Luxurious....What a Great Word

I am on my second cup of coffee, with my laptop in my bed and it is 8 am.  My day would normally be in full swing right now but Mom won't be home until tomorrow morning so I am luxuriating in my freedom for one more day.

I am not sure what I am going to do with this day yet which in itself is a luxury.  Frank has a 9 am meeting but I am hoping that he is done early enough to buy me lunch and take me to see either Captain Phillips or Last Vegas.  I want to see both but they are such very different movies.   I feel more in the mood for a comedy but Captain Phillips has been out longer and may be gone by the time we get the chance to go to the movies again. I am going to let Frank decide.

Frank decided on Captain Phillips. It was excellent. I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie.  I would certainly recommend this movie if you have the luxury of going out for a night or afternoon.

I think Luxurious is a very cool word.  I like the feel of it rolling off my tongue. I like the thought of it rolling around in my head.

lux·u·ri·ous

ləgˈZHo͝orēəs,ˌləkˈSHo͝or-/

adjective

adjective: luxurious

1. 1.

   extremely comfortable, elegant, or enjoyable, esp. in a way that involves great expense.

 

Dinner tonight comes from Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 54. I chose it not only because it sounds delicious but it will help me use up some of my veggies from my CSA.

 

I first peeled, seeded and diced a butternut squash.  This squash yielded about 3 1/2 cups of squash so I was able to put a cup into a container to be roasted on another night.

 

 

I sautéed the remaining squash and 2 leeks, thinly sliced, in 2T.of butter.

I added a 1/4 c of chicken broth and a couple of pinches of sugar.

 

 

When the liquid was evaporated and the squash was tender, I added my greens.

The recipe called for Swiss Chard but I didn't have any so I used some Kale that was in my fridge.

Those of you who follow me are used to me adapting recipes to suit my family's taste and what I have available in my pantry and fridge.  You could use any greens you have on hand.  I steamed this until the greens were tender.  Seasoned it with salt and pepper and set it aside to cool.

 

 

While it was cooling I mixed together 1 c. of Gruyere Cheese, shredded, 1 c. of Ricotta Cheese, 1 c. of Parmesan Cheese and an egg.

 

 

 

Then I added the squash and greens to the cheese mixture.

 

 

I made a Béchamel Sauce.  This is done by making roux using equal parts of butter and flour. In this case, 1/4 c. of each.  I then gradually added 1 c. heavy cream and 2 c. 1% milk whisking constantly until it was thickened and then I seasoned it with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  The recipe called for 3 cups of whole milk, but again I didn't have that in my fridge so I improvised.

 

 

I coated the bottom of a baking pan with half of the Béchamel Sauce.

 

 

Cooked 8 Lasagna Noodles and cut each in half.

 

 

Filled each half with the squash mixture and rolled them up.

 

 

Placed them in the pan.

 

 

Covered with the remaining Béchamel Sauce and 1/2 c. each of grated Gruyere and Parmesan Cheese.  Put it in the oven at 425* to bake for 25 minutes.

 

 

It looked beautiful and tasted luxurious.

 

It's time for yoga. Namaste everyone.