rainy's beef burger bonanza

I sent this recipe to a friend a while ago as a contribution to her blog swallow it whole and was just reminded about it since she finally tried it for herself! ;)

So I thought I'd share it here to satisfy this week's hunger pangs. Nom nom

potayto... potaato

So I decided to try home made gnocchi the other night... it's a recipe that I found in my new Jamie Oliver book. The recipe was entitled 'lightest potato gnocchi'. Two and half hours later... we were chewing on something resembling dumplings in a tasty wild mushroom and sage sauce. Needless to say, things didn't turn out quite as I (we) expected. The sauce was delicious, but the gnocchi were rather heavy and dense.

I followed the recipe pretty much to a tee, except for the part where he mentions putting your potatoe into a 'ricer' to make mash. I don't have one, but used my blender instead, which just might have something to do with it..

Either way, it took quite some time and I'm not sure I'm willing to try it all again to find out!

On a more successful note - my BF tried his hand at home made custard* - 8 egg yolks, double cream and a lot of wrist action later... and we were both on the couch, a warm bowl of golden deliciousness in our hands, our eyes blissfully glazed over (*recipe also by good old JO). 

Two recipes I'm keen to try this week...

First, a healthy and yummy looking carrot and quinoa bread that I found on inhabitots.com. I started making quite a bit of my own bread last year, but have been out of practice over the past few months. I don't have a bread maker and always imagined it to be a difficult task - but it's definitely much easier than you think! I started with this simple recipe and then began experimenting and adding my own twists like rye flour, linseeds and raisins etc..

The second one that caught my eye may prove much worse for the waistline - Gordon Ramsey's blondies. Unfortunately you can't find the method online - you have to log in to channel 4 to view the series (S1e8). Otherwise, like I did, download the app on your smartphone for access to all of the details! Still, here is a similar recipe including the method to follow.

Nom nom nom...