Gluten-Free Goodness

So I havn't had much of a chance to entertain this year so far, but I've come up with a Gluten free Crumble recipe that is superbly crunchy and if you have it without cream or ice cream, then it's Dairy free too!

1/2 cup Coconut
1/4 cup Ground Almond
1 1/4 cups Porridge Oats
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Gluten free self raising flour
5 Tbsp Margarine (melted)

3 cups stewed fruit

So we'll start with the stewed fruit. There are many different types of fruit that can make many  different fillings. The easiest way to do it is to take your fruit, remove the core/seeds/pip and skin if necessary. then chop into roughly the same size chunks and put into a sauce pan with a little butter (about a tablespoon) and some sugar. Add the sugar in amounts depending on how sweet you like things.

Me, I'm not so big on overly sweet, so only about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar does the trick.
Turn your pot onto a medium heat, and stir it as it ccomes to the boil. You want your fruit to be just cooked until soft, because it will continue to cook in the oven. the less you stir Rhubarb though, the more that it will keep it's shape.

Some neat ideas could be apricots, rhubarb, blueberries, mangoes, peaches or just plain ole' apples.

Once cooked, put it evenly into the bottom of your baking dish thusly:

Now for your Crumble, simply mix everything up in a bowl, and then put it on top of the stewed fruit. I find it is best to make it light as possible by not pushing it down, this makes it extra crumbly!

Bake it in a 180 degree celsius oven for about 25-30 mins, until the top is nice and golden brown. Allow to stand about ten minutes before serving. Bon Appetite!


Happy Eating Everyone!
-Ary

Italian Extravaganza!

Hi all, and welcome to My very first entry into the experimentation of home entertaining!

I have several treats in store for this entry, as this past weekend saw an Italian Extravaganza of epic proportions. Mountains of homemade pasta, a real italian grandmothers bolognaise and a beautiful creamy lemon and herb sauce.

Making your own Pasta will significantly reduce the cost of having fresh pasta, and the results are much better with the beautiful eggy flavours. Another benefit of using pasta is that it is the main filler, and is the cheapest part of the whole meal! a little sauce goes a long way, so tossing the pasta through the sauce gives you the opportunity to stretch it out to really get your numbers out of it.

Serve it all it a big bowl in the centre of the table with a little grated cheese in a bowl and a salad and you have a ready made feast, Rustic Beauty.

This banquet was prepared for 10 people, and so if you're planning on trying these out, then simply divide the recipe by 10 and times by the amount of guests you wish to serve and the portions should work out fantastically!



Pasta Dough


My friend's sister taught him this delicious pasta recipe, it's lovely and eggy, ideal for noodle shapes.

1 cup of High-grade flour
1 egg (older is ideal, as the white breaks up easier and makes a smoother dough)

Easiest way to do this is as my friend showed me, simply put the two into a magic bullet (food processor) and pulse until a dough is formed, then tip out onto a floured surface.
Knead the dough lightly, then wrap tightly in cling film and allow to rest in a cool sapce for at least an hour and a half.
Now not everyone has a food processor, so alternatively; furiously whisk the egg, and pour in a bowl with the flour and mix with your fingers until the dough is formed, making sure to mix it thourougly. Tip it out onto the floured surface and go from there.


So, we have our Pasta and it's been sitting long enough, time to make noodles!
If you have a pasta machine, then this is ideal, because it makes nice perfect pasta in a fast and easy manner. If you don't, fear not as I will instruct for that too!
Take your ball, unwrap it and divide it in two. Flour you machine well, and start to feed a half throught the rollers, starting on the largest setting (Most likely setting 7) and repeat this twice more, each time going down a setting to make it thinner.
Once this is done, then take the sheet, and fold the two ends into the middle, and press it down with your hand.
You do this to neaten the edges as you roll it out and thus less scrappy bits!
Flour the dough again lightly and feed it back through the machine on the largest setting again, this time making your way down to setting 4, and this is the ideal size for a nice thick Tagliatelle noodle or Spagetti strand.
Now attach the cutting blades, and feed the sheet through whichever pasta shape you desire (the Spagettti or the tagliatelle) and when done, drape over a coat hanger or a pasta rack if you have one.

To cook, simply bring a large pot very full of salted water to the boil, then add the pasta just before you wish to serve as it only takes about 5-6 minutes for fresh pasta to cook. Just make sure you keep testing the noodles after 4 minutes to see if they are yet at the desired consistancy (easiest way is just to chew on a bit)

One of these balls is enough for 2 people to have about a cup of cooked pasta each, so if you're planning this big banquet, then allow a ball each.

Italian Bolognaise

An Italian Classic, tried and True.

2 large Onion
4garlic Cloves
1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
500g Good Quality Mince
2 Cans Tomato Puree
2 Cans chopped Tomato
1 cup of Red wine
4 tsp Brown Sugar

Very simple, very Italian, just chop the onion and mince the garlic, add to a heavy bottomed pot with about 2 Tbsp of Olive oil and the Oregano, and fry until the onions are clear.
Add the Mince, and stir it occasionally to break up the mince that forms. Leaving it sit longer instead of constant stirring helps the meat to brown better.
Once all the water has evaporated out of the Mince, then add the Wine, stir and allow to cook out for about a minute, this helps erase any bitterness from the wine.
Add the Tomatoes, Puree and Sugar, and stir it in well, and then allow to simmer for about 30 minutes before tasting, adding some salt and fresh black, retasting to see if it needs any more, and then serving!

You can toss this through the pasta and serve it ina a large bowl in the middle of the table, as you can see in the photo, or individually serve it. I vote For the big ole bowl in the middle to make it super homey and brings the party to the eating area.

Lemon Cream Sauce.

Another gem creation from the lady with the pasta dough.

500 ml Cream
4 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped. (fresh is best for crisp flavour)
2 Lemons, zested and juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
100g Grated Parmesan
1/4 cup roughly chopped Italian Parsley

So in a Saucepan, add the Oil and the Garlic, and put onto a low heat.
Stir with a wooden spoon that can scrape the bottom well, otherwise use a stiff rubber Spatula.
When the garlic ha cooked out a little, add the cream, parmesan, lemon juice and zest. Cook out slowly, stirring intermittantly and scraping the bottom so the cream doesn't burn.
Cook out the sauce about 15-20 minutes, and the cream will thicken.
Add Salt, fresh cracked black pepper and the parsley, taste and then toss the pasta through the sauce and serve in a big bowl in the middle of the Table, or individually.

This sauce is beautiful by itself, but you can easily add cooked chicken, bacon or sausage to it for a protein kick!

Harbourside Garlic Bread

This is a recipe from my apprenticeship days, everyone seems to love it and so it's my go-to Starter.

250g Salted Butter, softened
2 Tbsp chopped Parsley
8 cloves Garlic, freshly minced
Pinch Nutmeg
1/2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper

Merely mix all of these together, and apply liberally to your bread of choice (I suggest sliced French stick or Ciabatta) and grill in the oven until browned.
Make extra, as you can always keep it in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.


Thank you for reading and happy eating!

-Ary