Stuffed Baguette

Description:
With the beautiful spring weather we have had in the few weeks or so it's got my taste buds looking forward to balmy evenings, a nice glass of wine & platters of nibbles. (preferably served by some hot young Dan Carter look-alike, on the deck of my private yacht.....:-p)

So cruising around a few of my favourite recipe sites I came across a recipe I posted back in 2003! and I don't believe I've made it since.
This makes a great pre dinner appetiser, picnic food or as a side dish at a BBQ. You can make these in advance as long as you keep them in the fridge.

A hollowed baguette makes a perfect shell for any filling you are in the mood for. And once stuffed and properly chilled, it becomes a neat appetiser.
This particular one is filled with all my best friend's favourite things: goat cheese/cream cheese, sun dried tomatoes, olives, spicy salami, crunchy bell pepper, and fresh herbs.

Me, I was not so much a fan of the ingredients she liked so I used to make a filling of cream cheese, spinach, red onion & herbs.

You can use any combination of fillings you like, although I would only use seafood on the day I was planning to eat them.


Ingredients:
Baguette about 14-inch long
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
4 oz fresh goat cheese
1 large garlic clove, minced
½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
½ cup finely chopped sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
¼ cup finely chopped Kalamata olives
2 oz finely chopped spicy salami
About 2 tbsp minced Italian parsley
About 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste (very unlikely since there’re plenty of salty ingredients)

*Whatever you use needs to be finely chopped, there is nothing worse than biting into a slice of this and getting a mouthful of nothing but olive, or sun dried tomato...

Directions:
Slice off both ends of the baguette. Using a long thin knife and working from the both ends, hollow the baguette out leaving about ½-inch thick crust all around.
Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth and lump-free. Beat in the goat cheese and garlic. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Stand the baguette on one end (you will probably have to hold it there with one hand) on a piece of cling wrap.
Then fill the baguette with the cheese mixture. Pack the filling tight. I like to use a slender tequila shot glass for pressing the filling in. Wrap the stuffed baguette very well in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to two days. Right before serving, slice the baguette into ½-inch thick slices and serve. For the most neat looking slices, treat it as a cheesecake – each time slice it with a hot dry knife.

Notes:
It doesn’t become soggy after refrigerating. But the crust does lose its crunch. Which is not a bad thing here, since it is not just a bread now, it is a casing for a really good filling.

It is easier to stuff shorter pieces.

Once the baguette is filled, it’s easier to give it a rounded shape - just press and roll.

Banana Cake with a Cinnamon Swirl

Description:
I tried this recipe yesterday, which I shamelessly stole from BrokeAss Gourmet.

You can check out some more of her cool recipes here

My marbling technique was utterly crap (it looked nothing like the picture) but I threw on some chocolate icing (frosting) & problem solved!
It tastes fantastic & I'm going to have to try it again to see if I can get the marbling right next time.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 egg
1/8 cup milk
2 ripe bananas, smashed with the back of a fork
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup flour Pantry
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C ( 350 degrees F). Lightly butter an 8” round or square cake pan. Set aside.
Whisk together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Whisk in egg, milk, bananas, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Continue stirring until batter has been fully incorporated.
Scoop out about 1/3 cup batter and transfer to a small bowl. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the remaining batter into the prepared pan.
Whisk reserved 1/3 cup batter with honey and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. It should be dark brown in color.
Use a spoon to drizzle the dark batter in a spiral over the regular batter. Drag the blade of a butter knife over the batter to create a swirly, marbled look.
Bake for 22-26 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Sun-Dried Tomato Ricotta GNOCCHI (or Claytons Gnocchi)

Ingredients:
2/3 cup ricotta
8 sun-dried tomatoes, plus more for garnish
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
1 1/4 cups flour, plus more as needed
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper
1/8 cup olive oil
1 small bunch parsley, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced


Directions:
In a food processor, combine ricotta, sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan, flour, egg yolk and a pinch of salt. Pulse to form a sticky dough, adding a bit more flour if necessary. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Form dough into several long snakes, about 3/4” thick. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 1” “pillows.” Set aside on a clean plate.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a light boil over high heat. Add gnocchi, working in batches if necessary, and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until gnocchi float to the surface of the pot. Drain and return to pot.
While gnocchi cook, heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and cook just until garlic is very fragrant, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Toss gnocchi with olive oil mixture and a small handful of Parmesan. Serve garnished with a few sun-dried tomatoes, sliced if necessary.

Balsamic tomato chorizo and rocket fettuccine

Description:
I promised to post this recipe for a friend a while back. It's one that Lee found & tried, & it was so good that it's been on the menu several times now.

Not being a huge fan of olives I leave them out altogether & we add freshly grated/shaved parmesan as a garnish.

It's quick, easy & inexpensive.

Ingredients:
• 400g dried fettuccine pasta
• 2 (125g each) smoked chorizo sausages, sliced diagonally
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 500g jar tomato pasta sauce
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 100g pitted kalamata olives
• 70g baby rocket leaves, to serve


Directions:
1. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water, following packet directions, until tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat a deep, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chorizo. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until browned and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to a plate lined with paper towel. Set aside.
3. Add onion and garlic to pan. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add tomatoes. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in pasta sauce and vinegar. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.
4. Drain pasta. Return to pan. Add tomato mixture, olives, chorizo & rocket. Season with pepper. Toss gently to combine. Serve.

Furry Vengeance (2010)

Rating:
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

Tonight I was checking out a few movie trailers to see if there were any recent movies I want to put on my list to see. I decided it would be easier to compile a list of the movies I have "no intention of ever seeing" & thought it might be fun to review one of these movies.

I always struggle with comedies, I have to admit I don't find many American comedians all that funny, my taste is definitely more British/Australian.
In fact I secretly suspect that the "real joke" behind most American comedy movies is some kind of secret bet between the likes of Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Brendan Fraser etc is about which one of them can make the most horrible hollywood movie & still rake in the cash.

I'm not sure whether or not this particular movie is aimed at environmentalists or geared more towards people whose comprehension level peaks at enjoying jokes involving flatulence.

We can try a little experiement. Let's see how much of the following trailer you can stand to watch before it gives you brain damage.

(Caution: Do not drive a car or operate machinery after watching this trailer)



So?? Did you make it past the squirrel? If so, I offer you my condelences. Yes I did watch the whole thing (for the good of the team).
It appears this movie is full of those photo-realistic animated critters which are made to appear to be doing tasks & full of cutesy human affectations.
I hate this type of thing! What's even worse is that the animal antics still look more natural than the human counterparts in the movie.

I wouldn't go see this movie if I was offered free tickets & the "all you can eat" popcorn deal!

Pasta with roast pumpkin and rocket pesto

Description:
I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago with a couple of amendments.

We always tend to use fresh pasta, rather than dried, and at the time I tried this recipe we only had ravioli stuffed with oven roasted vegetables on hand. So I used ravioli & also added about 250gms of grilled bacon pieces.

We had left overs & the next day Lee added some chunks of roasted chicken before reheating, which totally added to the whole taste smorgasbord.

I like this type of recipe, pretty much anything goes...add or subtract the ingredients you want.

Ingredients:
600g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded cut into 2cm pieces
375g fettuccine
100g Persian feta, crumbled
80g baby rocket leaves

Rocket pesto
1 bunch rocket, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, chopped
50g pine nuts
1/2 cup (40g) finely grated parmesan
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 200°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Place the pumpkin on the tray and drizzle with oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until golden and tender.
2.Meanwhile, to make the rocket pesto, place the rocket, basil, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped. With the motor running, add the oil in a thin, steady stream and process until well combined. Season to taste.
3.Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water following packet directions or until al den-te. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.
4.Add half the pesto to the pasta with the pumpkin, feta and rocket leaves. Gently toss until just combined. Divide among bowls. Drizzle with remaining pesto.

Meatball Lasagne

Ingredients:
300g pork mince
300g veal mince
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
725ml olive oil
1kg brown onions, finely chopped
1kg tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
400ml jar tomato puree (passata)
3 rosemary sprigs
4 thyme sprigs, plus 2 tsp picked leaves
10 eschalots, peeled
20 garlic cloves, peeled
70g grated pecorino
8 small chat potatoes, boiled sliced
5 boiled eggs, sliced
110g buffalo mozzarella, sliced
16 slices prosciutto
1/3 cup parsley leaves
3 tbs marjoram leaves

250g plain flour
8 egg yolks
1 tbs olive oil


Directions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 165°C.

Step 2: For the pasta dough, process all ingredients and a pinch of salt in a food processor for about 20 seconds until the mixture just comes together. Transfer to a clean, lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes or until smooth. Wrap in cling wrap and set aside for 2 hours to rest.

Step 3: Combine the pork mince, veal mince, breadcrumbs and egg together in a bowl. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll the mixture into 2cm balls. Chill in the refrigerator until needed.

Step 4: For the onion and tomato sauce, heat ½ cup of oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden and softened. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, rosemary and thyme sprigs. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add the meatballs. Cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the heat.

Step 5: Meanwhile, add eschalots to small saucepan and pour over the remaining 600ml of olive oil to cover. Cook for 1 ½ hours over very low heat, then add the garlic cloves. Cook for a further hour until eschalots and garlic are tender. Drain and reserve the oil. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, add eschalots, and cook for about 2-3 minutes until lightly golden, then add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes until caramelized. Add the thyme leaves, then remove and drain on paper towel.

Step 6: Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough. Set the pasta machine to the widest setting and dust the pasta rollers lightly in flour. Feed 1 portion of dough through the machine, folding the pasta in half before feeding it through each time. Gradually narrow the pasta machine settings, 1 notch at a time until you reach the second last setting on the machine. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Step 7: Drizzle olive oil, sea salt and grated pecorino over the base of a 3.5L baking dish. Lay over 2 sheets of pasta. Drizzle with a little more oil and sea salt. Scatter over half of the meatballs and spoon over the sauce. Scatter over half of the potatoes, eggs, eschalots, garlic, buffalo mozzarella, parsley and marjoram leaves. Sprinkle over a little more pecorino, then a layer of prosciutto. Lay over 2 more sheets of pasta and push any air out, with your hands. Add another layer of the filling. Finish with another layer of pasta. Spoon over some tomato sauce and the remaining pecorino. Cover with foil, shiny side down. Place in the oven to bake for 45 minutes. After 40 minutes, remove the foil and return lasagne to the oven for the last 5 minutes.

* In the absence of pecorino, parmesan may be used.