Cheat's Ricotta, Spinach and Mint Gnocchi

Please note: I've never made gnocchi before. Never. Ever. So when I found this 'Cheat's' version, I thought, 'Sweet! It'll be easy and taste great!' Yes, I've eaten gnocchi before. Beautiful. Soft. Not anything like what I made.

I think where I went wrong was overworking the flour in the mixture. I think it activated the gluten too much as the end result were so  - er - glutenous, that I didn't like it very much at all. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I stood there mixing and rolling for ages, I was very aware not to, but still. Not a good result.

And my cream was off, so I made a quick butter and garlic sauce and tossed them in that, but they were ruined long before they got to that pan.

They formed well. I found the recipe needed a touch more flour than what it calls for or they wouldn't hold together at all. Not much, maybe a tablespoon? But without it, the gnocchi were falling apart and no way they would have survived boiling water. There were in long enough to come to the surface and I removed them when they started floating. Then tossed them in the butter and grated a bit of fresh Parmesan over the top.

But, as I facebooked, they tasted like dumplings without the Beef Stew. Very bland. Very glutenous. Not at all enjoyable for full meal. That's ok. I'm not going to like everything I make, that's for sure.

Isn't that the point to cooking? So I can improve technique, my taste and learn more.

Next time I will try cooking traditional gnocchi. With potatoes. And not cheating....

Coconut Bread and Quick Grapefruit Jam

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've still been cooking my little heart out!

A few weeks ago I made Donna's Coconut Bread and Grapefruit Jam and took them to my Mothers Group for critique (and so I didn't end up eating it all by myself)

I love the jam. I'll have you know, I've only made jam once before and it sucked. Majorly, sucked. I'm pretty sure I had too much water and not enough fruit and it turned to burnt toffee and took me days to clean off the bottom of the saucepan. So to say I was a bit apprehensive at trying jam again was an understatement.

I am lucky enough to have my own beautiful Grapefruit Tree in my backyard and right now it is abundant with fruit, which all end up rotting underneath it as I'm not a big grapefruit fan. I used my fresh fruit in this jam and am very happy with the results. I had to simmer it for much longer than the recipe and to get the right consistancy I pulsed it with my stick blender a few times. So it's more of a marmalade than a jam, but still yummy nonetheless. It's sweet at first but has the lovely bitterness of the grapefruit at the back of your pallate when you swallow, which evens out the initial sweetness. I'm so glad it worked and I wasn't cleaning my damn saucepan again for ages!!

Thankfully some of the wonderful ladies in my mothers group took some home!

The Coconut bread was really easy to make, except I didn't have any buttermilk, so I cheated and used regular milk. And there was a mountain of butter in it. Like, literally, a small mountain....

I was expecting it to be lighter than it was, but I suppose with 3 cups of flour, it wasn't going to be that light. It had a lovely mild coconut-y taste, so next time I might substitute the buttermilk for coconut milk and give it a stronger coconut flavour.

It went really well with the jam and, thankfully, was gobbled up quickly!