January 2014 – The Snack Review

Sunday Afternoon Gnocchi

We came, we saw, we rolled out some adorable fluffy potato pillows.

After mulling a gnocchi attempt for years, a few weekends ago I actually did it. With Kevin’s help of course. I consulted Yvette van Boven’s “Handmade” (thanks Appu!), and Lidia Bastianich in multiple forms. First, Bastianich and Martha Stewart during what I am guessing is the early 2000s, and the two together again in 2012. (It’s fascinating to see 1) what a total pro Bastianich is and 2) how she can fluidly repeat her gnocchi talking points almost verbatim even years later.) Then, the real whammy: Bastianich in text via Epicurious. It’s a fantastic, thorough recipe. Because gnocchi and anything dough-like remain uncharted territory for me, I appreciated the overabundance of detail. She has a step tucked in the middle of her recipe that says, “Wash and dry hands,” and I really liked that. And when she tells Martha that she’s looking for a consistency of dough similar to what a pint of ice cream looks like after you’ve gone in for a scoop, I got it immediately.

Armed with all that research, it was really straightforward. I listened to the Amazon reviewers and got this potato ricer. We rolled it all out on the kitchen table, made the Internet’s favorite tomato sauce to go along with the gnocchi, fried up a handful of sage leaves in butter for garnish (thus the shiny pool of liquid at the bottom of my plate), and sat down to eat on the side of the table that wasn’t covered in flour.

All in all, a success. Though Kevin was right. “That was a really complicated way to cook a potato,” he said. Then he went back for seconds.

Golden Gate Bakery Dan Tat

My folks and I were on our way to breakfast this weekend in San Francisco when we passed Golden Gate Bakery, and we sprung for their famous egg custard tarts. They’re an indulgence–over a dollar a piece, but they’re delicious. Unlike most egg tarts which are often like sweet hand pies, Golden Gate’s have a delicate crust that’s barely thick enough to hold the creamy egg custard inside. They require gentle handling lest they dribble out of your hand and onto your shirt (not that I’d know). They’re pretty close to egg tart heaven.

But there’s a downside to such perfection. Golden Gate Bakery’s legendary egg custard tarts are so popular that the decades-old bakery can afford to take monthlong vacations and stay closed on the odd day without notice. The bakery’s operating hours are unpredictable enough that as a public service someone even made a website, is-the-golden-gate-bakery-open.com you can check before you make the trek to Chinatown.

TV Bites: Puffed Eggs With David Chang

I’m thanking a big sink full of dirty dishes for leading me to Mind of a Chef one Sunday afternoon. (The housecleaning necessitated my rooting around on Netflix for something good to watch in the background.) Needless to say, the dishwashing went much, much slower after I found this show. This episode is so much fun, and the whole series really elevates the popular idea of chefs as mad-scientists-slash-food-artists. Plus, eggs.

An Improvised New Year’s Eve Winter Panzanella

It started with a visit to Zero Zero Pizza with some girlfriends over the holidays. I saw their menu listing for a Winter Panzanella and it made immediate sense to me. No matter that I’ve never tried a regular ‘ol spring or mid-summer or autumn panzanella, and we didn’t order Zero Zero’s that afternoon either. It was enough to get my wheels turning. (I admit part of the appeal is being able to say the word “panzanella” over and over.)

A few days later and with a New Year’s Eve potluck dinner a couple hours around the corner, Kevin and I mostly winged it. As in: Kevin did the bulk of the work while I shouted out guidance from the Internet. Making dishes up on the fly and testing them out on a group of mostly strangers? Ina Garten would probably not approve. But she did teach me the basics of a standard panzanella.

If I were to recreate this, this is what I’d do: chop up a hefty butternut squash into one-inch cubes, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Throw it in the oven set at 400 degrees for an hour, tossing at the halfway point. A half hour into it, put a pan of chopped crimini mushrooms into the oven to roast on another rack. Fifteen minutes before the butternut squash are done, throw a handful of dried cranberries onto the pan and return to the oven. Borrow Amardeep’s lovely Le Creuset to toast one-inch cubes of rustic bread. Bread cubes toasted on a medium-low fire with a little olive oil, salt and pepper in that perfectly regulated heat, even with meh meh bread from Trader Joe’s, will be so good you’ll be plucking them out of the pot to pop in your mouth before they make it into the bowl.

Remove everything from the heat and let it all come to room temperature. Continue to resist the pull of the bread cubes. Lightly mix the squash+cranberries, mushrooms, a couple generous handfuls of arugula, and some torn up fresh mozzarella in a large bowl. Lightly dress with a citrus vinaigrette (olive oil, orange juice, a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and finely minced garlic), and just before you’re ready to serve, throw in those bread cubes and give it another good toss. Dip a spare bread cube in some leftover vinaigrette and snack away, because you and your sweetheart have earned it. Serve!

Second Timer’s Granola–With Egg Whites

Immediately after my triumphant first foray into the world of granola, I turned to my on-demand cooking counselor, the Internet, and asked: “How to get those clusters in granola?” And lo, the fine folks at Food52 had recently answered this very question. Armed with their brilliant tip (egg white = binding protein), I set out for another batch, and have made this several times over since. What follows is my recipe for gently clustered pecan almond chocolate chip granola. (And please forgive the blurry photo–still getting the hang of this photographing all my cooking business.)

Chocolate Almond Pecan Granola, With Clusters
Makes 3-4 cups
1 ¾ cups rolled oats
1/3 cup sliced raw almonds
½ cup roughly chopped raw pecans
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp coarse salt
1 egg white
½ to ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 300ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix everything, except for the egg white and chocolate chips, in a medium sized bowl.
3. In a separate small bowl, whip the egg white until it’s frothy and foamy, about 3-4 minutes. Incorporate into unbaked granola and mix, then spread into an even layer onto baking sheet.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, removing every 15 to stir, until the oats and nuts are toasted to your taste.
5. Remove from oven and cool in the pan until granola is just warm, then stir in chocolate chips. Store in an airtight container.

My 2014 Cooking Resolutions

List-making. I enjoy it almost as much as list-accomplishing. Here’s what I’m excited about for 2014.

1. Try my hand at ingredients and cooking methods I’ve never attempted before. Fish intimidates me for some reason. The same for yeast-y baked goods.

2. Bring more surprise to my daily staples. I’m talking simple surprises here, like tossing sesame seeds into my plates of kale. Or sesame seeds atop my weekly bowls of Korean ramen.

3. Bake a loaf of bread. (See #1)

4. Make this lemon crepe cake. This one’s been on my list since, oh, 2010 when I first saw that stunning photo in Martha Stewart. But 2014 will be the year, yes ma’am.

5. Recreate this Forage barley salad in the above photo. It’s got barley, a ton of parsley, some spinach, button mushrooms and a chili vinaigrette. Fresh, tasty comfort food with a little heat, basically IS my palate. I want this one in my steady home rotation.

6. Follow that immediately with those roasted carrots and parsnips with crema and pomegranate seeds.

7. More leafy greens, fewer (processed) snacks. Gummy candy is a sometimes snack. Gummy candy is a sometimes snack. Gummy candy is a sometimes snack. If I repeat it enough I might start believing it.

8. Just go for it in the kitchen. My friend and favorite kitchen partner Narinda is fearless in the kitchen (and everywhere else in her life), and I admire that so much. I’ve tended to be a strict recipe-follower, but especially since trying my hand at writing down some of my own recipes, I see that it’s fine to leave the map aside and go exploring without a guide.

9. Start that cooking and food book club. Merging literary life with food and cooking–this is the dream. Los Angeles-based cook/book lovers–you interested?

10. Share it all with you here.

Happy new year!