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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Lasagne!

Last night, i decided to make lasagne and i searched the net a little to look for a cook recipe. and i found Gordon Ramsay’s.

I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand and so i definitely did not use his recipe in the entirety. and the thing is. beef in australia has a gamey taste. So far the normal beef that we’ve tried in the supermarket tastes ok. but i bought angus beef mince that day and used it for lasagne and it was not good.

I hate that gamey taste – which resembles lamb. and i don’t like it.

So, next time, i’ll make this using the other beef mince which has no gamey taste.

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It isn’t too difficult to make. and i love love love the cheese sauce. and i love love love instant egg lasagne sheets.

Ingredients

Bolognaise

300g minced beef
2 Kabana Sausages – our new favourite!, sliced and fried
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1tbsp tomato puree
50 ml milk
Dried Oregon & Dried Italian Herbs
Salt & Pepper

*Other ingredients possible include grated carrots, red wine

Cheese Sauce

25g Butter
25g Flour
300ml Milk
50g Cheddar Cheese (you could definitely use more or less according to taste)
Salt & Pepper

4 sheets Instant Egg Lasagne Sheets (depends on the size of your sheets you may need more or less – or break them up to fit your dish as they should not overlap)

Directions

In a saucepan, add olive oil and diced onions. Give them a while to sweat and become translucent then add in your chopped garlic. Fry till aromatic.

Add in the minced beef. Fry till nicely brown. Add in the tomato puree and the can of chopped tomatoes together with the dried herbs and bay leaf.

When nearly done, add in the milk and take it off the heat. Leave it aside.

Now, in another saucepan, we start cooking the cheese sauce.

Start by making a roux. Melt the butter down and then add in the flour – it does not need to be sifted.

It should form a nice paste. In low heat, add 1/3 of the milk and mix in well. Add the second 1/3 and using a whisk, whisk vigorously to get rid of the lumps. When nearly there, add in the remainder of the milk and whisk again.

Add the grated cheddar cheese. Whisk together into a smooth creamy white sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You should now have a smooth, creamy and delicious white sauce.

Now, to assemble the lasagne.

At the bottom layer, place 1/2 of the meat sauce. A layer of pasta. 1/2 white sauce. the other 1/2 meat sauce. Pasta. the rest of the cheese sauce.

I sprinkled the top with cheese (i used a mixture called ‘pizza plus’). and Japanese panko. Delicious!

Into the oven for 225 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

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*****A note on our new favourite sausage.

We love chorizo sausages. but we’ve found a new favourite. Kabana Sausages.

(Taken from ‘Don’ website)

Kabana, derived from 'Klobasa' meaning sausage, is a typical eastern European thin sausage that originated in Poland and Russia. One of our most popular deli products, the Kabana is an icon of the Aussie barbeque platter.

DON® Kabana has a strong, distinctive flavour characterised by cracked black pepper, paprika and finished with a mild smokiness.

They are most commonly dry to very dry in texture and smoky in flavor. Kabana, unlike other meats such as sausage, are typically eaten alone as an appetizer, and often served with cheese.

Kabana are commonly used as hiking food because they do not spoil as quickly as many other sausages.

(Taken from ‘Don’ website)

It is delicious. As compared to chorizo, it has a less intense flavour – definitely not spicy and has a milder smokiness. What makes it nice is also that it’s not as salty as chorizo. Sometimes, chorizos just get a little too salty, but this is well seasoned and flavoured.

The only downside to using this in place of chorizos is that you lose that delicious looking red oil that comes out of the chorizos. which is also a good thing because kabanas are not as oily as chorizos. If you look at the picture below, you can see that there is no residual oil at the bottom of the pan. whereas chorizos would have a beautiful red oil.

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I’m coming home soon in 2 weeks and i’ll be eating loads of local foods then! yay!!

See ya everyone!! =)

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