Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Browned Butter and Sage

Did you know that yesterday was 'Gnocchi Day'? Of course, I happen to find out about this just one day late - and one week after I whipped up some delicious, feather-light sweet potato gnocchi. The good news is that we only have to wait one month until it's Gnocchi Day again (lest you begin to think I'm crazy or making all this up, here's the Wikipedia article that proves it...because everyone knows that Wikipedia is the very highest standard in incontrovertible, scholarly proof).

Apparently, in some parts of South America, particularly Argentina and Uruguay, the 29th of every month is Gnocchi Day, or Dia de Ñoquis. You can catch a bit of the backstory here, but the important takeaway is that there's now a dedicated day, every month (well, except most Februarys) when you have full and free license to stuff your face with delicious pillows of potato pasta. As if you needed any excuse!

I've a shared a gnocchi recipe on this blog before - in fact, it was my first-ever homemade gnocchi experience - but this one is a little different: it's made with sweet potatoes. If you want a bit of information about the history of the dish, as well as a very detailed method for creating the perfect gnocchi, I recommend reading that earlier post. I also heartily recommend that recipe for first-time gnocchi makers because it's pretty foolproof and delivers light, airy gnocchi almost every time.

Today's recipe, for me anyway, has been a bit more finicky. In fact, my first try of the original recipe yielded dough much too soft to shape. The gnocchi may have been light, but they were amorphous blobs that fell apart at the slightest touch. I've played with some of the quantities since, and come up with a version that worked well for me - I hope it will for you also.

If you can manage the rolling technique and find the line between overworked and under-floured (the trick is to work and flour the dough as little as possible, to keep it light but still manageable), this recipe yields wonderfully flavorful pillows of perfection. I love the bit of sweetness from the potatoes paired with the savory parmesan, but the flavor of the gnocchi is subtle, so don't drown it in strong sauces. Browned butter and sage is a good choice, as is a light pesto, or just some olive oil and a sprinkling of grated, aged cheese.

The Beacon Drive-In, Spartanburg, SC (aka Matt's All-Time Favorite Restaurant)

Everyone knows that the best way to woo a food lover is to ply them with delicious dishes and take them to all the best restaurants: so it should be no surprise that Matt won me over with his 'Smothered Grilled Chicken' (I must get him to do that for the blog!), his baked havarti, and his stories of a magical place called The Beacon Drive-In, in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Serving up heaping plates of burgers, fries, and onion rings (with a generous helping of grease) the Beacon is not haute cuisine, but it is home to some of the sweetest tea on the planet and, what's more, it's Matt's favorite restaurant...on earth.* It's only right, then, that we made time during our Christmas visit to make the pilgrimage - and I'm only sorry that it's taken me this long to write it up!

This is the Beacon Burger Plate-a-Plenty

Cheesy Ham and Potato Hash

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Matt and I took a trip up to Chicago to meet my new little nephew and spend the holiday with family. We played games, stuffed ourselves with desserts and feasted on lots and lots of turkey. I'm still nursing a bit of a tryptophan hangover, so while everyone else is still talking turkey, I'll share one last recipe for transforming leftover ham!

I was so proud of myself for writing up this recipe over the holiday weekend (I rarely get the chance to write up posts ahead of time, but I knew I'd be busy unpacking today) - and then I accidentally deleted it this morning, so you'll be getting a bit of a condensed version!

Thank goodness, then, that this dish is incredibly simple; tender chunks of chopped ham, shredded cheddar cheese, home-fried potatoes and a bit of egg for binding. This may sound like the perfect leftover ham breakfast, but it's also great for lunch or dinner... or a post-Thanksgiving snack!

Lots of Food and Travel links!

I don't often do link round-ups, but I'm always collecting articles and links that I think might be of interest to my readers and, since things have been so busy lately, I just know that I won't get around to sharing some of these in greater detail. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy them and check them our for yourselves!

Food:
Ever wonder why grocery stores use those chalk board-look signs? Here's an interesting look at the psychology behind the supermarkets.

Can't get enough of those fried strips of starch? All you ever wanted to know about French Fries, you can learn at the Frietmuseum in Belgium.

Schedule some gastro-tourism with help from the Tasting Table's new site,  U.S. of Eats: An Atlas of America's Best Food Travel Destinations.

Travel:
How creative are these train ticket-style invitations? Have party, will travel!

Destination: Dessert! Lonely Planet details their favorite spots for sweets around the globe (I particularly enjoy reading everyone's opinions and contributions in the comments!)

Budget Travel's 15 Places Your Kids Should See Before 15. How many have you seen?

Lonely Planet uncovers the World's Best Long Walks. What are you waiting for? Lace up your boots and get going!

Nashville Noshing: The Pancake Pantry

If you ask a group of Nashville residents about the best place to grab a mid-morning bite, chances are good that at least one will mention the Pancake Pantry. This specialized eatery is currently celebrating 50 years of serving up their breakfast namesake - plenty of time to cultivate their reputation as a Nashville institution, and they've clearly done a great job of this: a Google search for the restaurant turned up more than 819 reviews!

Yep, that's a mountain of whipped cream - and they still serve it that way!

Given the name, it's no surprise that their pancakes are the big attraction here - the menu boasts 23 varieties complete with a lengthy list of toppings, syrups and condiments - but they also serve sandwiches, soups, salads, and other breakfast fare. The restaurant is large, airy and simply furnished, with huge windows looking out onto the street and a host of small, closely-packed tables to cater to the daily rush of customers. As an unabashed lover of pancakes for breakfast, lunch or dinner, I was thrilled when Sara Beth and Victoria suggested this as our first stop for the weekend.

Pumpkin and Parmesan Gnocchi with Rubbed Sage and Browned Butter

Even though I don't have a drop of Italian blood in my body, I've always been drawn to Italian foods.  There's something rich and luxurious about the idea of Italian cooking (fresh-pressed olive oil? earthy truffles? sun-ripened, tomatoes fresh from the vine? all those delightful aged cheeses?) that could tempt even the most teutonic cook to try their hand at a mediterranean dish or two.  For me, this desirable dish has always been gnocchi.  I love these little pillows of dumpling delight for their versatility and, possibly, for their more-than-slight resemblance to the Eastern European dumplings of my youth.

I have always promised myself that, someday, I would make my own gnocchi from scratch.  After years of promises, that someday finally arrived last week.  For the past several days I've been slowly clearing out our cupboards and freezer in preparation for our upcoming move.  This has made for a few unusual meals, but it has also encouraged me to try new things and new combinations of ingredients.  When I discovered some pumpkin puree in the freezer (the remains of the Pumpkin of Shame - remember him?) I just knew I had to make pumpkin gnocchi.  Luckily, I had a few potatoes in the cupboard and a scant quarter cup of parmesan in the fridge - the time had come.

With no Italian nonna to whisper instructions over my shoulder, I scoured the web for recipes and eventually came up with a version that is largely inspired by the few ingredients left in my cupboards and based on this recipe by Emeril Lagasse, with some helpful hints on technique from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks.

Of course, before there's a recipe, there has to be a brief history lesson.  Aren't you fascinated by the fact that dumplings, in some form or another, exist in almost every country across the European continent? Well, I was, so I did some digging and the answer, of course, is the Romans.  The oldest written recipe for gnocchi comes from 1300s Italy, but the pasta is much, much older.  The word gnocchi comes from the Italian nocchio, meaning a knot of wood, or nocca, meaning knuckle, but the pasta is believed to be of Middle Eastern origin, brought by the Roman Legions as their empire expanded across Europe.  In the 2000 years that have passed since, many countries have developed their own variations on the original, with German Spaetzle, Polish kopytka and Czech knedlicky as some modern examples.  The original Roman version was made with semolina and eggs, as are some modern variations, though the addition of the potato is a relatively recent innovation, occurring some time after the one-maligned potato arrived in Europe in the 16th century. So now you know!

Best of British: English Roast Potatoes

How do you turn a humble Idaho-grown spud into an international superstar?

Before...

...make him into traditional English roast potatoes!!!!!

...after!

Roast potatoes are as much an English institution as fish and chips or mutton and mint sauce, and possibly more beloved than either.  No Sunday roast would be complete without these starchy, golden pockets of crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside goodness.  As a child, I would look forward to Sunday afternoons that held the promise of flavorful, oven-roasted meats, roasted seasonal vegetables and, the pinnacle of perfection, roast potatoes or 'roasties' as they're affectionately known.  Sitting on the wooden pews of our drafty, stone church I would squirm with anticipation of the feast that awaited us when we returned home.