Happy Holidays and the best wishes for 2012! Thank you for follow my blog and I am looking forward to share my 2012 cooking, recipes, courses, friends & family gatherings, travel and dine-out experiences with you!
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Is it the 29th yet? Is it Gnocchi time?
Gnocchi (in Italian) or Ñoquis (in Spanish) are an italian recipe of soft dumplings made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour and egg, flour, egg and cheese, potato, bread crumbs or similar ingredients .
They can be serve with butter or oil or tomato sauce or any other sauce that you will use with pasta.
Although I am half Italian, born and raised eating Ñoquis, I learned to make them after I left Argentina. My friend Margarita, an excellent cook that I will refer many times in this blog, taught me how to make them. We enjoyed together many delicious Ñoquis meals. Thanks Margarita!
If you are wondering why the 29th, it is because in Argentina there is a tradition of eating ñoquis every month on the 29th. The tradition is to get together with friends and family to eat ñoquis, put a bill under your full plate before starting to eat and do not spend that bill until the next month. It is suppose to bring you more money. When it is about food tradition that involves yummy food, I am in! and I will follow it 
Don’t feel intimidated, Ñoquis are very easy to make. They can be frozen and cooked at any other time. Try this Ñoquis recipe next 29th for your guests and I will guarantee that you will impress them. Bonn Appetite!
| Potato Gnocchi |
|
Prep time: 40 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 50 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 2lb. cooked potatoes (about 2 cups of cooked potatoes)
- 1 1/2 cup of flour
- 1 TBSP corn stach
- 1 TSP baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 3 TBSP parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup of flour more for dusting board and dough
Instructions
- Steam the pealed potatoes in the pressure cooker following your pressure cooker manual (approx 15 min after full pressure in low temperature)
- Mash the potatoes by hand and fluff them up a bit with a fork.
- Add the flour, egg, corn stach, baking powder, parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt.
- Mix by hand until you have a nice pliable ball of dough. Do not overmix.
- Prepare a work area and dust it with flour.
- Take the dough, a piece at a time, and roll it out gently with your hands until you have rolls about 3/4 inch in diameter.
- Gently roll the dough with your fingertips while while exerting the lightest pressure outwards, not down, to draw the dough out.
- Cut the tubes of dough into pieces about one inch long. Using either the tines of a fork or your fingertip, press against a piece of the dough and roll it slightly to form an indentation.
- As the gnocchi are made, place them on flat baking pan, lightly dusted with flour or lined with wax paper.
- Bring at least 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in a shallow saucepan.
- Gently drop the gnocchi, a few at a time, into the water.
- As soon as they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon, draining well.
- Arrange on a warm serving dish.
- Pour your favourite heated pasta sauce, butter or oil over them and sprinkle with the pepper and parmesan cheese.
- Serve immediately.
Tags: Cooking Aboard, Galley, Gnocchi, Main Dish, Pressure Cooker, Recipes
If you ask me what it will be an essential equipment for the galley, without a doubt I will answer a pressure cooker. It is one of the best investments you can make if you are a weekend, long time cruiser or live-aboard. You will not regret it.
Pressure cooking is a method of cooking in a sealed pot that does not permit air or liquids to escape below a preset pressure. Great for a boat; the steam stays inside the pot without fogging all the hatches!
Because the boiling point of water increases as the pressure increases, the pressure built up inside the cooker allows the liquid in the pot to rise to a higher temperature before boiling. Pressure is created at the beginning with boiling liquid, such as water, inside the closed pressure cooker and the trapped steam increases the internal pressure and temperature, which is maintained throughout cooking time.
The main advantage is that foods are cooked much faster with much less water used than boiling and less energy is required than when boiling, steaming or oven cooking, making whatever is in the pot extremely tender and flavorful while reducing heat in the galley. So less water and less propane! A win-win situation for any boat.
Pressure cookers disadvantages are considerably more expensive than conventional saucepans of the same size and requires replacement of the gasket/sealing ring when it is worn out. In order to inspect the progress of food cooked in a pressure cooker, the cooking process needs to be halted and the cooker opened. The risk of scalding from escaping steam is greater with a pressure cooker, as the temperature is above the 100 degrees Celsius at which water boils at sea level in conventional cooking.
I invested in a T-Fal pressure cooker 5 years ago and I can not believe the results. You can find a great article Pressure Cookers Test at the Practical Sailor magazine, if you would like to compare different kinds before purchasing one.
I have many recipes that I use the pressure cooking technique, in this post I shared the Cranberry Roast Recipe. Easy, fast and delicious! Enjoy!
| Cranberry Roast |
Recipe type: Main Dish
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 35 mins
Total time: 45 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 2 Tsp Oil
- 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
- 1 beef chuck roast
- 1 can jellied cranberry sauce
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Brown roast on a pan in each side with the hot oil
- Place onion soup mix and water in the bottom of a pressure cooker
- Place roast in the pressure cooker, and top with cranberry sauce.
- Cover, lock and cook following instructions of your pressure cooker manufacture. (Maximum heat until pressures and approximately 35 min at low heat)
- Remove roast, and serve with the gravy.
Tags: Cooking Aboard, Galley, Main Dish, Pressure Cooker, Roast
A couple of months ago, we invited Rose and Dan for dinner at our boat and as usual when Rose ask me “what do I bring?” I answered: “don’t bring anything, only you”. Well, she did not listened and I am glad for that.
Rose brought this amazing tea biscuits, that I could have eat them all myself without sharing. When she made them she added spices like oregano, garlic salt and basil and no cheese. I could not wait to make them again. I got the recipe and I added cheese. You can’t go wrong with cheese, no? They were easy, boat friendly and delicious! Thanks Rose for sharing this recipe! Enjoy!
| Rose’s Tea Biscuits |
Recipe type: Bread
Author:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 4 tsp of baking powder
- 1/2 cup of lard
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Mix the flour with the baking powder
- Cut into the above the lard until the mix looks like cornmeal
- Add milk
- Add Cheese
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface and cut out the size of your choice
- Bake at 425 degrees F until light golden brown.
Tags: Bread, Cooking Aboard, Galley, Recipes, Tea Biscuits
During this summer we have been celebrating Happy Hour! following the awesome advise of Lynn Pardey on her book `Care and feeding of Sailing Crew’ .
Each evening when we come after work, we just relax with a glass of wine and an appetizer to enjoy the gorgeous view of Nanaimo harbor from our boat.
Last week I prepared Nachos following my motto of simple and easy. Be prepared to be asked for more because they are absolutely delicious. Enjoy!
| Nachos |
Recipe type: Appetizer
Author:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 2 Tortillas
- 1 cup of salsa
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Cut the tortillas in 6 pieces and put them in lightly oiled pan
- Bake them in a 325 degree oven for 5 minutes each side until they are crispy
- Take them out of the oven and put one scoop of salsa and cheese on each one
- Broil or bake until cheese melts (approx. 5 to 10 minutes)
Tags: Appetizer, Broiling, Cooking Aboard, Galley, Nachos, Recipes
About Maisa
I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina; lived in Fresno, California and moved to Nanaimo, BC, Canada in 1999. I love food and cooking for my husband (Guillermo), my family and friends.
Meals in Argentina are a big part of a social gathering. I learned how to cook watching my grandma and mom cooking everyday from scratch with fresh ingredients. They never followed a book or any measurements.
I prefer simple, tasty, sophisticated, healthy and fast recipes. I enjoy changing recipes and mixing flavors.
We have been living aboard our sailboat S/V Baires since 2006. Cooking in a galley (kitchen) can be rewarding but also challenging. Small spaces to storage, refrigeration and the small stove are some of the daily challenges.
I decided to start writing this blog to share my cooking, recipes, courses, friends & family gatherings, travel and dine-out experiences. I hope you enjoy following me!
