DB Challenge March:Spinach Lasagne with Vegan Cauliflower Bachemal and Vegetable Ragu

First of all,my hearty thanks to my well wishers.I'm feeling better now,still a little sniffy ,achy and weak,I know you won't believe that If I say that I made this pasta dish from scratch in spite of my illness.
After slurping soups and stews for quite for sometime now,this lasagne recipe was certainly very appetizing and filling.The only tough part was the rolling of the pasta,as it requires lot of muscle,which obviously seemed to have diminished from the sick episode.With my previous attempts to make pasta with whole wheat flour in vain,I stuck the original recipe for the pasta.The vegan Bachemal and ragu best suited my diet right now.
The soft pasta in layers of flavorful sauce satisfied the taste buds of even my little one.If Only I had not procrastinated completing the challenge until the last week,I could have put in more zeal in to the preparation and presentation.

The March 2009 Daring Bakers challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper for the challenge.

(watch the making of the lasagne)
Spinach Lasagne
(Serves 3-4)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes to assemble and 40 minutes cooking time
1 recipe Spinach Pasta cut for lasagna (recipe follows)#1
1 recipe Cauliflower Bechamel Sauce (recipe follows)#2
1 recipe Vegetable Ragu (recipe follows)#3
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Oil or butter a 2 quart (approx 2 litre) shallow baking dish.

Cooking the Pasta:
Bring 5 cups of the salted water to a boil. Drop about four pieces of pasta in the water at a time. Cook about 2 minutes. If you are using dried pasta, cook about 4 minutes, taste, and cook longer if necessary. The pasta will continue cooking during baking, so make sure it is only barely tender. Lift the lasagne from the water with a skimmer, drain, and then slip into the bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, lift out and dry on the paper towels. Repeat until all the pasta is cooked.

Assembling the Lasagne:
Spread a thin layer of béchamel over the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange a layer of about four overlapping sheets of pasta over the béchamel. Spread a thin layer of béchamel (about 3 or 4 spoonfuls) over the pasta, and then an equally thin layer of the ragu. Sprinkle with about 1&1/2 tablespoons of the béchamel . Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, finishing with béchamel sauce and topping with a dusting of bread crumbs.

Baking and Serving the Lasagne:
Cover the baking dish lightly with foil,bake 40 minutes, or until almost heated through. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until hot in the center (test by inserting a knife – if it comes out very warm, the dish is ready). Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the lasagne rest for about 10 minutes. Then serve. This is not a solid lasagne, but a moist one that slips a bit when it is cut and served.


#1 Spinach Egg Pasta (Pasta Verde)

Makes enough for 3 to 4 servings .

Ingredients
1 large Organic egg
4 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed dry, and finely chopped; or 3 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached (plain) flour (organic stone ground preferred)

Working by Hand:

Equipment
A roomy work surface. Any smooth surface will do, but marble cools dough slightly, making it less flexible than desired.
A wooden dowel-style rolling pin. In Italy, pasta makers use one about 35 inches long and 2 inches thick (89cm long and 5cm thick). The shorter American-style pin with handles at either end can be used, but the longer it is, the easier it is to roll the pasta.
Note: although it is not traditional, Enza has successfully made pasta with a marble rolling pin, and this can be substituted for the wooden pin, if you have one.

Plastic wrap to wrap the resting dough and to cover rolled-out pasta waiting to be filled. It protects the pasta from drying out too quickly.

A sharp chef’s knife or pizza cutter for cutting pasta sheets.

Mixing the dough:
Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Add the egg and spinach. Use a wooden spoon to beat together the egg and spinach. Then gradually start incorporating shallow scrapings of flour from the sides of the well into the liquid. As you work more and more flour into the liquid, the well’s sides may collapse. Sprinkle few drops of water if needed. Don’t worry if it looks like a hopelessly rough and messy lump.

Kneading:
Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Its consistency should be elastic and a little sticky. If it is too sticky to move easily, knead in a few more tablespoons of flour. Continue kneading about 10 minutes, or until the dough has become satiny, smooth, and very elastic. It will feel alive under your hands. Do not shortcut this step. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let it relax at room temperature 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Stretching and Thinning:
If using an extra-long rolling pin work with half the dough at a time. With a regular-length rolling pin, roll out a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest of the dough wrapped. Lightly sprinkle a large work surface with flour. The idea is to stretch the dough rather than press down and push it. Shape it into a ball and begin rolling out to form a circle, frequently turning the disc of dough a quarter turn. As it thins outs, start rolling the disc back on the pin a quarter of the way toward the center and stretching it gently sideways by running the palms of your hands over the rolled-up dough from the center of the pin outward. Unroll, turn the disc a quarter turn, and repeat. Do twice more.

Stretch and even out the center of the disc by rolling the dough a quarter of the way back on the pin. Then gently push the rolling pin away from you with one hand while holding the sheet in place on the work surface with the other hand. Repeat three more times, turning the dough a quarter turn each time.

Repeat the two processes as the disc becomes larger and thinner. The goal is a sheet of even thickness. For lasagne, the sheet should be so thin that you can clearly see your hand through it and see colours. Cut into rectangles about 4 by 8 inches (10 x 20 cm).

Dry the pasta at room temperature and store in a sealed container or bag.

(bachemal sauce video)
#2 Cauliflower Bechamel
Ingredients
4 ounces,2cups cauliflower florets
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons all purpose unbleached (plain) flour, organic stone ground preferred
1 1/2 cup cauliflower water,use the water drain after cooking the cauliflower
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste

Method
Bring 3 cups of water to boil in a pot,carefully drop the cauliflower florets ,cover and cook until tender,about 10 minutes.Drain and use the water for making the roux.Blend the cauliflower to a smooth paste;set aside.

To make the roux,Use a medium-sized saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Sift over the flour, whisk until smooth, and then stir (without stopping) for about 3 minutes. Whisk in the cauliflower water a little at a time and keep the mixture smooth. Bring to a slow simmer, and stir 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens.now mix in the cauliflower paste and stir well. Season with salt, pepper, and a hint of nutmeg.


#3 Vegetable Ragu’

Ingredients
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper,finely chopped
1 cup button mushrooms,finely chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili powder(optional)
1 medium stalk celery with leaves, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped(about 1 cup)
1 canned plum tomatoes ,drained and crushed or 2 large tomatoes steamed,skinned and pureed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Heat the olive oil in a skillet (frying pan) over medium-high heat. . Add the onions sauté for a minute then add the garlic,saute another minute.Now add in the vegetables,chili powder,season with salt and pepper.Cover and cook until vegetables are tender,about 10-15 minutes.Add the tomatoes,Cook uncovered, at a very slow bubble for another 15 minutes, or until the sauce resembles a thick stew.


Thanks to the hosts for the awesome challenge.check out other creative variations of this lasagne.

Musical Therapy for Chronic Pain

The Facts:

* Music has been shown to be effective in pain associated with operations and cancer.

* This small study looked at whether music helped patients with chronic pain conditions.

* The group assigned to music therapy had less pain, depression and disability than the control group who did not have the music intervention.

Shaun’s comment: Having worked in a chronic pain clinic, I have seen at first hand how tricky it is to help patients with chronic pain conditions. Music has been used throughout history as a form of healing, with records dating all the way back to ancient Greece. These results are promising and, given the side effects of pain medications, it would be worth finding out more about this form of therapy if you suffer from chronic pain.

Study Reference:

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.03860.x

Preventing Tooth Decay

Meet Sir Edward Mellanby, the discoverer of vitamin D. Along with his wife, Dr. May Mellanby, he identified dietary factors that control the formation and repair of teeth and bones. He also identified the cause of rickets (vitamin D deficiency) and the effect of phytic acid on mineral absorption. Truly a great man! This research began in the 1910s and continued through the 1940s.

What he discovered about tooth and bone formation is profound, disarmingly simple and largely forgotten. I remember going to the dentist as a child. He told me I had good teeth. I informed him that I tried to eat well and stay away from sweets. He explained to me that I had good teeth because of genetics, not my diet. I was skeptical at the time, but now I realize just how ignorant that man was.

Tooth structure is determined during growth. Well-formed teeth are highly resistant to decay while poorly-formed teeth are cavity-prone. Drs. Mellanby demonstrated this by showing a strong correlation between tooth enamel defects and cavities in British children. The following graph is drawn from several studies he compiled in the book Nutrition and Disease (1934). "Hypoplastic" refers to enamel that's poorly formed on a microscopic level.
The graph is confusing, so don't worry if you're having a hard time interpreting it. If you look at the blue bar representing children with well-formed teeth, you can see that 77% of them have no cavities, and only 7.5% have severe cavities (a "3" on the X axis). Looking at the green bar, only 6% of children with the worst enamel structure are without cavities, while 74% have severe cavities. Enamel structure is VERY strongly related to cavity prevalence.

What determines enamel structure during growth? Drs. Mellanby identified three dominant factors:

1. The mineral content of the diet
2. The fat-soluble vitamin content of the diet, chiefly vitamin D
   
3. The availability of minerals for absorption, determined largely by the diet's phytic acid content
   

Teeth and bones are a mineralized protein scaffold. Vitamin D influences the quality of the protein scaffold that's laid down. For the scaffold to mineralize, the diet has to contain enough minerals, primarily calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D allows the digestive system to absorb the minerals, but it can only absorb them if they aren't bound by phytic acid. Phytic acid is an anti-nutrient found primarily in unfermented seeds such as grains. So the process depends on getting minerals (sufficient minerals in the diet and low phytic acid) and putting them in the right place (fat-soluble vitamins).

Optimal tooth and bone formation occurs only on a diet that is sufficient in minerals, fat-soluble vitamins, and low in phytic acid. Drs. Mellanby used dogs in their experiments, which it turns out are a good model for tooth formation in humans for a reason I'll explain later. From Nutrition and Disease:

Thus, if growing puppies are given a limited amount of separated [skim] milk together with cereals, lean meat, orange juice, and yeast (i.e., a diet containing sufficient energy value and also sufficient proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins B and C, and salts), defectively formed teeth will result. If some rich source of vitamin D be added, such as cod-liver oil or egg-yolk, the structure of the teeth will be greatly improved, while the addition of oils such as olive... leaves the teeth as badly formed as when the basal diet only is given... If, when the vitamin D intake is deficient, the cereal part of the diet is increased, or if wheat germ [high in phytic acid] replaces white flour, or, again, if oatmeal [high in phytic acid] is substituted for white flour, then the teeth tend to be worse in structure, but if, under these conditions, the calcium intake is increased, then calcification [the deposition of calcium in the teeth] is improved.

Other researchers initially disputed the Mellanbys' results because they weren't able to replicate the findings in rats. It turns out, rats produce the phytic acid-degrading enzyme phytase in their small intestine, so they can extract minerals from unfermented grains better than dogs. Humans also produce phytase, but at levels so low they don't significantly degrade phytic acid. The small intestine of rats has about 30 times the phytase activity of the human small intestine, again demonstrating that humans are not well adapted to eating grains. Our ability to extract minerals from seeds is comparable to that of dogs, which shows that the Mellanbys' results are applicable to humans.

Drs. Mellanby found that the same three factors determine bone quality in dogs as well, which I may discuss in another post.

Is there anything someone with fully formed enamel can do to prevent tooth decay? Drs. Mellanby showed (in humans this time) that not only can tooth decay be prevented by a good diet, it can be almost completely reversed even if it's already present. Dr. Weston Price used a similar method to reverse tooth decay as well. I'll discuss that in my next post.