In Which The Asian Grocery Was Closed, Or: How We Invented Sweet Potato Nachos

Full of all the best intentions, courage, and what I hoped would pass for "please help me, I'm new to this" charm, I ventured out on Sunday night to go to my first ever Asian market.  Following Google maps diligently, I arrived at my destination...Closed.  Not closed, like we'll open tomorrow after our hangover dissipates, Closed, like we'll never be open again.

Feeling not unlike a deflated balloon (best intentions makes your chest puff out a bit), I went to make my U turn, when what do I see?  They're not really Closed, they've relocated!  I pull into the new parking lot and...what else...closed.  Just closed this time, not Closed.  Curses.

In an effort to not let the universe foil my attempts at Japanese cooking, I decided to see what Hannaford had as far as Japanese necessities.  They have a lot, but not enough to make anything substantial.  On the way home, I called Nick and we tried to figure out what to do instead.  I had sweet potatoes, he found some ground turkey in the freezer, and I'd picked up some cheese curds.  And with that, sweet potato nachos were born:

The turkey was simply browned, then mixed with Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce to taste.  I baked the potato slices at 400(ish) for about 15 minutes (the slices were thin), then put a little turkey and curd on top of each one and baked for another 5-7 minutes, until the curds were melted.

My. God.  How have we never had this before???  It was SO good!  The second round used Mexican blend cheese instead of curds, and it was ok, but not as good as the first batch.  This is definitely on the "I don't want anything complicated or expensive, let's just have ____" list.  YUM.

Gnocchi Know

When the recipe came with so many warnings about not making the pasta too squishy or too doughy, it should come as no real surprise that I erred on the side of squishy, which resulted in a mostly edible (when fried), but definitely squishy batch of gnocchi.  It wasn't bad.  I will make it again.  But this was not a perfect first attempt.  I needed more flour, even with only 4 potatoes (instead of the 6 the recipe called for). 

I saw "quartered" and my mind read "cubed".  The potatoes cooked faster this way, and they fit into what I'm calling my potato ricer (which I think it may be, outside of Germany) much better as well.

See, Mom?  Putting it to good use.  :-)

Supposed to be an action shot, but it's hard to squeeze and snap at the same time.  Oh well.

In the end, I browned some butter and fried these puppies up so they'd have at least some redeeming texture to them.  I only used about 2.5 c of flour (the recipe said 2-3 cups), so next time I'll definitely add more.  I have to admit, I've only made dough-based stuff in the past month or so of my life (aside from cookies from the back of the Nestle bag), so I don't have an eye for this yet.  Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Meanwhile, not in the kitchen...the family is happily fed and passed the heck out on the couch.  Mission accomplished.

Also, we've (ok, mostly I've) started decorating for the holidays.  Shelby was confused, then hissed when I took it off her.  I did this while Nick was out of the house...I'm pretty sure he would have clawed me worse than she would to save her from this shame.  I still can't stop giggling at it.

Kini doesn't like the holidays much, it turns out.  And yes, I got her a hoodie.  She doesn't like it a lot, but it keeps her from scratching herself raw until we can get her to the vet and figure out what she's allergic to (food, not clothing). 

This one may need to be our Christmas card this year.  There are a few expletives in those eyes, huh?  He started running around the house with it on, and Kini thought he'd turned into a moving chew toy so she started chasing him.  I don't think he'll be as docile next time I try to get it on him.

Call it cruelty against animals if you want, but do it with a straight face...I dare you.  :-D

Iraq week started yesterday (I can't even justify the Domino's I had last night, sorry), so the post is coming up.  Might be the end of the day before I get it out, but it'll be worth reading I promise.

Have a happy Monday!

Gnocchi

Book Mentions

Friday night, Nick and I went to Barnes and Nobles for the first time in forever.  I wandered my way over to the cooking section and found a couple of interesting reads, one of which I picked up for future reference. 

Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes

I read the first few pages of this book and decided that in order to tackle the upcoming middle east countries, I needed to read the rest of the book.  I feel like I, like many of us I'm sure, have a lot of assumptions and prejudices against that whole part of the world that are either wrong or severely skewed.  The first page of this book told me that cookbooks were the most common form of written language in this area of the world in the 1400s.  Isn't that something?  I don't know why, but that intrigues me a lot.  For an area that's built mostly from nomadic cultures (or so I hear, I haven't really looked into that statement, to be honest), it's interesting to me that the legacy that they felt most compelled to write down was...their cooking. I am VERY excited to attempt justice for these dishes, and can't wait to learn more about the cultures that came up with them.


What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets

This one left me pouting.  I'd never seen this book until Friday night, and I don't know why I thought I was so original in my attempt to eat my way around the world (though this guy did it literally, and didn't actually *make* anything he ate...cheater), but I have to admit, this one burst my bubble a bit.  That said, it's actually a completely different take on the concept.  It's ordered from lowest to highest daily caloric intake, and doesn't have anything to do with traditional culture or cuisine...it's just what this sample of a cross section of a culture eats on a daily basis.  Some of it is pretty gross...and not because it's foreign meats either.  The least appealing meals were the most prepackaged.

Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure

This one sounds interesting, but gets kinda crummy reviews.  I wish I could get sponsored to do something like that, but less eating at restaurants, more eating at local homes and watching/attempting to record old ladies make dishes they've served for generations.  I feel like, in the age of fast food, we're losing our souls by losing our abilities to cook.  I love making red beans because it links me to generations upon generations of cajun ladies, in kitchens across the ages.  (Ok, maybe not that long, but you know what I mean.)  Maybe I need to write my own book.  I think it'd definitely be more than 90 days of travel though.  Hey, corporate big wigs...anyone out there want to sponsor a fantastic voyage?  :-)