Gnocchi, Take One

Gnocchi almost makes me believe in god.  Pasta made from potatoes?  Sometimes with cheese?  Sign me up.

Trader Joe's used to carry this frozen sweet potato gnocchi with sage that was so tasty and was great for a quick dinner in the winter, or just straight up lazy comfort food.  My roommate has brought me the news that she's not been able to get it her last few trips.

Today, I thought I'd have a go at making potato candy.  I mashed three fist-sized potatoes, because reading recipes first is for losers.  Oh, I only needed two tablespoons of potatoes?  AND SIX CUPS OF SUGAR?  WTF.

So I used The Google to find a recipe for something to do with mashed potatoes.  I think I was hoping to find a pancake of some sort, but then the words "gnocchi," "brown butter," and "sage" jumped out at me.  OH OKAY, MARTHA STEWART.

As this was unplanned, I had no fresh sage, but I didn't even care, because my idea was going to be awesome.  My adaptation of Martha Stewart's recipe as follows:

2+ cups mashed potatoes
1 egg yolk
1 tsp lemon zest (I don't think the zest added much to this, but that could be because I was too busy making out with sage.)
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1¼ cups flour (plus some to dust your surface)
1 T salt
3 T butter
Black pepper to taste
2 tsp ground sage

While preparing the next step, set a large saucepan full of water on high heat and bring it to a boil.

In a large bowl (or stand mixer), combine the potatoes, egg, zest, olive oil, flour, a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of sage.  Mix until dough forms.

[Pretend there's a picture of my ingredients in a bowl here, LOL forgot to put my memory card in.]

I will paste Ms. Stewart's directions for this next step below, but hell if I know what she's saying:

On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1/4 of the dough into a 3/4-inch-diameter log. Cut the log into 3/4-inch-long pieces. Pick up one piece of dough, and press onto the back of a fork with your thumb. Still using your thumb, roll dough off fork, forming a "C" shape; the indentations from the tines should be visible. Place the gnocchi on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat process with the remaining pieces of dough, arranging finished gnocchi in a single layer. Repeat with the remaining 3 portions of dough.

What?  That didn't even have a picture with it, so I really don't know what she was describing.  At any rate, I separated half the dough and set it aside to freeze (after I was done cooking, I made them into the proper shape before putting them in the freezer, layered between wax paper).  I took bits of dough and tried to roll them into snakes to cut up and press fork tines into the back, but it wasn't like working with pretzel dough.  It's too soft for this to be super effective.

I TRIED, MARTHA!

I cut it into little thumb-sized bits and made sort of half-assed crescents with them, and then gently pushed my fork into them.  This worked best if the tines were dusted with flour.

Post-forking, nothing was a crescent anymore.

Quickly but gently, drop the dumplings into the boiling water.  Allow them to boil until they float to the top.  This could happen in as little as two minutes, but I boiled mine a bit longer, hoping for a bit of a denser texture.

The brown butter.  At SOME point, maybe when you put the water on (which you already did because now it's the future!), put the three tablespoons of butter into a saute pan and heat on medium-low heat.  Slow and steady wins the race.  You don't want it to burn or bubble away.  After a while, it will turn a nice shade of brown and will just smell delicious.  At this point, add the second teaspoon of ground sage.  If you're super fancy, chiffonade some fresh sage into that butter.

When the gnocchi was finished cooking, I drained them, and then tossed them into the butter and turned the heat up a bit, gently sauteeing the dumplings in this magical butter mixture.  Here's an awesome picture of my weird-shaped gnocchi absorbing the flavor of the butter.

SO good.  If you like things a bit sweet, add a pinch of brown sugar to the butter and sage.

I posted this as take one, because the next time I make it, I'll be using YAMS.

You should definitely make this.

No Chicken and Dumplings

I don't eat meat.  I don't have a problem with eating meat, but I don't know enough yet about my local farmers to buy meat from them.  So until I do my research, veg it is!  I like knowing where my food comes from, which was reinforced by the mispackaged beef in Europe last year, and now the new regulations regarding processed chicken.

ANYWHOODLE.

I got this recipe from a veg friend of mine. It's from Project Kale.  You guys, this is SO GOOD, and add whatever veggies you want!  I didn't have any potatoes the first time I made it, but it was thick and starchy enough without them.  I don't think I'll add potatoes in the future, either.

This was from round 1, so pretend there are more veggies

Ingredients:
Ingredients in paretheses I did not use.  Asterisks indicate my additions.

1 quart vegetable broth or stock.  (Chicken would be fine, beef maybe not quite as tasty considering the sage added.)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped (surprise!)
(2-3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced)
*quarter of a zucchini, skin on, cut into chunks.  1cm cubes?
1 C frozen peas
* 1 C green beans, about 1 inch pieces.
* 1/2 C coarsly chopped mushrooms
* generous handful of spinach
1 bay leaf
2+ tsp poultry seasoning (nom nom sage!)
salt and pepper
2 T flour

For the dumplings:
21/4 C Bisquick
2/3 C water
Big handful of fresh parsley, chopped.

In a stock pot, heat up about a quarter cup of broth and the bay leaf.  Add the onion and celery (with a dash of salt!), and allow them to simmer (covered) for about a minute before adding the carrot.  Cover and simmer for another minute or two.  This would be when you'd want to add the potatoes.  Add any other veggie that won't fall apart at this time: zucchini, peas, green beans.  Simmer for about five minutes from when you added your first veg.  Add mushrooms, and give it all another minute.  If your broth is evaporating too quickly, add a bit more.  Keeping the pot covered will avoid that, and will help your veg become tender pretty quickly.

Simmered veggies, coated with flour

Add your two tablespoons of flour, and stir so as many veggies are coated as possible.  Add two teaspoons full of poultry seasoning, and then add the remainder of the broth to your pot.  Cover, and bring to a boil.

While the broth is heating up, make your dumplings: add your chopped parsley and a few dashes of poultry seasoning to the Bisquick, and mix it with your hands.  Add the water, and separate into walnut-sized pieces.

Once the veg and broth are boiling, drop the dough balls into the water and cover the pot.  Allow the dumplings to steam for ten minutes, add spinach, and cook 30 second to a minute more.

The broth should now be stew-like, and also delicious.


The last time I made this,  I did not have dumplings...I omitted the Bisquick, water, and parsley, and just boiled the broth, adding spinach right before I removed it from heat.  I may have added a bit more flour to thicken things up.  I froze half of what I made, and it freezes well!

Solid Lotion Bars

I came across the blog "Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity" almost two years ago on Pintrest.  I'm a huge fan of Lush Cosmetics, and a friend had pinned something that was like the shower bombs Lush carries.  The specific post was a shower disc with eucalyptus oil added, so when the steamy water of your shower hits the disc, you get nice, sinus-clearing vapor.

I'm not a huge fan of eucalyptus, but I am a huge fan of being awake in order to go to work, so I decided to adapt.  I made some shower discs with grapefruit oil (citrus wakes you up!), and experimented with lavender-scented bath bomb type things.  I'm still working on perfecting that recipe.  I mean, I have one that works, but I'm working on a better one for my purposes.  A fizzy, scented, MOISTURIZING bath bomb.  

I poked around her blog, and found this recipe for solid lotion bars.  Well, shit!  I can do that!

So I did.  And I added some things, because I wanted to.  I give these out as gifts to coworkers at Christmas, and I've had a fair number of people ask me if I sold them, because they'd buy them.  The recipe is basic, and there are a lot of things you can do to make them your own.

Today I made lavender-vanilla lotion bars.

I use equal parts (by weight) bees wax (paraffin wax can be used.  It's a bit less sticky), coconut oil, and today, sweet almond oil.  In my oil inventory, I also have avocado oil and jojoba oil.  I substitute one of those for the almond oil based on what I have and the size of the batch I'm making.  I've also done 1:1:½ :½ wax:coconut oil:almond oil:avocado oil. Whatevs! Find what works for you, and what's most cost effective, and go for it. I buy all of these at my health food store, but I sometimes get the ingredients online. Price shop! These are cheap to make once you have a base inventory, but if you buy all of this at once, it seems pretty expensive. I only replenish things once a year or so.

• Beeswax
• Coconut oil
• Almond/avocado/jojoba oil

• Essential oil to scent the lotion (I get this at my health food store as well, and as gifts.  Not all scented oil is created equally.  Make sure what you get is okay to be put on skin.  Some is just for infusers or candle making.)  I used lavender and vanilla.  Scent to your desire.  Essential oils are powerful, so add a little at a time.
• Wax crayon if you want to add some color (no, really!)
• Flower petals if you want to get crazy.  I added some lavender.

Melt your wax in a double boiler.  If you don't have one, you can Macgyver a bain-marie out of some saucepans, but be careful because oil and water.  That would be a horrible burn.

When the wax is melted, add your coconut oil, and melt that shit as well.  Then add your third oil.  I've toyed with adding some vitamin E oil at this point.  I don't like it very much, because it makes the bars kind of sticky.  Some of my coworkers and friends really like the batches with vitamin E.  I can add about half a teaspoon and not change the texture of the bar.

Once everything is melted, you can break a bit of a crayon into the liquid and give it a stir.  I chose not to this time, but I did display a purple crayon above because I'm thorough.

This doesn't look disgusting at all.

Add your scented oil(s).  Carefully remove from heat, and if you would like to mix in anything frou-frou, now's the time.  I don't think I've ever added anything besides lavender.  I don't know how much anything else would rise or sink.  The lavender rises a bit, but I don't care enough to let it cool any more before adding it to my trays.Spoon wax mixture into silicone baking trays (ice cube trays).  I have a ton of shapes, but today I just made rectangular prisms.

My variety of silicone trays

Spoon wax mixture into silicone baking trays (ice cube trays).  I have a ton of shapes, but today I just made rectangular prisms.

In just a few minutes, they start to harden

Let sit until completely hardened.  Depending on what ingredients you used and how hot it is, you may want to wait overnight.  I popped mine out after a few hours.

Soft focus because art.

My mother stores hers on a soap dish in the bathroom.  I keep mine in baggies (and that's how I give them away: a baggie tied with a ribbon) because of the dogs.  Dog hair loves to find this.

To use, just rub between your hands, and your body heat will melt enough off or you to massage into your skin.  I think these are particularly awesome for body moisturization.  It feels SO good when I apply this on freshly shaved legs.  Just rub the bar on your leg, and you are moisturized!

Spinach Bagels

I love the bagel shop back home.  It's a small mom and pop place, and it was there as a child that I was introduced to "bagels besides plain and blueberry."

Spinach bagels.  

One of the last times I was home, I neglected to bring any back with me, so I sulked until I found a recipe, and I made it.  I went to make them again today, but the recipe I used is goooone!  Luckily, Google works, and I found a recipe for bagels to adapt here.

I tend to consider recipes to be "cooking guides," rather than set in stone.  This is not always good when it comes to baking, because chemistry.  My tweaks worked, though, so I present to you Jenna's Spinach Bagels:

Steps one and two will always be the same.  Just remember them.

Step one: Clean your surfaces so internet strangers don’t judge you.

Step two: if it’s anywhere near beer o’clock, put on your AmyD beer apron.  If it’s not beer o’clock, you can still put things in the beer pouch...such as a Bloody Mary or a bottle of water.  Probably.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YEAST.  

I have been known to start cooking without confirming I have all of my ingredients. Like, I thought that I had a can of kidney beans, but they were really black beans. Generally, it's no big deal. Unless that thing is yeast (or baking soda or baking powder). If I'm baking, and I need yeast, I find that first, because if I go down the ingredients and just add things as I see them listed, being out of yeast ruins whatever I was planning to do, plus the ingredients I've already mixed.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (600g) flour.  I used whole wheat.  The original recipe calls for bread flour.  I almost always use whole wheat flour, but all-purpose flour works fine.  Whole wheat will make for a denser bagel.
• 1 T (12g) sugar
• 1 T (15ml) oil.  I used olive oil, but vegetable oil works.  If you're making a sweet bagel, I would advise against olive oil.  Use vegetable oil instead.
• ½  T (9g) salt
• 2 t (7g) active dry yeast.  If you're using instant yeast, there is no need to dissolve it first.
• ¼-½  C (I used 32 g) chopped, wilted spinach or thawed, frozen spinach.  Make sure to squeeze all the water out.

**You can omit the spinach and just make plain bagels.  This amount of spinach doesn't affect the chemistry of the dough.  You can also add whatever you want at this point.  I'd make sure to keep it between ¼-½ C of add-ins. I am going to try cinnamon chips next time. Dried fruit would be amazing, as would adding some chopped sundried tomatoes.

• 1¼-1½ (300-350ml) warm water
• Corn meal (no big deal if you don't have this. It's to dust the pan.)

Mix together dry ingredients and oil. Slowly add the water, mixing spinach in as well. You can mix with your hands, or use a stand mixer with a dough hook. Use as much of the water as you need until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Dough is too stiff? Add a bit more water. Mix until dough is smooth and easily forms a ball. I read to knead it for ten minutes. I don't think I kneaded it long enough, but this is what "ball stage" looked like using my mixer.

Take your dough ball, and divide it into eight equal portions. I made each of mine into little mini-balls. Rest the dough for between ten to twenty minutes.

When it comes to resting/rising, you will have the most success in a room that's, well, room temperature. I forget how cold it is in my kitchen, so my stuff doesn't always rise the way it should. If I think of it, I'll set the oven to "warm" for a bit, and then let my dough rise in an open, warm oven.

Once the first resting period is over, it's time to make these bagel-shaped. I have seen several recipes (including the linked one) that have you roll your dough out into a snake and then connect the edges. I do it differently. I squashed my dough balls down a bit to form a fat disc. Then, I poked my finger into the center of each disc to form a hole, and waved my finger around so the dough was like a hula hoop. That is a technical term, yes.

Once you've completed this step, you can freeze your once-rested, shaped bagel dough.  I wrapped two bagels in wax paper and into a freezer bag.  I've not done this before, but I understand that when you want to eat these frozen bagels, defrost, boil, and bake.  I'll let you know how this works.

Rest these bagels again.  Twenty minutes this time.  And while they're resting, fill a stockpot with water and bring it to a boil.  

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees (220C).

Your bagels should have risen a bit more, and become a bit puffy.  MINE DIDN'T BECAUSE OF THE KITCHEN TEMPERATURE.  THIS IS COOL WITH ME, BUT COULD SEEM TOO DENSE FOR OTHER PEOPLE!

Boil two bagels at a time.  Drop the bagels into the water, let boil for a minute, and then flip them and boil another minute.  The bagels should rise to the top of the water.

Remove from the water, and drain for a second or two.  

Now.  You can get crazy.  Do you want these bagels to have tasty crunchy things baked onto the top?  Pour that tasty crunchy thing onto a plate, and gently press your bagel onto said thing.  I topped mine with Parmesan cheese.  Depending on what you added (or didn't!) add to your dough, some options might be poppy seeds, caraway seeds, sesame seeds, granulated sugar, or dried onions.  Basically any delicious thing you would like on top of your bagel.  I've seen people recommend an egg wash at this point, both to give the outside of the bagel a shiny and browned appearance, and also to have your food confetti stick.  I don't use egg wash.  The wet bagel grabs things just fine.

Place the bagel onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet with corn meal sprinkled on it.  If you don't have corn meal, that's fine.  A light coating of oil will work nicely.

Bake for 20 minutes. (HOW LONG IS THAT IN THE METRIC SYSTEM?)  The recipe I adapted from says to flip after ten minutes, but because I topped mine, I just left them as is.  They still cooked evenly.

Remove bagels from oven and allow them to cool for--LOL JK PUT THEM IN YOUR EATING HOLE.

These were denser than the last batch I made.  Partly because I only used whole wheat flour this time, and I'd combined whole wheat and unbleached all-purpose flour last time.  Also because my kitchen was pretty cool, and that affects the rising, which in turn affects the density.  They were still very delicious.

An Experiment

I'm Jenna, and I like to make stuff.

What kind of stuff do I make?  ALL THE STUFF.  I cook, I craft, I sew, knit, and crochet.

I've toyed with the idea of a food blog for a while.  Not because I think I have all this new stuff to share with the world, but for personal documentation.  Then I think "well, if it's just for myself, why blog?"

Lately, I've been experimenting with recipes.  For example, I'm messing with sugar amounts in baking.  How much can I tweak the sugar without compromising the taste and texture of the finished product?  I have found that there are some people who are interested in this, so I'll try my hand at public documentation.  Will I stick to public documentation?  I don't know.

I'll share things here that go beyond my experiments.  A lot of my recipes originated on other blogs, so whenever I post something I got from someone else, I will give credit and a link.

I will likely not share any yarn projects here.  My yarn-things are boring, but I'm trying to learn more complicated techniques.

Most crafty sewing projects of mine are suuuper basic, but I have the ability to sew more complicated things, unlike knitting and crocheting.  The really basic sewing projects are basic in that they involve straight lines, but they're awesome in that people like using what I make, and they're simple enough to make by hand if you don't have a machine.

Crafts.

Oh, crafts.  I can't even thing of how to describe the things I make.  What I make isn't easily summarized.  Variety is the spice of life, they say?  I'M SO SPICY.

Thank you for joining me for my experiment, and let me know what kind of things you'd like to see.  If it's something that I can do, I'll do it!  If it's something I can't do, I'll probably try! (Available materials are my only real limitation.)

Right now, I'm going to sort out my recipes, result pictures, and observations that aren't in gibberish so I can share them.