October 23 Meal: Eating Opposites

Time for the NC State Fair.  Like all state fairs, this is a smorgasbord of deep fried and sugar-filled foods.  Despite the fact that we were hosting friends for dinner that night, Shaun and I went with some friends to sample the new dishes.  This year we tried Texas Frito chili pies (amazing!), fried mashed potatoes (eh), deep fried Oreos (my favorite!), fried banana pudding, and fried pumpkin pie.  Then it was time to head home and cook up some Eggplant Marinara Flatbread, Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter, and Maple-Apple Pie with Walnut Streusel  for some friends coming over for dinner.  It was definitely opposite ends of the eating spectrum in one day from fried to gourmet.

Eggplant Marinara Flatbread
For an appetizer I made the eggplant flatbread.  Cook up the eggplant with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toast some ciabatta on the same skillet.  Top the ciabatta with marinara, eggplant, goat cheese, basil, and mozzarella and bake.  I'm usually not a huge eggplant fan, but this dish had great flavor.  It was a great vegetarian appetizer, and could even be a main dish with some salad.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $10 for 4 servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 30 minutes for prep and 45 minutes total. I spent about 15 minutes for prep and 30 minutes total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, great appetizer.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter

This was probably not the right dish to take on for a day that I wasn't home to prepare, but I thought it turned out alright, considering.  I prepared the butternut squash the night before by steaming and pureeing it.  The morning of, I cooked the potato and "riced" it through my pasta strainer.  These two vegetables are mixed with nutmeg, egg, Parmesan, salt, and flour to make the dough.  The dough is divided into 8 sections, rolled into a thin rope and cut into the little bits.  Each bit is supposed to be rolled over the tines on a fork to make ridges, but I was running late so only half of mine were ridged.  I don't think it changes the flavor.

The bits are chilled for a while.  Later, they are cooked in boiling, salted water and set aside.  Lastly, they are sauteed with lots of butter and sage.  I loved the texture, which was dumpling-like, but I'm not sure if it was right.  I might try this one again in the future when we have a snow day and there's nothing else to do but concentrate on the process.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $8 for 6 servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 1:45 hours for prep and 4 hours total. I'll say I spent about the same amount of time in prep, but I'm not sure about total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, I'd like to try to perfect this one.

Maple-Apple Pie with Walnut Streusel

I have to confess, I didn't plan this one very well.  Fortunately, I have a husband who is very capable in the kitchen, so he took this dish over completely.  I only made the crust the night before.  The crust is just a combination of flour, sugar, butter, salt, and water.  The filling is sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, coriander, allspice, salt, Golden DDelicious apples, and butter.  The topping is a streusel with maple sugar, flour, butter, salt, and walnuts.  Unfortunately, even with the amount of maple sugar used (remember, an expensive ingredient), I completely forgot that there was maple in the pie when I was eating it.  It tasted delicious, but I don't think the maple was a necessary addition.  We ate the pie with Alden's Vanilla Ice Cream, the best vanilla we know.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $14 for 8 servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 1 hour for prep and 3:20 hours total. Shaun spent about 30 minutes in prep and 2:15 total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, but I think it would be just as good without the maple sugar, and therefore less expensive.