A Particularly nice Lasagne

Our friend Mary was coming around to watch the rugby
What better to eat out of a bowl on your lap but Lasagne
Also, I had all of the ingredients handy
Which is excellent when one is housebound

I actually went to quite a bit of trouble with the components and it paid off
Ready to go into the oven

The Meat Sauce
One of the tricks for this very rich sauce was the addition of 250 gms of mushrooms
Also another,  was I whizzed up all of the vege in the  food processor
This is a great idea to disguise vege for the fussy kids in the family
And a secret extra... a dollop of ketchup

Added to the meat sauce, I also went to a little bit of extra trouble and instead of just dumping in a tin of tomatoes
I turned it into my special tomato sauce
One other difference was the addition of Buffalo Feta instead of Ricotta
I bought this from a local market
Actually it is from Bulgaria

What a stroke of genius
Salty sharp
Yum
You can use ordinary soft feta of course
By the way
There was enough meat sauce to set aside and freeze for another day

So you will need these ingredients
Meat sauce
500 gms Mince
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion peeled and rough chopped
1 carrot roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery roughly chopped
250 gms mushrooms roughly chopped
Red wine1/2 cup
1 Cup beef stock, I used a stock cube
2 tablespoons of your favourite ketchup

Tomato sauce
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 can tomatoes
Sea salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Bechamel sauce
75 gms butter unsealed
1/4 cup flour
750 mls whole milk, infused with a bay leaf
Sea salt and freshly grated black pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese

150 gms Buffalo Feta

Packet lasagna sheets

Method
Meat sauce
In a pan on medium heat add olive oil
Meanwhile throw all of the vege into the food processor and whizz till they are finely chopped
Add to olive oil season with S&P
and sauté till soft

Meanwhile in another pan over high heat
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and brown the mince
Season with S&P
Add to the vege
De-glaze the meat pan with red wine
Add to vege
Along with beef stock

Tomato sauce
Sauté finely chopped garlic in olive oil
When soft add the tomatoes
Season with S&P and sugar
Simmer for about 5 minutes to develop the flavour
Add red wine vinegar

Add to the Meat  Sauce and simmer everything for at least 30 minutes
The sauce will be very rich and dark
Add the ketchup and you will be amazed at the little lift it gives the sauce

Put aside

Make the Bechamel Sauce
Warm the milk with a Bay leaf and some freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter in a pot
Add flour
Sir and cook out the flour for about 2-3 minutes
Season with sea salt
Add all of the warm milk and stir till sauce is thickened
If there are any lumps don't panic just whisk and they will disappear

Don't forget to remove the Bayleaf
Take off the heat and add grated cheese

Assembly
In a gratin dish
Spread 2 tablespoon of the cheese sauce
Place lasagne sheets
Add meat sauce
Sprinkle over 1/3 of the feta
Lasagne sheets
1/2 of the Béchamel
Lasagne sheets
Meat sauce
Then 1/3 of feta
Lasagne sheets

To the renaming Bechamel add a beaten egg and the remainder of the feta
Pour over the top

I made this the day before and popped into the fridge, covered with foil
Take out of the fridge about an hour before you need to cook it
Pre heat oven to 180C
Bake for about 30 minutes
Take off foil and cook for another 30 minutes
Till golden and bubbling

Let sit for about 15 minutes before serving
This makes it easier to cut

Guaranteed to please
Now I used the remaining Meat Sauce
For a Pasta dish for dinner last night

Just topped with grated Parmesan Cheese
Delicious

Ginger-Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies - Something different

What I love about these cookies, is the classic combination of Chocolate and Ginger
and then... the addition of the tang of the craisins
So full of chocolate
They are so moreish
I just ate 2 in a row

Bit piggy, but I couldn't help it
This recipe, I have stolen from Ming Tsai and his Simply Ming Programme where he combined Ginger and Cranberries
This is a keeper
With your favourite Coffee
Yum

There is also a yummy fried rice, using this combo 

I will post that later


Makes approx 24 cookies
Ingredients

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
125 gms butter
1 extra-large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
225 gms chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Directions

Pre-heat oven to 165C degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together sugars and butter. 
Add egg, vanilla and ginger and mix until combined.
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. 
In a second large bowl, combine cranberries and chocolate chips. 
Starting with flour, alternate flour and cranberry mixtures until dough is thoroughly combined. 

Using a tablespoon, portion cookie dough 2 inches apart onto ungreased bake sheet
(you can line with parchment, if you like).

Bake for 10-12minutes, or until cookies are golden brown and underside is the same.
They will feel moist on top, but will harden as they cool.
Let cookies cool on bake sheet for 5 minutes, t
hen remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Carrot and Mango Soup? Who would have thought?

One of the things that happen to you when you are a bit housebound.
You improvise.
I had a look in my fridge and found a couple of carrots, a kumara (sweet potato) and 1/2  mango
I make Carrot and Orange Soup frequently. That is a good match
"Why not Carrot and Mango?"

It really was delicious and will be a keeper in our family.
I decided that I would also add a potato just for a little extra body
This amount served 3 people

Ingredients
50 gms unsalted butter
1 med onion peeled and chopped
2 carrots washed and chopped
1 small Kumara, peeled and chopped
1 med potato peeled and chopped
1/2 mango peeled and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1.5 Litres Chicken stock

Garnish  (optional)
Chopped parsley 
Little Cream

Melt the butter in a pot
Add onions  season with S & P
and cook till translucent not brown
Add the carrots, kumara and potato
Season again with S & P and coriander

Gently cook until they start to soften a little
About 5 minutes
Cover with Chicken stock

Bring to boil and simmer for about 30 minutes
Till Vege are tender

Transfer to a blender
Add Mango to the mix
Whiz till smooth
Back into pot
Reheat
Serve and garnish with chopped Parsley and a tablespoon of cream

Guaranteed excellent, with some toast or as we did with some fresh Ciabatta