Sweet Potato Gnocchi with a Gorgonzola Sauce

Although the models for this blog entry (aka my friends) do not look happy, don't let this fool you! The food was delicious!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
-2 large sweet potatoes
-1 large regular potato (I used a bunch of small red potatoes that I already had)
-1 egg
-1/4 cups of Parmesan cheese
-2 tbs of honey
-2 tsp of salt
-about 1 1/2 cups of flour (you might need a bit more depending on the dough consistency)

1. Cut potatoes and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper. Roast at 450 degrees, occasionally moving around until fork tender.
2. Let the potatoes cool and peel the skins off (this should be easy after they have been roasted to be fork tender). Then begin to mash them up into a smooth consistency- I just used a fork.
3. Add the egg, cheese, honey, and salt and combine.
4. Incorporate the flour in about 1/2 cups at a time. This should form a dough consistency.
5. Bring a salted pot of water to a boil.
6. Now your are ready to begin cooking the gnocchi! Cut the dough ball into about 16 pieces- you will want a small amount of dough to work with. Take the pieces and roll into a rope into about 1/2 inch thick and then cut 1/2 inch pieces to form the gnocchi.
7. With a slotted spoon, drop the gnocchi into the water and cook for 5 minutes. Serve with Gorgonzola sauce and pecans!

Gorgonzola Sauce
-1 cup of half and half
-1/2 cup of milk
-6 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese
-1 tsp of salt
-1/2 tsp of chili powder

1. Bring the half and half & milk to a low simmer.
2. Turn down the heat and add the cheese- stirring to melt it.
3. Add the salt (to taste) and chili powder.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins were a huge hit among my friends so I figured they were good enough to share!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
-1 cup of flour
-1 tsp of baking soda
-1 tsp of cinnamon
-1/4 cup of oil

-1/3 cup of brown sugar
-1 egg
-1/3 cup of yogurt (I used European style which tends to be very sour but worked really well with this recipe)
-1 tsp of vanilla
-1 cup of pumpkin
-3/4 cup of chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and line/grease a muffin pan. 
2. Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients, respectively. 
3. In thirds, mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. 
4. Once fully combined, add the chocolate chips.
5. Fill the muffin pan and bake for about 20/25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. I used a mini muffin pan so it took about 10/12 minutes.
6. Enjoy with friends! 

A taste of Spain

For the first dinner party of the year, I thought it would be a great idea to host a study abroad themed dinner party and cook Spanish food for some of my friends. I even got to try some of the local cuisines from the countries that they studied in.

Spanish Tortilla
-about 2 potatoes (I used 3 small ones)
-1/2 cup of oil
-6 eggs
-1 clove of garlic
-2 tbs of salt

1. Slice the potatoes to about 1/4 of an inch.
2. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium/high heat- it's a lot but trust me, it's what Paki always did.
3. Fry the potatoes until they are tender. This should take a good amount of time.
4. Meanwhile, scramble the eggs, salt, and add the clove of garlic (chopped).
5. Make sure when the potatoes are cooked enough to turn the heat down to a low heat. Add the eggs and mix the mixture (careful not to scramble the eggs) while breaking up the potatoes as well.
6. After the mixture has thickened a bit more, heat up some oil on about medium heat in another smaller pan and transfer the egg and potato mixture to the pan.
7. Smooth over the top of the tortilla of cook for a couple of minutes.
8. Take a plate and place it on top of the pan in preparation to flip it. Flip it and slide the tortilla into the pan again.
9. Cook for a couple more minutes and it's almost ready to serve! *Tortilla is best served chilled.

Also, I tried to explain this clearly although I understand if it's confusing so if there are any questions, ask in the comments box.

Spanish Rice Pudding
-1 cup of rice
-an orange peel cut into strips
-1/2 tsp of cinnamon
-4 cups of milk
-2/3 cup of sugar

1. Prepare rice as suggested. For this recipe I used Basmati which is not typical at all- it was just what I had on hand.
2. Heat the milk, sugar, and orange peels in a sauce pan on a medium-high heat. When the milk start to bubble, turn the stove off.

3. Take out the orange peels, add the cinnamon to the milk mixture, and poor it over the prepared rice.
4. Chill in the fridge and serve cold.


Tinto De Verano
-Sparkling lemonade
-Red wine

This one is simple. Mix equal parts lemonade and wine and serve!

                                                                   

Spinach and Almond Pesto

A small bag of pine-nuts cost $8?!?! --and that's at a cheaper grocery store too! I suppose I just didn't pay attention while my mom was doing the shopping.

^Problems of a broke college foodie. Anyways, since I couldn't afford the bag of pine-nuts, I found an alternative for the pesto I wanted to make!

Spinach & Almond Pesto
-1/4  cup of roasted almonds (not salted!!)
-1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese
-1/2 cup of packed spinach
-1 (or 2 depending on how strong you want it) cloves of garlic
-1/2 cup of olive oil

1. Add the first 4 ingredients to a blender/food processor.
2. Add about half of the oil and blend.
3. Add the rest of the oil and blend to a smooth consistency.
4. Enjoy on practically anything- salads, meats, soup, pizza...

Pesto on pizza

Pesto stuffed mushrooms

“Excuse me, this is inauthentic. Trust me, I've had pasta in Rome,”

said the pretentious study abroad student... which isn't me! But I would love to share my cultural journey through food that I experienced while studying in Spain and traveling to other countries.

Churros con chocolate

First stop- SPAIN. This was the country I spent four steady months in to study the language and culture. My home was in Granada. This was a southern city in Andalusia. Here you will find Moorish influence, a large hippy population, incredible graffiti by the famous El Nino, some of the hardest to understand Spanish accents, the mountains, the burial of Isabel y Fernando, the beach, elderly couples always holding hands, plenty of bakeries, tea restaurants with hookah, so many tapas (they're free in Granada!!!), an abundance of shawarma joints (best served after a night of discoteca-ing), oil, olives, bread, eggs, and HAM. If you ever have the chance to visit- GO. It is easily one of my favorite places EVER!

Paella

An "american" hamburger found in the
Valencia market. Once my house mom/land lady
tried to make hamburgers out of pork and I
informed her that beef was the traditional way.

SO MUCH HAM

Helado

Tostada con tomate y queso

Patatas bravas

Our Residencia dining area

Tapas!

Second stop- ROME! Pizza, pasta, and gelato for dayssssssssss.

Pizza

Pesto pasta

Third Stop- Morocco!

Sharing bread

Forth stop- Berlin! 

Turkish food at a flea market. It  is very popular in Berlin.

Incredible beer

My friend trying currywurst!

Fifth stop- Prague!

Me trying traditional goulash- sounds weird, tastes delicious!

It wouldn't be a trip to London without
Indian food!

Fish and chips!

Sixth (and final) stop- London!

Whoaaa-

 it's been a while since I've been on this thing... over a year in fact.


Unfortunately, I left you guys off when I started my sophomore year. I was unable to keep up with this blog considering I was 1. On a meal plan so I couldn't justify spending money for food and 2. only had access to one shared kitchen that wasn't the cleanest (I saw one roach and I promised myself I'd never go back in there!!!)



Well, check this out- I'm starting my junior year in an apartment! That means I'm providing food for myself and I only have to share a kitchen with my 1 roommate... I have no reason not to blog now! Let the food manifestations continue...

Mid-East Feast!

A few years back after a deep fryer purchase (on sale) that my mom bought, I decided to tackle falafel. She claims it was the best she had ever had... the falafel, not the deep fryer purchase.


I haven't made falafel since then so I was anxious to make it again for this blog! This time I went even further with homemade hummus and tzatziki that I can make with all of the cucumbers in my garden! 

Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Hummus
-1 head of Garlic
-2 red bell peppers
-1 can of garbanzo beans (about 1 1/2 cup)
-1 1/2 tablespoons of tahini (sesame seed paste)
-1 lemon squeezed
-1 teaspoon of cumin
-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
-salt to taste


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. For the garlic- unwrap the outer layer of skin, slice a bit of the top of as a whole, wrap in foil and roast for 30 minutes. When cool, it should be easy to take out the roasted cloves. For the peppers- cut in half, drizzle with oil and kosher salt and roast with the garlic. Leave it in for 10 extra minutes on a low broil. When cool, peel the skin off.
3. Simply toss all of the ingredients in a food processor until you get a smooth texture.

 

Tzatziki
-2 cups of plain yogurt
-2 peeled and roughly chopped cucumbers
-2 tablespoons of olive oil
-1/2 lemon juiced
-salt and pepper to taste


1. Let the chopped cucumber sit in a bowl with a a couple pinches of salt to draw out moisture for about 30 minutes.
2.  Simply add all ingredients to a food processor.

Falafel

-2 cups of garbanzo beans

-2 handfuls of parsley

-1/2 onion

-6 garlic cloves

-1 tablespoon of cumin

-1 tablespoon of coriander

-1 teaspoon of baking power

-a couple tablespoons of flour to add depending on if its not dry enough 

-Vegetable oil

 

1. Toss all ingredients in a food processor. MAKE SURE to not over process the mixture; it should be more crumbly looking than smooth.

2. Heat about 2-3 inches of oil to 350-375 degrees in a cast iron skillet or deep fryer. Meanwhile, put the falafel mixture in the fridge.

3. When the oil is heated, create falafel balls and fry until a deep golden brown, about 5 minutes.

 ENJOY!