potato, banana, potato

Although I've made a few bits and pieces over the past couple of days I'm saving up to blog the whole 'collection', if you will, over next week.
So, to tide you over, here's some Happy Culinary Events from the past few days.


First up, organic black potatoes. Look at the bright purple juice on the knife! My mum had bought them once before from the gourmet grocers behind my work. I was making a beef and mushroom stew, with french bread 'croutons' on top. Needed to bulk up the stew, but didn't want another pale carb. These fit the bill nicely, and (to my surprise, as I'd had them baked before) they imparted this really unusual smoky scent to the stew.


Next up, in my erratic attempt to consume less, I went to make banana bread rather than throw out some old bananas. They became muffins, because I don't own a loaf tin. And I'm really very pleased how they turned out, because I fudged the measurements a bit, and didn't have any cinnamon, and replaced the self-raising flour with flour + baking powder. They'd be better with walnuts in, though.


And finally, I made gnocchi! The moment when they actually rose to the surface in the boiling water was a true joy. I had fears of gluey masses, or disintegrating powders. They were a little bland, but for my first attempt at a potato-dumpling-dough they were certainly quite edible.