Here's some not necessarily rugby-related Waratahs news.
Back during the World Cup, Dave Dennis regularly appeared on the Fox Rugby Podcast, the one with Sean Maloney. About a third of the time they talked about anything but rugby, which was actually kind of fun -- these people have lives outside of the game.
On one episode Dennis mentioned he was making sweet potato gnocchi that night, and Maloney and the other guy (Sam Worthington?) grilled him mercilessly about it.
I was intrigued. I do all the cooking at our place (no one steps in my kitchen when I'm at work except my beagles), and my wife is a trainer and is always looking for healthy meals. So I tweeted Dennis a few weeks back, and he sent me the recipe.
Just made it tonight, and wow. Very, very tasty. My wife actually said she was proud of me -- and I do all the cooking anyway, so that's really out of the ordinary. So we have a new staple on our menu, and I have Waratahs captain Dave Dennis to thank for that.
If anyone is interested,
the recipe is here. This is hand-made gnocchi, so it's a bit intensive -- you'll need to set aside a small chunk of time to do it right. I'd suggest making the dough well before you need to roll it out, separating it into a few dough balls (six or eight), and let them chill covered in the refrigerator for a while, just to let the dough rest and firm up a bit.
I finished my gnocchi like they suggest in the recipe, with a quick fry in a little olive oil in a pan, but then I popped them on a tray and dropped them under a broiler for a minute or two, just to crisp them a bit. They really didn't need sauce; just a dab of butter, a pinch of sage, a dash of black pepper, and if you like maybe a bit of oregano and cayenne, and stir until the little fellas are coated.
Then just sit back and let everyone say how proud they are of you.