You clean it, I cook it

Happy Halloween!  I am rocking out to my newest Pandora station -- Halloween Party Radio.  These songs are silly and ridiculous and totally wonderful.  I am Monster Mashing right now!  

Halloween might be my favorite holiday.  Over the years Heather and I have concocted some grandiose costumes:  Sarah Palin and Cindy McCain, sister wives with a life-sized cutout of Warren Jeffs, unicorn and toucan.  Since Heather now lives in paradise, I had to whip up my own costume.  

My love for BSU football is not a secret, nor is my desire to one day be the Boise State Bronco girl.  After watching her gallop around the field at last weekend's game against Air Force, my costume was decided.  

Thanks to the crafty assistance of Ashley and the overnighting of the head from Julia, behold the Boise State Bronco girl and her faithful stead:

Amazingly, no fights ensued, no one spent the night in jail, and the head was only mildly accosted.  If this master's degree goes nowhere, that BSU cowgirl will have some competition.

In addition to wearing chaps and fake, blue eyelashes, I spent some time in the kitchen this weekend.  It's hunting season, which means I have to come up with creative ways to mask the taste of often gamey  birds.  On the menu yesterday, pheasant.

Pheasant actually tastes likes chicken.  It lacks the gamey, icky taste of other birds, and it is super lean.  Fortunately, I don't do any cleaning of the birds.  Fair trade off -- you clean it, I cook it.

I decided to make a fall potpie with squash and kale.  I adapted (no surprise) the recipe from one in a Martha Stewart magazine.   You could easily swap out the pheasant for chicken or turkey, or omit it all together for a vegetarian dish.  This rustic meal really hit the spot yesterday.  

We also whipped up some jalapeno poppers for an appetizer.  Readers beware, you will fall in love!   They are super easy and fast to throw together, and they are beyond tasty.  They would make a perfect snack for trick-or-treaters OR those distributing candy.  

For good measure, I think I'll wear my chaps to class this afternoon.  They're too awesome to only wear once.  Have a fun evening all!  

Leek love.

I love fall.

Pot pie filling.

Simmered for 20 minutes.

To make the poppers:

slice 8 -10 jalapenos in half, remove the seeds and ribs.

Combine 1 tbs mayo, 1 cup shredded cheese and 1 block cream cheese.

Slather cheese mixture into the jalapenos.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and melty.

Kale and squash potpie with pheasant

1 pheasant (I boiled the meat and shredded it to remove any shot -- got two!)

1 bunch kale, roughly chopped

1 medium hard squash, peeled and cubed

3 leeks, sliced (only use the white/greenish part)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

3 cups broth (veggie or chicken)

1 tbs Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs olive oil

2 pie crusts

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large pot or saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic and sauté until wilted, about five minutes.  Add the cooked pheasant, squash, kale, tomatoes, broth, Italian seasoning and simmer for 20 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour mixture into a large baking dish.  Cover with the pie crusts and brush with an egg wash (just scramble an egg and brush on the crust).  Cut vent slits into the crust and bake for 45-55 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  Enjoy!

Time, commitment, patience, helpers and a big bottle of wine

As promised, post numero dos!  Today I will be writing the largest, the hardest and the most comprehensive chapter of my thesis.  I figured by writing here first I would grease the creative wheels a bit.  Plus, I am only on cup two of coffee.  My fingers and brain have yet to be adequately primed.

Thesis writing aside, I have a meal of epic proportions today: gnocchi (or as my friend/ roommate/landlord Brooke says endearingly: gnotchi).  Every time I see gnocchi  on a restaurant menu I have to order it.  I love the delicacy (most often) of these little Italian potato dumplings.  The ideal gnocchi is light and airy and will be the perfect platform for your favorite sauce(s).

Gnocchi has been high on my bucket list ever since Martha Stewart published a spread about it a number of years ago.  However, I have never had the necessary equipment -- a potato rice or food mill. Thanks to the graciousness of friends, I now my possess my very own food mill!  Potatoes around the State just shivered.

According to Jaime Oliver (not Italian but my most admired foodie), "proper gnocchi is simply made from potatoes, flour, egg and seasoning."  The secret to perfect gnocchi, per Jaime, is to bake your potatoes, making for light, dry, fluffy flesh.  You want to use as little flour as possible to achieve the same lightness in the finished product.  Finding the right amount of flour took some practice for us.  We felt like Goldilocks trying out beds -- eventually we got the flour just right.

Making gnocchi is much like making pasta -- it requires time, commitment, patience, helpers and a big bottle of wine.  Now that I think about it, writing a thesis is much like making gnocchi.  Is it too early to start drinking wine?

Roasty, toasty.

Scooping out the potato flesh.

My new favorite kitchen utensil.

Thank you Ashley's garage sale leftovers!  

I wish you could touch this -- lovely lightness.

One egg yolk, salt/pepper and a dash of nutmeg.

The first bed -- not enough flour.

The second bed -- more flour.

The third bed -- just right.

They conveniently float to the surface when finished cooking.

A busy, occupied kitchen = Hailey's happy place.

First sauce: sautéed mushrooms with sage, thyme and brown butter.

Second sauce: roasted and fresh tomatoes with feta.

What I would give for some of these leftovers right now.

Potato gnocchi

thanks to Jaime Oliver's Cook with Jaime

Here's the recipe in all of his charm:

6 medium potatoes

olive oil

1/2 a nutmeg, grated

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 large free-range egg yolk

1-2 handfuls of all-purpose flour

semolina flour

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Rub your potatoes with olive oil, prick them with a fork and lay them in a roasting tray.  Put in the preheated oven and bake for an hour until the potatoes are fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.  allow them to cool for a couple of minutes and then, when they are still nice and hot, use a dish towel to pick up your potatoes one at a time, cut them in half and carefully scoop the flesh out of the skins into a ricer.  When you have lovely and smooth mashed potato, put it into a bowl.  Add the nutmeg, a tablespoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, the egg yolk and enough of the flour to bind your mixture -- you may not need it all.  Mix together and then knead with your hands until you have a dry, doughy consistency.  Add a little water if it feels too dry, or a little more flour if it's too wet.  To get the hang of perfect gnocchi dough, you'll have to practice a few times. **the best advice in the recipe!!!** If you're unsure, try testing one by chucking it in some boiling water -- if it falls apart, add a bit more flour to the dough.

Once you have your gnocchi dough, divide it into 3 pieces and roll each piece out on a floured surface into long tubes the thickness of a sausage.  Cut each of the tubes into 1 inch pieces. Place them on a bed of semolina flour on a tray and put in the fridge for 10 to 20 minutes.

Cook gnocchi in a pot of salted boiling water for about 4 minutes or until they float to the surface.  Once, cooked the gnocchi are very delicate, so carefully drain them in a colander.  Add them to your sauce and Enjoy!

My yolk was in fact free range -- thanks Ashley!  I didn't have fresh nutmeg, a dash of ground worked great.  Also, I didn't have semolina flour.  Regular old flour worked swell. Also, we determined that smaller gnocchi is both cuter and more functional.  Try this recipe. You won't be disappointed!

Groovy and upbeat

Hello all!  I started my Tuesday by listening to Stevie Wonder instead of the usual Morning Edition.  Stevie has become my favorite pandora station -- groovy and upbeat.  I am swaying with my eyes closed as I type right now.  Less occupy Wall Street and more sunshine.

This past weekend my folks joined me on the river.  We had been planning this overnight trip for months.  October weather can be tricky, especially when you're camping.  The Tetons already show a healthy blanket of snow.  We lucked out though!  Great weather, excellent fishing, fabulous company and delicious food.   

Fall colors and cheery anglers.

Cow moose.

Brown trout.

Model dog.

Model parents.

Drink anyone?

Shish kabobs.

Flank steak. 

Breakfast burrito fixings.

Both of my parents caught fish on dry flies, which is always thrilling.  I successfully rowed the boat without endangering anyone's life.  Tuli took the award as the best dressed man.  And we didn't drive our guide totally nutty.  Great success!

I will, amazingly, have another post for you all this week.  Here's a preview:

HOMEMADE gnocchi. 

Pillows of Heaven.  Clouds of goodness.  Cushions of delight.  

Until then, friends!   xoH

Mandolins and Christmas music

Guess what I heard on the radio yesterday?  The song: "Let It Snow."  Am I mistaken?  Isn't it October?  Halloween is still a few weeks away.  

Perhaps this is what encouraged the ridiculous melody to pierce my ears:

That's the view out of the front door yesterday afternoon.  We've been socked in with temperatures hovering around forty the last couple of days.  This weather makes me want to curl up around a fire.  Take a bath.  Drink hot beverages.  Apparently, this weather also causes out of their mind radio producers to play Christmas songs.  Go figure.

I had an extra night in the city this week so rather than listening to Christmas songs on Clazy 97 I decided to bust out the mandolin.  Inclement weather really brings out the slicer in me.

The last few weeks I have been dabbling with a wheat-free diet.  I know, you think I have truly lost my marbles.  I have a sensitive tummy that is easily upset over most things normal humans eat . . . like yogurt and ice cream. Hi, my name is Hailey, and I am lactard.  

Lately, though, I have been experiencing the same uncomfortable symptoms when I eat wheat. Not that you care about my GI issues, but I have a serious love affair with wheat products.  Pasta, bread, BEEEERRRRR.  

I have been pretty good at choosing my battles, because let's be honest, I am already a bit neurotic and certainly do not need anything else to stress out about. So yesterday when I started dreaming about lasagna during my linguistics study group I gave in to the craving.  

The following lasagna is not your run of the mill lasagna.  This lasagna is company-worthy, sit at the dining room table-worthy, bottle of wine worth more than $5.75-worthy.

This lasagna oozes goodness (literally) for three reasons:  the béchamel sauce, the sautéed chard and the yams (or sweet potatoes whatever camp you live in).

A note of warning, this dish takes some time and a few dishes.  Don't attempt to make this lasagna after a long day of work while listening to Christmas music on Clazy 97 in October -- you might turn the mandolin on yourself.

This is both a photo of a garnet yam and my double-jointed thumb.

To make the béchamel sauce: simmer 3.5 cups milk with

1 chopped onion, 3 gloves garlic and 1 tsp thyme for 2-3 mins.  

Remove from heat and allow to steep for 10 minutes.

Drain the solids from the milk.

Melt (don't judge me) 6 tablespoons butter and

whisk in 3 tablespoon flour.  Whisk constantly for 2 minutes

then add the drained milk. 

Stir constantly for at least 5 minutes. 

You will doubt that your sauce will ever come together, it will, I promise.

Just keep stirring!

You know it's done when you can draw a line on the back of a spoon

and it doesn't run together.

The assembly line.

Matt and Brook's dog, Kenai, desperately wanted to help.

In a large oven-safe dish, spoon enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan

and drizzle with a little olive oil to ensure non-stickage lasagna removal.

Layer pasta noodles, the chard mixture, yams and sliced cheese.

Then add another layer of noodles, more sauce,

more chard, yams, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese.

Holy cheese, Batman.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Allow the lasagna to sit for at least ten minutes before cutting.

Can't for lunch leftovers!

Swiss chard and yam lasagna

for the lasagna:

2 bunches swiss chard, chopped

2 yams, peeled and sliced thin

2 shallots, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 package sausage (I found a fabulous sweet Italian chicken sausage at Freddies)

1 box no boil lasagna noodles

3 packages sliced sharp white cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

olive oil

béchamel sauce:

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3.5 cups milk

1 tsp thyme (dried or fresh)

6 tbs unsalted butter

3 tbs flour

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Start the béchamel first by bringing the onions, garlic, thyme and milk to simmer over medium heat -- be careful with high heat, as you will scald your milk. Gently simmer for 2-3 minutes and remove from the heat.  Allow to steep for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat a glug of oil over medium high heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and saute until fragrant.  Add the sausage, breaking up into bite-sized pieced.  Add the chard and saute until wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the solids from the milk.  Melt the butter and gradually add the flour, whisking constantly.  After about 2 minutes, slowly incorporate the milk, again whisking constantly.  After you have whisked for what feels like hours (5-10 minutes), the sauce will begin to thicken. Check its thickens with the spoon test.  Remove from the heat and add the parmesan cheese.  

Now you are read to assemble!  In a large oven-safe dish, spoon enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan and drizzle with a little olive oil to ensure non-stickage lasagna removal. Layer pasta noodles, the chard mixture, yams and sliced cheese. Then add another layer of noodles, more sauce, more chard, yams, cheese, noodles, sauce cheese until you are at the top of the pan and out of ingredients.

Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Allow the lasagna to sit for at least ten minutes before cutting. Enjoy!