entrée and dessert

In the New York Times Sunday edition, they have a fairly new section called “Home.” This section has a page devoted to “5 Dishes to Cook this Week.” In the October 4th paper, there was a recipe for Crisp Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts and Brown Butter. My husband and I love brussels sprouts. This is a quick meal to make as it uses shelf-stable or refrigerated potato gnocchi.
 
Besides the gnocchi and Brussels sprouts, you’ll need a lemon, red pepper flakes, unsalted butter, honey, Parmesan cheese. The Brussels sprouts are cooked in the olive oil with salt, pepper and lemon zest. Once the sprouts are a toasty brown, red pepper flakes are sprinkled on. The Brussels sprouts are cooked until crisp tender then removed from the pan.

​After removing the sprouts, additional olive oil is added to the pan and the gnocchi is cooked until golden brown. The butter and honey are added next along with salt and a healthy amount of freshly grated black pepper. Stir the ingredients until the butter is golden and smells nutty. Add the sprouts back into the pan and carefully incorporate all the ingredients together. To serve garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.
 
This dish was delicious. Though the Brussels sprouts are bitter, the addition of the honey smoothed out the flavor. A hint of heat from the red pepper and the Parmesan gave the dish a little saltiness and nutty flavor. It was a great one skillet meal. Although it says it serves four, I’m a little ashamed to say that my husband and I ate the whole thing. This would be a wonderful meal for a single person to prepare and freeze a portion for another time.
 
I’ve had in my baking folder since September 2018, a recipe from Southern Living Magazine for Pumpkin Spice-Chocolate Marble Loaves. I love an old-fashioned marble cake. As I recently bought a large can of solid pumpkin, I decided to give this recipe a try.
 
Besides the pumpkin you’ll need unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt, sour cream, canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, unsweetened cocoa and instant coffee granules. For this recipe I used instant espresso coffee granules as that is what I had on hand. This recipe is made in three bowls. One bowl is the basic batter, another bowl is the pumpkin spice and the third is chocolate. Also, this cake makes two loaves. I cut all the ingredients in half and made one loaf.
 
The cake was enjoyable. It was moist with a tight crumb. My husband and I thought it would use more pumpkin flavor. If you’re making the recipe as is, the pumpkin spice batter is made with ½ cup of flour, ½ cup of canned pumpkin and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. If I was to make this again, I would add 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin to the pumpkin spice batter and additional teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Overall, nice quick bread that’s neither sweet or overly rich. 

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Crisp Gnocchi With Brussels Sprouts and Brown Butter
The New York Times, October 4, 2020
By Ali Slagle
YIELD: 4 servings
TIME: 20 minutes
 
INGREDIENTS
 
1-pound brussels sprouts (or cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower or even cabbage)
1 lemon
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
 Kosher salt and black pepper
½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 (18-ounce) package shelf-stable or refrigerated potato gnocchi
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced into 6 pieces
½ teaspoon honey
 Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
 
PREPARATION

1. Trim and halve the brussels sprouts. Using a vegetable peeler, peel thick strips of lemon zest, then coarsely chop. (You should have about 2 teaspoons chopped zest.) 
2. In a large (preferably 12-inch) skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high. Add the brussels sprouts, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper, then arrange the brussels sprouts in an even layer, cut-side down. Scatter the lemon zest over the top and cook, undisturbed, until the brussels sprouts are well browned underneath, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the red-pepper flakes, stir and cook until the brussels sprouts are crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. 
3. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high. Break up any gnocchi that are stuck together, add them to the pan and cook, covered and undisturbed, until golden brown on one side, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the butter and honey, season with salt and a generous amount of black pepper, and cook, stirring, until the butter is golden, nutty smelling and foaming, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the brussels sprouts until warmed through. Serve with grated Parmesan.

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​Pumpkin Spice-Chocolate Marble Loaves
By Southern Living Magazine
September 2018
 
Active: 25 minutes
Total: 2 hours, 25 minutes
 
Makes 2 loaves
 
Ingredients
 
Basic Batter
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
 
Pumpkin Spice Batter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
 
Chocolate Batter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
 
Directions
 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare the Basic Batter: Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs and egg yolks 1 at a time, beating on medium-low after each addition. Add vanilla; beat just until incorporated. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating on low speed just until combined after each addition. Divide Basic Batter evenly between 2 large bowls.
2. Prepare the Pumpkin Spice Batter: Add flour, canned pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice to 1 of the Basic Batter bowls; stir together until completely combined. Set aside.
3. Prepare the Chocolate Batter: Add cocoa, sour cream, and instant coffee granules to remaining Basic Batter bowl, and stir until smooth.
4. Drop large spoonsful of the Pumpkin Spice Batter across bottom of 2 greased and floured 8- x 4-inch loaf pans. Drop large spoonsful of the Chocolate Batter, interspersing that with the Pumpkin Spice Batter to cover the bottom of each pan. Repeat with remaining Pumpkin Spice Batter and Chocolate Batter, creating layers until all batter has been used. Swirl batters with a long pick, moving in a back-and-forth motion from one end of pan to the other.
5. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center of each loaf comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Cool in pans on a wire rack 15 minutes. Turn out onto rack to cool completely, about 45 minutes.

 

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