Traditional Ukrainian Perogies

Didn't post this last night (Sunday) because I was exhausted after making these. It's a HUGE job, don't do it alone! Luckily I had my mom to help/teach me as it was her recipe. I was talking with my friend Amanda about recipes we'd like to see passed down from our mothers and this one topped my list. Mostly because it goes beyond my mom's generation, for god knows how many generations. My Great Aunts, all Ukrainian, use to make these when I was a little girl and I was proud to be the 'official perogy pincher'. So this recipe is close to my heart, hopefully I get to share it with my daughter one day.

We found a recipe in a Ukrainian cookbook belonging to my mom's boyfriend that was so old it didn't have a cover! So I can't even credit it. However the recipe itself was credited to a Mrs. S. Zaharko. We needed something to go off of to give us a general idea as my mom was mostly going by memory, we'd hadn't made the perogies since my Great Aunty Gladys passed away long ago. I loved my Aunty Gladys so much as a I child I like to think she'd be proud of the job we did, perhaps she was in the kitchen guiding us last night. :)

In the end we barely used the book so I'll do my best to repurpose our recipe below. 

Makes approximately 100 perogies (freeze what you don't use, I'll include freezing tips below)

Ingredients

Stuffing
1 1/2 lbs dry cottage cheese (mom says 'dry' is key)
8 medium potatoes 
Salt and pepper

Dough
8 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
6 eggs 
1 1/4 cup milk

+ 1 egg for wash

Boil potatoes until soft and then mash with the dry cottage cheese. Mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a very large mixing bowl. Beat eggs with milk. Make a large bowl-like hole in the flour mixture and pour in egg mixture. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all comes together, work the rest of the flour with flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have smooth, mostly lump-free dough (we struggled to get all the lumps out).

Put flour on floured-covered cutting board and when not in use, cover with wet tea towel. Using a knife, cut off a chunk of dough and then cut a smaller piece off of this so that you are working with dough the size of a golf ball, then roll it to make a ball.

Use a rolling pin to roll out to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Do not go thinner than this or you will have problems closing up the perogies at the end. Most recipes call for rolling out all the dough in one piece and using cups to get circle shapes, but then you get all kinds of wasted dough. The way we did it, you use most of the dough. You can use a cup for really misshapen pieces if you'd like. Fill circles with 1 tbsp. of filling and fold dough in half. 

Use an egg wash (egg and water) along the edges and seal very well. Place finished perogies on floured baking sheet and then cook or if freezing, follow tips below.

Options for cooking:
-Fry in deep fat until golden brown and drain on paper towels

-Boil in salted water for approx 5 mins until perogies float
-Boil in salted water until perogies float, then fast fry in frying pan

We boiled them as that's the way the Aunties use to roll, then topped them with bacon and onions that we panfried slowly in butter until caramelized and sour cream.

We served it with Polish sausage also fried in butter (um I see a theme here?) and leftover brussels sprouts and cauliflower au gratin. This plate of food made me immensely happy.

Funday Freezing Tip:

Lay out perogies on flour-covered baking sheet and place in freezer for 10 minutes until perogies begin to freeze, then put them in ziplock bags in the freezer. Laying them out in the freezer for the first 10 minutes before bagging will prevent them from sticking together. 

Well, this is my last post of 2012 so Happy New Year! Also, there will be no post next week as I'm in Costa Rica for my friend Rebecca's wedding, but I'll be back on Jan 13.

Spaghetti Bolognese

This Sunday is all about keeping it easy. It's 3 days out from Christmas and I was out last night with a friend who's in town from London, so I'm zonked. Also, I wanted to make something I could throw into the food processor for my 11 month old to try. 

In the interest of keeping things easy, I'll get right to it. This recipe is Jamie Oliver. I love him, really and truly. He changed the way I felt about cooking. Cook was the first cookbook I ever cooked from and I still read it from cover to cover sometimes, just because. This one is from Jamie's Food Revolution.

Bolognese Sauce

Serves 4-6

2 slices of smoked bacon, preferably free-range or organic (I use about 8 medium pieces of streaky bacon)
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
olive oil
2 heaped teaspoons dried oregano
1 pound good-quality ground beef, pork, or (even better!) a mixture of the two
2 x 14-ounce cans of diced tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a small bunch of fresh basil
4 ounces Parmesan cheese
1 pound dried spaghetti or penne

To make your sauce :

Finely slice the bacon. 

Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery - don't worry about technique, just chop away until fine.

Place a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil, your sliced bacon, and the oregano and cook and stir until the bacon is lightly golden. Add the vegetables to the pan and stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly colored.

Stir in the ground meat and the canned tomatoes. Fill one of the empty cans with water and add to the pan. Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Pick the basil leaves and place in the refrigerator for later. Finely chop the basil stalks and stir into the pan.

Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with the lid slightly askew for 1 hour; stirrring every now and then.

Take the lid off and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on the sauce as it cooks, and if you think it's starting to dry out, add a splash of water.

Remove the Bolognese sauce from the heat. Finely grate the Parmesan and stir half into the sauce.

Tear and stir in any larger basil leaves, keeping the smaller ones for sprinkling over before serving. Mix up, have a taste, and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed - congratulations! You now have a beautiful Bolognese sauce. At this stage you can allow it to cool, bag it up and freeze it, or eat it straightaway with the pasta below.

To cook your pasta and serve :

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta and stir, following the package cooking times - don't let it cook any longer or it will become too soft - you want it to have a bit of bite. Saving a little of the cooking times, drain the pasta in a colander. Put the drained pasta back into the pan. Add half the Bolognese sauce to the cooked pasta and mix well, adding a little of the reserved cooking water to loosen. Divide between your plates and spoon the remaining sauce over the top. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan, and scatter with the small basil leaves - bellissima!

This is a very good bolognese sauce recipe. Simple, but reliable. 

My Funday notes:

1. I used extra bacon. I always use extra bacon in any recipe. Also garlic and cheese. Seriously you can never have too much bacon, garlic or cheese. Write this down. It's important.

2. He says to add 28 oz of water to the recipe. I always find his dishes to be a bit too watery, so I only added 14 oz. Even this was a bit watery, I might even add a bit less next time.

See you next week, the last Funday of 2012!

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup & Prosciutto Pear Arugula Salad

Jerusalem artichokes are an underused winter vegetable. My first Jerusalem artichoke was in this soup and I've coveted them ever since. For those who have never had them before, they aren't actual artichokes. They look like puffed up ginger, but taste like decadent, truffled potatoes. Yummmmmmmy goodness!

This recipe comes from Recipes from Wine Country. It's written by Tony De Luca, the Execute Chef of Hillebrand Estates Winery in the Niagara Wine Region in Ontario. Don't believe those who say Canadian wine sucks. The mass produced stuff that most can access does suck, but the vino found in Niagara and the Beamsville Bench at small craft wineries will change your mind. This cookbook is based around Canadian seasons and wines that are made in Ontario. But the recipes are just too damn good to typecast. You can make them anywhere.

This recipe includes it's own mushroom vegetable stock. Don't skimp and buy your own. The mushroom stock is key in the flavour profile and the recipe in of itself is quite easy so it's worth the extra effort.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 cup onions, peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

1 leek (white only), chopped

3 cups Jerusalem artichoke, peeled and chopped

1 cup potato, peeled and chopped

6 cups mushroom vegetable stock (see below)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

Directions

In a large soup pot, melt the olive oil and 2 Tbsp. butter over moderately high heat.

Add the onion, garlic, and leek. Saute until the onion and leek are soft but not brown, stirring frequently. Add the artichoke, potato and stock. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer until the potato is cooked, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and bring to a boil. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. butter and season with salt and pepper. When the butter has melted, stir the soup and serve.

Mushroom Vegetable Stock

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 onions

1 leek (white only), washed and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 lbs mushrooms

2 cups white wine

16 cups water

1 bouquet garni (rosemary, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns in cheesecloth)

Directions

In a large stockpot set over medium heat, warm the olive oil and butter. When the butter is frothy, add the onions and leeks. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Add carrots, celery and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes more, stirring frequently, then add the mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes, stirring frequently, then add the wine and water. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the bouquet garni.

Simmer for 2 hours, occasionally skimming the surface of the stock to remove impurities. 

Pass the stock through a sieve and refrigerate until required.

In trying to find a side dish to serve with the soup, I knew I wanted something to contrast the richness. Hubby is a big meat eater, so I thought I'd use salty prosciutto to complement the richness of the Jerusalem artichokes. I Googled the LCBO Food & Drink, a free wine and food magazine available at the Ontario government controlled liquor distributer, as they always have amazing recipes and I found this simple recipe.

Arugula Salad with Prosciutto and Pears

The juicy Italian pears, Abbate, are wonderful in this salad. Give the salad a spectacular presentation and no one will know how easy it is to put together.

1 bunch arugula

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 ripe pears

4 thin slices prosciutto

Dressing:

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Wash arugula and tear into bite-sized pieces. Place in a salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Peel pears, cut in half and remove core. Thinly slice each pear half but leave bottom 1-inch attached. Fan out slices

In a small bowl, whisk together dressing. Toss all but 2 tbsp with arugula. Mound arugula at edge of plate. Arrange pears around arugula and drizzle with remaining dressing. Twist prosciutto into a flower and place on plate. Season with salt and pepper.

Sunday Funday Tips:

1. I'm making this for a vegan friend who just had a baby this week. Just replace the butter with Earth Balance margarine.
2. Whenever I buy arugula, I try to stay away from the packaged, plastic box kind. Not only is it more expensive but the fresh, larger variety available has more flavour.
3. I heard a tip once that arugula doesn't require pepper as it already has a pepper flavour, so you should only use salt. I found this to be true and so now when any recipe calls for salt and pepper I only use the salt.
4. I added goat cheese to the salad, because that's the way I roll.

The Ultimate Beef Wellington

I'd like to call this post Fan-Freakin'-Tastic Sauce. But then people wouldn't be able to recognize the recipe in the blog roll. This dish, oh good god this dish. Seriously. There are no words. And the sauce, oh good god the sauce. It will make happy moments happen for you. My expert-cook-bestie came over to eat this and she lost her mind over this recipe. In fact, Amanda, are you reading this?

So I've been kinda going easy the last few weeks. I've been baking? I don't even bake and yet it's been brownies followed by cookies. And both easy recipes. What can I say, it's the holidays. So this week I decided to go balls to the wall. Ulterior motive to make my husband salivate. He loves beef tenderloin. I'm sorry, did I forgot to mention? This Wellington is made with beef tenderloin. Yum. Also, Tyler Florence might by my new boyfriend.

Annnnnnndddd so on...

I Googled Beef Wellington and this recipe was very highly rated. It also comes with a killer peppercorn sauce recipe and sides: fingerling herb potatoes and winter wilted greens.  I've reposted below to save your data.

Ingredients

For the Duxelles:

• 3 pints (1 1/2 pounds) white button mushrooms
• 2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Beef:

• 1 (3-pound) center cut beef tenderloin (filet mignon), trimmed
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 thin slices prosciutto
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• Flour, for rolling out puff pastry
• 1 pound puff pastry, thawed if using frozen
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• Minced chives, for garnish
• Green Peppercorn Sauce, recipe follows
• Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
• Warm Wilted Winter Greens, recipe follows

Directions

To make the Duxelles: Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the shallot and mushroom mixture and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

To prepare the beef: Tie the tenderloin in 4 places so it holds its cylindrical shape while cooking. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper and sear all over, including the ends, in a hot, heavy-based skillet lightly coated with olive oil - about 2 to 3 minutes. Meanwhile set out your prosciutto on a sheet of plastic wrap (plastic needs to be about a foot and a half in length so you can wrap and tie the roast up in it) on top of your cutting board. Shingle the prosciutto so it forms a rectangle that is big enough to encompass the entire filet of beef. Using a rubber spatula cover evenly with a thin layer of duxelles. Season the surface of the duxelles with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. When the beef is seared, remove from heat, cut off twine and smear lightly all over with Dijon mustard. Allow to cool slightly, then roll up in the duxelles covered prosciutto using the plastic wrap to tie it up nice and tight. Tuck in the ends of the prosciutto as you roll to completely encompass the beef. Roll it up tightly in plastic wrap and twist the ends to seal it completely and hold it in a nice log shape. Set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to ensure it maintains its shape.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Depending on the size of your sheets you may have to overlap 2 sheets and press them together. Remove beef from refrigerator and cut off plastic. Set the beef in the center of the pastry and fold over the longer sides, brushing with egg wash to seal. Trim ends if necessary then brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef - saving ends to use as a decoration on top if desired. Top with coarse sea salt. Place the beef seam side down on a baking sheet.

Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry using the tip of a paring knife - this creates vents that will allow the steam to escape when cooking. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown and beef registers 125 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from oven and rest before cutting into thick slices. Garnish with minced chives, and serve with Green Peppercorn Sauce, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, and Warm Wilted Winter Greens.

Green Peppercorn Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 cup brandy
• 1 box beef stock
• 2 cups cream
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 1/2 cup green peppercorns in brine, drained, brine reserved

Add olive oil to pan after removing beef. Add shallots, garlic, and thyme; saute for 1 to 2 minutes, then, off heat, add brandy and flambe using a long kitchen match. After flame dies down, return to the heat, add stock and reduce by about half. Strain out solids, then add 2 cups cream and mustard. Reduce by half again, then shut off heat and add green peppercorns.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Fresh Herbs and Garlic:

• 2 pints fingerling potatoes
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 to 3 sprigs fresh sage
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 6 cloves garlic, left unpeeled
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus for sheet pan
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F and place a baking sheet inside to heat.

Add potatoes, rosemary, sage, thyme, and garlic to a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. 

Remove sheet pan from oven, lightly coat with olive oil, and pour potatoes onto pan. Place potatoes in oven and reduce heat to 425 degrees F. Roast for 20 minutes, or until crispy on outside and tender on inside.

Warm Wilted Winter Greens:

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 pint walnuts, for garnish
• 3 bunches assorted winter greens (such as Swiss chard, radicchio, or escarole), washed, stemmed, and torn into pieces
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds, for garnish
• Parmesan shavings, for garnish
• 1 shallot, chopped, for garnish

Cook honey and balsamic together over medium-high heat in a large saute pan, about 5 minutes. Toast walnuts in a small skillet; set aside to cool.

Pile greens on a platter. Stir mustard into balsamic-honey dressing, then whisk in about 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil; pour over greens. Season greens with salt and pepper and garnish with walnuts, pomegranate seeds, shavings of Parmesan, and shallot.

My thoughts:

The recipe approximated 2 1/2 total prep time hours. It took me an extra hour, but I went slow to make sure there were no mistakes. A few things:

1. I couldn't find Green Peppercorns so I just used crushed black peppercorns. It was still delicious.

2. The potatoes called for you to use the whole springs and garlic, I chopped it. I actually thought the potatoes were the weakest part of this dish. Not sure if that's because I changed the recipe or because I didn't change it enough and they needed more flavour. Certainly they could have used some butter.

3. I accidentally bought chocolate covered-walnuts. They were on sale and I thought it meant mushroom truffle, not chocolate truffle. Anyhow. I substituted with pecans. It didn't affect the flavour. These were also scoop up yummy delicious.

I can not emphasize enough how good this recipe is. Note to self: bake again. Now to go eat some peanut butter cookies from last week.

Christmas Reindeer Cookies

This weekend was one of those December weekends where you race from commitment to commitment without a moment to pee. They were all awesome events surrounded by wicked people, but still tiring nonetheless. Friday was by far my favourite as I spent it with my cooking club. Okay I know it sounds cheesy, but basically we drink tons of wine and try to learn a new recipe while having a kitchen dance party. Maybe I'm old but these nights make my life.

This weekend we made tourtière based on my besties family recipe passed down from generation to generation. We decided to learn it to carry on the tradition. Because I was so busy this weekend I was planning on blogging about the tourtière, but then I remembered it was a family secret. I can't very well post it on the internet!  Dibinka (our nickname for my besites mom) would have my neck! 

So instead I decided to make Christmas Reindeer Cookies that I found on Pinterest.  Let's see if I can overcome the Pinterest fail curse.

After following the yellow brick road, I found the recipe at Budding Baketress Blog.  Here is a photo of her cookies:

And here is a picture of my cookies:

Not bad, eh? I'll repost the recipe then give my thoughts below.

Reindeer Cookies

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup shortening

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

Chocolate-covered mini pretzels

Mini brown M&Ms

Regular-sized red M&Ms

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat until just blended.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Form dough into 1-inch balls. To make reindeer-shaped cookies, pinch the bottom of the ball slightly to form a point, then gently flatten with your hand. Space cookies about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until set or just beginning to brown. 

Remove from oven and immediately (and gently) press two mini pretzels into the tops of the cookies for the reindeer's antlers. Press two mini brown M&Ms in for the eyes and one red M&M for the nose (or any other color... some of mine ended up with green noses. They might be South Pole reindeer.). 

Allow to cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack or paper towel to cool completely. 

Makes about 40 reindeer cookies.

Source: Peanut butter cookie recipe from Jif.

My thoughts:

1. I couldn't find mini-M&Ms so I used Reese Pieces which seemed to work just fine.

2. It was hard to get the antlers to stay. I realized they needed to be done as soon as they were out of the oven. As some posters mentioned on her comments section, try to do them before the nose and eyes.

3. The chocolate on the pretzels did melt. Not sure there's much you can do to stop this except perhaps putting them into the fridge to set once made?

4. My dough seemed a bit stickier then I thought it should be. I cooked it anyways hoping it would firm up but they flattened out quite a bit. Could be because there is more humidity in the air here as I know that can affect gnocchi? Anyhow, I would probably add a touch more flour next time.

5. I used parchment paper to keep the cookies from sticking, which worked great.

Happy Funday!

Crockpot Sloppy Joes

Starting with the photo today because I swear just seeing Sloppy Joes in the title will turn some people off.  And seriously, look at that photo.  Taken with an iPhone.  Deeeeeeeee-lish!

This recipe is what happens when you ask the hubby "what would you like to eat tonight?"  "Sloppy Joes please."  Ugh.  I wondered how I was going to make Sloppy Joes look appetizing on my blog?  And then I made them.  And then I TASTED THEM.  Oh good god, I will be making these again.

The recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications: SlowCooker.  Sorry I couldn't find the link, but the recipe is below:

All-American Sloppy Joes
Prep: 40 Minutes
Cook: 6 to 8 hours (low) or 3 to 4 hours (high)

3 pounds lean ground beef or ground pork
2 cups chopped onions (2 large)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups chopped red sweet peppers
2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)
1 12-ounce can beer
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
4 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Hot pepper sauce
16 whole grain buns, kaiser rolls or hamburger buns, split and toasted with assorted toppers such as dill pickle slices and/or pickled peppers (optional)

1. In a large skilled cook ground beef, onions, and garlic over medium heat until meat is brown and onions are tender, using a wooden spoon to break up meat as it cooks.  Drain off fat.

2. In a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker combine meat mixture, sweet peppers, celery, beer, ketchup, molasses, yellow mustard, chill powder, vinegar, and a dash of hot pepper sauce.

3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.

4. To serve, use a slotted spoon to spoon meat mixture onto roll bottoms.  If desired, add assorted toppers.  Cover with roll tops. 

Makes 16 sandwiches.

Modifications:
I toasted the buns with butter and garlic.  I also served them open-faced with shredded buffalo mozzarella cheese on top.  I had planned to also serve them with pickled peppers, but they were too hot. Next time I'll try to find some mild ones.

Jamie Oliver 15 Brownies

I missed last Sunday.  I was invited to a traditional British Sunday roast, served mid-day.  A Brit I met with a babe the same age as mine invited the hubby and me.  And as a British-Sunday-roast-virgin, I quite enjoyed it!  First, it's perfect for moms who need to get babies to bed for 7.  Second, the spread was unbelievable.  Roast beef, potatoes, beans, parsnips, cheesy cauliflower, broccoli and Yorkshire pudding.  Oh my!  And the parsnips changed my life, well in a parsnip-lover sort of way.  I thought they were French fries - swear to god!  Just brilliant.  I'll be getting that recipe.  She said the main tip was to remove the center core because it's bitter.  Anyhoo...

And now on to brownies.  Oh yummy, yummy brownies.  

I decided to do dessert this week because the hubs made Schezuan beef for dinner and who in their right mind turns down an opportunity to put their feet up with a glass of vino?  Not this gal.  Also I wanted to stock my freezer with brownies.  This is a trick I accidentally learned a few winters ago.  I was considering consuming an entire tray of brownies when I came up with the brilliant idea of freezing them.  I froze two brownies per Ziploc bag, which was the perfect amount as I could always unfreeze two bags for company.  And they're actually delish when eaten frozen.  Especially these ones as the recipe calls for gooey centers. 

Enough babble.  Time for the recipe.

The recipe is from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie.  It's from his restaurant Fifteen in London, so I suppose its a British theme this Sunday!

250 g/9 oz. unsalted butter
200 g/7 oz. best-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa),
broken up
150 g/ 5.5 oz. chopped nuts
80 g/2 3/4 oz. cocoa powder, sifted
65 g/2 1/4 oz. plain flour, sifted
1 t. baking powder
350 g/12.5 oz. superfine sugar
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a 12" rectangular baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add nuts, if you're using them, and stir together. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate mixture.  Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. you don't want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don't want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares.

Jamie's tip to use wax paper is brilliant.  I've never had my brownies come out of the pan so well.  See below.

Enjoy and thanks for eating with me!

Gnocchi Mac n Cheese

Well, here we go. My first post. I always seem to be cooking on Sundays (along with the rest of the world) and I've always wanted to pen a blog. And today it hit me. WHAM. I should write a food blog! Ok, maybe this was not a shocking thought. I've always wanted a food blog, BUT I finally came up with a fun name. 

Enough with the rambling. 

I came across this recipe on Pinterest and decided it was a must try. I'm a cheese fanatic, the more cheese the better. It is the one thing I could never give up. Ev-ah! And mac n' cheese is one of my fave comfort dishes. So this one was a no-brainer and a great place to start.

The recipe came from a pin that led to The Cutting Edge of Ordinary with her blog linking to The Noble Pig for the original recipe.

The basic recipe is copied below for your convenience:

Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pound purchased or homemade Gnocchi

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon All-purpose flour

3/4 cup Milk

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

1/4 cup shredded Fontina cheese

Salt & white pepper to taste

1/3 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano

Basil leaves for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and place gnocchi in a single-layer in a 1-1/2 quart shallow baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in flour until it thickens and bubbles, then whisk in milk and Dijon. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.

Combine Gruyere and fontina, then add by the handful to milk mixture, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. Once all cheese is melted, season sauce with salt and pepper.

Pour sauce over gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano over top. Bake gnocchi until they puff and cheese is golden and bubbly, about 25 minutes. Let gnocchi rest for 5 minutes before serving.

And finally, my food taken with Instagram (hmmm...I might also be a social media junkie).

Thanks for reading!