Neither of us aspires to be the next Chef Boy-ar-dee, but one thing Chris and I said we’d like to do during our time together here in Geneva is to practice and improve our culinary skills. We’ve had many successes so far, including an exquisite mashed potato casserole, a sumptuous chicken cacciatore, and a finger-lickin’ good coq au vin. We have become experts at our traditional ground beef, sausage, and tomato sauce lasagna, so on this day, Chris found a new lasagna recipe featuring a sauce of mushrooms, ground beef, and melted gruyere cheese.  Here we are getting started in our kitchen.

As any Italian chef worth his salt will tell you, making a lasagna is not for the feint of heart. Its demanding work, requiring a lot of slicing, mixing, browning, and stirring.  Because of the painstaking effort required in making a lasagna, its best if there are two cooks. Here is a short video of Chris and me beginning our work, laboring over the preparation of the ingredients. (You might notice the wine nearby.  I am a proponent of cooking with wine.  Sometimes I even add some to the food.)

Beyond the physical demands required in making a great lasagna, the process is as much art as science — knowing exactly how to apply the layers of noodles, sauce, and cheese.  Here’s a short video of Chris artfully applying the cheese sauce.

I think I have a pretty good sense of what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “yeah, that looks like a lot of hard work, and sure, the layering of the ingredients is truly an art form, but the bottom line is taste!  So how did it turn out?”

Here’s a short video of the final result.  I think there is one word that best describes our mushroom lasagna… And evidently, that word is not “fortissimo”.