Swing Eats

*(Sorry about the formatting, as Google Blogger is not cooperating with my format changes.) While working at Fundació Alicia in Spain, one of our last duties as an intern was to make a dish that is typical of where we live — that was an intimidating task considering that two of the staff were elBulli chefs. My Italian roommate and fellow intern, Michela, wanted to do a trial run of her dish, gnocchi, at the apartment. Again, we cooked side-by-side, as I made the gluten-free version of her gnocchi.  These pillows of deliciousness are worth the time and work, as well as the sauce. She taught me that gnocchi is a very basic ratio: 1 kilogram of potatoes to 100 grams of flour to 1 egg with a generous pinch of salt. While working at a restaurant in Bologna, she made 10 kilogram batches of gnocchi on a regular basis. (That is 22 pounds: a lot of gnocchi.) The secret to perfect gnocchi, she confided, was that half the potatoes should be starchy (russets/Idaho) and...

Watermelon seems like the perfect way to cool off on a hot summer day. We I went to Greece, the locals preferred to eat it with feta cheese. They thought the saltiness of the feta brought out the sweet flavor of the watermelon. It does. I decided to take it up a couple of more levels with mint, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkling of sea salt. Try it. You may like it, too. Ingredients: Watermelon Feta Fresh Mint Leaves Olive Oil Salt to taste Directions: Cut the watermelon into large dice cubes, removing inedible seeds. Crumble feta on top. Cut the mint into very thin strips, sprinkle on top. Drizzle a small amount of extra virgin olive oil on top. Follow with a light sprinkling of sea salt on top. Enjoy! A little taste of summer.... -Erin Swing Swing Eats This is part of  Food Network's Summer Soiree . Check out   The FN Dish . The summer produce we're focusing on here is watermelon. On twitter, we're tagging   #SummerSoiree . Here are other delicio...

Turnips.  The enigmatic root vegetable.  Deceivingly peppery with a pretty fuchsia exterior and a perfectly white interior.  Typically for root vegetables, I either roast them or mash them.  Look at this picture, root vegetables appear imperfectly beautiful.  I thought celery root would make for a good flavor pairing with the turnips, given its intense celeriac character.  Keeping it simple with rustic, with a dash of nutmeg, garlic, and white pepper for a hint of fall.  Here's the final product which I find rustic and comforting. Mashed Turnips with Celery Root Ingredients: turnips: 2, peeled and cut into uniform medium cubes celery root: 1, peeled and cut into uniform small cubes butter: 4 tablespoons salt, white pepper, nutmeg, granulated garlic to taste milk or half and half: about 1/2 cup Directions: In a large pan, bring salted water to a boil.  Add in the celery root first (takes longer to cook, and that's why we want to cut ...

This week's blog theme is chocolate Valentine's desserts.  My mind automatically goes to chocolate, then to panna cotta, then figuring out how I can incorporate Nutella into it.  Normal progression of a normal person's thought pattern, right?  I wanted to keep to the traditional panna cotta recipe, using sour cream to finish it, giving it a delicate brightness.  I figured that could serve Nutella well.  And it does.  This recipe turned out to be very simplistic in its measurements and minimal in it ingredients (no added sugar needed!), even though it looks super-fancy.  Just the plain Nutella panna cotta is plain brown.  I put a rich Nutella and butter "chocolate button" on top with a sprinkling of chopped toasted hazelnuts for aesthetic and to add textural and flavor intensity.  How I finished it reminds me of an old childhood favorite candy, Toffifany.  (I found an old  1978 Toffifany commercial , "not too good for YOU!") ...

Happy Halloween!  Trick or treating is really the best part of Halloween.  However, as adults we find other means besides candy to indulge.  Well, at least we have the best intentions.  Looking at the seasonal produce, I saw so much squash.  And spaghetti squash has a special quality about it.  Once it's cooked, it breaks down into a spaghetti-like texture.  I know it's an old trick, but it doesn't get old.  It's easy, nutritious, takes on whatever flavor you give it, and everyone can enjoy it.  I am partial to spaghetti, with lots of oregano.  And spaghetti squash goes even better than pasta with oregano.  Please take a look at an old blog post of mine about the chemistry of oregano and another great recipe:  Spaghetti. With Lots of Oregano .  Use a strong oregano that you can smell - the stronger, the better.  I kept it really simple: roasted the spaghetti squash for best flavor and to ensure even cooking; tosse...

So continues Food Network's Fall Fest with squash. The first thing to come to my mind, as I sure most people's minds, is butternut squash soup. With good reason. It's comforting, warm, hearty, rich, and not that difficult to make. Most soups start with a mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery), which creates the aromatic foundation. Then add in cooked tender squash, stock, seasonings, and puree. That simple. Well, I find the most difficult aspect is the handling of the butternut squash. Every time I break one down, I curse at myself for not buying a cheap work horse cleaver from the Asian market. Hence I prefer to roast the butternut squash split in the oven. Then it works it easy to scoop out and add into the stock pan. Roasting adds a great depth of flavor from the Maillard reaction: the browning reaction (think meats, caramel, etc) that breaks down proteins and carbohydrates into small tasty flavor molecules. I add the mirepoix on the baking sheet to roast with the squ...