16 hours ago, Assisi said:

I have just finished making gnocchi.  Possibly the best I have ever made.  Little pillows of soft pleasure. There is an art to making  gnocchi.  I keep trying.<snip>

 

John

So, can you pass on any tips?

1 hour ago, GregWormald said:

So, can you pass on any tips?

Yes. I don’t know what you have done up to now. The potatoes should be a variety suitable for mashing. Coliban for example. Weigh them. I cook them peeled in large chunks in a pressure cooker to minimise moisture take up. Twenty minutes cooking should be enough. Pass the chunks through a potato ricer to create the “mash”. Mix the mash and flour in a bowl. The amount of flour should be no more than one third of the weight of the potatoes. The balance of flour and mash is important. Put the mixed potatoes and flour on to a board and work them together into a dough. Do not overwork the dough.

 

Lately I have been using la Molisana 00 grade soft wheat flour. Absolutely wonderful for fresh pasta making.

 

Divide the dough into small handfuls. Roll and stretch each handful into long thin snakes. If you did plastacine 101 at kindergarten you will know how to do it. During the rolling light dusting with flour may helpful. Cut each rolled section into small pieces and cook in boiling water until the gnocchi float for a few minutes and then lift them out and cook more.

 

Done

4 hours ago, GregWormald said:

So, can you pass on any tips?

John, The Gnocchi Shop. He is located near Findon. A LOT of restaurant buy from him, light and soft gnocchi , and very reasonably priced.

Thanks guys. I'll give both options a try.?

I've fired up the oven and got a Beef Burgundy on the simmer. Full bottle of red in there, it should be epic and I'm loving our new cast iron/ceramic dutch oven, so much better than stove top or slow cooker.

Supreme lockdown comfort food  washed down with a Kay Brothers basket pressed Mataro 2018.

Ottolengi slow cooked Lamb Shouder with Mint and Cummin, Celeriac and Carrots- 7 hours cooking  later and after marinating overnight .
Family voted it a 9.5 so on the cusp of Orgasmic! 
Meat as soft as a baby's butt, literally falls off the bone !?

Edited August 14, 20205 yr by evil c

Gosh, this is mouthwatering, well done.

Melbourne's Embla Restaurant supplying our lock in Saturday night feed this week.

 

Shane Dalia's Providore is our saviour each Saturday night.  

 

Brilliant idea.

 

we may never eat out again ?

 

Regards Cazzesman

Hit the local fish place yesterday.

Flake in oven parcels last night (chardonnay, dill, butter, lime, parsley, garlic) with broccolini and honeyed carrots.

Tonight, pan-fried flathead with burnt butter and lime/capers/parsley - with chips, of course!

18 hours ago, Cloth Ears said:

Hit the local fish place yesterday.

Flake in oven parcels last night (chardonnay, dill, butter, lime, parsley, garlic) with broccolini and honeyed carrots.

Tonight, pan-fried flathead with burnt butter and lime/capers/parsley - with chips, of course!

FYI, added some Vietnamese 'mint' to the sauce (didn't realise we had it in the garden. It's like salt, you can add it to almost anything and it tastes better. And, if you're cooking for anyone who is coriander-phobic, it can add some of the same flavours without being rejected...

5 hours ago, Cloth Ears said:

And, if you're cooking for anyone who is coriander-phobic, it can add some of the same flavours without being rejected...

Nah, it tastes like soap as well...

Pffft.

 

I love coriander. Along with Tarragon and Basil making up my three favourite herbs

6 hours ago, Cloth Ears said:

FYI, added some Vietnamese 'mint' to the sauce (didn't realise we had it in the garden. It's like salt, you can add it to almost anything and it tastes better. And, if you're cooking for anyone who is coriander-phobic, it can add some of the same flavours without being rejected...

vietnamese mint is magic ! so easy to grow as well. sort of falls off a bit like most herbs in winter... but still plenty of leaves to pluck... and then jumps into life come spring and summer ! so refreshing a herb ! 

Never, ever get sick of this dish!

Good old fashioned Spaghetti Marinara with Linguini this time.

 

2 onions, 3 large tomatoes diced, I carrot chopped.

6 cloves of garlic. 

Sugar.

1 chilli

Parsley

Saffron threads soaked with water. 

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Cup of white wine.

Fish stock

Whole pack of Spaghetti 

Around 1.3kg mixed Seafood.

I usually add 500g King Prawns peeled, 400g Calamari rings and rest fish flesh and Mussels if available. 

Cook the sauce around half hour, l like to add the prawn heads for flavor before removing.

Fry up seafood in separate fry pan and add to sauce.

Toast breadcrumbs(bread in blender)  in butter in another pan and add on top when serving.

Grate cheese on top of course. 

Drizzle with garlic or chilli oil.

Enjoy! ?

 

 

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by evil c

Meat and 3 veg  or Beef Brisket stifado with mash and veg.

 

Inspired by previous efforts here and elsewhere on SNA, In a moment of madness grabbed some brisket  without knowing what to do with it, (no smoker here) and have never cooked it. The family loves a bit of beef cheek action so the brisket is not too far off. 

Ended up choosing a quick recipe for this as I couldnt be stuffed with an all day cook for a Tuesday night dinner. It is an Oliver recipe here https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-brisket-with-red-wine-shallots/ which is a variation on a Greek dish stifado.

 

Ended up 2.5 (instead of 2) hour cook and sauce got a bit more concentrated than in the recipe but turned out great and different flavours with nutmeg and cinnamon and olives in the mix which dont dominate. Dont have any tips as its the first time have cooked it. I wanted it to be just before the fall apart stage, so it could still be sliced  but still tender and unctuous.

 

Edited October 21, 20205 yr by frednork

 

Can you guess?

 

 

 

Something I never get unless I do it myself. 

 

 

 

Oh YES !!!!  Sauteed lamb's brains

 

6 hours ago, aussievintage said:

Oh YES !!!!  Sauteed lamb's brains

One of my favourite dishes but never make it myself. Time to have a crack.

9 hours ago, Bell Ringer said:

One of my favourite dishes but never make it myself. Time to have a crack.

 

Really simple.  Poach in salted water and vinegar for 10 minutes.      Saute in butter and parsley.  I like to get the butter almost to that burnt butter stage, so maybe heat the butter up and cook a bit first.

 

As I have to buy a whole packet, there's lots of leftovers.  Battered brains on toast for brekky.  Crumbed brains , bacon,  gravy and chips for lunch.  Cold sliced brains on a buttered sandwich...   lots of ways to use them up.

Damn! I should take pictures, but I forget that you can have a delay between finishing the cook and eating...

 

The salmon tails were large on Sunday, so I got 3 half tail pieces instead and cooked them three ways. One was marinated in soy/maple syrup/garlic and panfried gently before finishing in the oven. One was marinated in maple syrup/ginger/chili and sous vided (I took the skin off this one first). And one was covered in parmesan/panko/parsley/salt/pepper/butter and oven baked. Split them between us (as Mrs CE likes her fish cooked a little more, she gets the thin end of the tails). With little potatoes (sage, butter, parsley) and some minted peas.

 

I'll try to remember to take a photo before I eat next time!

3 minutes ago, Cloth Ears said:

soy/maple syrup/garlic and panfried gently before finishing in the oven

 

That's the one I would like !

 

I also like them just covered in brown sugar and hot-smoked.  Might try a bit of maple syrup with it next time.

34 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

 

That's the one I would like !

 

I also like them just covered in brown sugar and hot-smoked.  Might try a bit of maple syrup with it next time.

That's our go to. But I figured I'd try a couple of different things as there were three pieces. The parmesan crust was OK, but would probably be better on chicken than salmon. And the sous vide thing was really tasty, but probably better with different veggies.

 

P.S. not really sous vide, just in a bag in some hot water (started at 70C, cooled to about 45C and then back in the oven while the other stuff baked - probably didn't get over 50C again). Really melt in the mouth and worked well with the ginger & chili. This was the first time I'd tried it, so I might tweak it a little.

Baked Fish with sticky sauce:

Made this for dinner last night - voted a winner! 

Snapper around 1 .2kg whole cleaned 

2 tbs Sesame seeds 

2 Garlic cloves sliced finely

5cm fresh Ginger sliced into small matchstick 

1/2 sliced red Capsicum 

2 long or 3 small red chillies sliced

3/4 cup palm or Brown Sugar

1/3 cup Fish Sauce

2 tbs Tamarind pulp/ sauce

Juice of 1 Lime

1 cup Thai Basil leaves

2 tbs fried Shallots 

Heat oven to 190

Make 3 slices across sides of fish

Season with salt and brush with oil.

Sprinkle with Sesame seeds. 

Roast on greased tray for around 30 mins. (I wrapped in foil so as not dry and also good)

Heat oil in a wok, add Garlic and fry quickly to golden then drain on paper towel.

Add Chilli, Capsicum and Ginger and toss on high heat then add Sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, Tamarind.

Cook while stirring for few mins till like Syrup.

Transfer to a jug.

Add Basil leaves to wok and fry for 1 min.

(Or just add fresh on top)

Place fish on platter and pour on sauce.

Garnish with Garlic cooked, Basil and fried Shallots.

Serve with steamed or fried Rice.

Enjoy!!

 

Did you catch it?

13 minutes ago, Luc said:

Did you catch it?

Yes the fishmonger threw it to me!

But I am planning to head up in the hills to stalk some Trout. ?

Ah, a bought fish.

*pics of the trout when you catch it...