Gluten-free Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Chard and Brown Butter Sauce

Yay, gluten-free and paleo friendly gnocchi! I was so excited to find this recipe using almond flour on the interwebs, and it does not disappoint. This is a hearty, filling, and satisfying meal and comes together in just enough time for a (late) weeknight meal. And, as an added bonus, it’s chock full of vegetable goodness.

_DS33028w

Gluten-free Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Chard and Brown Butter Sauce

Based on Baked Rosemary, Almond Flour & Butternut Squash Gnocchi by The Urban Poser

Small butternut squash
3 c. finely ground almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 egg yolk
Big pinch salt
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp. fresh basil
2-4 cloves garlic
1 bunch chard
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Halve the squash and scoop out the seeds. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side up on a cookie sheet and roast 45 minutes or until softened. When the squash has been working for 10 minutes or so, toss in 3 cloves garlic still in their paper.

Scoop out about 1/2 to 3/4 c. squash and add to a large bowl with the almond flour, egg yolk, salt, herbs and roasted garlic.

Work ingredients until they are well mixed together and form into a ball. Your dough will be a bit sticky, but it should hold together well. If it is too wet, add a little more flour. If too dry, add a little more squash. Coat your ball of dough with olive oil and chill about half an hour.

While your dough is chilling, make the chard. Wash chard and cut into ribbons. Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chard, and sautee until it is wilted down. Kick the heat up to medium high and add the butter. Sautee until the butter starts to brown. Salt & pepper to taste and remove from the heat.

When your dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350. Take pinches of dough and form into grape-sized balls. Place dough grapes onto a cookie sheet, and lightly press with a fork while holding the sides so you have a gnocchi shape. I got about 45 gnocchi out of the batch. Brush the tops of the gnocchi with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Bring your chard back up to temperature and toss with the gnocchi when it gets out of the oven.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.

December 23, 2012

Cinderella’s cat, Lucifer

20121223-203938.jpg

December 22, 2012

Feliz Navidad

20121222-200553.jpg

December 21, 2012

Daguerreotype walls @ the Four & Twenty Blackbirds bakery in Gowanus, where we saw John Hodgman: That is all at The Bell House. (It was hilarious, by the way. Lucky for us, it’s still a few hours from Ragnarok.

20121221-221419.jpg

December 20, 2012

There’s a monster in our kitchen. A red, hulking monster that takes vegetables and turns them into tasty, perfectly smooth tasty beverages. It does a mean butternut squash purée, too.

20121220-174332.jpg

December 19, 2012

Blinding afternoon sun in the office.

Photo on 12-19-12 at 1.33 PM

December 18, 2012

7 days out from Christmas: cookies & cards are out and presents are wrapped.

20121218-190137.jpg

December 17, 2012

This tee is OG

20121217-181517.jpg

Spicy Ginger Garlic Chicken Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice

This dish is tasty. Like deeply tasty, with layers of flavors, which is good ‘cuz it isn’t quick. It is however, fully satisfying and filled with stealth veggie goodness. Paleo & gluten-free.

_DS33012w

Spicy Ginger Garlic Chicken Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice

Adapted from Mark’s Daily Apple’s Sesame Chicken and “Rice” with Fiery Ginger and Chile Sauce 

For the chicken:

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 per serving)
2 cloves garlic
4 slices ginger
4 scallions
2 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
1 Tbsp. shallot
Salt & white pepper to taste

For the rice:

1 head cauliflower
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
5 shallots
5 cloves garlic
3 c. chicken stock
Salt & white pepper to taste

For the chili sauce: 

2 Tbsp. sambal olek
3 Tbsp. ginger
3 Tbsp. shallot
3 cloves garlic
3 limes
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. chicken stock
Salt & white pepper to taste

Garnish:

1/2 cucumber
Big hand full parsley
Sesame oil

First, let’s prep the massive amount of shallots and garlic you’ll need. You will need roughly 7 shallots in total, all minced. Mince those babies up, dividing into 3 separate bowls (one for each component of the dish). Mince and divide a total of 2-3 inches fresh ginger and 10 cloves garlic. Divide these as well by component.

Once all this mise is done, split your scallions in half and slice into small moons. Juice your limes. Dice your cucumber. Chop your parsley. Gather the rest of your ingredients and break your cauliflower down for easy adding to your food processor.

Let’s start with the “rice”, since this takes the longest to cook. Add your broken down cauliflower to your food processor a little at a time and process until it looks like crumbly rice. This may take a few batches.

Add the coconut oil to a wok or large pan over high heat. Add the shallot and garlic (from your separated cauliflower rice bowl of mise) and stir-fry until beginning to brown and fragrant. Add the cauliflower and stir fry about 4 minutes or until beginning to soften. Add 3c. chicken stock and cook 15-20 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated. Salt & white pepper to taste and set aside if the rest of the meal isn’t done yet.

While the “rice” is going, make your chicken. Cut the thighs into 1 inch cubes. Heat 2 Tbsp. dark sesame oil in a large pan over high heat. Add the ginger slices, chicken portion of shallot & garlic and chicken cubes and stir-fry until cooked through and beginning to brown. Add your scallions and stir-fry 2 minutes more. Season with salt & white pepper.

On to the sauce. Add the sambal olek, chili sauce portion ginger, shallot & garlic, lime juice, and apple cider vinegar to the bowl of a food processor. Process, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary, until a paste is formed. Add the chicken stock and whiz again to combine. Season with salt to taste.

When all your components are done, add the “rice” & chicken to a large bowl and toss to combine. Top with the cucumber and parsley and toss again. Add half of the sauce and taste. Add more if needed. To serve, place in bowls and drizzle with a little sesame oil to finish.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch with a little extra sauce.

December 16, 2012

Happy Birthday to me. Today (yesterday now) was a great day.

photo (9)

This was how my day started – bacon & eggs in bed with a fabulous cake card.

photo (8)

Then on to the Rockettes!

photo (7)

Radio City Music Hall

photo (6)

The pre-show stage

photo (5)

Santa on stage

photo (4)

That white shiny line is the Rockettes doing a kick line. It was a good show. One of those quintessential NYC holiday experiences and I’m glad we got to go once. Now I don’t have to go again.

photo (3)

Even though it was drizzling and rather chilly, we decided to take a stroll down to dinner. It was quite the haul, but I’m very glad we did it. We ended up seeing all sorts of things we hadn’t before, the least of which was a store were you can get things printed by a 3-D printer (or buy your own). Coolest. Store. Ever. Poo. Apparently, the store was just a popup and is closing soon. But on the upside, some of the beyond awesome designs featured in the store are for sale over at Shapeways.com.

photo (2)

After the long hike and some restorative hot coffee & tea, we arrived at dinner. The DH didn’t tell me beforehand where we were going, only thought I might have an inkling once he spilled the genre of food (new American). I had a thought, but was still on the surprised and delighted side. WD-50 is one of my very favorite restaurants and we had not had a chance to visit since the menu switchover.

Since it was my birthday, we did it up big and had the tasting menu. Words can’t adequately describe just how fantastic this meal was. Wylie Dufrense is my type of chef – cerebral, conscientious, and playful; and his dishes reflect not only that personality, but his profound ability to marry flavor, texture and experience into a truly memorable meal. Unfortunately, I can’t find the man on Twitter or as a verified listing on Facebook to thank him for such an experience in semi-RL. This was by far one of my top 3 (if not top 1 – sorry, NAOE) dining experiences ever. Expensive? Yes, but totally worth it for the experience. A few of the dishes challenged how I thought of certain ingredients, and more than a few have re-ignited my passion for exploration into the mechanics of cooking.

photo (1)

Our follow-along tasting menu print with notes scribbled hastily on the train on the way home. A day out, and I am still in awe.

photo

Bathroom mirror selfie after getting home last night and staying up late to talk to my father. Yeah, dad, I’m not smiling in this one either – I was tired 🙂 I will do better next time. I don’t feel any older… just full and decorated with a beautiful sparkly & black pearl necklace from my DH.

All in all, a very successful birthday. Thanks, love.