2. Add the ice to the cocktail glass.
3. In a cocktail shaker, add spiced rum, tequila, butterscotch schnapps, maple syrup, and cinnamon extract. Shake it like you mean it.
4. Pour cocktail mixture over ice. Pour ginger beer on top to fill glass.
5. Add a pinch of ginger and nutmeg to the top and 3-4 whole allspice berries for garnish.

ChefSecret:  Make your own ginger people. Find the recipe at Covid-19 Survival Guide: Cooking Lesson #161.

Quip of the Day:  Stand-up comedy is a great gig for a zombie. Either they are dying up there, or they are killing it!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #HappyHour #DrunkenZombieGingerbreadMargarita #Rum #Tequila #ButterscotchSchnapps #GingerBeer #Cheers#Holidays2023 #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
                                                       ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023