Lets cook something nuesday: Gnocchi

Today we were going over to a pot luck style dinner with and Italian theme so I had to pick something Italian to make for nuesday. Some friends of ours had made this dish a few years back, and I thought that it would be a good test of my culinary skills This recipe is a compilation of many recipes. The big difference is that I used Ricotta cheese directly in the dumplings, to help make the a little lighter. So basically you start with some potatoes (I used 5 to make a medium sized batch) and boil them for an hour in salty water. Once the potatoes are boiled, remove them from the pot, but save the water (apparently this is key to good italian food)



Once they are boiled, use a peering knife to peal them and then set them aside to cool slightly. Then run them through a food mill, or potato ricer. I actually used my baby mill, that I picked up a few months ago with the anticipation of making X's baby food in the future.



Once you have milled the potatoes you want to move them to a bowl leaving them in there stringy state. This will help to keep you dumplings nice and light. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Next I added two egg yolks, a light cup of flour, and 1/2 cup ricotta cheese.



Now you want to pull the dough together using light fingers, you do not want to squeeze any way, just toss lightly to make sure everything combines



Next you are going to pull of small portions of the dough, and roll them out into a long snake. Be sure not to push on the dough to hard when rolling. The dough will feel light and spongy, that is good. You do not want dense gnocchi.



Once you have a long snake you are going to cut of ½ inch dumplings. I usually will cut things like this on a bias to make it look cooler. After you have cut your dumplings, press one side lightly with the back of a fork, to leave a little set of ridges to “grab” the sauce.



Once you have cut your dumplings, return them to the boiling reserved potato water. They will sink at first and you will know they are cooked through when the float.



While the gnocchi is cooking, in a second sauce pan, melt a stick of butter, and add 2 Table spoons garlic, and a few tablespoons of fresh chopped basil.



Once the gnocchi is cooked, remove them from the pot and add to the skillet with the herb butter mixture. Be gentle with the dumplings as you move them for the will be a little gummy and may begin to fall apart.



Lift the pan of the burner and swirl the dumplings to pick up a light browning. If you try to stir them they will fall apart and stick to each other. Once they are lightly browned, transfer them to a warmed dish.



Next, repeat the roll, cut, boil, sauté steps with remaining dough. Always finishing in the warmed pot. I generally place the pot back in a 200 degree oven between batches of dough to keep it warm.

Once you have cooked the pasta, add a half cup of the boiling potato/pasta water to the sauté pan to deglaze, or to loosen up the brown bits. Then add half a cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Next add half a cup of light cream, stirring constantly, until the sauce pulls together.



Lastly, pour the sauce over the top of the Gnocchi and serve while its hot. To garnish you may add a sprig of basil, or some fresh parmesan cheese.

(Sorry, I do not have a picture of the finished product)

And there you have it. All in all it took about 2 hours including the potato boiling time, and most people who ate it pulled me aside to tell me that they thought it was really very good. One friend asked for the recipe but declined it once she realized it took more then five minutes to make.

v-day dinner

When I got home from work last tonight (at about 9:50), my lovely wife was preparing a lovely valentines day dinner for me.



Here is what we had, A blue cheese, pear and prosciutto salad with a red wine balsamic reduction. Some nice pepper seasoned steak, with Rosemary potatoes, and some X-rated martinis.



We also had a cute little candle set up, to set the mood. As if the x-rated martinis were not mood setting enough.

lets cook something nuesday!

I have decided that I am going to try cooking one new thing every Tuesday. This is both to expand my culinary repertoire, and because it is incredibly fun. This does not mean that I am sticking to just new entrees; we will have sides and drinks and in the future maybe even baby food. Do to copy write issues, I am just going to list the cookbooks I use, and the ingredients without quantities. If you want the recipe, I recommend trying to find the book for more exact details, or maybe send me an e-mail.
For let’s cook something nuesday number one, I have picked a dessert. Last night a whipped up a batch of almond honey delight, which can be looked at as a poor mans baklava. The recipe was from the cook book

“InterCourses.”



First you make a cookie crust with butter, sugar and almond extract.



Then add flour and egg. Yes I use a food processor to pull together my dough, especially dry dough like cookie crust, or pie crust. This makes the dough a little more crumbly looking at first but it is easier to dump into the pan and spread out, before pressing into a solid sheet of dough.

Next step. Press cookie bottom into a pan and refrigerate for an hour. Then bake.



While baking the cookie crust, make a nice caramel sauce with sugar, brown sugar, honey, and plenty of butter.



Once the sauce has darkened and boiled into a thick syrup, add the almonds



Then, spread the almond mixture atop the cookie crust, and bake again until thick, dark and bubbly.



After allowing to cool, Cut into wedges and serve.



All in all, I would say the recipe was a success. The friends that came over for dinner (we had grilled snapper with an avocado cream sauce, with sausage and grape crusteniess and a strawberry salad) really liked it. The key differences between this and baklava is that there is no layering. It also was not as sweet or sticky which some people prefer. The taste was remarkable similar, but to me the top was a little "brittelish, or toffeish," both of which I am not a big fan.

Aside from time it takes to the make, chill, bake, coat, bake, cool, and cut, the recipe is very easy.

Happy fat tuesday

When I am down and out, I like to cook. So after this weekend I needed some alone time with my knife and stove. Since it is Fat Tuesday (completely forgot until I saw it on the news this morning). I decided to do some cooking New Orleans style. For dinner today we had Cajon steamed rice, with shrimp etouffee. It was a leap culinary, and it turned out scrumdidilyumtious. It is something I am going to be cooking again in the future. Maybe next year some of you will come visit during the Mardi Gras season to experience my good foods.

smoke makes me smile

I have a confession to make, well kind of. I have a small addiction that some times gets me down. I am trying to kick the habit but it is, as with all addictions, an uphill battle. However, when I am down and out, nothing makes me smile like a house full of smoke, that is cooking something fun and new. Today was such a day. I was a little down earlier today, but a little browsing of the internet and some recipe web sites, set my mind straight. Tonight we had home made speatzle, with a blue cheese cream sauce toped by a creamy Parmesan orange roughy. Even though the color was very mute and on the bland side, the flavor was far from it. I knew speatzle could make me happy, but who knew it was so easy to make?

Gravey is meat in liquid form and beer is just bread in a can

Both Karen and I have issues with jingles. We mock those who write them and wonder how exciting there lives must be when they become famous for such things as "nausea heartburn indigestion upset stomach diarrhea." Their parents must be so proud. But i digress. this holiday season has had some winners, or are they?
The point of an advertisement is 1) get the clients attention and 2) make them remember our product. Well two of my new favorite jingles have failed. I have no clue of the product, I just remember the lines...
1) Grave is just meat in a liquid form
2) Beer is bread in a can.

The other ad that we are loving at the moment is the new captain morgans radio add. think real American genius with a festive party beat. so for now just remember... "I love you and you and you, because I'm a captain, captain, captain."

Celebration dinner

after giving birth in those fancy hospital we are in we get a nice sit down dinner while the baby is taken away to get his hearing tested and the last round of tests. Basically we get to order of the same menu we have the last two days but they bring it in on a fancy table with a black table cloth and a flower. Karen had Citrus crusted pork loin with carrots and red potatoes, a field green salad with walnuts and poached pears (the same one she has already had two other times), and the sinless chocolate cake for dessert. I had the Plum chipotle glazed salmon (it was spicy) with red potatoes, and grilled vegetables, A Caesar salad (the same on I have already had two other times) and the pot of chocolate for dessert. Earlier in the day I had steeped away and got some sushi, so we had an "appetizer" of raw tuna on beds of sushi rice with small strips of seaweed. By the way while we were eating Xavier passed his hearing test. Here is a picture of our "celebration dinner"

The first birthday cake

This is a pic from a friend in Pitsburg. She made X his first cake. It looks yummy.

dinner and breakfast

Dinner: Karen had cream of tomato soup, bow tie pasta with herbed olive oil and grilled vegetables, a side salad of mixed green with poached pear, a side of green beans and a pot of chocolate for dessert. I had a grilled vegetable personal pan pizza with a side of green beans and a side Caesar salad, with a sinless chocolate cake for dessert.

Breakfast: Karen had fresh fruit with a breakfast sandwich made with marble rye, egg, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, peppers and mozzarella and a side of red potatoes and a fresh biscuit. I had pancakes and cheerios.

Xavier had breast milk for both dinner and breakfast, and a few times in between.