Basic Potato Salad..aka, baked beans best friend

 I rarely think so far ahead for dinner that I'm able to put together a potato salad well enough in advance that its gotten the proper amount of time for the flavors to marry.  We usually pick some up premade from the store.  Honestly, I despise MOST premade potato salad.  There's something in it the has a weird, funky aftertaste.  I can even doctor that mush up and it still lingers.  What IS that? Anyway, I had a few minutes today and the lightbulb went on.  I already knew that we're grilling burgers tonight and what goes better with grilled burgers than some rich, creamy tater salad.  So, yay me for thinking ahead! 
There are a million billion ways to make potato salad of course. But, tonight, I'll stick to the basics. I do have a little tip:  After draining your potatoes and letting them dry out, sprinkle them with salt and vinegar. It's just another layer of flavor.

Ingredients:
5-6 medium potatoes
1/4 onion or green onions
3 eggs
3 strips bacon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo with olive oil (for taste, not cause its healthier)
2-3 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs dijon mustard (creamy with wine!)
2 tsp white sugar
generous amount of salt

Directions:
Fry bacon until crisp, let cool, chop into bits and set aside. You can also use precooked bacon.

Peel and cut potatoes into bite size pieces and add to pan full of salty cold water.  Add eggs to pan as well.  Bring to a boil.  After water has boiled for a few minutes, remove eggs and run under cold water.  Check potatoes for doneness.  Should be able to pierce with fork but not mash.  When done, drain potatoes, add back onto eye of stove, with heat off.  This will allow potatoes to steam and dry out completely.  Sprinkle about 1 tbs vinegar over the dried out potatoes and about 1/2 tsp. salt.

In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, mayo, eggs, chopped bacon, chopped onions, mustard, vinegar and sugar.  Taste for need for salt.  The Mayo made with olive oil is a bit saltier (which is why i LOVE It).  Fold in potatoes. Now chill for at least 3 hours :).. enjoy with baked beans. Weird, I know, but it's kinda a thing i have.

mmm bacon

mmm eggs!

chillin

A peek into my .....pantry

Someone mentioned recently that I should do a quick blog about what pantry staples I like to keep on hand.  This person will remain nameless, but here's a hint: She contributed 50% of my DNA.  You'll never guess.  Anyway, a few days ago, I talk a bit about the tools I use the most in the kitchen, so we'll take it a step further to pantry, fridge, freezer items that I ALWAYS have on hand.

Pantry:

Dry or baking items:
AP flour..although after Christmas I found myself with 5 different kinds of flours!
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Powdered Sugar
Corn Meal
Cocoa Powder
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Kosher Salt
Corn Starch
Variety of chocolate chips
Craisins

Starches:
Spaghetti noodles...always (its my comfort food)
Variety of pastas (I stock up when my store has BOGO free)
Quick Brown rice
Israeli Cous Cous
Arborio rice
Jasmine rice, love the way it smells
Cornmeal
Regular breadcrumbs and Panko

Jars and Cans:
Jarred spaghetti sauce (again, stock up during BOGO's. I have 8 jars right now)
Variety of canned tomatoes, diced, stewed, whole. Tomatoes with chilis, little cans of tomato sauce...etc
Sooo many beans:  Black, pinto, pink, cannalini and chickpeas are my favorites.
Green chilis
Sliced water chestnuts
Coconut milk
Canned fruits. I am NOT a fan but my family loves them. I always get the ones in juice, never syrup.
Sweetened condensed milk
Evaporated milk
Chicken, beef and veggie broth.  But I use chicken the most and always the low sodium kind

Ok, i have a cabinet that holds all the daily used items like oils/vinegars/peanut butter/ nutella etc.  Here's what you'll always find there:
Canola oil
Olive oil:  Light and EVOO
Lard..yes lard
Crisco
Balsamic vinegar and glaze
White Vinegar
Apple Cider vinegar
Red Wine vinegar
Cooking sprays
Peanut butter
Nutella
Syrup
Agave Syrup
Honey

Spice drawer:
I'm not going to go through everything in there, but they're mostly spices because I don't really use dried herbs.  Here are the most common that I use:
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cumin
Curry
Sazon (its a must)
nutmeg
Cinnamon
Bay Leaves
Crushed red pepper
Of course salt and pepper
Variety of extracts: vanilla and almond mostly
Chili Powder
Cayenne Pepper (but thats to sprinkle around the yard to keep the dogs from digging)


Lets move on to the freezer:

Nuts nuts nuts...it's not just an adjective in this house.  You name it and I have it stashed in my freezer. I am a self proclaimed hoarder of nuts and beans.
Chopped spinach
Peas
Broccoli
Pureed butternut squash
Berries
And whatever meats have been caught, hunted or purchased :)
I also keep my grits in the freezer.


Fridge:

OK, I'm not going to go through everything i have in my fridge but I will go over what you'll always find in there:

Cheese: blocks of cheddar and mozerella, goat cheese, a wedge of parmigianno regiano, fresh mozerella packed in water
Prosciutto
Organic milk
Eggs (Davidson pasteurized eggs, because what good is a cookie dough if you can't eat it raw?)
Teriyaki sauce
Soy Sauce
Chili Sauce
Red Curry Paste
Tomato Paste
Anchovy Paste
Jams and jelly's
pickles
Condiments
Cream Cheese
Salted and unsalted butter
margarine
Sesame oil
Bacon
SWEET TEA. 

Breads:
Good ole honey wheat sandwich bread
Na'an
Real bakery break for food snob mom, ciabatta or sourdough
Flour and/or corn tortillas



Yes, I have every one of these items and always do. And no, I'm not taking pictures of my pantry, fridge and freezer...y'all must think I'm nuts.

Having a list like this helps to know what you should have extras of on hand.  I'm quite a few jars/ bottles deep of most of these things.  Thanks to BOGO's :)  I can't pass up 50% off my pantry staples 

Hope this helps a bit when you're thinking of what to stock your pantry with.   

Gnocchi swimming in Creamy Pesto

If you're on a diet that doesn't allow for carbs and saturated fat, turn away now. This isn't the recipe for you.  It's extremely indulgent and to be honest, it's not something I would typically eat either.  Melting the butter in the pan flipped my guilt switch immediately knowing how much sat fat I was about to consume.   BUT.... Since it's so rich, you don't need to eat much of it.  Its that whole moderation thing. By the way, its the sauce that's so indulgent, so you could make the gnocchi and toss it in a fresh tomato sauce.  That would be delectable.  I didn't measure a single thing for either the gnocchi or sauce. I just went by feel and taste so I'll do the best I can with measurements. 

Gnocchi:

2 large starchy potatoes
3 egg yolks
About 1 cup or so of AP flour
Salt/pepper/nutmeg

Creamy Pesto Sauce:

Handful of Basil (about a cup of whole leaves)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs pine nuts
1 garlic clove
Just enough EVOO to bring pesto together but not liquidy. (about 1-2 tbs)

3 Tbs. Butter
1 Cup Heavy Cream
3/4 Cup fresh grated parm cheese


Directions for gnocchi:

You can either bake the potatoes or peel and boil them.  If you boil them, make sure you give them plenty of time to dry out.  I also didn't run mine through a food mill because I don't own one. So i used a fork to break up the potatoes really well.  Let the cooked/mashed potatoes cool.

After they're cooled, add 3 egg yolks, dash of nutmeg, salt and pepper.

mix well and start adding flour about a 1/4 cup at a time until you have a dough that isn't sticky and you can work with.   I think in all I added about a full cup of flour, plus more for bench flour.

it has come together and feels like dough

turn it out on floured board or counter and divide into workable amounts

roll out into snakes

cut into 1/2 inch pieces and lay on sheet tray

Now, you don't have to do the ridges thing on the gnocchi but I had some time on my hands waiting to pick my son up from school.  So I tried it.  Basically, I just rolled each piece down the back side of a fork.  Seemed to work out well.

set pan aside and let velvety pillows of deliciousness dry while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, First, start with a simple basil pesto.  Throw the basil, pinenuts, garlic, 1/4 cup of the cheese in food processor.  With processor running, slowly add the EVOO just until the sauce comes together. You don't want it to be as thin as a normal pesto since you'll be adding it to the cream later.  It shouldn't be more than a couple Tbs.

set this aside while you prepare the creamy part of the sauce

Before you start the cream sauce, go ahead and put the water on that you'll boil the gnocchi in. That way it'll be ready to go as soon as the sauce is.  You'll want to bring it to a low boil and just leave it there until ready to drop gnocchi nuggets in.

For the cream sauce:

Melt 3 Tbs unsalted butter over medium low heat, add cup of cream and stir. Slowly add in the remaining 3/4 cup of parm cheese.  Continue to stir until mixture thickens.  Keep it over medium low to low so as to not "break" the cream.  Once mixture thickens, add in your basil pesto mixture and stir. You can turn the burner/flame to very low or even off at this point.

By this time, the water should be a low boil for the gnocchi.  You can drop them in in batches.  Mine only took a couple minutes to cook. You'll know they're done when they float to the top.  Pull them out with a strainer and drop them into the pesto cream mixture.  Continue to cook gnocchi and add it into the cream mixture until all the gnocchi is done.

Now place into a Tupperware and send it home with the super nice friend that came to work on the pool for him and his lovely wife to enjoy :)

Living in and Loving our Cottage by the Sea

 Have you ever noticed when describing homes, if one uses "cute", "cozy", "bungalow", or "cottage" it almost literally translates into tiny?  Let me describe my house:  I live in a cute, cozy, bungalow type cottage on the corner, by the sea.  It's lovely and it's just a hop skip and a jump ( if you chose to use that method of transportation) from the Gulf of Mexico.  But, it is a bit on the cramped side.

SEGUE .....

So, before my school sabbatical, I was reading through chapter on tools and gadgets. Not sure that was the title, but it was definitely the idea.  It made me think about what my most frequently used tools are.  Then that led to the internal dialogue of how I don't have a ton of tools because I really don't have the room for them.  So I wanted to #1. show you the tools I almost couldn't live without and #2, show you some of the things we've done to fit more into a little bit of room.

Tools:

Now, these are not by any means the fanciest tools in all the land, but they are the most often used in this little cottage cucina.  Lets discuss from the top:

• Whisks:  You should have multiple sizes of whisks.  I use them the most when scrambling eggs and make bechamels or gravy's, or to sift dry ingredients when baking.  The smaller whisks are good for sauces and dressings and even hot chocolate. 

• Bench Scraper:  I just added this to my arsenal recently.  I'm a sloppy cook and was so tired of dropping onions between the cutting board and the stove.  This helps me pick up more veggies and transfer them safely across the counter.  The dogs, however are pissed. 

• Silicon brush:  Love this invention. From basting meat with BBQ sauce, to spreading olive oil on pizza dough.  It cleans up so much easier and doesn't shed bristles like a normal pastry brush. 

• Tongs:  #2 most used tool (behind knife).  It flips meat, pulls the rack out of the oven and serves pasta.  As many pairs of tongs in as many sizes you can get your hands on..do it. I even picked up a pair at a garage sale for $.50.  WINNING!!

• Knife:  I love this knife.  My life changed when I got it.  Invest in a good quality one.  I need a lot more but your dices will turn out much better and the sharper the knife , the safer. 

Ok, the next two things were actually purchased to go in our RV.  But I used them so much they're in my kitchen now.

• Hand grater:  Used almost daily for garlic or cheese.  It can also be used to zest citrus.  Love it. 

• Spatula:  Yes this one is teeny tiny. But that's one reason I love it.  Its versatile and treats cookies and eggs equally gently. You should have metal spatulas as well as plastic/silicon to use on the non stick pans. 

• Corkscrew:  I believe this needs no introduction.  I like the old fashioned waiter style corkscrews.  It's never met a cork it couldn't remove.  Some of the new fancy corkscrews don't work on fabricated corks. In this case, simple is better.

So are there things missing from my tool box?  I'm sure there is, but I would never know.

Let's move on to organization (i cringe at that word)

This is my kitchen... no, I'm not hiding any of it.  This is it:

I don't take up too much room when I'm preparing food. So the counter space is fine.  But the storage..UGHHHH.  There are 5 drawers...Count 'em.. One BIG on and 4 ittttyyyy bitttyyyy little drawers. About three regular size cabinets and two lazy Susan's  Which by the way, I LOATHE.  Terrible invention.  Those will be coming out here soon and we'll transform those corner cabinets into something a lot more workable. Anyway, With such little storage where is everything?  Well, first of all, thanks to some lengthy negotiation with my husband, some of my bigger platters and trays are stored in a cabinet in the garage.  I've also resigned myself to having to store some things on the counter top. I'm not usually a fan of it, but had very little choice in the matter.

 Plus, my mixer is pink.  So it's worthy of being front and center.  Or at least in the corner.

We also had an oddly placed bathroom right off the kitchen when we moved in.  Fortunately, I'm married to a very talented man who likes my cooking a whole lot.  So in order to continue to be on the receiving end of said cooking,  I gently persuaded him to take out the bathroom, seal it up and build a pantry.  I got the pegboard idea from Julia Child of course.

There is no way, I would have room for these if it weren't for this pantry.

                                                        A couple other quick ideas:

knife magnet

lid holder

One more thing we did to save space was add a couple little baskets on the inside doors under the sink.  I hold all my aluminum foil, plastic wrap, plastic baggies..etc.  It saves drawer room.

Hopefully these tips are helpful to someone.  I'm sure well continue to rearrange and come up with additional space saving ideas.  When we do, I'll be sure to share those as well.

Jacque Torres PERFECT Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been talking about these cookies for a while now and keep promising  to post the recipe.  I can't explain how much better these cookies are than ANY OTHER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.  It is SOOOOPER important that you let this dough rest for at least 24 hours.  It makes all the difference.  So this is not an "on a whim" cookie recipe.

I've made it a couple times.  Once around Christmas and then again to turn into my husbands cookie cake.  By the way, if you make it a cookie cake, bake it at 325 degrees for around 30-35 min.  It turned out perfectly, except the little bit that made it over the pizza pan.  ;)

thats one BIG cookie. pre pathetic decoration

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)***** ( i used giardelli bittersweet chocolate chips)****
Sea salt.


1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

this is why I don't decorate cakes

Wild Rice Risotto Pilaf

Yet another recipe created while lying in bed thinking about how hungry I was and what it would take to satisfy me at that moment.  I do this more often than I care to admit. So the next day, it was on my agenda, only I didn't have the wild rice to get it done.  Its the ONLY wild thing I didn't have in my house. Anyway, days went by, I got the rice, but had other things to do..yada yada yada.  Today, I finally got to see my dream realized. I think I hit the nail right on the head with this one.
I love making  and more importantly, eating risotto, all kinds of it.  Asparagus, butternut squash, using red wine to turn it all purply, really any risotto is good with me. I think its the ultimate in UMAMI flavors.

This one is almost like a pilaf risotto. But it really does work. It would go really well with that pork loin that I had every intention on making tonight.  But the peanut butter jumped out at me and somehow a peanut butter pie was whipped up instead.  I swear, when my kitchen gets together with other kitchens for kitchens night out and they've had a few shots of spic and span, it must talk about how schizophrenic and random my cooking is.
Anyway, here's the recipe. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

• ·         ½ cup wild rice
• ·         Olive oil, salt and pepper
• ·         1 head cauliflower
•  
• ·         48 Oz low sodium chicken broth
• ·         2 tbs butter
• ·         ½ medium onion
• ·         2 cloves chopped garlic
• ·         Handful of pecans, finely chopped
• ·         1 cup Arborio rice
• ·         4 sprigs of thyme
• ·         4 glugs of white wine (about 1/2 cup) + one glass for the cook
• ·         Salt
• ·         ¼-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Cook wild rice according to package directions. Start is about an hour before you want to cook the risotto.  Make sure you cook all liquid out of the wild rice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut cauliflower into florets, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast for about 30 minutes until tender and some light brown spots on cauliflower.  Remove from oven and set aside, Or in my case, nibble on the florets while risotto is cooking. 

 

Heat chicken stock in pan over medium heat.  Turn to low and maintain temperature throughout the risotto cooking process. 

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic and pecans, cook for a couple minutes

onions, garlic and pecans...great way to start a risotto

Add Arborio rice and pre cooked wild rice.  Season with a bit of salt.  Toast mixture for about 2-3 minutes.  Strip leaves from the thyme sprigs and add into mixture. 

Turn heat to medium low and Add your 4 or so glugs of wine, will be about ½ cup. Don't forget the cooks glass.  Stir mixture and allow the rice mixture to absorb all of the wine and begin to add the chicken stock.   About ½ cup to ¾ cup at a time.  Continue to stir the rice/stock mixture until the rice absorbs the liquid.  And don’t forget to check for seasoning.  Add salt if needed. Repeat this process for about 25-30 minutes until the rice is cooked.  You may have chicken broth left over, don’t feel the need to use all of it.  It may not need it. Be careful not to take the rice too far.  It can turn into mush.

Once the rice mixture is just aldente, remove from heat and vigorously stir in Parmesan cheese.  It’ll tighten the mixture up and make it even creamier.  Toss the roasted cauliflower into the rice mixture. 

Serve along with your favorite roasted meat.  It makes a great bedtime snack as well.   You enjoy your risotto. I have a peanut butter pie hollerin' out to me from the fridge.