Pappardelle and Salmon

Pappardelle and Salmon

Ever have one of those Mary Poppins days that was practically perfect in every way?!?

For me, that was today.

It started off by heading to the garden store to pick up a few things and then we headed into the garden. Even though it was pretty windy, the sun was shining and it was warm...

Vegetable Garden

We amended the soil, got the weed cover down, planted some tomatoes, eggplant, beets, beans, tomatillos, and lettuces in the main area and set up a separate area just for peppers. We still have more tomatoes, leeks, and melons to plant... all started from seed. And room for a few more things as we think of them...

Meanwhile... I was also making sourdough bread.

Sourdough

Our friend, Susan, was over on Tuesday and brought with her a plethora of goodies - from a pappardelle roller/cutter to salmon and halibut fresh-caught in Alaska by friends of hers, to her sourdough starter. A truly good friend shows up with food items.

I made one of the best loaves of bread I've made in a long time. I didn't follow a recipe for this one - i just took the starter, fed it, increased it, and after playing with it, baked it off.

Sourdough

When you've made enough loaves of bread, you just kinda know what to do... It's really about technique - not measurements. And this worked on every level. It's the perfect starter - and I'll be keeping this one going! Perfect sourdough using bread flour and sprouted wheat flour.

Sourdough

But the real hit of the evening was the Pappardelle with Salmon that Victor made.

It's an egg pasta and the eggs were fresh eggs from Jimmy. The pappardelle roller was a gift from Susan...

Pappardelle

As was the salmon...

Alaskan Salmon

Our entire dinner had its roots in friends. Life does not get much better than that.

Pappardelle and Salmon

The dish was salmon poached in white wine and lemon, and the sauce was fennel, artichoke hearts, clam broth, fresh tomatoes, dried pepper flakes and dried oregano from our garden... very simple but bursting with flavor.

Everything about it worked. A perfect meal to top a perfect day.

 

 


Fresh Pasta

Fresh Pasta

This is one of those meals that came together because of an alignment of stars...

I headed off 20 miles out of my way to a new grocery store where a couple of friends from my former place of employment work. Naturally, neither of them were there, but I did get to do a bit of shopping.

Nice store, lots of pre-made and fresh items - pretty much the standard, nowadays - and, more importantly, a friendly and helpful staff. People actually made eye contact with me and asked if they could help.

As it was my first time in the store, I just meandered. In my meandering, I saw a package of crayfish tails - cleaned, cooked, and reasonably priced. I put it into the cart. I bought a few other things off the list - I always look for deals or specialty items in any store - and headed up to the cashiers. They were fun.

When I got home, Victor mentioned he was thinking about making some pasta. We have pasta in the freezer from the ravioli he made last week.

In the back of my mind, I had been thinking of an andouille sausage and crayfish dish we had in San Francisco, and his mention of fresh pasta set the wheels in motion. Pasta with spicy Italian sausage and crayfish became the focus.

Victor decided to do half regular and half squid ink, which only made the crayfish and sausage even better.

Fresh Pasta

The sauce became:

  • 1 link of hot Italian sausage
  • 8 oz cooked crayfish tails
  • 6 ounces homemade pasta sauce
  • 1/2 cup diced fennel
  • 1/2 cup diced onion'2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup clam juice

Saute onion, fennel, and garlic until translucent. Add sausage and cook through. Add pasta sauce and thin with clam juice to desired consistency. Add salt, pepper, and additional red pepper flakes, as desired.

It really was one of those perfect meals. The only thing it lacked was a loaf of really crusty sourdough bread to sop up all of the sauce and wipe the plate clean.

Next week, I need to hit another store and visit some folks I have really been remiss in seeing.

Retirement is good...

 


Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

We had a productive day, today... I cleaned up part of our front side yard and Victor made homemade butternut squash gnocchi. The yard is shared with neighbors and was over-planted by 3 neighbors ago - and it's gone wild, ever since. It was time to try and tame it, a bit...

While I was toiling away with my new-found energy, Victor took to the kitchen to use up a butternut squash I bought last week. The weather is ever-so-slowly starting to turn - it's not going to be squash and gnocchi time much longer. He took advantage of it.

The difficult part about trying to write a recipe for something like gnocchi is that ingredients vary too much. The squash Victor used, today, was pretty wet after roasting - more so than others - so more flour was needed. You really need to just start making it and go with your own trial and error.

The basic is baking off potatoes and butternut squash – and then sending them through a ricer.

Then, it’s mixing in 2 eggs, salt, maybe a pinch of nutmeg, grated cheese… and slowly incorporating a bit of flour…

When it all comes together, it’s rolled into a rope, cut, and then shaped.

It's not difficult - it just needs time and practice.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

I cut up asparagus, green onions, and a zucchini and sauteed it all in a bit of butter and olive oil. I then added a bunch of mixed mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper, and white wine.

When it started getting saucy, I added some gorgonzola cheese and a handful of chopped parsley. I mixed in the gnocchi, let it cook together for a minute, and dinner was served.

If you're in the kitchen, have some fun and just go for it.

The absolute worst thing that can happen is you throw it all out and call for pizza.

 

 


Anisette

Anisette

The latest addition to our homemade liqueurs is Anisette! It's a key ingredient in so many baked goods - and it's the perfect digestif after dinner - on its own, mixed with water, or in coffee.

While anisette is traditionally clear, ours is infused with star anise, fennel, and coriander, making for a honey-colored beverage.

Anisette

adapted from Martha Stewart

ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups star-anise pods
  • 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
  • 1 bottle (1.75 liters) neutral vodka

syrup

  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups water

directions

Crush anise pods, fennel, and coriander seeds. Toast together in a skillet over medium-high until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Place into a gallon glass jar and add the vodka. Shake gently, and let stand in a cool, dark place for 5 days.

Strain vodka mixture through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth; discard solids.

In a small pot, boil sugar and 1 1/4 cups water just until sugar dissolves; add to strained vodka. Let cool completely

Divide among bottles. Cork and seal.

To serve, pour 1.5 ounces directly over ice, or into coffee. You can also add 1 part anisette and 3 parts cold water to a glass filled with ice.

We'll let it mellow a bit... it should be perfect by Easter!


Beef in Guinness

Lá Fhéile Pádraig, Cuid a Dó

Our Beef Braised in Guinness took a turn to the better, this evening. This is a dish I've been making for years and haven't really varied much from the basic. Tonight, we varied!

It started with Victor not knowing what I was planning for dinner, tonight, so he went into the kitchen and made a batch of pasta. Our meals are pretty flexible - either of us can just go in and decide to do dinner without fanfare or consultation. It works for us.

I said, great, I was going to do Beef in Guinness but nothing had been prepped. He said he'd freeze the dough. I said No... make wide noodles. I had a plan...

Fresh Pasta

Instead of doing my typical large pieces of beef and potatoes, I did stew-sized pieces - sans potatoes - and made a bit of a different dish. A stew-like dish with noodles. Same rich, delicious flavor - just a different final presentation.

Part of the fun of cooking is switching things out - being creative. Tonight, we were creative.

Beef Braised in Guinness

  • 16 oz beef, in cubes
  • 1 large leek, diced
  • 8 shallots, halved
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced
  • 1 pound assorted mushrooms
  • all-purpose flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 2 bottles Guinness
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • Fresh pasta noodles

Cut the meat into cubes. Peel the shallots and slice in half. Chop the leek. Slice the carrots into rounds.

Place the flour in a dish and mix in 1 tsp of salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder. Heat the butter in an oven proof pan with lid.  Dredge the pieces of meat in the seasoned flour and brown. Set aside as the pieces are cooked. Add the leeks and shallots and cook until soft. Add the carrots and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have wilted.

Add the Guinness. Allow to boil for a minute or two, then add the basil and honey. Add the meat. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed.

Cover the dish and bake at 325° for about 90 minutes.

Right before taking out of the oven, cook pasta noodles. Drain well and add to the stew.

Beef in Guinness

Flexibility really is key in cooking. Hell, it's key in life. We ended up with a perfect meal that both of us contributed to and exceeded what either of us had thought about making individually. We added a couple of slices of the Soda Bread with Cayenne I had made earlier in the day.

It does not suck to be us.


Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Victor came into the office this morning saying he wanted to make some sun-dried tomato pasta. I immediately perked up and said Today?!? He smiled, said yes, and that it would be my job to create a sauce for it.

Tag team in the kitchen - my favorite sport!

Right after lunch, he got to work. He has pasta making down to a science. I love how he bought me a pasta roller years ago for Christmas - and I've never used it. In the ensuing years, I've bought all of the various pasta paraphernalia for him. I'm no fool. He makes great pasta and I'm going to make sure he has all of the things he needs to continue doing so!

He made a pretty good-sized batch so we could have pasta tonight and ravioli some other time. He's thinking a shrimp filling, but nothing is final around here until it's actually made. This basic pasta dough can be cut into any number of shapes or sizes. Have fun with it!

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

  • 1/4 (generous) cup finely minced sun-dried tomatoes in oil
  • Fine sea salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks

On a clean work surface, mound 2 cups flour and form a well in the center.

Add 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, and sun-dried tomatoes into the well. Using a fork (or your fingers) gently break up yolk and slowly incorporate flour . Continue until the liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes.

Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes

After the dough has rested:

Take the dough and divide into 3 equal pieces (cover the other two and set aside)

Set the rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Roll dough through the machine, decreasing the setting one notch at a time (do not fold or turn the dough this time) until pasta sheet is a scant 1/16 inch thick.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Cut sheet in half, feed through cutter on machine or cut with knife to desired width. Lightly dust with flour.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Cook in lightly boiling water for about three minutes. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

I didn't want a heavy red sauce on the pasta, so i came up with a ground pork and mushroom sauce that worked really well.

Mushroom and Pork Sauce

  • 8 oz ground pork
  • 14 oz assorted mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • pinch thyme
  • pinch salt
  • pinch pepper
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch to thicken

Saute onion and fennel until wilted. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms begin to brown. Add pork and cook until no longer pink.

Add pinch thyme and a bit of S&P.

Add 1 cup white wine and cook down by half. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Check for seasonings and add more thyme, salt, and/or pepper, if needed.

Mix cornstarch with cold water and slowly add to sauce to thicken to desired consistency. You may not need all of it.

Add your favorite cooked pasta, mix, and serve.

The sauce was made with stuff in the house. Chopped artichoke hearts would work, too.

A successful dinner.

 


Homemade Ravioli

Homemade Ravioli

Yesterday's spinach pasta made cannelloni and cheese ravioli. We had the ravioli, tonight!

My stomach is smiling!

The filling was ricotta cheese, shredded quattro formaggio, parmesan, and an egg to bind. The sauce was hot Italian sausage, mixed olives from the grocery store olive bar, mushrooms, onions, red wine, a bit of Victor's pasta sauce, and the leftover filling from last night's cannelloni. It was a sauce that will never be replicated, but waste not, want not.

I vacillate between making things the same and never in a million years being able to replicate something. There are definitely times when I really do wish I could make something, again - and on the other hand, there are just too many good things out there to try, so why worry about it?!?

The ravioli were light and delicate with a ton of flavor. The sauce was heavier than what I would normally use with a ravioli, but it worked. It had lots of different flavors and textures - and it complimented the light ravioli really well.

All-in-all, a very successful dinner!


Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

Our friend, Susan, came over for lunch, today, and we made a big Steak and Ale Pie straight out of The Great British Bake Off. Unlike the individual pies I made a few weeks ago, this was one monstrous pie suitable for a family. Fortunately, Susan took a picture and sent it off because Victor decided his didn't come out and I didn't take any because he did.

Suffice to say, it really was good. Susan is a great cook and definitely knows her way around a kitchen. She had not, however, ever made a hot water pie crust. Well... Now she has!

Hot Water Crust

adapted from Richard Burr

  • 250ml water
  • 100g lard
  • 10g table salt
  • 450g plain flour, plus more to dust
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Put the water, lard and salt in a small saucepan and set over a medium heat. Put the flour into a large bowl and, once the water and lard are boiling, pour them over the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough has come together, then tip out on to a floured work surface and knead for 2–3 minutes. Return to the bowl and lay a tea towel over it to keep the heat in. You need to work quickly now, for if the pastry cools down too much it will be difficult to shape.

Take about two-thirds of the dough and roll out on a floured surface to a circle 28–30cm in diameter. Roll this on to a rolling pin and lay inside a 23cm springform cake tin. Use your fingers to mould the pastry into the tin, making sure you work it into the corners. Allow the excess to flop over the edge. Plug any holes with more pastry and ladle in the cold filling.

Brush the inner exposed rim of the pastry with plenty of beaten egg, then roll out the remaining pastry on a floured surface to a circle of around 28cm in diameter. Roll this on to the rolling pin and lay out on the pie. Use your fingers to work the pie top into position, making a good seal between the two layers of pastry. Use two fingers and a thumb to crimp the pastry closed, then brush liberally with beaten egg (reserve the remaining egg). Slash three holes in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 45 minutes at 425°F, then release the springform sides – the pastry will be cooked enough to hold its shape now – brush the sides of the pie with more egg and return to the oven for a final 20 minutes until the pie is a rich brown colour. If the top begins to brown too much, cover it with a layer of foil

Brilliant, as they say in the UK.

We definitely ate our fill - much more than our usual lunch - so we decided to have lunch for dinner. Balance...

Our luncheons are usually bowls of homemade soup, so soup it was - along with some crusty baguette from the other day. We take turns making big batches, and this one was from Victor.

Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 cup onion, minced
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1 large egg
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste

Soup

  • 3 qts chicken broth
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1 leek, chopped
  • 1 lb escarole, chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make meat balls: Mix all ingredients together and form into very small meat balls- about the size of a prize shooting marble. Place on a sheet pan off to the side.

Make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the meatballs and escarole and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the escarole is tender – about 10 minutes.

To add the egg: Whisk the eggs to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a large fork to form thin stands of egg.

Ladle into bowls and add additional grated cheese and a drizzle of good-quality olive oil.

It is hearty, filling, and oh, so flavorful. He added carrots and leeks this time around for a bit more added nutrition. Pretty darn good.

And speaking of pretty darn good, Susan made us cookies! Knowing that we're being good about desserts, she brought each of us one. That, boys and girls, is a good friend.

Susan's Shortbread Cookies

Buttery shortbread with a hint of almond. The perfect ending to a perfect day!

 

 


Victor's Pasta Sauce

Valentine's Day

On our first Valentine's Day, I think I got Victor something like 20 pounds of chocolates - and he pretty much did the same to me. See's Tuxedo Hearts, little stuffed animals... roses for days... all became the norm. We've done goofy, we've done silly, we've sent flowers to our places of work... Romantic dinners... We have run the gamut.

After 25 years of celebrating Valentine's Day together, spending it in the kitchen with each other is a lot more fun than boxes of candy or anything else.

The day started out with Victor making a batch of pasta sauce. We were down to one jar - the last one made from our summer tomatoes - and we both start getting nervous when there's no sauce in the house. I picked up a case of San Marzano tomatoes and he went to town. This is something we now have down to a science. He makes the sauce and I can it. Putting up 14 or more quarts of sauce can either be a chore or it can be fun. We make labels and make it fun.

Here's the scaled-down version - we generally do this times six.

Victor's Pasta Sauce

  • 2 – 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 – Sm can tomato paste
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic (or to taste if you like more) chopped fine
  • Olive oil
  • Dried Italian seasonings
  • freshly-dried Oregano
  • Hot red pepper flakes (a tsp or more or less to taste)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Red wine (always cook with a decent wine, never “cooking” wine) about a cup or cup and a half
  • Meat – such as Italian sausage or some nice beef or pork ribs or pork chops

Ok…I ALWAYS make my sauce with meat, so start with a deep, heavy pot and add about 3-4 TBS of olive oil. On high heat, once the oil is hot, start frying the sausage or pork, Let the meat get good and caramelized although you don’t have to cook it all the way through because you’ll add it back to the sauce to finish. Once the meat is browned take it out of the pot, put it on a plate and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium and sauté the tomato paste for a couple of minutes until it begins to “melt”. Add the chopped garlic and sauté with the tomato paste for just a minute (no longer or it will burn). Then add about a cup of the red wine and deglaze the pan with it, scrapping up all the good bits that stuck to the bottom when cooking the meat.

When the wine reduces by about ½ start adding the canned tomatoes.  Add one can of hot water for every can of tomatoes you use.

Now start adding the dried Italian seasonings.  I eyeball it but I would guess a good 2 TBS is fine.  Add about another ½ cup of red wine, with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir everything into the sauce. It will be very thin at this point.

Add back the cooked meat. Now this is important….at the bottom of the plate you let the meat rest on will be some of the oil and juices that seeped out. Pour that back into the pot. It has a lot of flavor in it.

Bring the sauce back to a boil then turn the heat down low and let it simmer for at least 1 and a half hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to keep it from burning. It should reduce by about a third or a little less and get thicker. The meat will absorb the sauce and get very tender.

When I make meatballs, I don’t fry them, I bake them on a sheet pan. When I do, I add them to the simmering sauce when they’re done so they also absorb the flavor.

I usually make the sauce early in the day and after it’s done, just let it sit on the stove until dinner then I re-heat it. This should make enough sauce for a couple of dinners or good sized lasagna.

While the sauce was simmering, I made bread. We need crusty bread for the pasta dish Victor is making for us, tonight. We're not having his sauce - but we will tomorrow night. Tonight he's making a Spicy Spaghetti with Caramelized Onions... More on the in the next post.

Baguettes

I definitely wanted something crusty, so I looked into the files and found this one originally from Martha Stewart. It takes a while to put together but it is easy.

The starter needs to stand for 12 to 15 hours, so plan accordingly!

Crusty Baguettes or Rolls

adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Starter

  • 11 ounces all-purpose flour (2 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon), plus more for dusting
  • Pinch of active dry yeast
  • 5 1/2 ounces cool water (75 degrees to 78 degrees; 2/3 cup)

For the Dough

  • 11 ounces all-purpose flour (2 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon)
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 6 ounces cool water (75 to 78 degrees; 3/4 cup)
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons fine sea salt

Directions

1. Make the starter: Stir together flour, yeast, and water with a rubber spatula in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at cool room temperature until it has risen slightly and bubbles cover entire surface, 12 to 15 hours.

2. Make the dough: Whisk together flour and yeast in a large bowl. Add water and starter, and stir with spatula until mixture comes together in a slightly sticky, loosely formed ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

3. Gently turn dough onto an unfloured work surface. Sprinkle with salt.

4. To knead: Gather dough, lifting it above work surface. Hold one end of dough close to you while you cast the other end in front of you, onto the surface. Pull the end of dough in your hands toward you, stretching it gently, then fold the dough in half on top of itself. Repeat. Lift, cast, stretch, and fold. Knead the dough until it is smooth, supple, and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a dough scraper to clean the surface as needed, adding the scraps to the dough. (Dough will be very sticky, but avoid adding more flour until the end, when it may be necessary to add a very small amount. Add the flour to your fingers, not the dough.) Form into a ball.

5. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise at cool room temperature for 45 minutes.

6. Gently turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. (Do not punch down.) Fold into thirds, as you would a business letter. Then fold it in half crosswise. Return to bowl, cover, and let rise at cool room temperature until it has almost doubled, at least 75 minutes.

7. Gently turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using a dough scraper or a knife, divide dough into equal portions (3 if making baguettes, 2 if making boules or rolls). Cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rest for 20 minutes.

8. On a lightly floured surface, spread each portion of dough into a rectangle that’s roughly 10 by 6 inches. Fold dough into thirds again, as you would a business letter, pressing seams with your fingers. Shape portions into baguettes, rolls, or boules.

To Make French Rolls

1. Working with 1 portion of dough at a time, keeping remaining dough covered, fold dough in half lengthwise to form a tight, narrow log. Gently press edges with lightly floured fingertips to seal. Using a dough scraper or a knife, cut into 8 pieces.

2. Gather edges, and gently pull and tuck them underneath the dough to create a round shape, pinching to seal.

3. Place dough on the work surface. Cup one hand around dough, and rotate it in circles until a smooth, taut ball forms.

4. Place rolls on a generously floured linen towel or a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise at cool room temperature until rolls have almost doubled and a floured finger pressed into side leaves a slight indentation, 30 to 40 minutes.

5. Place a skillet on oven rack adjusted to lowest position and a baking stone on middle oven rack. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. If using a linen towel, gently transfer rolls to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Just before baking, use a lame or a razor blade to slash the surface of each roll, forming an X. Pour 1/2 cup hot water into skillet in oven. Slide rolls and parchment onto baking stone.

6. Immediately reduce oven to 450 degrees. Bake until rolls are deep golden brown, sound hollow when bottoms are thumped, and interiors register 205 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool on racks.

In the grand scheme of things, I can't think of a better or more fun way to spend Valentine's - or any day for that matter.

Talk about livin' the dream...

 

 


Homemade Gnocchi

Homemade Gnocchi

I have been looking at the gnocchi roller for months. It's a Mucca Rigagnocchi Gnocchi Rolling Machine from Fante's in South Philly. Fante's has always been a pilgrimage site for me. I love the place and can get lost in there - and spend lots of dollars even at their really reasonable prices. The place is fun. I finally decided that it was our legal wedding anniversary so I bought it as a gift for Victor. So he could make me dinner. I'm thoughtful like that!

Homemade Gnocchi

Mucca means cow in Italian. How or why this thing is shaped like and named after a cow is beyond me - but it rolls an excellent gnocchi!

Homemade Gnocchi

Of course, you can roll a perfect looking gnocchi - the art is making the dough. Victor is an artist!

The basic is a baked potato that has been riced, flour, an egg, a pinch of salt, and a bit of grated parmesan cheese. He doesn't have exact measurements because every potato is different. You mix the egg, potato, and a handful of flour together and then add the cheese and slowly add flour until the dough feels right. Vague, I know, but every batch is just a bit different. When you've made it a few times, you learn the feel.

I used the last eggplant from the garden for the sauce - 1 eggplant, cubed and fried with onions and garlic, red wine, salt, pepper, hot sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano... and sun-dried tomato sausage I grilled and then sliced into the sauce.

The gnocchi were like little pillows - soft and delicate - the sauce was really rich and flavorful. I made enough sauce for dinner and a big batch to freeze for another day.

Maybe with the Candele Pasta...

 


Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

A few weeks ago, Victor made sweet potato gnocchi. We had no plans for it other than freezing for use at another date and time.

Today was that day and time.

There is something about homemade pasta that really can't be adequately described. It's over-the-top good - and infinitely better than the fresh pasta you can buy at the grocery store. It just works on every level.

Pasta is relatively easy to make. It takes a bit of practice to get the feel of the dough and the final shapes you want, but even weird looking pasta tastes excellent! You don't need special tools or equipment, although a pasta roller - one of the best ones you can get is only $79.99 at Fante's - is really the only way to fly if you're going to make pasta on a regular basis. And a simple gnocchi board is easier than a fork - although we made gnocchi and rolled it off a fork for years with no problems.

Victor's sweet potato gnocchi is an eyeball recipe.

A baked sweet potato that has been riced, an egg, salt & pepper, and flour. The flour is the wild card. You mix the sweet potato and egg together with a bit of S&P, and then start adding small amounts of flour - just enough to hold it all together and have a smooth dough. Not a lot.

Form pieces into a rope, cut them into individual pieces, and form them off the tines of a fork or with a gnocchi board - $4.99, also at Fante's.

They're light and delicate - not the belly bombs you buy packaged at the store. These are good.

The sauce tonight was a rework of the butternut squash soup Victor made on Friday. I cut up two links of andouille sausage - cleaning out that freezer - and browned it a bit in a saucepan. I added a chopped zucchini and then about a half-cup of white wine. When it cooked down a bit, I added the soup. It was nice and thick, so the wine made it just the perfect consistency.

I cooked the gnocchi, mixed it with the sauce, and dinner was served.

 

 


pork tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin

The planned dinner tonight was a pork tenderloin. Planned, as in I took a pork tenderloin out of the freezer. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but then, that's not unusual. I tend to kinda wing things, ya know?!?

After bacon, the tenderloin is pretty much the workhorse of the pig family. They're totally versatile - you can do absolutely anything to them. It's why I don't worry about what I'm going to do - almost anything works and I have two full canisters of propane. If all else fails, grill it!

I came walking in after an early day at work, and Victor smiled and opened the 'fridge. Sitting on a plate was that pork tenderloin - cut, pounded, stuffed, rolled, and tied - with a basting of the French dressing I made the other night! Be still my beating heart!

Victor made a stuffing of:

  • pancetta
  • bread
  • onion
  • carrots
  • mushrooms
  • garlic
  • raisins
  • green onion
  • grated cheese
  • salt & pepper

and then spread that on the pounded tenderloin. Atop that, he added:

  • roasted long hot peppers
  • shredded asiago, pepatto, and provolone cheeses.

He rolled it and tied it and basted it with the French dressing. I baked it off in a 400°F oven, basting it every 15 minutes with more dressing.

Along side the tenderloin were roasted red potatoes with parmesan cheese, garlic, and French herbs. Roasted in the same oven for about 35 minutes.

Dinner was perfect - and the best part was all I had to do was cut up a couple of potatoes and make Nonna baked fish. An easy meal, indeed!

And really really good.