Makin' Gnocchi

When you are going to take on a dinner party for more than four and you promise home-made gnocchi, it is good to have a lot of hands on deck. Gnocchi is relatively easy to make but the process is a little long.

I begin by baking potatoes. Roughly a half of a large russet potato per person should work. I did six large ones. You then rice them and then sift in, lightly tossing after each cup, three cups of unbleached all purpose flour. After it is tossed, it should start to come together to form a dough.

The dough then gets formed into a small ball and then rolled out, like a snake, about 1/2" in diameter (even thinner, if you like). The snake is then cut into 3/4" sections and then rolled down the gnocchi board to give it grooves. You can also do this with a fork.  

We had a full assembly line going and lots of hands on the groove-making. I think that everyone enjoyed it, for the first half-hour, at least.

Because we had so many hands at work on them, the result looked like a collection of sea shells. It was very cool.

After my minions relieved themselves of their duties, I made another batch of ricotta gnocchi on my own. For this batch, I used 1 1/2 cups of ricotta, four egg yolks and just over a cup of flour. I also put a dash of nutmeg in them. These came out a little more uniform in shape and size.

Gnocchi get boiled until they float to the top of the water and then sauteed in the sauce of your choice. I made three sauces tonight. One was a pesto cream, another was a pink sauce made with cream added to a red sauce base with pork and fennel. For the ricotta gnocchi, I made an Alfredo with a little nutmeg.

The gnocchi were very tasty. I liked the ricotta the best but the favorite for everyone else was the potato gnocchi in the pink sauce.

Serviceberry Pancakes

I decided to take advantage of my neighbor's huge crop of serviceberries and use them in my breakfast this morning.  I started by picking about a pint of berries.  The ripest ones almost fall right off the stem.   

I rinsed them off and then prepared a buttermilk pancake batter.  I use the recipe from the Joy of Cooking.  The few substitutions I do are to use cake flour instead of the regular flour, I add a couple tablespoons of honey to the batter and I also add a generous tablespoon of vanilla.  

After pouring the batter into the skillet, I scatter berries over the top. 

I flip it and then let it cook through, until golden brown.  Today is spectacular outside so we ate under the pergola out back. 

These came out great.  The taste of serviceberry is hard to explain.  They are sweet and sort of a cross between a blueberry and a cherry though milder than both.  I would like to have the stamina to pick enough to make a jar of jam with them but the picking goes pretty slow.  We'll have to see how the rest of the week goes. 

Thanksgiving with a deep fried turkey

Nope, we didn't plant palm trees behind the Tiny Bungalow, we spent the Thanksgiving away from home this year and opted for a warmer location with family in Florida.  We were all up for a change of pace, food-wise, as well so we thought we'd try a deep fried turkey.  It was a relatively easy process and not quite as dangerous as most people would have you think.  It is also convenient as all of the items you need are now available at your local hardware store and the cooking time is very fast.  

We did a small bird this year and I injected it with an herb and wine mixture of my own making.  You heat the oil (measured to the perfect amount to cover the bird) to 350 and then SLOWLY lower the DRY and DEFROSTED bird into the hot oil.  I have a feeling that this is where most morons screw up and drop the sucker in, sending oil and fire everywhere.    

The wire hanger was a much needed part of the process.  I was going to opt for the entourage of two or four people lowering it in on a giant spit-like contraption but the bird seemed a little small for all of that. 

 The only thing that is a small pain is that you have to watch the thing vigilantly, keeping the temperature regulated between 325 and 350 degrees.  This really isn't such a big deal since the entire cooking process takes all of 45 minutes.  I thought this was the best part.  Well, next to the crispy skin, it's the best part.

 Pulling the turkey out of the oil seemed like another place where most morons, after polishing off a six-pack while waiting the 45 minutes for the bird to cook, could screw up.  The bird came out great.  Now that we've done it once, I think I would have cooked it for a little less time but otherwise, the deep fried turkey was a huge hit.  

The only down-side to the whole operation is that I like the turkey stuffed with stuffing and the gravy that comes from the drippings in the pan.  Sadly, there is no way to replicate these with a deep fried turkey.  This might be why, upon returning home to the Tiny Bungalow, I went out and got a turkey today and am roasting it in the oven. 

Pizza fritte

If you are in Central New York, you call it "pizza fritte".  If you are in the greater New York City area, you call them "zeppole".  I haven't seen on in Chicago yet so I don't know what they call them here.  Regardless, it is the easiest treat to make and fits in well with a cool fall night so we decided to make some tonight.

Any moron can make them.  You fry dough and sprinkle whatever you like on it.  To keep the recipe REALLY simple, you can buy the dough.  If I were in my hometown, Syracuse, this would be preferred and I would get the dough from Columbus Bakery.  In Chicago, I think we have the next best thing in the prepared dough you can get at Caputo's Market.  Make any form you want.  My daughter insisted on "O"s and "D"s - though I can hardly tell the difference.  I made some smaller balls and some logs (for lack of a better term) as well.  It only needs to fry a couple minutes on each side and once it is done, you sprinkle it with sugar, cinnamon and sugar, keep it plain, put ice cream on it, jelly is good too.  Whatever you do, you have to eat them quickly because they are only good warm.

 Be careful not to burn your mouth though...

After Dinner Jelly Making

We enjoyed a nice grilled dinner under the patio last night.  The first course was a grilled pizza.  Throwing the pizza stone onto the grill has yielded some great results so far.  The dinner featured fresh cut herbs from the garden.  We went all out this year and planted basil, thyme, lemon thyme, lemon basil, rosemary, lavender, sage and oregano.  

We have also had our usual bumper crop of raspberries.  Last week I had enough to make raspberry jam.  I used the same recipe that I used last year and really like it.  The only down-side to the jam is that the raspberry seeds can be a bit much.  This week I formulated a new recipe that is seedless and uses some rhubarb from the local farmer's market.  It came out great as well.

Raspberry Rhubarb Jelly

1 1/2 c Raspberry Syrup (raspberries cooked down with seeds strained)

3 c Diced Rhubarb

1 1/2 c Sugar

1 pkg Pectin

Cook first three ingredients for about 10 minutes and then add pectin and cook for about 20 seconds more.  Place in jars and process jars according to directions.  This recipe yields 4 small jars.

Egg Nog

It has been a tradition of ours for decades now to have a large holiday party where egg nog and champagne are the beverages of choice.  The champagne is usually cheap and plentiful and the egg nog homemade, strong and tasty.  The fact that it is home made seems to startle the guests and elicits a lot of questions: What’s in egg nog?  Is it hard to make?  Do you cook the eggs?

I still recall the first batch of home made egg nog I ever made.  The recipe came from my roommate’s father in 1988: my dad makes this awesome egg nog that is pretty strong and everyone loves.  Mr. Sargent’s recipe was straightforward: whip together a dozen egg yolks with a cup of sugar and add in a quart each of heavy cram and milk.  Add a quart of your favorite booze (we mixed thirds of 151, Capt. Morgan’s, and brandy) and then fold in 12 whipped egg whites.  Top with nutmeg and serve. 

It’s a simple recipe as long as you are not trying to yield more than a couple gallons of nog.  I think we maxed out one year with six gallons of the stuff.  Separating that many eggs is no small task.  This recipe is still my favorite because it brings back a flood of good college memories and I usually throw on Neil’s “Hot August Nights” while making it because, for some reason or other, it reminds me of my roommate.

Over the years, I started getting some negative reactions to the nog recipe.  Everyone still loved the taste but the thought of drinking un-cooked egg, no matter how much alcohol was accompanied with it, turned people off.  I tried the recipe with irradiated eggs for a couple years but given the volume we were making, it got kind of expensive.  In 1991, I discovered a new recipe.  It came from the home-making diva herself, Martha Stewart (It is published in her 1996 Holiday magazine).  

Martha’s recipe is slightly more complex that Mr. Sargent’s and yields very tasty ice cream-like nog.  The other advantage is that Martha’s is cooked so no one is turned off by it.  Of course, being Martha, it is a bit more difficult to make but it is a labor of love.  It eventually became a tradition of sorts to have a kitchen-full of people separating eggs and helping to whip up the annual batch on the eve of the annual party.  

Last night, I put on Neil and with memories of holidays past swimming through my head, I started simmering a quart of milk with a split vanilla bean.  While that the bean is imparting it’s goodness to the milk, I separate a dozen eggs and mix the yolks with 1 and ½ c of sugar and 1/2tsp. salt.  Temper the egg mixture and then add to the simmering milk.  Allow this to thicken, over medium heat while constantly stirring, until it coats the back of a spoon.  Remove from the heat and add 1pt whipping cream and 1pt milk then let cool.  Martha then adds a quart of her favorite booze but since we have a lot of children at the party these days, I leave it out and let folks spike their own.  I usually have decent bottles of bourbon (my spiking liquor of choice), spiced and flavored rums, cognac and brandy on hand for this job.  You finish off the nog by topping it with 1pt of cream whipped with 1/2c sugar then sprinkled with freshly shaved nutmeg.  This year, I multiplied the recipe by 3 and made enough to yield about 2 gallons.  It’s not the kind of volume we’d make in years past but I am sure it will be enjoyed just as much.       

Pickling 2009

It seemed a little stunted early on but the garden is finally doing well. Though the pumpkins are getting huge and taking over, we had enough beans and cucumbers today do a pickling session this afternoon.

I got mixed reviews from the sweet pickles from last year so I thought I'd change it up a little this year. I think they came out just fine but it just seems that most the folks I know just prefer dill. This year, I decided to go the dill route. We purchased, from the OP Farmer's Market, fresh red garlic, dill, and hot peppers to complete the recipe. For the recipes, I found a couple online that looked good. The beans are brined with 2c each of water and white wine vinegar with 1/4c of salt, boiled. This is then poured over the beans, garlic, hot pepper, dill, and peppercorns that I jammed into a jar. The dill pickles were similar except I didn't use any pepper, used regular distilled vinegar, and put much more garlic and dill in the jars. All of the jars were processed for 12 minutes in boiling water. The afternoon's efforts yielded 8 jars of pickles and 4 jars of beans. Supposedly they will be ready in 6 weeks. I'll update you when the tasting begins.
A side note: I will be planting more beans and will also try peas next year. They have been the easiest crop and they taste great.

You want the fruit?... ...You can't handle the fruit!!!

We've got raspberries, tons of them. Usually we are picking a couple pints a day for a week or so, This year, it is insane. We are picking over two quarts a day since last Monday.

I've been eating as many as I can, we've been giving them away, and we've been freezing a few but still, they keep piling up.I decided to try my hand at making some preserves. How tough could that be? The salsa and pickles from last year came out just fine. Well, it can be very tough. My preserves/jam/jelly sucks. My first attempt, a recipe of equal parts sugar and raspberries, yielded two and a half jars of a thick syrup.It wasn't good for bread or sandwiches but tasted just fine over pancakes yesterday. I bet they will be a fine base for raspberry margaritas as well.Since I have plenty of berries and plenty more are ripening each day, I decided to spend a little more time on the internet searching out recipes. My second round went much better. It jelled up properly and isn't too sweet. This recipe combined about 6 cups of fruit, 4 cups of sugar, and a packet of sure-jell. I brought the raspberries to a boil for a few minutes.Added sugar and sure jell and boiled again for about five more minutes.Put the mixture in jars.Processed in boiling water for five more minutes.And voila, I have a ton of preserves. I wonder how much I can fetch for these at the local farmer's market?

If I didn't want to take on another project, I'd say I had to create Tiny Bungalow Jam labels.