Potacchio Sauce

 This has become my most favourite sauce of all time. Almost not even worth the write down it's so simple. You could even be forgiven for thinking that it is just any old pasta sauce but you would be quite wrong! This sauce is magical!
The secret ingredients: lemon zest & rosemary.
True lemons like lisbon or villa franca give the best lemony result by far in any dish, so if you can get them or grow them do.

Gently heat the zest of a lemon
 with a tbsp of finely chopped rosemary in a tbsp of good olive oil.
Add a can of tomatoes. (chopped is good or any of the variations we have here)
good salt,
lots of freshly ground black pepper & a tsp of raw sugar.
Simmer together for about 20 mins until thickened & fragrant.

You can add garlic if you like & some tomato paste gives a richer redder result, either way this sauce is divine & so useful. Try it & you'll see.
If you're really keen make the pasta too. Click here for Matt's how to.
Or here:

Katie

Fabulous Baked Apple Crumbles

Why didn't I ever think of these??...such a clever little idea that I recently came across in a New Zealand House & Garden Magazine. A cross between a traditional baked apple & the ubiquitous apple crumble & better than both!
Choose great apples to start with. As many as the number of people that are going to be eating them!

I used some of these tree ripened Granny Smiths.

Cut the top off each apple & use a melon baller to scoop out the inside until you have a fine apple bowl. Throw away the core part. I wrapped each apple in a damp paper towel & cooked them for 1.5 minute in the microwave but you could cook them for 20 mins in the oven if you prefer.

While they are busy. Prepare the filling by putting the apple balls in to a pot..no need to cut them any further, include the flesh from the top of the apple too.

add a tbsp of raw sugar

a tsp good cinnamon

and 1/2 raisins

 ( I love the big sticky ones for something like this, but you could use any of your favourite dried fruit)

Add a very small amount of water (if any) and cook until the apple is tender.

Thicken with a tsp cornflour mixed in to a little cold water.

Spoon this mixture in to the apple shells.

 To make the crumble topping:
Combine 1/2 c rolled oats, 1/2 c wholemeal flour, 1/4 to 1/2 c of raw or brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, then rub in 50 gms of softened butter.

 Top the apples with the crumble & bake for about 20 mins in a medium oven.

 Done this way the fruity, spicy flavours go right through the apple..so delicious!

The original recipe mixed the apple with blackberries...that would be another excellent alternative.

Catherine

Brilliant Vege Dips

I came across these fabulous dips in a Dish magazine recently & rushed home to try them, with a few adjustments to suit (or perhaps because I couldn't quite remember everything)

They are really, really simple & tasty & might even sneak the odd vegetable past a child!

The green dip is utterly delicious & tastes of fresh sweet peas. It is even better the next day after the flavours develop further so make lots!

The second dip is a spicy roasted carrot & chickpea blend.

I found some early tender broad beans but I'm sure that frozen ones would do just fine.

 Cook 1 cup broad beans until just tender, around 5 minutes in a small amount of water.
Run under the cold tap to cool, drain well & then slip off the outer skins.

 Cook 1 cup baby frozen peas in a small amount of water until just tender & still bright green. Run under cold water to cool. Drain well.

 Mix together broad beans, peas, 1/2 to 1 avocado, 1 tsp good salt, ground black pepper, big squeeze of lemon juice & a drizzle of good olive oil.

 Pulse in a food processor or with a whizz stick until well combined but not super smooth.

 That's it! Eat with crunchy veges like carrots, cucumber & peppers or crostini etc. The colour is magnificent & stays that way : )

 Roasted Carrot & Chickpea Dip.
2 large carrots. I like to give the carrots a wash, prick them all over with a knife, wrap them in damp paper towels & pop them in the microwave for 4 mins each (large carrots). Unwrap, cool a little & cut in to chunks. Tip in to a frypan with a good slug of olive oil.
Add 1 tsp of ground cummin & coriander, salt & some freshly ground black pepper. Garlic if you like it. Fry until the carrots are all yummy & roasted looking. Add a drained can of chickpeas or cooked ones if you prefer. Mix altogether & fry a little longer. Tip in to a food processor & add some more olive oil & lemon juice. Pulse to combine to a chunky texture or use a whizz stick. Adjust seasoning.
These two dips can be used as a platter meal..sorry ate them before I thought to arrange them with other veges ; ) They are equally fabulous the next day & would make great picnic food too.
Carrots are so different cooked this way as a vegetable..try them sometime..even without the spices..yum!

Catherine

PASTA

Pasta is a delicious and inexpensive food, and making your own is a simple and enjoyable process that with a vast array of accompanying sauces will provide an ever changing variety to your menu and your diet. Beginning with just three ingredients - flour, eggs, and oil to make a simple dough, it can be an easy meal for one, a hands on evening of fun for the whole family, and will thoroughly impress guests of any age. 

Having made our own pasta for some years now, I have devised a fairly reliable ratio of about 90 grams of flour to one good organic free-range egg and one teaspoon of olive oil - per person. You'll also need extra flour for dusting both when kneading your dough and when rolling out your pasta. Using good quality eggs makes the best pasta and also gives it a lovely rich colour. As I'm most often cooking for just two I would make a dough of 4 eggs, roughly 360 grams of fine 'tipo 00' pasta flour, and about 4 teaspoons of oil. This way I have enough for two meals as the dough keeps very well in the fridge for three or four days and is then ready to roll out into which ever shape you want next time around.

Simply begin by sifting your flour into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack your eggs into the center along with your olive oil.

Using a fork gradually whisk the wet into the dry until it forms a rough dough. Turn this out onto a floured bench and get stuck into it with your hands and fists, kneading well for about five minutes and dusting with extra flour until it's no longer sticky but beautifully soft and elastic.

Now wrap your dough in a plastic bag and place into the fridge for at least an hour. Refrigerating the dough allows it to rest and reduces the amount it will retract when it comes to rolling.

Normally while the dough is resting is when I'll prepare the ingredients and concoct the sauce that will adorn our resulting pasta. Once your sauce is cooking take the dough from the fridge and cut into two pieces, possibly three if you've made a larger batch, and return any unneeded dough to the fridge. Again dust your bench with flour and using a rolling pin begin rolling your dough out into a large oval-ish rectangular shape. Shift your sheet of pasta around as you roll to keep it an even thickness, occasionally turning it over and keep it reasonably well floured. 

Once your sheet is roughly an even 2mm thick all over your ready to cut your pasta. There are many shapes you can experiment with from a thin spaghetti to using whole sheets for a lasagna, or little pockets filled with flavours such as a ravioli or tortellini. But I don't think you can beat a decent fettuccine or better still a wide ribbon pappardelle. If you have a pasta machine this can aid the whole rolling and cutting process, but I quite enjoy doing the process by hand and it's no more time consuming. 

To cut any size ribbon by hand take your lightly flour dusted sheet and loosely roll it up. Decide on the thickness you want and cut with a sharp knife, being careful not to squash.

Unroll each piece and place into a tidy pile of strips. Your now ready to cook. 

Unlike dry pasta that takes about 10 or 12 minutes to cook, into a pot of boiling water as salty as the Mediterranean ocean this fresh pasta will only take two to three minutes. So once your water is boiling and your sauce is ready to serve, bring whoever is eating to the kitchen, as pasta doesn't wait for people, people wait for pasta! 

Gently place your pasta into the boiling water and quickly place the lid back on to bring it back to a flowing boil. Once your pasta is Al dente, which won't take long so keep a keen eye on it, toss through your sauce, serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. 

Bon Appetito. 

Katie's Kindred Cook, Matt.

Using Guavas: Jelly and Paste

Guava Jelly
If you are fortunate enough to have a guava tree in your garden then you will no doubt, have more fruit than you can eat or know what to do with so gather them up & pop them in a pot & make some guava jelly..the most divine jelly you have ever tasted, truly!

Sort through your gathered fruit discarding any guavas that are going off.
Give them a bit of a rinse off, pop them in to a pot & just cover with water.

Bring them to the boil & simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.

Tip into a sieve & let all the juices drip through.

(My grandmother used to hang the fruit in muslin over the bath in order to get every last drip of juice)

Return the juice to the (heavy bottomed pot) measuring as you do so that you then add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar to every cup of juice.

Jellies are best made in small batches anyway.
Put this mix back on the stove & stir to dissolve the sugar.
Some recipes suggest that you add some lemon juice to the mixture..up to you.
Bring to the boil & cook for 10/20 minutes or until when you put a little jelly on to a cold saucer & wait a minute or so a wrinkly skin forms in the top of the jelly (rather than it justs runs off the saucer).

While the jelly is cooking sort out your nicest jars, give them a good wash in hot soapy water, rinse & pop them in to the oven on a medium oven for 20 minutes to sterilize them.
At the setting point carefully pour the hot jelly in to your jars.
Seal with a jam seal & rubberband.

 Make a pretty label if you like. Utterly heaven on a spoon.

Now, rather than throw all that fruit in to the compost have a go at making some paste..it's worth it.

Guava Paste
Before you go to all the trouble of washing the pot out push the guavas through a sieve with a wooden spoon until you just have seeds left & you're sick of the process.

Once again add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar to each cup of fruit pulp.

 Now the paste takes a good deal longer than the jelly. Put on a really low heat & keep stirring every now again for the period of several hours until it starts to really thicken up & begins to come a way from the sides of the pot.
Pour in to oiled moulds or spread on to greased proof paper & leave lightly covered to firm up for a day or two.

Serve with cheese & fruit & oat biscuits or crackers if you like.. so yummy!!!

This pic via the New Zealand Gardener magazine April 2011
The same process applies to making almost any jelly or fruit paste. I have just made quince paste & feijoa which is also delicious!

Katie