Okay, a friend reminded me that Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks, so the idea here is to take traditional Thanksgiving fare and prepare it in a non- traditional way. Everybody seems to like sweet potatos so let's start with that.
To make the Gnocchi:
You can either bake 2 pounds of sweet potato in the oven at 425 deg. for 40 to 50 minutes, or you can use your microwave and have them fully cooked and tender in about 8 to 11 minutes, using far less energy. But either way, once they’re done, cut them in half and scoop the sweet potato into a large bowl. Mash it thoroughly and measure out two cups. Return that to the bowl and feed the rest to your dog.
If he won’t eat it, send it to my house, mine will.
Add 2/3 cup whole milk Ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Mix this thoroughly.
Add 1 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour, blending this 1/2 cup at a time, until it forms a soft dough.
Now sprinkle some flour on a flat work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch thick rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch long pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork to score the surface. Transfer the formed gnocchi onto a large baking sheet.
Now, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3batches and cook until tender but still firm when you bite into it. Stir the Gnocchi occasionally, for about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi with a slotted spoon, moving it back onto the baking sheet. Build a tent with foil to keep it warm, while you finish the remaining gnocci.
For the Brown Butter sauce:
While the gnocchi are cooking, melt ½ cup of butter (yeah this is another low calorie recipe, but hey, its for the holidays, so suffer through it)in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add two dozen fresh sage leaves. Let this cook, stirring occasionally, until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in a teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, a teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Stir this gently to keep it from bubbling up. When bubbles are gone, toss the cooked gnocchi in the brown butter. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish and serve it right away.
September 30, 2009
September 23, 2009
Sweet butternut squash tossed with pasta
As I said in the previous trout recipe, this is a nice adjunct to the fish. Read through the recipe and you will find your list of ingredients.
One good reason it works well with the fish is that you can do it in the same 450 oven that you are using to roast the trout (fish - whatever). The biggest pain here is the peeling, seeding and chunking of the squash, but its worth it, believe me. So preheat a cookie sheet for the squash as well.
Then, prior to starting the fish, peel (a vegetable peeler works really well here - Grandma could do it with a paring knife, but she had real skills), seed and chunk your squash and then toss it with a medium to large sweet onion, cut into 1-inch chunks, 2 big handfuls of spring mix, 1/3 packed cup of torn up fresh basil leaves, and about a dozen fresh sage leaves (also torn up), enough minced garlic to approximate 5 cloves, 1/3 cup good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil, a packed tablespoon of brown sugar (light or dark), and salt and fresh-ground black pepper (to taste). Some people add red pepper flakes (or not depending upon your own preference).
Pull out the oven rack holding the cookie sheet (carefully - remember its hot) and pour the vegetable mix onto the hot sheet and spread it out. This is going to bake for about 25 minutes, or until the squash is tender, turning the vegetables two or three times during roasting.
As the squash becomes tender, cook your bow tie pasta until its tender, but not mushy. Then drain it and set it aside.
Now here is the tricky part. Once the squash is tender, you will need to turn on the broiler to caramelize it. But you have to watch this closely. No cell phones, no kids in the kitchen, no mixing a martini. Its gonna take about five minutes. You can't focus for five minutes?? Your mother could do this in her sleep and she learned it from your grandmother. You need to turn the pieces often. Anticipate about 5 minutes under the broiler. You want crusty brown edges on the squash and wilted, almost crisp greens. But if a friend calls to talk about life, you're gonna mess this up and burn it, so be advised.
Okay, if you made it through this step without screwing it up, you have potential. Scrape everything into a big serving bowl. Add 1/2 cup of half-and-half, the hot pasta, and 1 cup of shredded Asiago cheese. Toss it to blend everything up, taste it to see if you want to add more salt and pepper, or you can add more of the cheese if you feel so moved. Serve this hot with the fish, or whatever dish you wish.
One good reason it works well with the fish is that you can do it in the same 450 oven that you are using to roast the trout (fish - whatever). The biggest pain here is the peeling, seeding and chunking of the squash, but its worth it, believe me. So preheat a cookie sheet for the squash as well.
Then, prior to starting the fish, peel (a vegetable peeler works really well here - Grandma could do it with a paring knife, but she had real skills), seed and chunk your squash and then toss it with a medium to large sweet onion, cut into 1-inch chunks, 2 big handfuls of spring mix, 1/3 packed cup of torn up fresh basil leaves, and about a dozen fresh sage leaves (also torn up), enough minced garlic to approximate 5 cloves, 1/3 cup good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil, a packed tablespoon of brown sugar (light or dark), and salt and fresh-ground black pepper (to taste). Some people add red pepper flakes (or not depending upon your own preference).
Pull out the oven rack holding the cookie sheet (carefully - remember its hot) and pour the vegetable mix onto the hot sheet and spread it out. This is going to bake for about 25 minutes, or until the squash is tender, turning the vegetables two or three times during roasting.
As the squash becomes tender, cook your bow tie pasta until its tender, but not mushy. Then drain it and set it aside.
Now here is the tricky part. Once the squash is tender, you will need to turn on the broiler to caramelize it. But you have to watch this closely. No cell phones, no kids in the kitchen, no mixing a martini. Its gonna take about five minutes. You can't focus for five minutes?? Your mother could do this in her sleep and she learned it from your grandmother. You need to turn the pieces often. Anticipate about 5 minutes under the broiler. You want crusty brown edges on the squash and wilted, almost crisp greens. But if a friend calls to talk about life, you're gonna mess this up and burn it, so be advised.
Okay, if you made it through this step without screwing it up, you have potential. Scrape everything into a big serving bowl. Add 1/2 cup of half-and-half, the hot pasta, and 1 cup of shredded Asiago cheese. Toss it to blend everything up, taste it to see if you want to add more salt and pepper, or you can add more of the cheese if you feel so moved. Serve this hot with the fish, or whatever dish you wish.
September 22, 2009
Roasted trout nested in green herbs
This dish does not absolutely require trout, you can do it as well with other freshwater fish, but it does not work at all well with fillets. As you will see, you want the whole fish, skin on to do it right.
But, isshhh (Minnesotan for "OOOOh icky!") you've never had fish with the skin still on? Well, relax, you don't eat the skin. Okay, some people do, but they're uncouth savages, mostly from Nebraska and Texas, so what can I say?
Some purists (read prissy little yuppies) insist that the trout simply MUST be "organic". If you catch it from a stream, you can relax, it doesn't get any more organic than that. Course, its been eating bugs, but hey, you eat fish, so no pointing of fingers.
Preheat the oven to 450 with a cookie sheet to keep it company. While the oven and the sheet are heating up, wash your fish and pat it dry. Score the sides with a sharp knife down to, but not through the bones (3 or 4 cuts along each side should do the trick). Rub the fish inside and out with a good extra virgin olive oil, making sure you work the oil down into the slashes in the flesh. Then line the cavity moderately with some fresh minced garlic. Rub some of the garlic down into the slashes as well with some salt and pepper. Okay, if you absolutely must, use organic sea salt. I have no idea how that changes anything, but it might make you feel better about yourself.
For green herbs use thyme, parsley, oregano, lavendar, basil, sage and just a couple of sprigs of rosemary. Wash them and pat them dry. Pour some olive oil on the cookie sheet (remember, its hot, so be careful not to burn yourself moving it in and out of the oven)and build your bed of green herbs in the oil. This will impart wonderful scents and flavors to the fish (and the house for that matter) and will also keep it from sticking to the cookie sheet while it cooks.
Place the fish on the bed of herbs and then into the oven for 8 to 12 minutes or slightly more if you feel you need to. The fish is done when the flesh is white clear through. Don't overcook it. You want it to be moist and full of flavor when you serve it (or why else would you go to this much trouble?!!).
When its done, lift the fish, bed of herbs and all onto your serving plate. This goes really well with some sweet roasted butternut squash over greens and bow tie pasta. I'll bring that one on board next.
Serve the trout, as you would with any freshwater fish, with a nice Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc. Or a Budweiser, but if you do, I'll never speak to you again, so its up to you.
But, isshhh (Minnesotan for "OOOOh icky!") you've never had fish with the skin still on? Well, relax, you don't eat the skin. Okay, some people do, but they're uncouth savages, mostly from Nebraska and Texas, so what can I say?
Some purists (read prissy little yuppies) insist that the trout simply MUST be "organic". If you catch it from a stream, you can relax, it doesn't get any more organic than that. Course, its been eating bugs, but hey, you eat fish, so no pointing of fingers.
Preheat the oven to 450 with a cookie sheet to keep it company. While the oven and the sheet are heating up, wash your fish and pat it dry. Score the sides with a sharp knife down to, but not through the bones (3 or 4 cuts along each side should do the trick). Rub the fish inside and out with a good extra virgin olive oil, making sure you work the oil down into the slashes in the flesh. Then line the cavity moderately with some fresh minced garlic. Rub some of the garlic down into the slashes as well with some salt and pepper. Okay, if you absolutely must, use organic sea salt. I have no idea how that changes anything, but it might make you feel better about yourself.
For green herbs use thyme, parsley, oregano, lavendar, basil, sage and just a couple of sprigs of rosemary. Wash them and pat them dry. Pour some olive oil on the cookie sheet (remember, its hot, so be careful not to burn yourself moving it in and out of the oven)and build your bed of green herbs in the oil. This will impart wonderful scents and flavors to the fish (and the house for that matter) and will also keep it from sticking to the cookie sheet while it cooks.
Place the fish on the bed of herbs and then into the oven for 8 to 12 minutes or slightly more if you feel you need to. The fish is done when the flesh is white clear through. Don't overcook it. You want it to be moist and full of flavor when you serve it (or why else would you go to this much trouble?!!).
When its done, lift the fish, bed of herbs and all onto your serving plate. This goes really well with some sweet roasted butternut squash over greens and bow tie pasta. I'll bring that one on board next.
Serve the trout, as you would with any freshwater fish, with a nice Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc. Or a Budweiser, but if you do, I'll never speak to you again, so its up to you.
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