The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

Spring Gnocchi Two Ways

Why are they called “Spring” gnocchi?  Well, partly because of the color – the green ones, that is.  And partly because the chives in the second version are among the first greens we have sprouting up in our yard every March.  I could have combined everything into one batch of gnocchi, but I thought it would be fun to have two different flavors, and two different shapes.  Plus – twice as much gnocchi!

So here’s how it all evolved…

Leek and Mashed Potato Pie

Or maybe it’s a quiche.  It does have eggs…but it’s not custardy.  I’m calling it a pie.

I could also call it a starch-fest, because despite the leeks and eggs – and sausage – the main components are the pie crust and the mashed potatoes.

Oh…it’s yummy stuff, kids.

No Sausage Post Yet, Just More Babble

I have tomorrow off – it will be easier to do that sausage post tomorrow.  I’m letting myself off the hook for now. 

In the meantime, and in the interest of writing SOMETHING food-related, here’s one of the nibbles I put out last night for our tree-trimming snacking.  (No sit-down dinner last night, just snacky food.  Our favorite food group.)

Notes From Yesterday and Today So Far

Okra! 

We’ve never grown it before, so I had no idea what to look for in terms of the actual ripening fruit.  But here’s what it looks like.  Pretty interesting, no?

Toxic Potato Fruit

Bill and I were outside a little while ago checking out the back forty (haha), and we came across these little things dangling from one of the potato plants.

We haven’t been growing potatoes for very long (last year was our first year), so we had no idea what these things might be.

Potatoes

Over the weekend, Bill and the kids and I went to Gillette's Home & Garden Agway, in Exeter, RI to get some stuff for the gardens.  (We used to just call it “Agway,” but I think in recent years it was bought by the Gillette people.)

Among other things, we got seed potatoes. 

French Fridays with Dorie – Hachis Parmentier

It was a bit crazy in the kitchen the day I made Hachis Parmentier. 

Vocabulary homework, spelling reviews, math problems, an upcoming social studies test, school picture orders (they want me to pay how much???), and I don’t remember what else was going on, but I felt like I was being pulled and tugged at and many demands were made for my EXCLUSIVE AND UNDIVIDED attention from humans and cats alike, mostly about food.  (When do we eat?  What’s for dinner?  Mom, I’m hungry!  Meow!)

Oy!

Oh, yeah, and on top of all that, my camera wasn’t working.  It would work, and then it wouldn’t.  I switched batteries, changed lenses, removed the memory card and put it back…I even, I am ashamed to say, smacked the side of the camera (gently) in frustration. 

“Well…just bring it somewhere tomorrow to have it fixed,” Bill said, with the shrugging, what’s-the-big-deal? attitude of someone who HAS NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF CRISIS THIS IS!

I still don’t know what was wrong, but after lots of taking things out and off and putting things back on, my dear camera decided to work again.

PHEW!

We now return to our Hachis Parmentier, already in progress.

I made a bit of a change, by the way.  Instead of using water and beef bouillon, I just used 6 cups of beef stock, which we had in the freezer.  (In the “stock freezer,” actually.  Chicken, beef, fish, crab, and clam stocks.)  Other than that, I kept things the same. 

Here’s the strained broth, by the way.  I kept the carrots and celery and chopped them to smaller pieces, to include with the beef in the filling.  I didn’t really need to cook the stock as long as indicated in the book, because I was already using beef stock and the flavor was fine.  So the vegetables, as a result, still had plenty of flavor.

By the way, until I got smart and looked it up, I avoided saying “Hachis Parmentier” out loud because I didn’t know how to pronounce it.  Well, I kind of figured out the “Parmentier” part.  Par-men-tee-ay.  Or Par-men-tyay.  But “Hachis” was a puzzler.  Ha-chis, with the ch like “chick” or “cheese,” or (here’s the Scot coming through) was it more of a gutteral “K” sound?  Hackis?  It didn’t work for me.

Then, tired of mumbling “Hmbmbmbm Parmbmbmbm” all the time (because I often go around muttering the names of dishes I’m going to cook.  It’s either that or allow the strange lyrics Julia comes up with take root in my brain and drive me further along the journey to madness), I looked up the pronunciation.

AHA!  HA-shee PAR-men-tee-yay!  Well that sounds sensible.  And more French than “Hackis.”  I was happy just to be able to say it. 

No more mumbling!  I said it loud, I said it proud:

HACHIS PARMENTIER!  HACHIS PARMENTIER!

And then my children begged me to be quiet and my husband threatened to take away my copy of Around My French Table, so I stopped.

Here’s the sausage, the chopped cube steak, the carrots and celery, and the tomato paste, about to blend together deliciously.

Now, fast-forward, past the actual – and really, very easy – making of Hachis Parmentier – to the writing of this post.

It suddenly occurred to me that while I could say the name of the dish,

HACHIS PARMENTIER!

I didn’t know what it meant!  I hadn’t looked that up.  And, frankly, “hachis” doesn’t sound all that French to me.  (And I’m such an authority.) 

Anyway, I looked up the words, and everything fell into place in my slow-to-catch-up brain.

Hachis refers to a minced or chopped mixture of meat and herbs.  (Corned beef HASH, anyone?  Duh!)

Parmentier refers to a food “garnished with potatoes.”

A-HA!

Well then.  I’m happy now.

And below, speaking of potatoes, there they are.

Boiling!

Going through the ricer!

All ready to go! 

I could eat them all, just like that.

But no, I had to complete the recipe, and quickly, just in case the camera decided to go on strike again.

Here’s some butter and Gruyere.  Mmmm.  Shreddy.

And now, – the assembly.  I spooned the meat mixture – the hachis, or, more accurately, the hachis avec carottes et céleri.  I don’t know if that’s a correctly constructed phrase, but it’s certainly looking like a correctly constructed meal.  Let’s continue.

Time to garnish with potatoes.  My favorite part.  I spooned the potato mixture into the dish, on top of the meat (and veggie) mixture, and smoothed out the top.

Then I sprinkled the grated Gruyere on top and added the bits of butter.

I really would have happily dug in right then with the same big spoon I used on the mashed potatoes moments ago, but I knew it would be even better if I waited.

So into the oven went the Hachis Parmentier, and I scurried around in a housewifely manner, setting the table and fretting about all the dishes I would have to do later.

I don’t know if this happens to you, but it seems like no matter how simple a dish might be to prepare, if I am rushed or stressed or tugged-upon-by-many-hands-both-large-and-small while preparing the meal, I use WAAAAAAAAAAY more bowls and spoons and spatulas and knives and pans and EVERYTHING than I could possibly really need.  Really.  One bad day I used two frying pans, the food processor, seven wooden spoons, three whisks, two plates and twelve knives just to make a peanutbutter sandwich.  Just peanutbutter!  Not even jelly!  Okay, I exaggerate.  Only eleven knives.

BEEP.

That was the oven timer.  I took a peek, rotated the pan to get more even browning (oooooh, browning potatoes and cheese!!!!) and set it for another ten minutes.

After a really fragrant eternity, it was done.

And because my camera had been so, so…recalcitrant earlier, I was afraid to even switch lenses, just in case.  So the pictures I took while the Hachis Parmentier cooled a bit on top of the stove are not very good.  But still.  You get the idea.  Golden brown, cheesy, potatoey yummiliciousness.

My husband and children were, by this time, already seated, pounding their spoons and forks against the table, demanding nourishment and threatening mutiny.

I brought the hot bowl (actually, it’s my favorite souffle dish) to the table and served it up. 

We all burned our mouths.

Joyfully.

Well, okay, full disclosure:  Alex (predictably) didn’t like the Parmentier aspect of the dish.  But he liked the hachis.

I ate his potatoes.  I hate waste.

Ohhhh, what a tremendous meal this was! Rich and meaty, with the fluffy potatoes and the crispy golden-brown bits of cheese on top (Dorie is right – that’s the best part), hearty and filling and satisfying. 

I should have doubled it.  Or tripled it.  Maybe I’ll make it again next week. 

Yes, I think that’s a good idea.

Care to see if other French Fridays with Dorie members have waxed as rhapsodic as I have?  Click over here to check out the other posts!

 

Technorati Tags: French Fridays with Dorie,hachis parmentier,shepherd's pie,beef,potatoes

Colcannon – One Version – And Sausages

I include that “one version” in the post title because I am well aware that this version is not the traditional version, and I don’t want all the clans of Ireland coming after me, swinging shillelaghs and slinging stones at my head.  I’m Scottish.  I’ll open my purse and all the moths will fly out and send you running. 

Now that I’ve dispensed with the mocking, (and it’s mocking with love, of course, because I wanted to BE Maureen O’Hara’s character, Mary Kate Danaher in The Quiet Man, which we watched faithfully every March, despite the strange “we are Scots, not Irish, and we don’t ever wear green” upbringing I had), it’s time to talk colcannon.

Rosemary Garlic Chicken and Potatoes, and a Question

The smell of a roasting chicken says “home” to me.  The aroma is cozy and comforting and evocative of childhood…Sunday afternoons…cool Autumn days…dark, early evenings…cribbage games in the living room, and – a real treat – glasses of ginger ale mixed with orange juice for my sister and me.

We didn’t move – ever – when I was a child.  Our house was also my father’s place of business, so we were pretty well tied to that spot.  But once I was in college and then on my own, I lived in a variety of places in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, and again in Rhode Island.

And whenever I’ve moved, I’ve had to roast a chicken soon after moving in.  I need to.  It’s my way, I think, of blessing the place.  Of saying “this is my  home.”  Instead of burning sage or incense, or popping open a bottle of champagne, I roast a chicken.

Potato Bread

This batch was for Bill.  He wanted a soft bread, something good for sandwiches. 

And I had potatoes.

Potato Rye Bread with Onion and Caraway

  

I've added a new category - I might also include links to it under the recipe categories. 

The category is "Learning from Mistakes" and I'm including it because in baking and cooking - just like in every other facet of life, we make mistakes, and the best thing to do with a mistake is to learn something from it.

Cornish Pasties

Comfort food at its finest.  Cornish Pasties (pronounced "PASS-tees") are simply meat pies you can hold in your hand to eat.  As I understand it, they probably originated in Cornwall, in the south of England, as something miners could bring with them for lunch, as they could not come out of the mine shaft mid-day.  The pasties were portable, and the filling would stay warm for hours.  And they can be made with other fillings, but traditionally it's cubed beef, potatoes and onions. 

Corned Beef Project: Day 9 - The Meal

Was it worth it?  Definitely.  I'll say that right off the bat. 

Leek and Potato Soup

I love leeks.  I love everyone in the onion family, but I have a special affection for leeks.  I tried to describe why, but it sounded like really bad middle school creative writing, so I deleted it.   So we'll just skip that and move on to the cooking part.

I bought a couple bunches of leeks at the store earlier in the week, and potatoes, so that at some point this week I could throw together the soup.  It's one of the simplest things to make, and it's warm and comforting on a cold wintery evening.

The recipe I followed is from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I., by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.  It's the first entry in Chapter One - Soup.

Potage Parmentier (Leek or Onion and Potato Soup)

"Leek and potato soup smells good, tastes good, and is simplicity itself to make.  It is also versatile as a soup base; add water cress and you have a water-cress souop, or stir in cream and chill it for a vichyssoise.  To change the formula a bit, add carrots, string beans, cauliflower, broccoli, or anything else you think would go with it, and vary the proportions as you wish."

~~~~~

Here's what you need:

3-4 cups or 1 lb potatoes,

peeled,

and sliced.

 

3 cups or 1 lb leeks,

 

thinly sliced, including the tender green

* A few things to keep in mind about leeks - first of all, you want to trim the darkest green parts away - easiest way is to cut them on an angle while you rotate the leek on your cutting board.  You can see that inside the darker parts the green is lighter and kind of yellowish - this part is okay to use.  The darkest part tends to be drier, kind of like the skin you peel off of an onion, only not AS dry. 

Also, leeks tend to have dirt or sand in between their layers, and the best way to get rid of that is to slice the leek cross-wise

and soak it all in a deep bowl of cold water.

Swish the leeks around in the water to help loosen the dirt.  The leek will float, and the dirt and sand will sink to the bottom.

And you'll also need

2 quarts of water

1 T salt

And that's IT.  How simple can you get?

Place everything in a 3-4 quart sauce pot

and bring to a boil. 

Drop the heat down, partially cover the pot and simmer for 40-50 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Mash the vegetables with a fork or run them through a food mill - or use a food processor an immersion blender to puree everything.

Taste it, and add more salt if you think it needs it, and add pepper to taste.  Ta da!  You're done!

Now, if I had thought ahead, I would have picked up a baguette to serve with the soup.  But I didn't think that far ahead, and I didn't have time to make bread, so I found a recipe for a Quick Onion Flat Bread in a little cookbook called "Fast Breads!" by Howard Early and Glenda Morris.  It was published in 1986 and I think it's now out of print.  I've posted that recipe after this one, in case you don't remember to get a baguette while you're buying the leeks.

Oh - and below - I swirled in some half & half to make it look pretty.  The book calls for whipping cream or sweet butter stirred in before serving, and a sprinkling of parsley on top, but I didn't sprinkle parsley.  Sorry. 

   

Valentine's Day Ideas: Steak and Potatoes

This was one of my husband's suggestions.  And he grilled the steaks for the "photo shoot" aspect of this post.  Like most of our best meals - this one we cooked together.

Potato Gnocchi

I've made this a couple of times lately. 

I love gnocchi.  I love potatoes.  I love pasta.  I admit it - my name is Jayne, and I'm a Starchaholic.

Now that we're clear on that point, let's get back on track.

Tastes of Summer

Tonight's dinner was the following:

Smoked salmon (that we brined yesterday and put in the smoker this afternoon) and potato salad.

Here's how we ate it...chunks of smoked salmon on a Ritz cracker with a small dollop of sour cream - trust me, it's a fabulous combination of flavors and textures.

The potato salad was this:

About a dozen small-ish red-skinned potatoes, cut into 3/4" cubes (approximately), boiled until just barely fork tender, then tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, smashed garlic (about 6 cloves), and fresh thyme and sage leaves. I put this mixture on a small metal pan and popped that into the smoker while the fish was going, and left it for a couple of hours. Just before we ate, I tossed in a quarter of an onion, minced, and some fresh mixed baby greens from the garden and a little mayo to bind it all together. It was really, really good, if I do say so myself.

And we had some wine - a Kendal-Jackson blend of Zinfandel and Shiraz. All-in-all a rather (okay, I almost wrote "gusty" as an adjective to describe the meal...I am still trying to figure out what I really meant to write...but actually "gusty" kind of works....) boldly flavored meal. It was yummy.

Also - we have fresh baby peas ready in the garden (whatever Alex has not consumed already)...and a few strawberries, too. And (please try to contain yourself) - little baby tomatillos have appeared!

The tomatillos are a big deal to us - last year our friend John was in charge of starting all the plants from seed and he somehow FORGOT to start the tomatillos. (Not that we didn't have dozens of other things growing, but still...) So we're particularly excited to have them now.

That's about it. Julia's waking up from her late afternoon/early evening nap. Hopefully I can keep her up for an hour and a half or so, then give her a good feeding and maybe, just MAYBE, she'll sleep for a whole 3 hours straight after that...of course, now that I've said something, it ain't gonna happen.

But I've got hi-igh hopes, I've got hi-igh OH SHUT UP JAYNE!

Okay, bye.

Chicken and Gravy and Mashed Potatoes

(from my old blog...) Monday night I wanted comfort food for dinner. So this is what I did: