Katriina Mueller, Author at Finding Feasts

Kale and 3 Cheese Lasagna w/ Rich Tomato and Mushroom Sauce

Kale 3 Cheese Lasagna w/ Tomato Mushroom Sauce. My mum makes the best lasagna, it’s seriously good, and as with any great recipe that is made by all mum’s the world over, you can never make it as good as theirs. That’s why going back home is always so good.

This Kale 3 Cheese Lasagna w/ Tomato Mushroom Sauce is based on mum’s design and her cheese mixture, this is just the vegetarian version. It’s super delicious and soul warming.

I know, the words Blondie and vegetarianism are never seen together, but that was prior to doing Meat Free Week a couple of weeks ago. It was hubby’s decision to do it and as a family we embraced the idea. We had been talking about meat alot of late, not only about reducing our intake but being more conscious of where it was coming from. I had wanted to make meat the ‘special occasion’ meal, the dinner you saved up for and cooked with purpose and love, knowing the animal or fish had lived a good, rich and healthy life.

What surprised me most about that week was it actually took alot more effort and conscious thought to design meals for 7 full days of meat free living than it does to construct and meal with meat. The days were used to think of dinners and lunches that were full of flavour and filled the space left by meat. Sure, I could have done a week of salads and roasted veggies, but I really wanted to try try some other recipes. I don’t want to rely on rice and potatoes to fill the void.

What also surprised me or surprised us all was the fact we had planned to ‘celebrate’ day eight – the start of meat eating again – with my son’s favourite meal of burgers and chips from Grill’d. It was a very enjoyable dinner and a delicious way of re-starting our meat loving ways, but it wasn’t till the next Friday that meat was requested again… funny.

With several new recipes under my belt and with the need to buy quality, local meat our new life of conscious meat eating has begun – 3 to 4 days meat free and enjoying amazing places like Feather and Bone Providore here in Sydney to buy our meat from.

Happy eating, however you choose to do it – Blondie 🙂

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Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin with Taleggio and Vino Cotto Drizzle

Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin with Taleggio and Vino Cotto Drizzle… With Mother’s Day only a month away, I thought I would put up a recipe that would surely bowl her over, especially if you turn up with a bottle of bubbly to go along with it – it would certainly put a smile on my face!

I have used Pine Mushrooms aka Saffron mIlk Cap Mushrooms because the colour is so vibrant and they still retain a firm texture (and I have a ton from our last mushrooming venture!) but if you are having trouble getting a hold of them you could use a Swiss brown and button mushroom mix.

The Vino Cotto adds a gorgeous sweetness to the earthy mushrooms and the melted Taleggio is to die for. Each crispy bite is heaven!

This is such an adaptable dish for whatever the occasion is as you can make a large version to share around a table, or individual tarts that can be served with a little salad on the side as an entree or even as finger food, made in little muffin tins to pass around at parties – and everyone is going to love them!

Happy Mother’s Day! Blondie

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Warm Sticky Date Puddings w/ Butterscotch Sauce

Finding Feasts - Sticky Date Pudding_ (1) — Click image for recipe

A lesson learned… Please don’t try this at home!

It’s amazing how things can change from normal to absolute dire panic in a split second. This is what happened to me two weeks ago… Happily preparing spaghetti at about 6:30pm on a Sunday evening, I dropped a pot of boiling water on the floor. I had a loose top on, the saucepan’s handle was sticking out and the pot must have been off balance on the stove top. As I threw in some pasta, I spun around to get some more and that was it… That was the moment. That was exactly when Sunday night took a turn for the worse.

Frantic calls to the hospital, to my sister (a nurse) and to Bella (to take Seb who was in shock not quite knowing what was going on) and I was whisked away with feet and hands in a large bucket of water to the hospital, husband in tow. To say the pain was extraordinary is an understatement, it was just insane… several of doses of morphine was needed to get through that night!

Anyway, with mid to deep level burns (they no longer grade a burn in degrees) on my foot and burns to my knee and hand, I was told not to be on my feet for more than 15 minutes at a time. Cooking was left to hubby, which fortunately didn’t require much more than reheating as I had made 3 kg of spaghetti sauce and a big batch of Thai green curry paste the weekend prior. All sitting in the freezer, and unbeknownst to me at the time, ready for the two weeks off my feet… almost too funny how things work out.

So, now I’m getting back into the swing of things I wanted to cook something soul warming, something that will soothe and sate the cooking void I had just been in, and what’s better than a traditional Warm Stick Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce.

Please take care in the kitchen, an accident is really only a micro second away.

Blondie 🙂

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Coq au Chardonnay

Coq au Chardonnay… Autumn is officially here and with the change of season comes a change in cooking. Long, slow, labour intensive meals start rolling around in your mind. Maybe a moussaka with it’s silky bechamel sauce, seasoned lamb mince and salted and grilled eggplant slices or wild mushroom arancini with a well rounded risotto base using homemade stock, letting it cool and lovingly forming balls to fry up the next day… ahhh, the joy of cooking.

As opposed to the above paragraph this Coq au Chardonnay is a relatively quick dish because you are using chicken (you can’t let it cook too long or you loose all the texture of the meat) but enjoy the process of chopping your vegetables, browning the chicken pieces and letting all the flavours develop together.

Coq Au Chardonnay is not unlike the French coq au vin, which is traditionally done with a red wine, but this version is a little lighter, maybe a little more autumn than the heavier red wine dish that has it’s place on my winter table.

Enjoy the cook 🙂

Blondie

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Homemade Hommus

Homemade Hommus… Continuing on with my year long challenge, here is Homemade Hommus from Jan-Feb 2014’s Nourish magazine.

Although a basic recipe it really is one that everyone should have under their belts as it’s great as a snack with flat bread or vegetable batons or used in a meal – like the one I will be making from the new Feast magazine… Can’t wait for that one! Hummus B’lahmeh (Israeli hummus with spiced lamb)

Blondie 🙂

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How To Poach Eggs In Cling Film

One of my favourite ways to eat eggs is poached… How good does that look? Spicy chorizo, mushroom and feta with poached eggs

The problem is a lot of people are afraid to try their hand at poaching thinking it’s too difficult a method. This is where the cling film method comes in, but before you say something about the rubbish left from such a cooking method, yes I agree but the benefit of poaching eggs using this method is you can use older eggs.

The traditional method of poaching requires you to have the freshest eggs so that the egg white is a firm ball surrounding the yolk. This is important because you need the white to hold form in the water. Using an older egg will mean the egg white is looser and you will just have egg white ‘ghosts’ floating around in your saucepan. Not very appealing at all!

Poaching in cling film means you can use older eggs – not everybody has chickens on hand and not every carton of eggs you buy are as fresh as you need them for traditional ‘free fall’ cooking, so having this method on hand is very helpful when the craving for poached eggs hits.

How To Poach Eggs In Cling Film instructional…

Happy brunching! Blondie 🙂

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Smoked Sweet Chilli Sauce

So what can you do to improve on the pantry staple, sweet chilli sauce? Smoke it of course!

Smoked Sweet Chilli Sauce is an amazing accompaniment to all the dishes you have your standard with but with a unique smokey flavour… and you know how much Bella and I love things smoked.

Serve it with seafood or baste chicken kebabs or pour it over a big dollop of sour cream.

Hot and smokey… Blondie

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