Cooking At Home

Last Saturday, Hunky and I went over to Boo's new flat for dinner. Its such a lovely little place, perfect for a girl on her own. She was making lasagne with a gas oven for the first time. I've never cooked with a gas oven before. It freaks me out that she has to light a match and stick it in the oven. While Hunky busied himself checking out the finishings of the flat, we were both fascinated by how lousy and unevenly the gas oven cooks! After 50 minutes in the oven, it still hadn't brown because the flame is on the bottom of the oven. She decided to turn the fire up but it was already on its maximum! Seriously, eventhough it said 180C, it felt no more than 150C. Finally, after about 90 minutes, her spinach, mushroom and zucchini lasagne was finally ready. I love that combination. In her excitement at spotting a bargain, "2 for 1", at the supermarket, the silly cow went and bought cheddar instead of mozarella. As a result, it didn't melt very well but it was super tasty anyway. I really liked it because they flavours really came together and it wasn't oily and rich. Hunky and I were not shy and helped ourselves to seconds. After we had cupcakes for dessert. I had made a new batch of the wonderful egg-free chocolate cupcakes. I iced half the batch with a cream cheese & orange zest frosting and the other with a chocolate and peppermint frosting. Just an observation; between my friends and family who have tried the cupcakes, all the women liked the chocolate mint while the men preferred the cream cheese. I guess men don't like mint?

Below is a picture of my favourite pasta to eat during the past couple of weeks. Mainly because I am lazy and its so easy to make but at the same time its deeply satisfying. Just slice up an aubergine and soak in salt water. Drain and line on baking tray. Halve some cherry tomatoes and lob off the top of a whole garlic. Add to the tray. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil (I use extra virgin because I love the slightly nutty & green flavour) and season with lots of salt and pepper. I usually add some finely chopped thyme and rosemary too. Whack it in the oven at 160C for about 30-45 minutes. The garlic needs to sit in there longer than the rest. Although, there was once I just left the aubergines in there the whole time and I ended up with aubergine crisps. A pleasant change to the usual spongey texture. If you aren't a health nut like me, feel free to drown it in oil when baking. It does taste better and the aubergine texture is much nicer. Sometimes I add pinenuts for a bit of texture or capers for a sharp and salty hit. Toss with spaghetti, add some stir-fried mushrooms, some basil and grated parmesan, lovely!