Mandolins and Christmas music

Guess what I heard on the radio yesterday?  The song: "Let It Snow."  Am I mistaken?  Isn't it October?  Halloween is still a few weeks away.  

Perhaps this is what encouraged the ridiculous melody to pierce my ears:

That's the view out of the front door yesterday afternoon.  We've been socked in with temperatures hovering around forty the last couple of days.  This weather makes me want to curl up around a fire.  Take a bath.  Drink hot beverages.  Apparently, this weather also causes out of their mind radio producers to play Christmas songs.  Go figure.

I had an extra night in the city this week so rather than listening to Christmas songs on Clazy 97 I decided to bust out the mandolin.  Inclement weather really brings out the slicer in me.

The last few weeks I have been dabbling with a wheat-free diet.  I know, you think I have truly lost my marbles.  I have a sensitive tummy that is easily upset over most things normal humans eat . . . like yogurt and ice cream. Hi, my name is Hailey, and I am lactard.  

Lately, though, I have been experiencing the same uncomfortable symptoms when I eat wheat. Not that you care about my GI issues, but I have a serious love affair with wheat products.  Pasta, bread, BEEEERRRRR.  

I have been pretty good at choosing my battles, because let's be honest, I am already a bit neurotic and certainly do not need anything else to stress out about. So yesterday when I started dreaming about lasagna during my linguistics study group I gave in to the craving.  

The following lasagna is not your run of the mill lasagna.  This lasagna is company-worthy, sit at the dining room table-worthy, bottle of wine worth more than $5.75-worthy.

This lasagna oozes goodness (literally) for three reasons:  the béchamel sauce, the sautéed chard and the yams (or sweet potatoes whatever camp you live in).

A note of warning, this dish takes some time and a few dishes.  Don't attempt to make this lasagna after a long day of work while listening to Christmas music on Clazy 97 in October -- you might turn the mandolin on yourself.

This is both a photo of a garnet yam and my double-jointed thumb.

To make the béchamel sauce: simmer 3.5 cups milk with

1 chopped onion, 3 gloves garlic and 1 tsp thyme for 2-3 mins.  

Remove from heat and allow to steep for 10 minutes.

Drain the solids from the milk.

Melt (don't judge me) 6 tablespoons butter and

whisk in 3 tablespoon flour.  Whisk constantly for 2 minutes

then add the drained milk. 

Stir constantly for at least 5 minutes. 

You will doubt that your sauce will ever come together, it will, I promise.

Just keep stirring!

You know it's done when you can draw a line on the back of a spoon

and it doesn't run together.

The assembly line.

Matt and Brook's dog, Kenai, desperately wanted to help.

In a large oven-safe dish, spoon enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan

and drizzle with a little olive oil to ensure non-stickage lasagna removal.

Layer pasta noodles, the chard mixture, yams and sliced cheese.

Then add another layer of noodles, more sauce,

more chard, yams, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese.

Holy cheese, Batman.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Allow the lasagna to sit for at least ten minutes before cutting.

Can't for lunch leftovers!

Swiss chard and yam lasagna

for the lasagna:

2 bunches swiss chard, chopped

2 yams, peeled and sliced thin

2 shallots, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 package sausage (I found a fabulous sweet Italian chicken sausage at Freddies)

1 box no boil lasagna noodles

3 packages sliced sharp white cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

olive oil

béchamel sauce:

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3.5 cups milk

1 tsp thyme (dried or fresh)

6 tbs unsalted butter

3 tbs flour

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Start the béchamel first by bringing the onions, garlic, thyme and milk to simmer over medium heat -- be careful with high heat, as you will scald your milk. Gently simmer for 2-3 minutes and remove from the heat.  Allow to steep for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat a glug of oil over medium high heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and saute until fragrant.  Add the sausage, breaking up into bite-sized pieced.  Add the chard and saute until wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the solids from the milk.  Melt the butter and gradually add the flour, whisking constantly.  After about 2 minutes, slowly incorporate the milk, again whisking constantly.  After you have whisked for what feels like hours (5-10 minutes), the sauce will begin to thicken. Check its thickens with the spoon test.  Remove from the heat and add the parmesan cheese.  

Now you are read to assemble!  In a large oven-safe dish, spoon enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan and drizzle with a little olive oil to ensure non-stickage lasagna removal. Layer pasta noodles, the chard mixture, yams and sliced cheese. Then add another layer of noodles, more sauce, more chard, yams, cheese, noodles, sauce cheese until you are at the top of the pan and out of ingredients.

Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Allow the lasagna to sit for at least ten minutes before cutting. Enjoy!