Gnoc, Gnoc, Gnocching on heaven’s door

The other night, I made fabulous gnocchi. It gnocked my socks off in fact and got me thinking.

I’ve cooked enthusiastically for years, but don’t have a healthy stock of trusty recipes I can call on when inspiration is low. The gnocchi changed all that. I’m on a mission. A double headed hydra of a mission to transcribe the impromptu creations that often grace my crockery and ferret out appealing recipes already documented by food gurus and food lovers, try them out and record the goodies.

Gnocchi, is my first goodie. My dalliance into the world of intentional recipe recording starts with a recipe with 3 ingredients from a book put together by the Catholic Diocese of Port Elizabeth, called Bish’s Dishes. I’m pretty sure Jamie and Nigella have autographed copies. A present from my mom, the book provides a comforting spiritual endorsement of Mumrez Kahn’s lamb and spinach curry, 2 variations of butternut soup, Lorna’s easy fish bake and of course, the catalytic gnocchi.

A seductive Italian native that takes the form of an innocent dumpling, gnocchi can be made from a variety of starches, including potato, semolina, wheat flour and bread crumbs. Bish’s Dishes advised combining potato, flour and egg, so that’s what I did. My sacred gnocchi turned out rather well with my guests making appreciative noises and me waiving my hands in modest protestation.

So emboldened was I by my gnocchi success, that I mentioned it to award winning chef, Nic van Wyk, during a visit to Kleine Zalze this week. It turns out that my gnocchi might have been even more delicious if I had baked the potatoes in the oven and scooped out the insides for mash. “What you want is floury, dry potato, so the less contact it has with water, the better,” says Nic. Best listen to the man whose porcini risotto sees rice reaching enlightenment.

I paired my slightly less than enlightened gnocchi with a mélange of roasted onions, shallots, bacon, tomatoes, olives and feta. Burnt butter and parmesan, pesto and bolognaise also work well. Born up a tree!!

Gnocchi
1 kg potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed
300g flour
1 egg

Method
Mash potatoes and add flour
Add egg and gntle work through with fingers
Roll into snakes, then cut snakes into cubes
Drop into boiling salted water
They will sink, when they rise to the top they are ready.
Scoop into a large shallow dish and serve with your choice of sauce and parmesan,
Serves 6.

Angelo Dashwood – Bish’s Dishes - Catholic Diocese of Port Elizabeth Recipe Book

Caramalised onion and roasted bacon topping
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes.

Packet of back bacon cut into 2cm strips
125g punnet of mushrooms
250 punnet of rosa tomatoes (can also use 4 large tomatoes cut into 8 wedges each)
3 large onions peeled and cut into 8 wedges(or 9 pickling onions peeled)
4 shallots peeled and cut into wedges.
3 wheels of feta, cubed
5 small cloves of garlic, peeled
1 packet of black mission olives, pitted and halved.
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Preheat the oven to 200
Spread the onion, shallots, garlic and bacon over a greased roasting tray.
Sprinkle with olive oil, moving the tray contents around until lightly coated in oil.
Roast for 20 minutes
Remove from oven, sprinkle with sugar and add the tomatoes and mushrooms, mix tray contents together gently to distribute the sugar.
Roast for another 20 minutes, or until bacon slightly crispy and onions a light brown.
Add the feta and olives and roast for a further 5 minutes or until feta begins to melt. .
Remove from oven and serve over pasta or gnocchi.
Serves 6

Jacqui Latimer impromtu recipe

Salad Daze are the best daze …

When I popped in to Salad Daze for lunch this week during a visit to East London, I was delighted by food bursting with fresh flavours and two women having a lot of fun doing what they love. Jo and Alison started the quaint eatery where pink is queen and it works, in March last year and things have been buzzing ever since.

Conceptualized around a salad bar boasting only the freshest ingredients and salads made with flare, Salad Daze combines great food, feel good décor and friendly service. Nutty, couscous and roasted vegetables share the salad table with among others, fresh salad leaves, coriander spiked yoghurty mushrooms and tangy mustard potato salad.

Don’t be put off if you’re not into the rabbit food. Wraps of thai fillet and coronation chicken, generous open sandwiches, quiches and hearty pastas ensure that there’s a dream meal here for the fussiest eater. I tucked into the thai fillet wrap, served with a shot glass of spicey vinaigrette dressing and a selection from the salad table. Fragrant, wholesome and delicious. There is no pretension here, just a sense of reveling in nature’s bounty and an enthusiasm for preparing good food, beautifully presented.

“I try and source local ingredients as much as possible,” says Jo. “We have a herb garden out front and are very excited about one of our local producers just been certified organic.” Jo and Alison are serious about environmental responsibly and recycle wherever possible. This progressive bent also permeates their attitude to enlightening their staff and customers about “unusual” ingredients in this erstwhile culinary sleepy hollow in the Eastern Cape. “I have customers complaining about the peppery leaf in their salad,” says Alison of a rocket epiphany. “I do blind herb tastings with my staff. They love it! And customers seem to keep coming back for more.”

The positive energy of Salad Daze is infectious and never more so than when you’re indulging in their tea time treats and desserts. My mother swears the Berry Pavolva has medicinal properties. With its homemade strawberry and lemon yoghurt ice-creams, fresh berries and berry coulis piled on a meringue drizzled in butterscotch, it’s just what the doctor ordered. The chocolate brownie crammed with nuts and rum and served with homemade orange ice-cream is another must-nibble as are the gorgeous cupcakes smothered in pastel icing and dusted with silver balls and little pink and red hearts.

I leave Salad Daze after stocking up at their deli, which Alison promises will be even more prolific with the addition of their soon-to-be-released signature deli range. I think the world would be a better place if we were all a bit more free and easy with the silver balls and miniature icing hearts.