Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Frankly, I don't eat bread pudding. I had before but found little 'interest' in it. A friend ever requested that I try out a fellow blogger's Nutella Bread Pudding, but I have yet to give that recipe a try. Sorry Yani, perhaps soon ok?

Then while I was watching Nigella's "Rags to Riches" episode a couple of weeks back, Nigella 'showed' the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding recipe. Since I had my notebook next to me, I just jot the recipe down. I thought maybe this would change my mind. So I tried...

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
(from Nigella's Rags to Riches episode)

250g bread (chopped into chunks)
100g chocolate chips
500ml full-cream milk
125ml double cream
40g soft brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tblsp vanilla essence (in the episode, she used rum. I substituted this with vanilla essence)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 9" baking dish. Place the chopped bread in the baking dish.

2) Scatter the chocolate chips into the dish.

3) In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk milk, double cream, sugar, eggs & vanilla together. Pour the mixture into your baking dish. Let the whole mixture stand for 20 minutes.

4) Sprinkle some demerera sugar on top just before you put the bread mixture into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes (depends on your own oven).

So how do I find this pudding after baking it myself? I don't know. But with so much ado about 'the' Bread Pudding from Royal at Scotts' Carousel, perhaps I should try that first & see if THAT will make me have a change of heart (or rather, taste).

Fried Spaghetti

Another dish that I really liked to share is the Fried Spaghetti. This dish uses canned tomatoes because of it's convenience - diced tomatoes which has already been seasoned with basil, garlic & oregano. That's why stocking up on these canned tomatoes and a pack of spaghetti is a must when I do my groceries shopping. You can simply cook this up in a jiff when expecting guests.

Pre-requisite:

1/2 pack of pasta (I use spaghetti) & cook until al dente

A can of diced tomatoes

Chopped onions

Chopped garlic

Ginger (About 1cm chopped)

Cumin (pounded)

Black pepper

1/2 (small) can of tomato puree
Minced beef
Coriander leaves (chopped)
Cooking oil

1) Fry onions, garlic, ginger and cumin until fragrant.

2) Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and tomato puree. Add in the minced beef & leave to cook.

3) Put in the pasta & mix well with the cooked sauce. Season with black pepper (add more if you like spicy) and salt (if required).

4) Mix in the coriander leaves and turn off the fire.

5) Serve with fried chicken wings or nuggets.

Grilled Fish in Sweet Soya Sauce

This dish is a favourite with hubby. I can easily serve this dish with hot white rice & he's a happy man. And thankfully it's so easy to do. I believe you have all the essential ingredients in your fridge. But of course the main star is the fish. I like to use black pomfret.

Before grilling

Grilled Fish in Sweet Soya Sauce

Black Pomfret

Salt

Tumeric powder

1) Marinate fish with salt & tumeric powder.

2) Fry till cooked & crispy.

Sauce:

Sweet soya sauce

Butter (room temperature)

Sliced onions

Sliced garlic

Sliced red chillies

Sliced bird's eye chilles (cili padi)
Kaffir lime leaves - sliced thinly
Lime juice
Ginger flower / Torch ginger bud (Bunga kantan) - sliced thinly

1) Mix the above in a bowl. Line your grilling pan with aluminium paper to prevent fish from sticking to your pan.

2) Using a spoon, spread the soya sauce mixture all over the fried fish.

3) Put the fish to the grill. To know if the fish is ready, the soya sauce should be caramelized or dried up a little bit.

When it's done

The trick to doing this is to have lots of soya sauce & onions. The combination of onions & soya sauce will caramelize & make the whole dish tasty. Of course if you prefer this dish to be spicy, add on more chillies.

I haven't tried the sauce with chicken. If you have, please share how it turned out : D

Updated on 19th Nov'10:

You may also like to use this old skool grill. But warning - it will be messy business in the kitchen.

Mee Bandung

I had 2 packs of yellow Hokkien Mee in the fridge which will be expiring soon. The plan was to fry them when we receive guests during this festive period. But I fried the Satay yesterday instead for my aunt's family.

So I have to cook the Hokkien Mee either today or tomorrow. But what dish? There were a few options - Mee Soto, Mee Rebus, Mee Goreng, Mee Sup & Mee Betawi. Then I decided to try something I've never cooked before.

It's been a while since I try something new. I took my recipe book out, scanned through twice & decided it shall be Mee Bandung, since I have all the ingredients in my fridge. Next, I am so going to try the Mee Ayam Cendawan (Shredded Chicken Noodle). Reminds me of Tong Seng Coffeeshop, which me & ex-colleagues used to frequent for lunch.

What I've put into my Mee Bandung:

Mee Bandung

500g yellow Hokkien Mee*
200g bean sprouts*
*Blanched

Blended ingredients:
2 tblsp dried chillies
3 cloves garlic
5 red onions

About 1.5l chicken stock
4 tblsp tomato sauce
2 tblsp chilli sauce
1 tblsp oyster sauce
300g beef (cut into small cubes)
300g prawns
*Cornflour mixed wz water (thickening agent)
Oil for cooking

Garnish:
Eggs (poaching method, upon serving)
Limes (halved)
Red chillies
Green chillies
Fried shallots
Chopped parsley & spring onion

Directions:
1) Heat oil. Fry the blended ingredients until fragrant.

2) Once fragrant, pour in the chicken stock & the beef cubes. Add the tomato sauce, chilli sauce & oyster sauce. Let it boil.

3) Add in the thickening agent (according to your preference) & continue to stir to prevent any lumps.

4) When the gravy begins to thicken & boil, add in the prawns. Let it cook for about 2 minutes & switch off the heat. *If you are serving immediately, poach the egg in the boiling gravy & serve.

5) To serve, put a small portion of the blanced Hokkien noodles & bean sprouts in a bowl. Pour the gravy with beef & prawns. Place the poached egg on top centre of the noodles. Garnish with lime, chillies, fried shallots, chopped parsley & spring onion.

I hope the above directions are easy to follow. Otherwise you can always give me a tweet at @sistabrownie or drop me an email.

Sabshuka

I finally managed to make my Sabshuka last week. It was after I 'forced' my family to eat re-heated food that I can squeeze this dish in... Otherwise I think my quest to find those coriander leaves was all for nothing & they would be left rotting in the crisper compartment.

Before breaking the eggs

Ready to eat!

Baked Rice

I haven't much idea of what the house menu would be this week; my mind is blank. So if I see the ingredients in the fridge, I'll just cook something up.

Yesterday was grilled pomfret with spicy sweet soya sauce, which is one of our family favourite (not sure if I've posted the ingredients here). Today it's Baked Seafood & Chicken Rice.

Baked Rice (you can substitute whatever ingredients you have)

Pre-requisite:

White rice

Garlic (blended)

Ginger (blended)

White powdered pepper

Black mushroom sauce

Oyster sauce

Light soya sauce

Chicken breast / fillet (chopped)

Grey prawns

Fishcake

Mixed vegetables

Mushrooms (sliced)

Oil

Bottled white pasta sauce (I use Al Fredo)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Shredded cheddar cheese

Butter

Method:

1. Heat oil in wok / pan. Fry the garlic, ginger & white pepper until fragrant.

2. Add in the mushroom & oyster sauce.

3. Then put in the chicken meat (with a little bit of water) and cook until tender. Once tender (don't overcook), add in the prawns and fishcake.

4. Add in the rice & stir. Pour in the mixed vegetables, mushrooms and light soya sauce to taste.

5. Turn off fire and get a casserole dish ready for the baking part.

6. Butter the insides of the casserole dish.

7. Scoop rice into the casserole dish & press it down to make an even layer.

8. Spread a layer of the Al Fredo sauce on top of the rice.

9. Sprinkle with cheddar & mozzarella cheese.

10. Repeat steps no.7 - no.9 until casserole dish is full.

11. Bake in a preheated oven until cheese on top turns golden brown.

12. Serve hot.

This one-dish meal is perfect to be served for guests coming over with your favourite salad. You can also prepare this in an aluminium dish and freeze it until ready to use.

I did just that and had time to make brownie for another preggie friend who's due to give birth soon.

Roti Kirai Wz Chicken Curry

Made these last week, as I felt a bit adventurous. It's something like crepes, just that it is made with patterns & holes all over. Therefore using a special kitchen utensil to help create the 'artistic' look.

To make the batter:


300g plain flour

1 x 400g evaporated milk

2 eggs

Pinch of salt

Yellow food colour

Water

1) Mix everything together and make sure that batter is not too watery & runny.

2) To test, pour a bit of the mixture on a flat well-greased frying pan. If mixture sticks to the pan & difficult to remove, then there's too much water. Just add more flour into the mixture. Test again. Batter should come off easily from pan when cooked.

Then the crepes are wrapped into a triangle for serving. Use your favourite curry recipe to compliment the crepes. These are great to serve your friends coming over for visits or on special occassions.

Kofta Tagine (Sabshuka)

This was my very first attempt at cooking this middle eastern dish. So I do get a little anxious on the overall result.

I went through the recipe many times before I even started making the kofta (meatballs). Why I am anxious about cooking this dish was because I've never tried this (the original dish). I've heard of it for almost 9 years now but never tasted it.

Of course there are food stalls that sell this. And we do have a few good middle eastern restaurants here but whenever I dine at a middle eastern restaurant, I'd order something else like mixed kebabs where I get 3 different types of meat in one dish. Then I'd get full and didn't order something else.

I remember buying the so-called Sabshuka at a food bazaar, and I didn't like it at all. It was so full of tomato ketchup (sauce), no meat, just onions & yeah I did get the sunny-side-up egg (that's the trademark).

For first-timer like me, that first taste sure left an impression on the Sabshuka (by no fault of its original recipe). The cook should be responsible enough to be able to cook as per the original dish. Don't create something else and let people think that the dish is horrible. Bad publicity for the Sabshuka aka Kofta Tagine, really.

Well the original plan was to learn this from my MIL but I never got round it. So I learned the hard way - going through middle eastern recipes. As for the taste I leave it in the good tastebud of dearest hubby.

Traditionally this dish should be cooked in a tajine slaoui (an earthenware cooking pot with a 'chimney'). This is to allow condensation to take place in the earthenware and 'juices' from food to 'recycle'. Thus you don't need to add more water for your stew. Plus, your food will be tastier. In short, it's a traditional pressure cooker.

Tajine Slaoui

To make the kofta:

400-450g ground mutton (or beef)

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tblsp Italian parsley, finely chopped

3 tblsp cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tblsp oil

1) Put the meat, onion, garlic, herbs and spices in a bowl and mix. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

2) Roll the meat into a ball until all has been used up.

3) Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

4) Fry the meatballs in batches. Cook, turning occassionally, for 8-10 minutes or until browned all over. Remove the meatballs and set aside in a bowl.

To make the sauce:

3 tblp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp paprika

1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes

2 tsp cayenne pepper (original recipe uses "Harissa")

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

4 eggs

1) Heat oil in the frying pan. Fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic, cumin, cinnamon and paprika and cook until fragrant.

2) Stir in the tomato and cayenne pepper (harissa) and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3) Add the meatballs, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.

4) Transfer the meatball sauce into a shallow ovenproof dish. Add the eggs and cook in a preheated oven until the eggs are set.

5) Season and serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Nasi Ayam Berempah

Cooked this Spiced Chicken Rice (direct translation for "Nasi Ayam Berempah") last week but due to some 'cranky' internet connection, couldn't upload this earlier.

I got this when I watched Chef Ismail's (from Malaysia) cooking show quite some time back. Because it's easy I totally love to cook this, whenever I want a twist from the same old Chicken Rice. This one you simply add curry powder.

Pre-requisite:

Chicken stock / broth (enough to cook 2 cups of rice)

2 cups of rice

Rice:

Onions

Garlic

Ginger

Curry powder (for meat)

Lemon grass (squashed)

Cooking oil

Sesame oil (1 tsp)

Chicken cube (2 pieces)

1) Heat cooking oil in your rice cooker. Once it's hot, fry the blended ingredients till fragrant. (Close the rice cooker for about 3 minutes for the blended paste to cook).

2) Once the blended paste is fragrant, mix in the rice thoroughly.

3) Pour in the chicken stock / broth and the chicken cube. Remember, the quantity of the stock / broth should be the same amount as required to cook normal rice.

4) Put in the lemon grass & sesame oil.

5) Allow to cook.

Chicken:

Salt

Ground white pepper

Curry powder

Tumeric powder

Ginger (pounded)

1) Marinate chicken with the ingredients above for at least 30 minutes.

2) Fry till crispy.

You may serve with your favourite chicken soup, mixed vegetables (my favourite is Chap Chye) and not forgetting ginger garlic chilli sauce (I'm using Chng Kee).

This dish is perfect to be served for special occassion as it's different from your normal chicken rice.

Beef with Dried Chilli

Tried a new dish the other day, because I haven't got any ideas of what to prepare for dinner. I was flipping through my recipes list, read the ingredients and found that I have all the ingredients required in my fridge.

The dish calls for cubed beef. But being me, I used sliced beef instead. Actually, this helps in cutting down the cooking time as sliced beef becomes tender faster.

Ingredients:

2 tsps oil

8 shallots, sliced finely

300g tomato, sliced

6 dried chillies, sliced lengthwise

500g beef, cubes

4 tblsps sweet dark soy sauce

800ml coconut milk (from 1 coconut)

3 cloves

1/2 nutmeg, grated (I use powder)

3 cm cinnamon

Salt to taste

Fried shallots for topping

Spice paste (blended):
4 cloves garlic

3 candlenuts, roasted

2 cm ginger

1) Heat oil in a pan over medium fire. When hot, stir-fry shallots for 1 min. Add spice paste and continue to stir-fry till fragrant, about 3 mins.

2) Add tomato, dried chillies and beef. Toss for 5 mins or till beef is just cooked.

3) Add sweet soy sauce and mix well. Gradually add in coconut milk, stirring to mix well.

4) Add cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Lower fire and simmer till beef is tender and oil separates from gravy. Season with salt to taste. Sprinkle with fried shallots before serving.

Spicy Honey Chicken

I decided to cook 2 dishes today. Just to make sure that I still have the 'touch' (wink).

First I cooked Sambal Goreng, which is a Javanese dish consisting of soy tofu, fermented soy beans, long beans, prawns and beef; all semi-fried before putting them in spicy gravy. It is always recommend that this dish to be cooked at least one day in advance, keep it in the frdige or freezer & re-heat the next day. It will be tastier as all the ingredients would have been mixed thoroughly together. I'll try to put the recipe in soon.

The second dish I cooked today was Spicy Honey Chicken. The recipe calls for chicken cuts, but I decided to use chicken breasts instead. Then I cut them up into cubes, so that it's easy for the kids & everyone else to savour.

This dish is part spicy, part sweet. So when you fry the ingredients till fragrant, be sure to have a balance of those.

When I cook, I don't have specific measurements. So sorry for that. But I believe you'd trust you own taste & judgement to make it the best to your liking.

Here it is:

Part A:
Chicken parts (or in this case I use 3 pcs chicken breasts cut into cubes)
Tumeric powder
Salt
Oil for frying

Part B (blended ingredients):
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Dried chillies
Shrimp paste (just a tiny bit)
Water

Part C:
Oyster sauce
Honey
Salt (optional)

Directions:

1) Heat oil in frying pan. Meanwhile mix chicken with salt & tumeric powder. Fry till only half-cooked. Set aside.

2) Using the same pan (or if you prefer to use a pot) & oil from frying the chicken, fry the blended ingredients untill fragrant. This should take about 10 mins.

3) Then add a little bit of water just enough to make a thick sauce. Add the oyster sauce & honey. Mix till the sauce is part spicy, part sweet. If required, add a little bit of salt to taste.

4) Finally put in the chicken & mix thoroughly. Let the chicken cook till tender & turn off the heat.

5) Serve hot with white rice.

P.S: I thought I'd make Nasi Ayam Berempah (Spiced Chicken Rice) this weekend... Hmmm...

Kacang Phool

I made Kacang Phool for lunch today. It's made from using store-bought foul medamme beans (which I half blended them for texture) & mixed with minced beef. To serve, I fried an egg (cooked sunny-side-up), chopped onions, juice of half-lime & green chillies. This should be eaten with baguette. It's light yet filling.

The store-bought foul medammes I used is this. I bought a few 'versions' or recipes of the foul-medammes. They have Lebanese, Saudi, Egypt and others at the store. As it is hard to get this at my neighbourhood stores or even major supermarkets, I specially bought a few when I went to Mustaffa Centre.

Here's the recipe:

450g foul medammes (half-blended)

250g minced beef (I've earlier sauteed these with 1 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp ginger & 1 tblsp curry powder)

Half cup water

Onions*

3 cloves garlic*

1cm ginger*

5 pcs dried red chillies*

*All these ingredients to blend together to become a paste for frying

Salt to taste

Olive oil

Garnish:

Egg cooked sunny-side-up

Green chillies (sliced)

Onions (chopped coarsely)

Lime

How to:

1) Heat olive oil in frying pan. When it's hot, fry the onion paste till fragrant.

2) Add in the foul medammes and half cup of water. Leave to boil.

3) Once the mixture starts to boil & become a little thick in consistency, add in salt.

4) Give it a stir and turn off the heat.

Note: You do not want the mixture to be too dry nor watery. The mixture tends to be thicker and drier when cooled. If it gets to dry, just add in a little hot water & stir before serving. If it's too watery, leave it to boil for another 3-5mins.

To serve:

1) Fry egg.

2) Scoop some foul-medamme mixture into a bowl. Topped with egg.

3) Serve chopped onions, green chillies & lime at the side.

4) Serve hot with baguette.

Crispy Chicken Strips

For quite some time, I was inspired to make something like the Taiwanese Snack Bar here offers - Crispy Chicken (that's not what it's actually called by the way). A lot of times as I passed by the snack bar, I tell myself that I should try making this. It's a matter of getting the right seasoning (I think).

It's like a chicken cutlet using chicken breast seasoned with garlic & some other spices & fry till crispy. Then the cook will sprinkle more seasoning (I suspect it's garlic powder) before serving it to his customer. If you're standing very close to the snack bar, the whiff of the seasoning entices & awakens the saliva glands that I decided to give it a shot - my style.

Here's my Taiwanese-style-Crispy-Chicken-Strips:

10 pcs chicken strips or breast (I'm using strips this time)

1 egg (use egg white only)

Garlic salt

Mild Cayenne Pepper

White Pepper

Breadcrumbs

Garlic Powder

*No specific measurement given as I'm seasoning it according to my taste.

1) Season chicken strips with garlic salt, cayenne pepper & white pepper. Marinate for at least 1 hour.

2) Heat oil for deep-frying.

3) Before frying season egg white with garlic salt, cayenne pepper & white pepper. Dip the chicken strips into the seasoned egg white and then into the breadcrumbs.

4) Be sure that the oil is hot enough before putting the breadcrumb covered chicken strips into the pan.

5) Fry till golden brown.

6) Drain cooked chicken strips. Season with garlic powder before serving.

Everyone likes it. Perfect for the kids' too as I'm using mild cayenne pepper and not too much of the white pepper. I'm definitely gonna repeat this.

Crispy Chicken Strips

Give it a try. These are easy & using only few ingredients. Great for snacking too.

Mee Betawi

The other day, I mentioned that I will post the Mee Betawi recipe. Well here it is: (sorry no pics for this one)

Yellow Hokkien mee

For the soup
Blended ingredients:
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Chilli padi
Ground white pepper

Fishcakes
Prawns
Beef (need to be stewed in advance; do not throw the stock as it will be used for the soup)
Chye Sim

Sweet soya sauce

1. Stew the beef in advance as the stock will be used for the soup.

2. Fry the blended ingredients until fragrant (including the ground white pepper). Then pour in the beef stock (only). Add water if required & sweet soya sauce.

3. Once the soup starts to boil, you can start putting in the stewed beef & chye sim stalks. By this time, you should get a somewhat sweet & spicy taste. If the soup is too spicy, just add in more soya sauce.

4. Finally add the fishcakes, prawns & chye sim.

5. Serve with yellow hokkien mee & fried shallots.

Note: No other seasonings are required as the taste comes from the sweet soya sauce & beef stock.

Ayam Roast Berempah

I've run out of ideas of what to cook that I've decided to try something new. There's meat, fish, prawns & chicken in the freezer. So what should I cook today?

Mum mentioned about a steamed fish recipe on Suria's Dapur Mami segment, which uses cili padi & soy sauce. Great combination isn't it? So I logged on to the Suria site to check the recipe.

I finally decided to try "Ayam Roast Berempah". The recipe doesn't require much ingredients so it should be quick. I hope it will be tasty as well.

After roasting the chicken for about an hour (to dry the ingredients up), it does taste good. Goes really well with hot white rice. This is a tried & tested (read:tasted) recipe, so you might want to give it a try. It's easy & tasty.

Ayam Roast Berempah

Recipes for Lemon Meringue Pie & Baked Potatoes

Lemon Meringue Pie (using a 25cm/10" pie plate)

Rich Short Crust Pastry:

165g flour

150g pastry margarine, chilled & cubed

2 tblsp icing sugar

1 1/2 tblsp iced water

Method:

1) Process the flour in a food processor with icing sugar & butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs (also known as the rubbing-in method). Add iced water; process just until the mixture comes together in a ball.

2) Turn pastry out onto a lightly floured surface; knead it gently until smooth & press into a 15-cm disc. Wrap in clingwarp & chill for 30mins.

3) Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out pastry to a 33-cm (13") round about 5mm thick. Pierce the base several times with a fork.

4) Line the pastry with baking papaer & half-fill with dried beans or rice. Bake for 15mins. Remove paper & beans or rice & cook for further 10mins or until light golden & aromatic. Leave pastry case to cool then spoon filling into it, smoothing the top.

Filling:

170g caster sugar

60g cornflour

Finely grated zest of 3 lemons

80ml lemon juice, strained

185ml milk

3 egg yolks

Method:

1) Put the caster sugar & cornflour in a asaucepan. Combine the lemon zest & lemon juice & the milk & add to the pan. Stir constantly over a medium heat until mixture comes to the boil. Remove from heat, add egg yolks & mix well to combine.

*You can choose to chill the filling for 2hrs if preferred.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

Pinch of cream of tartar

80g caster sugar

Method:

1) Whisk the egg whites in a bowl with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add sugar, a spoonful at a time, beating well after each addition. The meringue should be thick & shiny.

2)Spread the meringue over the lemon filling, making sure it forms a seal all around the pastry shell to prevent filling overheating (which could cause it to separate).

3) Bake for 10mins or until the meringue is a light golden colour.

Baked Potatoes

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1kg potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced

100g gruyere cheese

2 cups fresh milk

1/2 cup thick cream

ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

4 tblsp butter

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 190C

2) Bruise the garlic & spread on a 35x23x5cm baking tray. Arrange potato slices in layers on the tray to resemble fish scales. Sprinkle cheese on top. Repeat the layering & sprinkling of cheese until all the potatoes are used up.

3) In another bowl, mix the fresh milk, thick cream, ground black pepper, salt & nutmeg. Pour the mixture onto the potatoes on the baking tray. Drop butter on top of the mixture & bake in the oven for 45 minutes until dry & the potatoes are golden brown.

Baked Lasagne

This was a last minute stint. I had to go visiting in the day and by the time I reached home, my sister-in-law was about 10-15 minutes away from reaching my house. Lucky for me, I cooked the meat sauce in the morning before I stepped out.

You have no idea how rushing it was for me; laying the meat sauce, lasagne and cheese, while ensuring that the oven was hot enough to put this in before she comes.

But this has always been my favourite dish to serve to my guests, as it's not too heavy or light as a meal. Enjoy!

Minced beef or chicken
Bay leaves
Chopped onions
Chopped garlic
Chopped tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Tomato puree
Chicken cube (dissolve in a little bit of water)
Oregano powder
Lasagne sheets
Mozzarella cheese
cheddar cheese

Method:
1) Heat oil in saucepan and then fry the chopped onions, chopped garlic and bay leaves until they become soft.
2) Put in the mince meat / chicken and simmer.
3) Pour in the tomato sauce, tomato puree and chicken cube and bring to the boil.
4) Sprinkle oregano powder, simmer for a while and turn off the fire.
5) While waiting for the meat sauce to cool, soak a few lasagne sheets with hot water until soft (al dente).

To lay the lasagne:
1) Cover the base of your ovenproof dish with a layer of the meat sauce.
2) Layer mozzarella and cheddar cheese on top of it and top it off with a sheet of lasagne.
3) Repeat steps 1 & 2 until ovenproof dish is full.
4) Bake until cheese are well-melted and golden brown.
5) Serve with choice of salad.