Hey everyone!
I'm not an apprentice anymore! I was finding it a bit too intense, and the Orchard kind of needed someone more experienced so they could take more charge in the kitchen.
I think I'm gonna be better of taking things a bit slow >.< And now I'll be able to cook more at home and write more blogs!

But thanks to everyone who sent me lovely messages about getting the job :3 It was good while it lasted!

Poached pears

Another really easy one! I made it for dessert one time when we wanted dessert, but not something super sweet.. so fruit won!

I got two pears, peeled them, then cut them in half an took the core out. If you have a corer use it! But try to keep the top where the stem is intact for presentation (or don't bother if presentation doesn't worry you)

Then I made a stock syrup, which is one part water one part sugar. Use enough water to cover the pears. And you can leave out some of the sugar if you don't want it so sweet.
I also added some cinnamon.

Once it was almost boiling I put the pears in and covered it with a cartouch (circle of baking paper) to keep them immersed, then let them simmer (NOT BOIL) for about 10 minutes til they were cooked. Check them a few times with a knife or skewer to see if ready though, don't over cook them! But its okay if they're still a little hard in the middle, they're still delicious.

I also made some custard to have with them, and heated some of the left over stock syrup with a bit more sugar and cinnamon and let it turn saucy, but I got impatient so it was still really runny, but made a nice glazey thing to drizzle over the pears and custard.


This can also be done with apples, or peaches, or other fruits. But pears are my favourite.

Ravioli

Easy as pie! And so delicious. I got inspired to make my own pasta after seeing the awesome tortellini at work so made it for lunch on our cleaning day! (We were having an inspection so needed to clean the entire house)







I didn't really have a pasta recipe, I just did about half a cup of plain flour and one egg. But at my work they go with 100g flour to one egg. Which I think is about the same?
Also, work uses 'type 00' flour which is really really fine, but I just use normal plain flour and it works fine.

I started by making the pasta dough, as above, just put the flour and egg in a bowl with a little olive oil and then mix it with hands until its mostly combined, then turn it onto a clean counter or board and knead it until all the flour is worked in and the dough is really smooth.

Now, I let it sit for a little bit covered in glad wrap but I don't think that part is necessary.. it just rests the glutens so its easier to roll out, but if you're okay with some hard work or are in a hurry you can roll it out straight away.

While the pasta rested I made ricotta and spinach for the filling, just got about 150g of fresh ricotta and a big handful of spinach and chopped it up a little, then mixed it together. Voila!

Having a pasta machine is the best for this part, but I don't have one. I just used a rolling pin, which works fine, but the pasta didn't end up very even adn I had some ravioli with thicker pasta then others.. but oh well.
Roll it out pretty thin, probably a 2 on a machine, or about one or two mm thick if you're rolling.

I have little dumpling moulds which I found at an asian shop in Box Hill, I bought them for the amazing translations on the packaging, but they were really useful! I cut out a circle of pasta and laid it over the mould, then you fill it a little, then fold it over and press down adn it makes a pretty edge!
You can easily do it by hand too though, just cut out a circle and fill and then fold by hand and press edges (for the edges, try to flatten them out so they're not too thick, otherwise the rest of the ravioli will cook before the edges)
I re-rolled the left over pasta and used it all, then let the ravioli sit for a little while while I cleaned up.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the ravioli one by one (I put the ones that ended up with thicker pasta in first so they could cook longer) and cook until the pasta is cooked. Which is probably about 7 minutes, but I didn't time it so I'm not sure..

I served it with garlic and onion pasta sauce from the supermarket, but it would be even better with a homemade sauce if you have time!

Also, you can substitute the spinach adn ricotta for whatever you want. Minced meats or potato or corn or really whatever. Can't promise it'd all taste good though !

Enjoy.