Friday Night Fun

Jennie and Paul came over Friday for what is my latest entertaining recipe of choice, so don't be surprised if you come over and I make it for you too: lemon gnocchi with spinach and peas from the December issue of Gourmet. It's terrific served with a big salad and chocolate cake from Central Market's bakery for dessert. Who could ask for an easier and more delicious evening with friends?

Since it's the holidays, I did decide to throw a little bit of a table together....even though we were being super casual. I got out the winter dishes (They're not Christmas or Holiday dishes, since the poinsettia is appropriate during all of the winter months. Ask Emily Post if you don't believe me.) which are from Martha Stewart's Everyday line at K-mart a couple of years back. I dressed them up with my grandmother's silver plate (which I had to polish) and used some vintage elves, with pine cone bodies, to hold the place cards. My mam-ma's kissing Santa and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shaker were also on the table, as was her little Star of David pitcher. It's nice to remember those who aren't with us during the holiday season and I enjoyed using their things for dinner.

I even enjoy the little bit of hand washing that follows a small gathering--as opposed to the loads and loads involved for a big event. I'm not shy about putting things in the dishwasher, but there are certain items I just won't trust it with. I find the sight of the dishes inverted on the counter amusing. I'm not sure why?

It was a lovely evening with clever conversation and good wine. Have people over for dinner!

Recipe: Lemon Gnocchi with Spinach and Peas

1 cup frozen baby peas (not thawed)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, smashed
3 cups packed baby spinach (3 ounces)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 pound dried gnocchi
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Simmer peas with cream, red-pepper flakes, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet, covered, until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add spinach and cook over medium-low heat, uncovered, stirring, until wilted. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice.

Meanwhile, cook gnocchi in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain gnocchi.

Add gnocchi to sauce with cheese and some of reserved cooking water and stir to coat. Thin with additional cooking water if necessary.

Serves 4. More like, serves two hungry people. I doubled it for the four of us!

You MUST Try This Recipe!!

Honestly, I try not to be too pushy. I like to make some suggestions on things I have tried and enjoyed, and if you try and enjoy them, well hey, that's great. But with this post, that hippy/ecumenical/easy going attitude is gone. You MUST try this recipe I have adapted from another I found. It's delicious, creamy, semi-healthy and I am going to serve it the next time I have people over for dinner. Perhaps it will be you. Perhaps not. If you do as you're told, your chances are better.

Recipe: Gratineed Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables

1 16-oz. package of vacuum sealed potato gnocchi
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 small sunburst squash, in a small dice
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups fat free half-and-half
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. butter or butter substitute
freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a casserole dish large enough to hold the gnocchi in one or two layers. Set aside.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil on high heat until the pan is very warm. Add the onion and saute until it begins to soften. About 5 minutes. Add the squash and continue to cook until it begins to brown lightly and soften. About 5-10 minutes more. Let cool slightly, then add to the casserole with the gnocchi, tossing to combine the two a little.

In a small sauce pan, combine the half-and-half, broth and flour. Whisk together and heat over medium heat, continuing to whisk until the liquid begins to simmer and thicken. About 5-10 minutes. Add the butter, salt and pepper to preference. Taste and add additional seasoning. Pour the cream sauce over the gnocchi and stir just a bit, so it all get down into the grooves. Top with 3-4 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with a salad or sliced tomatoes.

There are many other combinations of vegetables you could use in place of the squash and onion mixture. The original recipe used spinach and made the addition of nutmeg. I think mushrooms would be good, with or without asparagus. Likewise, asparagus with small pieces of carrot would also be nice in the spring. Use your imagination and whatever vegetable you like, just make me happy and make this recipe!

Gadgets, Widgets and Techrats

I was lucky to have grown up with two grandmothers who enjoyed cooking, food and teaching others to enjoy the kitchen. Both were excellent cooks in their own right, but had completely different approaches to food. Each of them enjoyed cookbooks, but my paternal grandmother (Mam-ma) was a woman obsessed, so I come by the boxes and boxes of cookbooks I moved from Kansas to Texas honestly. In addition to cookbooks, she loved a kitchen gadget. When Cuisinarts were first introduced, she had one. Juicers? She juiced everything and anything for months. Breadmakers? They delivered a test model to her door. She had an array of cookware, baking pans and the many other things you would need to cook, bake and prepare a multitude of foods.

And I love kitchen gadgets, too. I don't spend a lot on high-end appliance gadgets, but I do like all of the little things that make life in the kitchen easier. When I bought an ice cream maker, some were dubious that it would collect dust. Not so. Not only do I use it regularly, but I recently purchased a second freezer bowl so I could make more ice cream. When I bought a cherry pitter, some said it was a ridiculous purchase since it only did one thing. Two things--it also pits olives. When it comes to kitchenry, I am of my own mind.

Two recent addition to the batterie de cuisine (I read Julia Child's new book--she's channeling it from the big kitchen in the sky--and she was continually talking about her beloved batterie de cuisine.) include a digital thermometer that was a gift from Jan and a potato ricer.



Jan is a great Wichita friend, but she isn't much of a cook. In fact, she isn't a cook at all. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I caught her having a Snickers bar for breakfast--that is only the beginning. Her mother, however, is a great cook who makes the best caramel candies during the holidays. Studded with pecans, they are absolute heaven. These candies have sparked endless discussions between Jan and myself on different recipes, preparations and candies we have had over the years. As a parting gift, Jan gave me what she conceived of to be a very important kitchen tool: the digital kitchen thermometer. Since moving to Austin, I haven't really done much cooking or entertaining, but now that I'm back in a house that has changed. So I used the thermometer last night for the first time when I was preparing the potato croquetas with saffron aioli and it was fantastic. I have never had such a wonderful frying experience. The thermometer has setting for both oil and candy and you can adjust the readout to a variety of angles. Thanks Jan! I absolutely love it.



A couple of months ago I took the hands-on gnocchi workshop at the Central Market Cooking School. Gnocchi is something I have always loved, but never made. I see the many, many recipes in cookbooks and magazines, and they all seem...deceptively simple. I wanted to learn from a master gnocchi maker--and I did. She taught us all the little secrets and we made three different recipes under her supervision. Something you must have to make delicious gnocchi? A potato ricer.

I asked, "Would a food mill would work?" (I already had one of those and maybe it does two jobs, too.)
"Not if you want delicious, feather light gnocchi," she replied, "You must, must MUST have a potato ricer."

I believe her. I've made the potato croquetas with saffron aioli in the past, but yesterday's batch was the best ever. Food mills and mashers mess up the starch in the potato, making it sticky and gummy. The ricer distributes it into a million little pieces in quick motion. The result is supposed to make the best mashed potatoes in the world. Will they give my mom's mashed potatoes a run for their money? Guess I'll find out.

Mangez!