A little gnocchi goes a long way & Simple Sunday supper...

Ok, so in my last (and first) post I mentioned that I would be making Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter Sauce. And I have to admit, it turned out very well, but oh boy did it need some tweaking! So much tweaking in fact that it took me more than double the prep time that I was expecting. Since I've made butternut squash gnocchi in the past and it was much easier and quicker to make, I thought that this recipe would be a cinch...no. way. I actually had to finish the recipe (read: boiling the gnocchi and making the sauce) at the hosts house, which admittedly wasn't a very polite thing to do - but hey, everyone liked it so whatever. You can get off my back now. But, even though it was a lot of work, everyone at the party seemed to really enjoy it and looked forward to it as I was making it right before their eyes. If you want to try the recipe, which I absolutely encourage, I suggest following some (read 9) of the tips below...

1. Make sure that the sweet potatoes are fully cooked before taking them out of the oven. If they're not, like mine were, you can continue to cook them, covered, in a microwave. I would start with two minute intervals and move down to one minute as it gets close.

2. I would use either a food processor or a blending wand (husband's name for the tool that does what a food processor does but comes in a wand-ie kind of form) as it takes out the lumps nicely.

3. ADD MORE FLOUR - BUT NOT TOO MUCH! This is one of those things that you just have to get used to when making doughs - they're unpredictable. Giada says - while I don't actually know Giada per say, I love her recipes (just like the incredible Paula Dean) and make them so often I find myself asking in certain kitchen situations what would Giada do (WWGD) and even what would Paula Dean do (WWPD)? So if that doesn't make us best friends I don't know what will. And seriously, we both suffer from the tiny body/big noggen syndrome, so we were probably separated at birth or something. Anywho, about the flour, it's a soft dough - too soft for my liking so I added about 1/4 cup extra of flour before and during the rolling and cutting stages.

4. Refrigerate the dough before handling. It doesn't have to be for too long, just long enough to let you work with the dough.

5. Gnocchi don't have to be pretty - in my world at least. Generally I like the food that I make to at least present well, but these little guys were butt ugly. But I had done so much work up to this point that when it came time to roll these little devils over a fork and make them exactly the right size, my patience had dwindled to the point of non-existence.

6. Refrigerate the gnocchi a bit before cooking. It will help you in handling them.

7. Cook the gnocchi until they float (1-3 minutes) - NOT for 6 minutes. That's entirely too long and they'll get really slimy and gooey.

8. The sauce was perfect - wouldn't change a thing!

9. You don't necessarily have to serve this immediately - you can easily reheat it over low heat on the stove.

Phew! That was a lot! I promised that I would give a simple Sunday supper recipe though so I condense (as much as I can) for you...

Tomato Bisque & Parmesan Crusted Grilled Cheese (not as hard as it sounds - promise!)

Nellie's (Simple) Tomato Bisque
1 Can of Campbell's Tomato Soup
Heavy Cream
Oregano
Italian Seasoning
Salt
Pepper

1. Heat one can tomato soup plus one can water over medium heat.
2. When the liquids meld together add 1/2 tablespoon each of Oregano & Italian Seasoning and stir. Cook for an additional minute or two, stirring frequently.
3. Slowly stir in Heavy Cream - I usually use about 1/3 -1/2 of a cup. I would keep adding until you get a taste/color that you like.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste

Nellie's Parmesan Crusted Grilled Cheese
Sourdough Bread (Panera's bread bowls are a great option - they slice them for you (thick slices preferred) and are delicious & Cheap! But if you're making more than three sandwiches, you should get a full loaf or ask for thinner slices.
2 Egg Whites
1 Tbsp. water
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Your favorite cheeses/what you have on hand (we usually use a mixture of Swiss, Havarti, and Parmesan)
Butter

1. In a small bowl beat egg whites and 1 Tbsp water in a bowl.
2. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese to the egg/water mixture.
3. Place the mixture on a small plate.
4. On one slice of bread place a slice of Havarti, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, and place one slice of Swiss (or three of your favorite kinds of cheese - Parmesan adds a great kick though).
5. Place one side of the sandwich in the egg/water/cheese mixture and let sit for a minute, repeat with the other side of the sandwich.
6. Meanwhile heat butter (be liberal, it's worth it) in a pan over medium heat (start with low-mid if you're unsure, you don't want to burn the Parmesan on the outside).
7. Place the sandwich in the buttered pan and press down with a lid from a sauce pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
8. Repeat, adding more butter to the pan, for the other side.
9. If all of the cheese hasn't melted you can either continue to cook in the pan or place in a toaster oven at 300 degrees for a few minutes.

EXTRA: Garlic & Parmesan Sourdough Croutons
If you've got some extra sourdough around cut it into small chunks for some delicious croutons! Preheat your toaster oven/standing oven to 300 degrees and simply heat 2 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. oil over medium heat until the butter has melted, add 1 large clove of minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes (don't burn!). Remove from heat and stir in cubed sourdough. Liberally sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Enjoy!

Preamble... let the cooking begin

One might think that a blog entitled such as this is written by a host/chef extraordinaire. Well that's not the case, but I'd love for it to someday be true. I started cooking just a few years ago when, after many a mishap (read: cookies catching fire in the oven, serving chicken burnt outside and undercooked inside, and one fateful visit from the fire department), I got tired of reheating Chinese takeout (though I was a pro at that point) and decided to teach myself how to cook. Before this I had always considered myself a pretty good baker - though I hadn't ventured much outside of Nestle Tollhouse cookies and boxed cakes. After two years of cooking, I've found several thing to be true: (1) Oil does not boil, (2) If you bake a cake from scratch it will look like a lumpy, deflated tire if you don't follow the directions, and (3) The line between thinking that I can cook anything and actually being able to cook anything is quite large.

My goal for this blog is to share the recipes that I'm using in my very own kitchen - with all of my individual tweaks, quirks and yes mishaps. I try between 3-4 new recipes per week, so visit often! Hopefully we'll be able to learn something together :)

What's for dinner tonight? Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter Sauce.* The dish is for a holiday party that my husband and I are attending tonight. I wanted to put a twist on traditional holiday sweet potato recipes - I've made butternut squash gnocchi in the past and found it absolutely delicious, so I'm hoping this recipe produces similar results. I'll let you know!

*courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis and the Food Network's website: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/sweet-potato-gnocchi-with-maple-cinnamon-sage-brown-butter-recipe/index.html