Potato Gnocchi

I finally took a picture of my cooking!  Here are my gnocchi, which are pretty easy to make but are time-consuming because of shaping them.  A potato ricer makes it extremely easy to process the potatoes.  Basically, it's a larger version of a garlic mincer and has the same purpose, to extrude the potatoes through small holes.  

Ingredients:

2 lbs. (2 oz.) whole baking potatoes

1 beaten egg

2 1/4 c. flour

pinch of salt

Preparation:

1.  Boil potatoes whole with skin in salted water until cooked.

2.  Once cooked, drain potatoes and then peel them; being careful not to burn yourself.

3.  Pass potatoes through a potato ricer and into a bowl.

4.  Add flour, egg and a good pinch of salt.

5.  Mix until you have a nice pliable ball of dough.

6.  Prepare a work area and dust it with flour.

7.  Take dough, a piece at a time, and roll it out with your hands until you have rolls 3/4" in diameter.

8.  Cut tubes of dough into pieces about 1" long.

9.  With a fork, holding tines against a work surface, use your fingers to press a piece of dough gently against the fork and roll it slightly then letting it fall to the table.  (I found it helpful to hold the fork with your left hand, if you right-handed, and roll the dough against the tines)

10.  The result will be gnocchi with an indent on one side from your finger and pattern on the other side from the fork.

11.  Handle the gnocchi carefully so they don't lose their shape.  Place them on a lightly flour plates.  Keep them apart so they don't touch one another or they'll stick together.

12.  Bring a pot of water to boil and then add the gnocchi carefully a plate or two at a time.  When they float to the surface, they're ready and just remove them with a slotted spoon and set them in strainer to drain excess water.

Serve gnocchi with a pesto sauce, sage and butter sauce, ragu or tomato sauce.  

Milan

Chuck and I took the train to Milan, a two hour train ride west of Maranello.  It felt really deserted and calm as there weren't as many people milling about the city as I expected.  I guess everyone headed for the nearby sea and lakes to escape to heat.  

We took the metro, the underground rail, to the Duomo.  The Duomo is the third largest cathedral in Europe after St. Peter's in Rome and Seville's cathedral.  Building began in 1386 and was not finished until 1813.  The exterior has 135 pinnacles and over 3,4000 marble statues from all time periods, being the world's largest collection of marble statues.  

Luckily, there's wasn't a very long line to explore inside.  And there is no entrance fee as its a church.  As with every other churches in Rome, modesty is mandatory.  No uncovered shoulders or very short shorts or mini-skirts....or else, they'll turn you away.  

Aptly named, the Duomo is located at the Piazza del Duomo as is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, the entrance shown below.  It is Italy's oldest and most elegant shopping mall.  Like the stores, be forewarned:  the cafés are pricey.  But its a great spot to people-watch.  Stores such as Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton are home to the Galeria.  

We walked east of the Piazza del Duomo to the Castello Sforzesco.  The Castello was the residence of the Sforza family, the despotic rulers of Milan in the 15th century.  Forza means strength in Italian.

Next, we walked to the church Santa Maria delle Grazie.  Next door is the Cenacola Vinciano which was once a refectory for Dominican friars and now is home to Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper.  Unfortunately, they have limited visitors with visits and have limited visits to 15 minutes.  It was sold out and thus, weren't able to visit the famous painting.  

After a lot of sightseeing, we ate at a sidewalk café.  We really wanted to eat sushi, but they were not open until dinner.  We found a sushi place that served hamachi and will definitely head back to Milan again to get our sushi fix.  I've been craving hamachi!  And sushi in general.  But we had a good lunch.  We shared caprese, shown above, and I had Parma ham with cantaloupe (actually, a good combination of sweet and salty).  Chuck had spaghetti alla carbonara which he said wasn't as good as mine!

After lunch, we went shopping.  Actually, I went shopping while Chuck waited patiently for me and gave his opinions.  He did buy one shirt, but I was the shopping queen buying 2 dresses, 2 shirts, a cardigan, and a pair of shorts.

We hopped back onto the underground rail to the train station and headed back to Maranello.  

When Chuck and I got off the metro at the Piazza del Duomo, we were bombarded by African sellers of the bracelets above.  They were very aggressive and deceiving.  Initially, he placed the bracelets on our wrists and saying they were free.  I wanted to give them a little money, maybe like a euro, but they were like 10 euros.  What!?!  For this bracelet!  So, we finally settled on 3 euros and we weren't backing down....despite their very strongly aggressive behavior.  

We made it in time, half an hour early for the last bus back to Maranello.  

Another Italian Dinner

Goulash is originated from Hungary, but made its way over to Germany, Austria, and the northern region of Italy.  Goulash is a spicy dish made of beef, onions, and paprika.  Its name comes from Hungarian gulyás (pronounced goo-yash), the word for a cattle herdsman.  I enjoyed goulash growing up in Germany.  My mom would make goulash occasionally and pour it over spatzla, an egg noodle pasta.  It is one of my favorite dishes.  And so my attempt to make it tonight and it turned out really good.  The meat was really tender since we left it on a low flame for three hours.  As a side dish, I made an orzo pasta salad with yellow peppers and peas.  Orzo is "barley" in Italian and is made of hard wheat semolina, though it looks like rice.  

Goulash

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs. stewing beef cut in 1" cubes

1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium white onions, sliced thinly

1 garlic clove, minced

2 bay leaves 

3 Tbsp. paprika

2 tsp. marjormam

2 tsp. cumin

1 1/2 c. canned plum tomatoes

zest from one lemon

salt to taste

3 chilies (optional)

Preparation:

1.  Slice the onions thinly and sauté them in oil until they are soft.  If they get too dry add a little water or good meat broth so they don't brown.

2.  Once the onions are ready, add the paprika and mix it in well.

3.  Then add meat, cumin, marjoram, lemon zest, bay leaves, garlic, a good healthy pinch of salt, and tomatoes.

4.  Cover and cook on low flame for 3-4 hours.  Mix occasionally to be sure meat doesn't stick or get too dry.  Salt to taste.  

5.  Serve and eat!

Makes about 5-6 servings.  

Orzo Salad

Ingredients:

3 c. hot cooked orzo (1 1/2 c. uncooked rice-shaped pasta)

1 c. frozen green peas, thawed

3/4 c. (3 oz.) crumbled feta cheese

1/4 c. chopped parsley

3 Tbsp. balsalmic vinegar

2 Tbsp.  extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss well to coat.  Cover bowl and chill for one hour.

Makes 6-8 servings.  

Linquine alla Carbonara

Last night, I made us a Italian dinner which I haven't cooked in awhile. It called for prosciutto.  It didn't specify type, so I went for prosciutto crudo.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 oz. pancetta or very lean bacon, sliced into 2 x 1/4" strips
3 oz. prosciutto, sliced into 2 x 1/2" strips

1 cup thinly sliced scallions

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

black pepper

salt 

1 lb. linguine

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. parsley leaves

1.  In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add pancetta and sauté, stirring contstantly, until lightly golden and slightly crispy.  Add prosciutto and continue to sauté until softened, about 1 minute.  With slotted spoon, transfer mixture to paper towel to drain.

2.  Pour off all but 2 Tbsp. of pan drippings.  Add scallions and sauté, stirring constantly, over medium heat until tender crisp for about 2 minutes.  As scallions are cooking, scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen any fragments.  Return pancetta and prosciutto to pan and mix well; set aside.

3.  In small bowl, using wire whisk, beat egg yolks and heavy cream.  Add parmesan cheese and black pepper; whisk again until smooth.

4.  Cook pasta in 6 quarts of boiling water with 1 Tbsp. salt until al dente.  Drain in colander, transfer to bowl containing 1 Tbsp. butter and toss quickly.  Toss 1/2 of bacon-scallion mixture with pasta.  Immediately toss in egg-cheese mixture.  Spoon remaining bacon-scallion mixture on top and garnish with minced parsley.  Serve with additional freshly grated parmesan cheese.   

Enjoy!

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme

Since I'm currently unemployed, I've had the opportunity to devout more time to cooking...much to Chuck's delight! Although I don't cook every single night, I become inspired at least once or twice a week to search for recipes on-line and make a hearty and home-cooked meal. This was my first time cooking a whole chicken and it was really delicious with the seasoning.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 7-lb. roasting chicken
1 lemon, quartered

1/4 c. dry white wine
1 c. canned low-salt chicken broth
2 tsp. all-purpose flour

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450℉. Mix first 4 ingredients in bowl. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Place chicken in roasting pan. Rub all but 1 tablespoon garlic-thyme oil over the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place lemon in cavity of chicken. Tie legs with string.

Roast chicken 20 minutes. Roast chicken until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of inner thigh registers 180℉, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Lift chicken and tilt slightly, emptying juices from cavity into pan. Transfer chicken to serving platter. Tent chicken with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Pour pan juices into large glass measuring cup.

Spoon fat off top. Add wine to pan; place over high heat. Bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Pour wine mixture into measuring cup with pan juices (do not clean roasting pan). Add enough chicken broth to cup to measure 1 1/2 cups.

Return broth mixture to same roasting pan. Mix flour into reserved 1 tablespoon garlic-thyme oil. Whisk into broth mixture. Broil broth mixture in roasting pan set over 2 burners until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season pan-juice mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into sauceboat. Serve chicken, passing pan-juice mixture separately.

Cake Stands

I wasn't expecting to purchase a cake stand for our wedding cake but I just love these ceramic cake stands by Clara French.  What a great way to personalize your wedding cake display with these customized cake stands.  I love the fresh and original designs and soft colors.  

Abetone

Chuck and I revisited Abetone, this time with Jim. Jim is Chuck's fellow co-worker at Ferrari and recently came back from Toronto to work there. Abetone is an hour drive southwest of Maranello in the mountains. It's a popular ski resort in the winter and is also popular in the summer for mountain biking and hiking. We're totally excited for winter as there's a lot of ski resorts not only in Italy, but in Austria and Switzerland as well; all within a four hour drive from Maranello. For our pre-honeymoon (Chuck won't have time off work until around October for our honeymoon), we want to go to Zurmatt, Switzerland for a long weekend of skiing. Anyways, before hiking, we ate lunch in town at a small pizzeria. We became chatty with the owners as they were excited that Jim and Chuck worked at Ferrari and on the Formula One race cars (the time trials for the F1 race in Germany was on the television). So, it was nice to practice our spotty Italian but they were really good about it, talking slower and correcting our mistakes. I understood about 40% of the entire conversation. They gave us complimentary drinks of blueberry wine, which was really tasty...who knew! After a two-hour lunch, we headed to the ski lift (gondola) and went up the mountain. It's crazy to see a ski mountain without all the snow. Pretty much dirt, rocks, bushes and grass. Once we went up to the top, we hiked for an hour taking in the beautiful views and cooler temperatures. Italy is such a beautiful country. I love the varied topography from the mountains, rolling hills to the coastline. It's nice to have the same variety of landscape as I enjoy in Washington. After our hike, Chuck wanted to find White Dog Brewery in Guiglia, east of Abetone and about fourty-five minutes away. Guiglia is a really small town, really just on a street. We walked around and couldn't find a brewery, but found a castle (really, in Europe?!!). We stopped for a bite to eat and asked around about the brewery. The server was really nice and actually called the brewery to find out their location (people here are very friendly...thank goodness!) Luckily, the owners are British and spoke English. It turns out that this brewery was in the brewer's home which was also a bed and breakfast in the outskirts of Guiglia and on a dirt road. So after buying twelve bottles of beer (stout and wheat beer), we headed back home to Maranello. It was a nice day trip as it was nice to get away from the overly crowded and touristy towns and to enjoy nature. 

Venice

Last weekend, Chuck and I took a one-day trip to Venice.  It's only a two and a half hour train ride from Modena and we only transferred once at Bologna.  Usually the wait time between trains has been less than fifteen minutes.  There is a road leading to the entrance of the city with a parking lot for cars, but transportation is entirely on water or on foot.  Being in the peak of tourist season, it was unbelievably crowded with people especially the lines for the ferries.  Not only was it overly crowded with tourists, but it was unbearably hot.  Unfortunately, I was feeling the early effects of heat exhaustion with nausea, dizziness, and a rapid pulse rate.  Staying hydrated and walking in the shade helped immensely.  Though I really wanted to ride in a gondola, we didn't since I felt sitting in the blaring and beating sun would not conducive to my well-being.  We were going to go to a museum (which we haven't been to any yet), but noticed you can get an exceptional deal of 18 euros for four museums versus 13 euros for one museum.  So we decided to visit again, stay for a weekend, and see more of the sights.