Cheat's Ricotta, Spinach and Mint Gnocchi

Please note: I've never made gnocchi before. Never. Ever. So when I found this 'Cheat's' version, I thought, 'Sweet! It'll be easy and taste great!' Yes, I've eaten gnocchi before. Beautiful. Soft. Not anything like what I made.

I think where I went wrong was overworking the flour in the mixture. I think it activated the gluten too much as the end result were so  - er - glutenous, that I didn't like it very much at all. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I stood there mixing and rolling for ages, I was very aware not to, but still. Not a good result.

And my cream was off, so I made a quick butter and garlic sauce and tossed them in that, but they were ruined long before they got to that pan.

They formed well. I found the recipe needed a touch more flour than what it calls for or they wouldn't hold together at all. Not much, maybe a tablespoon? But without it, the gnocchi were falling apart and no way they would have survived boiling water. There were in long enough to come to the surface and I removed them when they started floating. Then tossed them in the butter and grated a bit of fresh Parmesan over the top.

But, as I facebooked, they tasted like dumplings without the Beef Stew. Very bland. Very glutenous. Not at all enjoyable for full meal. That's ok. I'm not going to like everything I make, that's for sure.

Isn't that the point to cooking? So I can improve technique, my taste and learn more.

Next time I will try cooking traditional gnocchi. With potatoes. And not cheating....

Coconut Bread and Quick Grapefruit Jam

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've still been cooking my little heart out!

A few weeks ago I made Donna's Coconut Bread and Grapefruit Jam and took them to my Mothers Group for critique (and so I didn't end up eating it all by myself)

I love the jam. I'll have you know, I've only made jam once before and it sucked. Majorly, sucked. I'm pretty sure I had too much water and not enough fruit and it turned to burnt toffee and took me days to clean off the bottom of the saucepan. So to say I was a bit apprehensive at trying jam again was an understatement.

I am lucky enough to have my own beautiful Grapefruit Tree in my backyard and right now it is abundant with fruit, which all end up rotting underneath it as I'm not a big grapefruit fan. I used my fresh fruit in this jam and am very happy with the results. I had to simmer it for much longer than the recipe and to get the right consistancy I pulsed it with my stick blender a few times. So it's more of a marmalade than a jam, but still yummy nonetheless. It's sweet at first but has the lovely bitterness of the grapefruit at the back of your pallate when you swallow, which evens out the initial sweetness. I'm so glad it worked and I wasn't cleaning my damn saucepan again for ages!!

Thankfully some of the wonderful ladies in my mothers group took some home!

The Coconut bread was really easy to make, except I didn't have any buttermilk, so I cheated and used regular milk. And there was a mountain of butter in it. Like, literally, a small mountain....

I was expecting it to be lighter than it was, but I suppose with 3 cups of flour, it wasn't going to be that light. It had a lovely mild coconut-y taste, so next time I might substitute the buttermilk for coconut milk and give it a stronger coconut flavour.

It went really well with the jam and, thankfully, was gobbled up quickly!

Garlic Chicken

I love Garlic. Almost as much as I love Creamed Rice. But Garlic would be my top savoury love. I always use heaps in my cooking (probably why I don't get sick often) and could always use more. I grew up with my Dad eating pickled Garlic, straight from the jar. My poor Mum. I love Garlic a LOT, but not that much.

Pretty close though.

There are quite a few Garlic Chicken variation recipes in Seasons. I am so excited at this. I go through episodes where I just crave garlic, so I just had to try this one out.

Oh wow. It's so simple. Cut up Chicken - check. Cut up some Parsley - check. Crushed Garlic - chec....wait. No. I don't have a garlic crusher.

And I refuse to buy one. I don't mind that chefs use it, I completely understand the easiness of having a garlic crusher and if I'd never had one before, I'd go out and buy one. But I have. All I can say is, it's all well and good for a chef to use a garlic crusher. They don't have to clean the damn thing.

So I finely cut up my garlic instead.

Cook the chicken - check. Add the garlic and parsley - check. Breathe in deeeeeep and absorb the aroma garlic creates in my tiny little kitchen - check! Again, this recipe suggest serving it simply, but again I'm having it for dinner and need my veggies. So I chop up some Leek and Zucchini and after removing the Chicken from the pan, I quickly fry off the veggies in the remaining garlic fumes, with a little splash of Lemon Juice to help get all the yummy garlic flavour off the bottom of the pan. I eat it with the veggies and some polenta. No, I didn't serve it. Hubby was at footy training, so I just ate (inhaled) it myself.

And enjoyed every Garlicy minute of it. Definitely a recipe I will be making again. And again. And again......


And again!

Garlic and Mustard Beef Skewers.

I made these a while ago and just haven't gotten around to blogging about them. I have free time now but am on holiday, so I don't have the photos.

I'll up load them for you all when I get home!

Garlic and Mustard Beef kebabs with Aioli. These were really great. The recipe, I thought would be predictable, but it included Red Wine Vinegar, which I wouldn't have picked. When cooked I really think the vinegar helped mellow out the spiciness (yes, that's a word) of the mustard. I absouletly love mustard seeds though, so I wouldn't have minded anyway, but my 16 month old does mind.

I used some fresh beautiful grain-fed Rib Eye Fillets from out local butcher for this recipe and oh-mi-gosh, they were so so so so good. The meat was marinated in the garlic and vinegar and mustard mix for an hour, while I made the Aioli, before being threaded onto skewers and grilled on my George Foreman. The recipe suggests serving it with Lavish Bread, but as we were having them for dinner I whipped up some mashed Sweet Potato instead. Matched like a dream.

The aioli was a basic mayo recipe, egg yolks, garlic, a few other things, olive oil. It came together in my mixer great and I bottled it and refrigerated it for when the skewers were ready.

We forgot to eat it. But, I did serve it a few nights later with some basic grilled Chicken. Yum.

Coconut Rice and Vanilla Honey

I love creamed rice. Love, love, LOVE creamed rice. I can't express how much I love it. If i were ever on Death Row (which would probably be for eating too much chocolate!) my last meal would be creamed rice.

I grew up with my Dad's creamed rice. It's my absolute favourite dessert, any time of the year. Hot, straight off the stove with cold, cold ice cream is the best way to eat it. Every birthday I'd get a lovely big bowl of creamed rice, which always followed Dad's Pumpkin Soup. The best two things that Dad can cook, well in my opinion anyway. So when I found this recipe, I had to try it. I knew straight away it would be completely different, but I don't care. It's creamed rice.

The big difference between my Dad's recipe and the Season's one is that Dad uses plain white rice and the recipe I was following uses Arborio, or Risotto, rice. And, the absorbtion method is again different. Arborio rice is renown for being difficult to cook with, having to stand there and stir for what feels like hours upon hours. Season's says to add the rice and water all at once and let come to the boil. Ok. Easy. Gives my arm a break too. (when Dad cooks it he brings milk and sugar to the boil then add's the white rice to cook it)

Once boiling, it only takes 10 min for the water to absorb, which is a lot quicker than I anticipated, I add the sugar and coconut milk and let cook for a few more minutes then its done. Huh? Done already? Seriously? I'm loving this recipe.....!

It's served with Vanilla Honey, which is just a matter of slicing a fresh vanilla bean, removing the seeds then adding them and the bean to 1/2 a cup of honey and heating gently so the vanilla infuses. Some sliced stone fruit and I added some fresh blueberries.

I loved it. So simple. The coconut in the rice wasn't over powering but the honey could easily take over the dish, so only a little is needed. Eating it warm made it seem quite rich but cold the next day and it seemed to have mellowed out a lot. And I ate all the leftovers myself.

Birchier Muesli

Looking through 'Season's'  I'm grateful to find a breakfast recipe. I am a big fan of toasted muesli and have never made my own before so I was keen to give it a go.

The recipe supplied is quite simple and neat, so I add my own tweaks to it. It's a great base recipe, of oats, almonds, apricots, pepita's, dried apple and honey, so I add sunflower seeds, LSA (ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds) and cranberries, just for a little extra sweetness. I cut up the dried apple and mix it through rather than roasting them as whole slices. Mixing it all up in the tray with the honey, I leave little clumpy bits so they cook together and I'll have little crunchy clusters in my cereal. Tip for the new cooks: spray your measuring cup for the honey with some cooking oil, it will slide right out!

The original recipe cooks the muesli for 15 min, but I leave it in for an extra 10 so it's really golden, just the way I like it. I think there's enough to last me about a week and a half, more than the average $5 - 7 box of decent toasted muesli, so it's definitely a recipe I'll be cooking over and over. I love it's simpleness, so I can add my own flavours to make it just the way I like.

What do you make for breakfast?

Sponge Kisses with Cream

For Valentines Day I thought it only fitting that I make something that's titled 'Kisses'.

Sponge Kisses with Cream, a very simple sponge recipe that's easily whipped up in my Mix-master, baked in rounds and sandwiched together with some thick cream. My husband loved it, but then again, he loves anything with cream. I found it a bit lacking. I could've added a bit more vanilla extract to the mix. Then a friend suggested some lemon zest, which would've been very nice as well. Or mixing somethig through the cream too. Either way, they were very nice kisses. And kisses is what you need on Valentines Day.

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