Cooking For The In-Laws: Part II

Yup, it happened again. 

Only difference is that this time,

it happened by choice. =)

Decided to whip up some easy-bake lasagne for the whole family – that's 8 adults – on a whim last weekend. Didn't think twice when it came to deciding on which recipe to use. Considering my experience in lasagne baking so far, it's a no-brainer that I went with the very same on-the-box recipe I used when I baked my first ever lasagne in Perth last year. Since that first time turned out to be such a success and all, ya know? *grin* *shameless*

So, off I went grocery shopping at TESCO Seri Tanjung with The Husband last Sunday afternoon. Tried getting all the ingredients there but realised after checking out the "Daging Lembu / Kerbau" section that TESCO really tak boleh pakai when it comes to the ho liao ang moh stuff. Ended up buying whatever we could find there before shooting off to Island Plaza's Cold Storage for the main ingredient – Australian Minced Beef. Should have purchased Australian Cheddar and Mozzarella here too, but I didn't think of it at the time. :-/

Headed home and this was what I had before me:

 Right out of the shopping bag.

 

After preparing the miscellaneous extras I would need

like Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil and Red Wine.

Prepared the beef bolognese first (I did it Cina style for the first time, man – with a wok!! =D) then set it aside while I whipped up the cream sauce using the same fire in a different pot. Buttered the baking dish after that and proceeded to layer it on one at the time, making sure I was extra generous with the cheese and cream sauce, as always. =p

After putting on the top layer of cheese.

Ready and waiting to be popped into the oven.

After that, I just tossed it into the oven to bake for 45 minutes at 180º. Messy part over liao – yay! Just monitored the oven (never baked with this oven before so not sure if the temperature and settings are right), swapped the lasagne trays at half time to even out the golden bits, and finally... TADAAA!

 Finished product after 2 hours of labouring in the kitchen.

Lasagne for 8 but enough to feed 10. 

Honest truth?

Family said it was nice and I thought it was pretty ok, too.
But The Husband and I concluded that my lasagne

somehow still tasted better back in Perth. :-/ 

I can't be sure but I think it's cos of the cipelak cheeses I bought at TESCO. My cream sauce came out a lot less creamy than it ever did before and it sure wasn't as rich although I'm pretty sure I was even more heavy-handed with the cheese and cream sauce this time around. :-/


I think the other mistake was leaving it to sit in the hot oven after baking for a little too long – dinner was ready but people weren't so tak boleh makan yet – so it wasn't as moist when served. So unlike the time when The Husband and I ate it fresh out of the oven back in Australia. Immediately after the oven went 'ding' only, we were shoving lasagne into our mouths. Haha. So yums.

Oh well... Will try again next time

with all this in mind and see how it goes then.

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Related Post
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• Cooking For The In-Laws [Thursday, May 05, 2011]