Tom and I will be on our merry way to Hawaii for 2 weeks of fun-filled adventure, including…
While browsing through the ever-delicious 101 Cookbooks, I found a recipe for Golden, Crispy Gnocchi. As soon as I saw it, I knew what we’d be having for dinner as soon as possible. As soon as possible actually turned out to be Saturday evening, when the weather was lovely and warm and not yet as windy and rainy as it was on Sunday.
Because of my seeming inability to follow recipes, I used the idea of crispy gnocchi as my starting point, but disregarded the rest of the recipe. Instead of shelled beans, I added sauteed chicken sausage, grape tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, artichoke hearts and dandelion greens. For the gnocchi, I just heated a pan with some olive oil and cooked the gnocchi on each side until crispy and browned. To plate, I served the sauteed chicken and veggies first and topped them with the gnocchi so that they would remain crispy. All this was topped with some freshly grated parmesan cheese for the most delicious meal I’ve had in a long time. This is officially my new favoritest dish, and I can’t wait to try out different meats and veggies with the crispy gnocchi.
We ate our dinner on the balcony with some Snowshoe Pale Ale, finishing everything off with some homemade Strawberry/orange sorbet.
Just for fun, here’s a picture of what the kitchen looked like after I had extracted the hearts of 2 artichokes…
Recipe after jump…
Among many other delicious things, one of the gifts I received at the bridal shower was a jar of fancy couscous. Couscous is an odd grain—dry and flavorless and bland on its own. But once you add fresh veggies, some lemon or lime, and some spice, couscous proves to be a willing sponge for the vibrant flavors.
Last week I made this salad with halved grape tomatoes, a bunch of fresh scallions, a jar of fire roasted red and yellow peppers and some chickpeas. For the dressing, I combined some olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, Chile de Arbol powder (similar to cayenne pepper, but more earthy), salt and pepper.
I also toasted some whole wheat pita halves and served them with Sabra brand Lemon Hummus. (As an aside, Sabra brand is truly delicious for store-bought hummus. Very creamy and lemon-y and spicy.) For the heck of it, i also threw some sliced fancy salami and ham on the plate. A deliciously light dinner, perfect for the warm Miami nights.
Saturday night was Italian night. I made homemade ravioli (using wonton wrappers because who has the time to make pasta from scratch when it’s 78 sunny degrees and there’s a lounge chair with your name on it on the beach) and homemade pizza.
I got the All-Clad soapstone pizza stone for my bridal shower, and I wanted to test it out. It makes the MOST AMAZING pizza ever. The crust gets so crispy, even in the middle, and even with a ton of toppings piled on, that when you lift your slice, it doesn’t even droop. (Hey, I like run-on sentences!) The idea behind a pizza stone is that it pulls the moisture out of whatever is cooking on it. No more soggy pizza crusts, no matter how juicy the toppings. Hooray!
The ravioli was stuffed with spinach, a little ricotta and artichoke mousse (a gift) and topped with homemade tomato sauce.
No recipes today…just photos.
When I lived in Boston, I loved loved loved J.P. Licks, and I especially loved their Coffee Oreo flavor. It’s like the love child of my two favorite supermarket flavors &mdash Cookies & Cream and Coffee. I would even journey for it on frigid winter nights in Newton, walking back with a small cone held in between my mittened hands. So when someone gave me an ice cream maker for my bridal shower, the first flavor I had to make was Coffee Oreo.
Making ice cream is so much simpler than I thought. I just heated some milk, cream and sugar with some instant espresso. Then I cooled that, threw it in the ice cream maker, and folded in some crumbled Oreos when it was done churning.
After the Coffee Oreo, I also made some carmelized pineapple sorbet because one cannot have ice cream everyday if one is to fit into her wedding dress in 31 days. The sorbet was delicious, but not so pretty, so no pictures. So many flavors, so little time…
recipe after jump
Shameless Plug. Vote here.
Recent Comments