Day 7: Sweet potato gnocchi pg 68

Sweet potatoes- yummm
gnocchi- yummmm

Those where the two things I thought about when i was planning for this recipe. What could go wrong???

Sweet potato Gnocchi pg 68

1  1/2 lbs sweet potatoes (2 or three medium)
1/4 c sweet rice flour plus TONS more for rolling ( I used regualr white rice flour)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
2 to 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb spinach, stemmed
1. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork all over the place. Have fun with it. release any vent up anger( don't have too much fun because of else your family is going to think you are crazy and call the nut house and tell them to come and get you) bake for about an hour ( i baked mine for about an hour and 15 mins, mine were a bit big though) take off all the skins and mash the potatoes very well. Remove any stringy pieces if you find any. You should have about 2 1/2 cup of mashed sweet potato.

2 combine the sweet potato, rice flour, lemon juice, salt xanthan gum, nutmeg, pepper and sugar in a medium bowl. mix well.
3. HEAVILY flour a work surface. work in small batches a little smaller than the size of your fist,

 scoop unto surface and roll into a rope around 1/2 inch thick. Make sure your hands are floured.

Cut into 3/4 inch pieces.  Shape the pieces into an oval. Make little ridges with a fork.

 put them on a cookie sheet (foil lined would be good, I didn't do that but should have) freeze the gnocchi for at least 30 minutes. You can freeze it for up to 24 hours.

4. heat one tbsp oil in large nonstick skillet. Add frozen gnocchi in batches and cook,

 turn them once until lightly browned. and warmed through. Add more oil whenever you need to prevent from sticking.

5. Add olive oil to coat bottom of skillet. Add spinach; cook and stir for 30 seconds or just until barely wilted.


So I had never made gnocchi's before and I'm quite sure that my gnocchi skills need refining. Personally I though that the recipe needed a bit more flour and less lemon. It was sweet and lemony so I almost felt like I was eating a key lime pie. Key lime pie is good, but when i want a meal I want a meal not dessert!
 My suggestions:
Use 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
use double the rice flour.

These babies take a lot of time and are a decent amount of work to make. From start to finish I would say anywhere from 3-4 hours, depending how long you freeze them. I would say that without any adjustments, they aren't worth all the work. Now, changing a couple of things they could be a different story.

Next time I'm gonna also try to boil them instead of frying. I'm not a big fan of frying things. I give this recipe a 5.5 yummy points of of 10. With some improvement this could be wayyy higher.

Day 2: Southwestern meat loaf pg 174

So on non-food related news, my mom fractured her arm on Tuesday night. :-(

I've been super busy helping her blow-dry her hair and stuff. It's amazing the kind of stuff you can't do without your right arm. The good news is that they gave her some very powerful drugs. The bad news is that she hasn't done anything cooky yet, which I was greatly looking forward to. But alas, she still has a week or so left of drugs, so my fingers are crossed.

So on to cooking now.

I made some meat loaf!

Southwestern meat loaf pg 174

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup of finely chopped onion (I learned the hard way that this is important. chop it finely. very finely unless you'll end up with chunks of onions in your meat loaf. You might think that it's not a big deal, but believe me it is.)
1/2 cup pf cornmeal
1/2 cup of fresh chopped cilantro leaves
1 can (4 oz) chopped mild green chiles, drained ( ... I might have not used these at all, it might have been like 10 pm when I went to the store and I couldn't find them and gave up...)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce, divided


1. preheat your ovens, people. 350 F is your magic number. Spray a 13x9 pan with something nonstick.

2. combine your beef, onion, cornmeal, cilantro, Chiles (if you used them....), egg, cumin, salt, pepper and half the tomato sauce in a large bowl. Mix it. Go at it. I just did it with my hands. It was a good stress reliever. Take the rest of the tomato sauce and combine it with ketchup in a little bowl.
3. shape your meat into a 6x9 inch oval (or like half a football, but a little less football-ee...) put it in the the greased pan.  Pour the small bowl of tomato-ee goodness over it. Stick this meat bun in the oven.  The directions said 55 mins, I did about 65 mins.

4. let your meat loaf stand for about 5 mins before slicing it. I might wait ten. it kinda solidifies as it cools.


So what was the verdict, you ask?

Let me start of by saying I am a meat loaf lover. I never understood people's dislike towards them. what did meat loaf ever do to you, people of America??? All it did was sit there and offer its meaty goodness to fill your empty bellies. It's ok though, meat loaf is a forgiving type of meat. Seek reconciliation friends. Meatloaf is waiting there, with it's metaphorical arms wide open.

 Anyways.

This meatloaf was pretty good. It wasn't the best meat loaf I've ever had. Maybe it's because I didn't add the chiles. The price I pay for going to Publix tired. It could have used a tad bit more flavor, but it was pretty decent. I give it 6.75 yummy stars about of 10.  It didn't stay together very good when I first sliced it, but later it stayed together better, I just think it needed more time to cool.



I made delicious corn and mashed potatoes to accompany my meat loaf. They were pretty good.

Day 1: Cajun Chicken and rice, Pg 180

Confession:

I actually had already started cooking for this like 3 days ago. I just haven't blogged about it. So I cooked this on Wednesday. I know my b. I've just been slightly overwhelmed over the fact that I have to cook and blog about 115 different things this summer. But anyway. here we go. Day 1.

Cajun Chicken and Rice (serves 6)

4 chicken drumsticks, skin removed ( I had six, so I used them all)
4 chicken thighs, skin removed
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning (make sure that you check the ingredients before you buy, a lot of mixes have wheat as a listed ingredient)
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil ( I used olive...)
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 cup uncooked rice (I suggest maybe 1 1/4 cups of rice)
1 med green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 med red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 /4 tsp ground turmeric


pre 1. You should probably remove the skin of your chicken before you do anything else, if you haven't already done so or bought them pre-skinned.
1. preheat the oven to 350. lightly coat a 13x9 inch pan with oil or spray.
2. in a big plate or bowl, sprinkle the chicken with the Cajun seasoning and salt. cover them evenly. Heat oil in a large skillet over a med-high heat while you do this (make sure it doesn't start to smoke!). Add the chicken, cook about 10 mins ( give or take). make sure that the chicken gets browned on all the sides. take the chicken out of the skillet.

(quick note: As I reread the recipe right now writing this, I realize that I did this part a little different, woops. it's OK though, I guess it's not that big of a deal. you can do my version or what I should have done. it's up to you. Oh and what I did different was that I didn't take the chicken out of the skillet. I did the next part with the chicken in it)

3.Add broth to skillet, bring to a boil. scrape any brown bits from the bottom of skillet. add in the rice, bell peppers, green onions, garlic, thyme and turmeric. now pour these things in your 13x9 pan you oiled like forever ago.  (if you took the chicken out of the skillet, you can put it back in now, or if you did like me and didn't pour those babies right in there too. Also, make sure that the rice is evenly distributed in the pan, this would have been way easier if I hadn't put the chicken in at the same time). Cover the pan with foil tightly. Bake one hour or until the chicken is cooked through (165 F)

So I gotta say, this recipe is rockin'. It was AMAZING. I ate way too much of it. I'm pretty sure that this is my favorite meal from now on. It was definitely a great way to start this off. My only complain is that the rice was a bit soggy. delicious. But kinda soggy. I would add a bit more rice next time.

I give this recipe 9.5 yummy stars out of 10. If the rice wasn't soggy, I would have given it an 11.