Hearty Eggplant Parmigiana Bake

I go through phases of being addicted to certain foods. Currently I'm completely stuck on eggplant. Soft and creamy when it's cooked properly, it's amazing how rich tasting a vegetable can be! And it's good for ya, so it's a win-win situation for me really. I end up eating it religiously for a few weeks then move on to the next thing, but it comes back around every few months, like an old loyal friend. Oh eggplant.

Anywho, I've done the eggplant schnitzel thang, and I felt it was time to layer and bake. I ate it like lasagne, with some veg on the side the first time but then realised, hey, eggplant is a vegetable, why double up? I made up for that by adding a ton of mozzarella ;)

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana

Serves 4

1 large eggplant
1 700ml jar tomato passata
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 pinch thyme (dried or fresh
250g grated or slice mozzarellla
1 handful of breadcrumbs (optional)
salt & pepper
olive oil


Slice eggplant in to ~1.5cm slices, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill under a medium heat in oven or on stove top until colored and nearly cooked through.

Meanwhile, saute the sliced garlic in olive oil for a few moments, add passata, thyme, salt and pepper, and let it bubble away on a low heat reducing slightly.

Layer sauce, eggplant and cheese in a medium baking dish (I used a square cake tin), in that order, and repeat ending with a layer of sauce, cheese then breadcrumbs if desired.

Bake at 200°c for about 20mins or until golden on top and eggplant is melting and soft.

Rest for 10mins before serving or it will slop everywhere.


PS: It's even better re-heated.

Winter Warmers - Slow Ham Bone Soup

Recently I picked up some weekend work at a lovely restaurant in the city. The boss has a marvelous personality and the food is delectable. It's been interesting getting to know how things go in food service, as I have visited many restaurants but never before worked in one. Working around food fortunately comes with some delicious perks like the little table by the kitchen door that treats of extras appear on for the waitstaff to nibble. And, as the place closes on Sunday and Monday, the staff get any leftover ingredients to take home as they wish.

Last week I picked up a bag of ham bones and bacon/salami trimmings, and in the spirit of the cold weather made a delightfully hearty pork soup with melting pieces of smoked ham, cabbage, butter beans and potato. The pork was reminiscent of the boiling bacon my dad used to cook up on cool nights, served with sauerkraut and mustard.

I added some fennel seeds for a lighter flavour and after being cooked for the 3-4hrs they turned soft and palatable, weakening in aroma. Surprisingly yum.

Ham Bone Soup

Serves 4

1 meaty leftover ham bone, or 1 smoked pork hock
1 brown onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
~5 whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
a pinch of fennel seeds (optional)
400g cooked butter beans, or 1 handful dry
~1 cup chopped cabbage (any type really, just not chinese)
2 large potatoes, chopped in to chunks


Add the pork, onion, garlic, pepper, bay, fennel and (if using) dry beans to a large pot. Fill with water until the hock is covered. Don't add salt at this stage as the meat should be seasoned which will draw out in to the soup as it cooks, also it will mess up the bean cooking process.

Bring to the boil and skim if needed, turn to low and simmer for 3-4hrs or until the meat is tender and the beans are cooked. But don't forget...

About half an hour before ready to serve, increase the heat and add the potato, then 5 minutes prior add the cabbage. Boil until softened.  Break the meat off and remove the bones. Leave the peppercorns for your least favourite guest.

Pour in to a bowl and enjoy on the sofa wrapped in a blanket.

Autumn Pasta Greed

Motivation to exercise always ceases when the cool change sets in. Not wanting to get out of bed, wearing thick cardigans and eating lots of pasta are common themes for me. Pasta because it's tasty, but also because it's quick and comforting. It's funny how eating tends to replace exercise in colder months. A dangerous opposite.

Anywho, a favourite dish of mine from growing up was always spaghetti carbonara. I would get so excited when dad would make it for dinner and eat 2, 3, even 4 helpings before he told me that I should stop, and I would, but always reluctantly. Traditionally the addition of cream is not as common, as the egg is the star of the show, but make sure your eggs are fresh! And if it weirds you out too much just substitute an egg for an extra 100ml of cream.

Simple Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4, generously

8 rashers short cut bacon
1 small brown onion
2 cloves garlic
4 eggs
dash of cream or milk
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley and parmesan cheese to garnish (optional)


Cut the bacon in to strips and fry with a little oil in a pan until browned, but not too crisp. I would brown mine a little more next time.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and add to the pan with bacon, fry on a low heat for a good 10-15mins so the onions are nice and soft (start heating your pasta water now). Best to avoid crunchy raw onion in your pasta.

 Meanwhile, boil the spaghetti (I used linguine because it's my favourite) in a large pot of well salted water.

While the onions and pasta cook, whisk the eggs with cream/milk and season with salt and pepper.

 Once cooked to al dente, drain and quickly place back in to the pot.

Add the bacon and onion, as well as the egg mix. Stir and let the egg slowly cook through the residual heat. If it's not doing much put it back on a very low heat and mix constantly, but make sure the egg doesn't just scramble on the bottom.

Pile generously on to a plate and eat on the sofa.

Addictive Chickpea Lentil Salad

Salad number two from my lentil salad list. List of two that is, haha. I started making this after having something similar from a convenience store. I thought, damn I could make this at home and it would be fifty zillion times better. And it was. It's so so ridiculously easy to make especially if you take the trashy route and use canned chickpeas and lentils (hey, sometimes a gal's gotta do what a gals gotta do) and can be a nice side to some meat or seafood, or a main meal on it's own. I made it so much over the summer and always bring it along to BBQ's/parties where it's always welcome!

The chickpeas are my favourite bit they're like little creamy nutty nuggets of goodness. I always try to fit as many on my fork/in to my mouth as I can in one hit. Not going to lie, I often just go for spoonfuls straight from the can...

 

Chickpea Lentil Summer Salad

Serves 4 as a main, 6+ as a side

1/2 generous bunch of parsley (curly or flat), finely chopped
1 400g can of chickpeas
1 400g can of lentils (or alternatively cook and cool 350g from dried)
2 ripe tomatoes de-seeded diced
1 cucumber de-seeded and diced
4 spring onions sliced
1 avocado diced (optional but delicious)

Dressing

2 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp tahini (if you don't have this you can substitute mayonnaise)
1 tsp mustard
salt and pepper to taste


Whisk all the dressing ingredients in the bottom of a bowl (serving bowl will do; less to wash). Dice salad veg how you wish (I like, little 1cmish cubes) and toss through with drained chickpeas and lentils. Then, shovel in to your mouth and enjoy!

A Crazy Summer's End

It's been a rather hectic last few months, I've taken a long hot break over the summer from the blog but I can't be neglectful forever and have finally made my return. I have a handful of summery recipes that I'll post up for anyone wanting to hold on to the last ray of warmth before the autumn chill sets in. It's going to be lovely and warm for the next week or so, even though it is technically autumn, I feel like it's okay to pretend for a little longer...

So while you kick back in your front yard with an old book and iced tea pretending that you're not too cold why not make a little something to nibble. Here are my two favourite lentil salads from the summer. Lentils are the best, such an all rounder. They're a carb, vegetable and protein substitute. Plus they are quick to cook and inexpensive. Always a win. I just use plain old brown ones but whatever you fancy! Just stay away from the dahl varieties (red, yellow) or anything split because they will just turn to mush, you want the skins on.

 

Lovely Lemony Lentil Feta Salad

Serves 4-6

2 cups lentils, cooked and cooled
1 cup crumbled feta
1 small head lettuce (butter, cos, baby spinach or cress would work, just please no iceberg)
From here you can freestyle, add whatever you like, tomato, carrot, avocado, cucumber... I just left it as is but utilise what's in your fridge!

Dressing

juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste (not too much salt, feta is very salty)


Whisk dressing ingredients in a bowl (the salad serving bowl will do; less washing up). Tear lettuce in to small pieces and toss it all together! Pull out your cutest salad servers and dig down to the bottom for the best tangy, salty feta lentil stash.

 Next salad, next post ;)

Fake Fancy

I've always been a firm believer in not having to spend much money to eat well. That said, you can also spend lots of money and eat well, but I don't see it as necessary. As long as you have the right mindset and know the best way to prepare/utilise certain ingredients, you can eat damn good food.

Everybody loves pasta right? It's cheap, it's fast, it's filling, and it's loaded with carby goodness. It's definitely my go-to meal when I'm feeling lazy and poor.

So, here's something I came up with on a whim, I really wanted some sort of fancy pasta dish but didn't have much money and was so tired of the regulars; bolognese, carbonara, etc. It turned out delicious and took very little time to prepare. As an added bonus it's vegetarian too, but either way you've gotta be crazy to not love big chunks of mushroom.

Most of the ingredients are pantry staples. So buying the rocket, mushrooms and parmesan only set me back around $10.

Portobello Mushroom Pasta

Serves 4

8 small portobello mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp butter + splash of oil
1 500g packet of linguine/any shape really
1 150g bag of rocket
Grated parmesan to garnish*

Method:

Bring a large pot to the boil and salt well. Meanwhile slice mushrooms and garlic.

Saute mushrooms and garlic with butter and oil. At the same time as adding mushrooms to pan, add pasta to boiling water.

Once mushrooms are nearly cooked through season well** with salt and pepper. Do this later and not first to avoid the water leeching out of the mushrooms.

Cook pasta until al dente (I ALWAYS ignore the packet instructions and just taste it till its ready). Drain, then toss through the mushrooms and rocket.

Pile on to plates and top with grated parmesan to impress your guests.


*Don't tell anyone but I won't hate you if you use that stuff kept in the aisles
**Remember that once the mushrooms are tossed through the pasta the flavour will be less strong. Don't stress if they're a little over salted, it's probably a good thing!

Silverbeet!

My housemate has a friend who grows abundant amounts of silverbeet in her yard and every time they visit each other we get adorned with a mountain of the stuff. I'd never tried it until the first time she brought it home and I loved it! So delicious and nutty, not what I was expecting at all. I sort of imagined a watery bland leaf with a bitter nasty flavour, but that's just the anti veg child in me coming out.

We had so much that I thought I should utilise it well and make something that required a large amount. I tossed around some ideas and then remembered a failed attempt at quiche I had long ago and wanted to redeem myself. Okay, so I didn't make quiche, but turned it in to a silverbeet-rich baked frittata (I guess you could call it).

The beet was mostly leafy with small stems which is preferable to me, I shredded it and tossed it in olive oil with sliced mushrooms and some saute'd garlic and  spring onions to wilt it a little and mixed it up with beaten eggs, cream salt and pepper before covering with a nice layer of parmesan and baking ;)

 

Silverbeet and Mushroom Frittata

Serves 6

1 large bunch silverbeet, sliced
500g mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 spring onions, sliced
olive oil
4 large eggs
150ml cream
150ml milk
1/2 cup parmesan, gruyere or cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste


Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Slice silverbeet, musrooms, garlic and spring onions. Saute garlic, onions and mushrooms until mushrooms begin to cook. Add silverbeet and toss until wilted.

(I do this in the dish I'm about to bake in) Mix eggs, cream, milk and salt/pepper in the dish an add beet/mushroom mix. Carefully stir together to combine and make sure the beet is distributed evenly/there are no air pockets.

Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for 40 minutes or until set in the middle and cheese is browned on top.

Makes a nice lunch served with a simple side salad.

Better than Bolognese

One day I had absolutely nothing to do so I ended up lounging around watching Jamie Oliver TV shows on my computer. It was great! But it made me sooo hungry. I was inspired to make a 30 minute meal, but you know, it's pretty much impossible to do if you don't have the insane chopping skills of Jamie.

I figured since I'd taken inspiration from this one dish he makes on 30 minute meals and makes 4 in that whole 30 minutes that this one would be easy peasy and take no time at all. So it didn't take that long, but I think I managed it in about 40... Mostly because I have a silly electric stove which doesn't like getting hot and had to wait for the ingredients to brown.

Anywho, it was a delight to eat! I got hooked and was glad I made such a large amount so I could still have it for the next 3 days. The sweetness and aniseed flavours from the balsamic and fennel seeds are addictive. I didn't think I was going to like it because I used to be a sweet-in-savoury food snob, but now this is my go-to when I want something tomatoey but am totally over plain old bolognese. Don't be put off by me saying it's sweet, it's not like a sugary sweet it's very mildly sweet with a nice mellow tang.

Pork, Fennel and Balsamic Pasta

Serves 4 large or 6 small.

500g g pork mince
500g g pasta of your choice
1 carrot
1 brown onion
4 cloves garlic
2 celery stalks
1 tspn fennel seeds
1 pinch salt and pepper
1 splash olive oil
1 700ml jar of tomato passata

Method

Place carrot, onion, garlic and celery in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped.
Saute over med-high heat in a large fry pan with olive oil.

Once the mix begins to caramelise, push to one side and add the pork mince and brown.
Give it a good lug of balsamic – about 3 tbsp and let it sizzle off the tart vinegar tang and leave behind the sticky sweet balsamic taste.

Season generously with salt and pepper and add the fennel seeds.

Add the passata and simmer gently, tasting and seasoning with salt and pepper again if required.

Drain your pasta but reserve some cooking liquid and toss it all together with the sauce (this is why you need a large pan) which will help to emulsify the sauce and stop that horrible water-in-the-bottom-of-your-bowl problem.

Enjoy!

Optional: Toss through some fresh chopped parsley and garnish with grated parmesan.

Cold Rolls

These things go by so many different names, I've met people who have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention them. Sometimes people call them Vietnamese rolls but that generally refers to those crazy french inspired pork baguettes filled with fresh herbs and mayo. Rice paper rolls, fresh spring rolls and cold rolls are common names.

Anywho, I love them! I'd never had them really until I moved to Adelaide and my first housemate introduced me to them. She put avocado in them too which was so delicious! They're the best lunch on a hot day because they're so refreshing. I love that fresh herb and chewy rice paper goodness.

The concept is so fun because you can fill these with all sorts of leftovers, doesn't need to be ~authentic~ just as long as it tastes good. They're super transportable and can be eaten with your hands so they make the perfect picnic or packed lunch addition. Going to be making many more of these over the summer.
 

Chicken Avocado Cold Rolls

300g chicken thighs
1 tsp soy
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp palm (or brown) sugar
1/2 a lime's juice

16 round rice paper sheets (available in the Asian section at most supermarkets)
1 bunch coriander
1 bunch Vietnamese mint (or regular if you can't find Vietnamese)
100g rice vermicelli or glass noodles
Cucumber slices
Shredded lettuce
4 spring onions sliced
1 large avocado, cut in to slices


Method
Marinade the chicken in the soy, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Pan fry until cooked through and browned on the outside. Let rest then slice thinly.

Prepare the rice vermicelli or glass noodles as instructed.

Lay all the ingredients out along with a large shallow bowl/tray filled with recently boiled water and assemble as follows (I love to put this all on the table and let people DIY)

1. Quickly dunk rice paper in the hot water ensuring it is wet on all sides. Do not let it soften and wilt in the water otherwise you will struggle to handle it later. It will continue to soften as it sits.

2. Place on to a clean damp tea towel and lay chicken gracefully down the middle of the sheet.

3. Top with avocado, herbs, lettuce, cucumber and spring onion then adorn with a generous pinch of the noodles.

4. Wrap like you would a burrito, bringing two opposite sides in then folding a third over and rolling to seal shut.

Serve with a dipping sauce of choice, I like to keep it simple and just eat them with soy or a mix of 2/3 soy, 1/3 rice vinegar, a dash of fish sauce and a squeeze of lime.

Inappropriately Chocolatey Cookies

I saw these cookies on an episode of one of Nigella's shows recently and died at the sight of them. I brought the ingredients around to the boy I babysits' place one night and we made them and they were just as good (if not better) as I imagined!

The biscuit part is actually quite bitter but once you load it up with chocolate chips all bitterness goes away, so don't freak out if you eat the mix and they don't taste right. They will, and with THAT many chocolate chips how can they not?!

I actually made this batch in the photo's with some caramel chips my boyfriend bought and sent me off to bake with. They were pretty sweet and I prefer dark choc chips instead but still so so good!

125g good dark chocolate (the stuff you eat! trust me it tastes best)
150g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarb
1 tsp salt
125g butter, softened
75g dark brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 med (cold from fridge) egg
350g dark chocolate chips (or milk if you prefer, in my case caramel)

Pre-heat oven to 170°c

Melt the 125g of dark chocolate in either the microwave or over a pan of simmering water.

Cream the butter and sugar in a separate bowl (or stand mixer if you have one) then add the melted chocolate and combine.

Beat in the egg and vanilla then stir in the flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and salt.

Finally mix in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the mix out in to 12 equal portions on to 1 or 2 lined baking trays ensuring there's plenty of space between each as they will flatten a lot. Do not flatten them! An ice cream scoop is easiest but I don't actually have one so I just used 2 big tablespoons scraping the mix off one with the other.

 

Bake for approx 18mins or until a cake tester comes out clean. If you hit a chocolate chip try again.

Let cool slightly before removing from the trays and enjoy! Best served warm straight from the oven.

Focaccia

So busy lately with uni commitments, but, a few days ago I received my letter of acceptance in to a masters program in food studies! Hooray! I've finally found a few free hours now so here are some things I've been making lately, starting with this soft fresh home baked focaccia.

Home bread making can be quite easy if you choose the right type of bread to make! I picked up an adorable little European bread making cookbook in Portland on my travels last year and haven't made anything from it till now. I did tweak the recipe a little to suit my needs and I added a caramelised onion and herb topping.

Update: Here are some new pictures of a herb and olive focaccia I made a while back. I did this one in a pizza pan and made it round. Turned out so good!

Basic Focaccia

1 heaped tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar or honey
1 tsp salt
good lug of olive oil
1/2 cup warm water initially plus more
3 cups plain flour

Topping

Top it how you wish! I just caramelised 1 large onion and strewed it ontop before baking along with some chopped garlic, rosemary, thyme and a good helping of olive oil however you can push olives in to the bread, slices of garlic, any woody herb or top it with cheese.

Mix yeast, sugar/honey, olive oil and 1/2 cup warm water in a bowl, let sit for ten minutes so the yeast can activate and feed on the sugars.

Add the salt and flour and begin to combine, you will need to add more water at this stage, just add it little by little until you form a soft, pliable but not sticky dough. I prefer to not give measurements as it always varies by type of flour, humidity and temperature.

Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth, place in a floured or oiled bowl, cover and set aside for 40mins, longer if it's a cold day shorter if it is especially hot.

Place the dough back on the bench and punch down the dough, knead the dough for 5 or so minutes and then flatten out to the final shape you want it. (I made a big rectangle but a circle is a popular shape).

Let rise again in a warm spot for another 40mins, after it has risen dimple the dough by gently pushing your fingers on to it. Pre-heat the oven at 200° toward the end of the 2nd rise.

Cover the bread with your topping of choice! Bake for 15-20mins (depending on the thickness of your focaccia) and enjoy!

Pre-bake

Tip: It was very cold in my house and my dough was rising super slow so I turned the oven on its lowest setting for a few minutes then turned it off again and placed the covered tray in the oven to rise, it worked fantastic just make sure your oven isn't too warm or the yeast will die. Only downside is that you have to wait and pre-heat the oven before you can put the bread in.

Tip: For a nice basic rosemary garlic mince 1 clove of garlic with 1 tsp of fresh chopped or 1/2 tsp of dried rosemary, a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle on top just before baking.

Vegetable Lasagna

My housemate is vegetarian so we often eat vegetarian meals. We took a trip to the Adelaide Central Markets recently and bought ingredients for lasagna. It turned out sooo delicious however the photos are pretty average because you can't see all the layers of veg! :( We used eggplant, zuchinni, pumpkin and mushrooms all pre-roasted and baked between chewy pasta sheets with a tomato sauce and dotted with pieces of salty Danish feta. Mmm!

Lasagna!

Serves 4-6

1 large zuchinni
1 large eggplant
300g button mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
500g pumkin
1 700ml jar tomato passata (tomato puree)
1 cup crumbled Danish feta
250g dried lasagna sheets
olive oil
salt and pepper


Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius

Slice eggplant (around 5mm), pumkin and zuchinni (around 2mm thin) (easily done with a mandoline), lay on to baking trays (you'll need a few) and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 10-15mins or until softened and lightly browned but not fully cooked. They will further cook in the lasagna.

Meanwhile, saute mushrooms and chopped garlic in some olive oil and set aside.

In a lasagna pan assemble layers of roasted eggplant, zuchinni, mushroom and pumpkin as you see fit adding tomato puree in with layers to moisten (you might not need it all) and distributing the feta evenly. Make sure to leave a little to sprinkle on top though!

Turn oven down to 180 and bake covered for 40-45mins or until pasta is cooked but not soggy.

Leave to sit for 15mins before cutting and serving!

Tip: The pan I use for lasagna makes 6 perfectly portioned slices but if you only have a larger pan then you may want to increase the amount of ingredients so that it's nice and thick!

Baked Cheesecake

Donna Hay wins again! I turned to her cheesecake recipe because it looked so super easy and delicious when I saw it on masterchef a couple of years back. It turned out amazing and didn't take much time at all to prepare. I wish I'd had some berries or passionfruit to lay over the top but I completely forgot when I did the grocery shop, no worries though because it was just delicious all on its own.

I gave all the measurements in grams because I figure you'd be getting those scales out to measure the cream cheese and ricotta so no need to dirty the measuring cups! Also, I advise using a food processor for this, unfortunately I only have a mini one so I turned to the blender and that actually worked really well! So there's your backup plan. Hand beaters are not a good plan B. I would know.

Donna Hay's Classic Baked Cheesecake

330g softened cream cheese
500g ricotta cheese
4 eggs
295g cups caster sugar
60ml cup lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp water (to mix with cornflour)

For the Base

40g cup almond meal
105g cup plain flour
55g caster sugar
90g chopped butter


Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

Start with the base, whiz all the ingredients in a food processor until they form a crumbly texture, tip in to a lined cake tin and press in to the bottom (use your hands and then smooth out with a spoon to make sure it's all nice and even).

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

For the filling, add all but cornflour and water to a food processor. Combine cornflour and water separately and add in. Process until smooth and pour in to the tin.

Tap to remove any air bubbles and bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off but leave the door closed for a further hour then remove and chill.

Tip: I noticed that my cake was still wobbly in the middle after the first hour and completely forgot about the whole 2nd hour thing so I baked it longer until it was set, it still turned out great but ended up a little brown around the edges so don't fret too much if there's a little raw bit in the middle that will cook further in to the 2nd hour.  Also, don't be tempted to open the oven and take the cake out early as it will crack if it cools too rapidly.

Sugo d'Arrosto

So I read about this sauce in a book I have and was drooling through the whole chapter. I made some tortellini recently and decided to pair the two, it was filled with chicken and covered in a beefy sauce which I thought might be a bad pairing but it was seriously delicious. I regret nothing!

I changed a couple of things around from the original recipe but I'll just write the original and add my changes in brackets.

Sugo d'Arrosto (Sage and Meat Sauce)

1 tbsp butter
6 large fresh sage leaves
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 (scant) cup grated parmesan

This will make enough for 500g of dried pasta or 4 generous serves of fresh.

Melt butter in a pan, add sage leaves and garlic clove (I used 2 cloves and more sage), brown lightly.

Add broth and simmer for a moment then remove from heat (I added some salt and pepper also and removed the garlic before the next step).

Toss through pasta and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!


Tip: Because the sauce only coats lightly make sure its well seasoned otherwise it will be bland. Also of course home made beef stock is going to be the best but if you want something super easy and quick you could substitute for a good quality store bought liquid stock.

Murtabak

I've been watching lots of masterchef this season and this one dish that was made early on in the competition gave me crazy cravings all the time even though I hadn't eaten it before, it just looked sooo good!

So it's called murtabak and it's a Malaysian street food that consists of a flaky crunchy pastry outside filled with a seasoned mince and egg. I read a few different recipes and adapted one to my needs (what I had in the fridge) and personal preferences.

I'm really excited about how easy this was to make because I always get stuck with what to do with beef mince and end up just using it for bolognese or  chili con carne.

 

Murtabak

Serves 4

Pastry

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup water
2tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
a nice pinch of salt

Filling

vegetable oil
500g beef mince (you could use any kind really)
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 small knob of ginger
1 red chili
3 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
 2 eggs
1 cup bean shoots (I had none)


For the dough, combine oil/ghee and flour in a bowl, mix and gradually add water until you form a smooth but firm dough. Don't add all the water at once as you might not need it all (I didn't). Set the dough aside to rest in the bowl covering with a damp tea towel for at least half an hour (make the filling while you wait).

Tip: It says to rest in a warm area and it was a cold night so I turned my oven on the lowest temp briefly to mimic a hot day, turned it off and left the bowl in there with the door shut while I made the filling. Worked a treat!

For the filling, finely chop onion, garlic, chili and ginger and sweat in vegetable oil, add mince and saute breaking up the pieces until browned. Add ground spices, soy, salt and pepper and toss through. Set aside.

Cut pastry dough in to 4 even portions and lightly oil each portion, roll each piece out as thin as you can and stretch out further if necessary. You want it nearly as thin as filo, don't worry if there are some small holes either, just patch them up.

Crack eggs in to a bowl and beat, set aside.

Place pastry sheet in a hot oiled low sided pan (grill, crepe or just a large frying pan will do) and pile with a quarter of the mince mixture and pour on a quarter of the egg. Fold it up like an envelope and fry for 1-2mins on the first side and a 3-4 on the next.

Cut in half an enjoy with a side salad or on its own with a cold beer!

Gnocchi!

For me, I used to always be afraid of making gnocchi, and I remember trying it once or twice when I was younger and failing miserably. I tried all sorts of methods of cooking the potato as well as adding egg but they all seemed to be too ridiculous to bother with.

Eventually I figured out that all you really need is two ingredients (well, salt and pepper as well) but if you do the right things to them it can be super easy and adding flavour in the way of herbage/spice to change things up is also a breeze.

Also, if you don't want to read my ramblings about ingredients then scroll to the bottom for the recipe!

Potato

So, potato. I know everyone says to use specific types of potato when making gnocchi, but I've tried with a few different varieties and none have ever been bad, I don't usually use anything fancy or expensive. Essentially anything that is drier and waxy, you don't want the watery kind they'll make it all sloppy and you'll have to add too much flour turning them chewy.

I also recently experimented with sweet potato which turned out to be a great success. The key to getting the potato (any potato) right that I've found is making sure they stay dry! I roast them whole perched on a mound of salt to draw out the moisture. For medium sized potatoes about an hour on 180 does the trick, for the sweet potato a little longer because they're much bigger - but it all depends on size.

Tip: If they are huge and you're worried about them taking forever to roast invest in some metal skewers and stab them through the middle before you put them in the oven, it'll help cook them from the inside out as well as outside in.

Flour

I use all purpose plain white flour, make sure to not overwork the dough when adding the flour otherwise you'll get the gluten going and the gnocchi will turn gummy and sticky. The less flour the better so it's always going to be a moist dough, make sure you have a well floured surface to handle the dough and cut the gnocchi.

I haven't tried gluten free yet but I'm thinking that could be pretty successful though. I have some spare GF flour in the pantry so I'll report back once I test it.

Salt and Pepper

Need I say more. At least salt, otherwise they're just going to taste bland. Any additions such as chopped herbs, pesto, tomato paste or nutmeg can be added with the flour.

Tools

A potato ricer will yield the best results, otherwise a mouli or drum sieve are also viable options. If you're using a mouli however you will have to skin the potatoes while hot before passing through. Avoid mashing as it breaks the pockets of starch and causes the potato to become gluey and also doesn't allow the potatoes to dry like ricing does through increasing surface area. 

Ratio

I usually have a rough ratio on how much flour to potato but just add until the dough feels good and pop a test piece in to some boiling water as I go along. It's the best way I've found guarantee that they'll work out, add the flour a little at a time also to make sure you don't add too much!

From my findings however,

1kg of Potato (uncooked) / 1 1/2 - 2 Cups Flour

Basic Potato Gnocchi

Makes approx 4 large serves or 6 small.

1kg Waxy Potatoes
1 1/2 - 2 Cups Flour
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 180 and roast potatoes whole on a shallow tray perched atop a bed of salt for 45-60mins for medium sized potatoes, more for larger.

Remove potatoes from oven, brush off salt from bottoms and chop in half. Place skin side up in a potato ricer or a over a drum sieve and pass through.While still warm add half the flour and fold through gently, then sprinkle the other half on a clean surface and incorporate (you may need more or less depending on how dry/wet your potatoes are).

Chop dough in to manageable portions and roll each out in to skinny logs. Chop each log in to bite sized pieces and place gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water. When they rise to the top remove, dress and eat! I like them best tossed in butter and topped with grated parmesan.

I made these ones with a rocket and walnut pesto which you can find here!