Gnocchi

There has been a bit of talk on the subject of gnocchi. The girls remembered making it with me when they were smaller and I talked about getting a lesson on how to make it from the only expert I know -Nonna. I remember Corina, my cousin Simone and I getting a lesson from her one day, rolling the dough out on her kitchen table. Sadly, it has been a long time since I've made it and I could find the recipe which makes me wonder if I actually wrote it down. I did remember some important steps along the way but of course mine was always going to be different to Nonna's because it's gluten free.

Eadie was really keen to have gnocchi for dinner and keen to help. Ruby and Ava were distracted by the TV which may have been a good thing in hindsight as it allowed Eadie and I to talk and I got to share the secrets I learned from Nonna.

Here's how we did it, captured again, in images (so quicker to get something posted if you just let the photos speak for themselves) (a bit lazy, yes, I know).

Plums

We have two plums in our backyard. One is full of fruit now and, apparently, when it finishes, the other of starts.

What does one do with so many plums? Well, I've made plum shortcake, spiced plum chutney, grilled plums on the BBQ and plum crumble. When I accumulate a few more jars I will make some plum jam [I'm really annoyed that I tossed out so many when moving!]. If you have a favourite plum recipe, or one where another fruit can be substituted for plums, I would love the recipe.

Mini lamingtons

I wanted to squeeze in this post before the close of Australia Day. At least it is for us in the southern hemisphere.

These mini lamingtons are are healthy alternative courtesy from the healthy chef and were a pleasant treat at the end of the day.

Eggplant Curry

Eggplant is one of my favourit-est foods in the whole world!! There is a Malaysian restaurant not far from where we live that is famous for it's eggplant curry. Then when we were in Sri Lanka Aunty Daisy made it for us. It was to die for!

Aunty Daisy told me how she did it then I Googled it when I got back home and came up with a recipe that seemed like a good blend.

I've never been very good at cooking curries and Asian food. Perhaps it has something to do with my Anglo-Italian upbringing. Anyway, this curry turned out really gooood.

In a nutshell:

• Prepare the eggplant then fry it up (no, it's not health food)
• Fry an onion with a mixture of spices
• Add some chopped tomatoes
• Stir through some coconut milk
• Lastly, stir through the eggplant.

Delish! Leave a comment if you want the full list of ingredients/instructions.

OK, you asked for it; here it is.

Ingredients

3 medium sized eggplants, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, chopped

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

ginger

chilli

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ cup coconut milk

salt

sugar

Method

Sprinkle the chopped eggplant with salt and let sit for at least ten minutes to extract the bitter juice. Wash and dry, then fry in some oil.

Fry the onion and garlic in a small amount of oil until soft. Add the curry powder, ginger and chilli and cook until aromatic. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and coconut milk until combined. Lastly add the eggplant pieces and stir. Add sugar to taste.

I hope you like it as much as I did.

My favourite...

homemade breakfast?

Buckwheat pancakes with banana and bacon, drizzled with maple syrup – and coffee of course.

When life hands you lemons...

I say: Make lemon meringue pie!

The pics says it all!

What I did today...

More baking so we have some delish snacks to take on holidays with us.

I know, it's too much to take with us. After all, we're only going for five days but I'll store some away so it's there when we return.

Naturally, they're all gluten-free.

Photos:
1. Banana cake with pecan crust top (no need for icing).
2. and 3. Chai spice coconut flour cakes. I cut in half and sandwiched with cream cheese icing (I made half quantity) as I find it's tidier for transporting. Low-carb (without the icing), gluten-free and seriously to-die-for!
4. Brownie slab.
5. Melting moments.

What I did today...

I took to the kitchen to create!

New York baked cheesecake. I have been lusting after this for some time. I finally got the recipe from Mum. The recipe originated from Aunty Deb and I remember making a few of these in my younger days. I changed the recipe slightly (mainly the base) to make it low-carb with somewhat success (I think my taste buds have adapted). It's definitely not low-fat though so still retains all of it's flavour and appeal.

Banana and raspberry muffins for school lunches this week. It makes me feel good on the inside knowing there is something home baked in the kids' lunch boxes (although sometimes it's just not achievable!).

Note: When I say "What I did today" I don't necessarily mean today; more like recently.

It's been a while...

Hi folks,

I don't really have an excuse for the spartant posting an. Things have been chugging along at their usual pace. We have had a couple of birthdays in our household this month: Eadie has finally clicked over to double digits hitting the big one-zero; as for Steve, he'd rather not talk about it. That's it on the birthday front for a while now.

The netball season got off to a very wet start and has continued that way. I think we've had one clear game night – the rest have been completely hideous. I think netball should be a summer sport in NZ. We are almost at the end of another school term which marks the halfway mark for the year which is kinda scarey. Over the holidays we will head up to Ruakaka for a few days, then squeeze in a couple of days back in Auckland before hitting the slopes on Ruapehu.

I've enrolled in a beginners upholstery course which begins next term. I've been wanting to do this for-EVER! I'm really looking forward to learning so new skills so that I can breath some new life into some of my fave pieces.

Steve and I are experimenting with a low-carb diet. I thought this would be really, really hard but it's not. It's surprising how full you feel when you eat a lot of protein (we go through a lot of eggs). So we're eating less and feeling fuller. It's been two weeks with no real signs of weight loss but some of us are feeling less bloated.

Photos:
1. The birthday girl.
2. The birthday boy. (There really weren't enough candles on that cake!)
3. Birthday card Eadie made for Steve. (Very cute.)
4. New wardrobe staple purchased especially for netball spectating.

5. Eggs! We need to get some more chickens.

What's cooking?

Pear clafouti

Coconut cake

My favourite: chunky fruit and nut slice. Luckily for me, the kids weren't huge fans (which I simply don't get) but that just meant there was more for me!

Dawn Service

I'm the first to admit, I was a little surprised at the enthusiasm shown by the kids when I suggested we go to the ANZAC Dawn Service. It did wane slightly when we told them they would need to get up at 4.15am, but still, they agreed.

The service was held at the War Memorial Museum in Auckland which provides a majestic back drop.

We secured a great position at the heart of the happenings. It's possibly the closest I will ever physically be to the NZ Prime Minister in my life. As always, I sprouted goose bumps when the bugle boy played The Last Post – very sombre.

When it was all finished, we had a cup of tea while we waited for the crowd to thin out before heading home. Now I'm off to try my hand at making some gluten-free ANZAC biscuits but I haven't had much luck in the past.

Italian rice, vegetable and feta tart

Ok, here it is. Typed out, with love, as I couldn't for the life of me find the site where I found it originally.

Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
knob of butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary or thyme
2 medium zucchini, diced
6 large silverbeet leaves, shredded
¼cup thinly sliced sundried tomatoes
4 eggs, lightly beaten finely grated zest 1 lemon
½ cup grated Parmesan plus extra for topping
150 grams feta cheese, crumbled
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

20 cm round spring form cake tin, well-greased (it is wise to also line it with baking paper).

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180℃

Add the rice to a saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Drain well, tip into a bowl and stir through the knob of butter. Season and cool.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and cook the onion, fennel, garlic and rosemary with a good pinch of salt until the vegetables are tender. Increase the heat, add the zucchini and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the silverbeet to the pan along with the sundried tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until the silverbeet is tender. Season and cool.

Combine the eggs, lemon zest and Parmesan in a large bowl and season. Gently mix in the rice and vegetables and ¾ of the feta.

Pour into the tin and sprinkle over the remaining feta, a good grating of Parmesan and a few small pieces of butter (I forgot this bit and it was fine without but go ahead and add it if you like).

Bake for 20 minutes until golden and the centre is set. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing the sides and transferring to a serving plate.

Serves 6-8

Delicious vego dish

I am so excited about this dish that I just had to share it with you: Italian rice, vegetable and feta tart. It tasted and smelled so good in the oven I could hardly let it stand for the required 15 minutes before eating it!

Naturally, it's gluten-free and I think I could confidently serve this up to my discerning diabetic friend, Simon, without any problems [I'm not totally up to speed with that dietary requirement though so don't quote me on it.] Think fennel, garlic, zucchini, rosemary, parmesan and feta – mmm, maybe t is off-limits to you Simon. It's vegetarian though which is great because I am always trying to think of ways to create a satisfying meal without relying on meat. Of course, if I'm truly honest with you, I have to say that I did fry up a few bangers to go with it. I know! I was almost there – but not quite. It was just so easy to do when one is short on time compared to "creating" something else. Actually, the sausages look quite sad next to the tart. A nice salad would look much more appetising.

Anyway, with or without meat, you're going to love it. That is, if I can find the link for you. I've Googled the recipe but can't seem to find it. Don't worry though, I'll type it up and post it for you. Watch this space!

Melting moments

Today I am off work as I have a sick child at home. Apparently she is one of 16 in her class sick with a gastro bug. Although nobody likes being sick, and I would never wish that on anyone, it was kind of nice to have an unexpected day up my sleeve to get a few extra things done around the house. A couple of days ago a friend* gave me a gluten-free recipe for melting moments with passionfruit cream. I love melting moments; they're a weakness I rarely indulge in. So with a bit of spare time and a few wrinkly passionfruit in the fruit bowl, I decided today was the day to indulge.
If I didn't know better, the passionfruit would have ended up in the bin they looked so bad. When cut open however, they were full of sweet, orangery pulp – perfect!

OMG! They were soooo good. No points deducted just for being gluten-free. They look so pretty in the jar too. I wonder how long they will last.

My busy-ness in the kitchen didn't stop there. I made lamb casserole and créme caramel for the famiglia. Not me; I'm off to dinner with some girlfriends but I secretly hope there is at least some dessert left for me to try tomorrow.

* I have many friends who look out of great GF recipes for me – thank you to you all.

Banana cake with passionfruit icing

I just had a piece of this cake which I made this afternoon. It was really moist and deliciously yummy but better than that, it had so many good things in it, I almost felt virtuous eating it. I say almost because there was the God of all evil: sugar. But add to that quinoa flour, brown rice flour, almond meal, natural yoghurt (made with my Esiyo) and over-ripe bananas which I got from the fruit shop for next to nix and you have every reason to feel good. In fact, your halo is sure to get brighter with each bite, I can almost guarantee it. Top it all off with passionfruit icing made with the fruit from our neighbours vine that overhangs on our side of the fence, and you have one tasty little treat. It's so good, I'm not even sure it will make it's way to the lunchboxes tomorrow.

OK, so the ice-cream is not so virtuous.

This recipe and other delights can be found at my darling lemon thyme.