Easy Gnocchi "Choux Style"

I come home from a quick trip to our nation's capital and what's in the fridge? Nothing. Just like everybody else's fridge after vacation. What do you make out of nothing? Gnocchi. Not the one made with the potatoes and the kneading and the rolling and the cutting. That's way too much work today, save that for company. These are tender nuggets based on pate a choux, a basic building block for pastry chefs and savory cooks alike. Pate choux is harder to pronounce than make. You should have everything you need on hand. Water, butter, flour, eggs and some seasonings. I like whole grain mustard, nutmeg and parmesan. These will freeze well and it's worth making more than you need just to keep the freezer happy.  

I made a quick one pan dish with wild leeks, fiddleheads and red pepper seasoned with wine, lemon and parsley. You can bake them with a little cream and tomato sauce or toss with wild mushrooms, fennel and broth or even go all Sandra Lee (don't forget the cocktails and tablescapes) and bake them with canned  lentil soup and frozen green beans, yummoo!

Confession: Our fridge wasn't exactly empty. The dog sitter who watches our place while we are out of town left a fridge full of wild leeks and fiddleheads. No you cannot have his name.

 

 Easy Gnocchi  serves 4 as a main course

• 6 oz water
• 1 stick unsalted butter (4oz)
• 1 cup flour
• 4 large eggs
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• 1 oz parmesean grated fresh is better and cheaper
• good pinch of nutmeg

Get a good sized pot of salted water boiling to cook the gnocchi

In a small heavy bottomed pan heat up the water with a good pinch of sea salt and butter over medium heat.

When the water / butter mixture is just beginning to boil add the flour all at once and stir with a heavy wooden spoon. Reduce heat to low and keep stirring for a couple minutes. You should see a light film on the bottom of pan.

Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, or by hand, add the eggs one at a time. Be sure the egg is fully incorporated before you add the next one. It will look all loose and slippery in the beginning then it will stiffen up as the egg gets absorbed. Repeat two more times. Before you add the last egg toss in the mustard, cheese and nutmeg. 

Using a pastry bag  (pastry bag tips at the end of post) with a plain tip about 3/4" diameter pipe the dough into the simmering water cutting at 1" intervals. This is easier than it sounds.

Simmer for 3 minutes and rest on a sheetpan. They will swell up and almost double in size when they are done. If the water is boiling too rapidly they may fall apart.  Cover pasta with a kitchen towel to keep from drying out. Repeat until all the dough is used. Easy.

 Pastry Bag Tips

• you can use a ziplock bag, just snip the corner
• fold the bag way over over your left hand and fill with your right. This will keep the bag clean and less product sticking to the bag
• no need to use a pastry tip for this
• squeeze all the product down to the bottom before you start
• hold the bag in your left hand and gently squeeze while you cut the gnocchi with a paring knife
• disposable bags are handy for this type of stuff

Cook like you mean it, G

Grilled Vegetables & Chive Dressing

 

Check out the veggies in the photo. I have a plan for each one. The asparagus are fat ones, I snap the stems where they want to break. The peppers have been quartered, seeds and pith removed with a paring knife and then peeled. I remove the soft punky seeds from the zukes and summer squash. The gills and stem have been removed from the mushrooms. The plum tomato is quartered and the white pith is cut out.  Broccoli is split down the stem focusing on even sized pieces of stem. Onions are cut in half and skin left on.  I choose slender supermodel carrots and split lengthwise. I wash all the veggies except the carrots. The carrots are organic and I don't want to wash the organic off. The water that clings to the green vegetables will help stem them a little while they grill.

I keep my fire in the center and use the edges for the slower cooking veggies. I close the lid when I'm not tending to the grill. I have the thicker stem ends facing towards the fire. This will keep the flower tips on the asparagus and broccoli from burning. I spray all the veg with a little non stick spray and season with sea salt.  After everything is grilled I cut into serving pieces and toss with the dressing then arrange on the plate.

The Chive dressing is a basic vinaigrette. 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. A great trick is to use the metric side of your measuring cup. It makes the 3 to 1 ratio really easy. 300 milliliters of oil 100 milliliters of vinegar. Way easier than cups and tablespoons.

I use my food processor for this. I add the mustard garlic and shallot into the bowl and slowly add the oil. Check out the feeding tube cover on your machine. I should have a small hole in it. Fill that with your oil and it will slowly incorporate the oil hands free. Cool.

Chive Dressing

• 1 Tablespoon mustard
• 1 Tablespoon mayo, homemade if you have any
• 2 Tablespoon honey
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1 shallot small dice
• 300 milliliter neutral oil, I used grapeseed, canola or peanut is fine, no EVOO
• 100 millileters vinegar, white wine or cider, no distilled vinegar
• 25 milliliter white wine
• Juice & zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 cup chives very small dice
• sea salt & white pepper to taste

Add first five ingredients in bowl of food processor

Slowly add oil, try the trick using your feeding tube cover described above

Add wine, vinegar and lemon juice and process another minute

Add chives, salt and pepper. Taste, taste and taste

Simple Roast Vegetable Dinner

Busy days here at the Nooney household. Presidents week is a hectic at work, a 50 inch snowstorm came rolling thru and then our son finally got home from Afgannyland. Relief. I'm sure your life gets just as busy. When this happens to me my diet suffers. No planning, just grabbin' and goin'. Time to make a nice meal for me. Easy breezy and fun to eat. I dig using my hands over utensils any day.

Let's see what went down in the AgaKitchen.

Roast Veggies and Barley Pilaf slow roast tomatoes, baked onions, broccoli, yellow squash and carrots with a side of red pepper barley pilaf mixed with dark kidney beans.

• Slow roasted tomatoes, click here for recipe, takes about three hours but can be made ahead
• Baked onions, click here for recipe, or simply wash and bake at 375 for about an hour, do not peel
• Barley pilaf, sweat 1/2 an onion small dice and 1/2 a peeled red pepper small dice, add one cup barley. add 1/4 cup white wine and 2 cups stock or water. Bring to a boil and let simmer until all liquid is absorbed. I throw it in the oven for about 30 minutes. Don't forget to season as you go
• Roast broccoli and carrots. Cut broccolli into spears and carrots into sticks, drizzle with olive oil, season and into a 425 oven for about 10 minutes
• Roast summer squash, pick out a small one, split lengthwise, season and into an oiled baking pan and in the oven with the broccoli and carrots, about ten minutes. I put a cool cross hatch pattern on mine but I like to show off. Look closely and you can see them. I t also helps the heat penetrate a bit deeper
• Simple vinaigrette, I used capers and lemon, 3 to 1 oil to vinegar ratio with a splash of wine and mustard

That's it, add some nice greens, I used some cool living greens upland watercress, and build a plate full of great tasting fun to eat healthy vegan food that carnivores will love.

Welcome home Sgt Nooney!