Gnocchi with Basil and Butter

I was looking again for a simple easy dinner and came up with this one tonight. It was quite good and both simple and fast to make. I made the gnocchi fresh as it's very easy to do but you can substitute store bought if desired.

Gnocchi

4 boiled potatoes mashed (skinless)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups all purpose flour

Sauce

1/2 cup unsalted butter

4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1-2 cloves minced garlic

You can substitute fresh potatoes with instant potatoes as well to speed things up. Bring two cups milk to a simmer, add 1 1/3 cup potato flakes and stir until smooth and mashed like.

Gnocchi instructions from scratch

To make the gnocchi, place mashed potato into mixing bowl, add in eggs and salt and combine until smooth. Slowly add flour 1/2 cup at a time until very well combined.

Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead until smooth, (about 10-15 times). Cut sections from the dough and roll into a snake like ribbon.

Cut the dough into 1/2 inch pieces, flip through the flour and press a fork into each piece to flatten a little bit.

Move to a cookie sheet, until ready. Making the actual gnocchi dough takes about 1/2 hour.

Bring a large pot of salted boiling water to a boil. Add the gnocchi to the water and stir occasionally. Boil approximately 5 minutes and strain into a colander. Place cooked gnocchi into a large serving bowl.

In the meantime while gnocchi is boiling, melt the butter in a large heavy skillet. Bring to a simmer, add the garlic and basil and simmer while the pasta is boiling. Pour over gnocchi in the serving bowl and mix to combine. Serve immediately topping with Pecorino or Parmagean cheese.

All told this dish took about 45 minutes to make from scratch, start to finish. If using premade gnocchi it can be ready in about 10 minutes. Served with Caprese Salad it make a lovely, substantial but light tasting dinner.

Easy and Delicious Meatloaf

This one isn't rocket science or gourmet by any stretch but it's an easy recipe that can be whipped together quickly. I don't usually add salt to this. I try to keep an eye on our sodium intake. You may find you want to add salt when it's finished but I never have.

Ingredients

2 lbs lean ground beef
6 tablespoons Kraft Chicken n Rib BBQ sauce
3 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
1 large egg
approx 1/2 cup breadcrumbs. (the breadcrumbs help bind it together and also absorb the bbq sauce

Add all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. This is one where I get my hands dirty and dig in. Form meat into a loaf type shape and place in a small roasting pan.

Sauce:
1/2 cup Kraft Chicken n Rib BBQ sauce
2-3 tsp of yellow mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce together and cover the shaped meat loaf with the sauce.

Cover the meatloaf in the roasting pan and place in the oven @ 350 F for approx 40 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until cooked thoroughly.

Serve with Mashed potatoes and veggies on the side.

This one is really good as leftovers for meatloaf sandwich as well. (My kids like with homemade macaroni and cheese)

Beef Round over Noodles

This is an old standby comfort food type of dinner that my family loves. I had some stewing beef in the freezer and figured this would make an excellent dinner tonight.

This recipe is from an old cookbook I received as a teenager and cut my teeth in the kitchen using. It's called the Encyclopedia of Creative Cooking, edited by Charlotte Turgeon. pg 68 (a well worn stain covered pg 68) I usually double this recipe for my large family.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. peanut or corn oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
2 teaspoon sherry (I use red wine, and use one tablespoons)
3 cups thinly sliced onions
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 pounds beef round cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I use stewing beef)
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
1 can mushrooms (optional...but highly recommmended)

Heat oil in a large skillet with 1 tsp soy sauce, sugar, and 1 teaspoon sherry (or tbsp as I do). Saute onions until soft.

Mix cornstarch, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 tsp sherry (or tablespoon again..my change) in a bowl. Dredge meat in mixture ensuring all pieces are coated. When onions are ready, add the meat to the skillet and brown. Add the worchestershire sauce and garlic, mix well and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the mushroom about half way through simmering. (juices removed from mushroom can)

Serve over large egg noodles. This recipe as it stands yields about 6 servings, but I usually make a little more and adjust the recipe accordingly.

Pork Tenderloin with White Wine Mustard Sauce

I found this online at SafetoEat blog and it's lovely!!

I had a couple of tenderloin that needed to be used up and decided to search about for a recipe to stretch the two tederloin to feed seven.

I made a few alterations to the original but not many. Instead of using the tenderloin as a single piece I filleted the pork into thin strips. It made the meal a quick easy dinner as opposed to browning and roasting the pork.

I served this over a bed of fusilli, but have also used linguine. Both are lovely.

Ingredients.

2 pork tenderloin

3 tbsp butter

dab of olive oil

4 large shallot onions, finely chopped or sliced very thinly

1 tsp minced garlic

1 cup white wine

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoon dijon mustard

Heat a skillet (try to avoid nonstick skillets for best results) to medium heat. Melt 1 1/2 tbsp butter and dab of oil until bubbly. Add the pork and continue to saute until cooked. Remove from pan into a seperate plate and keep warm.

Add the last of the butter to the pan and melt. Add the shallots and garlic, cook until soft and tender. Pour the wine into the pan and reduce to low heat. Simmer until reduced by half. Scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan while simmering.

Once it is reduced, add the heavy cream and thoroughly combine. Again reduce by half. Finally add the dijon mustard and stir to combine.

Return the pork to the pan and simmer a few minutes to infuse the flavour into the tenderloin.

Serve over fusilli, or linguine noodles with a few spoons of the sauce. It is delightful.

I made this tonight and easily served 8 with a little leftover for lunch tomorrow.

Creamy Key Lime Pie

One thing about traveling is you experience local flavours in cuisine. One of my favourite culinary taste sensations came from a trip to Florida where we tasted Key Lime Pie for the first time. A little diner called Nellie's in Springhill is where we found this gem.

My entire family loved key lime pie and after coconut cream pie adventure the other day my son and husband wanted me to try a key lime pie.

I surfed recipes online and settled on one that I think is the closest to what I was looking for. Thank you Kelly at Recipezaar for sharing this recipe. It's easy peasy to make and delicious. I added a little lime zest into the recipe as well and made it in a 10" springfoam pan. A regular pie pan would suffice as well.

Ingredients
6 egg yolks
2 cans condensed milk (I use Eagle Brand)
1 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice (or bottled, I used fresh and it was about 7 limes)
whipping cream (sweetened)
lime for garnish

Directions:
Gently whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Add the two cans of condensed milk and continue whisking slowly to combine well.
Slowly add the lime juice, again, whisking slowly until thoroughly combined.
I used the low setting on my kitchenaid mixer to combine the above.

Prepare your shell using 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs with 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup sugar. As mentioned I used a springfoam pan, but you can use a premade graham pie shell from the grocer as well.

Once well combined (see picture below), place in a preheated oven of 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in the fridge for 4-6 hours and top with whipping cream.

It's tangy and sweet at the same time. The texture is fabulous and it's definitely a keeper here. Ridiculously easy to make.
Filling before baking

This is the pie baked (excuse the fingermarks courtesy of our 7 year old)

Now with whip cream