Lasagne

Ingredients
1 batch of my Bolognese Sauce
1 batch of my White Sauce
1/2 box of lasagne sheets (normal or verdi(green) or mix of both)
75g/3oz grated cheese, you can use cheddar or mozzarella (either ready grated or fresh cut into slices)

Method
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180C.
You need a wide dish suitable for lasagne, ideally about 10cm high. I use a square lasagne dish, you can use a casserole dish, but it need so be large enough to take at least one sheet of lasagne at a time. Don't worry, the lasagne sheets break easily.

1. Add a couple of large serving spoon size spoonfuls of the bolognese sauce to the dish, I use a ladle, spread it so it just covers the base.
2. Now drizzle over some of the sauce, about a large serving spoon size.
3. Now cover with a single layer of the lasagne sheets. (see next step below if you have just used the last of the sauce)

Repeat steps 1-3 a couple more times. You will need enough of each sauce left to cover the final layer of lasagne so it is all covered.

Sprinkle over the grated cheese or place on the fresh mozzarella.
Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with a salad and garlic bread.

White sauce

Ingredients
250ml/ 1/2pint milk
25g/1oz plain flour
25g/1oz butter/spread suitable for cooking
Salt and pepper

Method
Put all the ingredients in a small pan, grab a balloon whisk and put over a medium heat, keep stirring until the sauce has thickened. (don't leave it, just keep stirring, trust me it will look impossible to start with but it works)

When it has thickened and starts to bubble, allow to simmer for 3 minutes to "cook" the flour.

Season to taste.

Cheese sauce - simply stir in 1 tsp dijon mustard, add 75g/3oz grated cheese and heat gently until melted.

Parsley sauce - stir in 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Bolognese sauce (ragu)

 Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 rashers streaky bacon, chopped into small pieces, or 1 pack of cubed pancetta/bacon lardons
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
500g/1lb minced beef
1 carrot, finely diced
1 tbsp tomato purée
100ml/ 1/4pt milk
1/4 nutmeg grated (use fresh, it's much nicer)
1 glass red wine (there won't be any alcohol left after cooking)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 oxo cube
Water
Salt and pepper

Method
Heat the oil on a medium heat in a large saucepan, add the onions and celery and gently fry until they are soft, add in the bacon and fry for about 3 minutes. Turn up the heat and add the garlic and minced beef, break up the mince as you fry it, it should start to crumble, fry until none of the mince is pink. Add in the carrot, tomato purée, nutmeg and milk, bubble until the milk has vanished. Now add the wine, again bubble until it has vanished. Sprinkle over the oxo cube add the tinned tomatoes and enough water to just cover the ingredients, season. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a very low simmer so that the odd bubble breaks the surface, cook for a good hour, stirring occasionally. At this stage you could pop this in a slow cooker and leave on low all day to cook.
Check seasoning and then serve.

Our Christmas feast

We believe that it is important to make celebration meals key memories for the future and to be the best nature can provide, hopefully cooked to perfection.
Family traditions develop over the years. Over the years we have introduced a fresh free range Goose to our Christmas table, truly a seasonal meat, only available between Michaelmas and Christmas. Our supplier is now Michael Coleman at Hewish Farm near Milton Abbas. We've been buying our goose from Michael since 2006 and the trip to collect the goose is now the start of the excitement. Last year was the longest trip yet due to the snow, this year it was lovely and mild. We collect the goose on the 23rd of December having ordered it in November.
A couple of years ago at Christmas lunch my Dad said even though he liked the goose, he missed turkey, now here was the conundrum, do we swap to turkey? That would have caused a riot, so the alternative was, cook a turkey too. Last year I managed to pick up a turkey crown from Waitrose on Christmas eve at half-price, it was a Norfolk Bronze, and tasted great, but hubby and I vowed that we would try and source a local turkey this Christmas, perhaps Laura would actually eat some then, she has always loved goose and hasn't liked turkey in the past.
After plenty of research on the web, we decided that we'd order our turkey from Danestream Farm Shop near Bashley. After dropping the goose of at home, we drove to Bashley to collect the turkey, which was properly boxed, no plastic wrap in sight. The turkey was from a farm in Romsey, free range, a norfolk bronze. We also bought all the necessary additions, the chipolatas, streaky bacon, sausagement and a lovely smoked gammon to roast for Christmas Eve (hubby's traditional birthday meal). To top it off, all the butchers took your meat to your car for you, now that's what I call excellent service. We bought all our veg and fresh chestnuts too.
So Christmas Day arrived, hubby prepared the chestnuts for me (next year, these are going to be prepared Christmas Eve as they are really fiddly. I picked the fresh herbs from the garden and then made the chestnut stuffing. We aren't sure if Laura is wheat intolerant at the moment, so I used gluten free breadcrumbs in the stuffing. I used it to stuff the necks of both birds, perfect amount with no spare.
I always make my own Cranberry sauce and Cumberland sauce for Mum (for those on Wharfarin, who aren't allowed cranberries, this is a great alternative, the tang without the worry).

Menu

Gravadlax with Sweet Mustard and Dill sauce

Roast Turkey
Roast Goose
served with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, sprouts with chestnuts and bacon, carrots, pigs in blankets, cranberry and orange sauce, cumberland sauce, gravy

Christmas pudding

For the first time we also served sprouts with chestnuts and bacon pieces, I've always been a bit worried about whether Dad would like this, but decided to just go for it this year, a huge success, add that to our tradition.
Wow, the turkey was so moist, it was still oozing juices as Dad carved it, the goose was amazing and it was great having meat from both. AND Laura actually decided to try the turkey, and then had another slice as it was so delicious.
Traditions started this year, turkey from Danestream, sprouts with chestnuts.

Cranberry and Orange Sauce

Ingredients

1 pack fresh cranberries
1 large orange
3 oz/75g caster sugar
3 tablespoons port

Method

Wash the cranberries, put in a pan with the zest of the orange and the juice, pop in the sugar. Put over a medium heat and cook until all the berries are burst, they pop as they cook. Taste and add more sugar if you prefer it sweeter. Remove from heat and add the port, stir well and pour into a serving dish. Serve either warm or cold.

Tip
If you can get hold of cranberries earlier or reduced, just pop the bags in the freezer and use from frozen in this recipe.

Chestnut Stuffing

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pack sausagement
2 oz/50g breadcrumbs
1 packet/jar cooked chestnuts (fresh if you want to fiddle)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (remove leaves from sprigs)
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Method

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add onion and lightly season with salt, fry until soft. (If you season before you cook, the onions taste so much nicer). Leave to cool while prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a medium mixing bowl, put the sausagemeat, breadcrumbs, thyme, parsley, lemon zest (I do recommend a microplane grater, it produces the most amazing results). I chop the chestnuts into 4 pieces, I like some chunks in the stuffing rather than mush. Add in the onions and then season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and use to stuff the neck of the turkey/goose, you can also make stuffing balls with any left overs and pop them in with the pigs in blankets when roasted in the oven.

Cauliflower cheese

1 cauliflower
1oz plain flour
1oz butter
1/2 pint milk
1tsp Dijon mustard
3oz cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Break cauliflower into florets and boil or steam until tender. Drain.

Make a simple white sauce use all in one method, 1oz plain flour, 1oz butter, 1/2 pint milk, pop in pan and put over gentle heat, use a balloon whisk and keep stirring until thick, allow to bubble for about 2 min until cooked, add 1tsp Dijon mustard, stir in, salt and pepper, then about 3 oz grated cheddar cheese.

Heat and stir until thick and creamy, pour over your cauliflower.

You could put cauliflower in an ovenproof dish, pour over sauce and then top with more grated cheese and then put under a grill or top of oven until golden brown.

Jaeger schnitzel

Now that I can obtain veal that is humane, I am able to cook a couple of dishes that are very scrummy, jaeger schnitzel being one of them. I was fortunate to be shopping in m & s and spotted some packs of veal steaks reduced, oh well two packs hit my basket and then the freezer.

4 Veal steaks
Plain Flour
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons Olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
1 stick Celery, chopped
1 Carrot, chopped
1 glass Red wine
1/2 pint Beef stock
Bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme, parsley stalks)

Heat oil in a frying pan. Season the flour, coat veal steaks in flour and shake off excess. Fry the steaks until golden and remove to a plate. Don't worry if the flour stays in pan. Add the onions, carrot and celery to the pan with the bouquet garni (you don't need to tie it up unless you want to, I just put the individual ingredients in the pan, you can always fish them out later if you want to). Gently sauté the veg, then put in the red wine to bubble (deglaze the pan), add the stock and season, replace the veal steaks and simmer until tender, only about 20 mins. For a family meal, serve with mash. If doing a dinner party, remove the steaks onto the plates, strain the juices and reduce if necessary, pour over the steaks. The veg are lovely, but not dinner party food. You can also serve with noodles.

Cooking is therapy

Unfortunately I suffered from a migraine yesterday, so was feeling a little after shocked today. My way of coping is to do some cooking.
I started gently, finishing off the green tomato chutney I started a few days ago, now I had some more lids I could put it in the jars.
We started to check the freezer last night, time to start using up some of the elderberries. I chopped up some of the mountain of apples we have on mum and dads ancient apple tree, plus some lemon juice, then boiled until lovely and soft. I strained it through a sieve lined with muslin. Quick trick, for every pint of juice add one pound of preserving sugar. I then boiled until setting point. Now I have some wonderful jars of elderberry and apple jelly. I also decided to treat my daughter and make some lemon curd, guaranteed to put a smile on your face and sort out any thickly throats.

It's never too early or late to start cooking

Cooking is fun and a necessity if you are going to be able to look after yourself and family as economically as possible. It isn't difficult if you have easy recipes to give you confidence.
I'm sharing my blog of easy recipes with those who may have never had anyone to help them cook and need to start now, or those that are already happy cooks, but just need some inspiration.
I believe that you need to buy natural ingredients, if they don't have flavour to start with, you can't give them flavour later.
Buying cheap meat is a false economy, by the time it has cooked I've found that the amount of water released during cooking is astonishing, leaving a scrap of actual meat. When you weigh what is left, it is actually more expensive than good quality meat. Try to buy free range where possible, local even better, no nasty additives, antibiotics or steriods either.
Look out for reduced items and either cook immediately or freeze. We eat really well, but don't spend a fortune.
If you are university, club together, it's cheaper, and try some of my recipes. There's always beans on toast if you need it, but you don't need a recipe for that.
The most important thing is to get adventurous with your cooking once a week and try something new.
And
Have fun cooking.

Coq au Vin

I love reading cookery books, but sometimes I just cook from the heart. Today was one of those days, my daughter wanted coq-au-vin, I decided to just go with the flow, so here's my recipe.

Ingredients
1 onion sliced
2 whole garlic cloves
1 tbsp butter
1 pack of smoked bacon lardons
chicken portions
1 large tomato chopped
1 bouquet garni
1 bottle of red wine
1 chicken stock cube
salt and pepper
Butter
Button mushrooms
Baby onions (if you have some)

Method
Start by gently frying the onion in the butter, (I had some bacon fat left from cooking carbonara for lunch). Add to 2 whole garlic cloves, continue frying.
Add the pack of bacon lardons, continue to fry. Add the chicken and brown. Pop in the tomato then the entire bottle of wine (I know it seems a lot, but it really is worth it). Crumble over the chicken stock cube, season.
Make the bouquet garni and add, I used a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, some parsley stalks, a bay leaf and half a stick of celery with it's leaves. I tied it together with some string and popped it in the pot.
Simmer until the chicken is tender, this is about 1 1/2 hours.
Heat some butter and then in small batches fry the mushrooms until golden adding them to the casserole, do the same with the onions if you are using. Stir thoroughly and leave with a lid on until you need to reheat for lunch/dinner.

If you have some fresh parsley, chop and garnish the finished casserole.

Salmon with Watercress Sauce

I love a bargain and today we managed to buy some wonderful wild atlantic salmon steaks, reduced to half-price. I'd also bought a bunch of fresh watercress from the Ferndene farm shop in the morning, a perfect combination.

Ingredients:

Salmon steaks
Sunflower oil
25g unsalted butter
25g plain flour
250ml milk
1/2 bunch watercress
Salt & Pepper
Juice 1/2 lemon

Method:
Heat the oil in a frying pan and then fry the salmon skin side down until crispy. Don't worry if the skin comes off when you turn it over, just remove all the skin. Cook for a further minute and take off the heat, leave to cook in the residual heat.
Make the white sauce using the normal roux method. Alternatively, put the milk, butter and flour in a small pan and whisk with a balloon whisk over a gentle heat until bubbling. Chop the watercress roughly and add to the sauce. Add the lemon juice and cook gently for another couple of minutes, season well and then use a hand blender, whizz the sauce until smooth.
Put the salmon back over the heat to bring back to temperature.

Serve with mashed potato and spinach.