Tag: cooking for family

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Gnocchi, Italian Comfort Food

 Gnocchi are light, little pillows of potato dumpling goodness. Like the dumplings of so many international recipes, they are comfort food. Actually comfort is the reason, according to legend, that the dumpling was invented. One story tells of Zhang Zhongjing, a Chinese medical practitioner who wrapped dough around a meat filling, and added it to soup to provide relief from frostbite and illness to his villagers. The Italians track their gnocchi to the 1500’s.  Whether you believe the Italians or the Chinese or for that matter the Romans, dumplings, have been around for a very long time. I was quite surprised to discovered just how many countries have dumplings in their history of recipes.
There is one word that you will find repeated throughout this recipe. That’s ‘gently’. Overworking, just like overcooking will create hard little nuggets. You want the dough to just come together and be slightly sticky. Traditional Gnocchi have ridges, sometimes made over the tines of a fork or rolled over a special wooden mold. I made these simply, as it can be enough of a challenge making a tender Gnocchi. If you want to go for the gusto, there are lots of YouTube videos on how to do it.
When it comes to the potatoes for Gnocchi, Yukon Gold are the best choice, but in a pinch a Russets are the next best. Yukon Golds are a higher starch potato, prized for creamy mashed potatoes. Exactly what you want to create a beautiful Gnocchi.

Ingredients:

Dough:
  • 1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
Sauce:
  • 3 lg tomatoes
  • 1 egg
  • 1 white onion
  • 1 lg clove garlic
  • 2 tbsp fresh oregano
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Grated cheese

Method:

Gnocchi:

  1. Cook the Yukon Gold potatoes, skins on, either by steaming or gently in microwave.
  2. Set the potatoes aside to cool, skins on.
  3. Peel and gently crumble the potatoes with a fork. Resist the temptation to get out the masher.
  4. In a separate bowl combine salt and flour.
  5. With fork, beat egg and gently combine with potatoes.
  6. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the potato mixture. You can mound the potato and flour on a working surface and add the egg to that, but I find it easier to mix it in a bowl.
  7. Using your fingers of one hand gently swirl around to combine flour and potato. The mixture will come together to form a light ball. Still with one hand gather all the bits and with a few gentle turns, knead the mixture.
  8. Divide dough into 4 sections. Cover bowl and set aside.
  9. Bring a pot of water to gentle boil.
  10. While you are waiting for the water to boil start the sauce.
  11. Flour a work surface lightly.
  12. Roll each of the sections into a long rope, roughly 3/4″ thick.
  13. Slice rope into pieces 3/4″ long.
  14. Boil all the gnocchi from each rope section separately.
  15. As soon as the gnocchi float they are cooked.
  16. Lift with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Sauce:
  1. Finely dice onion and mince garlic.
  2. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes. I used basic beefsteak tomatoes because that’s what I happened to have. Ideally plum tomatoes, such as Roma, are best for pasta sauces.
  3. Stem and mince fresh oregano.
  4. Pulse the tomatoes in a food processor, adding the oregano leaves i
  5. n the last few seconds. Do not puree.
  6. Heat a saute pan on fairly high heat and add the prepared onion and garlic.
  7. As the onion starts to brown lightly, reduce the heat to medium.
  8. When the onion and garlic are tender add the tomato mixture. Then add the wine, butter, and milk.
  9. Simmer until sauce reduces. Salt and pepper to taste.
  10. Add the gnocchi to the tomato sauce. Toss and serve immediately topped with grated cheese.
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Making Earl Grey Jelly

Who’d have thought to make tea from jelly? Our daughter is a fan of all things tea, so it wasn’t surprising that she wondered if I could make jelly from tea. Making jelly is as much science as it is art. When you have the right balance of sugar, acid, pectin, time, temperature, etc you have jelly or jam. That’s pretty simplified, which is why it is usually recommended that you follow the recipes inside the Bernardin or Certo box until you get the hang of jam making and can branch out.

The tea jelly was quite an experiment. The Strawberry Jammin’ was bit of an easier one. Perhaps because the tea has bits of fruit in it.  Earl Grey a little less forgiving. I had to increase the lemon juice and the pectin to get it to set. Amazingly, the Lemoncello tea was the hardest recipe to make set.

In your leisure you can Google all about the science of jam making. Not that it is boring, but it is quite a dry read , especially when all you want to do is fire up the jam pot. It’s all about collagen, a history of jam making, sugars, etc. So let’s get steeping shall we?

In the recipe I have laid out the process for preparing to make jelly. This is as important part of the procedure. You want to have everything in place so you aren’t rushing to measure sugar or wash jars, during the one minute your jelly is boiling.

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups boiling water
  • 5 tbsp Earl Grey de la Creme tea leaves.
  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice. You can squeeze a lemon or use a bottle of lemon juice like RealLemon
  • 1 pkg Pectin. This method uses Bernardin.
  • 5 cups or 1000 g of white sugar
  • A flat of 125 ml Mason Jars

Method:

  1. I used Earl Grey de la Creme from Sipology. It’s a lovely Earl Grey and a good quality tea. Measure 5 tbsp of tea leaves in 2 steeping sacks and seal.
  2. Boil 5 cups of water, reduce to a simmer and add the steeping sacks. Brew for 15 minutes.
  3. Wash mason jars, disks and rings in hot soapy water, then fill with boiling hot water and set aside.
  4. Measure out the sugar and set aside.
  5. Prepare a surface for filling your jars. I use a large cookie sheet and a cooling rack.
  6. On a plate lay out a ladle, rubber scraper, and a slotted plastic spatula or a slotted spoon for skimming foam. In jam and jelly making it is important to keep everything involved in the process as clean as possible to minimize risk of contamination.
  7. Filling your canning pot half full of water and set to boil.
  8. Place a small plate in the freezer. This is for testing the set of your jelly.
  9. Remove and discard the steeping sacks. Measure the liquid tea to ensure you have 3 1/2 cups.
  10. Return the steep tea to the cooking pot and add the lemon juice.
  11. Whisk in the pectin and return to the heat, bringing to a boil quickly.
  12. As soon as the pectin mixture boils slide the pot off the heat and add sugar stirring thoroughly to dissolve the sugar. Scrape down the sides and return the pot to the heat.
  13. Bring jelly mixture to a fast boil. Over boiling will give you a very tough jelly, so don’t walk away from the stove. As soon as the mixture boils, set the timer to one minute.
  14. Remove the jelly pot from the heat and place on your prepped surface.
  15. Take the plate from the freezer and spoon out enough to make a small circle. Two inches across is plenty. Return plate to the freezer.
  16. Carefully skim any foam from the surface of the jelly. I use a slotted plastic spatula. You will notice over a couple of minutes that it becomes easier to skim. Don’t stir.
  17. Check the plate in the freezer. Drawing your figure through the mixture should give you a jelly texture. If it is very soft you can decide whether or not to increase the lemon juice by one tablespoon and the sugar by 1/4 cup and repeat the boil.
  18. Drain the jars of the hot water and turn upside down on the cooling rack.
  19. With a ladle, quickly fill the hot jars to within 1/4″ of the top edge. That’s about half way up the threaded part of the jar.
  20. Anything you can’t ladle, or pour out stays in the pot. Everything left in the pot can go on your sampling toast, but you don’t want it in your pretty, clear jars of jelly.
  21. With a hot, damp paper towel, wipe off the rim and the outer threaded part of the jar. I say paper towel as you want a single use, not a damp tea towel. Run your fingertip around the rim of the jar to make sure there aren’t any sticky spots that will prevent a good seal.
  22. Place the hot discs and rings on the jars and finger tighten. Too tight will prevent sealing.
  23. Place the filled jars in holder of your canning pot and lower into the boiling water. Make sure there is at least 1 inch of water covering the jars.
  24. Cover and set your timer to 10 minutes.
  25. When boiling has completed remove the jars from the canner and set on a rack to cool.
  26. As the jars cool you will hear distinctive pops ensuring that you have an airtight seal on each jar.
  27. Try not to move until the jars have completely cooled. That means you don’t rock the jars to see if the jelly has set. That will break the surface of the jelly most certainly cause a jelling failure.
  28. Check to see that “button” in the center of the lid has drawn down, ensuring a seal. If you push on it and it goes down and stays that way, it is fine. Any jars that don’t seal will have to be refrigerated.

And there, you have a tea jelly to enjoy and share.

 

 

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Ahi Tuna with Sunflower Shoot Risotto

I’m on a bit of a mission. The question is constant, customers would like to know, besides the obvious, salads and sandwiches, how they can add more greens to their kitchen.  So my task, in this case, is how I can incorporate sunflower shoots into dinner because, well cress, dill, etc, those are pretty easy. But sunflower, that’s a little less obvious.  As a customer commented this weekend, she added bok choy greens to a recipe and it wasn’t the best flavour. I wanted to take advantage of the eye candy appeal of those round, crisp leaves. Sunflower shoots have the same delicious, nutty flavour as the seeds. It’s a taste millions have come to love.
Now combine this thought process with the inspiration from a recent conversation with Chef Sonny Sung, Bistecca, about pan toasting rice before making risotto. It’s the secret to taking rice from those bland white kernels, a supporting cast we bury in sauces, to a flavour infused part of our meal. I have to say, this was probably the best risotto I’ve ever made and really, and it didn’t change the length of time or effort to make.
Okay, we have crisp/tender, toasty flavoured arborio rice; crisp, nutty sunflower shoots; that just called for the ahi tuna steaks I had in the freezer, and….. garlic. I roasted the garlic to bring out its nuttiness, then combined with a good olive oil. If you have never had roasted garlic, it’s pretty easy to accomplish. Drizzle a bulb with a bit of oil, wrap in foil and toss in a 450 degree oven for about 30 min. As soon as you can smell it, it’s done. Use some of that, olive oil and a bit of butter to toast the rice. Brush the steaks lightly with the garlic oil and pan sear. Toss sunflower shoots into the riscotto just before plating. Sounds really good and I haven’t hit the stove yet.
Rice serves 4. One tuna steak, or a protein of choice per person.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup white wine
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 to 4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 cup arborio rice
3/4 cup sunflower shoots (about 1/2  a 5×5 square)
1 tuna steak per person
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. To roast garlic, cut the top off a bulb, exposing the cloves. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, or another oil if you prefer. Wrap in foil and place in oven. Turn off the oven. It will stay hot long enough to gently roast the garlic, without the risk of overcooking. Take the garlic out when you can smell it. Usually that is roughly 30 minutes.  To remove the cooked garlic easily, turn the bulb over  a plate and squeeze from the bottom.
  2. Blend garlic and olive oil. Set a bit aside to garnish the plate, about a tsp for each plate.
  3. Brush garlic oil on both sides of each tuna steak and set aside to marinate. I marinated them for about an hour.
  4. Combine chicken stock, lemon juice, and white wine.
  5. Harvest the sunflower shoots and rinse. Set aside. Remember before combining with the rice to keep a few to garnish the plates.
  6. In saute pan over medium heat add a couple tbsp of the garlic oil and the tsp of butter.

    cooking with microgreens
    Toasted rice for risotto.
  7. When the butter is melted add the rice. Push around in the pan until the tips of the rice are toasted.
  8. Set the timer for 20 minutes. Add about half of the stock to the toasted rice and simmer and stir until the stock is almost taken up by the rice. It is a good a idea to give the pan a shake occasionally. At this point you will be slowly adding the remaining stock and stirring. Rice is cooked when it still has just a bit of bite to it.
  9. During the last few minutes of the rice cooking, heat another saute pan for the tuna steaks. It’s ready when a drop of water bounces around the pan from the heat.
  10. You have 3 minutes from the time the steaks go on, until they are seared. Tuna steaks are served rare, overcook and you will basically have canned tuna taste. Place the steaks straight down in the pan and set the time for 1.5 minutes. Don’t move until the timer goes off. Turn the steaks and set the timer for another 1.5 minutes.  Add the sunflower shoots to the rice. Toss lightly to combine and spoon onto the plates.
  11. Remove the steaks from the heat and plate. Garnish with the remaining sunflower shoots. Add a swoosh of the garlic oil to decorate the plate.
  12. Serve and prepare for the oohs and aaahs.