Oh......My.....Gozleme!

Geee....that hit the spot. 'G' was a wonderful letter to cook for. Nice, fresh ingredients and wonderful tastes. I have never had a Gozleme before and am now looking forward to tasting ones with different flavours. Thanks to Rose, we kicked off the dinner with some gorgeous Ginger Beer while I heated up the Barbecue for the Gozleme.

Silverbeet and Feta Gozleme

1 tbs olive oil, plus extra to brush

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bunch of silverbeet, stalks trimmed leaves shredded

200g feta, crumbled

1/2 cup of grated cheddar

1/4 tsp sweet paprika

4 large Greek pita bread

lemon wedges to serve

Combine oil, onion, garlic, silverbeet, feta, cheddar and paprika in a bowl. Spread half the mixture over 1 pita, then sandwich with a second pita. Repeat with the remaining pita and filling. With the BBQ plate on med to high, brush both sides of the gozleme with oil then cook for 3 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden. Use spatula and plates to flip. Cut the gozleme into wedges and serve immediately with lots of lemon to squeeze over.

Gado Gado with satay sauce
2 zucchinis, thickly sliced on an angle
1 eggplant, halved and sliced
1 red capsicum, cut into thick strips
200g long green beans
2 small red onions, cut into thick wedges keep roots intact
1/3 cup rice bran oil
1 cup of bean sprouts

Preheat the barbecue to high. Combine zucchini, eggplant and capsicum into one bowl and combine beans and onion in another bowl. Drizzle with oil to coat. Season as desired. Place the eggplant, zucchini and capsicum on the grill, and put the beans and onion on the plate. Cook turning for 10-15 minutes until tender and golden.

Season veges and place on a platter. Top with bean sprouts and then spoon on satay sauce to serve. 

Satay Sauce
125g unsalted peanuts
1 1/2 tbs rice bran oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 small red chilli, chopped
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
400ml can of coconut milk
1 tbs kecap manis

Place the peanuts and oil in a frypan over medium heat. When the peanuts start to sizzle, cook for a further 2-3 minutes until golden. Pour into metal colander and set over a heatproof bowl to drain.

Discard the oil, then transfer the hot peanuts to a food processor with the garlic, chilli and sugar. Whiz until course crumbs, then scrape the crumbs into a saucepan over medium heat.

Stir in the coconut milk and kecap manis, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to very low and cook, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes, until thick. Remove from heat.

Green Granita and Strawberries
4 green apples
1 cucumber
4 celery stalks
1 punnet strawberries, soaked in Grand Marnier

Juice apples, cucumber and celery - freeze in a tray.
Scrape frozen juice with a fork.
Place piled strawberries on plate and pile frozen shavings on top of strawberries. YUM!

Enjoy!

1 + 1 = 3 (courses)

Last Wednesday night was a hectic one with a 3 course dinner planned for Rose and I. First things first in the morning, I dash off to Woollies and purchase ingredients and dash home. I get home and there is a message on the machine from Rose, I ring Rose, "DOn't you remember I'm going to Brisvegas today," she says. "No," I reply. "Bugger," I say to myself. Oh well, not to worry I will cook 3 course dinner for myself. SO off I trot and start to cook.
The planned menu was Ricotta and pancetta Cabbage Rolls, Baked Gnocchi Spanakopita with currants and Pine Nuts with Winter Salad, and Caramel Dumplings. All three dishes are extremely easy to make and twice as easy to eat.

Ricotta and Pancetta Cabbage Rolls

8 Chinese cabbage leaves
250g Ricotta
100g Feta, crumbled
1 tbs fine lemon zest
sea salt and cracked pepper
8 slices of pancetta
2 cups of chicken stock

Preheat oven to 180 deg.
Add cabbage leaves to a large boiling pan of water a few at a time for 1-2 minutes or until tender.
Drain well and pat dry.
Place ricotta, feta, lemon rind and S&P in a bowl and mix to combine.
Place a slice of pancetta on a cabbage leave and top with a spoonful of ricotta mixture.
Fold up the ends and roll to enclose the filling.
Place the rolls in an oven proof baking dish and pour over the chicken stock. Bake for 15 minutes or until mixture is cooked through.
Serve with pan juices.

Baked Gnocchi Spanakopita with Currants and Pine Nuts

500g Gnocci
1 bunch of silverbeet, stems trimmed leaves roughly chopped
80g unsalted butter
1/2 cup plain flour
1 2/3 cups of grated cheddar cheese
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tbs finely chopped dill
2 spring onions chopped
2 tbs currants
2 tbs toasted pine nuts

Pre heat oven 180 deg.
Cook gnocchi in saucepan and remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
Add silverbeet to the pan and blanch for 1-2 minutes. Drain then refresh under cold water.
Using same saucepan, melt butter on medium heat, then addd flour and cook stirring for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth. Add both cheeses and cook and whisk until smooth. Season well. Then stir through the dill and spring onion.
Spread half of the bechamel sauce in the base of a 2.5 litre baking dish, then top with the gnocchi and silverbeet. Sprinkle over the currants and half of the pine nuts.
Cover with the remaining bechamel and sprinkle over the remaining pine nuts and extra parmesan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Spoon onto plates and serve.

Caramel Dumplings

2 cups of plain flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp of baking powder
150g butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
double thick cream to serve
caramel sauce
40g butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 180deg.
To make the caramel sauce put all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat and and bring to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
Process the flour, sugar, baking powder and butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add the milk and vanilla with the motor running until a smooth dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface and divide into portions.
Place into 1 litre capacity ovenproof dish, pour over caramel sauce and bake for 30 minutes.
Serve with cream.

After cooking all of this food I was thinking that it was way too much for just little ol me so I invited my neighbour over for this feast. On all accounts Sandie enjoyed it. (As did I). Hope you enjoy it all as well.