All posts tagged potato

Gnocchi with Oregano, Garlic & Browned Butter Sauce

By On 09/10/2012 In Food With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Gnocchi with Oregano, Garlic & Browned Butter SaucePermalink

Some weekends I find it hard to move and get out of the house and this weekend was one of them. It was cold and wet outside on Saturday so naturally all I wanted to do was hibernate. The last thing I wanted to do was to venture out to the supermarket – is anyone else this lazy? I had a good look through my cupboards and tried to decide what I could muster up with what I already had… and this was the result – and it was deeeelicious! I’ve been meaning to make gnocchi since I went to Italy about 3 years ago, and it just so happened I had potatoes coming out of my ears. I had read that it was rather hard to make, so I was a little worried it wouldn’t work out! From the recipes I’ve seen there seems to be a bit of a debate whether or not to use egg and of course the type of potato is crucial! *Tip – you want to use a starchy potato. Now here I am, not wanting to move outside the comfort of my kitchen, so I decided to use the potatoes I already had. To this day I have NO IDEA what kind of potato I had (I bought them direct from the farmer in Daylesford) but it seemed to work ok (although I’m 99% sure it wasn’t the right potato…oops). I’m not a gnocchi connoisseur but Seb seemed to think it was ok :)

 

 

One of my first and favourite cookbooks is How to Cook by the UK’s favourite, Delia Smith – she’s a bit of a living legend over there. I love her, and in her famous book she serves her gnocchi with a butter and sage sauce. I still had some cultrured butter left over from my last post (and my oregano plant is going mental out the back at the moment) so I thought I’d make something similar. It was pretty naughty with all the butter but so delicious (and perfect as we had been out for a few drinks the night before ; ) All in all gnocchi is a little time consuming, but ultimately satisfying to know exactly what you’re eating.

x e.

 

 

Gnocchi

800g potato
350g flour
salt

 

1.  Place a large pot of water (3 cms is fine) on the boil. Peel potatoes and steam for 15 minutes covered or until tender. Boiling makes the potatoes too soggy.

2.  Once the potatoes are cooked, blitz in a food processor until smooth and transfer to a large bowl.

3.   Start adding a little bit of flour until it becomes more like a dough. Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and knead in more and more flour each time until the dough isn’t too sticky. You don’t want to add too much flour or the gnocchi will become too dense and heavy.

4.  Roll the dough out into a long log and cut off small pieces 2cm long.

5.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add enough gnocchi to a saucepan to cover the bottom in a single layer. Don’t over crowd the pan because they can stick together. Cook for 3 minutes or until they rise to the surface. Use a slotted spoon to drain and transfer to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm whilst cooking the remaining gnocchi – or eat straight away!

 

Browned Butter, Garlic & Oregano Sauce

80g butter
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
4 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
salt

serve with Parmesan

1.  In a fry pan on medium heat, add butter until melted. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Then add the oregano and let cook for a further 30 seconds and then spoon over the gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Slow Cooked Cottage Pie

By On 29/05/2012 In baking, Food With No Comments Permanent Link to Slow Cooked Cottage PiePermalink

This weeks recipe is a doozy. I’m really craving ‘comfort food’ now the Melbourne winter is creeping it’s way in. The sort of food you’d see on the menu of a good ol’ fashioned English pub. I do miss some of the London pubs. Two of our favourite in the South West (amongst others) were ‘The Ship’ and ‘The White Hart’, both right on the banks of the Thames. In summer we would sit there all day and bask in the sun whilst sipping on an ice-cold Pimms. All my friends over in the UK are currently enjoying the Spring sunshine (from what I can see on Facebook), lucky ducks! Technically it’s not even winter yet so I’ve got to embrace everything I love about this chilly season… and comfort food is one of them!

This recipe was partly inspired by my brother. I went up to sunny Sydney a month or two ago for a little break to visit him, as well as some close Sydneysider’ friends. The first night I arrived he made a cottage pie for dinner and it was sensational! He used his slow cooker to roast the meat until it was tender and falling apart. This was way healthier than using cheap mince, and more economical as well – bonus! Slow-cookers are inexpensive, and a ‘must have’ for all those hearty winter dishes.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’m craving a lovely comforting meal for the weekend. All it takes is a few simple ingredients and you can whip-up the most incredible cottage pie of all time! Y-u-m. Because winter makes you crave all things naughty, we made some with pastry as well. These were perfect to wrap up and freeze for nights when we just can’t be bothered doing ANY cooking. With pies as tasty as these in the freezer, I don’t think we’ll be doing much cooking over the next few nights… tee-hee.

Can anybody recommend any other delicious slow cooker recipes?

x e

 

Highly recommend you make these THIS weekend!

 

Slow Cooked Cottage Pie

1 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, trimmed, finely chopped
1kg beef (blade steak)
4 tbs plain flour
500ml red wine
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of mixed Italian herbs
6 potatoes, peeled, chopped
1tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
Puff Pastry (optional)

1.  In a slow cooker, add a little olive oil and arrange all meat on the base of the pot. Add the red wine and garlic and let cook on low heat overnight, or for at least 4 hours on the higher setting (the longer the better). Once cooked, skim any excess fat off the top.

2.  When the meat is cooked, heat some olive oil in a frypan and brown the onions. When they’re nicely coloured add carrot and celery and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until everything looks well browned.

3.  Add all the vegetables to the meat in the slowcooker and turn it up to the highest heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until combined. Add Worcestershire sauce and let cook for another 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

4.  Meanwhile, cook potatoes in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Return to the pan with the butter. Use a potato masher until smooth. Add milk and stir until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

5.  Preheat oven to 200°C. Spoon meat mixture into individual ramekins or one large dish. If you wish to use pastry as well (I couldn’t resist), line the ramekins/baking dish/tin and fill 3/4 full. Add the mash potatoes on top and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until mashed potato is golden brown. Serve immediately.

Sticky Pork Ribs and Spicy Chips

By On 28/07/2011 In Food With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Sticky Pork Ribs and Spicy ChipsPermalink

These American style sticky pork ribs are a-m-a-z-i-n-g and stupidly easy. I found a few different recipes online and made my own version so I was a little unsure about how it would turn out but I highly recommend making them this weekend – do it!

American Style Pork Sticky Ribs and Spicy Chips

1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup golden syrup
2 tbsp soy
2 tbsp malt vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1. Combine all ingredients into a large bowl. Add your ribs to the bowl and spoon the marinade all over the ribs to get ever last inch. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for a minimum of an hour.

2. Pre heat oven to 200ºC. Once you’ve left the ribs to marinate for a while, add water to the bottom of a large roasting pan. The water will prevent the marinade burning on the pan. Place the ribs on a roasting rack and put in the oven for an hour. Brush a little extra sauce over the ribs after the first 15 mins but no more after that as you want the sauce to thicken and get sticky. Turn the ribs over half way through.

3. When the ribs are almost done, pour the rest of the sauce in a small saucepan and heat thoroughly until thickened slightly.

For the Spicy chips

Potatoes
Salt/pepper
Italian herbs
paprika
olive oil

1. Cut potatoes into wedges and place in boiling water for 10-15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile put a good glug of olive oil in a roasting pan and heat in oven until hot.

3. Once potatoes are soft, take them out of the water and drain well. Add to hot pan and try to coat all sides with the hot oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, Italian herbs and a little paprika.

4. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.