Comfort Food

No.1 son looooves lasagne. When he was younger it was his favourite.
Fortunately, his taste has evolved and now he has more than one favourite and hints I want this recipe when I leave home.Recipes will follow in subsequent posts.You know you love it when your child has dinner out or at a friend’s and they come home and say your’s (lasagne) was better. Yeah! a little pride (with a little dance) creeps in at that moment. I have made many a lasagne over the years and it took me a while to perfect it. Some were dry not enough sauce, the pasta was hard, some were sloppy too much sauce. But I had my ahha moment while we were living in Castlemaine, Victoria. We were invited to a Murder Mystery dinner and one of the guests brought a lasagne. Hers was perfect moist but not sloppy, firm but not hard and sliced beautifully. She said it was all in the be’chamel sauce. Make sure you have enough to cover the top. With that advice under my belt I went home and made my best lasagne everrrrr and have never had a failure since. Thank you Louisa.
Well here we go, lasagne the way mum makes it. Enjoy.

Lasagne Recipe

500g beef lean mince

1 brown onion diced

3 garlic cloves crushed

Olive oil

Italian spices to taste

Salt & pepper

1 bottle passata or your favourite 

tomato based pasta sauce

Parmesan cheese

Lasagne noodles large

Bechamel Sauce

Knob of butter 30-50gm

2-3 tbspn plain flour

Approx 2 cups milk

1 hand full of cheddar cheese

Nutmeg kernel grated to taste or a pinch of powdered

Method
Gather ingredients.
Saute onion until transparent in a little olive oil. Turn up the heat and add the meat and brown all over. At this stage if you have used a cheaper grade of mince you may need to drain off the excess fat. Now add the garlic, herbs and passata. Turn down the heat and simmer for a least half an hour or longer for a richer sauce. When cooked cool slightly.

While the meat is simmering prepare the bechamel sauce.
Melt the butter in a microwaveable bowl for 20seconds. Add flour and whisk to mix with a hand whisk, then cook on high for 1 min. Then add 1 cup of milk whisk the milk into the flour and put back into the microwave for 1min on high. Whisk again, as it is now thickening, add the extra milk put back in the microwave for another minute whisk again. You may need to do this for another minute. Whisk each time you want it thick but fluid – not glue. If it does get too thick add more milk to thin it down. Now add the cheese and nutmeg. I use the kernel I find the nutmeg stays fresher for longer, but ground is good if that is easier.

Now, the good part, layering it together.


I use a 4 litre casserole dish with lid. On the bottom of the casserole put a thin layer of meat sauce. This stops the lasagne noodles from sticking to the bottom. Lay noodles over the sauce you may need to break them to fit. From here you are using about a third of the mixture per layer. On top of the meat sprinkle some parmesan or mozzarella if you prefer. The last layer is noodle and on top of this you spread your béchamel sauce, sprinkle with parmesan, pop the lid on and put it in a hot oven for 10min then reduce heat to 180oC for another 30min. If you want the top to brown take the lid off for the last 5-10min. And you’re done.
Serve with a salad and garlic bread.

The Right Cup

I do love a good cup of coffee. It is one of the little something’s I look forward too. We, like most who enjoy a good coffee have stopped drinking instant and gone the way of purchasing, firstly a Coffee Plunger or French Press and then a domestic Espresso Machine. We have tended to buy Espresso Machines in the lower end of the price bracket, and they have been good for a time. However, they do wear out and it is cheaper to replace them than repair. It may not be cost effective and it does add to the landfill issue so when we replace our kitchen we will be looking to invest in a better quality unit – possibly built in.
Anyway, our recent Coffee Machine purchase on ebay was just not doing it for me. A regular latte’ was too weak, when using a smaller cup there wasn’t enough coffee and too much froth. So I stopped using it, until I found the perfect cup. It was an Op Shop (Thrift Shop) find. Not wanting to overspend on Christmas decorations I was scouring the local Op Shops for a little something when I spied these beautiful (to me) coffee cups with saucers. The trend has been to steer away from cups and saucers and lean towards mugs. But these are robust and perfect because the cup is off centre on the saucer leaving room for a little something on the side. Now we or should I say hubby makes double shot latte’s that are perfect every time. Bliss!

Welcome

It occurred to me just recently, that life is made up of little something’s. We have big events as well they are milestones in our lives, but it is the little something’s – the unexpected, that focus’ us or challenge us – me, to create,  to do something different, see things in a new light, give back or hold onto something dear, even let it go.

I originally wanted to write this for my sons No.1 and No.2. They mostly appreciate my cooking, and as they enjoyed a little something I would make just for them or a main meal they relished, they started to say “I want this recipe when I leave home”.

That little something, that small comment, has opened my eyes to see that my boys are growing into men and maybe sooner than we think they will be leaving. So this blog is for them, to come back to for a little something they enjoy until they start to create their own little something’s.

As we journey together I hope you will share the little something’s that have brought you joy and made you appreciate what you have and hold dear.

Metric vs Imperial

A friend of mine recently gave birth to her fourth child, ‘the last” she says. As I held her in my arms, so small, so petite, SO LIGHT! A mere 6lbs! I thought how strange it is the way we use metric for something’s and imperial measurements for others. It’s been 45 years since Australia changed from imperial to metric starting with our currency. For those of my vintage do you remember the jingle

In come the dollars and in come the cents
to replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence.
Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix
on the 14th of February 1966.

Clink go the cents folks
clink, clink, clink. Changeover day is closer than you think.
Learn the value of the coins and the way that they appear
and things will be much smoother when the decimal point is here.

In come the dollars and in come the cents
to replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence.
Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix
on the 14th of February 1966.

It is the relationship we have with the way we express the numbers that makes me smile. Even the new younger mums use imperial for weight and metric for length. 6lbs sounds bigger than 3kgs, and 56cm sounds longer 22inches. Is the bigger the number the better, well up it is up to a point.

As our children grow bigger and are able to stand against the growth chart to be measured, we mark them off in centimetres. But as they start to get taller than us we revert back to feet and inches for comparison. I can relate to 5’6” not 165cm and now they are 193cm. So what’s that in feet and inches?

And ladies aren’t we happier to have lost 2.2lbs than 1 kg.

I must say baking is much easier in metric and sounds like less calories too.