Experiment Recipe: Moussagna (Moussaka Lasagna Hybrid!) (meaty or veggie)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

This little creation was born when I went shopping and had a bit of a split personality moment. I was in two minds whether to make moussaka or lasagna so I bought the ingredients for both!

Moussagna (Moussaka Lasagna Hybrid!)

This little creation was born when I went shopping and had a bit of a split personality moment. I was in two minds whether to make moussaka or lasagna so I bought the ingredients for both!

The diced gherkins make a great addition to the mince, adding a nice texture and a little sharpness which balances the fat from the mince!

This recipe does have a some meat, but considering the size of the dish it’s not much. A touch of veggie mince would make this a top veggie dish.

* cooking

prep time 45-60m

cooking time 25m @ 200C

* storage after it’s cooked

fridge (1-4C) ~7days

freezable cut it into portions and bag or wrap in cling film before freezing!

* reheat 

oven defrost, remove plastic wrapper then 20-30m @ 180C

microwavable defrost, remove plastic wrapper then 3mins / 400g @ 800W

* equipment

28x14cm baking tin (at least 6cm deep )

(GN 1/3 6cm)

ingredients (serves 6-8)

for the red sauce

2 red peppers (2cm square pieces)

2 red onion (1cm dice)

50ml olive oil

1/2 courgette (washed, peeled, 1cm dice)

25g butter

400g fried tomatoes (recipe here)

25g Sriracha hot sauce

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar (optional)

for the white sauce

500ml milk

50g butter (room temp)

200g mature cheddar (grated)

1/2 tsp black pepper (freshly ground)

1/2 tsp maldon salt (1/4 normal salt)

1 tbsp corn flour (mixed into 100ml of water)

for the minced component (meat or veggie)

1 large onion (~200g, 1cm dice)

4 sweet pickled gherkins (~5mm dice)

250g minced beef / lamb / veggie mince

4 cloves garlic

for the aubergine

1 large aubergine

50ml olive oil

for the topping

65g bread crumbs

10g parsley (fine chop)

squeeze of lemon

slug of olive oil

for the assembly

250g fresh egg pasta sheets

method

red sauce

Prep the red pepper, onion and mix them with the oil in a medium pot.

Cook with the lid on, on a medium heat for 35 mins, string occasionally. (The red pepper should end up soft.)

Use the time to prep the aubergine & white sauce.

To finish the red sauce, sauté the courgette with the butter, then add it to the onion & pepper mix.

Add the fried tomato, hot sauce, sugar and vinegar. 

Mix well and leave on a medium low heat to simmer until you need it to assemble the dish.

white sauce

Warm the milk and butter in a medium saucepan until the butter has melted.

Mix the water and corn flour in a cup and pour it into the cheesy milk, stirring as you do.

Stir the bottom of the pan with the flat end of a flat ended spatula until the sauce has thickened.

Add the cheese and stir until smooth. 

TIPS:

The sauce won’t look that thick, but don’t forget that the lasagna sheets will absorb a lot of moisture.

The reason for using a flat ended spatula instead of a spoon, is that much more of the sauce is moved from the (hot) bottom of the pan stopping it burning and meaning that it thickens more quickly and evenly!!

for the minced component (meat or veggie)

Sweat off the onions and garlic in a frying pan on a medium heat, once translucent add the mince.

Break it apart and leave it alone until the meat has started to brown.

Mix it again and repeat until the all the mix is a lovely golden brown. 

Season it and add the gherkins, mixing well. Put to one side until needed.

aubergine

Slice aubergine into 1/2 cm slices. 

Coat a frying pan with oil, removing the excess by pouring it into a heatproof jug.

place the sobering in the pan and turn once.

topping

Season and mix well.

assembly

So at this point you should have all the layers ready!!

Arrange the ingredients in layers and cook at 200C for 25min.

= = = = = TOP = = = = = 

breadcrumb mix

white sauce

aubergine

white sauce

——— pasta

red sauce

——— pasta

white sauce

aubergine

meaty mix

white sauce

——— pasta

red sauce

——— pasta

meaty mix

white sauce

——— pasta

red sauce

= = = = = BOTTOM = = = = = 

Baked lawn anyone?? : )

Experiment - Recipe: Pearl Barley with Mushrooms & Aubergine (Vegetarian)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I tried this with and without mint and coriander as an experiment. Wow, the fresh herbs add a light and fragrant touch to the dish and balance it nicely - they make such a difference!!

I love this dish. The barley gives it bite. It’s packed with earthy goodness from the mushrooms, nuts and aubergine, and balanced with apricot, mint and coriander! A cracking flavour profile.

ingredients (serves 4)

for the pearl barley

250g pearl barley (+500ml water / veg stock)

250g chestnut mushrooms (cut into 1/4’s)

200g onion (1 large, sliced)

6 dried apricots (medium dice)

3 sprigs thyme (picked)

200ml apple juice

1 large aubergine (large dice)

couple pinches paprika salt (50/50 smoked paprika / salt)

olive oil

25g toasted sunflower & pumpkin seeds (you’ll need some butter for toasting) (link 720)

5g coriander (chopped)

5g mint (chopped)

2 spring onion (sliced into rings)

1 tbsp apple chutney (optional)

for the garnish

1 spring onion (sliced into rings)

5g chives (chopped)

method

Cook pearl barley 2:1 by weight - up to 3:1 if you like it softer and with residue liquid. I use a rice cooker for this. If you’re doing it in a sauce pan, use a nonstick pan, bring to the boil then reduce to simmer with a lid on the pan, cook until all the water is absorbed and the grain is soft but still has bite.

Cook each of the ingredients separately, putting them aside until needed. (I use takeaway boxes, they stack well and take up very little space when stored!)

Put the dried apricots and apple juice into a small saucepan and bring to the boil then set to simmer for 10mins until they’ve softened. 

Turn off the heat and add the fresh thyme leaves, put aside to infuse until needed.

Brush the mushrooms to remove any soil, then take the stalks off, and quarter them lengthways.

Cook the mushroom stalks w/ the onions in a little oil until the onions have started to brown. Don’t forget to season them. 

Combine all the ingredients except the nuts, spring onions, chives, mint and coriander and heat up in a large pan.

Then add the nuts, spring onions, chives, mint and coriander and mix through.

to serve

Serve in a serving bowl or in the pan, dressed with the spring onion, chives and a sprig of thyme.

variations

It’s quite nice with a poached egg and garlic bread!

If you like things spicy, add a finely chopped scotch bonnet and serve with coriander and mint greek yoghurt. (season the yoghurt with salt and lime juice) 

I had it with a pork shoulder chop done in a pimientos de padron and white wine sauce with garlic bread. That, methinks, will be another post!! : )

Or use it as the stuffing for a deboned leg of lamb!! Think I'd probably replace the mint and coriander for 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, coriander, garam masala, and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. And bump up (as in double or triple) the amount of dried fruit and nuts. And add cranberries for a touch of acidity!

Recipe: Crispy Chicken & Red Vegetable Curry w/ Cardamom Rice

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

For me the sign of a good curry is when you can taste the individual flavours of all the components, and the marriage of all those flavours and textures brings a party to your mouth! (not sure why I’m thinking “Bing Bang Theory Bollywood dance” take on that party but I am) Anyway to get that individuality coming through it’s best to cook a few items separately at the start and then combine them together at the end!

This recipe has come along considerably since it was on the menu in 2010, the chicken for example is done separately so it remains crispy and succulent. It makes a great combo with the vegetable red curry!

ingredients (serves 6)

for the chicken

1 chicken (spatchcocked)

paprika (to dust)

oil

flaked salt

for the red curry

1/2 butternut squash or 2 small sweet potato (1/2 inch dice)

1 red pepper (large dice)

1 onion (large dice)

5 chestnut mushrooms (quartered)

1 medium aubergine (large dice)

130g red curry paste (recipe here - less if it’s shop bought)

20g ginger (sliced)

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

5 kaffir lime leaves (bruised)

400g light coconut milk

50ml fish sauce

1 lime (juiced)

450ml chicken stock

for the rice (6)

540g long grain rice

900g water

75g butter / ghee

18 cardamom pods (crushed, but not broken apart)

30 curry leaves

4g salt

for the garnish

lime

thai basil

coriander

equipment

rice cooker

method

Peel the butternut squash and dice it int 1/3 inch chunks. Same with the sweet potato, peel it if you like, I prefer the skin on! Place onto a lightly oiled baking tray. 

Spatchcock the chicken, rub a little oil onto the skin and dust with salt & paprika. The oil will help them stick. Place it on top of the veg skin side up. Place into a preheated oven at 230C / 40m.

(If you’re only making the vegetable red curry set oven to 200C and coat the sweet potato w/ oil and salt.)

Put the rice ingredients into a rice cooker / sauce pan and set to cook.

Brown the mushrooms and aubergine and set aside. Char the onion a little on a griddle if you have one then cook the onion red pepper, garlic and ginger until the pepper has softened. Add the red curry paste mushrooms and aubergine and mix until coated evenly. (the chicken should be coming out about now, or soon!)

Add the coconut milk slowly so it sizzles and lifts the flavours off the bottom of the pan. 

Add the lime leaves and leave to simmer. (20 minutes max from this point)

Remove the chicken from the oven, lift the chicken off the veggies and put the it on a chopping board to rest. Remove the veggies and add them to the curry. Deglaze the baking tray on the stove with 200ml of white wine and add the jus to the curry too.

Mix well and serve immediately! B O O M !!

thinking ahead

Can make this curry in the afternoon, and reheat for dinner! (It also freezes well). The chicken should be timed for dinner for it to be both juicy and crispy!

cooking order notes:

start - 8.22PM

* spatchcock chicken & cut sweet potato > oven

* put rice on to cook (don’t forget to turn the rice cooker on!)

* cut mushroom and aubergine > stove lightly sizzling

* make the paste

* make the veg curry

* chicken out naan in

* finish the sweet potato 

* cut chicken 

* finish & season curry, naan out & serve!

L U S H !

10.22PM - come on!! In my defence that included photography!!

I reckon an hour and twenty minutes for curry from scratch!!

to serve

Serve with naan of your choice, cardamom rice and dress with coriander, thai basil, chilli and a lime.

Dribble!

Recipe (leftovers): Turkey Pie, Celeriac and Potato Rösti, and Avocado Salad

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

I think my memories of Christmas are probably some of the oldest that I can recall. One of the core ingredients in every Christmas were my mums sausage rolls! Bloody hell pure bliss!!! Pork sausage sometimes with herbs in, some times not, but me mum always made the pastry. Pastry and meat is a winning combo!! Specially after you’ve spent all day unwrapping presents, and running around terrorising granny’s dog, making stupid noises running into walls tipsy on bailies or vermouth that we’d nicked from the drinks cabinet! (or that granny had given us) Anyway Christmas wouldn’t be up to scratch without those awesome home made sausage rolls!

Excuse the digression! Some years later . . . . 

I’m not one to waste food, so if I see a little pastry leftover at the end of a sausage roll making session I’ll snag it and either freeze it or pop it into the fridge, for the making of pies, yes sir. 

What follows is a testament to what you can do with left overs!!

ingredients (serves 4-6)

for the turkey pie - 200C / 20min

300-400g pastry off cuts are fine. (pastry how to)

450g left over turkey (coarse dice)

2/3 large aubergine (large dice) or 1 medium aubergine

100ml olive oil

2 spring onions (chopped into rings)

1 red onion (medium dice)

1 tomato (chopped)

1 egg (beaten)

for the cheese roux

250g cheddar cheese (grated)

60g plain flower

250ml chicken stock

250ml milk

for the accompaniments

some potato and celeriac rösti recipe here 

juniper and cranberry cabbage recipe here 

and a simple avocado tomato salad

apparatus / equipment

pie dish (18cm x 26cm)

pastry brush

method

cheese roux

For a nice sauce with substance a roux is essential, and really simple. 

On a medium heat melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Use a wooden spoon to work it into a smooth paste then add the liquids and whisk into a homogenous liquid, keep stirring on a medium high heat until it’s thickened and the flour case cooked out. Add the cheese and stir until it all melted and made a smooth sauce.

turkey pie

Pre-heat your oven to 200C. Dice the aubergine and toss it in oil. 

Add the chopped onion and pop them into a pan on a medium heat, turning occasionally until the aubergine has started to brown an the onions are translucent.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except the pastry obviously) and mix together. Leave them to warm through.

Then put the in the pie

I like pastry! Did I mention that? 

It’s nice to have a generous amount and for it to be crunchy, flakey and shiny!!!! Oooh yes!

So once it’s rolled out, roll the rolling pin underneath to lift it onto the pie. 

Trim the pastry where it needs it, use the trimmings to add extra crunchiness to the pastry topping.

Brush with beaten egg to make it all shiny and lovely looking then into the oven it goes for 20minutes!!

thinking ahead

If you want to make the pie in the morning, you can: Just let the filling go cold before you put the pastry on, cover in cling film and put in the fridge until needed to feed the starving masses!

Don’t forget to take the cling film off, and put the egg wash on just before you bake it.

The cranberry and red cabbage concoction will keep for 3-5days in the fridge no problem.

what could go wrong? 

When working with pastry it’s important to keep it as cold as you can. Which is why pastry sections in professional kitchens have marble work surfaces. So work quickly and don’t let your pastry get warm. 

to serve

Make the rösti while the pie’s in the oven, grab a helper to make the salad. If you give them some random bits and tell them to improvise you can often learn a thing or two about different flavour combinations. (So I’ve found!!)  Risky business! ; )

variations

You can fill a pie with all manner of things: Oxtail Pie, Apple Tart Tatin, Banana Tatin & Passion Fruit Sorbet and, coming soon . . . Duck & Date Pie & Quiche. 

Only limited by your imagination!