Black Olive Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Basil

Tonight my mom and I decided to try making homemade gnocchi for the first time. She had found a recipe in the New York Times a while ago and we saved it for a girls’ night dinner. Though it was somewhat time-consuming it wasn’t difficult. I thought they came out a little more tender than I would I have liked. Usually the gnocchi I have tasted at restaurants are more firm/dense. However I was happy that they didn’t come out gummy, which I have had before and is really unpleasant. I don’t know that I would try this particular recipe again but only because I’d be anxious to try another flavor before the olive, not because there was anything wrong with it. I have seen Alton Brown and Giada make fall gnocchi this week on the Food Network, both using a sage butter sauce and they looked pretty scrumptious. Maybe I will turn to one of those recipes for my next attempt. I did REALLY like the simple sauce that went with these gnocchi because I love garlic, basil and olives! I think it would be great on some thin linguine. So here’s the recipe, we didn’t change anything other than using halved grape tomatoes rather than the quartered cherry tomatoes called for.

Recipe: Black Olive Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Basil (adapted from La Terrazza, Portofino, Italy)

1 lb Idaho potatoes

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 pound cherry tomatoes, quartered

4 oz. pitted black or calamata olives

freshly ground black pepper and salt

1 cup flour

1 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

2 large egg yolks, beaten

2 1/2 T. black olive paste

20 fresh basil leaves, slivered

1. Place potatoes in a saucepan, cover with salted water and boil until tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet, add garlic, cook over medium heat until barely starting to color; stir in tomatoes. Coarsely chop the olives and add half to the skillet. Cook briefly until tomatoes collapse. Season with salt and pepper, and remove from heat.

2. When potatoes are tender, peel and rice them into a large bowl. Mix all but 3 Tablespoons of the flour and the 1 1/4 cups cheese with the potatoes and pile in a mound on your work surface. Make a well in the center. Mix egg yolks and olive paste and place int eh well. chop the remaining olives finely and add to well. Knead to blend ingredients and form a soft dough. Shape into a ball and divide into 8 portions. Roll each into a rope about 10 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2 inch dumplings (gnocchi). Dust with flour and lightly pile in a bowl.

3. Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. Reduce heat to a fast simmer, add gnocchi and as they rise to the surface, use a slotted spoon or skimmer to remove to a colander. drain.

4. Reheat sauce in skillet, fold in basil and add gnocchi. Heat, mixing gently. Check seasoning and serve, with extra cheese alongside.

Serves 4

 [Taken from New York Times]

A Part of History

I’ve always felt that amazing moments in history were things that happened only before my time. That I’d never be the grandmother in her rocking chair reminiscing about “back in my day…” when great things happened. I didn’t think I’d experience things that were in history books and really shook the world up firsthand. That was until last night when I, along with many millions of others, cast a vote that will forever alter how I perceive my nation and the Americans’ ability to be brave, be open-minded and fight for change. Go Obama!!!!

Muffalata

I tried muffalata for the first time this month while visiting my cousin Katy in Chicago. It is my new favorite food…until something even better comes along which usually happens – but I digress.

It’s basically a jar of pickled vegetables (known as Giardinera) that has been finely chopped. It is mostly made up of olives, but has peppers, carrots, celery and cauliflower too.

I had the muffalata on a sandwich with Genoa salami, provolone cheese, turkey and tomatoes. It was possibly the best sandwich I have ever had. If you love olives you need to try this somewhat tart, oily and chunky sandwich spread. I hear that it’s great mixed with cream cheese as a dip or even spread on pizza, but for me just a simple sandwich is the way to go!

Since my cousin Katy is one of my most favorite people in the world she sent me back to NJ with a jar of my very own as a souvenir -so much better than a t-shirt! I promptly made sandwiches for Jim and myself as our Giants game tailgating treat. Delicious!! Needless to say I have now consumed the entire jar and need to order more because it seems from their website they only sell it in Illinois, but lucky for me and my belly, they ship!

 I’m sure there are a million brands out there but the one we had was mild Muffalata from That Pickle Guy (I am anxious to try the spicy!)

Curried Apple and Parsnip Soup

Curried Apple and Parsnip Soup

I have never eaten a parsnip before. What possessed me to make parsnip soup tonight is anyone’s guess. But make it I did, and it was good!

I saw the recipe on Epicurious and changed it just a little bit.

If you are looking for a different kind of soup to make on a chilly autumn night this might be just perfect!

Curried Apple and Parsnip Soup

1 T. unsalted butter

1 T. olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 T. curry powder

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 lbs. parsnips, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 medium McIntosh apples, peeled and shredded coarsely

1 5.3 oz. container of whole milk Greek yogurt (I used Fage 5%)

1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans

Melt butter with olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add curry powder and stir to coat onions completely. Add the broth and parsnips. Bring to a boil and then simmer, over medium-low heat, uncovered for about 30-40 minutes until the parsnips are soft. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Then using an immersion blender, puree the soup until no chunks of parsnips remain and soup is smooth. Then add the container of yogurt and puree again until well combined. Lastly, add the shredded apples and stir well. (I shredded the apples right before adding so they would not turn brown.) Garnish with toasted pecans and serve warm.

Makes 6 servings

Spicy Beef and Noodle Bowls

Spicy Beef and Noodle Bowl

 

I am perfectly content to not eat meat for days on end, but my boyfriend is a meat-lover to the 100th degree. If they had meat flavored ice cream, he’s probably love it. So when I am cooking for myself I tend to make things like the pasta with asparagus I posted recently. Yet when i am making dinner for both of us I know I have to incorporate meat, the more the better!

I had ripped out this recipe for Spicy Beef-Noodle Bowls from Better Homes and Gardens a while back and changed it around slightly to include snow peas and switched from Sirloin to Filet Mignon, because I am just that great of a girlfriend.

Spicy Beef and Noodle Bowls

1pound beef tenderloin (cut into bite size pieces)

1 lb package of egg noodles (I used the ones that they sell in the produce section that look like lo mein noodles)

1 T. canola oil

1 tsp. hot chili oil

2 14 oz. cans reduced sodium beef broth

1/2 cup bottled peanut sauce (from the international food aisle in the supermarket)

3 cups broccoli florets

2 cups snow peas

1/4 cup bias-sliced scallions

1/4 tsp. cracked red pepper flakes

1. My noodles had been in the freezer so I boiled them first according to package directions then drained them and kept aside while I cooked the beef. If your noodles are not frozen you will add them into the pot once you add the beef broth.

2. After cooking and draining my frozen egg noodles I added the canola oil and hot chili oil to the pot and browned the beef for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat.

3. Next I added the beef broth and peanut sauce and stirred until combined. Bring to a boil and then put in broccoli and snow peas and pepper flakes.

4. After a couple of minutes, when broccoli is cooked but still bright green and crisp, add the noodles to warm them through and mix well.

5. Serve in bowls with scallions sprinkled on top.

I think baby corn or mushrooms would also be great in this dish.

Meat Lasagna

Delicious and cheesy meat lasagna

It was chilly and so rainy in NJ this weekend so i decided to make my very first lasagna for dinner. I cracked open my Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook (which like basically all my cookbooks I look at but never actually cook from) and found her recipe for Lasagna with Turkey Sausage. The problem is I didn’t want to use turkey sausage and i didn’t want to make my own sauce either. So I took her basic recipe, adapted it to make it my own, and ended up with a damn good lasagna if i do say so myself

Meat Lasagna Recipe

1 T. olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1.25 lb package of ground meatloaf mix (beef, veal, pork)

2 24 oz. jars of Rao’s sauce* (I used a whole jar of their marinara and a half of the jar of their sauce with sweet peppers and mushrooms)

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, divided

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lb fresh lasagna noodles (I found sheets of fresh lasagna noodles in my supermarket where they keep all the gourmet cheese and other fresh pastas and sauces – but no boil noodles would work fine too)

2 cups ricotta cheese

4 oz. log of garlic and herb goat cheese, crumbled

1 egg lightly beaten

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top layer

3/4 lb. grated mozzarella

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Saute the garlic in olive oil in a big pot until golden. Set aside. Brown the meat in the pot and then drain. Put the meat back in the pot and add one and half bottles of Rao’s sauce and garlic to the meat. Toss in half the chopped basil. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile mix the beaten egg, ricotta cheese, one cup of Parmesan cheese, crumbled goat cheese, remaining basil and some freshly ground black pepper in a medium bowl.

4. Ladle about a 1/3 of the sauce into a 9×12x2 inch rectangular baking dish, spreading it evenly across the bottom. Then add half the pasta, 1/2 the ricotta mixture (spread evenly on the noodles), 1/3 of the mozzarella and 1/3 of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, the rest of the ricotta spread evenly again, 1/3 of the mozzarella and the rest of the sauce. Top the sauce with the remaining mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling. I placed the lasagna dish on a foil-covered cookie sheet to catch anything that might bubble over because my dish was really piled high.

Makes 8 serving

* Rao’s sauce is absolutely the best bottled sauce on the market. It is not overly sweet like so many jarred sauces and tastes better than i have ever tried to make myself. You can buy it at gourmet shops and now many supermarkets carry it too, at least in the tri-state area.

Creamy Asparagus and Linguine

I love asparagus, but only the really skinny ones. Tonight my supermarket had big bunches of super-skinny asparagus and since I wanted a quick dinner before Back-to-School Night I thought making a quick creamy sauce and some pasta with asparagus was just what the doctor ordered.

Creamy Asparagus and Linguine Recipe

1 package of fresh linguine

3/4 cup half & half

1 bunch fresh asparagus

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is preheating, trim ends of asparagus and toss with olive oil on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt.

2. Roast asparagus for about 15-20 minutes until done. (Mine were very skinny and only took about 12 minutes)

3. Cook the linguine according to package directions. (Before draining reserve about 1/4 or 1/2 cup of cooking liquid). Put drained pasta and reserved liquid back into pasta pot.

4. Chop asaparagus into bite size pieces and add to pasta.

5. Toss with half & half and Parmesan cheese fresh cracked baclk pepper and salt to taste. Serve with additional cheese on top. Enjoy!

Makes 2 servings

Culinary Translations

It was bound to happen.  Maybe I was becomïng a little too comfortable with my surroundings.  Perhaps I was overconfident in my grasp of German culinary translation.  Regardless, upon finding my standard soup and salad lunch restaurant and also the grocery store closed today, I tried a new place.  Being in the country side, I knew there was some risk associated with this decision, but it was nearly 1:00 and I hadn’t eaten since 7am.  I figured, what’s the worst that could happen, I could accidentally order something unidentifiable, or worse – organs?!  Ha ha ha, I would never do that.
 
Ha ha ha indeed.

 

I walk in, check out the menu.  There are 3 menu choices available, all virtually unrecognizable and full of very long words with lots of z’s and other consonants.  Always the conscientious business traveller, I choose Menu 1 (or “Menu Ein”) for its low cost.  Retrospectively, this was probably my first mistake.  Even in the US, it generally costs a little more for a more socially acceptable cut of meat.  But I make my decision and assume that my meal, loosely translated using my developing skills, will consist of a pork cutlet (umm, I love pork chops!) or some such variant. I am ready to eat my lunch.
 
Luckily, this meal comes with a nice clear soup and green salad.  So far, so good.

And then the entré – despite some slight nervous anticipation, I am sure that whatever it is will be normal and good.  As the waiter places my lunch in front of me, my heart sinks.  This can’t be!  It is too cliché!  The classic “Stupid American Abroad Accidentally Orders Organs!!”  Shut up.  There’s no way I just did that.  But I did, and it is clearly LIVER.  No ordinary liver either – (chicken liver, OK – mom made us eat it when we were little.  Calve’s liver, OK – a delicacy even) but no.  It’s Effing PORK Liver.  Why, I ask myself, did someone in this beautiful country seek out the filthiest possible animal on earth, and isolate the one organ designed to catch all of the disgusting impurities from it’s blood, grill it up, and EAT IT?  Faced with the awful truth that I am about to eat the dirtiest organ from the dirtiest animal on earth (short of eating its butt), I make a decision.  1st of all, the Swiss are such nice people that sending it back is just NOT an option.  Thankfully, there is a beautiful pile of linguine next to it that is my saving grace.  I start to eat the linguine happily and I’ve got to admit, the brown sauce is pretty good! – but as the pile dwindles, I am faced with the growing discovery that the less linguine there is, the less place there is to hide those disgusting brown morsels…so I reluctantly start choking them down.  And I mean choking.  Besides Courtney, I have the openest of any open mind when it comes to food.  Especially international food.  But I have got to tell you, this was really disgusting.  Would gag a maggot, as my father would say.  And ironically, like the Strega Nona pot of pork liver, it seemed that for every grotesque bit I would choke down, 5 more would spring up in its place!  Like poor Anthony, I was locked in a culinary hell, growing sicker by the minute!
 

A quarter of the way through the mind-numbingly large pile of pig liver bits, I hear a chain rattle.  Could it be?  There is actually a dog sitting under someone’s table in the restaurant.  I see it – and it is a Lab no less – a reknown champion of stealthily eating human rejects under the table.  I assess the situation, and make eye contact with the dog.  It is clearly interested, and its ears almost imperceptibly perk up as if in response to my thoughts.  I determine that with its current proximity, there is no possible way to transfer my goods to the animal without arousing suspicion.  I would have to execute a sub-table, low-lying liver lob in order to rid myself of my nasty lunch without alerting other patrons, or worse, the chef. I wonder how do you say “oh, your dog is so cute, send him over here immediately” in German, but without my handy Eng-Deutsch dictionary, it’s a lost cause.  At this moment, my hopes are dashed anyway, as the couple pays and gets up to leave, dragging the dog behind them.  As they leave, the dog casts a rueful glance at me over his shoulder as if to say, “Sorry darlin’, better luck next time”. 
 
In any case, I succeed in downing a passable amount of the liver, and implement the classic anorexic ploy, “move your food around so it looks like you ate something”.  I’ll be damned if those anorexics aren’t good for something.

You’re probably wondering why I chose to share this horrific tale – why go on and on into excruciating detail, and relive an experience I am so eager to put behind me?  Simple.  I don’t want my suffering to have been in vain.  I want to teach a lesson, should any of my dear friends and family ever find themselves in a similar situation…a stranger in a strange land, if you will.
 
And that lesson is……..

 

 

 

“Schweinleben” MEANS F*CKING PORK LIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mango and Black Bean Quinoa

Mango and Black Bean Quinoa

I can’t stand when I am craving a recipe and go to the store to buy the things I need only to find that something isn’t available, ripe, etc! So this is how my story goes tonight…

This recipe was supposed to be made with wheat berries, but my HUGE A&P in suburban NJ doesn’t carry wheat berries, much to my dismay. Therefore I adapted it and decided to make quinoa for the first time ever! My inspiration was a Better Homes and Garden recipe that I changed based on flavors I like and what I had on hand. For instance the original recipe calls for ginger – not a fan of ginger at all – - wait scratch that, not a fan of ginger unless it’s in gingersnaps then I could eat a whole box

Anyway, overall the dish was good, healthy, simple to make, but not great. I would try it again and tweak it a bit by adding scallions and maybe even toasted slivered almonds for some crunch.

Mango and Black Bean Quinoa Recipe:

1/2 of a can of drained black beans (15.5 ounce can)

2 mangos, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

1/4 cup mango/orange juice (I used Tropicana – but plain orange juice would be fine too)

1/2 c. golden raisins

3 T. olive oil

2 T. mango chutney

1 T. rice wine vinegar

2 cups quinoa

1) Add the two cups of quinoa and 4 cups of water to a medium pot. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer. Allow quinoa to cook for approximately 12-15 minutes until translucent and tender. The quinoa will absorb all the water and can be fluffed a bit much like couscous.

2) Meanwhile mix the beans, raisins, mangos and other ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat.

3) Toss the quinoa (once it has cooled) with the other ingredients and serve at room temperature.