Brie and Cranberry Rolls

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Mmmmm cheesy....

These things seriously could not be simpler.  Bake-at-home dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, sliced Brie.

The end. See you next post!





Ok maybe not. But they are super-simple. I just bake the rolls and fill them, then pop them back in to the turned-off oven to melt juuuust a little. They're great for lunch with a salad, but are also a really cool alternative to the usual tea party/baby shower/any kind of party fare. I've not seen anyone do it before so I'm totally claiming it.

Crunchy, sweet, a little savoury and gooey. If there's a better canape combination, I don't want to know about it.

Enjoy!

Audrey Gordon and the Roast Vegetable Salad

I love comedy. I love books. It is my personal belief that there's nothing better than when the two are combined.

I was made aware recently that the hilarious team from Working Dog Productions had taken a potshot at the foodie culture by creating their own celebrity chef, and in turn had her create a cookbook. Now I like my wit drier than a desert, and when a satirical publication is passed off as legitimate, (hello The Onion), I am especially impressed. Particularly if it leaves people a little unsure if they're being had or not.

Working Dog have amused me over the years with The Castle, The Panel, and Thank God You're Here, and are made up of members of the D-Generation and The Late Show (seriously funny Australian comedy that I still watch today), and their creation of Audrey Gordon does not disappoint. As she moves to Tuscany to immerse herself in the culture, customs and cuisine, Audrey's impertinent attitude (she was voted Britain's Sternest Chef for three consecutive years) makes for compelling reading. There was a joke on just about every page that I found genuinely funny ("The Piazza Pallazzio has genuine period charm. Each of its 66 rooms boasts antiques such as Etruscan rugs, four-poster beds, vases and dial-up internet"), and I am an exacting comedy consumer. I'm a tough nut to crack.

Complete with recipes I want to try marked...

All the recipes included in the book are real, and actually quite delicious. I'm told the book is "a practical guide that will help you carry off everything from a lazy Sunday brunch with friends to a formal sit-down banquet for 300 lactose-intolerant, diabetic vegans with severe peanut allergies". You can't get more helpful than that.

I decided to put the roast vegetable salad to the test - something easy I could throw together, but still be delicious. Given that it is getting into cooler weather too, a salad sort of needs to be a bit hotter and heartier to go with your meals This will do the trick!

Ingredients:
10 new potatoes, halved
2 white onions, sliced
2 large carrots, cut large chunks
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 zucchini, thickly sliced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
olive oil
salt
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
50g pine nuts
150g flat-leaf parsley, washed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Place the potatoes in a saucepan of water and bring to the boil for 5 minutes until they're just turning soft, but not cooked.

3. Put the potatoes in a large bowl along with the sliced onion, carrot, garlic cloves and zucchini. Sprinkle with rosemary, thyme and a good slug of olive oil. Toss to coat the vegetables with the olive oil then season with salt to taste.

3. Spread the vegetables on an oiled baking tray and bake about 35 minutes until they begin to brown around the edges.

4. Stir in the cherry tomatoes, and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes.

6. Toss the roast vegetables in a large bowl with the pine nuts, parsley and balsamic vinegar.


Audrey's Tip:
Heat is the very essence of cooking. It's what causes individual ingredients to lower their barriers and intermingle with each other, eventually yielding to the moment, rather like vodka at a dinner party. That said, it's imperative that you use no more and no less heat than is needed. The last thing one wants is to startle the garlic or flummox your onion.

Baked Cheese Ravioli with Broccoli and Spinach

It shouldn't be news to anybody that reads my blog regularly that I love baked anything with cheese. Sometimes I feel sorry for those on a diet or who are looking for low fat dishes ... I often don't have those! However, if some kind of pasta bake with veggies in it is what you're looking for, I have the answer.

Ingredients:
1 packet  frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 -3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
450g broccoli
salt and pepper to taste
1 package cheese ravioli (or whatever you desire)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheese

Directions:

1. Bring large stockpot of water to a boil.
2. Steam broccoli for about 5 minutes until bright green and slightly tender.
3. As water heats up to a boil, heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
4. Add olive oil and chopped garlic, and saute for about 1 minute.
5. Next, add drained spinach to the pan, along with the steamed broccoli.
6. Toss vegetable well with garlic oil to coat evenly.
7. Sauté for about 5 minutes.
8. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat into a bowl, and set aside.
9. For the sauce: In the same pan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour into the butter and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
10. Add stock, raise heat and bring mixture to a boil, whisking the entire time.
11. Slowly whisk in milk and parmesan, and let mixture bubble for about 2 more minutes until thickened.
12. Season sauce with nutmeg (if desired) and salt and pepper.
13. For the pasta: When pasta water is boiling add salt, stir, and add ravioli.
14. Cook according to package directions until slightly underdone.
15. Place a thin layer of the white sauce in an oven proof casserole dish.
16. Drain ravioli.
17. Layer ½ of the ravioli in the baking dish.
18. Next add ½ of the broccoli/spinach mixture Add a couple ladles of the sauce to cover this first layer, a little more than half of it.
19. Add the rest of the vegetable mixture, then the remaining half of the ravioli.
20. Spoon the remaining sauce over the top (a little less than half of it) and top with grated cheese of your choice.
21. Place casserole dish under the broiler or in oven about 8 or so inches from the element.
22. Broil about 5 minutes until cheese melts and is bubbly and starting to brown.

Original recipe here

Cheesy Garlic Potato Bake

I’ll fight you to the death for the last scoop.

Potato bake, otherwise known as potatoes au gratin (French for holy shit this creamy, cheesy potato dish is amazing) has long been a staple in my life. It causes fights, is jealously guarded, and significantly overindulged in on a regular basis.

It is surprisingly easy to get wrong. I know what you’re thinking… potatoes, cream, cheese. What is there to ruin? But we’ve all been there. RSL potato bakes with still-raw slices. Friends’ mother’s tasteless trays of goo (isn’t that the worst? you get all excited when you see its golden goodness, and you dig in only to find it tastes just this side of depressing). Bakes that have funny ingredients in them that shouldn’t be found within twelve light years of the holiness that is au gratin.

Allow me to help.

ooh. Nice, yah?

Ingredients
Potatoes. Lots of them. It actually depends on what size dish, but you’ll probably need four or five decent-sized ones for most rectangle casserole dishes. peel and slice thinly. Please do use the big brown or white ones, the little red ones will hold their shape too much. Still tastes good, but just isn’t the same!
3/4 cup vegetable stock
300ml cream
garlic powder
onion powder
pepper
cheese (amount depends - for this I’d probably use 1 3/4 cups)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 and grease your casserole dish. Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom, and sprinkle quite liberally with the garlic, pepper and onion powder. Sprinkle over a layer of cheese.

2. Repeat.

3. On the top layer, pour over the stock and then the cream before sprinkling with the seasonings, and adding cheese to the top.

4. Bake for at least an hour. You don’t want RSL potatoes do you? I would check after an hour by sticking a knife in the middle. If it slides in easily, you’re good to go.

There are honestly so many ways of making this - poaching minced garlic in milk, adding sliced onion, sprinkling the layers with nutmeg or lemon pepper - but I just wanted to give you a basis. It’s so easy, has tons of flavour, and will probably need a security guard if you’re wanting leftovers the next day.

Enjoy, Miss K x