Lasagne

I've decided that i do more cooking in winter because its a much more attractive option than going out, especially at night, which just consists of being cold and talking about how cold you are. Lasagne (done right) is one of my all time favourite meals and doing it from scratch takes a bit longer, providing you with the perfect excuse to stay home and stay warm. There is no béchamel sauce here and as such it is a lot lighter and tastier. Even though there aren't that many ingredients in the meatballs, they taste phenomenal. So taking the extra time to do the meat part of the lasagne this way is most definitely worth it. It's also a great meal to make for a group, just double/triple the quantities and find a dish big enough. You can make and assemble it all in the morning and keep in the fridge until you're ready to pop it in the oven. As usual, use the best ingredients you can afford. I used Marion Plains organic oyster blade this time. Mincing it yourself ensures absolute freshness, but its not essential. 

Lasagne: Serves 4 

Ingredients:

Fresh pasta dough using 2 eggs and 200g flour (see method here)

80-100g of mozzarella, grated 

parmesan 

Meatballs: 

500g oyster blade steak, trimmed (but you need a bit of fat), 

1/2 cup of tightly packed parsley, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely grated

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan 

80-100g fresh bread crumbs

1/3 or so cup of milk 

freshly ground salt and pepper

Sauce:

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

750ml bottle of passata 

Method: 

Make the pasta and refrigerate for at least half and hour. 

Mince the oyster blade (i use my kitchenaid food grinder attachment, you could also use a food processor). Pour the milk over the breadcrumbs and allow to soak in, adding more milk if necessary. To the mince add 1/2 a tsp of salt, the parsley, garlic, parmesan and some pepper. Mix well with hands and form into walnut sized meatballs. Set aside.  

For the sauce, fry the onion in a little oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan until just beginning to brown, add the garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add the passata and bring to a simmer, add the meatballs and simmer, covered, for 40-50 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through, stirring occasionally to prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

Meanwhile, roll out the pasta in two batches to setting 5, or 1mm to 1.5mm thick. Cut into lengths to fit your baking dish. My dish was about 16x26cm. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add a tsp of rock salt and a dash of oil. Cook 2 or so lengths of pasta at a time, for about a minute. You are just aiming to 'set' the pasta. Set aside somewhere to drain making sure the sheets don't stick together. 

Once the meatballs are cooked, remove them from the sauce and mush with a fork. 

To assemble. Lightly grease the oven dish with some olive oil. Start with a spoonful of sauce, then add a sheet of pasta, some mushed up meatballs (you will have to be quite sparse with the meat to ensure you have some left for the last few layers, it all evens out in the final product), sprinkle on a little mozzarella and grate over some parmesan (don't be too heavy handed as again, there are a number of layers). Repeat these steps ending with a layer of pasta and layer of sauce and sprinkling of cheese. Finish with a little cracked pepper, cover with foil and place in a hot (200 degrees) oven for half an hour, remove the foil and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until the top is bubbly and golden. Serve with a green salad.

update: VINDICATED! I love you John Lethlean. 

Blackberry Jammin'

Preserving is supposedly only cool if you're over 60 and called Beryl. I think this is a serious misconception. Jam making, in particular, should be classified as an extreme sport. What with trying to avoid scalding myself while sterilising the jars, dodging the boiling flecks of sugary syrup flying at me out of the pot and trying to fill the piping hot jars with piping hot jam, this is not an activity to be scoffed at. Our friends from Oberon, in the Blue Mountains, gave us a container full of blackberries a few months ago, which i froze until i was feeling up to jam making. Usually blackberry is spayed as it is a horrible weed that is not easy to get rid of, but they keep a patch unsprayed in their garden for the fruit. Blackberry jam is my favourite as it is sweetened by the sugar but still retains a little of the fruits tartness. I used panella (evaporate cane sugar), its a darker sugar, less refined and better for you. My jam making bible (The Right Way to Make Jams) says that it really doesn't matter what type of sugar you use, and i think it tastes just as nice as last year, when i made it with white sugar, maybe even nicer. Like any extreme sport, jam making can be stressful. Issues such as how long to soften the fruit and, especially, whether it is set, can cause anxiety. I think you just have to use your instinct, and don't over think it, undercooked jam is better than overcooked jam. I know this from experience. But you can always use any failed jam attempts in a cake or crumble. It is so satisfying when it does work, and makes up for the sticky bomb that looks as if it has exploded in your kitchen. Adjust the quantities depending on how many berries you have. The lemon peel adds the pectin, which i don't think blackberries have much of, ensuring it sets properly. Keep peeling the lemons until you have removed all the white pith, or it won't work. Serve on toasted sourdough with a little salted butter. 

Ingredients:

1.8kg Blackberries, washed and any stalks picked out

150ml water

4 tblsp lemon juice

The skin and pith of four lemons, finely sliced and secured in a muslin bag

1.6-1.8kg sugar (whatever type you prefer)

Method: 

Place two small saucers in the freezer. 

Sterilise 8-10 jars by washing in hot soapy water, rinsing well and placing on a tray lined with paper towel or a tea towel and placed in a warm oven. Place the sugar in an ovenproof bowl and sit in the oven to warm through, stirring every so often. This is so when you add it to the jam it doesn't drop the temperature too much. Place the berries in a large (if possible shallow) pan. Add the water, lemon juice and muslin bag of lemon peel. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer, cook the fruit, uncovered, until soft, about 20 minutes, stirring every so often. Take off the heat, remove the muslin bag and add the warm sugar in a steady stream. Stir until it is completely dissolved. Return to a high heat to bring rapidly to a rolling boil. Stir to prevent it catching on the base of the pan but not too often. Boiling time varies, i think mine took about 10-15 minutes.You are waiting for it to reach setting point. Test for this regularly, so you don't overcook it. To test, take out a saucer from the freezer and place on it a small teaspoonful of jam, allow it too cool and then push it gently with a fingernail. If it crinkles slightly, it is ready, if it still flows freely, it needs more boiling time. When it has set, turn off the heat, skim any scum with a spoon or spatula, remove the jars from the oven and ladle in the jam, filling high as some shrinkage will occur. Clean the jars if need be and put the lids on tight. I don't bother with a seal because it gets eaten fairly quickly and we keep it in the fridge. The jam book i mentioned above is very handy and has a lot more information. 

Recipe Source: The Right Way to Make Jams, Cyril Grange

Minestrone

Continuing with my soup obsession, minestrone is one of my all time favourites. So tasty, so satisfying and, served with some sourdough, contains all the major food groups. Just be mindful that lima beans can have a particular effect on some people. My family was rather musical in the days following consumption of the soup. I don't think there are too many rules with minestrone, usually some dried pasta is added, but i didn't in this one. Just start with a good stock and a use a variety of seasonal veggies and it will be a success. I like to have a good mix of colours; carrots, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage. Make a big batch because it hits its peak on the 3rd day. It is essential that each serve be sprinkled liberally with parmesan just prior to eating. DROOL!

Ingredients: 

2 onions, copped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

tblsp olive oil'

20g unsalted butter

2 carrots, chopped

3 sticks celery, chopped

1/2 a small or 1/4 of a large cabbage, sliced

1 400g tin tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 1/2 cups lima beans, rinsed and soaked OVER NIGHT

sprig of thyme

salt and pepper

piece of parmesan, optional 

2 litres vegetable stock

cup of pureed spinach or silverbeet

Method:

Gently fry the onion in the butter and oil until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer, stirring. Add the veggies and coat in the butter and oil and cook for a few minutes until slightly softened. Drain, re-rinse and add the lima beans, then stir in the tomatoes, thyme, parmesan chunk, and cold stock. Stir and add some salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil. Simmer uncovered for a couple of hours, adding some water if need be. 10 or so minutes prior to serving, stir in the spinach. Serve hot with parmesan and crusty bread.

Other possible additions: waxy potatoes, macaroni or tube pasta, green beans and zucchini toward to end of the cooking time... whatever takes your fancy. 

Recipe adapted from Maggie Beer's, 'Maggie's Harvest' and there's probably a bit of Jamie in there as well. 

Truffles

I have a waste phobia and i wanted to practice using my mum's SLR camera. These two facts resulted in me shaping some left over ganache into coconut covered truffles the other day. Also, my coeliac friend with a severe case of sweet tooth was coming over. The ganache (which I softened in the microwave) produced a fairly soft truffle, so rolling them in coconut stopped them sticking to each other and loosing their shape. I could have also rolled them in dutch coco powder, chopped nuts, tempered chocolate, or i could have toasted the coconut, which i kinda wish i had of. I don't think i've ever met anyone who doesn't love truffles. I guess it would only be those who don't like chocolate, with whom i don't associate. They are easy to make and look impressive, if a little rustic. Coco&me manages to make them look perfect by piping them onto greaseproof paper and then shaping them but i can never get the consistency right. Please don't use crappy compound chocolate. I use Callebaut chocolate, 71%, which is better than Lindt and at least equal to Belcolade. I can't afford Valrhona. Apparently Callebaut have brought out a fair trade option, which i hope Chef's Warehouse, where i can buy it 2.5kg bags, will stock at some point.  

Ingredients: 

200ml pouring cream, 35% fat

300 g dark chocolate in pellets or chopped into pieces, best quality you can afford.  

Method:

Melt the chocolate over hot or very softly simmering water either in a double boiler or in a bowl placed over a saucepan (make sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. You could also melt the chocolate in short bursts in the microwave. Stir gently to ensure the heat is distributed evenly and be patient. Heat the cream to just below boiling point and remove from heat. Add the cream in a steady stream to the chocolate, stirring until a smooth mixture is formed. Allow to cool (not in the fridge) until you have the desired consistency, i.e. runnier if you are using it for a cake or a little firmer if you are shaping it into truffles. Using two spoons shape teaspoonfuls of the chocolate mixture into balls, they will look pretty rustic. Cover them in coconut or chopped nuts or whatever and enjoy with a tea or coffee. Also good as part of a high tea spread. I used the ganache for a cake and the left overs for truffles so unless you want a bucket full of truffles, maybe halve the quantities. 

Adapted from Maureen McKean's 'Crave: A Passion for Chocolate'.