Very Nice Venetian Stew

Two posts in one day! You lucky people. I would have written about this tomorrow, but it was so delicious I had to share it with you now. For tea, Nigella Lawson's Venetian Stew- an amazing mixture of borlotti beans, pancetta, raisins and onion, over cheesy polenta. I was going to use the other half of the borlotti beans to make a salad of some sort, but I think I'll make this again next week. It was lovely to eat a nice, hot bowl of something while there's a thunder storm raging outside.  It's that good. I even managed to get some photos of my Le Crueset style pot. Can't get any better!

P.s. I did take some more photos, but, once again, technology has failed me...

Look how steamy...

...look how yummy!

Nice Noodles and Cool Curry!

Bad aliteration. But good food! For lunch yesterday, instead of the usual salad, soup or sandwich, I had noodles. I didn't use a particular recipe, just threw in some things I thought would be nice. So, I had: egg noodles, crunchy peanut butter, spring onion, stir fry sauce and chestnut mushrooms. Delicious. Only one pan to wash up as well, as I put the mushrooms in for a minute or two with the noodles. I've never cooked mushrooms like that before, but it worked quite well- they were soft, but still with a little bit of bite. As I have more noodles sitting in the cupboard, there might be some variations on this theme appearing quite soon!

There are spring onions in it, honest!

 

It doesn't look like much, but honestly, it was yummy.

 

And for tea, I made a Fruity Curry Sauce from the 'Essential Student Cookbook', and put it with some potatoes I wanted to use. It was a mix of normal baking potato and sweet. It was so filling, even though it was just one of each type of potato and the sauce! 

 As you may be able to see on the table, the bowl was so full it overflowed a little bit...

Pesto Photo!

So last night, after posting that I'd deleted the risotto photos before uploading them, I remembered something... It made two portions so there was some in the fridge! So I took a photo of that. It's not as good as the ones in the Le Crueset style pot, but it still look delicious. Well, I think it does. So without further ado, I give you, Easy Peasy Pesto Risotto!

Easy Peasy Pesto!

Tonight's tea was Pesto Risotto, a cut out recipe from Good Housekeeping. I absolutely LOVE pesto. Can't get enough of it. But, funnily enough, I haven't had it in ages, so tonight it tasted even better than usual. About now is where I'd upload the photos. I took three, in various stages of cooking it in my lovely Le Crueset style pot. But they didn't upload on to my laptop properly. And I'd already deleted them off my camera, so they didn't get uploaded again with the next lot. Just when I'd started getting photos on here again! Oh well, there'll be other meals I suppose. 'Til next time!

A Very Exciting Moment

Cooking tea today was very exciting. Other people probably wouldn't have found it so, but I did. Today, I got to cook with black beans! The supermarkets near my house have never stocked black beans, so sadly, we've always had to bypass recipes that used them. But now I've moved away to university, both the big supermarkets nearby stock them- along with all kinds of other exciting ingredients (but they're for another day!). I made a Black Bean Chilli, from a little student recipe book my mum sent me. It was very yummy, and I even had an indulgent teaspoon of creme fraiché on it! (Well, it was low-fat...!) It does look like more, but it went all lovely and melty when I put it one the warm chilli. If you come across a recipe containing black beans, this recipe also suggested red kidney beans or borlotti beans if you can't find them. I wish I'd have thought of them before...

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

We have photo! A bit of a faff, but still, we have photo! This was my tea tonight. I absolutely love gnocchi, but I've never made it from scratch before. It was really easy, but seems impressive, and it tasted amazing- even better. The sauce was just as easy- melted butter, lemon juice and garlic. It was a Sam Stern recipe- I've had the book for ages and I can't believe I've never tried it. The only thing I would say is to chop the garlic, not just crush it. As the only cooking it gets is while the butter melts, it's practically raw. Raw garlic is not good... If you like gnocchi, I would urge you to try making your own. Honestly, it's so easy, and quick. Sure, you have to bake the potato first, but you can just leave it in the oven and go do something else. Try it- I dare you...

Gone but hopefully not forgotten!

Just a quick update. Sadly, still no photo uploading. Sigh. I'decided to still tell you what I'm making though. You'll just have to use your imagination a little bit. Tonight, I'm making a pizza, base and everything. I'm doing a thin and crispy base, so no rising time, which is good if you're in a rush. Not that I am, I just like thin and crispy. I haven't decided whether to go with a 'white' pizza or to use tomato sauce. Either way, my other toppings will be pickled jalapenõ slices, grana padano cheese and fresh rosemary. So technically, it would be a green and white pizza... I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow, hopefully with a photo or two!