The Great Turducken Challenge

This post will have a few updates - this being just the first. At dinner tonight there was a request for a friend who will e leaving for 4 months to cycle from the top to the bottom of Africa. (I know, I was thinking it too!)

That aside, this is a worthy goal and deserves a worthy send off so when the request for a Turducken was made my ears pricked up so fast that I am sure they are suffering from a mild strain. Ah, Turducken otherwise known as my culinary holy grail. "I will consult my copy of Larousse for advice!" And for the first time it has failed me. Instead I am having to turn to the internet.

For those of you who dont know, Turducken is also known as Royal Roast or a nested roast, with decreasing sizes of fowl being stuffed inside other fowl i.e. Turkey stuffed with Duck stuffed with chicken and so on.

This endeavor is supposed to happen on January 3rd 2011 and il require some heavy research into stuffings but I am sure that I can pull it off.

Will keep you posted.

Kumquat Chutney (with Rhubarb)

Ingredients:

2 C Whole kumquats
3/4 C Granulated sugar
3 C Dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 C Water
3/4 C White vinegar
1/2 C Raisins
1 Lb Rhubarb -- cut in 1-in. pieces
1 C Chopped celery
1 Lg Onion -- chopped
1 Green bell pepper -- chopped
2 Garlic cloves -- crushed
1/4 C Slivered citron
1 Lg Orange The juice & grated peel only
1 C Peeled & chopped ginger root
1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
2 Ts Salt
1 T Curry powder
1 T Ground allspice
1 T Ground cinnamon
1 T Ground ginger (optional)
1 T Black pepper or 1/2 Ts Red pepper (optional)

Procedure:

Rinse kumquats in hot water. Slice kumquats lengthwise and remove seeds. Place in large heavy pan with sugars and water. Mix well and simmer slowly, uncovered, 30 minutes. Add vinegar, raisins, rhubarb, celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, citron, orange juice and peel, ginger root, Worcestershire, salt, curry powder, allspice and cinnamon. Mix well. Simmer slowly, uncovered, until mixture is dark in color, about 4 to 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and add ground ginger and pepper, if needed. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal immediately.

Makes about 4 1/2 pints.

Sauteed Duck Breast with Rhubarb Cherry Sauce

1/2 cup tawny port [what?]
1/2 cup dried cherries
2 moulard duck breasts (approx. 2 pounds total)
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/2 pound fresh rhubarb, trimmed and sliced
2 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoon arrowroot dissolved in 2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons honey

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small saucepan heat the port over moderate heat until it is hot. Add the cherries, cover the pot and let the mixture stand for 15 minutes.

Score the skin of the duck in a crosshatch pattern and season both sides of the duck with salt and pepper. Heat a medium saute pan over high heat until it is very hot. Add the duck, skin side down and reduce the heat to moderately low. Cook the duck, pouring off the accumulated fat from time to time to a small roasting pan and roast it for 10 minutes for medium rare. Let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

While the duck is roasting, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the saute pan. Add the shallots and saute over moderately high heat until softened. Add the rhubarb and saute for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in one tablespoon honey. Add the cherry/port mixture to the saute pan and let it simmer for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and simmer until reduced by one third. Whisk in the arrowroot mixture and let the sauce come to a boil. Add the remaining honey and pepper and salt to taste.

Slice the duck at an angle and divide among 4 plates. Serves each portion napped with some of the sauce.

Serve with sugar snap peas and garlic mashed potatoes.

Boxwallah's Chutney

800 grams trimd Rhubarb
400 grams onions
200 grams raisins
200grams sultanas
15 grams coriander seeds
2 tablespoons curry powder
180 grams sugar
450ml raspberry or red wine vinegar

Cut the trimmed rhubarb into short lengths and chop the onions quite finely. Put both ingredients into a large pan and pour on the vinegar. Then lightly bruise the whole coriander seeds. Add the seeds directly to the pan if you want to include them in the chutney or you may prefer to tie them in a piece of muslin and remove before potting. Bring the contents of the pan slowly to boiling point, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so to start softening the onion.

Add the dried fruits, sugar, curry powder and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir to mix well. Continue simmering, without a lid, for 1 1/2 hours or so until the rhubarb has pulped down completely, the flavor is mellow, and the color is rich and the consistency is thick. Stir the chutney occasionally as it cooks to prevent sticking, particularly towards the end.

Pot in warm sterilized jars and allow to mature for at least one month before eating. The longer you can resist eating this chutney the better it seems to taste.

Non-egg Cholesterol Free Mayonaisse

Ingredients

1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper to season
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup bran oil

Method

Combine soy milk, salt, pepper and mustard and whisk in a blender.

Add the oil and whisk until combined. Add half the lemon juice and continue whisking until thickened. Add the remaining lemon juice and combine. Season to taste

Lentil Tacos

Ingredients - makes 10 servings

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon bran oil

1 cup dried lentils, rinsed

1 tablespoon chilli powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

600mls chicken stock

1 cup fresh salsa

Method

In a large non-stick skillet, saute the onion and garlic until tender. Add the lentils, chilli powder, cumin and oregano cooking for 1 minute while stirring. Add the stock, bringing back to a boil.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Uncover and cook for 6-8 minutes or until the mixture is thickened. Mach the lentils slightly.

Sir in the salsa.

Serve about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream.

Mussels in Vinagrette

Original post can be found here.

Ingredients

1 kilo mussls in the shell, cleaned and de-bearded
1 glass chardonay
2 bay leaves
3 tomatoes finely diced
1 red onon, finely diced
13 cup Italian parsley finely died
1 roasted pepper finly diced
1-2 garlic cloves minced
uice of 1 lemon and 1 lime
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
salt and peperto taste.

Method
Add the cleaned mussels to a large skillet with the white wine and bay leaves, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until they’re all open.

Make the vinaigrette by tossing all the remaining ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, remove half the shell from each mussel and top each one with a tablespoon of the vinaigrette.

Monks Salad

Original recipe found here.

Ingredients

4 aubergines
4 small tomatoes finely diced
1 medium onion finely diced
70 gram pomegrante seeds
20 grams fresh parsley, finely chopped
10 mint leaves, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil or more to taste
salt and pepper

Method

Chargrill the peppers until burnt and soft.
Remove the skins and chop of the head
Slice the aubergines in half, then into long strips, then in to cubes.
Place in a bowl, then add teh finely diced tomatoes. onions, pomegrates then drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle over the parsley and mint.

Cranberry Jalapeno Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoons crackers
250 grams cream cheese
1/3 cup non-fat greek-style yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup dried cranberries
cranberry jalapeno jelly or other pepper jelly
1/2 cup pecan pieces, toasted

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Generously butter the sides of a 6 inch spring form tin
Add the crumbs to thoroughly coat the bottom and sides discarding the excess.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the yogurt and egg, beating until combined. Add the sugar and vanilla. Continue mixing until smooth. Add the dried craneries. Pour into the prepared tin.
Randomly drop 1.3 cup of the pepper jelly on top of the batter with tablespoon. With a flat knife, swirl he mixture together.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done. Remove and cool on a rack
Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Right before serving, top with more of the jelly and garish.
Serve with crackers

Wonderful Waffles

I have to admit that lately I have been having fantasies about waffles. Not just any waffles; seriously thick waffles with gigantic indentations to create small lakes of maple syrup ready to erupt when the knife slashes the sturdy side walls that double as coffer dams. On top of all this lay over a couple of rashes of salty and crispy bacon and the fantasy is complete. Almost.

The probelm is that these impure thoughts seem to tempt me either early in the morning when I am already running late (and usually working my way through a bowl of breakfast birdseed) or when I am stuck at work.

Solution: Make a couple of batches and stick in the freezer. That way if guests stay the night, they can pull them out, defrost and warm in the toaster. Add syrup and bacon and quick, easy. delicious sinfulness has been wrought.

As a side note, the waffle maker I use is the Sunbeam Belgian Waffle Maker WM7500. This is an awesome machine producing 4 waffles that are about 2cm thick per batch, or eight in about 10 minutes.

Classic Waffles

Ingredients

2 eggs, separated

1 1/4 cups of milk

100g butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

2 tablespoons caster sugar

Method

Preheat waffle maker on 4 until ready light comes on. Spray plates with cooking oil.

Combine egg yolks, milk, butter and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk together until combined.

Add flour and sugar. Whisk until batter is smooth.

Beat egg whites with electric beaters until firm peaks form. Fold in egg whites to flour mixture.

Add half the batter to the machine and cook for about 4 1/2 minutes. Repeat and serve

Punjabi Chicken Curry

Ingredients

250gm chicken breast
1 large onion chopped
3 small tomatoes, pureed
1/4 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
Pinch of tumeric
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil
4-5 sprigs fresh coriander finely chopped

Whole Masala
2 bay leaves
2 cardamon pods
3 cloves
1 in cinnamon stick

Ground Masala
Dry roast the following ingredients
2 cardamon pods
2 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

MethodClean and wash the chicken. Reserve.

Heat oil and fry chopped onion along with ginger garlic paste for a little while. Remove and grind to a fine paste. Cook the paste along with the whole masala till golden brown. Add turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, and salt to taste. Fry for a little while. Now add tomato purée and cook till the oil comes out.

Now add the chicken pieces and cook on medium flame for 5 minutes. Then cook on slow flame for another 5 to 10 minutes. Make a parting in the center of the pan and add yogurt and ground masala. Slowly fold in the chicken pieces. Cook till the chicken is done. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve it with rice or nan (tradition Indian bread).

Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
250 grams scotch fillet
1 onion, thinly sliced
8 cherry tomatoes halved
mixed salad greens, i like rocket
300 grams crunchy noodles
For the dressing:
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon fresh chili minced

Method

Heat oil in frypan. Add the steak and cook 1 to 2 minutes on both sides. Remove and slice thinly. Place in a bowl. Reserve.

To prepare the dressing, whisk the ingredients together well. Toss through the meat with the onions and tomatoes.

Arrange the salad greens on serving plates. Scatter over the beef mixture.

The Perfect Bolognese

To be honest, I took the original recipe from Heston Blumenthal. The man behind The Fat Duck restaurant would have to be the culinary equivalent of a god made mortal. The man is just a genius who combine the best of food science with the ultimate in dining experience. To me, he personifies passion - in anything.

I made the original recipe and it was received with great acclaim when I served it up. My long suffering wife put up with my nervous poking, prodding and stirring as I faithfully followed the recipe. Many hours went in to agonising over the various procedures, making sure ingredients were weighed to the gram, prepared perfectly, and then there was a lot of tense hovering over bubbling pots. Now, of course, I am quite blaise over the process with the timing having become somewhat more of an ad-hoc process.

I remember quite well the first time I served this with great anticipation and I watched the joy on the faces of my all-too-willing recipients, but I could not help feeling that it could be a little bit better when I tasted it. So I began experimenting.

Fresh tomatoes in the compote became tinned tomatoes because I felt they just tasted better, Maybe it was the addition of salt and the heat from the canning process but I found that the fresh tomatoes were possibly just a little bit bland. Whole milk became some milk with a splash of cream; veal? that became minced lamb; minced oxtail? at todays prices I don't think so! that became chuck steak which I convinced the butcher to mince and eventually just cheap and fatty mince from the bulk section at the local supermarket .

This combination came from another version of bolognese I have made a few times in the past and might have another crack at - the meat sauce was made up of whole lamb shin on bone chops slowly simmered in a minced beef and tomato sauce, to which small meatballs of minced pork and finely grated parmesan with a seasoning of pepper but no salt are added. It is very rich, very fattening, very filling and very, very tasty.

So I present to you the recipe in many parts for Heston Blumenthals Perfect Bolognaise and I encourage you to experiment as I did. You can also use this as a meat sauce in a Lasagne but with this comes a warning - a little goes a very long way. Serve small amounts, a lot smaller that you think. This recipe would easily serve 12 and yes, it does freeze well.

At the end of the recipe I will list just the ingredients in one list. This is for me to make it easier to work out what I need to buy when I am making this.

Ingredients

For the Caramelized Onions

1 star anise

500 grams onion

25 mls virgin olive oil (I use bran oil)

Finely slice the onions. Place a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Crush the star anise and bag it up in a square of muslin. (I didn’t) Add this to the pan, along with 25ml oil and the sliced onions. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the onions are soft and caramelised, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

For the Soffrito

4 cloves of garlic
475 gr diced onion
390 gr diced carrot
300 gr diced celery stalk
50 ml extra virgin olive oil

Finely dice the onions, carrots and celery. Mince the garlic. Preheat another large, heavybottomed frying pan over a low heat for 5 minutes. Pour 50ml oil into the pan, then tip in the garlic, onions, carrots and celery and cook this soffritto over a medium- low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the raw onion smell has gone. Transfer the soffritto to your preheated crockpot and wipe clean the pan.

For the meat

(originally

50ml extra virgin olive oil455 gr oxtail, boned and minced280 gr pork, also grinded, although Heston used cubes284 gr veal, minced (my addition)650 ml Oaked Chardonnay (Chardonnay Reserve 2007, Viu Manent)500 ml whole milk)

now

50ml bran oil
500 grams NOT LEAN minced beef
250 grams minced pork
250 grams minced lamb
1 bottle oaked Chardonnay
400ml standard milk
100 mls of cream

Place the pan over a high heat for 10 minutes. Pour in 50ml bran oil and wait until it very hot. Add the minced meat. Stir until browned all over. (To brown properly, all the meat has to touch the surface of the pan. If it doesn’t, do it in batches.) Tip the browned meat into a sieve over a bowl (to allow the fat to drain off). Reserve. Deglaze the pan by adding a splash of wine, bringing it to the boil, and then scraping the base of the pan to collect all the tasty bits stuck to the bottom. Once the liquid has reduced by half, add to the reserved meat.

Remove the (bag of) star anise from the caramelised onions and then tip the onions into the stockpot containing the meat. Add the remaining wine and deglaze the frying pan. When the wine has reduced by half, pour it into the crockpot. Add the soffritto to the pot as well.

Add the milk and cream and enough hot water to cover entirely, and simmer on “Low” with the lid half on for 6 to 8 hours. At all times the ingredients should be covered by the liquid, so be prepared to add more water. (Don’t worry if the milk becomes slightly granular: it won’t affect the end result.)

For the Tomato Compote

2kg tinned whole tomatoes
1 tsp salt
200ml extra virgin olive oil
6 large cloves of garlic
340 gr finely diced onion
2 heaped tsp coriander seeds
2 star anise
6 cloves
8-10 drops Tabasco
8-10 drops Thai fish sauce
3 tsps Worcestershire sauce
2 heaped tbsp tomato ketchup
60ml sherry vinegar

1 bouquet garni (consisting of 7 sprigs of fresh thyme and 1 fresh bay leaf).

Take each tomato and using your thumb, split them open over a sieve and bowl to catch the seeds, membrane and cores. Reserve the cheeks of the tomatoes in another bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and leave for 20 minutes to catch all the juices. Roughly chop the cheeks and reserve.

Place a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over a low heat. Add 100ml of the olive oil. Mince the garlic and add with the onions to the pan. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the soft, but do not allow to colour.

Crush the coriander and add to a muslin bag with the star anise and cloves. Add to the onions, along with the chopped tomato cheeks and the reserve juice that has collected under the sieve, but discard the seeds and membrane. Adding them would make the compote bitter.

Add the Tobasco, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup and sherry vinegar. Drop in the bouquet garni and cook over a low heat for 2 hours.

To really bring out the flavours of the compote, add the remaining oil to the compote and turn the heat to high. Fry the compote for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure it does not catch. Once finished you can pour off any remaining oil which will have a fantastic flavour and can be used to dress the final presentation or use in as part of a salad dressing. Just dont throw it out.

This compote can keep in the fridge for at least a week so can be made in advance.

Finishing the dish

1 batch of tomato compote
1 batch of meatsauce
100g good quality spaghetti per person
sherry vinegar, to taste
Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
1 bouquet garni (in a sheet of leek, wrap 6 tarragon leaves, 4 sprigs of parsley and the leaves from the top of a bunch of celery)
unsalted butter
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Stir the tomato compote (including the bag of spices) into the meat-sauce and cook over a very low heat for a final 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta. For every 100g of pasta, you’ll need 1 litre of water and 10g salt. (If you don’t have a large enough pan it’s essential to use two pans rather than overcrowd one.)

Put the spaghetti into the pan, give it a stir, then bring back to the boil and cook until the pasta is just tender but with a bite. Check the cooking time on the packet and use that as a guideline, but taste it every few minutes as this is the only way to judge when the pasta is ready.

Before taking the Bolognese sauce off the heat, check the seasoning and then add some sherry vinegar (tasting as you go) to balance the richness of the sauce. Add a generous grating of Parmesan (but not too much, as it can make the sauce overly salty) and remove the sauce from the heat. Take out the original thyme and bay bouquet garni and the bag of spices. Replace these with the parsley and tarragon bouquet garni, stir in 100g of unsalted butter and let the sauce stand for 5 minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain, and rinse it thoroughly. Return to the pot to warm through. (Since the ragù is not going to be mixed with the pasta, it needs to be rinsed to prevent it becoming starchy and sticking together.) Add a generous knob of butter (about 50g per 400g of pasta) and coat with olive oil and the reserved oil from the final frying of the compote. To serve, wind portions of pasta around a carving fork and lay them horizontally in wide, shallow bowls. Top with the Bolognese sauce and finish with a grating of Parmesan.

Eat it! And serve the oaked chardonnay that went in it. I was quite surprised how well that combined. I really loved it.

List of ingredients

1 star anise

500 grams onion

25 mls virgin olive oil (I use bran oil)

4 cloves of garlic
475 gr diced onion
390 gr diced carrot
300 gr diced celery stalk
50 ml extra virgin olive oil

50ml bran oil
500 grams NOT LEAN minced beef
250 grams minced pork
250 grams minced lamb
1 bottle oaked Chardonnay
400ml standard milk
100 mls of cream

2kg Whole tinned tomatoes - and dont buy the cheap ones. Italian plum.
1 tsp salt
200ml extra virgin olive oil
6 large cloves of garlic
340 gr finely diced onion
2 heaped tsp coriander seeds
2 star anise
6 cloves
8-10 drops Tabasco
8-10 drops Thai fish sauce
3 tsps Worcestershire sauce
2 heaped tbsp tomato ketchup
60ml sherry vinegar
1 bouquet garni (consisting of 7 sprigs of fresh thyme and 1 fresh bay leaf)

I do make some parts of this dish completely differently which does change the final outcome. If you really want to know, well, I am open to bribes.

Murgh Makani

150 ml Plain yoghurt
50 g Ground almonds
1 1/2 t Chilli powder
1/4 t Crushed bay leaves
1/4 t Ground cloves
1/4 t Ground cinnamon
1 t Garam masala
4 Green cardamom pod
1 t Ginger pulp
1 t Garlic pulp
400 g Canned tomatoes
1 1/4 t Tsp salt
1 kg Chicken, skinned, boned and cubed
6 T Butter
1 T Corn oil
2 md Onions-sliced
2 T Chopped fresh coriander
4 T Light cream
Coriander sprigs

Method

1. Put the yoghurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic,tomatoes and salt into a mixing bowl and blend together thoroughly.
2. Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and pour over the yoghurt mixture. Set aside.
3. Melt together the butter and oil in a medium karahi (wok) or deep round-bottomed frying pan (skillet). Add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for 7-10 minutes.
5. Stir in about half the coriander and mix well.
6. Pour over the cream and stir in well. Bring to the boil. Seve garnished with the remaining chopped coriander and coriander springs.

Chicken Madras

Ingredients

1/4 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
4 large cloves garlic

2 tsp garam masala
1 tablespoon cayenne (1 teaspoon for medium heat)
1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
(combine these 6 items in a bowl)

400 grams boneless chicken chopped to roughly 1 inch cubes
800 grams canned diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon cardamon
1 tablespoon lemin juice

2 cups chicken stock
3 medium sized potatoes peeled, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
250 grams sliced fresh mushrooms if desired
1 very large or 2 medium sized green pepper
half a small pottle of plain yogurt

Method

In a large pot, heat the oil until it is fragrant. Add the onion and saute over high heat, stirring frequently, until it starts to brown a little, about 4 minutes. Lower the heat and continue cooking, stirring often, until the onion turns golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Add the garlic, and cook a couple more minutes.

Add the spice mixture, lower the heat to medium, and saute for another 2 minutes. If it sticks, add a little bit of the chicken broth stirring (couple of spoonfuls). Add the chicken, stir well, and brown it in the spices for about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, the rest of the chicken broth, the potatoes, peppers and mushrooms, lemon juice and cardamom and stir well. Lower heat, and simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the yogurt. Simmer uncovered about 15 minutes longer, stirring occassionally, until the chicken is tender and the sauce is very thick.

Cold Noodles in Sesame Sauce

This is a refreshing dish in summer and keeps well in the fridge making it perfect for lunches.

Ingredients

1 packet noodles
1 spring onion, green and white very finely sliced
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Method.

Cook the noodles in boiling water until cooked.

Rinse immediately under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Mix the remaining ingredients together and toss with the noodles. Chill over night, stirring the noodles in the morning to make sure they are separated.

Wet Ingredients

4 eggs
1 cup bran oil - not olive
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Beat together

Beat together

Dry ingredients
1 cups plain flour / or wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Sift together

Add 1 cup of bran
1 cup wheatgerm

1 1/2 cup raisens soaked team minutes in boiling water then drained
3 cups either or mixture of grated carrot, mashed banana, grated apple with the skin.

Add wet ingredients to dry, then add the raisins and the fruit.

Dont over mix.

Use paper liners.

Bake 180 for 20 minutes. Makes 24 good sized muffins.

Gnocchi With Tomato and Bechamel Sauce

I love fresh pasta. Oh sure, dried pasta has its place and I do use it. In fact, for many dishes, dried pasta seems to work better and yet, given a choice, fresh pasta will always be my preference.

Gnocchi is technically a pasta and has been around since roman times, but it is also a dumpling and throughout Europe and northern Africa there is a strong regional tradition of the dumpling; everything from the traditional Roman potato based dumpling to the German Spatzle and even the french choux pastry version served with a cheese sauce.

The thing about fresh pasta is the mouth feel; soft and silky almost like a sauce itself. Overwork the dough and you end up with a tough and chewy pasta that does not quite feel right when you are biting in to it. This is especially true of potato based gnocchi. When making this you are trying to amalgamate the flour into the potato but gently massage them together. You are also looking for a soft but not a sticky dough. Once the eggs go in the mix should come together pretty quick.

This dough is a blank canvas and you can think about what you are going to be serving with it. Bechamel sauce lends itself to flavours like nutmeg, salt, pepper, even chili. These can also be incorporated into the gnocchi. You can even substitute the potato for pumpkin which would benefit from a healthy dose of nutmeg - a classic pairing.

A final tip; When rolling the gnocchi out into the sausages, thinner is better. When you cut the gnocchi I believe the best size is something similar to an old fashioned knuckle bone. When cooking the gnocchi they will puff up so if you have something too large it wont fit easily in the mouth and you will get too much of the gnocchi and not enough of the sauce.

Ingredients

1 kg mashing potatoes
2-3 cups of flour
2 eggs
seasoning
1 large onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
2 cloves garlic
2 tins whole peeled tomatoes
seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
25 grams of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
milk
1 cup of gated cheese


Method

Boil the potatoes as per normal until cooked and ready for mashing. Either mash or pass through a potato riced with a medium screen. Spread out on a chopping board and sprinkle over 2 cups of flour and eggs and start kneading together. Add the remaining flour until the dough starts to loose its stickiness and comes together.

Work the dough into a ball and cut into eights. On a floured surface, roll out into thin sausages and chop with a sharp knife.

To cook, bring a large stockpot with about 5 litres of heavily salted water to the boil and drop the gnocchi in about 20 at a time. Boil until the gnocchi has floated to the surface for about a minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and dry on a tea towel. Continue until all gnocchi are cooked. If you are wanting to freeze the gnocchi at this point, lay out on a sheet of grease-proof paper and free-flow freeze before placing in a bag.

Once the gnocchi are cooked they can be poached in the tomato sauce, sprinkled with cheese and lightly grilled. My favourite is to fry the cooked gnocchi in a little oil and butter until lightly browned before adding to a lasagna dish, tossing in a decent amount of tomato sauce, a layer of cheese sauce and cooking in a 180 degree oven for 20 minutes.

For the tomato sauce

Sweat over a low heat the onion, carrot and garlic so it is softened but not browned. Add the tomatoes, seasoning and the sugar. Simmer until cooked through then blend with a blender or a stick blender. Add to the gnocchi and stir to combine.

For the bechamel sauce

In a small saucepan, melt the butter then add the flour. With a small spatula stir to combine into a paste and cook over a gentle heat until the colour darkens only slightly. Add a small stream of milk stirring the whole time to incorporate into the butter flour mix. When the milk has been absorbed, add more and continue until the sauce starts to thin and has reached the desired volume.

Allow to cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes then remove. Add the grated cheese and stir until the cheese has melted. Top of the gnocchi and sauce mix and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Marmalade Steamed Pudding

Mum and Dad were over for the weekend and they brought a whole lot of goodies with them. Mums banana and blackberry jam is a real favourite and dad brought some of his marmalade which is the second best marmalade in the world. (Debbie ranks #1 of course and I come in at #3).

Mum is noted, indeed world famous for her Christmas steamed puddings and late November sees the gearing up of a small factory line and puddings being mailed right across the country. They are fantastic, keep for ages and are just to die for.

Since I am off work at the moment I am pretty bored and I was looking for something to do with a dehydrator, which lead to stumbling across a crockpot joint of pork recipe, which somehow became a steamed pudding which ended up with this recipe.

Surprisingly, it came from the food in a minute website and can be prepared both in individual portions in the microwave or as a giant portion in a pot. This version I will make in a large pudding basin which Debbie bought on the weekend so we could make porridge in the crockpot without it burning. Sounds like it was meant to be.

Ingredients

50g butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup self raising flour
grated rind of 1 lemon
1/2 cup of milk
6 tablespoons of marmalde

Method

Grease the bottom and sides of the ramekins or pudding basin. Optionally line the base of the pudding basin with a round of baking paper or grease-proof paper which will help for easy removal.

Beat the butter and sugar together, then beat in the egg and lemon rind.

Sift in the sifted self-raising flour and the milk.

If using ramekins, divide the marmalade and place in the bottom. Otherwise add to the bottom of the pudding basin. Top with the batter.

If microwaving ramekins, cook for 5-7 minutes on a medium heat.

If steaming, tightly cover the top of the pudding basin with 2 layers of greased proof paper secured with kitchen string. Sit the basin on a saucer or trivet in a covered pot of boiling water and cook for an hour. Once cooked, turn out and serve with whipped cream or yogurt.

Back to Blogger

Its been three years since I used the blogger service and now I have returned. This decision was quite easy given some of the difficulties I faced with hosting my own website.

Twice my website was hacked. The first time was mostly annoying as it just pointed all links to a warez site and run sluggishly. The second time was a worse as it completely embedded malicious code in the software and after talking to the providers it was best to just re-build the site from scratch which I did. Fortunately for me, both times I was able to save all entries and so the rebuilding process allowed me to optimise code and streamline the code which was starting to get a little messy from all the tinkering.

The third problem was the killer. I changed my domain name provider to an american company called GoDaddy and forgot that the anniversary date for renewal also changed. At the time I also changed internet service provider and did not update my contact details. Anniversary date came and went and since I did not renew, another company picked up my domain name and I am locked out and pretty annoyed with myself.

However, since I am ready to start cooking properly again, I was looking at the options and will continue with blogger for the next wee while.

So today is the first day of my efforts to start posting again. New camera, new attitude and new kitchen which is TINY!