Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi 

So I got a wild hair and decided to make homemade Gnocchi.I followed the recipe I found here: http://www.vanillagarlic.com/2009/10/scratch-another-new-years-resolution.html 

BUT I changed the recipe a bit.  I omitted the russet potatoes completely, along with the maple syrup.  Really I was looking for a basic recipe, and had a difficult time finding one.

 His basic recipe is grand and I really followed it

Roll it out, chop into uniform pieces and boil for a few minutes                                                    (over boiling will result in TOUGH Gnocchi.  I promise. It's not good. Really.)

My modified version:

To be completely honest, I microwaved the sweet potatoes (about 4 minutes for the first, add 1 minute for each extra potato) Check for doneness when you take them out.

Mash the hell out of the potatoes. (after you remove the skin) 

Then add all of the other ingredients to the bowl.

Knead the dough until ingredients are mixed. (don't go crazy)

Flour your counter (or "surface") take a hunk of dough roll it into a snake shape (as pictured above) I placed my cut Gnocchi on a cookie sheet as I cut them.  For no reason, quite frankly.

2 pounds of unpeeled sweet potatoes

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 egg

1/4 cup cottage cheese

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

Boil water, add gnocchi, when it rises to the top, turn off the stove, and grab a utensil to extract from the water.

If you boil these too long, man, they are tough!  

We topped them with Parmesan Cheese, and sauce for the boys, I added Shredded chicken, cilantro, and just a bit of sauce for me.

Enjoy!

Baking -- pinterest and beyond.

 These were so delicious.
Chocolate Molases Cookies.
The only thing I modified from this recipe:
http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/03/chocholic-soft-chocolate-molasses-cookies.html
is I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the sugar you roll them in before baking.

Ok, I also didn't make them as large.

 

http://amandeleine.com/2013/05/01/cardamom-crescents/  

I made these from a webiste http://www.kitchenbelleicious.com/2012/05/22/homemade-nutter-butters-html/ and only changed the peanut butter in the filling to smooth because that is what I had on hand.  Everyone loved them, told me I was evil because they were so tasty.  I personally prefer actual nutter butters, but, hey... I'm not nabisco.

These take minimal effort and are so delicious, slightly healthy and great to give.  You'll need a food processor for the nuts. 

If you want an easy and fun dish to serve that is hand friendly, make this.  We used prepared pie crust, fresh (uncooked) spinach and the rest of the ingredients found : http://italianchips.com/spinach-pie/ It was gone very quickly, wish I'd made 2!

From Scratch Empanadas

 For spanish class I did a presentation on Empanadas.

Empanadas are simply a bread pocket with filling.

 I used Apple Cinnamon Empanadas recipe from About.com as my guide.  Along the way I replaced some of the flour with wheat flour and I skipped the corn starch all together, my apple filling gelled fine without it.

They turned out the perfect 3 bite snack.  My classmates hardly listened to my presentation, and my professor gave me a 100% and remarked that I had not referenced my notes.  

Had he not been blinded by the Empanadas he would've noticed I had my iPad propped against his computer and constantly referenced my notes.  Thankfully he was distracted by food :)

I used a biscuit cutter to make the circles.  IT is important to have some sort of round cutter, as it makes it easier to shape them in the end.


Recipe:
Dough - note I used a wine bottle because I don't have a roller, maaay have drank some of the wine along the way.

• Pastry:
• 1 cup butter, chilled 2 sticks 
• 8 ounces cream cheese, chilled
• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4-5 firm green apples (like Granny Smith)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• Pinch of salt (to taste)
• 1 egg yolk
• Sugar for sprinkling

Mix the dry ingredients - then cube cut the butter and add it mix with food processor - turn it out onto plastic make into disks then fridge.
chill for a bit while you make the filling.

heat filling until just soft

 chill.

Drink some wine.

Drink another glass.

Get dough out, roll it out with wine bottle.

Add small teaspoon of filling, wipe some of the filling juice around the edge so it will seal, use a fork or fancy roller to close.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

This says best served right away.  I found they were MUCH better after being in the fridge overnight.

But I did wake up that morning and bake them after they'd been in the fridge overnight, and served them still warm to my class.

Half HamBurger / Half VegBurger

 Be Sneaky!

I was craving a black bean burger, but there is NO way my husband and kids would go for that.

At first I thought I'd sneak in some finely chopped veggies.  Then it became a full on Veggie Burger Invasion.

I chopped up some mini peppers (orange, yellow and red)
Then I added 2 tablespoons of Taco Seasoning.
I used the food processor to chop up half a can of black beans (after I rinsed them)

add it all to half a pound of super lean ground beef.
make into sliders.
Cook in olive oil over medium high heat until crisp (see above)

Then ~ oh then ~ 

wrap them up in a nice little package of Crescent Rolls.

It's such a nice package.

**It is so exciting when a recipe is perfection.**

Bake according to the crescent roll package.

Enjoy a tasty tasty treat. Everyone in my family gobbled these down!

Recipe

1/2 Pound Ground Beef

1/2 Can black beans (rinsed)

3-4 mini peppers

2 tbsp taco seasoning

use food processor to mince peppers, move to bowl, add seasoning. use food processor again for black beans - 2-3 pulses only. Mix with ground beef and peppers and form into palm size or slider size burgers pinch centers to prevent puffing.

2 tablespoons olive oil for cooking burgers

cook burgers 2 - 3 minutes on each side until slightly crisp.  Try one, but stop at one!  :)

1 can of Crescent Rolls

Wrap cooked burgers in crescent rolls in desired shape.  Bake according to package directions.

Serve.  

Have for breakfast the next day.

Then for lunch.

Then wish you had made many many more.

Best chicken nuggets

Home made chicken nuggets using what you have. (I call them "who needs McDonald's")

This batch we tried Doritos, Cheerios, and gold fish (military style red, white & blue)

First slice your chicken into 1x1" squares, dredge in flour (we use kings)

After dredge in a milk/egg mix (about 1 cup skim & 2 eggs, I also added about 2tbsp honey)

I filled 3 sandwich zip top bags about 3/4 full with each flavor and crushed with back of large spoon.

About 4 pieces of the chicken fit into each bag at a time, shake (like shake and bake) then put in medium heat pan with canola (or your favorite oil) oil 1/2" deep

Tonight they cooked about 2 1/2 minutes per side, check temp or slice one open for doneness.

Top row is goldfish cracker, center is Cheerios and bottom is Doritos.

We've used honey nut Cheerios in the past and they are super delish, tonight was plain Cheerios and it came out sort of bland. These are the results of only 2 chicken breasts!! Seriously cheap meal, and everyone is happy because they choose their own flavor.

Here is what you'll need:

1 deep pan

1 cup skim milk

2 eggs

(Optional) honey 

1/2-1 cup dry cereal, chips, or other crushable food. *per bag* the more daring the choice, the more exciting the outcome.

1 1/2 cups flour (white, whole wheat etc)

2 large shallow bowls

3 sandwich sized zip top bags.

Serving fork for turning chicken in pan

Whisk for blending wet ingredients

Turn the pan on to warm it while you crush the dry ingredients in the bags. Then add oil just before you're ready to place chicken in.

Total prep / cook time for me was 1/2 hour, add 10-15 minutes your first try.

Kids will LOVE & even ask to help crush, be aware it may cause a huge mess. Supervise to ensure bags don't break, but do let them help!