Garlic Bread and Gnocchi

This garlic bread is THE best garlic bread I think I've ever had! This and the gnocchi both come from JustJanS from Warrnambool Victoria Australia. She makes this garlic bread spread at a pub there. The gnocchi is a creation of a friend of hers from the pub kitchen. For the bread - I make my own. I didn't have time to let it rise again so I rolled it out as if I was making cinnamon rolls and spread the filling all around and rolled up, let the dough rise in a bread pan, then baked. That's why the bread is swirly in the picture. Super easy to do.

Garlic Bread
1 french bread loaf - either store bought or homemade
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 garlic cloves, crushed - fresh is the best option
2 TBSP parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix seasoning ingredients together. Slice bread into about 1 inch thick slices - don't slice all the way through. Spread each slice with garlic butter. Wrap in foil and bake for 15 minutes. If you like your bread crispier - open the foil the last few minutes.

If you do what I did - I spread the filling on a rolled out french bread dough. Let rise in a bread pan, baked, let cool slightly and then sliced. Somewhere on this blog is my french bread recipe should you want to make some!

Gnocchi
Gnocchi is basically potato pasta. It seems to be versatile. I've had it in a chicken soup at the Olive Garden and loved it there.

4 cups russett potatoes, weighed after peeling - leave whole
1 1/2 oz butter or margarine
3/4 cup flour
3/4 oz grated parmesan cheese
1 TBSP dried herbs - optional
3 eggs, room temperature (Mine were not)
flour for dusting (You will need it.)
cold water (I added ice cubes to keep it really cold.)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for poaching the gnocchi.
Choose potatoes of a similar size and a pot just big enough to hold them so they don't bump around. Boil the potatoes in salted water just until cooked through.
Mash well with the butter. Gradually add flour, cheese and herbs. Mix very well.
Add eggs one at a time making sure to mix well after each addition.
Divide the gnocchi dough into 4ths. Taking one section - place on a well floured countertop and gradually work into a long sausage. The gnocchi dough is very soft so you'll be pushing and gently pulling rather than rolling.
When the roll is about 3/4 inch diameter - cut into 1 inch lengths. Poach in the large pot of boiling water until the gnocchi all float to the top - about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately plunge into the bowl of cold water. Drain.
Repeat with remaining 3 sections of dough.
Serve gently reheated with your favorite pasta sauce, soup, etc.
These may also be frozen in a single layer and reheat well after defrosting.

Corn Chowder

This chowder is one of my go-to comfort foods. Especially when it's cold like it's been. This recipe I got from my sister-in-law Carrie. She got it from my mother-in-law. Russell doesn't particularly care for it - but I LOVE it! So it gets to come to my recipe blog. As a side note...I like to do my bacon in the oven. It's less messy that way. I keep a canning jar in the fridge for bacon drippings. Actually there are about 5 or so in my freezer as well. Who knows....they just might come in handy. When I need a bit of bacon drippings here or there - I just scoop it out and return the jar to the fridge.

Corn Chowder
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled, save 3 TBSP of drippings
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 TBSP flour
3 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups corn, cream style or not - it's up to you (canned or fresh or frozen is also your option)
3 cups diced potatoes, cooked and drained
parsley - to make it look pretty (you decide)
paprika - to make it look pretty (again - you decide)

Cook onion and celery in bacon fat about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly. This step doesn't take very long at all. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. This step takes awhile. You want to end up with a nice thick creamy base for your chowder. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in pepper, corn, potatoes, parsley and paprika. Stir in bacon.
Serves: 6

Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana

Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana
1 lb sausage
6 medium red potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices
3/4 cup diced onions
6 slices bacon
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 cups fresh baby spinach, sliced thinly
3 TBSP chicken boullion
2 quarts water
1 cup heavy cream

Cook ground sausage until done. Cook bacon and onion over medium heat, when bacon is crisp - remove. Leave the onion. Add garlic to the onion and cook 1 minute. Add boullion, water, and potatoes. Simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Crumble bacon. Add to soup. Add heavy cream and heat thoroughly. Serve with croutons or crackers or french bread or breadsticks.

Potato Chowder

I don't have a picture of this tasty cold weather chowder. So....when I make it again - I will be sure to take one to post. This recipe comes from Ellie at http://thisismydisease.com/ . She sent this recipe with some other ones to try. So far - this is the first. It's a very versatile recipe. I will post what she does and what I did. She likes to put hers in a crockpot.

Potato Chowder
3/4 bag frozen o'brien potatoes (I used mashed potatoes since I had a bunch that needed to be used)
1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
2 1/2 quarts chicken broth (I used my homecanned chicken stock)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 tsp black pepper or to taste (I would use less then add more later)
1/2 tsp cayenne or to taste (I would use less then add more later)
2/3 tsp sea salt (I used regular as I don't have sea salt)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp hot sauce (I opted out on this one)
1/3 bag carrots, shredded (I used frozen carrots I ran through the mini processor - about 1 cup)
6 oz cream cheese, cubed and at room temp. (I used the whole 8 oz brick)
1/3 cup sour cream
12 oz broccoli florettes, steamed in bag (I used fresh and chopped them up)
4 oz cooked bacon (I love bacon so used more than 4 oz) :)

Sour cream, cheddar cheese, chives for garnish

Place first 10 ingredients in a 6 quart crock pot. Set temperature to low for crockpot and cook for 4 hours. Increase temperature to high and add carrots. Cook 2 hours. Remove as many of the solid potatoes as you want. Mash and return to crockpot with cream cheese and sour cream. Reduce temperature to low. Cook for 1 hour. Steam broccoli according to package directions. Add broccoli and bacon. Cook for 1 hour on low. Serve with sour cream, cheese and chives.

**I combined everything in a large Dutch oven and simmered until heated through. Certainly very tasty. The kids like dunking french bread in their soups/chowders and this one was no exception!

Easy Hash Brown Pancakes

I made these little tasty morsels today for the September 2008 Aussie/NZ recipe swap. The poster is morgainegeiser from Michigan. She in turn got it from an old "Taste of Home" magazine. Michael liked them so much he gave me a HUGE thumbs up!

Easy Hash Brown Pancakes

3 cups frozen hash brown potatoes**
2 TBSP flour
2 eggs, beaten
3 TBSP butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp water
1/2 tsp salt (OR) salt and pepper to taste - that's what I did
1 TBSP vegetable oil
Place the hashbrowns in a strainer, rinse with cold water until thawed. Drain thoroughly; transfer to a large bowl.
Add the flour, eggs, butter, water and salt; mix well. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop batter by 1/3 cupfuls into oil; fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
**I didn't have frozen hashbrowns. I did have dehydrated ones though. So - I rehydrated them and proceeded making the recipe. They worked out really, really well. We had these for dinner along with french toast. It was perfect.