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.  

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.

My First Bike Ride

On Sunday, I went on my first bike ride in Italy.  After witnessing motor vehicles driving really fast, I was utterly scared to share the roads with them.  I mean, there really aren't any bike lanes and most roads here are two-lane roads.  But I felt relatively safe as there are more bicyclists here than in Seattle so the cars feel comfortable sharing the road with bicyclists and nonchalant pedestrians.  They give you plenty of room as they pass or honk to let you know that they are approaching.  Now, the roundabouts....that's a different story.  Usually, you're supposed to yield before entering a roundabout and give the right-of-way; well, they don't usually yield here and if they do, well it's more like a "california" yield.  And giving you the right-of-way, well that 's hard when they just keeping going without yielding.  So, cars are coming to your left, you're supposed to be able to take a right and you do.  Well, that car is trying to veer to the right to exit as your trying to get to the next right after that....there's many exits to a roundabout, or it seems when you're trying to get through one on unfamiliar territory.  And what happens, I get honked at.  Yes, well...I don't care.  I just pedal as fast as I can to get out of that damned roundabout.   But considering, I do pretty well since that was the only honk I got out of a few roundabouts.  I'll just have to get used to it though as it's a matter-of-fact in European roads. 

Fortunately, Chuck found a route in the countryside with minimal traffic.  There are some rolling hills around, though most of the landscape is flat.  But I love a landscape with vineyards.  The grapes aren't yet on the vines, but they are a-blooming.

Me giving direction to Chuck to ride my way as I take an action shot.  It was a beautiful day out.  It was warm enough to wear bike shorts and short sleeves and I was still warm.  The weather isn't like this all the time as today was cooler and rained.  

Taking a much needed break at mile 12.5 miles.  Yummers....pistachios.  We were able to do a 25 mile loop and for my first ride, that was quite enough!  I was a little sore that night, but recovered the next day to do more exercising.   

Tonight, I made a really good Italian dish.  Well, I'm not sure how authentic it was as I got the recipe on-line; but it was sure tasty.  It's called 'pollo con i piselli' or 'chicken with peas'.  I mainly made this because we pretty much had all the ingredients at home.  We had chicken parts leftover (thigh/wing) from a chicken (breast) that I used for chicken marsala.  It turned out really good...yes, I am surprised as I'm not much for cooking.  But since I'm not working, I have been doing most of the cooking and to much of Chuck's delight!  Though he does still find time to make me a meal or two, especially breakfast...his specialty.  

But here is the recipe I used.   I think I'll start posting any recipes that I start trying, Italian or not, that way I'll be able to retrieve them as well as share them.

Chicken with Peas

Prep:  15 minutes

Cooking:  1 hour

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs (any part of the chicken can be used, leave the skin on during cooking)

1 onion (finely chopped)

1 potato (sliced - about 3 mm thick, yes I know, you'll have to convert from metric!)

300 g (11 oz.) peas (frozen ok)

250 g (9 oz.) tomatoes (chopped)

2 bay leaves

15 ml (1 Tbsp.) tomato puree (concentrate in a tube, which is what I found in the store)

60 ml (2 fl 0z. = 4 Tbsp.) extra virgin olive oil

450 ml (3/4 pint) vegetable or chicken stock (hot)

salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

1.  First and foremost, before you start cooking, be sure that the first thing you do is prepare the stock so that it's readily available when required.  The best thing to do is to have the stock just simmering, and  no more, on the cooker.

2.  Put the olive oil into a casserole (or wok or large pot, at least big enough to accommodate the chicken) and set to medium heat.  Add the onion and sweat off for a couple of minutes.

3.  Add the chicken.  Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes.  Then turn the chicken over and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  The aim is to have the chicken thighs golden in color.

4.  Before adding the peas (especially if they are frozen), turn the heat to high and after about a minute add all the peas.

5.  With a wooden spoon, set the peas evenly around the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes.

6.  Turn the heat to medium and then add the chopped tomatoes.  Move things around a bit so that the chopped tomatoes are evenly distributed and continue cooking for 10 minutes.

7.  Add all your stock.  The stock should be enough to nearly cover the chicken.

8.  Add the bay leaves.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

9.  Add the potato slices.  Also, add the tomato puree as a flavor enhancer.

10.  Take the lid and cover half of the pan.  Leave a small opening on one side.  Turn down the heat to low and let simmer for 40-50 minutes, turn chicken twice during this time period.  Simmering will cook the chicken to perfection and also help in reducing the sauce as you don't want it to be soupy.  It should thicken quite a bit.  

11.  Serve with a few slices of warm country bread or ideally, with italian polenta.  It does taste good served over gnochhi which is what I substituted.  Definitely have a good bottle of Italian wine, though it does taste pretty good with beer!

In the grocery stores, they have most of all vegetables in bulk.  You can't buy individual tomatoes or onions or potatoes.  I couldn't find dried bay leaves in the herb section, but did find it at the fresh herb section in the vegetable section, in bulk.