Life changing dishwasher video!

This video changed my life!

For realsises.

Technology Connections Dishwasher Video

I have always washed my dishes by hand before putting them into the dishwasher.  I didn't trust it to get stuck-on cheese off my plates.  I just trusted it to degrease and sanitize my dishes.  After watching this video I started putting an extra pod in the dishwasher for the pre-wash. We have been putting in day-old to four-day-old unrinsed dishes in and everything comes out clean.  We switched from pods to liquid so that we can use the prewash reservoir in our dishwashers -- no rinsing dishes before the dishwasher and we are saving money!

You gotta love this guy for butchering a dishwasher in order to show us this.  Subscribe to his channel immediately if not sooner.

Lasagna

Whole Lotta Baby Going On

I made a big batch of bolognese for no reason a couple of weeks ago and figured I would try my hand at an American-style lasagna.  After a couple of iterations it is pretty good.  Here we go...

You'll need...

• Batch of Bolognese Sauce (made with one extra can of water)
• 16 lasagna noodles (but boil up the whole box)
• 16oz whole ricotta cheese
• 20-25oz grated mozzarella (I used pre-grated this time but fresh grated full fat is best)
• One egg
• 1 cup milk or cream
• 12-15 good sized fresh basil leaves
• about 1 cup freshly grated parmesano reggiano

Make the sauce, but add one can of water after the two cans of tomatoes in order to get a more spreadable sauce.

Preheat your oven to 375F and put a 9x13 baking dish on top of a sheet pan. You don't want lasagna filling dropping onto the bottom of your oven.

Add the ricotta, mozzarella, egg and milk to a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Chop the basil and stir it into the cheese mixture.

Boil the noodles about one minute less than the package says.

Get the noodles out of the hot water and into some cool water to stop the cooking.

Spray some cooking spray in your 9x13 and begin assembling the 3-story building...

We start with the subfloor which is 2 ladles of sauce.

Next we tile together the first floor.

The first floor consists of sauce and then cheese.  2 to 3 ladles of sauce 

and 1/3 of the cheese.  The cheese doesn't need to be spread perfectly as it will melt into position.

Second floor.  Trim the noodles so that you can lay them perpendicular to the first floor.  This adds to the structural 'tegrity.

Sauce...

...and cheese.

Third floor.  If you want to avoid crispy edges (I hate 'em but some people love them) then make sure that the third floor noodles have a half-inch gap between the pasta and pan. I didn't do that this time.

More sauce and the rest of the cheese.  You can pick up the baking dish and tap it on the counter a couple of times to even out the ingredients.

Now top with your grated parmesan.

Cover with foil in such a way that the foil doesn't touch the cheese.

See the "dome effect" of this foil.  The heavy-duty foil really helps here.

At this point the dish can be stored in the fridge as long as overnight.  Warning!  This thing is deceptively heavy.  Make sure you have the door open and ready anytime you try to move it into or out of a fridge or oven.

Bake for 30 min covered (40 if your lasagna spent time in the refrigerator) then 30 min uncovered.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 min before you try to cut and serve.

This is what happens if you try to serve lasagna before the 20 min resting period

Lasagna tip.  If you cool the whole casserole in the fridge before cutting you get perfect-looking slices. Just zap 'em for a bit at 50% power.

Asian Hot Wings

Surprisingly good even without blue cheese.

I entered the Tartan Room hot wing competition just to fill out the roster and decided to update my recipe.  I was never satisfied with the baked variety.  Deep fryer here we come...

You will need;

• 5 dozen chicken wing pieces (drumette and flat)
• 2 Tbsp smoked or hot paprika
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp togarishi (Japanese pepper powder)
• 1 Tbsp smoked salt
• 1 Tbsp pepper
• 3/4 cup Gochujang (Korean pepper sauce/paste)
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar or honey
• 1.5 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 clove minced garlic
• an equal amount of minced ginger

Mix the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, togarishi, salt and pepper and place in a shaker for later.

Mix the gochujang, agave, vinegar, soy, sesame, garlic and ginger in a small pan and bring just up to a simmer.  Take off heat and set aside.

Pat the wings dry and set them aside.  Heat up your peanut oil to 375F.

Fry the wings in batches for 9 minutes.  

Extract the wings onto a cooling rack.

Season on both sides just after they come out of the fryer.

Wings can be "banked" in a 170F oven with the door cracked in order to keep 'em warm.

When all the wings are done toss them with the gochhujang sauce and serve.