"Worth a write-up" said David

"Little joys illuminating an increasingly darkening world. They feed the soul and nourish the spirit." Nigel Slater

A somewhat overblown, even, pretentious some would say, quote from Nigel, and although it probably overstates how I felt about last night's dinner, the dinner itself and David's comment did indeed induce a feeling of quiet satisfaction and maybe even pride that at least keeps me going.

So here is my not very good photograph of a meal that I suppose could be called green(ish) gnocchi with smoked trout in a cider and cream sauce. I was particularly pleased because in this instance I didn't look for ideas, I just made it up myself all the time wondering if this particular combination would work.

It came about through a number of impulses. The first was that it was a stinking hot day. On my return from a regular medical checkup (all good), my car's temperature gauge of the weather outside said 41 degrees - which is Dubai kind of heat. Back home it was actually nearer 37 but that's still hot, hot, hot. Too hot to turn the oven on anyway. And too hot to cook anything on the cooktop for long either.

My first thought was the tried and true Chicken Caesar salad, but that would have required a trip to the supermarket to buy a roasted chicken as I had no cooked chicken. And buying a whole roast chicken would have required using it up for something else and then making stock for the bones, all of which would normally be an OK thing, but not in high temperatures like these. It's going to be hot for three days I think. Besides I wasn't in the mood. Maybe on Sunday.

I also couldn't be bothered to look for another salad that might do. And we had eaten chicken the day before. But then I thought of smoked trout - and probably risotto (which is now actually tonight's meal). I also remembered the gnocchi I have in the freezer and wondered whether the two could be combined, because I wasn't conscious of a smoked trout sauce for anything really.

But why not I thought? LIquid? - It's not a wine night in our house so it couldn't be wine or I would be tempted to drink what wasn't used on a day when I'm not supposed to drink wine. Cream? Yes, but we had cream the day before and we shouldn't have too much. Never mind I eventually decided - this kind of dish is crying out for cream. At least just a little. What else? Stock was a possibility, vinegars - too tangy to have a lot and ditto for lemon juice, although some lemon juice is surely a necessity.

And then I thought of cider. Did we have any? Yes we did - from Mr. Finch. Herewith a minor aside, because the name Mr. Finch was a little tantalising. So today I did a little digging to find out if there was a story. Who was Mr. Finch and why a deer with large antlers that turned into the branches of a tree?

Well today I did a little digging and found, not what I expected. I guess I had thought it might be from some small producer, whose family name was Finch and that they used to hunt deer in the wilds of Scotland or something. Or maybe the deer were eating their apple trees. But no - this is more of a marketing story.

If I had had strong enough glasses I would have seen that this was made by James Busby Wines in Victoria, but this was actually the last thing I discovered. Mr. Finch cider has a website - sort of. It even has a mission statement in bold capitals - "We believe in grabbing life by the antlers" followed by a little almost poem, that begins "When adventure calls, we say yes." The sort of stuff you will find on a small producer's website. But then you notice that this is actually a Liquorland website and a little more digging eventually turned up the information that it was indeed made by James Busby Wines, and that James Busby Wines, like many other brands is owned by Coles. There's a whole division of Coles called Coles Liquor Group with a portfolio of 392 products - not necessarily brands. Which is not to be sniffed at - after all think about Aldi's wines. And Mr. Finch's Rosé cider, in 2021 won a Silver award at the World Cider Awards. Now I don't know how grand those awards really are, but nevertheless ... Well done Coles Marketing - or the people they engaged to do the marketing. And a kind of postscript. I think I actually bought this in Dan Murphy's - well that's a Wesfarmers company too isn't it?

My plain apple cider however, was mostly destined for the cookpot. I put in about 1/3 of it and we sipped at the rest. A tiny bit sweet but refreshing.

Today - after my success I decided to look and see if anyone else had done things with smoked trout and gnocchi - and I will come to them. However, first - for once - I will give you my recipe sort of because of David.

Ingredients for 2

Gnocchi - I had some made with silver beet, or maybe even kale, potatoes and ricotta - in the freezer but any kind would do. Enough for 2

Smoked trout - half, without the skin (and bones of course).

Sliced leeks - a handful - I used leeks because I had some that needed using, but onions or shallots would do

2 largish button mushrooms, sliced

A handful of chopped dill - I had some but other herbs would do - parsley, tarragon, sage

Juice of half a lemon

About 1/3 small bottle of cider - wine would do - or stock - or the gnocchi cooking water

Enough cream to make it look creamy - a good slosh

About half a dozen cornichons, thinly sliced crossways

Butter and olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Put on a pan of water to boil, and cook the gnocchi

Melt a 1/2 cm slice of butter and spoonful of olive oil - to stop the butter burning - in a frying pan big enough to fit the gnocchi comfortably.

Soften the mushrooms - I got distracted and actually cooked them a little too long, but it didn't matter.

Set the mushrooms aside whilst you soften the leeks - you might need a little more butter. I also added the thinly sliced stalks of the dill as well here.

Return the mushrooms to the pan and pour in the cider. Cook on a fairly high heat until it reduces a bit.

Now add lemon juice, cornichons, 1/2 of the dill, cream and salt and pepper. Cook for a little until it's all well combined and reduced somewhat - almost to the consistency you want at the end. Keep the gnocchi cooking water.

Add the gnocchi and the smoked trout. and cook until heated through and the right consistency. If you need more liquid at this point add some of the gnocchi cooking water. I did.

When the right consistency has been reached sprinkle with the rest of the dill and serve.

Of course you can vary to your heart's delight, and today I found a few recipes which sort of were doing the same thing but with slightly different takes. So it wasn't a truly original idea, but also not a common one.

Creamy gnocchi with smoked trout and dill - BBC Good Food. This one was even simpler than mine. Besides the gnocchi and the smoked trout the only other ingredients were dill and a grated zucchini. I had thought about zucchini, but decided in the end it would just complicate things. I was reminded here of Sabrina Ghayour, my cookbook writer of yesterday, who also said in her introduction:

"The biggest lesson I have learned when it comes to cooking and writing recipes is that it takes a degree of bravery to keep things simple. Less is always more."

I think I have a tendency to add just something too much - possibly there was too much lemon juice in my recipe and did I really need the cornichons - or the mushrooms? The BBC didn't even have anything oniony - just the courgettes. The gnocchi were plain too. A delicate dish I think that would have allowed the smoked trout to shine.

Steve Davidson's Manchego Gnocchi With Smoked Trout And Cherry Tomatoes/Squirrel Gully Saffron. Alas there is no picture of this one, but the recipe includes the recipe for the gnocchi - which is where the Manchego comes in. Other ingredients - for the sauce include - capers, chilli, chopped pistachios, cherry tomatoes and dill - which is a bit different.

Smoked trout gnocchi with wine and herbs - Dimitra Stais/Taste. Another one with no picture. In this one the smoked trout is actually in the gnocchi. The sauce is just onion, garlic, wine, and is poured over the gnocchi and sprinkled with parsley, dill, capers and lemon rind.

Smoky fish with spinach, gnocchi, cream and mustard - Gill Meller/Fiona Beckett Matching Food and Wine Interestingly this one is designed to be cooked over embers, although of course you can do it on a cooktop. It's really simple - simmer cream; add fish and spinach add gnocchi, cheese and mustard. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to finish. I don't think the fish was smoked in this case, so it shouldn't really be here, but it seemed to me that it could easily be smoked fish although perhaps in bigger chunks.

Creamy hot-smoked trout, mustard and chive gnocchi /Mindful Chef Initially I thought this was a vegan or vegetarian recipe because the cream in the recipe is almond cream, but of course it isn't because there is fish. And this fish is first grilled with the skin on before being flaked. Cook some green beans and whilst they and the gnocchi are cooking you quick fry garlic, add stock almond cream, mustard, and water. When these have cooked and combined sufficiently add spinach and the cooked green beans and finally the gnocchi. Heat through and stir through flaked fish, chives and lemon juice

I guess we all like the idea of some kind of cream, and lots of us like dill and lemon, but the other things - like beans, spinach, zucchini - could be regarded as additions dependent on what you have in the fridge that day. Should I have gone for capers - another favourite out there - rather than the cornichons? I did consider that, but for some reason decided on the cornichons. Mustard? I thought about that too but in this case I managed to restrain myself.

Of course you could also vary this dish with the gnocchi you use and also the fish - any kind of smoked fish would do - maybe even non-smoked fish. Somebody made a kind of crusty topped gratin out of it and somebody a kind of fish pie. And you could certainly bake the fish, gnocchi and sauce in the oven when mixed together. No need however. And I don't think cheese is necessary here.

I suppose over time we learn that certain things go with this or that. And we all make use of that in our everyday cooking. And mostly it's pretty eatable but not 4* and definitely not 5*, it's the geniuses out there who go beyond the tried and true and create something mind-blowingly 5* - something we would never have thought of doing. Or they do just one tiny but crucially different thing to a classic dish that makes us all wonder why nobody did that before.

Me I'm very, very happy with 4* from a husband who is a tiny bit picky. Anyway if you haven't thought of smoked fish and gnocchi before give it a go. Would yoghurt work instead of cream? Spices ...? Would the Italians approve?

YEARS GONE BY

December 19

2024 - Watermelon and pomegranates

2023 - Christmas is ... cherries

2022 - Nothing

2021 - Nothing

2020 - Missing

2019 - Chicken spare ribs - now forgotten

2018 - Nothing

2017 - Gingerbread - it's a Croatian thing

2016 - The Christmas turkey