Sunday, April 1, 2012

Hello to Wwoofers Ben and Sophie

Here for a year from France. Visited us at the garden on Saturday and got our seed trays started. 
The video is a low-pressure sprinkler we bought as the gravity feed from the tanks can't do much with a "normal" sprinkler. 
Ben and Sophie Neoned
Picasa has installed some new toys for playing with photos so I used a few.


Ben and Sophie



Ben and Sophie Heatmapped


Got lots of pumpkins to use up?

No.1 PUMPKIN GNOCCHI
RICH, FLUFFY, SHAPE AND FREEZE WELL, this quantity feeds 8 hungries

2 CUPS COOKED PUMPKIN
(BEST  WAY  TO MAKE IT IS TO  ROAST CHUNKS OF PUMPKIN UNTIL TOASTY BROWN,  SCRAPE OUT THE FLESH WHEN COOL. COOK GETS TO EAT THE DELICOUS CARAMELLY BROWN BITS)

2  CUPS DRAINED FULL-FAT  RICOTTA

2 CUPS  FINE  WHOLE- WHEAT  FLOUR 
PLUS PLENTY EXTRA FOR SHAPING AND ADJUSTMENT

1 CUP HARD GRATING CHEESE                                  
(PARMESAN OR SIMILAR)

1 CUP MEDIUM GRATING CHEESE                             
(PECORINO OR SIMILAR)

2 LARGE EGGS  - LIGHTLY BEATEN

SALT, PEPPER,  PINCH OF GROUND CHILLI

Cornmeal

Gently mix all ingredients until uniform, cover and refrigerate for I hour.
Generously flour your work surface.
Take a fistful of the sticky dough, flour generously and gently roll into a soft cylinder.
Stretch it into a long rope about a finger thick.
Cut the rope into gnocchi-sized pieces and put onto a tray covered in cornmeal.
To cook, bring a large pot (the more water the better here; you want gnocchi to cook as quickly as possible, while absorbing as little water as possible) of well-salted water to a boil.
Drop in batches of gnocchi, all at once, and replace cover on the pot. Once water returns to a boil, remove cover.
When gnocchi pop to the surface, about 1 – 2 minutes, they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon or small sieve.                                 
Serve hot with your favourite pasta sauce.
Fresh gnocchi should be cooked within a day of making.
Freeze by spreading on a tray so they don’t touch, when frozen seal into freezer bags for up to 6 months. Cook from frozen, do not thaw, take a minute or two longer to cook.
  (Got this recipe from an internet site and now can't remember where)
No.2 Pumpkin Gnocchi
(From "The New Pasta Cookbook" by Joanne Glynn and published by Bay Books. 
This book has had a thrashing over the last 15 years and is all marked and stained)

2 CUPS COOKED PUMPKIN
(BEST  WAY  TO MAKE IT IS TO  ROAST CHUNKS OF PUMPKIN UNTIL TOASTY BROWN,  SCRAPE OUT THE FLESH WHEN COOL. COOK GETS TO EAT THE DELICOUS CARAMELLY BROWN BITS) as for No.1 Gnocchi.

1/3 cup Semolina

1/2 to 2/3 cup Potato flour

Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg to taste

Put cooled pumpkin in a big bowl, add the seasonings and all of the Semolina plus enough of the Potato flour to make a soft dough.   Don't mess about with it too much, just get it all together into an elastic dough.
Let it rest for about 10 - 15 minutes.

Break off small pieces - size of a walnut - roll them into smooth-ish balls, press against a fork to get the ridges that hold sauces.

Dust them with Potato flour and rest them for another 10 - 15 minutes.

Drop in batches of gnocchi, all at once, and replace cover on the pot. Once water returns to a boil, remove cover.

When gnocchi pop to the surface, about 1 – 2 minutes, they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon or small sieve.  
                               
Serve hot with your favourite pasta sauce.

Decadently delicious is unsalted butter browned in a pan and poured over with grated Parmesan cheese on top.






The photos and videos from Family Fun Day March 24th 2012

Family Fun Day on Flickr 
Click on this link and you will go straight to them.