Showing posts with label Comfort Foods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comfort Foods. Show all posts
Gnocchi is one thing I always have in my cupboards. Oh, I know you can easily make your own, but I am of the opinion that if you have a packet of ready made gnocchi in the cupboard, you are never much more than a half an hour or so from putting a tasty meal onto the table.
It lends itself beautifully to all sorts . . . especially if you treat it a bit like a potato from time to time. I have done sauteed Gnocchi with Egg (pretty much like egg and chips, only better with the addition of sage and garlic!) Gnocchi Mac and Cheese with Purple Sprouting Broccoli (beautifully sauced!)
Gnocchi Breakfast Scramble (a fabulous morning delight with eggs, cheese, bacon and chives!) Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (think Chicken and Dumplings!) and then there is my personal favourite . . . Hashed Gnocchi (Corned Beef Hash, except with plump little gnocchi!)
So, you can see how very versatile a package of Gnocchi can be! If you can do it with a potato (or a pasta for that matter) you can do it with a Gnocchi! I wanted to showcase some special cheeses today (infused with ginger and rosemary) , so I created a creamy gratin and added some chopped broccoli. It was fabulously delish . . . but then again, you knew it would be!
*Creamy Gnocchi Gratin*
Serves 4 to 6
A
delicious gratin, with a lucious chese sauce and broccoli for
goodness. I like to push the boundaries of what gnocchi is generally
used for. To me they are just delightful little dumplings begging to be
enhanced in delicious ways!
1/2 of a bunch of broccoli, trimmed and chopped
235ml of double cream (1 cup)
3 TBS finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 TBS fine dried bread crumbs
salt and black pepper to taste
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions, half a dozen or so at a time. Once they float to the surface, scoop out with a slotted spoon and place into the gratin dish, repeating until all the gnocchi have cooked. Add the broccoli to the water and cook until it is crispy tender. Drain well and scatter it amongst the gnocchi.
As you know, Divo Italiano recently sent me a delicious assortment of exciting new Italian Cheeses to try out. These are thorougly modern cheeses selected by Aldo Zilli specifically for the British Table. In this I used their Cubed Gorgonzola P.D.O.Picante.
Gold award winner at the Nantwich International Cheese Awards 2013, a P.D.O. Italian blue cheese without any rind which means nothing goes to waste. Packaged in a convenient pre-cubed format, it is the first to market in this format for Gorgonzola cheese. It is matured for up to 90 days in natural caves in Northern Italy to give it a sharp, spicy (‘piccante’ in Italian) flavour and creamy texture. It makes a delicious match with ripe pears and walnuts tossed into rocket leaves, melted on pizza, or used to make an indulgent cooking sauce.
This cheese was fabulous and was a great addition to my sauce. Mmmm . . . I am getting spoilt here! You can find the DVO range of cheeses in Morrisons and Ocado.
When there are just two of you living in a house, dessert isn't something you make very often. At least that is the way it works for me. It usually doesn't all get eaten and if I haven't been able to give it away, then it gets thrown out. So normally I only do dessert when we have company.
I had some bramley cooking apples that someone had given us that I wanted to use and I found this crumble recipe on the BBC food page, which looked good, but it made far too much. I liked the premise of a crumble using sultanas and dates though, so I kept those and added Calvados instead of rum, because I always have Calvados in my larder, but never rum.
I also cut the quanitities down by a half more or less and added my own version of a crumble topping as I really like mine, but am not overly fond of the one that most desserts use over here. I'm sorry, you can take the North American out of North America, but not the North America out of the North American! There will always be some things I think we do better.
The end result was a perfectly sized crumble for two people. A bit of indulgence, without having all of those leftovers to tempt you into digging in again and again . . .
Because dates and sultanas are naturally sweet, you don't need to use as much sugar as you normally would in a crumble filling, and their caramel like sweetness goes very well with the tartness of the Bramley apples.
Bramley apples break down so nicely in crumbles I think. Fluffy and tart. I like that. The topping of course it's crowning glory. Enjoy! (OF course if there are more than two of you, the recipe can easily be increased !)
*Toffee Apple Crumble for Two*
Serves two generouslybut can be easily multiplied to serve more
A tasty two person sized crumble filled with lots of apple, sultanas, and dates. Reminiscent of a sticky toffee pudding in a way, but extra fruity and with a moreishly buttery crisp topping!
cut into thin slices
2 TBS flaked almonds
pinch salt
Place
the sultanas, dates, sugar, calvados, butter and mixed spice into a
bowl. Stir and then heat in the microwave for about a minute and a half
until the butter is melted and the sugar is syrupy. Toss in the apple
slices and lemon juice. Spread into a small (about 4 cup) buttered
casserole dish, taking care that the dried fruit is scattered throughout
the apples.Serve warm with ice cream, custard or pouring cream.
I put my hand up. The humble potato is my favourite vegetable. I can eat potatoes in any way shape or form. I don't have a favourite. They all have me drooling. That's why low carb doesn't work for me. I just can't live without my taters. A day without a potato in it in some way shape or form is just not a good day for me.
Aside from the fact that they're so tasty, potatoes are also quite good for you, and contrary to popular belief, they are not fattening. It's what you put with them that puts on the pounds . . . not the potatoes. They contain a useful amount of Vitamin C, iron, Vitamins B1 and B2, no cholesterol, virtually no fat and are low in sodium. Sounds healthy to me!
It's the butter, cream, oil, etc. that pack on the pounds . . . oh well.
One of my favourite ways of eating potatoes is mashed, and I am happy to say Todd loves his mash too. Aside from being delicious, it's so versatile! You can mix mashed Swede with it, mashed carrots, celeriac, cheese, garlic, etc. Virtually anything that is mashable or meltable goes well in mashed potatoes! They are virtually a delicious canvas just waiting for you to put your brush to!
Today I mixed some parsnips with my potatoes to make a wonderfully flavourful and creamy mash. I love parsnips too. The two together are white bliss! Especially when you add some cream and a knob of butter. ahem . . . but we won't talk about that will we.
I topped them with some spicy fried onions, which are also a favourite of ours. Have you ever noticed how good onions smell when they are frying??? There is a street cart in Chester City Centre that always sends the smell of fried onions wafting through the air. One of these days I am going to buy something from him! It just smells soooo good!
Anyways . . . these creamy potatoes with their spiced fried onions topping went down a real treat with our sausages for our dinner today. Two thumbs up all round!
*Parsnip and Potato Mash with Spiced Onions*
Serves 4
pinch sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon75g of butter (1/4 cup)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
Peel
the potatoes and cut into bite sized chunks. Do the same with the
parsnips. Place them into a large saucepan. Cover with lightly salted
water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a rapid roll and cook until all
the vegetables are fork tender. Drain very well. Return to the pan
and place it back on the residual heat of the burner, covered with a tea
towel to help them dry out some. While the potatoes and parsnips are
cooking, cook the onions. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the
onions and a pinch of sugar. Cook over medium heat until they begin to
turn golden brown. Turn the heat up to high and cook, stirring
frequently until some of them begin to brown and caramelize. Stir in
1/2 tsp of the cinnamon and the lemon juice. Season with salt and black
pepper to taste. Keep warm.
Mash the potatoes and
parsnips well, adding the cream and the butter. Beat well and add the
remaining cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Season to taste with salt.
They should be smooth and fluffy. Spoon into a heated serving bowl and
top with the fried spiced onions. Serve hot.
They had rolled Beef Brisket on offer at the shops the other day so I picked up a small one to cook at the weekend. We don't do read meat very often actually . . . and I really do like brisket. It's one of our favourites.
It's not a beef roast you can cook in the traditional way, by dry roasting however. Brisket is a cut which comes from the lower chest of the animal, where you would find the "pecs" of the steer, and since they don't have collar bones, they help to support at least 60% of the weight of the animal. The brisket needs specialized cooking.
Properly cooked however always results in one of the tastiest cuts of beef. It needs slow braising, either on top of the stove, in the slow cooker or in the oven. All of that connective tissue turns gelatinous during the long cooking time, resulting in a very succulent piece of meat.
In short . . . they make great pot roasts! This is one of my favourit ways to cook it . . . Boeuf Aux Carottes . . . or Braised Beef Brisket with Carrots. Browned on top of the stove and then oven braised with onions, bacon lardons, carrots, bay leaf and other aromatics . . . white wine . . .
The end result being a deliciously tender roast, with a fabulous au jus and wonderfully flavoured carrots that you could almost mash into the juices for an extra tasty gravy . . .
I like to serve it simply sliced, with some of the carrots along side and some other veg, and with some of the juices spooned over top. Simple but . . . most delicious.
*Boeuf aux Carottes*
(Braised Beef Brisket with Carrots)
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
This is a lovely meal that requires very little effort. You end up with meltingly tender beef with a rich broth, sweet and buttery in flavour from the carrots. I served it with a celeriac/potato mash and some lightly steamed haricots verts. (green beans)
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1.5 kg of rolled beef brisket (about 3 pounds)
1.5 kg of carrots, peeled and trimmed (about 3 pounds)
150g bacon lardoons (about 1/2 cup)
1 onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 fresh bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 small leafy celery stalk
500ml dry white wine, or unsweetened apple juice (2 cups)
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat 1 TBS of the olive oil in a large roaster on top of the stove. (Use one with a fitted lid) Add the brisket and brown it slowly on all sides. Once browned, remove it to a plate, salt it generously and then set it aside.
Heat the remaining oil in the roaster and add the carrots, 1 tsp of salt and cook, stirring them occasionally, until they are browned. This will take from 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Put the lardoons and onions into the roaster and then cook them over high heat until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, bay leaf, thyme, celery, beef and carrots. Pour in the wine or juice, and add water almost to cover. Bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that may surface, then top with the lid and roast in a pre-heated oven at 150*C/300*F. Roast for 3 hours, turning the meat over at least once during the cooking time.
Remove from the oven and take the meat out of the liquid. Let rest for about 15 minutes before cutting in thin slices to serve, accompanied with the carrots and lovely juices spooned over top. Delicious!
We were having company for supper tonight and so I wanted to bake a tasty casserole that would make everybody happy. I had taken chicken breasts out of the freezer last night and they were to be the basis for my casserole.
I also took out a package of lean back bacon that I thought would go very well in the dish. The smokiness of bacon goes really well with chicken I think. It's a lovely combination. I also had a package of mushrooms that I wanted to use up while I still could. I had bought them for something else, but the something else never got made. (Doesn't that happen to everyone?)
In any case I ended up making a chicken cobbler with the chicken, bacon and mushrooms . . . a kind of a chicken stew, flavoured with onions and herbs . . . thyme and summer savory . . .
I added some sliced carrots for a bit of colour and sweetness. Chicken breasts on their own can be quite bland, but they are a beautiful canvas for whatever you put with them . . . after browning the meat, onions, and mushrooms, I added some chicken stock and then put the whole lot into the oven to braise for half an hour.
While that mixture was braising I make an herbed drop scone/dumpling mixture to drop onto the top of the chicken stew. Sprinkled with cheese and then banged back into the oven until the dumplings were golden brown and crusted and oh so cheesy.
We ended up having to cancel our company as I ended up not being very well, but the Toddster surely enjoyed this meal. It was right up his alley. He loves a hearty casserole and this fit the bill perfectly. I sent the leftovers down to the Missionaries for their supper . . . I think they enjoyed it too.
*Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Cobbler*
Serves 6 to 8
A
delicious chicken casserole, filled with tender chunks of chicken
breast, back bacon, mushrooms and carrots, and topped with a cheese
crusted dumpling topping! Serves 6 to 8
into 1 inch cubes
a bit of olive oil
1 packet of back bacon, cut into cubes (smoked or unsmoked as you wish. About six slices)
1 tsp salt
300ml of buttermilk (about 1 1/3 cups)
I picked up a cauliflower earlier this week with a particular recipe in mind, but ended up not making it, and so today I found myself with a cauliflower that I needed to use post haste. I spent quite a while perusing Pinterest looking for something interesting to make with it to no avail.
I have made cauliflower cheese soup in the past and it was pretty tasty. I wanted to make a soup, but I didn't want to make the same old same old.
And then I started to think about how people who are low carbing interchange potatoes and cauliflower a lot with each other, although . . . to be perfectly honest I don't see where the similarities are as both taste completely different from each other. But to each their own . . .
And that's when I had the brilliant idea to make a cauliflower chowder! Boy oh boy, talk about being inspired! This ended up being the most delicious pot of soup I have ever made! I kid you not! Adding some Black Pepper Boursin Cheese was genius, pure genius. It worked beautifully!
I wish that I had taste and smell options on this blog because you would be literally blown away by this soup. It's rich, and so . . . SO . . . SOOOOO . . . delicious!! I can't say that enough. I think I have found a new favourite. It's not that easy to make soup look interesting, but . . . meh, I tried.
Todd had his with bread, which is so British. I had mine with crackers, which is so North American. OF course I crumbled my crackers over top of my soup, which my ex boss would have said was "common." But then again . . . I am a simple girl. No pretence here.
*Cauliflower Chowder*
Serves 6
This is a hearty supper soup that goes down a real treat. Filled with lovely chunks of celery, carrot, cauliflower and potato, lightly flavoured with bacon and Pepper Boursin, this pleases on many levels. It's rich and filling and quite, quite pleasing.
6 tablespoons butter, divided
4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
½ whole onion, finely diced
1 whole carrot finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
½ whole onion, finely diced
1 whole carrot finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 whole cauliflower Head, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh Or dried parsley (chopped)
2 litres good quality chicken stock (about 10 cups)
35g of plain flour (rounded 1/3 cup)
1 whole cauliflower Head, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh Or dried parsley (chopped)
2 litres good quality chicken stock (about 10 cups)
35g of plain flour (rounded 1/3 cup)
450ml milk (2 cups)
225ml single cream (1 cup)
225ml single cream (1 cup)
salt and black pepper to taste
75g of Black Pepper Boursin cheese (generous 1/4 cup)
Melt 2 TBS of the butter in a large soup pot. Add the bacon and cook until it begins to brown. Stir in the onions. Cook for a few minutes before it begins to soften. Add the carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes longer. Add the potato, cauliflower and parsley. Stir to coat with the drippings and then add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer until the vegetables are all tender.
Melt 2 TBS of the butter in a large soup pot. Add the bacon and cook until it begins to brown. Stir in the onions. Cook for a few minutes before it begins to soften. Add the carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes longer. Add the potato, cauliflower and parsley. Stir to coat with the drippings and then add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer until the vegetables are all tender.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Cook for several minutes to cook out the flour flavour. Whisk in the milk slowly, whisking constantly. Cook and stir until the mixture thickens. Whisk in the cream and then stir the whole mixture into the cooked vegetable mixture. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes to meld flavours. Stir in the Boursin cheese until it is melted. Check seasoning and adjust as needed with salt and pepper. Ladle the hot soup into heated bowls and serve with bread or crackers as you wish.
As you all know I had a lovely visit to the Yeo Valley Farms a few weeks ago which the Toddster and I both thoroughly enjoyed. There is something really special about going to see where your food comes from, and it's even more special when you are able to see the extra care and attention some producers put into what they produce.
I think with Yeo Valley this extends to every portion of their huge operation. I can say this because several months back I had purchased their cookery book from Amazon.uk. When it arrived there were a few blank pages in it that had not printed.
I contacted the Yeo Valley people just on the off chance that they would be able to provide me with the missing recipes and they sent me a whole brand new cookbook, which they really didn't have to do! I have to say though, that I did appreciate the extra care and when I visited their farm operation, they actually remembered me, which is another plus as far as I am concerned. Everyone likes to know that they are remembered. I do at any rate!
I had been eyeballing this recipe in the book for quite some time. Pot Roasted Chicken with Cider and Apples. It was calling my name. I was just waiting for the perfect weather to cook it and with the cooling temps the time was just right!
Because we are Mormons, we don't drink alcohol in our home, but I am not adverse to cooking with it. MY Bishop's wife down south did and so if she thought it was ok, that was enough for me. This recipe calls for a quantity of good apple cider, which is alcoholic, but if you were not wanting to use cider, you could use a good quality apple juice . . .
I contacted the Yeo Valley people just on the off chance that they would be able to provide me with the missing recipes and they sent me a whole brand new cookbook, which they really didn't have to do! I have to say though, that I did appreciate the extra care and when I visited their farm operation, they actually remembered me, which is another plus as far as I am concerned. Everyone likes to know that they are remembered. I do at any rate!
I had been eyeballing this recipe in the book for quite some time. Pot Roasted Chicken with Cider and Apples. It was calling my name. I was just waiting for the perfect weather to cook it and with the cooling temps the time was just right!
Because we are Mormons, we don't drink alcohol in our home, but I am not adverse to cooking with it. MY Bishop's wife down south did and so if she thought it was ok, that was enough for me. This recipe calls for a quantity of good apple cider, which is alcoholic, but if you were not wanting to use cider, you could use a good quality apple juice . . .
You saute some fabulous aromatics in the pot . . . bacon lardons, onions, garlic, rosemary . . . and then you add the cider and reduce it somewhat . . . the well seasoned chicken is then placed on top, a quantity of chicken stock poured over all and then it is oven braised for a time . . .
Until the chicken is tender and moistly cooked through . . . and the sauce filled with all of the juices from the chicken, combined with that lovely reduction you began with. Whilst the chicken is braising you saute dessert apples in butter until they are golden brown . . .
Once the chicken is done, you remove it to rest and then created a delicious sauce with the braising liquid, cream, and those tender and golden sauteed apples . . .you then serve the chicken in tender moist slices, with some of that lucious sauce spooned over top . . .
Just look at that gorgeous sauce and tender chicken . . . with it's chunks of sweet apple, bits of bacon . . . a creamy and unctuously wonderful combination that is quite, quite pleasing. I do hope you will put this on your list of autumnal bakes this year. You will NOT be disappointed if you do. Trust me on this.
*Pot Roasted Chicken with Apples and Cider*
Served 4 When the chicken is cooked through and tender, lift it out onto a large board. Cover tightly with foil and leave to rest for about 10 minutes. Put the flameproof casserole over medium heat and simmer until the cooking juices are reduced and full of lovely flavours. Rub the remaining butter and the flour together. Drop this into the reduced chicken juices, whisking constantly, simmering until the mixture has thickend nicely. Whisk in the double cream and then taste and adjust seasoning as necessary with salt and black pepper. Stir in the parsley and the apple.
To serve, carve the chicken into nice pieces and divide between 4 heated plates. Spoon over the sauce and serve.
I like to have this with some boiled baby potatoes, and peas and carrots. But mash and steamed broccoli would go equally well! It's delicious no matter what!
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