Potato and thyme gnocchi with garlic mushrooms

I actually managed to find this week's BSI in time to think about making something. Better yet, this week's ingredient -- potato -- coincided nicely with a veritable explosion of said veg in my cupboard. An overly-zealous potato packer in the veg box, combined with several weeks of cooking less than normal, equals enough spuds to stave off a potato famine. Fate intervenes courtesy of Chez What?: I have an excuse to use some potatoes.

At first, I said to myself, "Self: what is better than pure, unadulterated potato? Make your favorite roast potatoes and call it a night." But then, I also thought that the whole point of the Blogger Secret Ingredient was to make it a bit of a challenge, a la Iron Chef, but with fewer pyrotechnics (one hopes -- but one does not always anticipate what happens in kitchens).

At last, coming home on Friday evening and feeling like a bit of a challenge after a challenging week, I decided that I would make one of my favorite potato-based foods: gnocchi. Fluffy little pillows of potato, they are the perfect vehicle for any sauce. Or no sauce. Yep: I just love gnocchi in any form.

Making gnocchi is not difficult, but it requires a little finesse. The most important step is getting the cooked potatoes mashed smoothly, which -- without a ricer -- is much more difficult to achieve. Once smooth, there is a balance between combining them with the egg and flour but not over-mixing: the fluffy little pillows will turn into concrete weights.

One mixed, you have to roll out the dough -- without too much flour -- and cut it into bite-sized pieces.

There is also a rather complex method of shaping them involving rolling them down the back of the tines of a fork, but I confess this is where I give up and leave them rustic. I think they look pretty nice:

Into a pot of boiling water and they are transformed into dinner. If only everything was so easy.

Potato and thyme gnocchi with garlic mushrooms

750g/1.5 lbs. potatoes, cooked (I microwave mine)

1 egg

1/2 C. plain flour plus extra for dusting

1/4 C. fresh thyme leaves

1 tsp. salt

1 T. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 C. dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in boiling water to cover for 15 minutes

12 brown mushrooms, such as crimini, sliced

A few sprigs of thyme

When cool enough to handle but still warm, peel the potatoes and either pass them through a ricer or mash them until smooth by hand in a large bowl.

Mix the egg into the potato and then about ½ cup of plain flour. Add the thyme. Fold the mixture together, gradually adding more flour if the mixture is too wet. Do not add too much flour as this will toughen the gnocchi.

Cut the gnocchi mixture in quarters and on a lightly floured surface roll each piece into a sausage shape about 1" in diameter, then cut those into 1" pieces.

Heat a pot of water to a full boil, then add the gnocchi. When the rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon and let drain.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil and saute the garlic, fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms (which should be drained and dried first). When cooked, add the cooked gnocchi, toss through, then stir through the remaining fresh thyme leaves.

Serves 4

Wild rice, mushroom and turkey soup

For me, the best part of cooking a turkey is not the juicy dark meat (yes, I am firmly on the dark side), the crispy skin, the unctuous gravy, or even the primeval and promethean thrill of cooking a very large animal (at least as large as most of us will ever cook), but rather the best part is the turkey stock I make after I finally give up trying to pull those last bits of meat off the carcass.  Rich, golden, and with a deep flavor, this is the sort of stock that jells in the fridge and is practically a meal in itself.

My secret weapon this year was saving the tops of the leeks from the big turkey day, the carrot peelings, and the slightly wilted stalks of celery from the stuffing.  Into the pot they went, with the bones, some bay leaves and peppercorns, and a few hours later, with practically no work, the mixture turned itself into liquid gold.  The alchemists were on to something after all -- they were just using lead instead of turkey.

In this soup, I like to start the rice in water first, since it absorbs so much liquid that I would rather save my precious turkey stock for the soup itself.  My wild rice takes about 45 minutes to cook, so I add it first, then the brown rice 15 minutes later.  Only when the water is mostly absorbed do I add my stock, but it is of course easier and delicious to use all turkey stock and just add it all at the beginning.  It just depends on how much of a miser you are with your stock.

1 leek

1 carrot

2 stalks celery

6 C. turkey stock plus 2 C. water

1/2 cup wild rice

1/2 cup brown rice

1/2 C. dry white wine

1/2 C. dried mushrooms

1 C. shredded turkey.

parsley

Chop carrot, leek and celery and cook in a large stock pot until soft.  Add water, wine, mushrooms, and rice according to instructions above.  Once water is absorbed, add the stock and turkey and simmer for a final 15 minutes, or until the rice is cooked and all the flavors have come together.  Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve with a good sprinkling of parsley.

Serves 4.

Vegetable Frittata

One of the best things to do with leftovers is to make them into a frittata.  Whether you have some extra pasta, a cooked potato or two, a few mushrooms or cherry tomatoes that aren't quite enough for a salad, the frittata makes them into a complete meal.  The following recipe makes two servings, but with a small omelette pan and only two eggs you could easily make it a single.

3 eggs

1/4 C milk

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

1/2 C. sliced mushrooms

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 avocado, diced

1/2 C. cooked pasta

Goat's cheese

salt and pepper

Saute the mushrooms in a small, oven-proof omelette pan in a bit of olive oil until brown, remove from heat.

In a large bowl, mix eggs together, then stir in milk, and then add all ingredients except for cheese.  Pour enough olive oil to lightly coat the pan, heat over medium heat, and then add egg mixture.  Give it a turn or two to let the ingredients settle, then turn the heat down and cook it over low until mostly set.  Dot the top with the cheese and finish it under the broiler until the top is golden.

Serves 2.

Grilled mushroom, broccoli and spelt salad

I can't take all the credit for this yummy salad. The original recipe, on which this is based, is from the side of a box of spelt from Trader Joe's, and was so good that my mother had to send the box to me in London. And yes, the original is mighty tasty, but I can't leave a recipe alone so this is my slightly simplified, but still amazing, version of the dish.

Note: the original calls for portobello mushrooms. One of the great marketing coups of our time, portobello mushrooms are nothing but giant -- and far more expensive -- versions of brown button or (crimini) mushroom. The portobello is the little mushroom's fully grown older brother who lives at home and siphons money off his parents. Ahem. If there is a culinary reason to use a portobello, like stuffing or grilling, or using it in a portobello "burger", then by all means buy them instead. If, however, the recipe calls for them to be cut up at all, then there is no reason not to use the smaller and less expensive button.

1 C. spelt

3 C. chicken or vegetable stock

5 T. olive oil

3 T. balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

2 fat spring onions (or 4 skinny), thinly sliced

1/4 C. dried cherries, chopped

1/2 C. toasted cashews, chopped

2 C. sliced brown mushrooms

2 C. broccoli, chopped into small florets

1/2 C. fresh parsley, chopped

salt and pepper

Place the spelt and stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then lower temperature and let simmer for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until spelt is soft but still chewy and liquid is absorbed. Stir towards the end to prevent the spelt from sticking or burning.

Meanwhile, mix oil, balsamic, garlic, spring onions, cherries, and cashews. Saute the mushrooms until they begin to turn golden and then add to the dressing. Cook the broccoli in the same pan just to soften a bit, if desired.

Add spelt to dressing and vegetables, add parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serves 4