Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Vodka Sauce

The night before the Twin Cities Marathon (which I recently successfully ran!), my running partner made homemade pasta while I put together some sauces. It was part of our grand carbo-loading plan. The next weekend, she invited me over for homemade gnocchi - this time with no carbo loading in mind, just pure taste-filled pleasure. They turned out so well that I tried to make them myself at home - with success! They're actually super easy - easier than other pastas that require the pasta machine to make. They're so soft and pillow-y! Despite binge-ing on them all last week and declaring myself carbed-out over the weekend, I made them again this week, and they turned out great once again. So, here's the recipe for future use. Try them - you won't be disappointed! 

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients

1. Large sweet potato or a combination of sweet potatoes and yams. About 2-2.5 lbs total. 
2. 1 large egg 
3. 1/4 tsp salt 
4. 1 - 1.5 cups flour
5. 1/4 cup white wine (perhaps)

Directions

1. Bring a larger saucepan filled with water to a boil. Also bring a large pot filled with water + dash of salt to a boil. 
2. While waiting for the water to boil, peel the potatoes, cut in halves or quarters (if large), then place into the saucepan of boiling water and cook until they are soft (a fork can be inserted to them without resistance)
3. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a clean bowl. 
4. Put the potatoes through a potato rice or do a combination of grating the potatoes and mashing them so that they are fairly smooth and there are no major chunks. 
5. Mix in the egg fairly well. 
6. Fold in 1 cup of flour; add more if necessary. The dough should still be somewhat sticky. If it ends up being too dry, add the white wine about 1 teaspoon at a time to combat the dryness until the flour is incorporated. 
7. On a good-sized cutting board or clean surface, sprinkle a handful of flour. Take about 3/4 cup of the dough and roll it out into a 'snake-shape' until it's about 1-2cm thick and not sticking to the board. Try not to overwork. Cut the snake into 1-2cm pieces. Repeat with all the other pieces of dough until it's all made into gnocchi.
8. Place the raw gnocchis in the larger pot of boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the gnocchis float + 1 minute. Then, drain the gnocchis and immediately either cool with some water or drizzle with olive oil / butter to prevent them from sticking. 
9. They are ready to eat with the sauce of your choice! 


Vodka Sauce

Ingredients

1. 1 large onion 
2. 3 cloves of garlic 
3. 4 large tomatoes
4. 1 Tablespoon basil 
5. 1/2 cup vodka
6. dash of olive oil or 1 tablespoon of butter 
7. 1/4 cup heavy cream 
8. Salt to taste

Directions

1. Clean the tomatoes, cut out the stem part, cut in half and place in a blender (VitaMix preferably). Blend until smooth and almost juice-like (about 15-20 seconds). Set aside.
2. Dice the onion (cut it into 1cm squares). In a large saucepan, place the onion and olive oil/butter and bring it to warm / sizzle over low-medium heat. Cook until the onions get somewhat transluscent. Stir regularly to prevent too much browning. 
3. Chop the garlic into little pieces. One the onions are about done, add the garlic and the basil and cook until you can smell both of them - about 30-60 seconds. 
4. Add the vodka, and stir. Once cooked down, add the pureed tomatoes. Cook until the sauce has cooked down some and the sauce is the thickness that you like - about 5-10 minutes. Take off of the heat. 
5. Take an immersion blender and blend the whole sauce to get rid of the onion chunks. 
6. Add the heavy cream. Stir. 
7. Ready to serve - enjoy! 

Peach, Nectarine, and Apple Cobbler

When you live in a part of the country / world with seasons, summer is a season that you come to cherish. Not only does it bring back great memories of long, lazy, and fun days filled with swimming, biking, road trips, and running through a sprinkler in your backyard, but it brings with it the most amazing fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Yes, fruits and veggies you can find all year long, but let's face it - winter strawberries just don't taste as good as the summer ones, especially if you just picked them off the vine when they are still warm from the sun. I can't even find peaches outside of July and August in the grocery, so when they are here, I try to take full advantage. This cobbler is just one great recipe that I changed up a little from the original on epicurious. You can make it with all peaches, all nectarines, or probably all apples, but I like the mix and usually pick among the best and most ripe fruits that I have in the kitchen so that I get the best product. I've included below my recipe that makes a larger product (enough for a 9"x13" pan). I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did! 

Peach, Nectarine, and Apple Cobbler

Ingredients

Fruit Filling: 

5 ripe peaches

3 ripe nectarines

1-2 apples

1/3 cup sugar 

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Cobbler Topping: 

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 and 3/4 sticks cold butter 

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup boiling water 

9x13" baking dish

Directions 

1. Heat over to 425 degrees. 

2. Start to boil some water on the stove or take 1/2 cup of water and put it in the microwave for 45second-1minute to warm. 

3. Take all the fruit, peel and slice it into 1/2-1 inch pieces (I left some of the nectarines with the skins on, however). Try to do this over the baking dish so that the juices from the fruit are collected in the pan. Put all of the sliced fruit evenly into the bottom of the 9x13-inch pan. Sprinkle with the sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch, then mix it in the dish with a spoon so that the fruit is generally evenly coated with these. 

4. Place the fruit in the oven as it is heating up to get the fruit starting to cook. Leave it in there for no  more than 10 minutes. In the meantime, start to make the topping. 

5. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the cold butter into paddies. Take the paddies of butter and add it to the flour, mixing it with your hands (will be messy) until the flour and butter are incorporated well into each other and the butter is about the size of small peas. Add the boiling water and mix together with a spoon until well incorporated, but do not overmix. 

6. Take the fruit out of the oven. Scoop the cobbler topping on top of the fruit and gently spread to try to cover as much surface area as possible. Place the baking dish back in the oven and cook until the topping is golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. 

7. This is great to serve warm for ice cream or can sit for a couple of hours to serve later. 

8. Enjoy!

Crème Brûlée French Toast

Mmm... French Toast in the morning. There is something special for me about well-made French toast. It's probably my love of carbs, and especially bread. Crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside, with real maple syrup and of course berries or fruit to make me feel like it's a healthy choice - I love making this recipe when I have time for it. It doesn't take a lot of time, but my usual workday routine doesn't allow time for serious cooking. With residency finished in June, however, I had July to study for boards (painful), but break  did give me enough time in the morning to indulge in making French press coffee, reading the news, and of course this wonderful French Toast recipe! 

I used to make French toast by just whisking together eggs and some cream and then dipping the bread in it and frying. However, the toast always ended up tasting a little egg-y (which I despise) and the batter usually ended up not being evenly dispersed over the toast. Thus, I decided to make a batter like you would make crème brûlée, which significantly improved the final product. It does take a little bit more time and a couple more dishes, but in the end it's significantly worth it. This recipe is enough for 1-2 people (makes 3-4 slices of toast), but can be sized up easily. 

Crème Brûlée French Toast 

Ingredients

1/2 cup heavy cream 

1 medium-large egg yolk 

pinch of salt 

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Optional: pinch of cinnamon +/- nutmeg 

3-4 pieces of slides quality bread (I like mild sourdough)

1 Tablespoon butter 

Fruit of choice for garnishing

Real maple syrup

Directions

1. Place the heavy cream in a saucepan and turn on medium. Scald the cream (heat it until it starts to mildly bubble). While you're waiting for the cream to scald, separate the egg yolk from the egg white and place the egg yolk in a small bowl. 

2. Once the cream is scalded, warm the eggs (whisk the egg yolk constantly while pouring 1/3-1/2 of the cream into the bowl with the egg yolk, continue to whisk constantly). Place the saucepan back on the stove and then transfer the warmed eggs to the rest of the cream mixture in the saucepan, again whisk constantly. Whisk for a minute to two or until the cream-egg mixture thickens. Once it is thickened, turn off the heat. Stir in the salt, vanilla extract, and any other flavors you want the batter to have. 

3. In a larger flat bottomed pan or (cast iron) skillet, place the patty of butter and allow it to melt on medium heat. Place a piece of bread into the cream-egg batter mixture and coat both sides of the bread. Once the butter is heated (but not burned), fry the bread in the butter until the sides are slightly crispy, about 1-2 minutes per side. Once cooked, remove from the pan and put on a plate. Repeat with the other pieces of bread until all are pan-fried. 

4. Cut up fruit of your choice into bite-sized pieces. Serve on the plate with the French Toast. Drizzle with real maple syrup. 

5. Enjoy!