potato gnocchi with mushroom leek cream sauce

fresh pasta is not all that difficult to make and once gotten the hang of sure to impress. i had some boiled potatoes left over from my pot pie the other night and decided to make gnocchi. they came out very well, perfect little pillow-like dumplings. i understand that authentic potato gnocchi contain no egg, but it sure makes them much easier to work with. maybe next time i'll be brave. i used for the gnocchi:

• 2 medium russet potatoes, boiled whole and peeled
• 1 chicken egg
• ~1 cup all purpose flour, plus or minus to feel

put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill to break them up without making them gummy. beat the egg and fold in. now add flour little by little and fold to incorporate. the way to handle this dough is more akin to biscuit or pie dough than fresh pasta, that is as little kneading as possible to bring all the ingredients together. the dough should be still fairly wet, tacky not sticky. i had about 1/4 cup of flour left over which i used for the rolling out. let rest 20 min. cut off a palm sized piece of the dough and roll with flat hands into dowels 3/4" thick. cut into 1/2" pieces and roll each one off the back of a fork, pressing down with a finger to create a concave on one side and ridges on the other.
boil in lots of salted water for ~3-4 minutes when floating vigorously or freeze for later use. sauce with whatever you'd put on pasta. i just sauteed leeks and button mushrooms in oil until browning then deglazed with port and added cream. garnish with plenty of cheese and parley.

pot pie

thursday night i made one of my favourite fallback recipes, veg pot pie. it's a great way to empty out the fridge as you can put just about anything in and it always comes out scrumptious. pictured here with a puff pastry crust, my preferred way to cook it is with a biscuit crust (i was being lazy). i used:

• small head of broccoli, cut into small florets and stems cut into 1/4 in. dice
• 1 russet potato, boiled whole for ~30 minutes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. chunks
• 1 red onion, cut into 1/4 in. dice
• 2 small carrots, cut into 1/4 in. dice
• 2 stalks celery, sliced thin on the bias
• 3 cloves garlic, minced fine
• 1 habenero, minced fine
• 2 stalks tarragon, stemmed and roughly chopped
• small bunch thyme (i'm lazy and just tie it up in cotton twine and fish it out later, most of the leaves fall off while it cooks- for fancier preparations by all means stem it)
• 7 or 8 dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for half an hour and roughly chopped, soaking liquid strained and reserved
• 1 sheet puff pastry or 1 basic biscuit recipe
• wee dram of wild turkey or other bourbon (there's no actual pot in this pie, but there is some booze)
  

heat a saucepan over medium heat with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. cook the onion, celery, carrot, habenero, and garlic for about 10 minutes until translucent. add the herbs and the mushrooms and cook an additional five minutes. now if you're like me and you like pyrotechnics, add the bourbon and enjoy the fireball - it will be big (especially if you've got good high proof bourbon like old rip van winkles 107). if you have low ceilings or some special attachment to your eyebrows you may want to take the pan off the heat, add the bourbon and stir for a minute or two while the alcohol boils off before adding back to the heat. now add in the mushroom liquid, broccoli, and potatoes. you now have a choice to either boil down the sauce to your desired consistency or mash up some of the potato to thicken it. pour into a baking dish, top with your desired crust and bake at 350 f until golden brown on top and bubbling below.

bean sprouts and hot spots

long week. one of my dogs has a relatively minor skin infection that is driving her absolutely mad and she won't do anything on her own (e.g. eat, eliminate). she needs a lot of supportive care and i didn't have time to post anything, but these were the meals of the week.
my bean sprouts exploded. i started with a measly half a cup of mung beans in two pint mason jars (not nearly enough room) topped with cheese cloth and rubber bands, rinsed twice daily for about four days. i got this method from the pictures in the sprouting section of madhur jaffrey's world of the east vegetarian cooking which is interesting only because the text of the section describes something completely different involving zip top bags and a colander. anyway, i would recommend using two quart jars for the same amount of beans and hopefully the sprouts won't look so stunted. they tasted great, though, spicy and crunchy. the most annoying part was picking off all the little green bean skins.
monday night i made spring rolls with fried tofu, bean sprouts, rice noodles, scallion, sesame oil, and cilantro for an appetizer (and lunch the next day) and stir fried the same ingredients with some chopped veg, lime juice, and sriracha for a kind of a pad thai thing for my main course.
tuesday i used the farmer's market morels and tried to make a fancy sauce for some new potatoes. it wasn't inedible, but lacked the rich taste i expected from such a fancy ingredient. i'm not sure if i just didn't have enough of them. with roast tomatoes it sustained life processes sufficiently for me to cook another day.
wednesday and friday were comfort food nights, and i made the exact same thing both nights. taco salad in an edible bowl. it is merely a vehicle for the things i like most to eat: cheese, refried beans, and chiles.

gumbo z'herbes

green gumbo. i love greens. from the first time i had salty collard greens at a thanksgiving potluck on the west side of chicago i have loved greens. up until a year and a bit ago i worked at a little independent pet store. i loved that job because, for the most part, there was always something that needed doing and everything was different. my last year there i was in charge of the reptiles and had, amongst all other things, the task of feeding them. we had an eleven year old sulcatta tortoise (about a foot diameter) as well as two adult iguanas (not at the same time) that had been found in trees in the city (they're cheap and small as babies, but they get big ~5-6 feet) - all total herbivores with big appetites. in addition to this were the omnivorous lizards: the bearded dragons, the uromastyxes (guessing at the plural here), the skinks, etc. so i cut up each week a varied and varying mix of greens that i would wash, dry, and chop up at home then feed to the animals at work. as a result i had a great variety of greenery passing through my home, and needless to say, took my tithe.
mustard, collard, turnip, beet greens, carrot tops, chard, spinach, and all matter of lettuce. since then i have not eaten nearly as many greens (save probably spinach) if it wasn't thanksgiving. but with the farmers' markets becoming lush and my csa basket not letting me choose, i got some greens in the fridge
gumbo z'herbes is a traditional good friday dish with as many different kinds of greens as you can find. my version this night was untraditional, no okra, no file powder, but i've never made a roux this good and i think that sealed the deal. i used (quantities of greens very approximate):

• rainbow chard, stemmed (~1 bunch)
• baby spinach (3 big handfuls)
• beet greens (from one bunch of beets), stemmed - all washed and chopped into ribbons
  
• ~2 sprigs tarragon leaves
• 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
• 1/2 green bell pepper, fine dice
• 1 stalk celery, fine dice
• 3 cloves garlic, fine dice
• 2 bay leaves
• sprig of thyme
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 oz. flour, by weight
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• cayenne pepper, to taste

in a medium dutch oven over medium heat add the oil, when shimmering add the flour and cook whisking often for 30-50 minutes. the flour should get darker and darker while starting to smell crazy good. if you just can't take it anymore, or you're worried it might burn, then add the veg. a brick colour is ideal, but i gave up at a brown roux and it tasted better than any gumbo i've ever had.when satisfied with the colour, add the onion, bell pepper, and celery, cook 7 minutes or so and add the garlic, bay leaves and thyme. cook 3 or 4 minutes more, then add the stock and the greens. simmer 30-40 minutes uncovered and serve over long grain white rice with hot sauce as needed.

chile rellenos

one of my all time favourite foods. i actually did most of the work last night with grilling and peeling the chiles, but didn't feel like frying. so i left them in the freezer for tonight, which is a great trick for making chile rellenos anyway. even if you're planning on eating the chiles that night, throw them in the freezer for twenty minutes after stuffing. they hold their shape much better and are much easier to work with when battering and frying. it takes a lot of the pressure off when making that surgical incision to deseed the peppers as you can cover up any mangling. here's the play by play for assembly:blacken chiles over flame. i used a grill topper on my range, i used to use a steamer basket or you can just put them right on there, or you can use a barbeque, or broil them. after they're completely blackened put them into a paper bag to steam out of their skins. this makes me think of how the rhino got his skin, i wonder if the peppers are itchy?
after about 10 minutes (or longer) take out the peppers and peel off their skin. then make a small incision on the side near the top and carefully scoop out the seeds (the one on the right is perfect, the one on the left suffered overmuch, but this will be fixed by our freezing trick). you can trickle some water into the incision to get all the seeds out.
stuff the chiles with whatever you like (i like just cheese) then close up the incision and wrap in plastic wrap to keep them closed. throw them in the freezer for 20 minutes before cooking. if you're going leave them there longer you'll need to defrost them a bit before battering and frying. some people recommend closing them up with a wooden skewer threaded through but this always ends up mangling the pepper more when i do it.
the batter is deliciously simple. you take an egg. you separate it. you beat up the white (to stiff peaks), then you beat up the yoke (with a little salt, pepper, cayenne), then you beat them back together, done! dip the peppers in flour, then in the batter, then in hot oil. fry until golden brown on all sides. everything else was leftovers.

farmer's market haul

wowza. i've never been to the evanston farmer's market before. it was awesome. almost as big as the green city market with amazing selection. also, it's amazing the difference a week makes with what's available. i picked up some thyme (with flowers, so cute), tarragon, catnip, strawberries, kohlrabi, onions, carrots, beets, daikon, bok choy, and morels! i've never seen morels at a market before. $48 a pound sounds like a lot, but they weigh next to nothing - that's five bucks worth in the picture.

sopes

little corn masa boats. filled here with caramelized peppers and onions, a sort of pickled cole slaw, tomato, and avocado. refried beans on the side. very yummy. i love south american food for all the toppings. i love toppings. people ask me all the time what's the deal with fake burgers. why eat a fake burger if you don't like to eat meat? i say it has very little to do with the burger, it's all about the toppings.
the pickled cabage salad is an el salvodorean dish called curtido de repollo. i got the recipe from the international vegetarian union. the recipe makes a lot, though. i have two pint mason jars of the stuff now. i used napa cabbage cause it was in my fridge, and yes i am finally running out of fresh veg, but i think i can catch the evanston farmer's market if i get off my butt in the next 15 minutes.
for the sopes:
reconstitute instant masa powder (most common brand i see everywhere is maseca) with appropriate amount of water (back of package). i like rick bayless' take from mexico one plate at a time, to cut in a little wheat flour (not much, small handful ~3 tbs. for the 1 cup of masa i used) and baking powder (~ 1 tsp.) he also says the dough should be the consistency of soft cookie dough. take a small ball of the dough, flatten it, and pinch up the sides. fry in oil until golden brown. add toppings!
the peppers and onions were just sliced into strips and fried in oil with a chopped and soaked pasilla pepper (i had no fresh chiles) and cumin seed ground coarsely in a mortar.
the beans were out of a can, but i added onion, garlic, and chipotle.
i think i will use up all leftovers tonight and make chile rellenos, my favourite.

mapo tofu

i dropped my camera on the floor last night while cooking so i have no final picture (that's why they have wrist straps i guess). instead here's someone who really loves her veggies.
on to mapo tofu: this dish was definitely different from the typical stir fry that i make. i looked around for a bunch of recipes online and picked and chose aspects from a couple of them to make something that sounded good to me. i went to my local asian grocery to find doubanjiang, or chinese broad bean chile paste, and then to my favourite store, the spice house, for szechwan peppercorns. the grocery had a japanese version of the chile paste which had soybeans as well as broad beans; close enough for a first time i think, and i didn't feel like trekking out to the super h mart (super asian mega mart).
a couple things that interested me about the recipe: silken tofu? i had no idea it was made with soft tofu until i'd read five or ten recipes. normally i like my tofu extra firm - pressed, seasoned, and baked so it's nice and chewy. i compromised by using the firm (not extra firm) tofu and not pressing it. also, a couple of recipes recommended par-boiling the tofu - more curiousness, but it did firm it up quite a bit. lastly, szechwan peppercorns were illegal to import from 1968-2005. i assumed this was for illicit reasons until i read that it was just some crop disease... the department of agriculture takes the fun out of everything. anyway, here's what i used:

• 1 19 oz. package firm tofu cut into 1 in. cubes
• 3 tbs. szechwan peppercorns, separated
• 1 cup morningstar crumbles (or any fake meat), optional
• 2 dried thai red chiles, seeds discarded, minced fine
  
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger, minced fine
• 2 tbs. soy sauce
• 1 tbs. black bean garlic sauce
• 3 tbs. doubanjiang
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice wine
• slurry made up of 2 tsp. corn starch and 2 tbs. water
• enough oil to stir fry
• 1 scallion, sliced, to garnish

boil enough water to submerge the tofu and par-boil for five minutes, remove and drain. over high heat in a dry wok toast 2 tbs. szechwan peppercorns. remove and grind fine in a mortar. add enough oil to coat wok and remaining peppercorns. cook until hissing and popping, remove and discard. add fake meat if using (be careful, oil may spatter) and dry chiles; fry about a minute, add ginger and toss and stir until very fragrant. add black bean sauce, doubanjiang, and soy sauce. stir fry for 30 seconds, then add wine, water and tofu. stir well, reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. add slurry, stir until thickened and garnish with scallion and ground szechwan peppercorns. serve with white rice.
not nearly as spicy as i anticipated, but my fire burns hot. nice lasting heat with a very interesting flavour. no tortoises were harmed in the making of this recipe.

bachelor chow

risotto to me is the ultimate bachelor food: one pot, rice, cheese, and you just have to stand there and cook it. all would be complete if the risotto was eaten right out of the pot with the spoon used to stir it, but i did manage some small trappings of domestication. this was about middle of the road tastewise; the rice was cooked right, and that's most of it, otherwise just emptying the fridge out.
on a different note, i'm excited about chinese food now. i've been reading a bit online and flipping through madhur jaffrey's world of the east vegetarian cooking which is a pan-asian cornucopia of really interesting recipes. they're not organized by origin, but the recipes all seem very authentic, that is not oversimplified for a western audience. online i found a couple of pages describing the techniques of szechwan cuisine, and i really like the idea of dry-braising and dry-stewing which is, if i understand it right, to cook something in liquid over high heat letting the liquid burn away completely, or concentrate down to a sauce. so i've got some mung beans sprouting, and my quest for today is to find some broad bean chili paste and szechwan peppercorns. i really want to try and make mapo dofu, or 'pock-marked lady's bean curd.'

behold my ignorance

and the eight great traditions of chinese cuisine.

asparagus stir fry

i'm hit and miss with chinese food. you can cut up pretty much any assortment of vegetables and throw them in a wok, but for anyone who's ever seen the opening scene of eat, drink, man, woman (warning: very not vegetarian if you're squeamish) or watched iron chef chinese chen kenichi cook knows there's some serious art and technique behind chinese cookery.
problem is, every chinese restaurant i've been to in chicago has the same menu: fried rice, egg foo yung, etc. it's not bad food, just all the same, plus the nagging suspicion that there might be fish sauce in everything.
it is my goal for the day to learn more about the different cuisines within china (szechwan v. cantonese, are there more?)
for me, this dish turned out pretty good. i have black bean sauce and kung pao sauce and even a vegetarian oyster sauce i got from food fight vegan grocery (it's made from mushrooms), but they're all a bit overpowering. instead, i made the sauce with the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms reduced down with corn starch added. pretty tasty with chile sauce and rice. a combination of white and green asparagus would have been much more attractive, but this is what i had in the fridge.

• 2 small carrots, cut on the bias
• 1 large celery stalk, cut on the bias
• 2 scallions, cut on the bias, white and green parts separated
• 6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 2o min. and sliced (removing the woody core), liquid reserved
• 6 asparagus spears, cut into 1 in. pieces, tips separated
• thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 small green chiles, sliced thin
• 1-2 tbs. light oil (peanut/canola/vegetable)
• 1 tbs corn starch
• 1-2 tbs soy sauce to taste
  
• cilantro for garnish

first, put the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms on the stove to reduce. when you have about a half cup, let it cool, and when it's body temp or less add the corn starch, whisk and set aside. get a wok on full whack (heh) and when it's smoking away add the oil, then the white part of the scallions, the carrots, celery, and chiles. stir and toss vigorously for about a minute, then add asparagus stems and the mushrooms. stir and toss for another minute, then add the ginger, garlic, and asparagus tips. stir and toss for about thirty seconds until very fragrant, then add soy sauce, toss, then add mushroom liquor/corn starch mixture and toss to coat. the liquid should thicken immediately and you should be left with just a little bit of sauce clinging to all the veg. kill the heat and sprinkle in the green part of the scallions. serve with white rice and garnish with cilantro. i was cooking for one again, but had leftovers.

braised swollen stems with roast potatoes and spinach

so this was pretty good. this year i went in on a csa (community supported agriculture) with one of the receptionists at work. the deal is, if you're unaware, you pay a certain amount of money to a local farm before the growing season begins to fund their efforts, and then come summer and fall you receive a share of the harvest. neither she nor i had tried it before, and it's a lot of money to put up front, months before you see the fruits (or in this case vegetables) of their labor. we chose king's hill farm because we could split a half share to see what it was like costing us each $175 (full shares run $600 and up).
our first box came sunday and contained: baby fennel, mesclun, baby spinach, asparagus, radishes, kohlrabi, rosemary, parsley and other things i'm forgetting. now i've never cooked kohlrabi before, so i read a bit online and in the joy of cooking- which both mostly said, 'kinda behaves like broccoli stalks.'
the baby fennel was very elegant looking and screamed, 'braise me.' so i decided to round out the stem theme and add some thick slices of celery. i braised my swollen stems with shallots in white wine with tarragon and fennel seed. the results were scrumptious - served with roast potatoes and sauteed garlicky baby spinach it was quite a treat.
this recipe in the quantities given worked out pretty well for one (with seconds), but i do like to eat... you might want to bulk it up a bit for more people.

• 2 shallots, quartered lengthwise
• 1 medium (baseball sized) kohlrabi, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 2 inch slices
  
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 baby fennel bulbs trimmed and halved, fronds reserved
• zest of one lime (lemon is probably more traditional, i only had limes)
• 1 tbs. fennel seeds, cracked
  
• generous pinch dried tarragon
• 3 tbs butter, separated
• 1 tbs olive oil
• enough white wine to come up to shoulders of the veg (i used pinot grigio), ~ 1 cup

heat 2 tbs of the butter in a sauce pan at medium high heat until starting to brown then add the shallots and the olive oil. cook 2 min. or until slightly translucent. add kohlrabi, celery, fennel, and fennel seed. cook 5-10 minutes more until slightly coloured. add wine and lime zest. lower heat and partially cover. cook 30-40 minutes until the veg is very soft and the sauce has thickened. off the heat finish with remaining butter and garnish with fennel fronds.


for the potatoes:

• as many baking potatoes as you can eat
• water
• sprig fresh rosemary
• olive oil
• squirt lemon juice (i know i said i had no lemons, this was from a bottle)
  

preheat oven to 375 f. peel the potatoes and cut them into thirds. submerge in cold water and bring to a boil. after 5 min drain and allow to steam dry. coat the pan you will be using in olive oil and heat it in the oven for 5 min while the potatoes are drying. now place the potatoes in the hot pan with the rosemary, lemon juice, and appropriate seasoning (salt, pepper), and this is the secret to good roast potatoes, as my uncle laurie says, 'you really gotta bang em around.' so every 10 minutes or so, grab the pan (with an oven mitt, please) and bang them spuds around a bit. watch for splashing oil, and in 40 min. or so you'll have perfectly coloured roast potatoes, crisp on the outside and creamy in the middle.

for the spinach

• all the baby spinach you can find (it shrinks)
• 2 cloves garlic sliced wafer thin
• olive oil

saute the garlic in the oil until fragrant then add the spinach and watch it disappear. yum.

well, here it goes...

hello, my name is eric nelson, i live in evanston, il- a suburb of chicago, i'm 26, i love my job (most of the time) and i love to eat. i cook because i love to eat. it's not only a means to an end, but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding.
i'm new to the blogosphere, at least as a contributer, but inspiration came to me a couple of nights ago and herein lie my thoughts: i had a friend to dinner and the goal was to impress. she was my ex-girlfriend (we broke up a couple of years ago, we're not best buds, but we share an affection and talk every now and again) and had always loved my cooking, so with minimal ulterior motives i felt it necessary to show her what she'd been missing.
i ran around all day to the farmer's market and grocery store amongst other errands bringing together the components for what i knew would be a stellar meal. i started cooking at two, she showed up at five, we ate at eight... and the food kinda sucked. so six odd hours of prep ended in blah. it had saving graces, but nothing spectacular.
on the other hand some nights i come home from work covered in all manner of foulness, my back creaking and threatening to give in, and yet with whatever's left in the fridge something is created that tastes truly sublime. it seems as if the best meals tend to happen when i'm not paying attention.
so, my thought was to keep track of these happy accidents and perhaps with a greater attention to detail i can figure out what i'm doing right and what i'm doing wrong - and above all: i hope the food benefits.