Back from vacation

September 29, 2010 Back from vacation

I’ve been strangely disoriented during these first days back from vacation. Even our house doesn’t feel familiar – apparently we’d gotten used to sleeping in the car, on air mattresses, on the floor – any place with a roof, really. The “usual routine” is suddenly alien to me, and I miss the late nights and sleeping in.

We had some lovely times during our vacation, and plenty of delicious food. We ate at George’s California Modern in La Jolla, a beautiful ocean-side restaurant focused on seasonal cooking and local ingredients. On the flip side, we ate at In-n-Out – twice. We grilled fresh vegetable kebabs at our beach house, sipped gin swizzles and listened to the ocean, and ate the best pizza I’ve ever had, at a little place in Oakland.

But our vacation had to end, otherwise we’d just be unemployed. We’ve returned to Seattle with autumn starting in earnest. The leaves are starting to fall, the nights are getting darker, and the mornings are cold and cloudy. After a week of In-n-Out and wine, I’m avoiding cheese (and going to bars). Instead, I wanted to make something fall-inspired, something that brings me back home.

These sweet potato gnocchi are surprisingly easy to make as long as you keep your touch light and flavored with sage and apples. I love how gnocchi are so cheaply made – just potato, eggs, and flour. This is no exception.

RECIPE: Sweet potato gnocchi with fried sage and apple

1 large sweet potato
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 small apple, grated
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 cup all purpose flour*
6-8 sage leaves
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Bake the sweet potato with skin on until soft, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, mash potato with a fork or potato ricer and add grated apple, salt, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup flour. Mix and add additional 1/4 cup flour if dough is too wet (add more flour if dough is still too wet) – dough will be soft and sticky.

With floured hands and working with a fist of dough at a time, roll the dough into 1-inch thick ropes and then cut into bite sized pieces.

Working in batches so gnocchi won’t crowd the pot, drop gnocchi in a large pot of salted, boiling water and allow to cook until they rise to the top, about 2-3 minutes.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat until it starts to foam and turn light brown. Add sage and cook until sage is crispy, about 1-2 minutes. Remove sage and all but 2 tsp of butter or so (set aside in separate container) and add cooked gnocchi to the hot pan. Pan fry until gnocchi are golden on one side, flip and repeat, about 1 minute each side. Serve gnocchi topped with a few fried sage leaves and drizzled with little sage butter.

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