A Tale of Three Gnocchis

The blog is not dead; I promise!! But, let me tell you, planning a wedding will keep you busy. Patrick and I are about to eclipse the 100 day mark and I couldn't be more excited to walk down the aisle to my handsome fella.

If you noticed the last blog post was mid-January. Our wedding planning has been in cycles. After he first proposed (a year ago last weekend) was the initial cycle. I refer to this one as the "big" things. In my opinion the big things are what is necessary for your wedding to happen when you want it to; like, the venue, the caterer, the officiant, and the photographer. It took us about 2-3 months (or throughout the summer) to research and finalize these details. After this was completed we took a little break from wedding planning in the fall and throughout the holidays. All along I knew that we would get back into planning the next cycle once the 2013 New Year started. So after January 1st, sure enough we transitioned into planning the "medium" things. From January through April we research and finalized our cake, invitations, ceremony / reception music, flowers, rehearsal dinner, and other things. Now I feel like we're at another brief relaxing break... which is why I have time to blog! From mid-June to August will be the final cycle of all the "small" things and finalizing all the details.

Patrick and I have still been cooking and trying new things. We were so excited when our CSA started back up just a few weeks ago. It's so nice to have fresh produce in the house. Obviously we've been very pleased with our CSA because this is our third season (read more here)!! Patrick picks up a box of produce weekly from the CSA drop off. We utilize the produce that spoils the fastest first. Today I have sweet potatoes that we haven't used yet and will make sweet potato gnocchi!! I'm actually blogging about the meal before it happens but there's another recipe to share which brings me to A Tale of Three Gnocchis.

First Gnocchi
  We first experimented with gnocchi last fall. The butternut squash gnocchi we tried was delicious and we even managed to blog about it; see this post.

Second Gnocchi
   We had so much fun making butternut squash that we couldn't let the gnocchi fun stop! So in March we attempted a regular potato gnocchi. This did not get blogged since it was in the busy planning "medium" things cycle. The recipe was from the Better Homes & Garden website: Gnocchi with Sweet Corn and Arugula in Cream Sauce. Unfortunately that recipe called for pre-made gnocchi and we couldn't eliminate gnocchi-making fun so I followed this Giada recipe for making the gnocchi.

Gnocchi with Sweet Corn and Arugula in Cream Sauce

The Third and Final Gnocchi

   Today we're switching it up yet again and making sweet potato gnocchi! We will loosely follow this Giada recipe. However, I plan to saute some fresh mushrooms in the sauce and omit the maple syrup so it's not so sweet.

Wedding parties help eliminate some stress from wedding planning! This group of wonderful ladies traveled with me to my shower this past weekend which was hosted by Glenda and her daughters in Sanford. It was such a wonderful day and I want to thank everyone who came and made it so special.

Gingerbread Spice Dutch Baby

One of our Christmas gifts this year was the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which is based on a blog that Whitney enjoys perusing. In that book, she found this tasty-looking dutch baby pancake recipe. We had never made a dutch baby before, although I had enjoyed them in restaurants before, so this was an exciting venture. The recipe was very fast and easy, and the pancake came out perfectly! Looking forward to trying more dutch babies in the future.

2 large eggs
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon molasses
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Pure maple syrup, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the eggs in a blender and blend until smooth and pale in color. Add the brown sugar, molasses, flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and milk and blend until smooth.
Melt the butter in a 9-inch ovenproof skillet over high heat, swirling it up the sides to evenly coat the pan. Pour the batter into the skillet and transfer to the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pancake is puffed up. Remove from the oven, dust with powdered sugar, and drizzle with maple syrup.

It cooked up perfectly in our new cast iron skillet!

Butternut Squash Soup

Happy 2013!!

I hope everyone is doing well. Patrick and I had quite the end to 2012; we celebrated Christmas with both families (Chicago to Murfreesboro in one day!) and then rang in the new year with friends in DC. Now that we've flipped the calendar into 2013 Patrick and I are getting down to business with wedding planning. Cake tasting, meeting with rehearsal dinner caterer, attending an open house at our reception venue with my parents, and listening to potential reception bands are all on our calendar this month!

In the meantime I'm still meal planning and figuring out dinner every night. As we speak we're waiting on a few kitchen upgrades to be delivered. Don't get too excited because they're nothing fancy; more like kitchen organizational upgrades. Can't wait to show you what it is though!

Today I'm sharing a recipe with you that we made a few months ago and used a butternut squash. Butternut squash was a staple on the CSA list and it seems like we were getting one every week. This was a great way to use one without cubing and roasting it (as was the gnocchi). I found the recipe on pinterest. The recipe originally piqued my interest because it had sundried tomatoes. Patrick loves these and for a while now has been purchasing them at Costco... so that means we usually have some on hand and in large quantities. But then I realized I had extra roma tomatoes and wanted to try a new recipe for oven drying them! So I'm sharing two recipes!!!

Recipe One: Homemade Roasted Roma Tomatoes from the make and takes blog

Click through the recipe title to go to the website

Here's my variation: Slice tomatoes into 8 wedges / tomato. Spread on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, crushed garlic, and sugar. Mix everything around and then place the tomatoes cut side up. Bake at 200F for 2-6 hours. As you can see mine really started brown (depends how big your wedges are); I'd say these took about 4 hours. 

Proceed to use homemade roasted roma tomatoes in this yummy butternut squash soup!

Recipe Two: Sundried Tomato and Butternut Squash Bisque from the manifest vegan blog

Click through the recipe title to go to the website

1 butternut squash
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 leek, tough green parts removed, cleaned and sliced
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sundried tomatoes (not in oil), soaked at least 1 hour and drained (I just used mine straight from the baking sheet)
2 c salted vegetable broth (I used chicken stock since it's what we keep in the fridge)
1 2/3 c low fat canned coconut milk (I used a regular dairy; keep in mind this was found on a vegan blog)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I have a basic pasta sprinkle in the pantry I used with basic, thyme, and oregano)
salt and pepper to taste

   About 1 hour before preparing preheat your oven to 350 °F, slice your butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Sprinkle the flesh of the squash gently with salt and then place face down on a baking sheet. Add about 1/4 cup water to the pan and cook 45- 60 minutes, or until the squash’s skin is tender enough to easily be pierced with a fork. (If you have another preferable way of roasting butternut squash, go with that.) While the squash is roasting, saute the garlic and leek along with the olive oil over medium high heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
   Once the squash is tender, transfer to a high speed blender (or use a good quality immersion blender or food processor) and puree along with garlic and leek, the sundried tomatoes, vegetable broth, coconut milk, and cumin. Add a little more broth if you prefer a thinner soup. Blend until completely smooth, about 10 minutes. Warm gently if needed over medium heat until desired temperature is reached. Salt and pepper to taste.

We served this with a side mixed greens salad and rosemary sourdough bread. Delicious! The tang of the sundried tomatoes really adds a lot to the soup.

Butternut Squash Risotto and Mahi-Mahi

We've already shared some risotto successes here and here, and this post is another in that series. We used the same Sara Foster recipe as before so we won't repeat it here; you just substitute roasted butternut squash as the vegetable. We baked some mahi-mahi as well to add some variety and served it on top. It was a delicious meal!

Molasses Glazed Roast Pork and Sweet Potatoes

One Saturday Whitney was working and picked out this recipe from our Williams-Sonoma Fresh and Fast cookbook. Even though I got started early, we had to wait quite a while to eat. I think we had the wrong type of meat, as we had one of those big pork tenderloins that takes around an hour to cook, and not the specified 10-12 oz tenderloins that probably would have cooked in the stated 15 minutes. In any case, the meat thermometer saved the day as usual, and eventually we had some perfectly cooked meat and a very tasty sauce and sweet potato side to go with it. And there was kale too.

2 pork tenderloins, each 10 to 12 oz.
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup light molasses
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 1/2 lb. orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 1/2 Tbs. olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Preheat an oven to 400°F. Season the pork tenderloins lightly with salt and black pepper. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the molasses, mustard, rosemary and 1/2 tsp. of the red pepper flakes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, the remaining 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes and 1 1/2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper and toss to coat the sweet potatoes evenly. Brush a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Arrange the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer, leaving a space in the center of the pan. Transfer to the oven and roast for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil. Add the pork and brown on all sides, about 6 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the pork in the center; set the fry pan aside. Brush the pork and potatoes with some of the molasses mixture. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast until the potatoes are tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 145°F, about 15 minutes. Transfer the pork and potatoes to a warmed platter.

Pour off all but 1 Tbs. of the fat from the fry pan and set the pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently to scrape up the browned bits, until the shallot begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining molasses mixture and the broth and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes.

Slice the pork and drizzle with the sauce. Serve the pork and potatoes immediately, passing any remaining sauce at the table. Serves 4.

Penne with Vodka Sauce

It was early in our relationship when I told Whitney that penne with vodka sauce was one of my favorite pasta dishes, and soon after we tried this recipe from her Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Pasta cookbook. It was a success, so we stayed together and got engaged eventually. I was surprised to see that this wasn't on the blog, but at our last two houses we ordered this dish often enough from Pulcinella's (they make a very good "penne with pink sauce") that I guess we weren't so motivated to make it ourselves. For some reason we haven't been ordering from there at the new place, which gave us the opportunity to make this again and finally put it on the blog!

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbs. vodka
2 Tbs. slivered fresh basil
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp. plus 2 Tbs. salt
1 lb. penne or other tubular pasta
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. In a large fry pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter with the cream. In a small bowl, dissolve the tomato paste in the vodka. Stir into the cream mixture. Add the basil and red pepper flakes. Season with the 1 tsp. salt. Cook until most of the alcohol has evaporated and the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the 2 Tbs. salt and the pasta to the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until al dente, according to the package instructions. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the sauce and warm briefly over low heat to blend the flavors. Add the cheese and toss to combine. Add as much of the reserved cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce and serve. Serves 4.

Chicken with Squash, Turnips, and Shiitakes

I saw this recipe flipping through our Williams-Sonoma Fresh + Fast cookbook which has a focus on seasonal recipes. The book is divided into four sections and, you guessed it, they are the seasons (fall, winter, spring, and summer). I chose it because all the ingredients could be requested from the CSA. I enjoyed the dish but Patrick thought it was just okay. After a few months of butternut squash and turnips his palette is ready for some other interesting veggies. There's a lot of steps too so even though I enjoyed it, it's prep-intensive and I didn't enjoy that part!

Chicken with Squash, Turnips, and Shiitakes

Ingredients
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (we used boneless, skinless breasts)
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 Tbs. minced fresh sage
1 butternut squash, about 1 lb., peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 bunches small turnips, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, greens reserved (for the greens we substituted cabbage)
1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbs. low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (we used a mixed mushroom variety pack)
1 1/4 tsp. all-purpose flour

Directions
   In a large, heavy fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pan and brown, turning once, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and sage to the pan and sauté until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the squash and turnips and stir to coat with the oil. Add the 1 1/2 cups broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 25 minutes.
   Meanwhile, in a large nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Chop the greens from 1 bunch of the turnips (reserve the remainder for another use).
   Add the mushrooms and chopped turnip greens to the pan with the chicken. Cover and simmer until the greens wilt, about 5 minutes. Put the flour in a small bowl, gradually add the 1 Tbs. broth and stir until smooth. Stir the flour mixture into the fry pan, cover and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper and serve immediately. Serves 4.