HALUSKI

HALUSKI

Comfort food...always welcome...always fattening lol. 
In my Eastern Pa. area with its multitude of Lithuanian/Slovak people, haluski (pronounced "halushky") is an old favorite. Sold at block parties, parades and church festivals, it's a simple dish to make comprised only of cabbage, onions, noodles and butter. One wouldn't really need a recipe, but as always, I remember that there are plenty of young people just starting out on their own, learning to cook, or newly married young wives who appreciate having a tad of instruction to get started cooking for their husbands and families, and for this reason, here is the recipe.

Slice into strips or one inch chunks a nice sized head of cabbage, and place it in your large sized crock pot.

Next, chop about 8 small to medium size onions, and add them to the cabbage in the crock, and mix together. Add a very small amount of water and sprinkle on a Tablespoon of garlic salt. Cover, and cook down, which will take several hours. The process is much quicker if you cook everything in a regular pot on the stove, but the taste is far better slow-cooked in your crock pot.

When your cabbage is cooked down and tender, (don't forget to stir occasionally) add a pound of real butter. I always use real butter for cooking and eating...margarine in this dish especially, will result in tastelessness and oiliness.

Cook your noodles (1 lb.) I use bow ties to avoid mushiness. Drain and mix into your buttered cabbage/onion mixture. Then just continue cooking at a low temperature...even on warm, to avoid sticking. Soon enough it's a treat ready to indulge in :-)

Ingredients
1 large head of cabbage chopped
8 small-medium onions chopped
1T. garlic salt
1 lb. real salted butter
1 lb. bow tie pasta



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Bloomin' Onion Cheesy Bread

Here's a delightful bread to serve with your Italian dishes, or just a tasty treat for bread lovers (like myself) There are 2 versions used on one loaf here...one side of the round loaf is Italian herb garlic, the other half is butter green onion. I'm listing the ingredients for both types, as I make the two flavored version...

Ingredients

1 round sour dough bread loaf

12 oz. sharp cheddar 

garlic powder

dried Italian seasoning

salt

1/4 c. green onion tops

8 T. butter

1/4 c. finely shredded Mozzarella

Start with a nice sized round loaf of sour dough bread...You are going to slice the whole loaf,  first one way, then the other, as far down as you can without going through the bottom. If you have an electric knife with a bread cutting attachment I STRONGLY recommend its use as this can be real tricky with a regular knife.

Next, if you are making the two sides separate flavors, melt 4 T. of butter in each of two bowls. (If you are making the whole loaf one flavor, melt all 8 T. in one bowl and double the ingredients for the flavor you are making)

For half #1, chop 1/4 c. of green onion tops, small. Mix those into one bowl of melted butter. Into the other bowl of butter, for half #2, add 1 1/2 T. garlic powder, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 heaping T. dried Italian seasoning. Mix well. Next you are going to cut up your cheese into many thin small slices. Then proceed to stuff all the cracks in the loaf with all the cheese, filling all areas.

Place your bread onto a sheet of foil large enough to wrap and cover the loaf. 

Now, you will drizzle your mixtures over the bread, half one flavor, half the other, or just one flavor if you so choose. Sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella and wrap up the loaf, baking at 350 for 15 minutes. After the 15 min, uncover and continue baking for 10 more minutes. Slice or pull apart to eat and enjoy your treat!!

drizzle...

sprinkle...

bake...

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Cottage Lasagna

    After being unable to locate my mom's lasagna recipe this week, I went off on a quest in search of a tasty lasagna that I could jazz up a tad and call my own...
The deed has been done...introducing my "Cottage Lasagna."  This lasagna dish has a mildly spicy flair while incorporating cottage cheese rather than the usual Ricotta, giving it a tad lighter of a texture!!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb. ground beef

1 lb. hot Italian sausage

2 tsp. jarred minced garlic

2  14.5 oz. cans diced Italian style tomatoes

2  6 oz. cans tomato paste

dried parsley

dried basil

salt

3 cups small curd cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1 1/2 lb. sliced or shredded Mozzarella

10 oz package lasagna noodles

oil

First place your two types of meat, and the garlic, in a large skillet and brown thoroughly, breaking it up small.

    

                                                           

Drain some but not all of the drippings. Next add your tomatoes and paste, mixing thoroughly, then add 2 T. each of dried parsley and dried basil, and a tsp. of salt. Simmer the mixture uncovered for 45 minutes.

Start your water and when it boils, cook your lasagna noodles. Depending on the size of your lasagna pan you'll need 8-12 noodles. Add some salt and a tsp. oil to the water to help prevent sticking. Cook them Al Dente, meaning they are still firm in the middle. When done rinse with cold water and lay them out on foil or wax paper to make them easier to work with.

While your pasta is cooking you will prepare your cheese filling. In a mixing bowl combine 3 c. small curd cottage cheese, 2 beaten eggs, 3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese, 2 T. dried parsley and 1 tsp. of salt. Mix it well.

Now you are ready to layer your lasagna!

First, a single layer of noodles...

Then evenly spread a layer of cheese mixture using 1/2 of it...

Next you will place a layer of Mozzarella. I used shredded, but I would have preferred sliced...

Then an even layer of a little bit less than half of your meat mixture. Now you repeat the layering process all over again, finishing up all your items.

Sprinkle GENEROUSLY with the other 3/4 c. of grated Parmesan cheese. Place in the oven uncovered and bake for about 30 min. and until bubbly...

Enjoy enjoy!!! Even better heated up the subsequent couple days!

(pictured with a portion of "Bloomin Onion Cheesy Bread)

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE MY RECIPE ANYWHERE AND WITH WHOM YOU WANT TO>>LIKE ART< RECIPES AND GREAT FOOD ARE NOTHING UNLESS SHARED WITH OTHERS...to pin to Pinterest, click the picture and hit your "pin-it" button :-)