I was walking through World Market with Brett and his mom a few weeks back and decided to buy something that has tempted me many a time...fresh gnocchi. For those of you who don't know, gnocchi is basically a mashed potato noodle, much like a dumpling. I wasn't able to find many recipes online that include gnocchi and I think this sort of intimidated me a bit. Finally, I decided to do my own creation and give it a whirl (after getting a teeny bit of inspiration from other recipes.)
My first question was, tomato- or cream-based sauce? Always a fan of butter and milk, I chose cream-based. What sort of meats? Chicken is white, and the gnocchi is white, so that wasn't enough color for me. Pork and beef didn't seem right. Shrimp sounded great, but I didn't want to dish out the cash if only cooking for myself. So I chose cubed ham. What sort of veggies? Asparagus, heck yeah! Mushrooms, you bet. And I had an onion I needed to use, so I threw that in too. Other than that, a simple roux with some milk and white wine was all I needed to pull it together.
The verdict? Very good but...different. I am used to dumplings in soup, but not so much as a main dish. I would be interested in knowing Bobby Flay's opinion of this dish - I mean, it's not totally wild and I think the crunchy asparagus is a nice contrast to the soft gnocchi. But maybe I went overboard with the wine? Who knows. If nothing else, go buy yourself some gnocchi and have fun with it. Isn't cooking all about experimentation? I'm looking forward to leftovers tonight, so I consider that success!Gnocchi with Asparagus and Ham in Cream Sauce
Small onion, diced
8-10 stalks of asparagus, cut in half
8 oz sliced mushrooms
20 oz fresh gnocchi
1 C cubed ham
3/4 C chicken broth
1/2 C milk
3 TBS olive oil
1 TBS butter
1 TBS flour
2 TBS white wine
salt, pepper, sage, lemon juice and parmesan to taste
1. Heat oil in large skillet. Saute onion, asparagus and mushrooms until onion is translucent.
2. Cook gnocchi as directed (it's done when they float to the top, 3-4 mins. Do not overcook!)
3. In the skillet, push the veggies to the side. Put butter and flour in the center and stir with a whisk until the flour has no clumps. Add white wine, and stir everything for 30 seconds while white wine evaporates.
4. Add chicken broth and milk. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and sage (roughly 1/2 tsp. dried sage and 1/4 tsp. lemon juice.) Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmering and let sauce thicken for several minutes. Add gnocchi and ham, heat through and serve immediately. Top with parmesan before serving. 
First, let me start with two apologies -
(1) I apologize for not posting in two weeks. Truth is, I haven't really cooked much the past couple of weeks. No reason, just staying later at work, etc.
(2) I apologize that this recipe doesn't have a picture. It's salsa, so I think it's pretty easy to imagine, but I promise that next time I make it (summer is coming and that means delicious tomatoes) I will take a pic and post it.
Last year, I made homemade salsa for the first time. I've made a few alterations and additions and I think I've almost perfected it. Some advice...roma or plum tomatoes hold up best; putting some tomatoes in the food processor and leaving others just diced makes for a much more interesting texture; it is simply not possible to use too much cilantro; and, never ever EVER touch your face after chopping jalepenos.
I like to make a big batch and - what else - snack on with tortilla chips. It also goes great alongside chicken enchiladas...which gives me an idea for a future post....
Homemade Salsa
1 can stewed tomatoes
Several small fresh tomatoes (plum or roma - these are naturally fairly small)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tsp. minced garlic
juice of 1/2 lime
salt/pepper to taste
small jalepeno, minced (no seeds)...OR you can sub. 4oz can green chiles
chopped FRESH cilantro (start with a small handful)
1. Put stewed tomatoes in food processor and pulse until mostly pureed (2-3 pulses). Put into medium bowl and add remaining ingredients. Let sit for several hours so the flavors can meld.
This recipe is certainly not a new one for me. The first time I made it back in college, I was craving cookies and only had some butter, some jelly....typical college kid. I typed those ingredients into a recipe search and these came up - definitely one of the most delicious and pretty cookies ever! I brought them to Kellie's for July 4th of last year and was so proud when Ryan said, "do these have almond paste or something in them?" (it's actually almond extract but I was thrilled someone knew what that yummy flavor was!)
Have fun with these cookies - when Mom sends loads of homemade cherry preserves, I make them with cherry. When I want a certain color (i.e. red and blue for July 4th) I buy jams in that color. Last week I made them with orange marmalade and brought them into work - they lasted about half-hour! They are rather addicting...Raspberry and Almond Shortbread Thumbprints
1 C. butter, softened
2/3 C. white sugar
1/2 tsp. real almond extract
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. seedless raspberry jam (or jam of your choice)
1/2 C. powdered sugar
3/4 tsp. real almond extract
several TBS milk
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add 1/2 tsp. almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1.5-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Using the back of a teaspoon, imprint holes into each dough ball. Carefully, put a bit of jam into each hole.
3. Put the unbaked cookies into the fridge for approx. 15 minutes.
4. Take the cookies out of the fridge and put into the oven to bake. Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Watch the cookies carefully - though the dough may look white and uncooked, shortbread is naturally white and the edges may burn without you knowing it. Watch the edges closest to the pan and when they are light brown, the cookies are done.
5. Cool the cookies at least 30 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk until the icing is thin enough to drizzle over the cookies.
