Everyday Simple Cooking: Baked Gnocchi with Mushroom and Spinach

Monday, June 22, 2009

Baked Gnocchi with Mushroom and Spinach

Ingredients
300g Mushrooms (sliced)
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1 Clove Garlic (thinly chopped)
200g Spinach
2 Tablespoons Creme Fraiche
75g Cheddar Cheese (grated)
A Splash of Oil
1 Portion of Gnocchi (check the 20th June this year for how to make and only use 3/4's of the amounts used)

Equipment
1 Large Pan Boiling Salted Water
1 Frying Pan
1 Spatula
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Ovenproof Dish

The Good Bit

Preheat your oven too 180c 350f gas 4, Fry Your onion and garlic together in your frying pan in a splash of oil for about 5 minutes then add in the mushrooms and fry for another 2minutes, next toss in the gnocchi, spinach, creme fraiche and half of the grated cheese and stir well.
Pour this into your ovenproof dish and top with the remaining cheese, then place in the oven for about 17 minutes, remove and serve.

Serves 4

Tips

1:- A Sharp knife is a must, when your knife is blunt you risk hacking and sawing at what you are cutting, you are not in control then and risk cutting yourself, a sharp knife will glide through anything giving you the control you want to cut things as fine as possible leaving your fingers intact.

2:- A lot of these recipes have room for a little garlic, if you come across a recipe that uses garlic you can always not use it, as i rarely do. However it does bring out flavour in food so don't be afraid to try it, i add 1-2 cloves (finely chopped) when I'm frying off my onion, which is one of the first things i do in most recipes

3:-To cut an onion finely, firstly chop off the stalk end and peel all the skin off, then with this flat section on your chopping board, cut in half from the root end down, place the half flat on your chopping board with the root end away from you, cut from right to left leaving 1/2cm from the end of the onion on each cut, turn the onion round with the root end pointing left and slice the onion as fine as you want from right to left again but cutting all the way through this time, repeat for the other half. If i can figure out how to do a video of this i'll whack it on the site.

4:-Don't be afraid to experiment, here in France they are not big on having all the vegetables available to buy all year round like they are in England, some of you may have noticed that in some of my pictures it's clear I've not used the ingredients I've given you, they are for guidelines only, if you don't like something take it out and substitute with something else.

5:-To make perfect rice every time just follow this simple guide, Firstly in a handy kitchen implement (glass,mug or something similar) weigh 125g of rice, then whenever you do rice use this same implement to measure your rice (62.g is 1 portion) now in a medium sized sauce pan (6in-10in) 2/3rds fill with water and add a sprinkle of salt for each portion of rice. Boil the water, then as it is boiling stir it until you have a whirlpool, tip in your rice steadily (the whirlpool will stop the water boiling over) keep the heat fairly high to maintain a good boil, the movement in the pan should stop the rice from sticking, you may just have to watch the first minute or so whilst the water gets back to boiling but then you can leave it whilst you do the rest of the cooking, cook to packet instructions (10-15 for white rice, brown can be a little longer) Test it by eating a little from a teaspoon, if it's still a little hard boil for longer. Pour the rice into a colander then wash with a kettle full of boiling water, hey presto perfect rice

6:-When making meringue, use a glass bowl as plastic bowls can harbor oil residue which will stop your egg whites from getting stiff, also a balloon whisk is a very good tool for whisking, I find i can whisk an egg white to stiff peaks in less than 30 seconds like this.

7:-If you are making Ice Cream or any Frozen Dessert, I can highly recommend an ice cream maker, you get smoother ice cream without the ice crystals you get if you try to freeze and keep whisking your mixture every hour or so, I've been told my vanilla ice cream is the best people have tasted!!!

Weight Loss Tips

1:- Eat what you want, but eat it in the right proportions and at the right times of day!! (bet you didn't expect to hear that)
2:- Ok, you are going to have to cut in half the sugar in your hot drinks, same as the level of milk you have (use half fat not full)
3:-Have a filling breakfast (my favourite is poridge, i add fruit and nuts to it on different days of the week for variety, just not banana) 1 cup of coffee/tea with half your sugar and half fat milk
4:-Have a fruit snack in the morning, (apples, pears, tangerines, currants, apricots) just a hand sized portion to keep you going (leave that chocolate bar or packet of crisps alone) 1 glass of water
5:-Have Lunch, I love chunky soups with 2 slices of bread, you can have a sandwich, mainly salad if you can, although meat/fish is fine, try to avoid butter and mayonnaise, use an olive oil spread instead, and also try not to have to much bread, if you can use a wholegrain loaf. Another Glass of water
6:-Get that afternoon snack in, fruit again is good, or if you want, try some hazel nuts or pine nuts, if you must have a brew to get you through the afternoon at work, now's the time, if you can do with water, thats better.
7:-Eveneing meal, there are lots of recipes on this site that are healthy, and you can convert those that aren't without to much trouble. The main thing to rememeber, use (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil, 1/2 your plate should be vegetables, 1/4 (or the size of your palm) should be your meat/poultry/fish and the last 1/4 should be your Carbs in the form of either rice/pasta/boiled potatoes. You can have a glass of wine, or water.
8:-If you stick to the above you will loose weight, women need 2000-2500 calories a day, men need another 1000, so now it's upto you, have a look at the calories you are consuming by sticking to the above routine, you may find room for a naughty snack now and then!! (i do on a regular basis, because i watch what i eat all day)
9:-Excercise, you cant avoid it, while you will get some results with the above, doing a little excercise will help no end (if you eat under the required calories everyday, then when you do some form of excercise your body will have to burn fat to give you the energy)
10:-Please be carefull when starting any kind of diet, the above is just a guide line, i follow it and have twice lost weight when i wanted to (i put on weight when i stopped and started going to the chippy everyday and doing no excercise, i'm now back at my desired weight and in the shape of my life)

Everyday Simple Cooking

Monday, June 22, 2009

Baked Gnocchi with Mushroom and Spinach

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Monday, June 22, 2009

Baked Gnocchi with Mushroom and Spinach

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