Sweet potato gnocchi

I had originally had this down for last Thursday, but had one of my awful days, where I was so exhausted from coughing I could barely stand up straight, so it got postponed, untill today.
It was a Sam Stern recipe, I bought Niamh a couple of his books for her 8th birthday, but of course it's me who uses them.
She thinks he's cute, I'd agree, if I were 15 years younger, but I'm not, so I won't.
Sweet potato gnocchi
God, this was a pain to make.
It needed far more flour than was specified, I can't even tell you how much, as I was covered in sticky mixture, and had to get Niamh to come in and add flour to the bowl for me, whilst I mixed.

As you'll see, I wear nail varnish, have long nails, and don't remove my jewellery when cooking.  I believe some folk have a problem with this.
Tell me who you are and I won't invite you to dinner!

Honestly, I almost lost the will to live half way through, but eventually, the gnocchi was rolled out, cut and cooked.
Was it worth it?
Erm, not really, I found it rather claggy, and glutinous, and my kitchen is still covered in a floury mess.
An exciting evening of cleaning awaits <sigh>

Oh, I served it with tomato sauce, just a basic pasta sauce recipe which I batch cook and freeze, chopping and changing to suit what I have in.

Niamh eats

Back in half term, Niamh asked if we could go to KFC for lunch, I make fried chicken at home using this recipe which is utterly delicious, so I thought, hmm, she's going to say KFC is better than mine and it'll all end in tears.
However, since I'm not that mean, I agreed.
She ordered the lunchbox which is a couple of chicken strips and chips.

It looked, erm pale, flabby and not very fresh, even though we waited ages. 

I didn't bother to try it, and stuck with a tea, which in fairness was Twinings.
Niamh enjoyed it, which is the main thing, but is in no hurry to rush back.
The restaurant was a bit sticky with napkins lying around, not for me.

What did make us laugh, and you'll see in the photo, the kids table looks like Supernanny has set it up as a naughty table!
What kid would want to sit there?

Niamh cooks

I'd planned to make Chicken and leek stroganoff last Wednesday, and when Niamh came home from school she asked if she could make it.  Yep, course you can.
She can cook and has made a few meals, but generally sticks to scrambled egg, tuna pasta and similar, she's definitely getting more interested, and confident though.
Chicken and leek stroganoff
She did get the timings a bit out, the rice was cooked way before the rest of the meal, and the leeks were added too soon, but that's not the end of the world, and it tasted great.
I didn't correct her, as I knew it would still work and I think it's best to learn from your mistakes, rather than having someone hovering over you (much as I am tempted!)

You can't really see the leeks, though you can see the attractive burn mark on the bench, hence me buying a heat mat!

New Le Creuset

Yup, gorgeous isn't it?
My friend Ailsa bought this for me at a car boot sale for £1.  £1!!!
I'm not stressing the price to make her look stingy, she's far from it, but it's Le Creuset, and it cost £1.
She also gave it to me, when she could have kept it for herself.
It's racing green, you can't tell that from the awfully dark photo!
Thank you Ailsa.
I've only used it once so far, but I did give Ailsa the rest of the dish to reheat for her family, I'd made a cauliflower cheese topped cottage pie.

Oh, on the right in the first pic, you can see a box, in that box is my calcium supplements.  I have to take them twice a day.  They are disgusting, like vague fake lemony flavoured chalk.  Bleurgh.

Dirty Rice

This doesn't sound great does it?
When Niamh came home from school, and asked what dinner was, she wasn't impressed when I told her, 'dirty rice', convinced I was going to serve her rice with mud mixed in, (yes, Niamh, because I often serve up stuff like that!), but I can assure you it's delicious, easy and quick too.
Now, I must say, that I know many people who insist you mustn't change recipes, or at least you must try the original first, or you can't leave out vital indgredients.
I am not one of those people.
I want to eat food I enjoy, and if that means leaving out something I hate, then so be it, hence why a third of the holy trinity in Cajun cooking, the celery, was left out.  I hate celery, it's evil, vile, revolting, and has no place in my mouth.
If truth be known, I'm not keen on peppers either, but Niamh loves them, so I do cook with them from time to time.
Dirty rice
I know most people shy away from chicken livers, but they really are mild tasting, that said, do try it, and leave them out if you really can't bring yourself to use them.

A terrine, and venison liver

Way back in October, Niamh and I went to the BBC Good Food show, at the SECC in Glasgow.
We had a fabulous day, and of course lots of food (and drink for me) was consumed and purchased.
One of the things I bought was a pack of venison liver.
I like venison, have never tried venison liver.
I chucked it in the freezer and all but forgot about it.
I buy my own Mother's day gifts, that way I get what I want, either way, I'm still paying, and one of my gifts this year was a terrine.
Not a Le Creuset unfortunately, but still rather lovely
When googling for terrine recipes, I found this-perfect
Killing two birds with one stone.
This was one recipe I did actually follow, the only difference being that my bacon didn't stretch far enough, so as you'll see I had to add extra slices.
Raw liver, not the most attractive thing ever!

Oven ready

Weighted down, after cooking

Served, with broccoli and stilton soup and rolls.

The soup is my own recipe, just based on what I've eaten in the past.
Sweat an onion for 10 minutes or so, add potatoes, and cook 5 minutes more, add in brocolli and cover just with stock, simmer till tender, add in splash of full fat milk and blend, then crumble in stilton and stir to melt.
The pate was very, very rich, and crumbly, I find shop bought to have a gelatinous texture, which this didn't.
I loved it though and have plenty in the freezer.
Not for everyday, well, you don't see venison liver to buy everyday, but if you ever do, I can recommend this recipe!

Boston baked beans

I'd been meaning to try out homemade Boston baked beans for ages, probably years in fact, and having fairly recently had Sky TV installed, and watching lots of American Food programmes, the idea came back to me.
After all that, it was a Nigella recipe I chose to use, rather than an American one, but I find her recipes, at least the savoury ones, reliable.
Boston baked beans
Of course I adapted it, to use a smoked hough, another Morrison's bargain.
With it, I made bread, monkey pizza bread, well a version of it.
I used this recipe for the dough, and Jen's place for the method.
I left out the pepperoni, since there was meat in the beans, and cooked in a square tin, since that was the first one I found!

It was fabulous, Niamh ate loads, and took some to school for morning snack the next day, and it was wonderful dipped into the bacony, tomatoey beans.
I've frozen some of the beans, as they generally freeze brilliantly, so this one would be great for batch cooking.