sweet potato gnocchi

With sage, chestnuts, and brown butter. I made these once before and they are super yummy - sweet and nutty, tasting like fall. Somehow the last batch were more elegant - these turned out a little more large and lumpy-lookin'. Let's call it "rustic." This recipe is from the October issue of Gourmet magazine 2009. (RIP) Be aware when frying sage that your neighbors will think you've been smoking pot all day.

scallop pasta

I made some pasta with seared scallops last night. I don't really have a recipe, but here's basically what I did:
I cooked some diced bacon (Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm), then drained it on paper towels. After pouring out the bacon fat, I sauteed some diced onion and garlic in a little olive oil and a little butter. Then I added a tiny bit of white wine and chicken broth, reduced it, and added some chopped spinach and the bacon, as well as a little lemon zest. I cooked some thin whole wheat spaghetti in salted water until it was not quite al dente, and added it to the sauce with about a cup of the pasta water. Then while that simmered, I seared the scallops (dried with paper towels and seasoned with salt and pepper) in a very hot cast iron skillet with some butter, just until they browned on each side, flipping once. Then I put the pasta in the bowl with the scallops on top.