Chicken Mashroom La la lasagna

I invited a friend over for supper and asked her what she felt like. She said something with cheese so I offered lasagna. Then she asked for it to be with chicken. Perfect. So off I went to shop for what I needed and decided that mushrooms were a must for this project. The result is this:

What you will need -

The chicken mushroom layer:

4 Chicken breasts

2 Large brown mushrooms (diced)

½ an onion (diced)

1 cup milk (I used low fat, you can use any milk or even cream or ideal milk)

basil infused olive oil (or died basil and olive oil)

Jenny Morris Italian herb mix

1 tablespoon flour (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

For the white sauce:

¼ cup lite butter

¼ cup flour

4 cups milk (more or less depending on your dish size and amount of layers)

2 cloves garlic (crushed)

1 tsp mustard powder

Salt and pepper to taste 

The rest:

1 box spinach lasagna

1 cup grated cheddar and mozzarella

What to do -

For the chicken and mushroom layer:

1. Use a nons tick pan with a bit of oil or olive oil spray and cook. Fry the chicken breasts until cooked. Set aside

2. Use a tablespoon of the basil infused olive oil or a tablespoon of olive oil with a teaspoon of dried basil. Throw in the onion and pour about ½ a cup of water in.

3. When the water boils off (the onion should be clear) throw in the mushrooms. Cook for about 1 minute.

4. Add in your milk and let it simmer

3. Cut up the chicken into bite size chunks (At this point you make take chef's tax) and add it to the mushroom sauce, season with italian mix, salt and pepper.

4. When everything else is ready, if the sauce has not thickened add the tablespoon of flour and stir well.

For the white sauce:

1. Melt the butter in a small pot (preferably one with a long handle) then add the flour and stir fast and well.

2. Mix the mustard powder and the garlic in with the milk and add to the pot. Stir as you pour to avoid lumps.

3. Stir well and remove from heat when sauce thickens.

To assemble:

In your dish put down a layer of white sauce, followed by a layer of lasagna and then a layer of chicken and mushroom. Repeat. The top layers should be lasagna, white sauce and then the cheese on top of that. Leave to rest for 30 minutes (If, like me, you leave this to the last minute and dont have time to let the lasagna rest you can do the following. While you are busy with the other parts of the dish soak the lasagna sheets in hot water) While its resting heat the oven up to 190°C. Bake the lasagna until golden brown on top.


 The shopping list

General Something

Some of my readers might know that I am getting married in March 2010 and so I have started trying to lose weight. I started with Sports Science and did well and now I am on Weight Watchers. Before all this I would eat anything and so one of my favourite foods was General Tsao Chicken. I was so happy when I found this recipe from WW for my favourite dish and so I immediately tried it out.

I will say this, it was tasty. It wasn't however the dish I was expecting (maybe the place where I used to eat it used a different dish entirely and this is what General Tsao chicken is supposed to taste like)

Here is the recipe from WW and my alteration in brackets

POINTS® value | 6
Servings |  4
Preparation Time |  20 min
Cooking Time |  10 min
Level of Difficulty |  Moderate

You will need:
¾ cup(s) canned chicken broth, reduced-sodium  (I used 1 Tbsp Thelma chicken soup powder and diluted it in ¾ cup of boiling water)
1½ Tbsp cornstarch 
2 Tbsp sugar 
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce  (I used normal soya sauce, I want to remain healthy and lose weight and low-sodium soya sauce has a lot of added preservatives to make up for less sodium)
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar  (I used rice wine vinegar)
1/2 tsp ground ginger  (I used 1 Tbsp of freshly grated ginger instead)
2 tsp peanut oil 
2 medium scallion(s), chopped  (Those are spring onions for those who dont know)
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced 
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or 1 dried chili pepper, minced  (I used fresh green chillies)
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces  (I floured the chicken as it gives it a nice coating)
2 cup(s) cooked white rice, kept hot  (I used Jasmine rice)
 

What to do:

In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger; set aside.
(I kept the corn starch out until just before adding the mixture to the chicken, it works better)
Heat oil in a wok or large pan over medium-high heat. Add scallions, garlic and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes.
Add reserved sauce and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Serve chicken and sauce over rice.

Hudsons - A review

When I first saw their sign on Kloof street I was actually checking if Limnos was still there, obviously not, but this Hudsons place sounded intresting. I asked around a bit and anyone who had gone seemed happy with the place. I was interested to see how it compared with Gourmet Burger (which i find bland) and Royale (which I love) and when my ex-boss asked me out for lunch I mentioned Hudsons and he was sold.



First thing I noticed on the menu was that unlike the 2 aforementioned locals Hudsons doesnt mess with the patty they just change the toppings but also offered Ostrich, Chicken and veggie options.


The second thing I noticed (because the waitress had come for our drinks order) was that they had an "Arnold Parmer" on the menu and I was dying to try it since I had seen it on Cafe World (yes yes I am a facebook games junky). Half iced tea, half lemonade it really tasted like they used actual iced tea and not the tinned kind

While we were waiting for ExBoss to arrive (we being myself and The Brit - my ex HR lady and now friend) we decided to indulge in a starter

Beer batter chilli poppers. It was the most dissapointing part of the meal and that is to say it was good but I have had better.

ExBoss ended up taking way too long for our stomachs so we ordered without him. I went for the classic Hudsons and added avo and beetroot (yum!) but what really impressed me was the side salad (you have a choice of chips, side salad or half half)

Tasty leaves, cherry tomatoes, red onions, artichoke hearts, pine nuts and a tasty tart vinaigrette dressing, stuff I would expect from a salad I had ordered on its own. Hudsons wins the best side salad of the year award.

So for my ratings
Food ❤❤❤♡♡
Service ❤❤❤♡♡
Price ❤❤❤♡♡

Welcome to my taste sensation

Add to taste started its life here on food24's blogosphere. I had many years of happy blogging there and met some incredible people. Unfortunately I learnt that if I publish any reviews there IOL or any of the other newspaper companies wont use them because they are on a Media24 site.

Add to taste started as a place for me to write down what I cook and how so that next time I want to repeat it I have somewhere to look. Then people started reading it and commenting and it became a place to share ideas. My love for food and cooking has been nourished over time and soon I was writing reviews there too.

I want to continue to do my food writing and so I have started this new blog.

I am not precious about my recipes or my ideas. My grandfather used to say "On taste and smell you dont argue" everyone has their own ideas of what is good and what isn't and I am willing and wanting to hear other opinions on restaurants I visit, whether my recipes worked for you or not and suggestions on what or where I should try next.

I leave you with my first ever paid review :)