Caitríona Redmond: Getting past redundancy - plus lasagne and cake recipes that keep well

Name: Lasagne
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 140 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 500g beef mince; 1 large onion, finely chopped; 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons tomato puree; 3 stalks celery, finely chopped; 2 green peppers, finely chopped; 3 carrots, finely chopped; 1 beef stock cube (and hot water); 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 2 bay leaves; 200ml milk; Dried lasagne sheets (fresh is also fine); 250g hard mozzarella, grated; 100g parmesan, grated; Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper and salt

"...focus less on stuff, and more on people and spending time with them. The most precious commodity you will have is time, there is never enough of it..."

Caitríona Redmond: Getting past redundancy - plus lasagne and cake recipes that keep well — Caitríona Redmond's lasagne and lemon drizzle cake

Thu, 10 Aug, 2023 - 02:00

Caitriona Redmond

Consumer Watch

It’s been 15 years since I last worked full-time outside of the home.

I’ve just written that and had to crosscheck my dates because I can’t actually believe it’s been that long, but yes, this week 15 years ago, I took my first and only maternity leave.

The Celtic Tiger was on the way out and there had already been redundancies when I left and, as it happened, never returned.

Redundancy caught up with me the day I returned from maternity leave the following spring.

I remember being so, so anxious about the future, for our family, and my work.

The worry of whether we’d be able to pay the bills and provide for the future was overwhelming at times.

If I was to give advice to my former self it would be not to worry about the future so much.

The worst of the money stress will pass. Life will be (remarkably) pretty okay even though it doesn’t bear much resemblance at all to days spent commuting and working an office desk.

If you can run an office and take care of executives, you can definitely take care of the house and children.

Although it will involve more physical wiping, the rest of it is pretty similar.

Plus, focus less on stuff, and more on people and spending time with them. The most precious commodity you will have is time, there is never enough of it.

I’ve aged in those 15 years. Not exactly like a fine wine, more like my grapevines actually.

The vines are tangled and weave all across the roof of the polytunnel.

Every year we cut the vine back and in the summer it springs back to life and keeps on growing regardless of how much we curtail it.

A bit like me, I will continue to thrive no matter what life throws at me, as will you. I’m sure of it.

Some culinary items are better for aging. Think about cheeses and wines, or even vinegar or whiskey. The addition of several months or years has really benefited the flavour.

For the likes of my lasagne or lemon drizzle cake though, 24 hours is ample time to boost the flavours inside. Don’t forget to reheat the lasagne until it’s piping hot throughout. You won’t regret it.

Home Economics: When to save and when to toss?

Let’s talk about leftover vegetables. I’m not referring to a full meal that you can plate or box and then store for another day. I’m talking about the couple of spoonfuls of vegetables that might be left after a family meal. What do you do with those?

Food in the bin is money wasted as far as I am concerned. Please don’t put a couple of spoonfuls of veg into the compost bin. I have two clever options instead.

The first choice is a jar of pickle brine. You could make up your own using equal parts of water and white vinegar, combined with a generous amount of salt, a pinch of sugar, and any aromatics of your choice. Fill up the jar with this brine and pop in any leftover vegetables at the end of the meal. Carrots, onions, sweetcorn, broccoli, you name it they all benefit from a quick pickle and then they can be eaten at your leisure.

The second option is to keep a box or bag in the freezer of all the leftover vegetables. Once you have enough for a full meal they can be stirred into a curry or stew and you can gloat that you didn’t have to do much preparation at all.

Regardless of whether you intend to refrigerate or freeze any item you should allow hot food to come to room temperature first. If you put hot food into either appliance it’ll mess with the thermostat. Temperature fluctuations inside will make other food in the fridge or freezer go off quicker. For the freezer, you’ll notice more ice crystals which can change the texture of the food on reheating. In the fridge, you might see more ‘sweating’ or perspiration inside of packaging and this will potentially reduce your shelf life.

Lasagne

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond

Whenever I serve this dish I am guaranteed clean plates. Unlike most lasagne recipes it doesn’t include bechamel or a creamy sauce, simply because I find it time-consuming to make. If chopping isn’t your bag then use a food processor or frozen vegetables.

Servings

Preparation Time

20 mins

Cooking Time

2 hours 0 mins

Total Time

2 hours 20 mins

Course

Main

Cuisine

Italian

Ingredients

500g beef mince
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato puree
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 green peppers, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
1 beef stock cube (and hot water)
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 bay leaves
200ml milk
Dried lasagne sheets (fresh is also fine)
250g hard mozzarella, grated
100g parmesan, grated
Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper and salt

Method

Take a large heavy bottomed pan with a lid and heat on a medium-high heat until smoking. Fry off the beef mince until it is dark brown in colour. Remove the mince from the pan and put it into a plate or dish. Reduce the temperature to medium and add the onion to the pan, cook for 3 minutes to remove the astringency before adding the garlic and cooking for a further 1 minute. Next, stir in the tomato puree and cook on the heat for 2 minutes or so to release the oils.
Stir in the celery, peppers, and carrots so that they are coated in the mixture. Return the beef mince to the saucepan and stir. Make up 500ml of beef stock using the stock cube and hot water. Pour the beef stock into the saucepan, then add the worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, and bay leaves.
Put the lid on the saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes on low, until the vegetables become tender. After this time, turn off the heat remove the bay leaves, pour in the milk and stir.
To assemble the lasagne take a heavy baking dish. I prefer to use a rectangular size for ease of layering. Ladle a spoon of the sauce mixture into the bottom of the dish and spread so that it covers the bottom. Put a layer of lasagne pasta on top. Sprinkle this with the grated mozzarella and then another ladle of the sauce mixture. Continue until the dish is full, then sprinkle the top generously with grated parmesan cheese and black pepper.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 190°C until golden and crispy on top. Allow to cool for at least an hour before serving but personally I think it tastes even better the following day.

Lemon & Blackberry Drizzle Cake

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond

This is another recipe that benefits from stands at least overnight before serving. As the cake soaks up the lemon syrup, it’ll become more moist.