Pillow Feast Anyone?

So I’d always wanted to make potato gnocchi. Finally one special day there was possibility of it becoming reality. It was a sunny day much like today with birds chirping… okay just kidding.

I was shown how to make these in a cooking class I took but never actually got to try it by myself. What I thought might be quite the adventure actually ended up being rather simple.

Okay start over… I DID try making potato gnocchi many moons ago, so I lied just now, and I ended up with a heap of mess by the end of it; foot ball sized flour blobs and a bit of intimidation was the result but the boyfriend was nice enough to “enjoy” them anyway, that’s why this next time would be an adventure. THEN I took the cooking class a year or two later… and THEN I found out the proper way to do it, and Voila! Success.

The first time around I thought  “what the hell is a Food Mill” which is what the recipe called for using so after looking up what a Food Mill does I figured “okay don’t have one of those thinga-ma-jiggs, buuuuuuut I got a cheese grater maybe that would work!” THREE HOURS And SORE FINGERS LATER I ended up with a pile of potato shavings. I did notice something neat though: when you “Mash” a potato it becomes a cloud-like pile of fluff; when you “Salad” a potato it becomes a different chunky, pasty, pile of fluff; and when you “cheese grate” a potato it becomes a thirdly different boingy pile of fluff. Interesting. “Wow, so you can take a hard-as-a-rock potato and make it into dough like you would with flour, I guess there’s those delicious potato bread rolls, so that makes sense. Double neat!”

Okay back to my revelations. After not knowing what the dough was supposed to feel like, and boiling waaaaaay too long and making waaaaay too many this debacle was the first attempt. Yikes. But then there was the cooking class. Ah yes the glorious Pasta Making cooking class where learning was abound and dreams do come true. One of those handmade pastas was the gnocchi and I was shown the RIGHT way to do it.

(This made enough for me to have two decent sized portions about 30 + each batch)

What you need:

3 medium sized Russet Potatoes, 1 large egg, veggie oil, All purpose flour, nutmeg, salt / Potato RICER (you can get these pretty much anywhere now), Large Bowl, Knife, Fork, 2 baking sheets, parchment paper

Take your Taters and wash all the dirt off. Stab them with a fork, then take some veg oil and rub-a-dub dub, stick in a pan, or foil, or whatever to bake (we’re making baked potatoes)

Any good baked potato gets about I’d say a good hour and a half in the oven. Remove and let cool down enough to handle.

In the large bowl mix 1 cup of flour with a pinch of salt and a pinch of nutmeg (don’t overdo the nutmeg), set aside

Also in the meantime line two (baking sheets, pans whatever) with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour, also set aside.

Cut your Purtaters in half or maybe three whatever fits in your Ricer. Lightly flour a kneading surface, and while they are still warm RICE ‘em. This should make a giant pile of potato fluff removing the skins at the same time; you will notice after the shavings add up that it’s light to the touch and bounces back a little. From here you want to take your fingers and make a little well in the pile this is where you’ll pour in your flour mix, and that large egg we mentioned in the list.

Mix the pile together lightly until it makes a ball (so you don’t make a mess with the egg) and then when it’s together knead with your hand a couple times till it’s all incorporated. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to be sticky… you are welcome to sprinkle to help with the kneading but don’t second guess yourself, too much flour here will make those footballs I told you about earlier.

Now that you have your fun ball of dough cut it into 8 pieces. Take each piece separately and roll out into a long log about the diameter of a nickel. Now cut off bit by bit, little inch pieces, until the log is no more. They should look like little pillows. Take the fork and, lightly floured, press into the little pillow to make grooves. This is not only adorable it’s actually also a way to pick up more sauce with each bite. Awesome right? As you fork indent each one lay them out on the flour dusted pan/sheet making sure no part of them is touching.

At this point you say to yourself “what am I going to do with all these fancy little gnocchi?” Well you have many options, you can:

A)   Feed them to the Gorilla aka my boyfriend

B)   You can throw a party for “National Grandparents Day” It’s a real holiday, I swear, look it up. Or,

C)   You can take half to eat now and freeze the other half for a second occasion.

Here’s how. Take one of those pans of gnocchi and cover it with more parchment paper over the top. Stick it in the freezer, double checking to make sure that none are touching. When they are frozen take them out and store in a freezer bag. Now they can go back into the freezer. This will ensure that you don’t end up with a block of gnocchi thawing out into a blob, and doubly! now you will be able to eat them in whatever amount you like.

Freshly made gnocchi maybe takes a minute to boil. Do them a few at a time to again prevent sticking. You know they are done when they float to the top. When frozen no thawing is necessary you still just chuck them into the pot, they’ll just take a little longer to float to the top, maybe more like 3 minutes instead of 1.

You are welcome to make any sauce you like to accompany these and traditionally you make a red sauce. But! I was in the mood for a cream sauce so I made a sauce with fresh cream, sage, parmesan, and porcini mushrooms. This takes like two seconds to put together having already hydrated your mushrooms if they are dried. (to hydrate dried mushrooms you can use water or stock, bring to a boil, turn off heat, dump them in, let sit for 20 minutes. After this they will be soft but you need to strain off any grit before chopping and putting in with your sauce)

You’ll need:

¼ cup of heavy cream

¼ cup milk

4 to 8 whole sage leaves

1 stick of butter (sometimes I feel guilty and use only half)

And just a few Porcini dried or fresh. *if you use fresh ones the flavor will be milder.

First, put the butter in the pan to melt and NOT BURN (changes the flavor). Add your milk, cream, and sage leaves. Now add another ¼ of water. Bring this to a low rolling boil for about 3 minutes. Turn off the fire, remove the sage leaves, and put in your mushroom bits. Keep the sauce in the warm pan while you boil up the gnocchi and add them to the sauce as they float to the top of your pasta water. Plate and sprinkle fresh grated parmesan on top!

Please note: Potato gnocchi with this sauce in particular is very rich! They can be served as an appetizer instead if you wish. Also, don’t be afraid to try other sauces. Eat up! (uh despite the beautifully chipped bowl, presentation may not be my forte, haha...mmm)

Bored, Poor, Lazy, Beans, *BROTH, Blam!

Here are some helpful hints pertaining to the delicious things in life. You know when you go to the grocery store and buy those cans of chicken, beef, or vegetable stock?  Ever read the contents? Often its weird crap you can’t pronounce, and SALT. Don’t get me wrong I believe wholeheartedly that salt is an amazing culinary must; after all it’s a flavor enhancer. But, it scares me sometimes to know how much “sodium” (or even sugar for that matter) is in packaged foods… uh... amongst all the other crap!

From the girl who loves all foods, packaged, fried, greasy and all, here’s a simple way to help you feel better about all the CRAP you sneak into the kitchen when no one’s looking.

Make your own Vegetable stock!  (Exciting, I know….)

So, even though making chicken, and beef stock is amazing… if you’re in a pinch or don’t have the money you can make your own Veggie Stock. All you gotta do is save some of the scraps from when you’re chopping veggies. ----okay it’s a little weird when you think on it I know, but I like to think, “This is what my grandmother used to do and she didn’t feel like a pack rat, she felt like she was saving a penny”---- So now, we can feel like we are saving a penny in this recession AND BEING HEALTHIER! Something to make up for the fact that you just ate an entire box of honey buns….

Onward! So, when you’re making a dish with any of these items; save for boiling, or freeze please! :

Celery –remove the outer layer with a potato peeler (no strings in your meal!) and save the shavings for a baggie in the freezer.

Carrots-put the peels in the freezer baggie.

Onion-peels in the freezer baggie, roots n’ all

Garlic-peels, maybe one or two whole, peeling on, and smashed... freezer baggie!

You can add anything really:

What are you gonna do with all that extra fresh rosemary for that fancy Valentines meal you made? You can dry it, hanging upside down if you’re extra thrifty---take a sprig or two put it in the freezer baggie

Parsley Sprigs- sure why not, freezer baggie!

Anything “Seasoning Veggie” can go in, but If I were you I’d make sure to note what might be more potent amongst it all to make sure I’m not overpowering my stock with one flavor. Example: 1 large sprig of rosemary is all you need…

(You can either store in a freezer baggie like i mentioned before to use when you're ready to boil it up for stock, or hey if you're ready now just set aside)

Boil it up in a large pot with water for as long as you like (at least half an hour), and when you feel it has boiled all the goodness out you should have a loverly golden pot of liquid. Discard the solids. Save the liquid use or freeze for later!

I had some lentils in the cabinet, frozen veg stock, and left over celery, carrots, and onions from another meal so I just put it all in the pot. Quick and Easy. 

Havana Cuban Restaurant: Anyone else hear the angels singing?

God made black beans and yellow rice for man to enjoy at Havana. Yes, I said it. Despite having made beans on many occasions and posting it on this very blog, there’s still something about having the real deal, or maybe its just having someone else make it. My parents like to say that someone “stuck a toe in it”. Delicious. Over the years I’d always heard marvelous things about Havana Restaurant on Buford Hwy. But only seemed to make it there once for a Cuban Sandwich and then it mysteriously burnt to the ground. I remember it was the first time I’d tasted any sandwich in Georgia that reminded me of my hometown fave the Po-Boy. The bread was flakey and although it was hot with sliced meats the general feel was the same.

It was a really tragic event. My friend Alishia says, “I cried for months and months, they have the best iced tea in the world!!!!! And the chicken and cheese empanadas… wooooooo!” she went on to say, “I lost weight after that.” Not particularly out of depression but because the food is so good that it will pack on the pounds from constant delicious salivating withdrawal.

It’s been around forever as a sandwich shop in the 1960s, and then transformed into a full eatery in the 70s and was in the same spot forever! When the place burned down from what appeared to be arson there were rumors circulating that it might not come back. This is when my friend Alishia presumed her “chicken and cheese empanada with a side of pickled jalapeno” life over tearfully.  And every time we would adventure for other good eats on Buford Hwy she would point and tear up at the singed remains of what used to be her savior of the drab workday; the only thing she looked forward to during the week. 

So what seemed like a little less than two years later we began to hear rumors and one day she called me screaming into the phone “HAVANA IS COMING BACK!!!! It’s coming back Oooooooh Laaaaaaawd Jeeesus!”  And we waited for what felt like months; a sign, a new phone number, another article in the paper! Anything! Eventually we tracked down what was supposed to be their new location… even then it seemed too good to be true and Alishia waited tirelessly circling the block looking for signs of Havana Restaurant life. Excitement, Happiness, a brief moment of anxious sadness in the possibility that something might have de-railed the re-opening, and finally BLISS.

This happened to be another moment when we were in the car together, having just come from Dim Sum down the street and there it was, shining in all its golden glory. She let out a shriek a hyena would be proud of and we whipped around so fast we must have broken some traffic laws in the process. Totally full off of dumplings and duck soup, we walked in that fateful day and she promptly ordered a chicken and cheese empanada and an iced tea; pickled jalapenos on the side.

I decided I’d try one as well and they were heaven. This is when TasteBud’s Quickie Havana Entry (Jan 13^th 2010) was born. After she thanked every one of the staff personally (picture on the Right) while beaming from cheek to cheek and letting out a couple more shrieks, it was time to eat our snack that we could barely fit but boy was it worth it. The best question to define the moment after sitting in the car drunk with bliss was “How did we not know sooner that the restaurant had already opened for business?” Sadly I think it was that we’d waited for what felt like so long that Alishia couldn’t take the wait any longer and finally gave up mid-rebuild. She finally seemed to be somewhat okay with the old “out of sight, out of mind” theory; something I didn’t think could happen.

So when we were looking for something to do I thought “Havana!” I had the Half Cuban Combo plate (half a cuban—pork pork and pork hot between two pieces of bread with pickles and mustard, Black beans and Yellow Rice) and I added one of my fav’s MADUROS! Sweet, sticky chewy, soft, and crispy around the edges. Amazing. The yellow rice was covered in a tangy tomato sauce, which at first glance was a little odd but then I decided to mix it together with the beans and wowzers. Follow it with a bite of sweet Maduros and then a giant flaky bite of Cuban sandwich. I can see now why this place is a recipe for weight control disaster. Havana Equals Heaven. 

There are so many wonderous things on the menu like the Chicken and Cheese Empanada plate that Alishia had. This was just like what I had except two GIANT empanadas were in place of the Cuban. And I spotted amongst many mouth watering drool fests the steak and peppers sandwich which I will promptly be trying next.

Yucca, Tamales, Picadillo, Pollo Frito, Boliche, even Chicken and Tuna Salad (don’t know why you’d order that with so many wonderous Cuban items on the menu but who knows they probably do it much better than the average American!) And there are even desserts like Guava Milkshakes and rice pudding.  Bring your whole family, help them pay for that beautiful new building and then maybe they’ll think about knocking out the wall next door for more seating because even though the seats have doubled we still had to wait for one!!! 

Our snowy Valentine.... Feast!

All recipes in Lidia's Family Table and Lidia's Italian Table  -by Lidia Bastianich

(When every recipe in a chef's cookbooks turns out fantastic you'd repeatedly cook out of them too!)
Happy ValenTIMES day yall <3  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

 

Prep work... (too bad I didn't get a picture of us rolling out Pasta Dough!)

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella and Balsamic Vinegar

Garlic and Parmesan (Yellow) Polenta, Baby Asparagus Scallion Egg Salad

Homemade Ravioli with Shrimp and Tomato in a Creamy Sage Sauce

Top: Roasted Lamb with White Wine and Veggies, Bottom: Braised Beef Shoulder with Venetian Spice

Simple Apple Tart with...

Fresh Whipped Cream

Of course there was wine, bear, liquor, and even ice tea with lemon... but for the most part we were all too busy stuffing our faces! Happy Valentines day to all the eaters and the lovers and the lovers who love to eat out there...

 

 

For all of yee, who love bakery ;-)

So this is a short one but only because we here at The Bud will be doing a very SUPPLE (and i hope im not jinxing it---- *unjinx!*) entry come Monday. *Barry White Voice, ahem*

This is the ValenTIMES day special for all the lovers out there. Lovers of food that is. Babies, until then, snack on this here delicacy... Donuts from Sublime Bakery, oooooooooh yyyyyyeaaaaah.

*Okay Barry White Voice OVER*

This was a random treat. Saw a friend's post on the deliciousness and thought I'd go try it out after reading that there was a Maple Bacon Donut! Uh. Yeah. Fantastico. But be warned. You may have to make this a date because these are the most expensive damn donuts this side of the Mississippi. Maybe think of them more as light weight pastries and your feelings wont be hurt after you get the bill. We're talking he sells them by the dozen but he doesn't price them by the dozen. Ever buy a $30 dozen of donuts? And they don't last long either, because they are amazingly good. Try the powdered donut with fresh strawberries and cream. Man o man. Yum. I still dream of it. The other thing is decor, not much. But don't let that sway you some of the BEST eateries back home in New Orleans are what we like to call a "Hole in the Wall", its true people have made songs about it....

I have to say initially I was on the fence about this place, only because besides all that in the paragraph above.. the interaction was really weird. WHICH! i have to say is a tad abnormal for me, and it really kind of gummed up the works. But after reading in an article on the place, post-visit, that the owner was a Navy man, his weirdness all made sense. How endearing is a slightly agitated exNavy man with little to say, selling soon to be world famous donuts.... I love it. The article also said he's just starting out so he's trying to afford it until he can make it better so I respect that, Alot.  Do me a favor, go on a date. Sublime Donuts on 10th street. Here's the flavors we tried: Banana Fritter, Chocolate Mixed Berry Fritter, Powdered Donut with fresh Strawberries and Cream, Reeses Peanut Butter, Butterfinger, Orange Cream Star. They were gone in less than a mile down the road....

Ps He's on Creative Loafing's Lust list this year check him out. Welcome to the ranks you donut maker you!
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/lust_list_2010_kamal/Content?oid=1361721

SUBLIME DONUTS
535 Tenth Street
Atlanta, GA 30318
(404) 897- 1801

Thank Yous to a special bored individual for your support!

 

old...

New! Blam!!, Technicolor folks!!!!! Super Duper Awesome ;-)

<3 <3 <3

Quick Sauce of Capers, Anchovies, and Tomato

Another economically friendly dinner item! This is why I love real Italian cooking. You have the choice to go complicated, but if you’re feeling short on time and cash just find some pasta, pick a shape, figure out what’s left in the fridge, and work it out!

Sauces can be as simple as olive oil, garlic, and parsley; or butter and fresh sage. Often I will buy fresh herbs at the market and freeze the stuff I don’t use for later use. It may not be as fragrant but it still gets the job done. Waste not, want not recession fighters! Per my “mentor and best friend”, Lydia Bastianich:

About ½ cup Capers

Roughly 1 lb Tomato (about 2 or 3)

5 Garlic cloves or more to taste

Packed Anchovy filets (recipe says 3, I say the whole damn tin *wink*)

Olive Oil ½ cup

Red Pepper Flakes ½ to 1tsp

Salt and Pepper to taste

Note: Mrs. Bastianich is a chef and master cook, while Brandy is simply just a food lover. She says that you can boil your pasta and make your sauce at the same time but she forgets that she is a whiz and that I am clumsier than her so! I suggest you try doing them separate until you can figure out the art of the juggle…

So, I’ve made this dish twice now but I did each different ways, partially because I wasn’t paying attention but it gave me some perspective to share…. Hope this doesn’t get confusing…

The first time I did this I followed the instructions completely… it says to start by putting a pot of salted water to boil.

Then start coring the tomatoes, putting everything (extracted cores with seeds) in a fine sieve to mash the juices out of the tomato halves seeds and all… the second time around I just started coring and chopping the tomatoes along with my garlic, and anchovies because I wasn’t paying attention, haha big surprise!

According to the recipe, after extracting juices set it aside and chop up the tomato. Put the chopped garlic in the pan with your olive oil and let it get fragrant (about a minute). Then add the anchovy pieces, letting them sizzle (another minute), push everything aside and find a clear hot spot to toast your red pepper flakes (another minute), now the capers in its own spot in the pan (another minute!, maybe two)---- make sure that nothing burns; so don’t turn up the fire keep it low and steady, and stir keeping them separated in little piles.

The first time I made this dish I decided I wanted to chop up my capers… I would say after both tries, leaving them whole the second time, that the difference between the two would have to be whether you wanted to bite into a caper v.s. having a more creamy texture and with caper flavor. I think I prefer chopping them up.

Now, stir it all together!

Water in the pasta pot should be boiling by now. At this point ladle in 2 cups of the pasta water and bring it up to a steady perking boil, you should be at about ¼ of an inch in depth.

Put in your chopped tomato, and juice, and bring to a boil.

Here is where she says to start the pasta going but if you’re like me and would rather not risk the chance of over cooking the pasta, you can cook it separately first and reserve the pasta water for the sauce. You want to take about 2 minutes off of the cooking time; Undercook it.

In a lot of her recipes she will do this all at the same time A) because she’s a pro! and B) to cut down on time. I don’t really find it super necessary. The pasta only cooks for somewhere around half the time in the separated pasta pot and is then transferred into the sauce at this time while the sauce is cooking down so you have to make sure you are comfortable with how soupy your sauce is at the time you add your pasta, and how soupy it will or wont be in roughly the rest of time it takes to get your pasta to the desired softness; without over cooking it!

I’d say just (Under cook) your pasta ahead of time, save your pasta water, cook your sauce down to your liking, and THEN add your pasta to the sauce because you won’t still be attempting to cook down the sauce while monitoring the cooking pasta. No body wants to eat mush! Even if you shave off a minute or two to a pasta that only takes 6 minutes in the pot, after transferring it to hot sauce that’s OFF the fire, it will still cook from residual heat.

This time around I forgot to sieve the tomatoes so I just decided to mash them while the sauce cooked. Same result. The other difference was that the first time I made this I used Rotini because that’s what I had. The recipe calls for Capellini or any other long pasta. So I tried Linguine this time around. I have to say I think I like the short grabby pasta better.  Ever wondered why they make so many shapes out of the same food. That’s why!!!!!! (thank you for that fancy bit of unknown information Boyfriend) It really does make a difference.

When the sauce is done and every thing is combined add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil for a more gooey deliciousness… I think the rotini adds to that smacky goodness personally. But maybe that’s just me. Mmmmmmmm……