Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Fried Sage and Pecans

I found a recipe in Gourmet for Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Fried Sage and Pecans, and it looked tasty and appropriate for fall.  Again, I used yams instead of sweet potatoes, but both are probably tasty.

The original recipe called for chestnuts, but since I'm not a fan I used pecans instead. Mmmmmmm, tasty pecans.

Overall the dish turned out pretty decent. The gnocchi didn't have quite as much of a sweet potato flavor as I would like, so next time I make it I'll try doubling the sweet potatoes and halving the regular potatoes. The other thing that would be interesting would be to chop the sage very finely and add it to the dough, rather than frying the leaves and putting them on top.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lb russet (baking potatoes)
• 1 (3/4-lb) sweet potato
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus more for serving
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sage leaves (from 1 bunch)
• 1/3 cup bottled roasted chestnuts, very thinly sliced with an adjustable-blade slicer or a sharp vegetable peeler.  NOTE: pecans are tastier, use them instead!
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Note: this recipe makes a very large quantity.  You will probably want to freeze about half of the gnocchi, uncooked.  They keep for about a month.  When cooking them later, do not thaw them first.  When doing this, make sure you halve the sauce/topping recipe as well.

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. Pierce the potatoes and sweet potato with a fork, and bake in a dish in the oven for 45 - 60 minutes, until just tender.
3. Let the potatoes cool slightly, then peel them and force them through a ricer onto a pan.  Spread them out evenly (this just helps them cool faster).  Let them cool completely.
4. Lightly flour a baking sheet or two
5. Beat together egg, nutmeg, a little bit of salt (recipe calls for 1tsp, but that seems like way too much), and 1/2 tsp pepper.
6. Form mound with a well of the cooled potatoes, pour the egg mixture in, and knead.
7. Knead in cheese and 1 1/2 c flour.
8. Knead in additional flour as necessary, until the mixture forms a smooth but slightly sticky dough.
9. Cut the dough into 6 pieces (Note to self, do 8-10 next time, since it'll make things more manageable).  Roll each piece into a rope approximately 1/2 inch in diameter on a lightly floured surface.
10. Cut the rope into 1/2 inch pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and dust lightly with flour
11. Repeat for the other 5-7 pieces.
12. Turn a fork over and hold at a 45-degree angle, with tips of tines touching work surface. Working with 1 at a time, roll gnocchi down fork tines, pressing with your thumb, to make ridges on 1 side. Transfer gnocchi as formed to baking sheets
    
    
    Fry Sage Leaves and Pecans
    
13. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Fry sage leaves in a few batches, stirring, until they turn just a shade lighter and crisp (about 30 seconds per batch). Transfer to paper towels to drain.  Save the oil.
    
14. Break pecans into quarters and fry in the oil. Turn off the heat after a minute or two and leave on the stove.
    
    
    Cook the Gnocchi
    
15. Add half of the gnocchi to a pot of well salted boiling water. Cook until they float to the surface (approximately 3 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon.
    
16. Cook the remaining gnocchi. Once they are finished cooking, add butter to the skillet with the pecans, and heat over medium heat until the butter starts to brown.
    
17. Add the gnocchi to the skillet and stir to coat. If you want your gnocchi a bit firmer/crispier, fry in the skillet with the pecans until they're as crispy and coated with sauce as desired.
    
18. Serve with fried sage and grated cheese (if desired).
    

Photos:

Potatoes through the ricer

Letting the potatoes + sweet potatoes cool.

Making the gnocchi dough

Gnocchi dough, chopped into 1/6 ths

Ropes of gnocchi dough, ready to be cut

Gnocchi, pre-forking

Gnocchi, post forking

Cooked gnocchi

Frying with the Pecans

Gnocchi served with the sage, as well as some carrots and a pear + spinach salad.

Gordon Ramsay's Spiced pork chops with crushed sweet potatoes

Kasia and I were watching Gordon Ramsay's f-word a few weeks ago, and he made some Spiced pork chops with crushed sweet potatoes. They came out really tasty looking, and since it's autumn and becoming sweet potato season, I figured it would be the perfect inaugural dishy for the new all-clad pan mom gave me for my birthday (being able to take the frying pan and put it directly into the oven BOGGLES MY MIND!!!)

I made a few modifications to the recipe, based on size, available ingredients, and what Gordon says/does in the video (which is different than the recipe on the site). Additionally, rather than the warm dandelion and rocket salad he suggested, I went with a very simple baby-bib lettuce salad, with some jicama and an heirloom tomato from Kasia's garden.

We enjoyed the meal with a nice pumpkin beer from dogfish head, since it's that time of the year.  Overall the dish turned out fairly tasty.  I'm not a big fan of anise, so I didn't really enjoy that flavor, but fortunately it wasn't as strong as I was afraid it was going to be, and so didn't turn out to be that bad.

The crushed sweet potatoes turned out really yummy. Tim & Sisi, I think you guys would like them (using veggie stock instead of chicken stock, naturally).  Om nom nom!

Ingredients:
For the pork chops:

• 6 boneless pork loin chops, just under 1/2 lb each
• 3/4 tsp Hatch red chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 5-6 thyme sprigs
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped (well, put through the garlic press, since I'm lazy like that)
• 2.5 tsp crushed anise seed (couldn't find star anise, but the internet recommended that 1 crushed star anise == 1/2 tsp crushed anise seed... for future reference, I would reduce/eliminate this, since I'm not a big fan of anise.)
• pinch of ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander seed (couldn't find whole coriander seed, so gave my best guess of how much to use...this seemed fine, but could possibly go a bit heaver on coriander and a bit lighter on the anise)
• Salt + Pepper to taste

For the crushed sweet potatoes

• 3-4 large yams (after much debate, I got yams instead of sweet potatoes, since they looked like what Gordon used in the video, and since the internet said that yams typically sold in stores are actually a type of sweet potato)
• Chicken stock, enough to cover the yams (I used 1qt. + 1 can, and added the same amount of water)
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4-5 sage leaves, roughly chopped
• 2-3 tbsp fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• Salt + Pepper to taste

The Recipe:
For the pork chops:

1. Cut the rind and excess fat off of the pork chops
2. Make the marinade by mixing the chili powder, paprika, salt & pepper, olive oil, thyme, garlic, crushed anise, and coriander seeds in a big bowl.
3. Coat the pork chops in the marinade, and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
   
4. Preheat the oven to 180˚C (~360˚F)
5. Heat the frying pan with a little bit of olive oil.
6. Add the chops to the hot pan and sear them until golden.  Tilt the pan and baste using the drippings if you feel like it.  
7. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the meat is firm when lightly pressed.  When cooked, transfer them to a plate and leave them to rest for 10 minutes in a warm place

For the sweet potatoes:

Should be cooked in parallel with the pork.

1. Peel the sweet potatoes, and chop into 1.5 cm cubes
2. Bring a pot of chicken stock to a boil.  Once boiling, add the sweet potatoes, and cook them for 7-8 minutes until they're tender (or almost tender... a little bit 'al dente' is ok).  Drain and rinse under cold water.
3. Add the shallots and garlic to a pan with hot oil.  Sauté until they just start to caramelize, and then add in the sweet potatoes.  Season lightly with salt & pepper, and cook for 5-6 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
4. Lightly crush the potatoes with a fork or masher.
5. Stir in the chopped sage leaves and cilantro

At this point, all that's left to do is to put everything on the plate and enjoy!

Photos:

All of the ingredients

The marinade

The marinade + pork chops

Pork chops marinating

Pork Chops in the oven

Diced yams

Crushed yams with spices (om nom nom)

About this blag

I've been trying to cook more, but my biggest problem is that if I'm going to cook, I want to cook something fancy and fun.  Unfortunately, recipes like that tend to take time, effort, and planning, which I don't have very much of during the week.

On the weekends I have more time, and I've discovered that I really like taking a step away from the computer to cook something fancier.  This blog is my attempt to encourage myself to keep doing it, document the recipes+changes/substitutions/variations/etc. for my future reference, and to prove to my mom that I actually am cooking and eating my veggies :-p .

Maybe one day I'll be as good of a cook as the other members of my family, but for now this is just me having some fun and trying new things in the kitchen.