dinner by eric

Before I started to enjoy cooking, most of our meals at home were made by Eric. He's definitely the better cook - I'm not afraid to admit it! It's actually really nice and probably much nicer for him now that I cook more often and he gets a break once in a while.

Gnocci is one of his favorite dishes but I've never been a huge fan. But recently I've been enjoying it more and I realized that its not that I don't like it, it's just that I don't like it as an entree. It's great as a side or an appetizer, but just too much if it's my entire meal. This weekend he decided to make gnocci for the first time using Giada's recipe and it turned out SO DELICOUS. Especially with the seared scallops he made to go with it. YUM.



Sweet Potato Gnocci with Sage Brown Butter (modified from Giada's recipe)

Ingredients:

For the Gnocchi:
2 pounds sweet potatoes
2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/3 cup for the work surface

For the Sage Brown Butter:
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
20 fresh sage leaves
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
For the Gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Pierce the sweet potato with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes and transfer to a large measuring cup to make sure the sweet potatoes measure about 2 cups. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, and pepper and blend 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.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon onto a baking sheet. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue with the remaining gnocchi.

For the Brown Butter sauce: While the gnocchi are cooking melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling the butter occasionally, until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Careful, the mixture will bubble up. Gently stir the mixture. When the bubbles subside, toss the cooked gnocchi in the brown butter. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Seared Scallops

Ingredients:

Scallops
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

Season scallops with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil and cook scallops til brown. Simplest recipe ever.

We also had a bottle of wine that I've passed by numerous times at the liquor store but never tried (this bottle was a gift):



It was really good! Pleasantly surprised. Will definitley get this bottle again!

a quick french meal...

...or so I thought. I came across this post when I was "researching" for my post on Paris and knew that it was the perfect time of year to make vin chaud. What better way to deal with below freezing temperatures (it got down to only 16 degrees this past weekend!!) than with some warm spiced wine? It also gave me a good reason to break out my new vintage glasses that I got at 1600 Below:



Aren't they so pretty? I think they're from the 40's. I'm just disappointed that there were only 4 of them. To complement the vin chaud, I wanted to make something French and something easy. And I thought I had it when I decided to make croque madames. I mean, how hard complicated can they be? Aren't they just grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with an egg on top? Of course it's not that simple - it's French! But it was worth the effort - very rich and very delicious:



I love French food. Yum.

This is the recipe I used for vin chaud:

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine (a fruity type, preferably)
1/3 cup of cognac1/3 cup of brown sugar (or more…experiment)
Zest of one entire orange
4 whole cloves
3 or 4 cinnamon sticks

Put the wine and cognac into a pan and heat. Once it is good and warm, and if you are feeling particularly brave, hold a match to it and let the cognac flame off. Or leave it be and enjoy the extra warmth. Lower the heat and add the sugar, orange zest, cloves, and cinnamon. Let it heat through for another ten minutes. Strain and taste. If it is a bit overpowering, water it down a bit. Serve it in glass mugs if you have them.

This is the recipe I used for the croque madames - which I found here:

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
6 ounces thinly sliced Gruyere
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste
8 slices firm white sandwich bread, crusts discarded
¼ pound thinly sliced ham

Directions:

Make the Sauce:

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small heavy sauce pan over moderately low heat. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to make a roux. Whisk in milk and bringto a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop enough cheese to measure ½ cup. Whisk chopped cheese and mustard into sauce, then whisk until cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with nutmeg. Cover with wax paper placed directly on surface to keep warm.

Make The Sandwich:

Lay 4 slices bread on work surface. Divide ham and remaining cheese slices among them. Spread 1 tablespoon Mornay sauce evenly on each of remaining bread slices and invert over ham and cheese. Spread half of remaining butter evenly on top of sandwiches and transfer, buttered sides down, to an oven proof 12 inch skillet. Spread remaining butter on top of sandwiches. Cook over low heat, turning ounces, until both sides are golden, 6 to 8 minutes total.

Preheat broiler. Leaving sandwiches in skillet, spread tops of sandwiches evenly with remaining Mornay sauce. Broil 5 to 6 inches from heat until sauce is bubbling and golden in patches, about 2 minutes. Transfer sandwiches to plates.

lillet

Last night a friend brought over a bottle of Lillet and it's now become my new favorite thing to drink. It's a French appertif wine, so it's sweet and a bit stronger than regular wine. Apparently it was very popular in the 50's and 60's and often served with gin. I loved it plain without being mixed with anything else, but I found this Martha Stewart Lillet-Basil cocktail recipe that sounds delicious:



Ingredients

Makes 1

1 cup ice, plus more for serving
1/2 cup Lillet Blanc
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) gin
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
Splash of tonic water
1 cucumber spear, for garnish
1 cinnamon stick, for garnish

Directions

Put ice, Lillet, gin, orange juice, and basil in a cocktail shaker; shake well. Fill a glass with ice; strain mixture into glass. Add tonic water. Garnish with cucumber spear, cinnamon stick, and basil sprigs.

Can't wait to give it a try!