chicken, leek & mushroom lasagne

1 whole cooked chicken, skin and bones removed, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 leeks, cleaned and coarsely chopped
400g mushrooms, halved and sliced
1 organic chicken stock cube
Maldon
butter
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

1 pkt fresh pasta sheets or freshly made pasta sheets

~cheese sauce~
2T butter
2T flour
2c milk
50g cheese

Parmesan, coarsely grated

Sweat the leeks and garlic in a pan with a large knob of butter, a scattering of Maldon, a few twists of pepper and a slug of olive oil. Partway through cooking, add the broken up stock cube and continue cooking. Once leeks are soft, remove from the pan and set aside. Reheat the pan, add another knob of butter and gently cook the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Once cooked and slightly brown, set aside and mix with the leeks and chicken.

Use the same pan to heat the 2T of butter gently, adding the flour once melted. Stir the mixture while it bubbles and becomes a biscuity colour. Switch off the heat and whisk in milk gradually, letting the mixture thicken slightly between each addition. Add salt and pepper and cheese.

Put the lasagne sheets in a bowl of boiling water for a couple of minutes.

In an oiled ovenproof dish place a layer of lasagne, then a layer of cheese sauce, then a layer of chicken. Repeat, finishing with a layer of cheese sauce scattered with parmesan. Bake at 180C for 20-30 minutes or until bubbling brown.

Serve with a green salad.

asian-infused pumpkin soup

pumpkin - peeled and chopped into chunks (whatever variety(s) you prefer)
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
1 red chili, finely chopped
1T curry powder
2t sugar
Maldon
freshly ground black pepper
1 stick of lemon grass - lay it flat on a board and smack it a few times with a rolling pin or pestle
1 chicken stock cube
1-2 chopped tomatoes
water
milk - or coconut milk if desired

Cook the pumpkin in boiling water until soft, drain and set aside. Sweat the onions, garlic, ginger and chili in oil until transparent. Add the curry powder and stock. Add all other ingredients, except the milk and chopped tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, remove from heat, fish out the lemon grass and puree the remaining pumpkin mixture with a hand-held blender. Once smooth, return to the heat, add the milk and chopped tomatoes and cook gently for a further 5 minutes. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and scattering of coriander leaves.

peach & ginger duck with sweet potato mash

2 peaches, peeled and sliced
4 small or 2 medium red onions, sliced into segments
squeeze of lemon
2T balsamic vinegar
1T dark soy sauce
1 inch ginger, grated
1T honey
400g duck pieces

In a heavy pan, soften the onions gently in olive oil until transparent, add ginger and peaches. Cook for a couple of minutes and add all the other ingredients except the duck. Cook gently for several minutes, add a little water if required.

Remove the onion and peach mixture from the pan and set aside. Turn up the heat, add some oil and brown the duck. Add the onion and peach mixture and cook for a further few minutes, until the duck is just cooked.

Serve on sweet potato mash with an asian leaf salad, splashed with olive oil and balsamic.

~sweet potato mash~
cook for 4 large sweet potatoes in boiling water. once cooked, mash with a knob of butter. season and serve.