Oktoberfest, Ja!

I routinely mention my Texan heritage (something I'm fiercely proud of) but that's not the whole story, behind my Texas roots lies a history of immigrants from many places, a large part of that is German (you'll find them on both the maternal and fraternal family trees). I first started to explore my German heritage as a bit of a rebellion in high school, everyone took Spanish, why would I want to be like everyone else? So I took German...for many years in fact, it bled into my college courses as well! It's taken a little time, mainly because my cooking continues to evolve, but finally the German roots are starting to bleed into my cooking as well, first among my January 09 posts with spatzle and red cabbage and now with rouladen.

Rouladen is a classic German staple usually consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef, then cooked to perfection. What, may I ask, about that combination isn't to love? Oh, and did I mention a pan gravy, that's right, it can get better! Now, my post may be a little late for Oktoberfest but you'll enjoy this all fall long, it's got a delicious flavor and is perfect for a chilly fall night.


1 1/2 lbs Thinly Sliced Top Round Beef (if you have beef milanese available it's perfect for this)
Salt and Fresh Pepper to taste
2 Tsp Dried Marjoram
2 Tsp Dried Thyme
Whole Grain Mustard
1/4 lb Thick Sliced Bacon, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 Large Onion, finely chopped
1/4 Cup Parsley, finely chopped
1/4 Cup Chives, finely chopped
Six 1/2 inch dill pickle strips
4 Tbsp Butter
1 Carrot, finely diced
1/2 Cup Beef Broth
1 Cup Dry Red Wine
1/2 Tsp All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp water


1. Sprinkle salt, pepper, marjoram and thyme over beef, spread mustard over the tops as well.
2. Combine 1 Cup bacon, half the onion, all of the chives and parsley and toss. Lay even amounts on each beef slice. Place a pickle slice over the top of each, roll and secure with toothpicks.
3. In a sauce pan, melt 1 tbsp of butter over moderate heat, add carrot and remaining onions and bacon, allow veggies to brown for about 10 minutes.
4. In a large, heavy skillet, melt remaining butter over moderate heat and add meat, brown on all sides, remove from skillet. Add broth and wine to skillet and stir to loosen the bits. In a small bowl, blend flour and water then add to skillet and mix well. Return meat and vegetable/bacon mixture to the skillet, cover and reduce heat slightly. Cook for an hour, turn rolls once.


So the same way I whole-heatedly embrace my Texas-roots I proudly salute my German ones too with a Shiner Oktoberfest and a plate of spatzle alongside the rouladen. Prost!

Fresh Express: Fresh Pizza Fast!

As a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher I get occasional offers to test out delicious products, recently I was given the chance to test out Fresh Express Salads, among the usual delicious salad I was searching for some creative ways to use some of these terrific ingredients and decided to turn my favorite sandwich into a pizza.

I lucked into getting mom into making the crust, which she did a terrific job on! With her help the pizzas came together in a flash!. We pulled together the crust and then covered it with a simple and tasty spinach-walnut pesto (featuring a bag of Fresh Express Baby Spinach) and then layered sliced tomato, mozarella cheese and of course, chopped bacon atop the crust and popped it in the oven!

Spinch-Walnut Pesto
1 Bag Fresh Express Baby Spinach
1 Cup Walnuts
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Parmesean
2 Cloves Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste


Combine all ingredients in a food processor (yes, I took the easy way out), mix until desired consistency.



In addition to the BLT pizza I served a Roasted Veggie and Goat Cheese pizza, we pan fried a fresh eggplant and roasted a red bell pepper then layered them atop a pizza covered with a mixture of 1 4oz container of whipped softened cream cheese, 1 3oz roll of goat cheese, softened and then over the fresh vegetables we layered additional parmesean cheese, after the pizzas came out of the oven we topped this one with freshly chopped basil.

Family pizza night for grown ups - or a sneaky way to get some veggies for your sophisticated kiddos!

Nothin Says Fall Like Pumpkin

At least not to me, I adore pumpkins in their many varieties, shapes and sizes...to the point of spray painting them after Thanksgiving (yes sometimes I still have them then) and putting gold or silver pumpkins under my Christmas tree....I might be crazy, I freely admit that. Needless to say as we round out the middle of October I feel it's now appropriate for me to start posting pumpkin related recipes so that I can fully celebrate one of my favorite vegetables.

The current issue of Bon Appetit has a beautiful recipe for Butternut Squash Gnocchi, I was enthusastic about it, grabbed all the ingredients and then stupidly (because I didn't read the steps in the recipe) thought it could be a Friday night dinner....well when the recipe says overall cook/prep time is 4 hours it's not a Friday night dinner! So, craving the gnocchi and trying to be creative I subbed a can of pumpkin for the squash and voila! Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter emerged!

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter
Based on Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter by Bon Appetit


Ingredients
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 12- to 14-ounce russet potato, peeled, quartered
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
Additional grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook potato in medium saucepan of boiling salted water until very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. While potato is warm, press through potato ricer into medium bowl; cool completely. Measure 2 cups (loosely packed) riced potato (reserve remaining potato for another use).


2. Mix pumpkin, potato, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg, nutmeg, and salt in large bowl. Gradually add 1 3/4 cups flour, kneading gently into mixture in bowl until dough holds together and is almost smooth. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls.


3. Turn dough out onto floured surface; knead gently but briefly just until smooth. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.


4. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Sprinkle parchment lightly with flour. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll dough out on floured surface to about 1/2-inch-thick rope. Cut rope crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll gnocchi along back of fork tines dipped in flour, making ridges on 1 side. Transfer gnocchi to baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.


5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour.

6. Working in 2 batches, cook gnocchi in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, 15 to 17 minutes (gnocchi will float to surface but may come to surface before being fully cooked). Using slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to same parchment-lined baking sheets.


7. Cook butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat just until golden, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes. Add sage; stir 1 minute. Add gnocchi; cook until heated through and coated with butter, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Serve with additional Parmesan.

While I don't doubt that the original butternut squash was delicious, the pumpking was a great substitute and really allowed a much more savory flavor to the gnocchi than I suspec thte sqaush would have. The recipe was delicious but made far too much for three people, I froze half the pasta for a later use and the half we had easily would've fed four maybe even five people. Needless to say, served alongside a roasted pork loin it was a perfect fall meal.

VOTING NOW OPEN!

Please, if you have a second, head over to the Project Food Bog site and vote for my entry!

Thanks - that's enough shameless self promotion for one day :)

Project Food Blog: Challenge One

As I warned you recently, I am competing in the Project Food Blog Challenge by Foodbuzz, for our first challenge, each competitor was asked to create a post that defines us as a food blogger.

How do I define myself, channeling my inner zen I think the best way to tackle this is to describe why I started blogging, in a nut shell it encapsulates a lot about me and helps describe what matters to me both personally and as a food blogger.

In May 2004 my father began commuting between Austin, TX and Torreon Mexico for work, eventually moving down there and taking my mother with him. Over the next few years it was a sort of withdrawal for me, sure I spent time away from my parents but not like this, these two people who I love whole-heartedly also are two of my closest confidants, to have both of them so far away was tough to say the least.

In 2006 my mother started blogging, it was her way of sharing the ex-pat experience, first with our immediate family and not long after with many other people out in cyber-space. I have never considered myself much of a writer but she began encouraging me, to take photos and document the things around me. At the time I was starting to truly explore cooking and the boundaries of what I knew in terms of cuisine. Quickly I realized that food was what I could write about, what I cooked, what I shared with family and friends and of course, a sprinkling of my favorite team's football successes (with much less finesse than the cooking since I'm pretty amateur at football commentary). Thus began my journey, what I hope you draw from it is that for me, the important things about this blog are a combination of those who are closest to me (family and friends) and how I express myself for them, in cooking and sharing the fruits of my labor.

In honor of that theme, I would like to share a recipe that I recently made for a Friday-night dinner with my family, a spin on the classic, Mac 'n Cheese.



Italian Mac 'n Cheese

2 Large Sprigs Rosemary
2 Large Sprigs Oregano
2 Tbsp Fresh Parsley
1/2 Cup Panko
6 Slices Pancetta
2 Lbs Pasta
1 Cup Halved Grape Tomatoes
1 Bell Pepper, Sliced
1/2 Cup + 4 Tbsp Butter
3 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Flour
2 Cloves Minced Garlic
1 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Dried Oregano
2 Tsp White Pepper
2 Tsp Nutmeg
1 Tsp Cayenne
1 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 1/2 Cup Shredded Mozzarella
1 1/2 Cup Shredded Parmesan

1. Crisp the pancetta and saute garlic in a tsp of olive oil in a small skillet, remove pancetta and set aside. Once the pancetta is cool, coarsely chop it.
2. Heat milk over medium high in a sauce pan. While milk is heating, heat butter in a large skillet. When butter begins to bubble, add flour and garlic, whisk until well incorporated.
3. Pour milk into butter, whisk until thick.
4. Remove from heat and season with white pepper, cayenne pepper, pepper flakes, nutmeg and salt. Add 5 1/2 cups cheese (evenly split between the two types) and the chopped, crisp pancetta and mix well.
5. Boil pasta until al dente. Preheat oven to 375.
6. Spray 9x13 casserole pan with vegetable oil. Place drained pasta in pan then pour cheese sauce over the top.
7. Sprinkle pasta mix with panko and remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.
8. Bake until brown and bubbling, approx. 30 minutes.


I hope that you have a better picture of who I am and what I believe. The most important thing I can do is to bring my loved ones together and enjoy their company, the easiest way to do that is with a good meal, beyond that I just want to share my finds and experiences with others.

These are the people I cook for, and the people who exert the greatest influence over me.