Gnocchi in a hurry!

Hey Everyone!

So I had a thought last night while at a mates house, that I should make gnocchi. For people who have been living under a rock and don't know what gnocchi is, gnocchi is a potato dumpling made of cooked potato and flour that is then boiled in hot water and served with a sauce. I said I was going to be a little healthier with my cooking but alas this was just far to good not to share. Making gnocchi is a time consuming endeavor so I do not expect everyone to make their gnocchi by hand, if you like to cheat like I sometimes do just buy it in a 500g packet. The trick to telling if gnocchi is cooked is it rises to the surface of the water, not that it takes long anyway. 

Ok so what you will need for this recipe is

250g of sliced mushrooms

40g of  baby spinach leaves

half a cup of sundried tomatos chopped (or like 160g)

4/5 rashers of bacon sliced

3 tbps of tomato paste

2 tbsps of water

3/4 cup of cream

2 tbsps of roasted pine nuts

salt & pepper to season

a packet of gnocchi from coles usually 500g

1 tbsp of parmesan cheese

Cook the gnocchi in boilling water until the gnocchi pieces start rising to the surface. Take it out of water and drain it.

Fry the bacon off for two minutes then add the mushrooms until golden brown. Stir in the cream, water, tomato paste, tomatoes & pine nuts stir in.

Add the drained gnocchi and the spinach leaves and stir until wilted. 

Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parmesan.

This is a really easy recipe for anyone who is trying to impress someone like their boyfriend/girlfriend or family members. It really only takes about a half hour to make. Hopefully you like this recipe. If you actually have any requests for me to cook something please email me at maceyluv@hotmail.com 

For Now,

Bye

Triple chocolate caramel brownies

Hey Everyone!!!

I sometimes wonder if anyone even reads this & the I remind myself this is for me. This is the small part of my life in which I can do what I want, say what I want & cook what I want. My occupation is dreadfully boring which is why I needed to find an outlet for my creativity before it died in hovel and never reemerged. Lately I have been feeling like if I can make someone smile with a meal or a cake then it is worth the dishes that I use to make my "creations".

This next recipe that I made for Easter made a lot of people smile. I was able to take some to my most recent book club and the girls loved them. I have gotten the recipe off http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/18322/chocolate+caramel+brownie but there was some tweaking :). As always!

 This is me ^                                                                                  My assistant ^



Ok so I guess I better tell you whats in these brownies.

Ingredients

125g of butter
200g of dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup of caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup of plain flour, sifted
1 bag of 110g caramel easter eggs (you may also use caramel chocolates). I chopped them in three pieces per egg.
1/4 of a cup of white chocolate bits
1/4 tsp of vanilla essence
Cocoa powder to serve


So you need to preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 160 degrees C if fan forced.

You will need to use a rectangular pan 18cm x 28cm. I have no idea what pan I used I know it was rectangular. I don't always follow the "guidelines" of a recipe but they usually turn out fine. I then had a fight with the grease proof paper and the baking paper. You are to line the bottom and the sides of your tin & make sure there is some over hang. I found to get the paper to stick to the sides of the pan better I greased it before I put the paper on and the paper sticks to the butter!

Step two! Place the butter and the chocolate in saucepan on a low heat. DO NOT LET IT BOIL! This will burn the chocolate and it will give your brownies a very bitter flavour. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 mins, remove from the heat. Stir in your sugar. Let it cool!

Step 3! Stir in beaten eggs, then add flour. Add the chocolate bits to your brownies. Then pour the mixture into your already prepared pan. Press the chocolate egg bits into the brownie mix. Bake for 25-30 mins or until brownie is firm to touch. 

Let your brownie cool & don't test hot brownie in your mouth like I did and burn yourself. Then cut the brownie into 15 squares and sprinkle with cocoa powder. 

Sorry for the delay!

Hey Everyone!

So it has been a while right :). I thought I would just write to let you know I haven't forgotten my food blog I have just been bed ridden. But I am well now so please expect some ripper recipes coming up. Like salted caramel macaroons & the Easter recipes I had tried out. My little niece Abby helped out with the failed attempt chocolate "rock" cross buns. So obvious reasons I wont be putting that recipe up :P.

Hopefully everybody had a lovely Easter and I upload some dessert recipes soon.

-Macey

Reallyyyy simple Lasagne!

                               Hi Everyone!

So yesterday was a really long day at work. I find when I have "one of those days" I like something warm, tasty & just a little bit naughty. I am most definitely talking about comfort food! Comfort food has helped thousands of people around the world. Whether it be a break up or just a really bad day at work, comfort food does exactly what it's name describes it makes you feel better. I know when I am feeling moody in particular I either want pasta or chocolate & since it was my turn to cook last night I made Lasagne! 

Lasagne is an Italian dish made from sheets of pasta & various sauces baked in an oven. Traditionally lasagne sheets were prepared in Southern Italy with semolina & with water & in the Northern regions where semolina was not available, with flour and eggs. Since I worked 9 hours yesterday I could not be bothered to make lasagne sheets too much blooming work! I made a very simple lasagne and added my own spin to it. Here is the recipe: 

Ingredients

 500 g of beef mince

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

125g of button mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp of fresh basil, chopped fine

1 tsp of  fresh oregano, chopped fine

850g of tin chopped tomatoes (I used fresh and tin)

1 tsp of sugar

3 tbsp of tomato paste

Salt to taste

Packet of lasagna sheets (you might not use them all, don't stress)

Cheese Sauce

Butter

3 tbsp of plain flour

2 cups of milk

125g of grated cheese

Pinch of nutmeg

 

Bolognese Sauce (Above)

 In a sauce pan,  fry the chopped onion and the garlic in oil until the onion is brown or for 5 minutes.

Add beef mince, mushroom and herbs.

When the meat is browned, add your tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and salt and leave to simmer for 25-30 mins. 

Cheese Sauce (Above)

Melt some butter in a pan & stir in flour, milk, grated cheese and a pinch of nut meg.

Stir the mixture on a lowish heat constantly, I used a whisk as I find it is easier. DO NOT let the cheese sauce come to the boil. You may find that it is a little thin at first but don't worry it will reduce and become thick.

For the next step you will need a baking dish like this one below.

Got it? Good! :)

Pour half the meat sauce into a baking dish, then add alternate layers of dry pasta, meat sauce & cheese sauce, finishing with cheese sauce.

Sprinkle with grated parmesan & bake it in the oven for 35 mins at 200 degrees celsius .

^ Should look like this before you bake it. Mines a little messy.

END RESULT

And there you have it. Super easy lasagna! Enough to feed 4-6 people. I also made a garden salad to go with it. Sure is a crowd pleaser & there is heaps so you might even get left overs. Yummmm!

Also remember if a woman offers to bake for you, it means your special!

Hi There!

Hi I'm Macey & I have an addiction. I love food. I love all kinds of food, from hearty stews to the fancy creme brulee. For some people cooking is a chore, but for me it is the best form of stress relief. If you have a bad day at the office, thats okay! Don't beat yourself up! Beat some eggs instead! You must agree, the best solution to a bad day is a cup of tea, a biscuit and a good book. Why not a homemade anzac?

Julie: You know what I love about cooking?

Eric: What's that?

Julie: I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say "nothing",

I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks

to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort.

(Julie&Julia 2009)

 My best memories of growing up have always included food. Both of my grandmothers loved to bake, I suppose thats why I love baking as well. There is nothing like the smell of a loaf of bread rising or a cookie in the oven. I live in Perth WA & our whole city is based around food, as there isn't really all that much do else socially.

The idea for this blog stemmed from 3 places.

1.) Julie&Julia
2.) http://skampskitchen.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/hello-and-welcome.html 
3.) Saving money by making food at home & not spending money eating out.

You can make pretty much make almost anything a chef can if you put your mind and heart into it. Not only will you save money but you will feel like you have accomplished something for the day, even if it's just a new dish. Life gets so busy sometimes and we don't stop to breathe, let alone cook. I will be making all sorts of food, from easy to hard, from healthy to cake (yes I am aware that there is healthy cakes).

I hope you enjoy my blog, hit me with any suggestions you might have I am always looking for helpful criticism, as I am no master chef.