Anne's January 2010 Recipe: Sweet-Potato Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Spinach

Happy New Year!

I have always wanted to make my own gnocchi but most recipes call for tools I do not own. This one looks easy and good, vegetarian too. This recipe has 12 servings, so I will probably scale it down.

Time: 3 hours. This spectacular main dish may be even more special than a turkey.

Yield: Serves 12 
Ingredients

Gnocchi
1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
3 pounds orange-flesh sweet potatoes (often labeled "yams"), boiled until tender, peeled, and flesh puréed
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
About 3 cups flour
Assembly
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup sliced shallots
1 pound mixed mushrooms such as chanterelle, cremini, king trumpet, matsutake, and oyster*
2 cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons butter
12 ounces baby spinach leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided

Preparation
1. Make gnocchi: Drain ricotta in a strainer over sink, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
2. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups sweet- potato purée (save extra for another use), strained ricotta, sugar, cheese, salt, and nutmeg. Gently stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms.
3. Working on a floured surface, divide dough into 8 portions. Roll each portion with your hands into a 15-in. rope, then cut into 1-in. pieces, sprinkling dough with flour if it gets sticky. Transfer gnocchi to a rimmed tray lightly dusted with flour.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Working in batches of 15 to 20, drop gnocchi into water, stirring to prevent sticking, and cook until gnocchi are firm and float to top of water, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to a strainer and then to a lightly oiled rimmed pan to cool.
5. Assemble gnocchi: Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add gnocchi to pan and cook, stirring often, until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a large serving dish.
6. Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tbsp. oil in a second large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook garlic and shallots until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth, butter, spinach, salt, and pepper; cover and cook until spinach wilts, about 3 minutes.
7. Spoon vegetables over gnocchi and pour in broth. Sprinkle with thyme and half of parmesan. Serve with remaining cheese.

*Leave whole any soft mushrooms such as oysters and slice or quarter large, dense mushrooms like the cremini and king trumpets.

Make ahead: Prepare through step 3. Cover and chill up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 weeks.
Note: Nutritional analysis is per serving.
Nutritional Information
Calories:364 (31% from fat)
Protein:14g
Fat:13g (sat 5.3)
Carbohydrate:49g
Fiber:4.2g
Sodium:1021mg
Cholesterol:24mg
Sunset, NOVEMBER 2009

Crispy Skin Salmon with Fiery Asian Slaw

This Cooking Light recipe is simple, quick, and healthy. Skin-on doesn't seem like it really matters for the salmon, we just happened to have some so I used it. The slaw is easy as you buy a package at the store of pre-made and then add the dressing. Which has Sriracha in it, so if you live in the midwest I would warn the consumers that it might be a tad spicy.

Creamy Carrot Soup with Scallions and Poppy Seeds

I was fearful this recipe would be creamy and rich and horrible for our arteries (from Food and Wine), but it's actually pretty tame. (I did not peel the carrots and think it was not noticeable) The reviews mention that it's kind of bland and I agree that it needs quite a bit of salt and maybe cayenne if you are daring. This would be a great starter for guests as it won't offend anyone's pallet and it is light enough that it won't take up too much belly room. 

I would be careful not to add too many green onions to anyone's soup

David Lebovitz's Granola

 

 

 

I have been meaning to make this for a long time and I'm mad at myself for waiting so long. This granola tastes so much better than anything store-bought. Go make this now! The recipe is here.

Crispy Cornmeal Waffles

Yes, that is steam coming off of the waffle!

This recipe is extremely easy to make (I am not sure any waffle recipe is necessarily hard to make).  I really like the crunch the cornmeal adds.

I am listing the full recipe, but I cut it in half ususally.

Makes about six 6 1/2-inch round waffles

4 Tbl unsalted butter
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. pure maple syrup
2 large eggs

* Preheat waffle iron

* Melt butter, reserve.  In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.  In another bowl, mix together buttermilk, syrup and eggs.  Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk, stopping when just combined.  Stir in the melted butter.

* Lightly grease waffle iron if needed.  Spoon about 1/2 c. of batter onto iron.

-- Kate

Sarah's November Recipe - Homemade Pizza!

At last, I have made Sarah's recipe...six days into the new month!

This recipe made me wistful for the pizza Mom made for us when we were little.  Sadly, I remember how ungrateful we were.  What a treat to have to someone make you homemade pizza, and all I said was "I want Domino's".  I am sorry Mom!

This recipe was incredibly easy to make, you just have to plan ahead.  The crust was very tasty, but my skill at stretching it was woeful.  I used the dough to make four pizzas, and think I would do three next time.  Or, make four and just make smaller rounds (or try to anyway).

Pizza #1: sauteed onions, Fontina cheese, a little truffle salt and some arugula and olive oil when it came out (sorry about the picture, my camera battery died):

Pizza #2: homemade tomato sauce (from Goop), mozerella, alepo peppers:

It actually looks like a slice of pizza!

Pizza #3: Fig jam and Fontina -- dessert pizza!

And Pizza #4: Same as #2, just a little more square:

My oven, of course, left something to be desired.  By pizza #3, I came to the conclusion that 4 minutes at 500 with the door closed, followed by 4 minutes with the door ajar and the broiler on, produced the best pizza.

I will definitely make this again.  Thanks for the good pick, Sarah!

-- Kate

Thanksgiving - Caramelized Apple-Pecan Cake

 This recipe was featured in the New York Times the week before Thanksgiving.  I was struggling with what to make for dessert and it appealed because of the flavors, as well as the potential to make it ahead.

However, I actually ended up make it the day of Thanksgiving.  It was mostly easy.  You lay a base of pecans and apples:

....that you top with caramelized sugar, followed by a batter.

The toughest part for me was the caramelized sugar part.  The recipe says: "Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until mixture turns amber".  I feel amber is a subjective color, and there was no time guidance.  I erred on the side of caution and didn't cook it long enough as it was more syrupy than caramelly.  I was worried about burning it, but should have let it cook a couple of minutes longer.  It was still a tasty dessert, but I think it would have been even better with more caramel flavor.

This is what it looked like out of the oven, before it was inverted:

-- Kate

Thanksgiving - Vegetable au Gratin (aka Joan's Corn Dish)

This has become one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes, ever since Joan started making it.  It's probably the dish I miss most (along with Mom's cornbread stuffing and Granny's rolls.  And Jenny's pumpkin cheesecake....) when we eat Thanksgiving out.  It is full of corn and cheese, and a couple of other veggies, hence the name Vegetable au Gratin, I suppose.  It's Joan's corn dish to me!

Melt 1/4 cup butter.  Add 3/4 cup green pepper cut into large squares (I use smaller pieces) and 1 garlic clove, crushed.  Cook until pepper is slightly tender.  Stir in 1/4 cup flour (Joan says she takes the pepper out of the pan since it can be hard to stir in the flour; I left it in), 2/3 cup milk, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, pinches of dried basil and oregano, and a pinch of sugar.  Heat and stir until sauce starts to thicken.  Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (Joan recommends -- as do I - sharp cheddar) until melted.  Add 1 cup drained tomatoes (use crushed and drain very well, pressing the liquid out to avoid a runny sauce.  I saved the juices and added a little in).  Heat until thickened again.  Add a 9 oz package of frozen corn that has been thawed (Joan suggests dumping the frozen corn in a dish towel over a colander to make sure it's dry) and 1 lb can of whole onions, drained (I used jarred pearl onions from Whole Foods).

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese on top.  Bake uncovered in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes or until heated through with cheese melted.

If prepared ahead, refrigerate but return to room temp. before baking.

Makes 6 generous servings.

-- Kate

Thanksgiving - Brussel Sprout Salad (aka #72)

Like Sarah, I used the Mark Bittman 101 Thanksgiving ideas .  I made #72, a brussel sprout salad.

72. Trim and shred raw brussels sprouts (the slicer on a food processor works well). Toss with lemon vinaigrette and shaved or grated Parmesan. Crumbled bacon, as usual, is a welcome visitor here.

The food processor definitely makes it very quick and I did use the bacon.  I really liked this salad, but I dont think the rest of buffet grazers enjoyed it nearly as much as I did.  Smitten kitchen posted something similar and said it was like eating grass.   I disagree...and will make this again.  -- Kate

Thanksgiving - Gruyere-Walnut Crisps

These tasty "crackers" were part of the appetizers this Thanksgiving.  They were easy to prepare in advance and paired very well with some Cava.  My only complaint is that our kitchen smelled strongly of Gruyere for at least 24 hours after (not in a good way, in a feet way).  I would definitely make them again though.

Note, this is the full recipe, but I prepared a half recipe.

Makes about 80

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
12 ounces finely grated Gruyere cheese
1 tsp salt
2 cups plus 2 tbls all purpose flour
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in medium bowl until smooth.  Beat in cheese and salt.  Add flour and walnuts; beat just until dough comes together, adding water by the teaspoonfuls if dry.  Divide in half.  Roll each half into a 14 inch log.  Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least four hours.  Do ahead: Can be made two days ahead.  Keep chilled.

Preheat oven to 375.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Cut logs crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices.  Arrange on prepared sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart.

Bake crisps until deep golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Transfer to racks and cool completely.

-- Kate

Brussel Sprout Soup

Mark Bitman posted a 101 list of recipes before Thanksgiving. I started with number 22, brussel sprout soup.

I was very hesitant about this soup because I could not wrap my head around turning perfectly good roasted vegetables into soup. I was wrong, this soup is so good. So good that you should go make it. Right now.

Naan

I saw this article in the Chicago Tribune a few months ago and bookmarked it as a recipe to try. I love naan and Indian food in general. I don't eat Indian food in London as often as I thought I would before I moved here. Some claim that chicken tikka masala is the national dish of England, which naturally leads to no shortage of Indian restaurants to choose from. Sadly though, I have not found very many that have knocked my socks off. I figured that cooking Indian at home is the natural next step.

Although these naan are delicious, they don't really taste like naan. They kind of look like the real thing, but the taste was reminiscent of regular bread. I did not slather the naan with butter and garlic, so maybe that's the issue? We both thought these were really good and worth the effort, but just not naan.

Thanksgiving 2009

It was just the three of us and 80 degrees in LA. We made a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and gravy.

We mixed herbs in to the butter...

Stuffed her with herbs, lemon, garlic...

 

Mom rubbed it in...

added some veggies underneath, and she was ready!

Eddie was reading the paper

But it was 80 degrees, so we decided to go walk on the beach

 When we returned, I made a Wild Mushroom and Scallion Frittata, which I cannot find the recipe for, but will keep looking. Very simple.

Then the stuffing was made. I am fairly grossed out at how much meat or meat-products go in to this. Also, a ton of butter. But it is the best thing ever made, I eat it for breakfast now. No joke. Gross.

 And I mashed the potatoes and added some cream. More simple and LESS fat than I imagined. Next year I want to leave some skins on.

And then it was done! (not finished, a la Granny)

Update: Sarah's November Pizza

I put this off because I couldn't find time for all the rising this dough needs! Then I bought the wrong yeast. Then I poured the entire packet in to the flour mix, not 1/4 teaspoon. Arg. I used this:

This was the first time I have ever made pizza from scratch and I learned a lot. Especially about pulling the dough. You can see from my pictures that I have huge, thick crusts. This was partially by design but mostly by accident as I thought pulling too much would result in super thin pizza. I was wrong, but I also love crust so I ate some with honey when the toppings had been devoured. Yum.

I made three pizzas with this dough, loosely adapting two recipes from Food & Wine October 2009.

For the first pizza, I thought this recipe sounded good, but I didn't use Summer Savory as I couldn't find it, and I also didn't add walnuts. This is great, but needs more goat cheese!

Next I tried to duplicate this recipe  but differed quite a bit. I added mushrooms and onions to the leeks, and then I used gruyere cheese. This was a favorite!

 

And for the last pizza, I was on my own. I didn't have any marinara or tomato paste, so I just threw some olive oil and garlic on the dough, topped with tomato, basil, oregano, mozzarella AND feta just to mix things up. This is Elliott's fave, might be mine too.

Basil plant is DYING!

Cheeeese, yum!

Sarah's Pizza

Delicious! I made two pizzas with pizza sauce and fresh mozzarella. I made one with pureed pumpkin mixed together with salt, pepper, and sage, and topped it with goat's cheese. The pumpkin version was not to my liking, but the margarita styles were delicious.

If it's good enough for Obama

Then maybe it will provide some menu inspiration:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/24/in_depth_politics/main5762869.shtml

Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Stick with me. I know vegan desserts are probably not your thing, but trust me, this is good. So good that after I told our definitely-not-vegan friends that the mousse was made with tofu instead of egg whites everyone agreed that you would never know the difference had I not said anything.

I made this recipe, based on one from Cooking Light, which has been sitting in my recipe file for a long time. I am so glad I finally got around to making it as I know I'll be making it a lot in the future. You can make it in ten minutes or less, and while it chills in the fridge you can organize the rest of your meal.

Ode to Heidi #2 - Mushroom Casserole

Heidi's mushroom casserole recipe is delicious. I served it for dinner, hot and right out of the oven.

The next day I added cubed basil tofu and ate it cold, for lunch. 

Ode to Heidi #1 - Curried Egg Salad

I love Heidi's 101 Cookbooks site. Her recipes are healthy, interesting, and delicious.

I very rarely eat egg salad. I like the taste but the more I think about all that mayo, the more I want to pass. Heidi's curried egg salad is fresh and delicious, without all the mayo.

I think it tasted best on its own, but you could make it into a sandwich, with a very mellow bread.
--Sarah