Eating Our Way Through The End of 2011

Holidays truly are a time for family. With my family, that also means a time of cooking and eating. Lots of cooking and eating. Here's most of what we've made since Monkey came to town.

Last Friday, we invited Spike and Frog over and my mom and aunt made chinese burritos and fried rice. Think paper thin wrapping stuffed with plethora of veggies, tofu, noodles, and shredded chicken (for those non vegetarians), topped with a delicious peanut sugar powder (homemade of course). I haven't had this in ages. It's very tasty and healthy to boot. Later in the night, I made chocolate chip cookies. Yum.


The next night, we had hot pot, aka big pot of boiling stock where you cook cabbage, taro, many types of mushrooms, tofus, fish balls, and thinly sliced meat. Everything gets dipped in your own little bowl of bbq sauce. So good, and again healthy to boot!


On Sunday of course, we had our big Christmas meal of brisket, scalloped potatoes, brussel sprouts and fallen chocolate cake with ice cream. Amazing!

On Monday, my mom and aunt made a healthy dinner of fried fish, veggies and rice. Since we basically have this every night during the week, I skipped out on the picture taking. You'll just have to take my word that it was good.

On Tuesday, I made Persian beef and celery stew. This was a real hit with the family. We all love sour things. Again, no picture because we were too busy eating. Oops. For dessert, we made Mexican wedding cakes. So flaky and bite sized. Monkey and I ate the majority of these.


Last night, Monkey and I hunkered down and made gnocchi with a gorgonzola cream sauce. SO GOOD. The gnocchi came out really well this time. I think partly because we used a scale to measure out the amount of potato and flour to add. It was perfectly fluffy and not the least bit gummy like last time. The sauce was also amazing. So easy to make yet so good. Since the cheese was salty, I tried not to add as much salt to the pasta water or sauce. Next time I think I could omit the pasta water salt altogether. For accompaniment, Monkey made a delicious salad of greens, roasted beets, goat cheese, and clementines.




For dessert, I made flan using a CI recipe which is better than the original one I found. I used a smaller pan so the custard layer is thicker. Unfortunately, my pan is oval but I have no oval plate to invert it onto. It doesn't look as nice on a round plate, but oh well. Still scrumptious!



All these meals were accompanied with copious amounts of wine, with the exception of hot pot night when we had copious amounts of soju.

More cooking to come!

Gnocchi
Courtesy of CI

2 pounds russet potatoes
1 large egg , lightly beaten
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (4 ounces) all-purpose flour , plus extra for the counter
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon salt

1. FOR THE GNOCCHI: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Poke each potato 8 times with paring knife over entire surface. Microwave potatoes until slightly softened at ends, about 10 minutes, flipping potatoes halfway through cooking. Transfer potatoes directly to oven rack and bake until skewer glides easily through flesh and potatoes yield to gentle pressure, 18 to 20 minutes.
2. Holding each potato with potholder or kitchen towel, peel with paring knife. Process potatoes through ricer or food mill onto rimmed baking sheet. Gently spread potatoes into even layer and let cool for 5 minutes.
3. Transfer 3 cups (16 ounces) warm potatoes to bowl. Using fork, gently stir in egg until just combined. Sprinkle flour and 1 teaspoon salt over potato mixture. Using fork, gently combine until no pockets of dry flour remain. Press mixture into rough ball, transfer to lightly floured counter, and gently knead until smooth but slightly sticky, about 1 minute, lightly dusting counter with flour as needed to prevent sticking.
4. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and dust liberally with flour. Cut dough into 8 pieces. Lightly dust counter with flour. Gently roll piece of dough into ½-inch-thick rope, dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Cut rope into ¾-inch lengths. Holding fork with tines facing down in 1 hand, press each dough piece cut side down against tines with thumb of other hand to create indentation. Roll dough down tines to form ridges on sides. If dough sticks, dust thumb or fork with flour. Transfer formed gnocchi to sheets and repeat with remaining dough.

Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
Courtesy of CI

3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese , crumbled (1 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh chives , minced
Salt and pepper

Bring cream and wine to simmer in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Whisking constantly, gradually add Gorgonzola, and cook until melted and sauce is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in chives and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover to keep warm.

Flan
Courtesy of CI

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon grated zest from 1 lemon
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk (see note)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a kitchen towel in the bottom of a large baking dish or roasting pan and place a 9-inch cake pan in the center. Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan, swirling the pan gently, until the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and cook, gently swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture has caramelized to a deep, dark mahogany color, 7 to 10 minutes. Carefully and slowly pour the caramel into the cake pan, being careful not to splash caramel onto yourself or outside of the cake pan, and cool slightly until hardened.
2. Bring a kettle or large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, whisk the whole eggs and egg yolks together in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Whisk in the zest, sweetened condensed milk, and low-fat milk. Pour the mixture into the cake pan, and gently place the roasting pan on the oven rack. Being careful not to splash any water inside the pan of custard, pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until the water reaches halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake until the center of the custard is just barely set, is no longer sloshy, and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 170 to 175 degrees, 30 to 40 minutes (start checking the temperature after 25 minutes).
3. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully transfer the cake pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Wrap the cake pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.