This year I am planning on focusing more on small batch cookery, cooking for two or three, ie. the smaller family, as much as I can.
There are only two of us in our home most days and I just don't entertain as much as I used to do. Downsizing recipes only makes economic sense. I also hate waste.
I also want to work more on bringing my recipe index up to date. As you can imagine with over 10 years worth of recipes on here that is a considerable job to tackle.
I plan on decreasing my daily posts to maybe every other day so that I can use that time to do that. I think it will be worth it both to myself in the long run and certainly to you, the readers as well.
I hope you will support me to that end. There will be the odd recipe to feed a larger family and, in all truth, I don't know of many recipes that cannot be doubled successfully.
I really don't think anyone is going to lose anything in the long run.
The recipe I am sharing with you today is for a small batch classic Lasagna recipe. It is just as delicious and satisfying as my bigger batch recipe.
I have gone without a bechamel sauce topping however. Feel free to make a small batch of bechamel for on top if you wish, but I promise you, this recipe is so delicious, you won't miss it.
This delicious meaty sauce uses both lean ground beef and spicy Italian sausage, for plenty of meatiness and flavour. I am not a person who likes huge chunks of meat in my sausages, so I mash the meat well with a potato masher to an even consistency within the sauce.
For me it is a consistency thing. I can't stand the feel of it against my teeth. I am not sure if that makes me wierd or not.
I have also added a bit of double cream to the sauce to give a depth of richness and a velvety texture very reminiscent of a good bolognese.
You can't beat a bit of cream in a sauce, even a meat sauce. In North America just use heavy or whipping cream.
Here in the UK, our fresh lasagna comes in sheets, so I have chosen to cut them in half lengthwise. I know North American lasagna noodles are much narrower and so where I have chosen to use two sheets cut in half for this, in North America you can use 4 no-boil noodles.
I hope that makes sense.
I have chosen to bake it in a small pie dish, but you can easily bake this in a small loaf tin, where it will fit perfectly.
If you spritz it well with low fat cooking spray, you shouldn't have any problem spooning it out when done.
I have chosen to do a couple of layers of a delicious garlicky cottage cheese and Parmesan mixture instead of the bechamel on top, which adds both interest and additional texture and flavour.
The use of a beaten egg helps to set it up and it forms and almost custard cheese layer that is beautiful.
I have also used plenty of fresh basil in the custard layer for additional flavour.
I really hope that you will be inspired to bake this and that you will like it. Todd, who always says he hates pasta, was really happy with the results. That, in turn, made me happy also.
Yield: 2
Small Batch Classic Lasagna
Tender noodles, gooey cheese and a robust meaty filling, built just for two. Simple, easy and delicious.
ingredients:
For the sauce:
- 1 TBS light olive oil
- 1 small brown onion, peeled and minced
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/4 pound lean ground beef (4 ounces)
- 1/4 pound Italian sausage meat (4 ounces)
- 2 TBS double cream (heavy cream)
- 1 (425g) tin of chopped tomatoes in juice, drained (reserve 60ml/1/4 cup of the juice (14 1/2 ounce tin)
- 8 ounces of tomato passatta (tomato sauce)
You will also need:
- 250g full fat cottage cheese (1 cup)
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 90g freshly grated Parmesan Cheese + 2 TBS (1/2 cup + 2TBS)
- 3 TBS chopped fresh basil
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 sheets of fresh lasagna, cut in half lengthwise (4 no-boil noodles)
- 130g grated mozzarella cheese (1 cup)
instructions:
How to cook Small Batch Classic Lasagna
- First make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the onion and some salt and saute, without browning, stirring frequently, until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then add both meats. Scramble fry until no longer pink. Stir in the cream and bring to a simmer. Cook until the cream has been absorbed. Add the tomatoes with their reserved juice and the tomato passata. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer and cook until the flavours have blended well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mash down large chunks with a potato masher. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a small loaf tin or rectangular pie dish.
- Combine the cottage cheese, beaten egg, small garlic clove, basil leaf and salt and pepper to taste.
- Lay two dessertspoons of sauce in the bottom of baking dish (About 1/2 cup). Lay one noodle strip in the pan. spread with 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture, 4 TBS of the mozzarella and 1/3 of the meat sauce, repeating the layers two more times, finishing with a final layer of meat sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and the remaining 2 TBS of Parmesan.
- Butter a sheet of foil and cover the dish tightly with it. Bake in the preheated oven until the sauce bubbles around the edges (30 to 35 minutes). Uncover and continue to bake until heated through and the cheese on top is browned lightly in spots., about 10 minutes longer. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
You really don't need anything on the side when serving this except perhaps a tossed salad and some garlic bread or crusty rolls if you wish. The bread will be great in ensuring that you can mop up all of that rich and meaty sauce!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Ham and Cheese Casserole. I am th Queen of leftovers. I hate waste and love to use everything up. I especially love leftover ham recipes which make great use of any ham you have in the house.
You don't always have to use leftover ham though, as you can also purchase a chunk of boiled ham at the shops which is great for things like this.
Today, however, I had some baked ham leftover from the holidays the other day and so I decided to make a delicious casserole with them.
We were all sandwiched out! Mom always made sweet and sour ham with her leftover ham, but we weren't feeling much like that either.
Plus I had some fresh noodles whose sell by date was looming. I hate waste and so decided to take advantage of both these things and make a tasty casserole.
It was pretty basic, and I did use a tin of cream of chicken soup. You could however make a basic cream sauce, flavouring it with a bit of chicken bouillon if you wanted to.
I am not a soup snob and I do use it from time to time, especially when I am wanting to make a quick and simple casserole.
I also had some cheese leftover from the holidays, Cheddar and red Leicester So I used up some of them as well.
They have very similar flavours so you could use all cheddar if you want to. Both are hard cheeses and the red Leicester has been coloured orange. Most of our Cheddars here will be found in their natural, white state.
Both cheeses are produced in a very similar manner, but red Leicester has a moister, crumblier texture and a somewhat milder flavour.
I added thawed frozen green beans for a bit more colour and some texture. Just cover them with boiling water, let them thaw and then drain well before using.
Mine were whole beans and so I used my kitchen scissors to cut them down into a more manageable size.
You could use any vegetable you wanted to use or even a combination of vegetables. Corn would be nice as would peas and carrots.
I topped the casserole with some cracker crumbs and a bit more cheese. I find casseroles are always nice when you have a bit of a crunchy topping to enjoy!
This was quick, easy and delicious. You could double the recipe if you had more ham you wanted to use up and freeze one casserole for a later time.
It is supposed to be 2 to 3 servings, but I'll be honest, for our appetites it is more like 4 servings.
It all depends on how big of an eater you are. We are small eaters.
A tossed salad would be very nice on the side. My pictures are not so great as we have had some very dark and gloomy days.
I like to use natural light for my photos if I can, so I apologise if they are a bit dark!
We enjoyed it simply with some buttered bread (for my husband) and pickled beets. I do so love pickled beets!
Yield: 3 - 4 (depending on appetites)
Ham & Cheese Casserole
A quick, easy and delicious way to use up leftover baked ham.
ingredients:
- 225g uncooked egg noodles (1/2 pound)
- 3/4 pound of cubed fully cooked ham
- 1 tin (295g) condensed cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 oz)
- 120ml milk (1/2 cup)
- 150g frozen cut green beans, thawed (1 cup)
- 125g grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)
- a handful of buttered cracker crumbs
- Seasoning to taste
instructions:
How to cook Ham & Cheese Casserole
- Cook and then drain the noodles really well. Mix them in a bowl with the ham, soup, milk and green beans. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, remembering that ham and cheese are both salty.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square casserole dish.
- Spread half of the ham mixture in the dish. Cover with half the cheese. Spoon on the remainder of the ham mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and cracker crumbs.
- Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbling, heated through and the cheese has melted.
So that's all of the Christmas leftovers gone now. We still have Christmas Cake, but that is a good keeper and my husband will make short work of that over the next weeks. I also have some Christmas pudding, which he will also enjoy.
Those types of things never really go off. I am relieved that I never did more baking and that I kept things simple here over the holidays and didn't go overboard!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Thanks for visiting! Do come again!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
This week we are taking a break from all of the hedonistic indulgences of the past month. I think we are both desiring to eat a bit lighter and healthier.
I am craving salad. Yes I am. And we still have Christmas Cake. Its a good thing it is an excellent keeper.
Today I decided to cook us some Sea Bass. Sea Bass is not a fish that I had ever heard of when I was a child, but it is a fish that people really enjoy eating these days.
Its a
common name which is used to describe a variety of fish, but here in the
UK, all sea bass that is sold is exclusively European Bass.
I sourced
mine from Seafresh, the online fish monger. Their seas bass is farmed, which is the most sustainably sourced at the moment! I can attest that it is a beautiful piece of fish.
It is a flattish fish, being white or light in colour and it is beautifully sweet and buttery in flavour, mild and delicious!
We both enjoy it very much.
I had a lot of work to do today so I decided to cook it simply, by baking it on a sheet pan along with some vegetables.
No fuss, no muss, and little to no clean up involved. It is also perfectly sized for just two people, but of course you can increase the amounts to serve more if you wish.
I prepped my vegetables ahead of time.
Two baking potatoes, cut into chunks, an red onion, cut into wedges and medium sized tomatoes cut in half.
I cooked everything in stages . . . Potatoes take longer to cook so they were tossed with a bit of oil and seasoning, scattered on the baking sheet and the banged into the oven for a short.
While they were roasting I hung up my laundry.
Once my laundry was hung, I took the pan out and added the onions and tomatoes, and a tasty mix of dried herbs.
You could use fresh if you are a purist, but I figure they all dry out in the oven anyways, so I just use dried. I also drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar. Use the good stuff.
I unloaded the dish washer, loaded it back up, and then ran a duster quickly over the downstairs furniture and then I was ready to add the fish.
Two lovely fillets, seasoned and nestled down in between the vegetables . . . back into the oven.
That left me enough time to set the table and throw together a quick salad to have along side of the fish . . .
I threw some chopped cashew nuts onto the fish and roasted for a few minutes longer until they were golden brown.
And that was it, by the time I had that done, the vegetables were tender, those potatoes being golden brown and the onions lightly caramelised . . . and that beautiful sea bass perfectly cooked . . .
The cashews added a bit of extra protein and nutty crunch . . . altogether this was really beautiful.
It needed nothing else. No sauce . . . just a squeeze of lemon if you really want something extra . . .
This was perfect and just what we were needing and craving . . .
Yield: 2
Sheet Pan Roasted Sea Bass Dinner for Two
Perfectly roasted delicious sea bass, with roasted potatoes, tomatoes, onions and toasted cashew nuts, all cooked together on pan. No fuss, no muss, hardly any clean up.
ingredients:
- 2 baking potatoes, scrubbed, dried and cut into 8ths
- 1TBS olive oil
- 1 small red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 2 medium tomatoes cut in half
- 1 TBS balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary leaves
- 1/4 tsp dried sage leaves
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1//2 tsp dried parsley flakes
- 2 sea bass fillets
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 TBS chopped raw cashew nuts
instructions:
How to cook Sheet Pan Roasted Sea Bass Dinner for Two
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with aluminium foil, spritz with some low fat, nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Toss the potatoes together with the oil and some seasoning to taste. Spread them out onto the baking tray. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove the tray from the oven, stir the potatoes. Add the tomato halves and onion wedges. Drizzle everything with the balsamic vinegar and sprinkle the herbs over everything. Return the tray to the oven and roast for a further 10 minutes.
- Season the sea bass all over with some salt and black pepper. Remove the tray from the oven. Push the vegetables to the side and nestle the fish into the centre of them. Return the baking tray to the oven and roast for about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cashew nuts over the fish. Return to the oven and roast for a further 4 to 6 minutes until the nuts are golden brown, the vegetables are tender and the fish flakes easily with a fork.
- Divide amongst two heated plates and serve immediately.
Sea Bass really is a lovely fish and you cannot fault Seafresh for anything. I
am always so very impressed with the fish and seafood we get from them. Their service is impeccable, the packaging well done and
environmentally friendly, and the product of exceptional quality and
value. If you would like to know more about their products please click here. You really can't go wrong!
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
This week I was craving a cake. Oh, we still have Christmas cake left, but I wanted cake cake. Something without raisins and currants and peel . . . just cake.
Something that I could just sit down and enjoy a slice of with a nice hot cup of herbal tea.
It didn't have to be fancy smancy . . . just pleasant and satisfying. I toyed with making a Victoria Sandwich Cake (which is our favourite cake).
I also though about making a Coffee Walnut Cake (another favourite), but they just weren't ticking the boxes of my desire.
I wanted something spicy and dense, dark and delicious. I then remembered this gingerbread cake recipe.
I have had the recipe in my big blue binder for about a bazillion years. In fact I think its been about a bazillion years since I have made it.
You cannot call it a pretty cake by any stretch. It is the ugly step sister of pretty cake.
It is like the country cousin of the city mouse. This is a cake you might be tempted to overlook when glancing upon it sitting in the glass case of a bake shop.
Were you to do so you would be making a grave mistake. This is the kind of gingerbread cake that sonnets could be written about, poems . . . novels.
This is the kind of gingerbread cake that you could imagine Meg, Amy, Jo and Beth sitting down to enjoy on cold winter's evening while the fire burns low in the grate, whilst Marmee reads to them the latest missive from their pa . . .
It is a gingerbread cake that gets more delicious with each day that it stands. Like magic it gets denser, moister . . .
It is just like magic. Trust me on this . . . just leave it sit, you will see.
This is the cake you will find yourself sneaking down the stairs to steal a smidgen of in the middle of the night. Midnight feast cake has no calories, everyone knows that!
Don't burst my bubble if that is not true.
This is the kind of cake as a child I imagined Mary Poppins picking up for Michael and Jane Banks. Decorated with shiny gold stars stuck to its surface, all wrapped up in brown paper . . .
I love the Mary Poppins Books when I was a child, did you?
Oh, I know I do have a fanciful mind. It comes from a lifetime of reading books. I come by that habit honestly.
My father inspired a love of the written word in me when I was very young . . . I can still hear his voice reading to me in my mind's eye. He would change his voice with each character in the story. It is a beautiful memory that I hold dear and close in my heart.
In any case I do hope you will bake this lovely ugly step sister of a cake. I hope that you will enjoy it.
The ginger glaze icing is quite tasty . . . and it would be lovely spread with softened butter as well, or . . . dare I suggest it, lemon curd.
Today I fancied a little bit of indulgence with a small squirt of squirty cream . . . .
They do say a little bit of what you fancy does the body and the mind good . . . I believe that's true.
Yield: 16
Deep, Dark & Delicious Gingerbread
A moist, sticky and dense slice with plenty of ginger spice!
ingredients:
- 250g butter (1 cup +1 1/2 TBS)
- 250g soft dark brown sugar (1 1/4 cup, packed)
- 250g molasses or dark treacle (9 fluid ounces)
- 300ml whole milk (1 1/4 cups)
- 2 large free range eggs
- 5 knobs of preserved ginger in syrup, chopped finely
- 375g plain flour (2 1/2 cups + 3 TBS)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
instructions:
How to cook Deep, Dark & Delicious Gingerbread
- Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 9-inch square baking tin and line it with baking paper. Set aside.
- Put the butter, sugar, and molasses into a saucepan. Cook over low heat to melt the butter and sugar. Whisk in the milk. Set aside to cool some.
- Whisk together the flour, soda, ginger, allspice and cardamom in a large bowl. Stir in the chopped glace ginger. Make a well in the centre.
- Beat the eggs into the liquid ingredients thoroughly. Pour into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir together, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients from the side of the bowl until you have a smooth and thick batter. Pour into the prepared baking tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, until well risen and firm to the touch. Do NOT be tempted to open the door prior to that time or the cake may sink in the middle. Once an hour has passed, check the cake. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. If it doesn't cook for a further 10 minutes and try again. The cake is done when the skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin. Once cold remove from the tin and either wrap tightly and store in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Optional Icing - Whisk together 65g of sifted icing sugar (1/2 cup) and enough ginger syrup to give you a smooth drizzle icing. Drizzle decoratively over the cold cake.
NOTES:
Note - if you can't get preserved stem ginger, you can use candied ginger. I would say about 12 pieces, chopped finely. Instead of syrup in the glaze icing use some fresh lemon juice
I enjoyed this with a hot cup of Taylor's Spiced Apple Tea. It was definitely a "Home Sweet Home" moment and made for a great beginning to my year.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons