Veal With Peperonata & Gnocchi

Speaking of cooking, this is what we had for dinner last night and it was ROOLLY yummy!

Serves 5
Peperonata:
2 x 400 g tins crushed tomatoes
1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 long green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 red and 1 yellow capsicum, deseeded and finely sliced
1 tblspn red wine vinegar
2 tspns white sugar

Mix all the ingredients together, season with salt and pepper and add half the mixture to the slow cooker.

1/2 cup plain flour
5 even sized pieces of osso bucco
butter and olive oil for frying
150 ml white wine
625(ish) g packet gnocchi

Season flour with salt and pepper. Coat the meat in the flour and shake off the excess. Fry on medium high heat until well browned on both sides and place in an even layer over the peperonata in the slow cooker. Add the wine to the hot pan to deglaze, allow to boil for a minute or so then pour over the meat. Cover with the remaining peperonata.

Cook on high for approx 6 hours. When almost ready, cook gnocchi according to packet instructions. Remove meat carefully from sauce and keep warm. Add the gnocchi to the slow cooker to re-heat through in the sauce.

To serve, spoon the gnocchi and peperonata sauce into bowls, top with a piece of osso bucco and sprinkle with gremolata.

Gremolata:
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 crushed garlic clove
large handful of flat leaf parsley, very finely chopped

Mix all together in a small bowl.

Sauces for Silverside & Mash

What is the best sauce to serve with Silverside, mash and veges?
Merrin

White sauce with parsley, capers and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Donna

White sauce with a handful of cheese thrown in.
Janet

Use about a cup of the cooking liquid, mix a couple of tablespoons of flour and a teaspoon of dry mustard to a thin paste with a bit of water, whisk into the cooking liquid and bring to the boil. When thickened, add a good handful of chopped parsley. Mmm, mmm.
Brenda

I usually do a white sauce with onion.
Lynn

All those variations of white sauce are yummy - I do a white sauce usually too. If I'm feeling really extravagant I also make a sauce that Dene told us about a few years ago.
I just found the original email (from 2005!!) here is the recipe cut and pasted.

Balsamic Glaze
2/3 cup beef and tomato stock (I use beef stock plus a spoonful of tomato paste), 3 tablespoons plum jam, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and 3 teaspoons sugar. Combine in a small saucepan, and simmer until reduced and syrupy. I still make the white sauce as well, and it all tastes absolutely divine together. Serve with mash (add cheese and garlic) and honeyed carrots. Mmm Mmmmm!!
Whitney (and Dene)

I love a mustard sauce. White sauce with seeded and Dijon mustard added. (Melt butter add flour, cook for a couple of minutes, add milk. Stir over low heat until it thickens and boils. Add mustard to taste.)
Debbie Packham

Brenda's Honey Crackles

Recipe #1506 in the red cookbook

1 tblspn honey
2 tblspns sugar
3 tblspns butter
4-5 cups Corn Flakes

Place butter, honey & sugar in saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook for 1 min. Remove from heat and stir in cornflakes. Place in paper patty pans and bake in mod oven for 8-10 mins until slightly brown. When cold they will be very crisp.

Brenda's Lemonade Scones

2 1/2 cups SR flour 1/4 cup cream 1 cup lemonade few drops vanilla extract Mix all ingredients lightly together. Roll out and cut into rounds as per any other scone recipe. Place on a baking tray and brush tops with a little milk. Bake at 200 degrees for approx 15 mins.

Brenda's tuna

I don't have a recipe as such, but when I make a sort of tuna casserole thing I make a good quantity of cheese sauce (or omit the cheese for just plain white sauce) and stir through a big can of tuna in brine or springwater, a smallish can of creamed corn and a can of sliced mushrooms and a couple of cups of cooked rice. Use whatever seasonings you prefer (dried tarragon and lemon pepper are nice) to give it some extra flavour.

Put the lot in a deep casserole dish, sprinkle with brated cheese and breadcrumbs, dot with butter and bake until brown on top and heated through.

I only make this when there's virtually no fresh food left in the house! It's all cans and jars!

Brenda's chocolate cake that will fix anything

Boiled Chocolate Cake

2 cups (500ml) water
3 cups (660g) caster sugar
250g butter, chopped
1/3 cup (35g) cocoa
1 tspn bicarb soda
3 cups (450g) SR flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Grease a deep 24-25cm round cake tin or 2 x 20cm round cake tins and line bottom(s) with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, then increase heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat again and simmer uncovered 5 mins. Let cool for 10 mins.

You can either transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer or use a hand held mixer straight in the saucepan. Sift in the flour and add the eggs and beat until smooth. At this stage the mixture will be very runny - like chocolate sauce - but don't worry, this is correct.

Pour into tin(s) and bake for approx 50 mins to 1 hour. Test with a skewer in the centre, when cooked leave in tin(s) for about 10 mins before turning out. It's a good idea to run a knife around the edge between the cake and the tin before turning out.

You can ice it if you want, or sprinkle with icing sugar/drinking chocolate or just eat it as it is.

Yum! Enjoy!!

Brenda's Baked Steak

1 or 2 slices blade steak per person (depends on appetite and size of slices, I get my butcher to do it and make a decision when I've seen the bit of meat he's cutting up - sliced to about 1.5 cms thick)
few tablespoons plain flour
couple of teaspoons each white sugar and mustard powder
1 can tomato soup
2 tablespoons each worcestershire and soy sauce
approx 1/2 cup beef stock

Mix together the flour, sugar and mustard powder. Trim the slices of meat of as much fat as you can, and generously coat each in the flour mixture.
Place in either a deep casserole or the slow cooker. Mix together the soup, sauces and enough beef stock to cover the meat, and pour over. Either leave in the slow cooker for however long these things take (I think it was approx 6 hours on Sunday) or bake in the oven at 160 degrees for approx 2.5 hours.

Serve with mash and veggies.

Brenda's Sticky Date Pudding

serves around 12

275 g dried pitted dates, chopped roughly
450 ml water
1 tspn bicarb soda
100 g softened butter
275 g caster sugar
3 eggs
275 g SR flour
1 tspn vanilla extract

SAUCE
160 g brown sugar
250 ml cream
200 g butter

Preheat oven to 180. Grease a large rectangular ceramic baking dish.

Bring dates and water to boil in a small saucepan and let boil uncovered for about 5 mins. Mix in the bicarb soda and let cool.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Sift in the flour. Add the date mixture and vanilla extract and mix well.

Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake for approx 30 - 40 minutes or until a skewer in the centre comes out clean.

To make the sauce, put all ingredients in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, remove from heat and cool slightly.

Carefully pour the sauce over the cooked pudding. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Serve with cream or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!!!