Yam it up!

I got a couple big, fat, gorgeous yams in my CSA box this week.  I roasted one with red onion, butternut squash, baby bliss potatoes, fresh rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil....nice.  But the second one got a little more special attention...Sweet Yam Gnocchi with Coconut Curry Sauce.

I've made gnocchi with russet potatoes and sweet potatoes before, so why not yams?  The color is rich and beautiful, and swims in my favorite coconut curry sauce full of warming, healthy spices...and best of all, it's a no-cook sauce.

First order of business is to bake the potatoes at 425degrees for about 45-55 minutes until you can easily pierce into it with a fork.  When they are cool enough to handle, scoop out the pulp into a large bowl.  You can use a ricer or potato masher (I still use my grandmother's old-fashioned masher...makes me remember why I love cooking).

Add ricotta (the secret weapon to fluffy gnocchi), cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, salt & pepper.  Mix it up well...

... then start to add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, until you have a "soft dough".  This takes practice...too much flour and the dough is gummy; too little and it doesn't hold up.  You're looking for that fine line when it moves from sticky to perfect.  Remember, go slowly with the flour - it's my cooking mantra "you can always add, but you can't take away."

Separate the dough into about 5 or 6 balls and roll each of them out on a floured board into a rope about the thickness of your thumb (unless you're a real little person).  Cut each rope into 1 inch pieces and roll each piece over the tines of a fork to get those tell-tale gnocchi marks...

I've always boiled my gnocchi in a big ol' pot of salted water - your pot need to give any kind of pasta lots of room to bounce around, and your water "should taste like the sea", as my good friend Denis taught me.  When they are ready, they will float to the top - doesn't get much easier than that!  Takes about 3-5 minutes.

The other night I was reading a bunch of blogs and found one where they were talking about pan frying gnocchi.  I'm in!  Put a little bit of olive oil to just cover the bottom of the skillet, get it gooooood and hot (it needs to sizzle when you add the gnocchi or it will just soak up the oil, and that's gross).  Pan fry it for about 5 minutes total, turning to crisp up each side. You'll know when it's ready to flip by the the sound -  you'll defintiely know it when you hear it.

I think this is my new fave way to fix gnocchi!  The outside is crisp and the inside is perfectly moist.  Either way you decide to go, this is a delish recipe.  Add whatever pasta sauce floats your boat, but please do yourself a favor and try this coconut curry sauce, courtesy of my friend Beck.  If you don't have as well-stocked a spice cabinet as I do, you can omit one or two spices (turmeric, for example, is not a big staple for most people) and probably get a pretty tasty sauce nonetheless....
This recipe makes a pretty big batch, so go for it and freeze the gnocchi in 1 i nch pieces for another day.  No need to even defrost them if you're going to boil them.  How much easier can I make it????

Sweet Yam Gnocchi

Serves 6-8

2 pounds yams (sweet potatoes or russet potatoes work, too) 

2/3 cup whole milk ricotta

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1-1 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, plus 1/3 cup for the work surface

·         Preheat the oven to 425°

·         Pierce the sweet potato with a fork. Bake until tender and fully cooked, 40- 55 minutes.

·          Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes.

·         Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl. Add the ricotta, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic and pepper, blending until well mixed.

·         Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms.

·         Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope.

·         Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork. Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet. Continue with the remaining gnocchi.

To boil gnocchi:

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in batches and cook until gnocchi float to the top, about 3- 5 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon and keep warm while you continue cooking the remaining gnocchi.

To pan fry gnocchi:

Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.   When oil is hot, add gnocchi in a single layer, working in batches, turning to crisp each side, approximately 5 minutes total.

Coconut Curry Sauce

½  cup coconut milk

½  teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½  teaspoon turmeric

pinch cayenne

3 tablespoon lime juice

3 scallions, greens only, thinly sliced or ¼ cup chopped chives

Whisk all ingredients, except scallions, in a bowl.  When gnocchi is ready to serve, toss with coconut curry sauce and top with scallions.

Polenta Pie

Oh my GARSH!  Can you be in love with a dish?  I mean, really in love?  Today I discovered that I could.

Indulge me just a minute to tell you what brought me to this new love affair...I have a couple people in my life who recently got word that someone very clolse to each of them has cancer.  Within days, I was also introduced to a massage therapist  who works with cancer patients and is interested in my therapeutic cooking ideology and services.  All of these things coming to me at the same time made me take notice.  My very wise friend Randy told me a while back that when you are on the right path, everything falls into place.  So I felt like I needed to focus on foods that help people living with cancer and those who want to prevent it from happening to them.  From my studies at Bauman College, I am a firm believer in the healing powers of food - there are herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits, and grains that do everything from helping relieve the nausea associated with chemo to actually destroying cancer cells and tumor growth.  And I am going to be cooking my arse off with those ingredients...

So I bought the book "One Bite at a Time," by Rebecca Katz.  This is the first cookbook that I have ever read cover to cover, and that I want to cook my way through page by page.  I don't think there is one recipe in it that didn't make my mouth water as I read it.  So far I have cooked five of the recipes, and they all made me do the ever-popular Happy Dance.

But  let's get back to the one that made me fall in food-love....the Stacked Polenta Pie with Garlicky Greens.

 I took just a couple liberties with her recipe:  I added mushrooms and lemon zest to the greens, cooked the polenta in my homemade veg stock instead of water, and topped it with my homemade marinara sauce.  This is one of those times when I'm so glad I live alone, so no one gets to the leftovers before me!

Creamy Polenta
1 cup polenta
4 cups vegetable stock ( see note)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Bring stock/broth to a boil.  Add salt and lemon juice and slowly whisk in polenta.  Reduce heat to low and continue stirring , until smooth.  Add olive oil and continue cooking for 20 minutes stirring constantly.  Stir in cheese.
NOTE:  If you don't make your own vegetable stock (see previous posting on how easy it is), then I recommend Trader Joe's Vegetable Broth.  It is so rich that you can use just 2 cups of it and 2 cups water for the polenta.
Galicky Greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
pinch red pepper flakes
2 bunches greens  (kale, chard, spinach), stems removed and leaves chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for 30 seconds to infuse the oil with flavor.  Add mushrooms and cooked 5-8 minutes,  Add greens, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest and cook a few minutes until greens are wilted and deep green.

To make the stacked pie, preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a pie plate.  Pour half of the polenta into the pie plate and spread to cover.  Top with greens and spread remaining polenta on top of greens.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. 

Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

 Top with your favorite marinara sauce. I'll give you my Marinara recipe another day, cuz all this typing about my new love makes me want to go grab another bite.......

Let's Talk Turkey!

I've been a baaaad kitten when it comes to  this blog.  First there was the fallout from the holidays; I was so full for so long that I didn't want to eat or cook, let alone write about food.  Then I started a new business teaching cooking classes, and I was too tired to blog.  But my friend Janice texted me today and said that she keeps checking for a new blog post, and if I didn't get to it, she was going to start posting mean messages.  She's too nice to actually do that, but just in case I'm a bad judge of character....

Are you ready to talk about turkey again? We're well past the holiday meal leftovers, and I'm ready to look at turkey once more.  These Asian Style Meatballs have been such a hit with everyone who's had them - from catering clients to cooking classes - that I felt it would be a perfect "redemption recipe" for those faithful readers who I have neglected... and the Peanut Dipping Sauce will make everyone forgive me.

Asian Style Turkey Meatballs
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons milk (use water if dairy intolerant)
1 1/2 lb ground turkey (preferably organic)
4 scallions, thinly sliced and chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon tamari
2 teaspoons Sriracha (or other hot sauce)
2 teaspoons agave nectar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
Juice of one lime
1+ tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)

Preheat oven to 400.  In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs and milk and let stand 15 minutes. Add turkey, scallions, cilantro, vinegar, Sriracha, agave, garlic, ginger, sea salt and lime juice.  Gently mix all ingredients - try not to over mix as it makes for less juicy meatballs.  Form into 12 - 18 meatballs.  Melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add meatballs (you want to hear a sizzzle when you add them).  Don't overload the skillet or your meatballs will steam rather than brown; work in a few batches.  Brown meatballs on all sides, approximately 10 minutes.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake until cooked through to 165.  Continue browning meatballs in skillet adding more oil as needed.  Serve with Peanut Dipping Sauce.

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Peanut Sauce

1 cup smooth peanut butter

¼ cup tamari

2 teaspoons red chili paste

1 tablespoon agave nectar

Juice of 2 limes

½ cup hot water

¼ cup chopped peanuts

Combine peanut butter, tamari, chili paste, agave and lime juice in a blender.   Puree to combine all ingredients.   With motor running, slowly add the hot water to thin out the sauce; use more or less water to get the consistency you want.

This sauce is soooo good that you'll be trying to find new ways to use it... one easy fix: cook some whole wheat spaghetti, saute thinly sliced red bell pepper and scallions, toss with peanut sauce and top with chopped, toasted peaunts - good hot or cold.  People in my Thai cooking class last week are still talking about this sauce like it's some dirty little secret....so go on, get dirty.

Tropical Envy

My friend Janice is vacationing in Hawaii this week.  My sister's vacationing in Florida.  I'm stuck here with nothing but rain every single dingle day, dreaming about sunshine and the sand between my toes. So if I can't go to the tropics, I'll bring a little of the tropics here....a sweet Caribbean-inspired chicken and banana dish.  May sound weird, but believe me it is delish!  Made me do the happy dance after the first bite...feeling a little full of myself right now.

First I heated about a teaspoon of coconut oil in a skillet over medium high heat and browned four quartered bananas. It takes just a minute or two per side.  Remove them from the skillet, and when they're cool enough to handle, give them a rough chop. And try not to eat all of them while you're preparing the rest of the meal.  That's the tricky part.

Add a bit more coconut oil to the same skillet and saute one pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are seasoned with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cinnamon - give both sides a good rub of the spice mix.  I pound the heck out of the chicken breasts (before I season them, of course) so that they are about 1/4" thick and they cook much faster - just 4-5 minutes per side.  When they're cooked through to 165, remove them from the skillet to cool and then shred into bite-sized pieces.

Add just a smidge more coconut oil to the skillet and saute two diced jalapeno peppers (remove seeds and membrane if you're afraid of the heat), 1 diced red bell pepper, and 6 thinly sliced scallions.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes then add the chopped banana, shredded chicken, 3 cups cooked brown basmati rice, 1/3 cup chopped peanuts, the juice of one lime, and one tablespoon tamari.  Garnish with a little of the scallion greens or chives and call it a day.  \Another one pot wonder - fuit, veg, protein, whole grain...you've got it all.

The smoky chicken, the sweet, gooey carmelized banana, the crunchy peanuts, the fiery jalapeno peppers; suddenly I don't care so much that it's raining... and raining and raining. Well sure, the umbrella drink helps a little. 

It's Appetizer Season!

Well, my blogging "with a vengeance" wasn't so vengeful after all. Things have been a little busy, with the holidays and all, so I thought I should share a little of what I've been up to..

Given the choice of appetizers or dessert, I will always opt for appetizers.  In fact, I would opt for appetizers for dinner, too.  And lately I have been sharing the love.  I've catered two appetizer parties in the past couple weeks,taught a Holiday Appetizer class, and have brought an appetizer to every dinner I've gone to lately.  I'm clearly not alone in my love of the small plates. 

It all started with Thanksgiving, the official start of Appetizer Season.  For the second year in a row I brought a Kahlua Baked Brie (sorry no picture, because it was significantly attacked by the crowd in the time it took me to get my camera out of my purse).  One woman who I had given the recipe to last year told me that she  pulled the recipe out of her coat pocket the next day, staring at it longingly like it was the phone number from a cute guy she met in a bar the night before, complete with that old "oh, what did I do last night?"  Yep, it's that good, folks:

Kahlua Baked Brie

1 6oz wheel of Brie

¼ c chopped toasted pecans or walnuts

2T Kahlua

1T agave nectar

Preheat oven to 350◦.  Cut the rind off top of brie, leaving 1/4” at edges.  In a bowl combine remaining ingredients.  Place brie on an oven-safe dish, preferably one with a lip. Top with Kahlua mixture.  Bake for 5-8 minutes until soft. Serve with baguette, crackers, or apple and pear slices.

Last weekend I prepared 5 appetizers for a wine tasting party...

We had Caprese Kebabs, Wild Salmon Spread with Cucumber Rounds, Proscuitto, Fig & Arugula Roll-ups with Lemon Chevre, Spinach Stuffed Red Bliss Potatoes, and Asian Style Meatballs with Peanut Dipping Sauce.  You're probably saying, "Wow, that sounds delicious."  And you would be right. I made much more than necessary, and the small group ate every single dingle thing, much to the chagrin of the hostess who was hoping for leftovers later in the evening.

After that party I came home and got ready to go to a holiday party of my own.  I never like to come empty handed, and since I was hopped up on appetizer energy I decided to make yet another.  This was completely on the fly, which I think is why I liked it so much.  When I throw something together with ingredients I have on hand and it comes out this delicious, it makes me do the happy dance (no picture of that dance either, sadly).  This Pear, Proscuitto & Gorgonzola Crostini will be making the rounds at a lot of parties in the next couple weeks. 

Start by melting a tablespoon of unsalted butter in a skillet.  Add 1 pear, diced and 3 slices proscuitto, chopped.  Saute for a few minutes until the pear is slightly softened.  Hit it with a pinch of salt and pepper and a little sprinkling of fresh thyme leaves.

While the pear is cooking, drizzle olive oil over thinly sliced baguette slices (this recipe will make about 24 crostini) and pop them in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes until slightly toasted.

Remove the bread form the oven and top with the pear mixture.  Place a few crumbles of gorgonzola on top of the pears and bake again for 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted.  When you pull them out of the oven, think about how many guests there really are going to be at the party and then determine how many of these you can eat in advance and still have enough for everyone else...my count was three.

I'll share more of the other appetizer recipes with you later; writing this and looking at the pictures made me hungry.  Got to pop into the kitchen and see what I can come up with now.....

Try Something New

I went to the farmers' market to get inspired today.  We're moving into that less colorful season around here, the one I call the "101 Things to Do with Kale" season.  Winter markets are less exciting for me, so I was pleased to find something I had never tried before: feijoas, also known as pineapple guava.  And I am in love!

At first I thought they were limes, which I needed to get, but as I got closer I could tell they were something different...the sign poking out of the box that read "Pineapple Guava" helped a bit.  Twin Girls Farm has samples out of all their fruits, so I picked one up as I walked by, and it literally stopped me in my tracks.  The flavor and the scent of the fruit are almost intoxicating - a beautiful blend of pineapple, pear, lemon, guava, kiwi and pinot griggio...seriously, it's THAT good.  And it's so nice to know that there is a "tropical" fruit grown here in California, so I can satisfy my "local and seasonal" sensibilities and  my desire for tropical fruit.  I'm bummed I only bought 5 of them; I only have one left.  I'll be hitting the Civic Center Market on Sunday to scoop up a bunch before they're all gone.  They will only be around for a couple more weeks, so do yourself a favor and get out to your local farmer's market before they disappear (unless your local market is also the Sunday Civic Center one; then stay home, it's supposed to rain Sunday and I'm concerned you'll catch a cold). 

Look for ones that are dark green, give a little (like an avacado), and are free of bruises.  The skin is a little bitter, so I don't eat it, but according to the farmer, you can.  I just cut them in half and scoop out the flesh.  With the next batch I buy I'll get a little more invested:  put them in salads and smoothies and make a tropical salsa (with kiwi, satsuma, shallots and red pepper flakes) to put over a nice piece of fish.  If you are a baker, I think these would be fantastic in muffins...and then bring them on over to my house!

I've got to go eat that last one.....

Tip of the Day

It's always a good idea to wash your knives immediately after cutting something.  That way you avoid eating a piece of kiwi that tastes like onion! You know I looove onions, but that is a flavor combination that's not so tasty...