I made this recipe and loved it! As I was building the lasagna, I wondered why fresh noodles need to be boiled before assembling because it seems like they would cook just fine during baking. I made a second pan with leftover ingredients and didn't bother to boil the noodles, which saved a lot of time and clean up, and it seemed to taste just as good. Have you tried skipping the boiling step?

I have been using the rotating method to roast chickens for the last 4-5 years, but I never have paid attention to whether the breast meat is facing the back wall or door. Thanks for that tip, it makes perfect sense.

I couldn't get this recipe out of my head after seeing the photo in the blog post so made it for dinner the other night. It was fantastic and completely met my building expectations after looking at the picture. A few left over portions were frozen and have already made for one nice quick lunch.

This is a really fun site to click around on. It is a great resource to get the creative cooking ideas flowing, or to help rescue a dish that is maybe overly creative!

I love gas for the stove top, but if I had to choose only one for an oven, I would go with electric. I have a gas oven and an electric, and baked goods turn out better with the dryer heat of the electric oven. The moister environment of the gas oven is great for roasting meats and slow cooked braises, but cakes, cookies, breads, and pizza go in the electric oven.

Since participating in Rouxbe Cooking School I find I am not using my cookbook collection for recipes as much and prefer to freeform-cook based on the skills I have learned. It is so much more fun to use recipes as inspiration and then just get in the kitchen and create something that I want to eat. It’s a great program that has done more for my cooking skills than any book, TV show, or evening class I have taken. Thanks!

The lesson didn’t comment on buying whole vs. crushed tomatoes. I could see it would be a bad choice if the crushed product had seeds in it, but having used crushed San Marzano tomatoes, I don’t recall seeing seeds in the sauce. That was, however, before completing this lesson so it may not have registered with me. Crushed tomatoes make a chunkier sauce, which is nice in some applications and easily transformed into a smooth sauce with a quick zap from an immersion blender right in the pan. Are there other considerations with crushed vs. whole tomatoes?
I did make tomato sauce with whole tomatoes and it was really good. I am also completely converted to émincéd garlic rather than chopped. Thanks for that education, no more burned garlic bits in my sauces!

The most recent batch of chicken stock I made is, well, solid rather than liquid after being chilled. It is the consistency of a very soft gelatin. It tastes great, but looks a bit strange. Is this a good thing or not a good thing?

This is a simple and delicious dish that accommodates substitutions easily, but I agree with others that you really want to use Parmigiano-Reggiano. I didn't have any mint, but did have a nice sprig of anise hyssop (which is in the mint family) so I used that and tossed in the tiny purple flowers as well which made the dish beautiful. It made a great dinner served with grilled chicken, garlic bread, and a green salad.

I want to thank you for the great lesson on pan frying. I just completed it, went downstairs and made a perfectly pan fried chicken breast. Usually I end up with the sucs burned so badly that a pan sauce is out of the question. Learning how to properly preheat the pan and then paying attention to the heat and adjusting it throughout the cooking process were the key points for me. Now it seems so simple and obvious.

Is browning of the meat and mirepoix ever done when making a broth? I really liked the improved flavor of the brown stock over the white stock and it seems like browning the meat and mirepoix would add great flavor to a broth as well. Might the browning in addition to the required simmer time might over cook the meat?

I made the chicken pot pies after making my broth today and it turned out great. I topped the pies with a beer bread batter rather than puff pastry and really liked the dumpling-like result. Puff pastry is to rich and buttery for my taste.

Joe, Thanks for the correction on sucs not fonds. Tony's explanation was great and he is right about sucs being lost in the American lexicon. I watch a lot of cooking on TV, read many food magazines and cookbooks, yet I was not familiar with the term. It just goes to show what a great food and cooking education we are getting here at Rouxbe! Thanks.

I made my dark stock yesterday using beef bones that I had in the freezer. After thawing them in the refrigerator I roasted them as instructed and when checking on them after about 30 minutes I noticed they were swimming in fat. There was a good half-inch in the bottom of the pan, so I removed it from the oven and drained off the fat, then resumed roasting. I had to do this again before they were finished. I have never seen any mention of so much fat being generated when roasting beef bones in the various books I have that discuss stock. Is this unusual? Should I have removed excessive fat from the bones before roasting?

With so much liquid in the pan I didn't think I would get any fond to deglaze, which is why I drained it off. Even with draining off fat, I didn't get any fond, which I attribute to using a non-stick roasting pan. I let the roasted mirepoix caramelize a bit in the stockpot and then deglazed that with the wine which seemed to work, but fond from the roasting pan would have probably been much more flavorful.

I am very pleased with the results of both the white and dark stocks I made. It is the first time my stock has ever been clear! It was so valuable to see the video of what "simmer" looks like and this was the first time I manage to avoid letting the stock boil.

A couple of things I learned: Buy a bag of ice before making stock so I have enough to make an effective ice bath for cooling. Have a couple of empty milk cartons ready to scoop the hot bones and veggies into for easy disposal.

I have tried it many times and it has a very chemical-like flavor to me. The only papaya that didn't taste that way was when I was in Jamaica, so I ate it at every meal during that vacation. I know most people are nuts for it, but it is just strange to me.

I my impression is that these are supposed to be rather simple, but I never really like the sauces and gravies I have made. Often when pan searing chicken, for example, I will try to make a quick sauce with the juices, but there are lots of "heavily caramelized" bits (burned) that just make the sauce taste bad and I usually never serve it. I suppose a lower cooking temp on the meat would probably solve this. I hope to learn pan sauce skills in the cooking program.

I have had a set of Wusthof for years and they are nice, but I recently got my first Shun and I am very impressed with it. I like the thin very sharp blade and the comfort of the handle. The next knife I buy will be the Shun 8" Chef’s knife designed by Ken Onion. It is a funky looking knife that I didn't expect to like, but the weight and balance are perfect for the size of my hand. It cuts like a dream.

The most important factor in selecting a new knife is the feel of it in your hand. All of the high-end manufacturers make quality knives that will last a lifetime, so it comes down to what feels good in your hand. I agree with Todd F, Forschner makes a great product if you don't want to spend an arm and a leg. Also, a honing steel is the only way to keep your fancy new knives it top working order. Note that German brands sharpen their blades at about a 20 degree angle and Japanese knives are sharpened to about 16 degrees, so angle your knife accordingly on the steel. Shun's steel has an angle guide at the top to help with eyeballing the correct position.

One other thing, don't buy the big block-set of knives from any manufacturer. Most of them you will never use! Start with a paring knife and a chef's knife and you will be set for 90% of your cutting tasks. Add special knives based on the type of cooking you do and you may find you prefer different brands for different knives. Your knives don't have to match.

I rarely use it because a knife is fast and easy and doesn't require picking little bits of garlic out of any holes with a toothpick. Though I don't use my mandolin often, I love it for specific jobs. When I need a lot of nice thin uniform slices of big things that won't fit down the food processor shoot, it is perfect. When making vegetable terrines, scalloped potatoes, long strips of cucumber, it is the way to go. After owning and using it for years, I just discovered the blade is removable so it can be sharpened! I feel a little silly, but I once again have a razor-sharp blade.

I am so excited school is ready to start! I have always wanted to go to culinary school and am thrilled to have this online opportunity. I must thank MetroKitchen.com for giving me a gift subscription to Rouxbe because otherwise I wouldn't have known about it.

It figures I will be traveling to visit my parents on launch day, but they have a great kitchen and love to cook so they can supervise my homework assignments while I am there. I promise to do my own work! I am looking forward to learning and cooking with everyone here at Rouxbe.