Slow braised beef and potato gnocchi

Ok so it's official, my menu is up and running at work.. And man have I got some recipes for you! 

Ok firstly it's autumn in Melbourne it's starting to get colder, my house has that slight scent of dust from turning  the ducted heating on so that can only

Mean one thing.

Slow braised hearty food and this one is a winner 

Potato gnocchi with slow braised beef 

In an ovenproof saucepan sauté 2 onions and 2 cloves of garlic  diced roughly. 

Then add 300gr died speck or pancetta 

2 diced carrots and 3 celery sticks and sauté until golden.

then add 500 gr of diced beef and brown.

Now the fun part...,

Deglaze the pan with 1 bottle of red wine. 

Then fill up with beef stock until covered.

Cover the mix with a lid or foil.

Place in a preheated oven at 160deg for 2.5hrs.

When it comes out the beef starts falling apart, the onions are sweet and the sauce is reduced to a delishious jus that can only be described as liquid gold!

Serve on a bed of freshly blanched  good quality or homemade gnocchi.

Garnish with some Regianno parmigiano

Then put your feet up with an extra glass of red and enjoy.

Comfort food at its best!!

Xx

Exciting News

Hi guys I know it's been a while but life gets in the way you know  but I'm pleased to announce that I am now a "head chef"! 

(Moment for Applause) lol 

It's pretty exciting and pretty nerve-racking at the same time  I mean I've done it all before but now..all that pressure of stuffing up or if something goes wrong but on an upside finally getting all the recognition for what you've done.

I finally have a project I can see my teeth into it from creating menus to plating up,to making sure the brides and grooms are happy( and that is a tough task to please a bride).

my first task as head chef I did what any other would do and go into the kitchen and striped it! Whether it was already clean or not I had my standards.

Now that my kitchen was in place the next thing I wanted to do was create a menu that brought back good old-fashioned homestyle cooking but turned it into a fine dining experience.

This is going to be my challenge.

The menu is the consist of 10 of each entree, main and desert items along with a cocktail menu. 

I am due to have my first food tasting night this Friday where I cook every item on my menu and put it on display for the brides and grooms to judge.

Stay posted for pictures of this event