Gnocchi with Tomato-Cheese Sauce

I had some potatoes to use up, so I decided to make home-made gnocchi!! It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but I will have to try this one again later because I used double the amount of potato (oops). I froze my extra gnocchi , it wasn't too bad, just too potatoey. I loved the sauce, though!! My gnocchi didn't keep their shape really well once they were boiled, probably because there were too many potatoes. I also used basil rather than parsley, which gave the sauce a great flavor. The cream cheese I had on hand was the whipped variety, which worked well without having to soften it up ahead of time. I cooked the gnocchi until it floated. Make sure you serve this dish immediately, as it cools down quickly.

Gnocchi

4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 t. salt
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 c. flour
1/4 t. white pepper

1. Cook potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well.
2. Mash potatoes.
3. Immediately add flour until thick dough forms. Add salt and pepper.
4. Divide dough into 4 parts. On a floured work surface, roll dough out, a section at a time, into 1/2-inch diameter ropes. Cut into 1/2-inch long pieces.
5. Flour tines of fork and slightly flatten each gnocchi. Place on lightly floured kitchen towel until ready to cook. Repeat process with remaining dough, adding more flour if dough becomes sticky.

Gnocchi with Tomato-Cheese Sauce

1 lb. gnocchi
2/3 c. tomato sauce
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 T butter
4 T chopped parsley
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Plunge the pasta into 5 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat together the tomato sauce and half of the cream cheese, stirring until combined.
3. Toss the drained pasta with butter and remaining cream cheese and transfer to a serving bowl. Pour the tomato sauce mixture over the gnocchi, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Noodle Salad

This recipe sounded unusual, perhaps something that you would bring to a pot luck. I liked the ingredients, but I don't think I would ever make this again. The salad tasted good, but just not my thing. One thing I didn't like was the big chunks of onion, I would have grated the onion to get the flavor but added another crunchy thing to compensate for the texture. Perhaps thin slices of iceberg lettuce, jicama, or water chestnuts?

Noodle Salad

1 package of vermicelli noodles
1 onion, diced
1/2 lb. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pkg. frozen baby peas
1 pkg. sunflower seeds
1 1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 1/2 c. sour cream

1. Boil noodles, but only until firm soft.
2. Mix noodles with onions, cheese, frozen peas, and sunflower seeds.
3. Mix all together with mayonnaise and sour cream.
4. Put in refrigerator for about 2 hours.

4-Step Bagels

I thought I would try using some of the frozen bread dough rolls and make some bagels. I had a recipe that showed the four steps of making a bagel from hand. Unfortunately, the 4 steps were not complete and I had to go out on the Internet to find out how to finish the bagels. The recipe I had stopped after the boiling. The recipe I found had a better way of making them round, and said I needed to bake them after boiling. They tasted good, though, so I will keep my version of this recipe on a new card in my physical recipe file.

4-Step Bagels

1. Flour your hand and form dough into balls. Punch a hole in the center of each ball.
2. Roll your fingers through the hole. Widen the hole by gently stretching it with your thumb.
3. Broil the bagels 5 inches from heat for 3 to 4 minutes to set the shape.
4. Lower bagels one at a time into boiling water. Boil uncovered for 7 minutes, turning once.

Better Directions

1. Remove dough from freezer the night before and set in a covered container with some damp paper towels.
2. The next morning divide the dough into several chunks. Roll the dough into a thick rope and squish together the ends well. Set bagel on oiled baking sheet and let them rise for about 10-20 minutes, until they look puffy.
3. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Boil the bagels for a minute on each side. and place on the greased baking sheet. If you would like sesame seeds or poppy seeds, now is the time to add them. The best way to do that is to have the seeds on a plate and dip or roll the bagel in them before placing on the baking sheet.
4. Bake bagels for 10 minutes on each side.

Deviled Eggs

I have never made deviled eggs, but I like to eat them. Since I am not a big mustard fan, I thought I would try this recipe, which doesn't have any prepared mustard in it. I liked these, but the flavor was not quite what I was hoping for. I will keep it until I find a better recipe. I like that this recipe called for dill pickle juice as an ingredient!!

Deviled Eggs

12 eggs, hard-cooked, peeled, and sliced in half lengthwise
4 T mayonnaise
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. dry mustard
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
2 t. dill pickle juice
paprika for garnish

1. Remove yolks from eggs and move to a mixing bowl.
2. Mash yolks with a fork and add all ingredients except paprika.
3. Mix thoroughly and spoon into egg halves or load into a pastry bag and pipe into whites.
4. Sprinkle with paprika. Makes 24 deviled egg halves.

Lemon-Basil Marinade

This marinade smells so amazing!! I can't imagine that this chicken won't taste as amazing, but I will update this post after dinner.

Well, I got my hopes up too high. The marinade smelled great, but I didn't like the flavor of the cooked chicken. Most people would like the taste, but I thought it was too tangy.

Lemon-Basil Marinade

1/2 c. olive oil
1 c. chopped fresh basil
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed through press
2 T white wine vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard

Whisk together and marinate 2 pounds of meat (poultry, veal, lamb, pork, or seafood) for at least a half-hour.

Cry Babies

These cookies are chunky and spicy. I have to say, though, that I don't think I am a spicy cookie person. I suppose that means I can cull the spicy cookies from my recipe boxes now!! I do like the raisin oatmeal cookies, but the molasses was too much for me. For those who enjoy spice cookies, these might be right up your alley. I used chopped almonds instead of walnuts, rolled oats, and butter instead of the shortening. I don't know if that changed the texture or not. The batter was so smooth, probably from the sifted dry ingredients, that I expected them to melt down as they cooked. But as you can see from the picture, they stayed almost the same size as they started. I don't know why they are called "Cry Babies", I suppose it is because the little ones "cry" for more? They would have been better if they ended up softer, perhaps I cooked them a tad too long?

Note: I took these to a potluck, and there was only one left at the end, so people must like spicy cookies!!

Cry Babies

2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. shortening
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. molasses
1 t. vanilla
2 c. oats
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. walnuts
1 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Sift together first 5 ingredients and set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar.
4. Stir in egg, milk, molasses, and vanilla.
5. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 15 minutes and remove to wire rack. Store in airtight container. Makes about 3-4 dozen cookies.

Yuletide Toffee Squares

Unfortunately this is not a keeper!! Perhaps I did something wrong, but not only did the chocolate not melt on the top, but the base was too chewy. The flavors all worked together, but the consistency wasn't to my liking. I would rather have true toffee than this pale imitation.

Yuletide Toffee Squares

4 1/2 c. quick or old-fashioned oats
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. light or dark corn syrup
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 t. salt, optional
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 c. chopped nuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease 15 1/2" x 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan.
2. In large bowl, combine oats, sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir together until well-combined. Firmly press mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until mixture is brown and bubbly.
3. Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over toffee. Let stand 10 minutes. Spread chocolate evenly over toffee and sprinkle with nuts. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. To serve, cut into squares. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Stir-Fried Chicken Basil

This was a good recipe, but as usual with me I thought there was a bit too much soy sauce flavor. Next time I will try another less soy sauce flavored sauce. Also, I don't like mushrooms, so I substituted carrots, which I cooked first. I liked how the basil leaves got a bit crispy in the oil, but only half of them did this. I put the soggy ones in tomorrow's leftovers container!!

Stir-Fried Basil Chicken

2/3 c. packed fresh basil leaves (about 40 )
1/2 c. water
3 T soy sauce
3 T dry sherry (or water)
4 t. cornstarch
1 t. instant chicken bouillon granules
3-4 T vegetable oil
2 t. finely chopped fresh garlic
12 green onions, cut into 1-inch diagonal slices
16 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 whole boneless chicken breasts, skinned, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 c. hot cooked rice

1. Wash basil leaves. Lay leaves in a single layer on paper towels and pat dry. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes and pat leaves again with paper towels.
2. In a small bowl, stir together water, soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, and chicken bouillon and set aside.
3. Heat 1-2 Tablespoons of oil in a wok and add basil leaves. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until glossy green. Use a slotted spoon to remove basil leaves from the hot oil and drain on paper towels.
4. Add garlic to hot oil and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly for about 15 seconds.
5. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of oil to the wok and add the green onions. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, for another minute.
6. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for another minute. Remove vegetables from wok and set aside.
7. Place chicken in hot wok and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until chicken is fork tender (about 3-5 minutes).
8. Push chicken from the center of the wok. Stir sauce and add sauce to the center of the wok. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened (1-2 minutes).
9. Return cooked vegetables to wok and stir to coat with the sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through (about 1 minute). Place on serving plate and sprinkle with cooked basil leaves. Serve over rice. Makes 4 servings.

Carole's Mini Chicken Creamy Pesto Pizzas

I created a new recipe from two that I had wanted to try. I used one of those fresh growing basil from the grocery store, hopefully it will survive past this weekend since it needs a lot of water!! I used the Bridgeford frozen white rolls, but any brand of frozen dough rolls should work. When I brought home the rolls I let them that just a little bit so I could separate them before I re-froze them. This made it easier to break apart for thawing in the oven. I used cooked leftover chicken, but you can use whatever toppings will fit. I like my pizza thick, so I didn't press down the dough too far. If you want thinner pizza, just press it down more on the pan. If you want less oil, just toast the pine nuts in a pan or in the oven until golden brown.

Carole's Mini Chicken Creamy Pesto Pizzas

8 frozen dough white rolls
1 T olive oil
1/2 T olive oil
1 T raw pine nuts
1/8 c. olive oil
1/2 cup tightly packed, rinsed, drained, stemmed fresh basil leaves (do not use dried basil)
1 medium clove garlic
1/8 t. salt
1/8 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. freshly grated Romano cheese
3 T butter
1/3 c. whipping cream
1/4 t. salt
dash ground white pepper
dash ground nutmeg
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. chopped cooked chicken
3/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to Warm. Remove 6 individual rolls from the package of frozen rolls. Place 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a bowl, separate the rolls from each other and roll in the oil. Place rolls on a baking sheet, spaced staggered for later "squishing" (I usually alternate 2 and 1 rows). Place baking sheet into the warm oven and turn off the oven.
2. While the dough is defrosting in the oven, place 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil and the pine nuts in a small frying pan. Brown them on medium-high, constantly stirring, for about a minute and a half. Remove nuts to a paper towel when golden brown, they will continue to brown a bit more.
3. Combine pine nuts, basil leaves, garlic, salt, and remaining 1/8 cup olive oil in a blender container. Blend until mixture is evenly blended and pieces are very finely chopped. You may have to stop the process and scrape down the side of the blender container.
4. Transfer the pesto to a small bowl and stir in the Parmesan and Romano cheeses.
5. In a small, heavy pan, place the butter and cream over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until blended and mixture bubbles for 2 minutes.
6. Stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from head and gradually stir in the Parmesan cheese, stirring until thoroughly blended and fairly smooth. Return pan to the heat if necessary to completely blend cheese, but don't let the sauce get bubbly or the cheese will become lumpy and tough.
7. Transfer the pesto to the pan of creamy sauce and stir until well combined. You will see the olive oil separate.
8. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
9. Remove the baking sheet of dough and place on a flat surface. Using your hand, "squish" down the dough balls to desired thickness. Using a brush, spread some of the green olive oil on the dough. Spoon some of the creamy pesto onto the dough, followed by some chicken and mozzarella cheese. Try not to let any of the cheese stay on the baking sheet. Squish down the mini pizzas so that they are compact and as flat as you want them to be.
9. Bake for about 7 minutes, or until the mozzarella cheese is golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to plates or cooling racks. Makes 8 mini pizzas.

Tennessee-Style Fried Corn

After boiling up some corn yesterday I had a couple of ears leftover. So, I thought I would try this variation on a family favorite "Corn and Bacon". My family recipe uses small pieces of corn and fries it up with the corn. My grandmother added onions and bell peppers. This recipe has some milk added to it, and just salt and pepper as seasoning. I liked this recipe, but I ended up overcooking the corn and couldn't eat all of it. Next time I would use a bit more milk, and not cook it so long once the milk is added.

Tennessee-Style Fried Corn

6 ears of fresh corn
4 slices of bacon
1/2 c. milk
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
pinch sugar

1. With a sharp knife, cut corn kernels from cob. Also scrape pulp out with back of knife. Set aside.
2. Cut bacon slices in half. Fry in heavy iron skillet until crisp. Drain on paper toweling.
3. Discard all but 4 Tablespoons bacon fat. Add corn. Cook, without stirring, until bottom is browned (lift corn from the side with a spatula to check).
4. When well-browned, add milk and seasonings, stirring until well combined. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes longer. Arrange bacon over the top and serve. Serves 4.