Tuna Mornay & some Kitchen Capers

Well, I would love to say that this was an Opie Family Favourite, but unfortunately I think I'm the only one who loves this dish.  I make it with pasta for Will because he will normally eat anything with pasta.  He didn't really eat too much of it last night, but I just had a bowlful for lunch and Will started eating it out of my bowl.  Oh well, at least he ate some!

On another note, yesterday I cleaned out my kitchen from top to bottom.  I think now that the Thermomix is on it's way, I decided to put aside some of the appliances I will no longer need and that just led to the desire for a completely clean and organised kitchen.  Man, it feels good.  I did the pantry a couple of weeks ago, and now to have the kitchen so clean and organised feels amazing.  I have finally grouped my items together.  I have a cupboard each for Food Preparation, Cooking, Appliances and Food Storage.  I also have a big drawer under my oven which contains only my saucepans and frying pans.  I cleaned out my second drawer and gave so many unused items to the Salvos it was amazing.  The Salvos were also the recipients of two big bags full of clothes that I had previously cleaned out of my wardrobe.  I'm loving this new found sense of order...

By the way, I'm doing the Junior Masterchef Cook-A-Long on Friday night for a bit of fun (and to make a dessert that has a gazillion calories in it!).  You can check it out here.

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Choice Reviews Thermomix

I'm so excited.  Hopefully we can order our Thermomix tomorrow.  Choice has done a review on it and it's all pretty positive.  Read more here.

UPDATE: Thermomix has been ordered.  Hopefully will be here on Friday!!

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Chicken, Pesto & Semi-dried Tomato Pasta

Tonight was a bit of a surprise chef effort, using up various left over ingredients in my fridge.  The result was loved by all!  I love it when that happens.
The cast

• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 3 short cut bacon rashers, chopped
• 1 chicken breast, cubed
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 10-12 semi-dried tomatoes
• 100 grams feta cheese
• 100 ml pure cream
• 2 heaped teaspoons basil pesto
• 1 spring onion, sliced (mostly the green part)

 Directions

• Drizzle some olive oil into a large frypan and add the onion and garlic and fry until soft.  Add the bacon and chicken and brown.
• Add the wine and allow the liquid to reduce by half.
• Add the tomatoes and cream.  

• Simmer gently until sauce has thickened slightly.  Add pesto, feta and spring onion and stir gently.

• Meanwhile, cook some pasta in boiling salted water.  I used egg noodles, but I think the sauce is suited more to penne.

 Served with a nice glass of NZ Sauv Blanc, what more could you ask for?

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Fish, Wedges & Asparagus

Tonight we had a bit of a cheats meal.  Frozen fish.  But I did make wedges.  And I cooked some asparagus with bacon & garlic.  And we had some leftover coleslaw.  Oh, and I'd made some homemade mayonnaise as well.  So all in all, it was still a pretty good meal.

On a side note, I'm very excited about ordering my Thermomix this week.  All going to plan I should have it the following week.  Woot!  It will make making mayonnaise a much less painful exercise for my whisking arm!

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Meat & Spinach Lasagne

This is one of my favourite lasagne recipes.  I found it on the back of a Leggo's Lasagne Sheet packet a few years ago, but I haven't seen it printed for ages.  I even checked the Leggo's web site and it's not listed.  I'm very glad I wrote it down when I did.
When I made it yesterday, I also had some mushrooms that needed using up so they were added at the same time as the red capsicum.  We had leftovers today for lunch and the flavour was out of this world.  I think it should be a rule that lasagne is always made the day before it is eaten.  The world would be a happier place I'm sure.

Ingredients

• 2 packets lasagne sheets
• *** MEAT SAUCE ***
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 small red capsicum, finely chopped
• 400 grams mince
• ¼ cup white wine
• 250 grams frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 410g can tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon mixed dried herbs
• ½ cup water
• *** CHEESE SAUCE ***
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup plain flour
• 1 ½ cups cheese, grated
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 600 ml milk

Directions

1. MEAT SAUCE:

2. Melt butter, add onion and garlic and fry until soft.

3. Stir in capsicum and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add mince and cook until brown.

4. Mix in wine, stir for 1 minute and blend in spinach.

5. Add tomato paste and tomatoes and season with salt, pepper and herbs.

6. Add water and simmer for 30 minutes.

7. CHEESE SAUCE:

8. Melt butter in saucepan, add flour and fry off for 1 minute. Remove from heat and slowly add milk stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

9. Return to heat and bring to the boil to thicken the sauce. Add cheese and nutmeg and pepper.

10. Remove from heat and place plastic wrap on surface of sauce to prevent skin from forming. Set aside until ready to assemble.

11. ASSEMBLY:

12. Place a thin layer of meat sauce in the base of a lasagne dish.

13. Cover with a single layer of lasagne sheets. Cover the lasagne sheets with a layer of meat sauce. Drizzle on a layer of cheese sauce.

14. Repeat step 2 finishing with a layer of pasta and a final layer of cheese sauce.

15. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes ensuring the top layer is golden brown.

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Spring Asparagus Soup

Asparagus is in season and cheap at the moment so I helped myself to a few bunches.  Two bunches made it into this delicious soup.  Recipe on the Taste web site: Spring Asparagus Soup.

Amazingly enough, Will polished off a whole bowlful.  I don't know what it is about soup, he won't eat pumpkin or asparagus in their solid form, but soup is always a winner.  I think it must be the texture (or maybe that it requires less effort to swallow soup!!).

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Herb & Garlic Focaccia

Again, the breadmaker was the weapon of choice when making focaccia dough.  Again the recipe came from the breadmaker's manual.

I sprinkled "Pizza Topping" over the top.  It's my favourite herb mix.

Baked in the oven for half an hour or so.  And presto...yummy focaccia = yummy lunch.

Absolutely beautiful eaten with some of my Semi-dried Tomatoes done in the dehydrator.

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