Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Sweet Corn and Sage Brown Butter

A lighter interpretation for gnocchi.

Ack! All you bloggers out there – ever make a dish and somehow forget about it in your stack of “to post” items? I have no idea how I forgot this one as it’s one of my all-time favorite dishes, but I found it yesterday in my blog photos folder.

And once again…a post from Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table. My favorite cookbook evah.

This recipe is typical Goin fashion – a bit overachiever (shocking, I know). First, she wants you to make your own gnocchi. And yeah, making your own gnocchi is HIGHLY recommended. But sometimes on a weeknight, it’s just not going to happen. These are times when I cheat and call in reinforcements. She also wants you to shuck your own corn. Again, I cheat here too. Ok, AND she wants you to use Chanterelle mushrooms. I think they are kinda pricey so I cheat and use Portabellas.  But first…

What are gnocchi?

Gnocchi are Italian dumplings – little pillows of light dough – served in a manner similar to pasta. They are traditionally made with potatoes, but can also be formed from ricotta cheese, semolina, squash, um…I’m sure there are probably other options I don’t even know about. Purists like the potato variety, but I’m a convert to the ricotta kind because:

1. They are way WAY easier to make and

2. I think they are lighter. And that’s really the goal – to make them light.

But we aren’t going to talk about making them here. That’s for another day.

So, ok.  Back to the recipe. This is a dish that is rustic, yet impressive enough for a casual dinner party. And the sage thrown in towards the end makes your house smell just lovely. And you can be a lazy butt like me and make them with fresh/frozen gnocchi purchased at the store. Which just makes things easier during the week.

Gnocchi with Chanterelles, Sweet Corn and Sage Brown Butter

Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (I like Panko)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
7 T unsalted butter
3/4 pound chanterelles, cleaned (I use portabellas cause I am cheap)
1 T thyme leaves
1 T sliced sage leaves
3 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 4 ears – or do like I do and use a can of corn)
2/3 cup diced shallots
1 lb fresh gnocchi (I used dried -either way, cook thoroughly and set aside)
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steps:
First – toast the breadcrumbs:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Toss breadcrumbs with 2 tablespoons olive oil.

3. Spread them on a baking sheet, and toast 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden brown. Set aside.

Then:
4. If the mushrooms are big, tear them into bite-size pieces (or chop).

5. Heat a large saute pan over high heat for 2 minutes.

6.Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and heat another minute.

7. Swirl in 1 tablespoon butter, and when it foams, add the mushrooms, half the thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a healthy pinch of pepper.

8. Saute the mushrooms about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they’re tender and a little crispy.  Don’t be tempted to move them around in the pan too much in the beginning: let them sear a little before stirring.  Transfer the cooked mushrooms to a platter.

9. Return the pan to the stove, and heat on high for 1 minute.

10. Add the remaining 6 tablespoons butter to the pan, and cook a minute or two, until the butter starts to brown.

11. Add the sage, let it sizzle, and then add the corn, shallots, remaining thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and some freshly ground pepper.

12. Saute quickly, tossing the corn in the hot butter for about 2 minutes, until the corn is just tender.

13. Add the cooked gnocchi and toss well to coat with the corn and brown butter.

14. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the mushrooms.  Toss to combine, and heat the mushrooms through.

15. Add the parsley.

16. Arrange the gnocchi on a large platter, and shower with the breadcrumbs.  Grate over some parmesan cheese if you like.

Enjoy!
Ms. Pantry Raid

Read Full Post »

Spaetzle with Corn and Sage Brown Butter

   

Spaetzle = Homemade German noodles

Right, so I know it’s Thursday and technically, Hobo Mondays are supposed to take place on, um, Monday, but I’m sick so give me a break. Plus we’ve been out of town for the past two weekends in a row and I’ve had other things to do. Bitch and moan, bitch and moan.

Ok really, I feel like such complete ass that I wasn’t sure I was gonna partake in this month’s Hobo showdown, but at around 4:30 I got semi ambitious and rose from my position on the couch to make dinner. Mostly cause I knew I had a really, really cheap recipe up my sleeve and I couldn’t resist the challenge.

This month the goal was to make dinner for two people for $3. “Too hard! It cannot be done!” you say. Well, I’m here to say it certainly can. Especially if you have a pantry stocked with staples. So take that!

Today I made spaetzle outta my pantry. Well, the intention was to make it out of my pantry cause the ingredients list said “milk and flour” and I said, check and check! But when I whipped it together…

Things I hate? Shitty recipes that obviously have not been tested

I started with a spaetzle recipe out of Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication by Jean-Georges Vongerichtan and Mark Bittman. Ingredient list said 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup milk. THEN when I got to the directions, somehow the recipe had changed to only 1/4 cup milk. Lets just think about it for a sec. Mix 2 cups flour with 1/4 cup milk. What do YOU think would happen?? Hmmmm…

Right, so then I added 1/2 cup like the recipe said in the ingredients section. Still not enough you say? Yeah, you’d be quite right. So off to Google and it appears that MOST PEOPLE make spaetzle with egg in it. Thank God I just happened to have 4 eggs in the fridge. Nevermind that the expiration date was in April and it’s…June. Yes, I did the egg float test and all four passed, albeit just barely. Alright, so first crisis averted (yes, there were more).

Next up – the making the spaetzle part.

I looked at my colander – the holes seemed too small. But the holes on the steamer insert of my pasta pot seemed just right. I threw the steamer over the pasta pot, tossed in the batter and forced it through with a spoon. This, of course, was not going fast enough for my liking so I threw the spoon aside and used my hand. I can certainly understand why older German ladies have a lot of upper body strength – this was a royal PITA. But I persevered and continued to push the batter through the holes. I gave up when there was a thin layer of batter left in the steamer – my hand started to get hot.

At that time, I figured the spaetzle had cooked enough – it had taken a few minutes to get all the batter through the holes. So I dumped the spaetzle into the colander in the sink. But the water wouldn’t drain out of my colander. Some sort of accident ensued (I don’t want to talk about it) and half my spaetzle went down the drain. In a mad panic to save it, I tried scooping it with my bare hands back into the colander.

Ever tried picking up hot pasta right out of the pot with your bare hands? Yeah, it’s not a bright idea.

So now I have burns on my fingers and the majority of my dinner is in the disposal. Did I mention that I’m sick and I have no patience??

Oh yeah, and ever tried to wash things in hot water when you’ve got a burn on your hand? That would be crisis number three of the evening.

Arghhh…anyway, so then I made the sauce part. And of course cause my patience was waning, I didn’t quite make it the way I had originally intended (it was supposed to be a sage BROWN butter, but I didn’t want to wait. In retrospect…).

Without further ado, and cause I’m tired and need to go back to being fully horizontal, the breakdown:

Flour – pantry (thus free)

Milk – $0.16 for half a cup

Eggs – $1.04 (I really have no idea since they were bought so long ago – but I used 4 out of a pack of organic, cage free, happy chicken eggs. Cost will be MUCH LESS if you use the regular factory farm eggs. But that’s on YOUR CONSCIENCE my friend).

Corn – $1.10 for a small can

Sage – I’m growing it so it’s free

Onion – $0.20 for half a cup diced

Butter – I could say this is a pantry item too, but I’m being nice and I’ll include it. I used about 2.5 oz (I’m working on a block of Plugra right now – so hard to tell tablespoons and whatnot). $0.50

Total = $3.00. And would have been less than $2 if the stupid spaetzle recipe hadn’t required eggs!

Spaetzle with corn and sage

Ingredients (spaetzle part):
2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
1 t kosher salt
pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Steps:
1. In a bowl, mix together the flour, milk, eggs, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

3. Place your colander, spaetzle maker, steamer insert (basically – whatever you’ve got that has pretty decent sized holes – you need that batter to go THROUGH the holes here – so use your best judgement) over the pot of boiling water. Pour the batter in your colander and force through the holes. Use a spoon, spatula, your hands, whatever it takes but just get that stuff through the holes.

4. Let spaetzle boil for a few minutes (it probably already has by the time you get it through the colander).

5. Drain and rinse with cold water until spaetzle is cool to the touch. Set aside.

Ingredients – Brown Butter with Corn and Sage  part:
1 T canola or veg oil
1/2 cup minced onion
small can of corn (11 oz)
3/4 stick of butter (let your conscience dictate here – but it’s gotta be enough for a sauce)
8 sage leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Heat 1 T of oil over medium – medium-high heat in a saute pan.

2. Add onions and saute till soft – about 5 minutes

3. Add butter. Continue to cook till it turns light golden brown.

4. Add sage and corn and heat till warmed.

5. Remove from the heat if the butter starts to get too brown and add the spaetzle (otherwise, leave on the heat and add spaetzle). Stir to coat and cook till spaetzle is warm.

6. Remove from the heat if you haven’t already. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Enjoy!

Ms. Pantry Raid

Read Full Post »

Coke Pulled Pork and Parmesan Lime Corn

Yes, I counted the whole bun in my costs. Topless sandwich is for pix sake only!

Hobo Mondays

Thursdaynightsmackdown has a new once a month blogging event called Hobo Mondays: come up with a meal to feed 2 for under $5. Well, we are looking for ways to cut down our grocery bill over here at Pantry Raid, so I thought this was prime opportunity to get off my butt and actually DO something about it. 

As far as groceries go, I certainly have gotten better about using things up. We don’t have nearly the amount of food molding away in the back of our refrigerator that we used to. But I still don’t really do well on the low-cost meal front. I go to the store, I get excited, $16/lb imported Spanish chorizo gets purchased, you know the story. So anyway, here goes nothing!

I had a plan of what I wanted to make for my first Hobo Monday. But I got sucked into making something totally different cause pork country ribs were on sale this week. Count me IN. Menu be damned!

Coke Trafficking

So ok, now what? Pulled pork sandwiches sounds good. I’ve wanted to do rootbeer pulled pork forever. Then I  thought Coke pulled pork might be good too. AND since I live up the street from a Mexican market, I thought I could be super slick by using a can of Coke made with PURE sugar vs high fructose corn syrup. Somehow, Mexico gets the good stuff and in the States, we get HFCS. So I marched down to the store, grabbed the cool, retro, “Imported from Mexico” bottle, and headed to the checkout. Just to be sure, I checked the ingrediant list. HFCS! Dang it. Thwarted. Do tell why one would import Coke all the way from Mexico AND not have it be the kind with real sugar? Hmmm??? What’s the point? I plan on boycotting my little corner market in silent protest. Ok, I probably won’t, but right now I’m mad.

Mexican Street Corn (well, kinda sorta…)

Alright, pulled pork sandwiches. What goes with it? Corn sounds good. But plain corn is blah, so add some cheese, a little lime, maybe some cilantro and now we’re talkin’. We’ve got a great summertime meal. Never mind that it’s flipping April and it’s SNOWING outside. AGH!

How did I do?

Total meal cost? About $5 give or take. Here’s the breakdown:

$1.32 for pork (assuming 6 oz pp).
$0.94 2 rolls
$0.50 can of coke
$1.10 can of corn
$0.05 for half a lime (Mexican markets are CHEAP)
$0.05 sprinkle of cilantro (see above)
$1.00 worth of parmesan
a whole mess of pantry spices and a little bit of mayo

So $4.96. Just under the cutoff!

Coke Pulled Pork

Stolen verbatim from Chu This so just go there and, uh, follow the directions. The only changes I would make are to reduce the chicken stock to 1 cup (maybe less), add a little more sugar, and you really only need to reduce like a cup of the resulting liquid (otherwise you’ll be reducing the sauce for days).

Oh yeah – and those crispy things in the picture? Those are fried onions and they don’t count cause they were sitting, rotting away in my fridge from last week’s Pork Curry. Hey, just being frugal over here!

Parmesan Lime Corn

This is kind of a bastardized version of Elote – Mexican Street Corn. Usually served on the cob slathered with a mixture of cotija cheese, mayo, lime juice and cayenne pepper, I’ve chosen to make it off the cob and with parmesan instead of cotija cause, shoot, that’s what I had in my fridge. Oh, and I forgot the cayenne pepper. I sure am forgetful lately! 

Ingrediants:

11 oz can corn
2 T grated parmesan
1 T mayo
1 T cilantro
juice of half lime
salt to taste

Steps:

1. Heat corn in small saucepan. 

2. Remove from heat and add in mayo and parmesan. Stir till thoroughly combined.

3. Add lime juice, cilantro and salt to taste. Stir to combine and serve immediately.

 

Enjoy!

Ms. Pantry Raid

Read Full Post »