Anyway, I am LOVING the new book. I went to my mom’s for a week and forgot it, which thoroughly pissed me off. I’m hoping to finish it this weekend (4 hour car ride for vacation) and start cooking it next week. I swear it won’t be 3 months til you hear from me again, and never again will it take me 3 months to get through a book. I promise!

Anyway, onto some amazing news! I was in NY last week, and while I was in town, the always fabulous Giulia Melucci (of our first book, I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, was doing a reading in SoHo. My sister came with me, and I loved it! She read a great part of the book…about her first encounter with Ethan and his school of cooking (I swear, buy the book!). She also prepared two dishes for everyone to try. One was one of my favorites – her Healthy Penne with broccoli and raisins. The other, I hadn’t made yet – because my hubs is not a fan of eggplant. She made Lachlan’s Rigatoni with eggplant. AAAAAAnd it was delicious. We both gobbled up plates. I would have taken that tray of pasta and dashed out the door if I could.

I did get some time to chat with Giulia and she was super sweet. She remembered our blog (and Marilla, because really, who forgets her?) I bought another copy of the book. Yes. I did. I figured I could use my hardcover for recipes and keep the paperback that she signed for me on the shelf. AND in the paperback version, there’s an extra chapter! So I had to buy it. Of course. Always an excuse to shop with me!!

Anyway, thank you Giulia for taking the time to chat with me!

Giulia and I at her reading at McNally Jackson Books.

I was slightly disappointed come Christmas Eve. More in myself than anything. You see, I had spent all day attempting to cook with quite an eager, overtired toddler underfoot. While she was able to help with most of the desserts I was making (and the baklava was put together during naptime), I was not ready for her to cover her hands in pasta dough and run all over the house I had spent all week cleaning. Silly me did not read about the fact that I needed a potato ricer and/or food mill until the potatoes were boiling in the pot. Strike one. As we speak, Amazon is running a search for one/both of those so I can try again, as gnocchi is my dad’s absolute favorite food. I was really rushed making it as well, as it was getting late and I had hungry people waiting to be fed. Giulia’s sauce was really delicious, I thought, but my husband (sorry G!) still seems to prefer my own sauce (which is my grandmother’s recipe). My gnocchi was a little lumpy since I tried my best without a food mill. I was more disappointed in myself. I had been looking forward to making that recipe since finding it in the book, and everything else I made that day came out absolutely perfect, except the one I really wanted! So, live and learn. The consistency was right, but they were just a tad lumpy. I hope that next time (and I will definitely blog about it!) it comes out better.

As we say farewell to I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, I feel very bittersweet. Partially because it was our first book, but I really felt myself understanding Giulia and where she came from, and I loved her story and her wonderfully positive take on everything. I feel like had we grown up closer to each other (Not like Nassau County and Brooklyn are terribly far away, but you get the point), I like to think we would have been friends. She had posted about this blog on her own twitter page (If you’re a fan of the book, or of her, follow her at @gmelucci) and on her own facebook page as well. There seems to be an unspoken camraderie of us Catholic School girls – kind of like the unspoken trials and tribulations of making it through years with those nuns. She is a fan of us, which makes this first book even more special – the fact that we were embraced so greatly by its author. I can only hope the future authors we read (and cook) enjoy our blog half as much as she has. So, thank you Giulia, for making our first couple of months with this blog SO worthwhile

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday and enjoyed your time with your families and loved ones. We sure did!

My attempt to make Giulia’s gnocchi was to take place on Christmas Day. I planned on making the gnocchi and the sauce, as well as roast a chicken (a very simple roast chicken, like the one a la Giulia I made a while back). And my attempt was very successful. Not perfect, but very close, and successful.

Gnocchi, if you’re uninitiated to the wonders of it, is pronounced “nioki”, the ‘g’ is silent. And people who pronounce it never fail to crack me up… “I’ll have the guh-notch-y…” Here’s some interesting background on it from Wikipedia:

The word gnocchi means “lumps”, and may derive from nocchio, a knot in the wood, or from nocca (knuckle). It has been a traditional Italian pasta type of probably Middle Eastern origin since Roman times. It was introduced by the Roman Legions during the enormous expansion of the empire into the countries of the European continent. In the past 2000 years each country developed its own specific type of small dumplings, with the ancient Gnocchi as their common ancestor. In Roman times, gnocchi were made from a semolina porridge-like dough mixed with eggs, and are still found in similar forms today, particularly in Sardinia (where they do not contain egg, however, and are known as malloreddus). One variety, gnocchi di pane (literally bread noodles), is made from bread crumbs and is popular in Friuli and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. Another variety from Trentino-Alto Adige/Sudtirol is spinach gnocchi, called strangolapreti. This translates to “choke the priest.” The use of potato is a relatively recent innovation, occurring after the introduction of the potato to Europe in the 16th century.

I love potato gnocchi, and ever since I had first read I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti I’ve been wanting to make this recipe. And it didn’t disappoint. The sauce was incredible. I was only feeding four, but Jay and I have appetites like Ethiopian refugees, so I actually used two 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes, but not the plain, the ones seasoned with basil. I doubled the salt and sugar but not the wine or the butter. WOW. A super simple sauce, but really tasty. Perfect with the gnocchi. I think it’ll definitely become my go-to sauce recipe. I think the added basil was a great touch. Thank you Giulia (and Marcella Hazan)! And actually, speaking of feeding four, I had plenty of sauce for more, especially since the gnocchi recipe didn’t make as much as I anticipated, or maybe I made mine too large. Woops. But that’s cool, because tonight we’re having homemade margherita pizza with the remainder of the sauce. Yum.

Now for the gnocchi, I used three russet potatoes instead of two, and added a ¼-½ cup of extra flour. Brianne told me when she made hers, she had a problem because she didn’t have a ricer or food mill, and that worried me because I don’t either (and I looked in a bunch of stores and couldn’t find a ricer, so boo to them). I Googled it, and read that using a sieve works too. So I figured if I made the potatoes just a tad softer by boiling them a bit longer, they’d be easier to push through the sieve and therefore less lumpy in the pasta. Also, I peeled them before I boiled them, thinking that without skin they’d get softer. It totally worked. Even without a ricer, the potatoes were so soft and mushy I just pushed them down with a fork and they were the perfect texture. Voila! I cooked them about 55 minutes, which was only 15-20 minutes longer than recommended. The pasta wasn’t too soggy at all, either.

The shape… well, that was a bit harder. Mine came out all kinds of different sizes and shapes, but always with the signature fork-print. Maybe if I’d taken my time, and wasn’t rushed or on a schedule, I could’ve made them more even.  Mine were more like little squares and rectangles. Next time, I would roll them into little balls and then use my thumb and a fork to make the little impressions. But who cares, really. They tasted awesome.

As far as the name of the recipe (see below), you’ll have to read the book to find out why it’s referred to as such. *smiles*

No- Nookie Gnocchi

• 2 russet potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 heaping cup flour, plus more for dusting
• salt
• freshly grated pepper
• freshly grated parmigiano

Put the potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover, bring to a boil, and cook, partially covered, until they are just tender, about 35-40 minutes. Remove the potatoes to a cutting board and peel with a paring knife as soon as you can stand to touch them, then run them through a potato ricer or food mill, spreading them out on a cutting board to cool completely.

Mix the egg, salt and nutmeg. Form the cooled potatoes into a mound and pour the egg mixture into it. Begin kneading the potato and egg mixture with your hands, adding the flour a little at a time, being careful not to overwork the dough.

When the flour is evenly combined with the potato and the dough is only a little sticky, divide it into 4 pieces.Roll each piece into a long, narrow tube like a garden snake and slice it crosswise into little soft pillows, each ½ inch wide. Rest each pillow on the tip of your thumb and impress it with the tines of a fork lightly dusted with flour, creating a ribbed surface for the sauce to cling to. Keep a bowl of flour nearby to dip the fork into, as it will become tacky- or better yet, keep some extra forks nearby.

Add the gnocchi about 10 at a time to a pot of salted boiling water. When they rise to the top, they’re done. Remove them to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon or spider and continue to cook in batches. Toss with the sauce and serve with grated parmigiano and freshly grated pepper.

Yield: about 6 dozen.

For the sauce:

(Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)

• 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¼ cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer, then lower heat and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove onion before tossing sauce with the gnocchi.

And to anyone who complains about making sauce, or says they can’t make homemade pasta- BASTA. It is not that difficult at all. If I can do it, you can do it too.

Food Club Pork Roast

6 garlic cloves

¼ cup fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 (4 ½ – to 5- pound) rib section center-cut pork loin (have the butcher bone the meat and then reassemble the roast with string)

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup white wine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mince the garlic and rosemary by hand (or better yet, in a food processor).  Mix them in a small bowl with the salt and freshly ground pepper.  Rub the meat with olive oil and then the garlic-rosemary mixture.  Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Place pork flat side up on a rack in roasting pan, then pour white wine over it.  Roast in center of oven until a thermometer registers 140 degrees, about 90 minutes.  Remove from oven and let the meat rest on a cutting board, tented with foil, for about 20 minutes before slicing.

Discard string, separate bones from the loin, and slice meat to desired thickness.  You may cut the ribs and serve them, too, or save them to add them to a tomato sauce.  (Pork ribs add richness to sauce.)Yield: 6 servings

Overall I was really happy with how dinner turned out and most importantly Shaun loved it! Don’t get me wrong there were a few hiccups along the way. I managed to spill a good amount my macaroni and cheese when I was putting it in the oven and created a huge mess. Oh and let us not forget how I almost chopped off a finger cutting the garlic! I guess I got a little arrogant with my recently acquired knife skills while using Shaun’s precious Wusthof knives.

I also decided to take a stab at “Nana’s Blueberry Muffins”. As you guys know we have a gluten allergy in the family so I decided to make these muffins gluten free. Please keep in mind that I have never baked a thing in my life. I am lucky I know the difference between a whisk and a spatula! I told Shaun earlier in the week that I wanted to bake so he was nice enough to get me a set silicone bake ware in a pretty red. Instead of regular flour I used “Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour “. I also added a little bit of vanilla extract, nutmeg and cinnamon. I wasn’t sure how gluten free flour was going to make the muffins taste so I wanted to spice them up so to speak. Don’t ask me how much of each spice I added because honestly I just eyeballed it. I know it sounds stupid for someone who has never baked before. I just added as much spice as I’ve seen my Dad add to his muffins. Growing up my Dad always made us a special breakfast on Sunday to give my Mom a break in the kitchen. No joke my Dad makes the best blueberry muffins!!

I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree cause the muffins turned out great!

Nana’s Blueberry Muffins

Butter, softened, for greasing muffins tins

1 3/4 Cup self-rising flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup milk

6 Tablespoons melted butter

1 Egg

1 Cup Blueberries

1 Tablespoon Butter (Optional)

1/4 Cup Sugar (Optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter the muffin tins. Mix flour and sugar, stir in the wet ingredients, then add the blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling each cup 3/4 of the way full. Bake 15-20 minutes, cool for ten minutes, and put on a cooling rack. While the muffins are still warm, melt 1 Tbs. of the butter and place in a saucer. Put the 1/4 C. sugar in a separate saucer. Dip the muffins into the butter than roll in the sugar.  This step is optional but I highly recommend it.

Yield: 9 Muffins; recipe can be doubled.

I am pretty excited to hang out with the women of CTB on Wednesday and celebrate the blog and completion of the first book! I am however not looking forward to making the gnocchi we all agreed to make. Although I think the only reason I am not looking forward to it is Gnocchi seems complicated to make. And let’s not forget the fact that I have never ever had this dish before. It is going to be hard to make something without a reference point but I am up for the challenge. Worst come to worst if I burn it, there is always frozen pizza to save the day! Wish me luck…

It was early to bed for the rest of the house tonight.  I ate one of the delicious cupcakes I made last night while pondering what to make myself for dinner (they ate leftovers from Thanksgiving). I settled on a reheated stuffed artichoke and a batch of Giulia’s pastina.  I have to say, it’s perfect comfort food.  My mom always made it for us as kids, but not this way. I have to say, this is much better.  Something about snuggling up under a blanket  with a nice bowl of that is the perfect way to end the weekend.

Pastina

1/4 cup pastina
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated parmigiano
Freshly ground pepper

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan, add pastina and salt, and cook until most of the water is absorbed, 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat and add the egg, letting it cook on the hot pasta, then add the butter, cheese, and a little pepper. Serves 1.