This weeks Recipe Challenge ingredients were mushrooms and lemons. Due to the fact that the recipe has to be one we have not done before, and we use a lot of lemons, I decided to use Mushrooms. This had the added challenge of cooking something everyone would like as the kids are not all keen on mushrooms.
Having never made fresh pasta, Kyla and I decided to have a go at this.
I made Mushroom and Pancetta Ravioli, 
with a goats cheese and basil sauce.The filling had onion, garlic, pancetta, fresh oregano, portobello mushrooms, porcini powder, and a little goats cheese to bind it.
The sauce was made of a stock of porcini powder and water, with goats cheese and a dash of cream, and fresh basil added just at the end.
The ravioli were taking ages to make, and
as time was marching on we became very hungry and decided to make half my dough into fettuccine, which we tossed with the remaining ravioli filling thinned with a little cream.
The verdict: taste 5/5, presentation 3/5, texture 3/5 the pasta was a little bit tough.
Making fresh pasta was fun but very time consuming... we did it the hard way, on the bench and hand rolled, while the Kitchen Aid languished on the bench watching wistfully. Jill's pasta machine stayed at her house as Kyla insisted that to use either would be cheating. I believe that next time we will cheat, twice.
While I was completing the mushroom challenge, Kyla was hard at work next to me, making her first batch of fresh pasta, also the hard way.
She made Pumpkin and Bacon Ravioli with Tomato sauce.
The verdict on Kyla's pasta?
Taste 5/5
Presentation 3/5
Texture 4/5 her pasta was better than mine, but the filling needed a little more moisture as the pumpkin was a fairly dry one.
All in all, we had fun and would try our hand at pasta making again, but like I said before, I would try it with the mixer and pasta machine next time!
Kyla is still claiming to be a hand made pasta purist... we shall see.
On the foodlovers NZ website, there is a forum all about cooking. One of the contributors wanted to start a weekly food challenge, where an ingredient is chosen, and those interested have to cook a dish that they have never made before, using that ingredient.
I was keen to join in, and was nominated to choose the 2nd week's ingredient.
Given the glut of herbs in my garden at the moment, I chose fresh herbs as the challenge ingredient. Savory or sweet, however you wanted to use them... entirely up to the cook.
So then to do something myself.
I have a recipe in my folder that I cut out of a magazine quite some time back, and so decided this was a great time to try it.
Boursin Chicken.
This involved deboning a chicken, which is then spread with a paste of spinach, peas, basil, parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs, boursin cheese, lemon zest and ground fennel seeds. This then has salami laid over it, followed by chargrilled red capsicum. the chicken is rolled up and wrapped with streaky bacon before being roasted.
I was missing the boursin cheese, but the recipe suggested substituting feta, garlic and fresh thyme, all of which I did have. The salami was a venison pepperoni we picked up today at the Kumeu show, and tasted great.
To accompany the chicken, and include another herb into the meal, I made a sour cream and chives potato bake, using a basic white sauce to which I added sour cream and chives. Partly cooked sliced potatoes were added, topped with a little mozzarella, and baked till golden and bubbling.
All of us enjoyed this meal, and it was very satisfying to use some of the herbs that are growing so well at the moment.
Rating 4/5 - missed a perfect 5 as the ratio of chicken to stuffing was uneven, due to using a whole chicken, which clearly does not have an even distribution of meat along it. Will look for a genetically modified chicken next time, or use chicken breasts sliced and laid out flat.
I have spent the last week with Kyla at Finlay Park for a school camp.
It was a really full on camp, with each day starting at 7am with fitness for the kids. The parents were expected to be at breakfast at 8am, so we got the better deal. From there it was organised activities such as abseiling, water sports and go karts until free time at 3:45. Then time for showers before dinner and night maneuvers, then finally bed at around 10:30. The kids were pretty much exhausted by Friday afternoon when they got home.
The highlight for Kyla was definitely the 
water sports, which involved jet ski rides and being towed behind a boat. She loved this so much that when she returned to the pontoon, she was squealing and shouting!
I had a turn on the red inflatable sea biscuit along with 2 other mums. The boat driver was determined to flip us, and did so twice. I didn't realize that water could feel so hard when you hit it! It was a huge amount of fun and I can fully understand why Kyla enjoyed it so much.
During free time there were various activities that the kids were allowed to do, one of which was a tyre swing over the lake. When they drop off the tyre, they are around 4m above the lake, and some landed with a real whack.
This is Kyla just leaving the tyre, heading rapidly for the water. She had a good landing, and went back for another turn that day, and again the following day.
with a goats cheese and basil sauce.
as time was marching on we became very hungry and decided to make half my dough into fettuccine, which we tossed with the remaining ravioli filling thinned with a little cream.
