Rolling Gnocchi till 2am - Trials and Tribulations of a market stall

Merry Christmas Everyone!

So it's Christmas holidays, can you believe it? Where did this year go? 

It comes to this point of the year when we all reflect on what we've done, how well we've done it, and what could we have done better. - I know I sure have! 

At the beginning of this year, all I wanted was to start my own food business. I didn't have answers to all the 5w's (who, what, where, when, why?) . I just had a dream, and slowly following some #businessbabysteps  I managed to set myself a goal and actually bite the bullet and "just bloody do it".

Yes, I've invested a lot of time & money into it. Yes, so far the return has not been as great as I had hoped, however I learnt some valuable lessons and I realised I have more support than I originally thought.

Tried, Tested & Smiling!

In a matter of one weekend this December I ran my first & second market stalls and completed my first paid catering job.  If your reading this blog, I am confident by now you know my speciality cuisine is modern Italian. However if this is new to you, Welcome! (and read on) 

The past few month's I have been branching out and attending some networking events where I have been working on my "Elevator Pitch" and now can sum this up to be:

I cook using traditional Italian techniques my Nonna taught me, with 21st century flavour combinations. Therefore making heavy and unhealthy Italian food lighter and easier to digest. - The end goal being, so you can fit more in!

Following this mantra, my menu for the market stalls naturally followed this brief. From my last post, you would have seen how I have decided Gnocchi to be my signature dish. When I made this declaration, I was yet to spend over 12 hours preparing gnocchi for my two market stalls and came to the realisation, that this was a lot of hard work and pressure for one person, when it's not guaranteed to sell. 

That said, I persevered, and still managed to get out there and promote my brand and the deliciousness of the roasted thyme and pumpkin Gnocchi. On both days we served up my hand rolled balls of delight with a traditional tomato based sauce or the alternative of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh spinach, both with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. 

It was rather interesting to observe people and customers at both stalls. Their questions and the process of it all, identifying what was left out, what needed to change and any gaps that appeared. 

Without realising or it being intentional my offer is completely vegetarian and on request, I was even able to provide a Vegan option, to not one but two customers. Something I admit I hadn't even thought of before or even tailored my offer to accommodate for.

Camille & I at Deptford Christmas Market 

In the end it wasn't the actually offer that was the problem from the two market stall events, it was the footfall. So although Stu helped me prep over 70 portions of gnocchi and  Camille played an integral part in letting me freak out and calm down on day 1 (thank you Camille) we came to realise no matter how meticulous the planning for the two days was. If there are no people, there is no sales. It was a harsh lesson, however it was a lesson, especially on day 2 where we sold 5 portions.

However from the sales we did have, and the feedback from real live customers ( not friends and family) the flavour is there and a few tweaks Cassie's Kitchen will be in full swing.

Stu and the Stall at Hackney Markets

Some of the more ironic lessons from the weekend were, how to use a soup kettle and the best way to pack an Ice-Box. Both things you can't pre-plan for.

One more important thing I learnt, was never under estimate yourself. 

For the catering job I did I managed to make 65 Aranncini balls stuffed with mozzarella & sun-dried tomatoes. Then 150 portions of Fritelli (Northern Italian mini fruitcakes) all by myself.

All of which were cooked, rolled, cooled, packed, labelled and delivered in 9 hours. After talking with my "flavour consultants" aka Mum & Dad. They agreed it would usually be a 2 person all day job. With that in mind and after we ate the samples the following day I had the reassurance I needed.

You should have seen me, cooking Fritelli in one hand and searing the Aranncini balls in the other. - It was intense, I felt like a machine. ( The deep house pumping in the background definitely helped).

So onto my next big task, one I am more suited for after doing a Christmas Sunday Roast for 11 people is a Supper Club this January. It would be great to get support from this venture and if you know of any one who would be interested make sure to share the love and send them this link to secure tickets: 

http://www.meetup.com/Food-Lovers-in-London/events/219360951/

The menu will be as follows;

On arrival

Glass of Prosecco (naturally what else would I serve?)

Appetiser

Hand rolled Sun-Dried Tomato Aranccini Balls

Starters

Goats Curve Brushetta with peas, parsley and lemon

Main

Signature Roasted Roasted Pumpkin Gnocchi baked in a pink creamy sauce

Dessert

Salted Chocolate, Ricotta Mini pies

Coffee & Departure

Fritelli 

If you are up for an experience, and would like to see me make the gnocchi from scratch in front of you, make sure to secure tix and come down and try some Gnocchi south of the River. 

Tickets need to be bought in advance so make sure to book! 

I love to gnocchi, hahaha I love to gnocchi and sing!

I believe my calling is gnocchi, ( and drinking lot’s of prosecco) I make potato gnocchi, spinach gnocchi, pumpkin gnocchi and beetroot gnocchi. I use the traditional methods my Nonna taught me and use 21^st century flavour combinations to give the dishes the WOW factor that they deserve.

Beetroot Gnocchi

I love big portions, and I love small portions

I love red sauces and I love white sauces

I love to roll them, chop them and boil them until they float

I love to pour the sauce on them and gobble them up before they go cold

The thing I love more than anything else is watching others smile while they enjoy them.

Now that I have your attention and you know how much I love Gnocchi.  I will let you know that I won't be putting my recipes up here as this is my "thing" and I want to make a business out of it! So if you have some hints and tips or would like to help me on this adventure get in touch! I'll even cook for you if you do!

Artichoke & Pumpkin Gnocchi

However what I can tell you, is that I recently made Banana and Avocado muffins, and what I learnt was no matter how many recipes are listed on google – this is a terrible idea.

The intrigue was enough for me, but use this as a warning – it’s kinda gross.

So moving onto something more on trend, Kale is the super food of the hour. Recently I bought a packet of the new craze Kale chips/crisps (depending on where you live) at a well-known sandwich shop chain in London.  They are delicious and are super easy and quick to make at home, so here is a DIY recipe so you can do it yourself.

1 bag of curly Kale

¼ cup of olive oil

Sea salt

Pre Heat oven to 150 degrees C

Chop up Kale and remove spine from leaves, chopping the Kale into large pieces. *Remember the size will decrease by 60-70% once the leaf becomes dehydrated so don’t make this too small otherwise it will be hard to pick up when it comes time to eat them!

Place evenly on a flat baking tray and drizzle olive oil all over

Sprinkle sea salt across all of the Kale evenly

Place in the oven on the top shelf for 15 minutes

At 5 minutes remove the tray from the oven. You will see that the Kale has started to dry out and has shrunk in size. Lightly drizzle more olive oil and a sprinkle more salt then use a spoon to mix through.

Place back in the oven on the middle shelf for a further 10 minutes.

Remove before the leaves turn brown and set aside to cool, and add more salt because you can.

Also some fun news is that I am part of the Lidl UK campaign that is running in stores nationwide, so if you see a picture of me and my tweet - get in touch. 

Much Love

Cassie's Kitchen xx

Click here for my Facebook page to find out what else I've been up to.

Out Comes the Crisps

In goes the Kale

 

Cassies Kitchen on a whisky and culinary tour in the highlands and Aberdeenshire in Scotland.

This wee bonnie lass went up to Scotland on the weekend past for our friends Morven & Christopher's wedding in Aberdeenshire.  We have had some amazing tour guides teaching us about William Wallace, whisky export during prohibition, offshore mining and general everyday life in Scotland.   

Naturally whilst Cassie's Kitchen has been up North and on tour, I've tried a range of local dishes and experienced including eating tatties, stovies, butteries, haggis, black pudding, Scottish Salmon and went to the (voted) no 1 chipper in the UK for the freshest haddock ever.

To work off all the food, I've climbed in Castles walked through a tropical forest and a desert of cactus's. Witnessed a humanist wedding listened to the bag pipes, sampled true Scottish whiskies and danced Ceilidh dances. I've learnt about Kilts, sporrans, how to warm up bag pipes, what's included in survival training in the Atlantic Ocean and some new phrases like "Gie's a Boise!" &  "Fou'syerdouse?" (Give us a cuddle /how are you?)

Overall it's been an exciting few days.  I have also learned that the Scottish are fond of their traditional dishes, and have a proud history. Whilst taking all of this on board, I've also been instructed how to distinguish between Aberdeenian and Glasvegian. ( As I am sure your realising now, it's been a busy few days)

Whilst up north we visited the iconic Glenfiddich whiskey distillery in the highlands which has been family run since 1886. Our friend Dave played tour guide and we sampled a 12yo, 15yo, and 18yo malt whiskey.

Did you know the reason you smell whiskey ( and apparently wine) is be because the nose can smell 32 aromas but can only taste 4 or 5. - I didn't either!

I've also been super busy with Cassie's Kitchen, my new domain name is set up! www.cassies.kitchen (yep .kitchen not .com) and I'm slowly making some headway with packaging options and branding.  I've contact a few market stalls and am working toward running a pop up in London this November - dates TBC, watch this space.

I've master my signature dishes, and mapped out my offer. It will be traditional Italian methods meets 21st century flavour combinations. I will be putting a twist on gnocchi, sauces and accompanying sides, I like to describe my dishes as delicious "roundish foods" as Arancini is also on the menu.

Not only is Cassie's Kitchen moving full steam ahead, I've also been playing with some new flavour combinations on the home front. Recently I whipped up an Avocado & Chocolate mousse for sweets mid week.

To catch up on everything that has been happening make sure to click here and follow me to keep up to date movements on whats been cooking.

A rough recipe outline below for you:

1/2 large mashed Avocado
80 grams of chocolate (I used Spanish chocolate, you could use milk cooking chocolate)
1 teaspoon of honey
1 teaspoon of icing sugar
2 tablespoons of milk (coconut will work also)
Sprinkle of coca powder

Melt the chocolate on the stove and mix into the above ingredients with a wooden spoon.
Once folded in, use a hand mixer until mixture thickens and is more a consistent texture.
Poor into serving cups and place in the fridge for 1 hour or freezer for 10 minutes.

For an extra "crunch" I suggest smashing up some biscuits (digestive or malt) and place in the bottom of the cups.


Ps: Check out how cute these kitchens are at George/Asda! - Love it
Cassie's Kitchen
 

Back to Basics -Chicken in red sauce a La' Nonna

As I write this I am currently sitting on the train singing to myself (in my head of course) the lyrics of "sending out an SOS…. message in a bo-tt-le". I just saw a street performance by a band, with a full drum set and guitars at Charing Cross, and they were great! This is one of the reasons why I love London, people can just do their thing anywhere and anyway they want too and it's part of the norm. 

As I repetitively sing S.O.S it's got me thinking, I know something that's in need of some help, and that's my blog. Working in digital, you would  hope I would practice what at I preach on my now personal sites. I can almost hear myself say "fresh is best" when it comes to content. So I'm feeling rather guilty about my blog at the moment.  Plus I'm not sure why, but every-time I say or hear "fresh is best" I automatically think of fish. 

So as I have come to realise living in London, naturally leads to a busy lifestyle. Finding time to exercise, socialise, and cook homemade dishes with a full time job and a decent commute everyday can be a tad challenging. Even for an over organised and sporadic person like myself.  So today I'm going to dedicate my blog to back to basics and the simple stuff. 

Now lets talk food, that's what you are here for isn't it? If you following me on my various social platforms, you would have seen my banana muffins, with butterscotch pieces. I had so many bananas going brown I cooked up loads of them and froze half so we could eat them at a later date with clotted cream. - Just in case you wanted to know.. 

So I won't back track with stories and tales of adventures past in the last month or so, I'll keep it #fresh. 

Last week we went down for a delicious meal in #Greenwich at the Cutty Sark pub which belongs to the Young’s pubs estate. 

We started the meal with the special; ½ dozen of fresh oysters with Spanish onion and red wine vinegar dressing  ( totally looking forward to recreating this as it was delicious) and a very tasty gin cured salmon on buttermilk pancakes with toasted juniper berries and fennel salad.
Followed by the dressed Devon crab and salmon fish cake served on spinach with hollandaise sauce and a poached egg. I know what your thinking already.. #alittlebitfancy To keep it short, the food was great, the view was wonderful and I love seafood- possibly as much as I do cheese.

We have been super lucky for a foodie adventures this week and secured free tickets to
Feast food festival. We sampled the best cheese toastie from the Cheese Truck, pork lion in bbq sauce with spring onion from contemporary British restaurant the Aqua Shard, then a spicy satay chicken dish from Rosa’s Thai Café.

Amongst other things not only was the food delicious we sampled some of the Meantime beers, tasted the delicious and spicy Firestarter Whisky, sampled the  Pontoon cocktails sachets on lanyards. Then finished the night at the Peroni bar drinking.., yep you got me Peronis. Overall the best way to spend a Saturday. This wasn't our first Feast and definitely not our last, I am already looking forward to the next one closer to Christmas.

So I mentioned back to basics earlier, and this is where we take all the trimmings and glamours food and go back to simpler time, a simpler time perhaps with an Italian nostalgia. My Nonna always called the dish I have in mind peasant food, perhaps because it's simple in flavor and simple to make. I guess peasants in Italy would eat it in the olden days. However  that being said or typed I should say, I love this dish and would rather eat it all the time just because it tastes good, not just because it's cheap and easy to make.

I also think it's more of a wholesome meal best enjoyed on a lazy Sunday.  So what's this dish called you wonder? It's chicken in red sauce. Not a hard one to remember, amongst the two core ingredients in the name of the dish you can also find fresh basil, garlic and spring onions (or brown onion, depending on what's in the cupboard) served on mash. I love this dish as it reminds me of sitting around my Nonna’s kitchen with all the family when I was a little girl. Little meaning like under 8.

One of the best things, well two actually is when cooked for long enough the chicken falls off the bone while you are eating,  it’s simple to make and always delivers a smile to my face.  ( Well that’s three good reasons!)

With the chicken I prefer to cook this slowly, as this is the key to making the meat juicy and tender so it falls off the bone. To start up, dice all the ingredients and cook off the onion and garlic in olive oil and pepper corns in a medium to large size pot. Once these have started to turn golden place the chicken in and add the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir, put on an a medium heat for 1 hour then on low for an addition 1-2 hours. I find that when cooking this dish you will need to check on it and give it a stir occasionally. If you feel the sauce is evaporating add some water at your own discretion. 

What you will need if you want to try this as well.

4-5 chicken drumsticks, thighs  

8 cherry tomatoes or 1-2 tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic  

3 spring onions

3 springs of fresh basil

2 table spoons of tomato paste

2 cups of crushed tomatoes 

1 chicken stock cube

Pepper and Sea Salt for seasoning

If I need to tell you how to make mash, you are reading the wrong blog, but just in case you need potatoes, butter milk and seasoning. I think YouTube will have a few options if you really get stuck!

Well that’s it for me for tonight, I am off to the supermarket to buy something to make for dinner. 

Something with rice I think. 

Make sure to follow my social feeds if you want to see what I am up to more regularly. Click here for my Facebook page

Good night from #cassieskitchen

Cass x

Belgium, Stockholm, Cassis = Biers, Picnic's, and Rosé

Travel.

I like to travel, and I would consider myself well travelled if you were to ask me.
I have lots of stamps in my passport, I have seen and done some fun, crazy, dangerous, and culture shocking, things.

I have climbed forgotten temples, eaten interesting street food, lived with foreign families and swam with whales. I've ridden motorbikes on sand dunes, partied in foreign countries and made friends from all around the world. One of the things I love most about travelling is eating different cuisines and sampling the local delicacies (and the not so delicacies). My other favourite thing is meeting new people along the way, especially those who take the time to speak with you even if there is a language barrier.

So what worldly experiences can I talk about in my discoveries of Europe? This Easter we went to Belgium and ate molasses & frits while sampling a varied range of Belgium biers and delicious handmade chocolates. We went to this fun little bar in Bruge called De Zandloper, FYI this place was fantastic and very accommodating to the discerned ale connoisseurs (which was us). We we're given an iPad with the brews on tap so we could read over the tasting notes before selecting our chosen biers. Once we were settled in we grabbed a pack of coasters to play with, and let the a tab grow as we lulled the afternoon away making our way down the list of Belgium biers.

To be fair, I can't remember to much of Belgium, I know I had a great time and drank lots of beer and ate lots of chocolates. Not much  else we really wanted to do, so after such a great weekend away in Belgium we decided that we would book out next escape with no delay. We both selected three countries placed the new holiday possibilities in the biscuit tin and pulled the venues out until we got to the last one, and the winner was announced as Sweden!

In my opinion, Stockholm is the city of sunshine and picnics. ( and expensive bills) We had superb weather, marvellous views of the canals and yachts and overall such a great time. We had some really tasty reindeer at a restaurant called the Pelikan, but my favourite meal would have been the picnic we prepared and ate on Langholmen island.


The island is an old prison and sits in the middle of a large harbour, we sourced our goodies at the Ostermalm Saluhall market. After perusing around the stalls and ogling all of the delicious food, we purchased a delicious rice fed chicken, that was seasoned in salt & herbs, this was absolutely delicious. By far this is the best chicken I have eaten, the meat was so tender and juicy. We accompanied this with soft chèvre, and fresh strawberries for our dessert.

Once the late morning had  started to settle down, we decided we would make our way onto the back of a premium jetty bar with the locals and enjoy the sunshine and some more Rosé and watch the sun go down over the canal.


I tell you what, if you ever go to Sweden, have a picnic on the water in the sunshine, it was such a beautiful way to spend the afternoon in Stockholm. Plus we had already been to the ABBA museum, so it was rude not too!

My next adventure was to the South of France, I went to Marseilles and the beautiful coastal town of Cassis. Now our first meal in France was the most surprising... a pizza! Apparently that is what Marseilles is famous for, who would have known? I was personally thinking wtf? That's Italian! but nonetheless we ordered the quattro formage and we were not disappointed, it was even better when washed down with a couple bottles of rose from the Provence.

While in Cassis, Helen and I enjoyed the spoils of the local life, we sunbathed at place de bestouan ( the best beach) ate fresh seafood at Bada restaurant on the Cote d'Azur and enjoyed the crystal blue water. We also enjoyed some delicious salmon baked in almond milk, a raw salmon steak fried in teriyaki sauce and the cutest mozzarella ball I have ever scene. Not only was the food, the definition of the word cuisine, the wine and the cocktails were deadly delicious. We were even lucky to be given some complimentary Creme de Cassis after one of our meals. I love the South of France, and I look forward to going back there with Stu and relaxing after a hard day of doing nothing but eating cheese and drinking quality wines.  

It would have been a little bit mean of me if I hadn't bought back a present for Stu after all the spoils of the trip, so it seemed only fair that I bring back a gift summarising the adventure. I managed to locate   some nougat and chocolate chip biscuits, some very tasty local wine and some cheesy magnets for the fridge! ( The wine is kinda for the both of us but, we will let him think its just for him)

So, after a few whirlwind weeks and lots of sunshine, I am back in London planning my next adventure. Who knows where I will go..  maybe Morocco? ;) ( Fingers crossed)

So that's it for me tonight, make sure to follow my Facebook page for the rest of the pictures from the trip, it's also a great way to keep up to date with my everyday foodie travels.

Much Love #cassieskitchen on tour
Good night x

Rostalicious, ma gravy is delicious.

Yeh I know, it's been a while.

Although the actual blogging part of my quest to grow #cassieskitchen to something more tangible, has kind of slowed down, the want and love of cooking and sharing my culinary prowl-essence (also known as vanity) has still been active and growing stronger everyday. I have been sourcing my produce from local suppliers and travelling around London to find the best yummy goodies I can to aid in creating a  new flavour.

 

I have been very active on my "Sunday roast" attempts over the past 6 months with my first successful pork roast with crackling!  (1/5 aren’t too bad of odds)

In not such a giant fail but close too, I did learn during my first "crackling" experience that even though I think whole meal self raising flour should be a fine substitute for plain white flour when attempting to make Yorkshire puddings, it isn't. So don't try it unless you enjoy eating play-dough.

Although the "pud" as it is referred to in the UK was pitiable, I did hit the jackpot with the side.  Sliced organic rainbow carrots, zucchini, red onion and potatoes arrange very so elegantly in a ceramic dish with a creamy Stilton sauce. YUMMMMY

Previously my roasts have varied attempts on fail. One week I forgot to put foil over the top and it was like trying to eat some very tough rubber. Another week I attempted a duck; to my disappointment he was still very very undercooked. I once even thought I very clever cooking the meat above a cooling tray of onions that would aid in creating a nice gravy flavor. Yet again RAW even though it had been cooking for a good 2 and half hours, I ended up slicing it up and cooking it in smaller pieces because I was hungry.

To try something a little different and I needed an ego boost after serving still oinking meat the week earlier. I plated up a pescatarian “ cooked” dinner of Chili crab for a Sunday roast. Now this recipe is delicious I have already cooked it once before click here to find out what went in the pot.

So it's Saturday again I'm thinking yep, Sunday roast tomorrow. Stuart & I head down to Brockley market to source some local produce in the town down the road.

We pick up a giant bag of kale, (it's a super food didn't you hear) some more rainbow carrots, big beetroots and some garlic leaves (delicious) and edible flowers. Yes you see correctly, edible flowers, I tell you what that may not be so flavorsome as garlic leaves, but they look pretty once served. Check out the Chicken stuffed with Chroizo, and served with purple broccoli above.;)

So we have the veg in our recycled hessian bag, looking like the rest of the foodie locals and now it's time to hunt down some meat. We spot a delicious rack of lamb that just looks like it will be as delicious and we think. We have this very bad tendency called we see, we buy, we ask how much later.

 

I tell you what! If I had known the price before hand, we would have missed out on one of the best pieces of lamb I have eaten in my life.  The meat had aged well and has this “glow” that said eat me or eat meat… The meat was soft and tender and well worth the ££ I give it 6/5 chops!

So, more recently ( in the last 24 hours) I have had an attempt at juicy and delicious piece of Briskett, the way my mum does. Cooked in the oven on medium hit with fresh garlic, rosemary and olive oil. 

The trick is letting the meat to air and get to room temperature before eating. 

I learnt that from my vegetarian friend Helen!

I also had a "crack" at attempting to make Easter eggs yesterday.  Click here to see the pictures

So although this blog isn’t my life story this time or a online journal, It is more about what I am actually doing in the kitchen. My foodie idea is to have guests who come and enjoy my food and contribute to the #cassieskitchen experience.

If you are interested in coming on a sourcing of produce adventure or would like to know more about coming for dinner contact me via twitter or facebook( I promised I would have a Facebook page in my last blog).

I shall leave you with the below quote

Later kids

Cass x

“Just the act of cooking made her feel better, because cooking was life.”
― Stephen King, The Stand