Bison Roast with the Most - Backwards Bison "Saltimbocca" (Kind of)

It has been awhile since I have been fortunate enough to come into contact with a truly delicious cut of meat.  Enter the Bison Roast that I found at the Fred Meyer in Wood Village.  AWESOME!  Usually I am stuck with ground bison.  Not that I am complaining, because it is delicious as well, but it kind of leaves you limited on preparation.  I mean there is only so much you can do with ground meat. The funniest part about the whole thing was that the Bison roast was cheaper per pound than the Beef was.  Oh yeah!! 

This roast was the perfect size, only about 1 1/2 lbs.  The only issue with Bison is that it is extremely lean.  Lean meat tends to be a little on the tough side unless you cook it to death in liquid. I really wasn't in the mood for a Bison Pot roast. Thus it was going to need some extra fat to keep it moist and tender.  That was when I decided on covering the whole thing in Prosciutto.  Of course, Prosciutto goes awesome with Sage.

This led me to the whole idea of Saltimbocca in reverse.  (Meat wrapped in Sage and Prosciutto instead of Sage and Prosciutto rolled up in meat)  Since I have already made Saltimbocca with Bison before, I knew the flavors would play well together.  Now, I just need to find another roast, cause I NEED to make this again!

Backwards Bison "Saltimbocca"

1 Bison Roast (I had a Bison Sirloin Roast of about 1.6 lb)
Olive Oil
Sage Leaves
Several sliced of Prosciutto
Cracked Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, then grab the Bison roast (ain't it pretty?)

Cut off any twine.

On a washable cutting board, lay out 3-4 sliced of Prosciutto, overlapping slightly, then top that with a few Sage Leaves.

Place the Bison Roast on the Prosciutto "mat" and lay sage leaves over the whole roast and season with Pepper. (The prosciutto is plenty "salty" so no extra salt is needed)

Begin wrapping the mat up the sides of the roast.

Lay more prosciutto slices over the top and (since it's a little sticky) press the seams together to completely encase the meat.

Secure the whole thing (to be on the safe side) with new twine.

Place in a roasting pan, drizzle with Olive Oil (just "Light" or "Pure", not Extra Virgin or it will smoke too much) and cover with foil.

Roast for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil, reduce the temperature to 275 degrees and insert a probe; continue toasting until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees (medium-rare-ish)

Remove the roast from the oven, re-cover with the foil and let rest on the counter for 10-15 minutes at which point the roast should be between 155 and 160 (medium)
Remove the foil and slice.......

Enjoy the taste of America!!!

Mangia!!
~~

There's No Gnocchi like Pumpkin Gnocchi, Like No Gnocchi I Know!

It's squash season again...  And I have been craving winter squash like crazy lately.  After I whet my whistle on the pumpkin biscuits a few days ago, I decided to revisit something I have been working on for awhile now....  Pumpkin Gnocchi.

I have been struggling with this one.  Mainly because of a lack of pumpkin flavor.  If I lower the potato content and add more flour, then they end up doughy.  If I don't add enough flour, then they disappear in a miasma of water and steam resulting in Potato/Pumpkin soup -- Very Frustrating.  I have finally turned to a somewhat unconventional ingredient that seems to have worked rather well.

I am sure I have broken the Gnocchi rules on this one.  The Gnocchi gods will rage against my machinations and I shall henceforth be labeled as a gnocchi heretic.  

I used.....   Potato Flour.  (you may all raise the back of your hand to your mouth in horror)

The main problem has been moisture content.  Pumpkin puree can be REALLY watery, and the flour can only absorb so much.  So I thought I would help it out by allowing the potato to absorb some of the pumpkin's juicy goodness in the form of flour instead of actual cooked potato....  This drops the overall moisture content, cause cooked potatoes are kind of wet too, and allows me to use a full 2 cups of puree instead of having to regulate myself to only1 cup, and thus diminishing the power of the pumpkin.

Tossed with Saged Brown Butter and a little Parmigiano-Reggiano and you have a succulent dish just brimming with autumnal goodness.

Pumpkin Gnocchi

Printable Recipe
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) (100 g) Semolina
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Nutmeg, freshly grated
2 cups (1 lb) (455 g) Pumpkin Puree
1/3 - 2/3 cup (2 - 4 oz) (57 - 114 g) Potato Flour  (this will depend on the moisture content of your puree)
1/2 cup (4 oz) (114 g) Butter
Sage Leaves
Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated

Combine Semolina, Kosher Salt, Black pepper and Nutmeg in a small bowl.

Place Pumpkin Puree in a bowl and add the Semolina mixture, stirring to combine.

Add 1/3 cup of the Potato Flour; Stirring to combine.

If the dough is still too soft and sticky, add another ounce (28 g) of the Potato Flour.

If it's STILL too sticky, add the remaining ounce of Potato Flour.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes, until the dough becomes slightly elastic.

Cover with Plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle your work surface and a baking sheet with more Potato Flour (though you can use AP flour) and divide the  dough in 4 equal portions.

Working with 1 piece at a time, roll into a "snake"

Cut 1 inch chunks with a sharp knife.

Place a chunk in your palm and roll the back side of a fork over it.

Place the gnocchi on a floured baking sheet when finished and continue in this way until all the dough has been used.

Give the gnocchi a final dusting of either Potato flour or AP flour and let rest while you........

Make Browned Butter

I have done this a couple times before, but I am going to cover it again, for it is a subject that is near and dear to my taste buds.

Melt 4 oz of Unsalted Butter in a sauce pan while you roughly chop about 4 Sage leaves.

Add the leaves to the melted butter (it will bubble a little as it cooks the water out of the leaves)

When the proteins settle out and begin to brown, remove the saucepan from the flame and filter through 2-3 layers of cheese cloth.

And there you have it;  Saged Brown butter in all it's exotic deliciousness...

 Bringin' it ALL together..... 

Cook gnocchi in Salted boiling water, a few at a time (I did it in 4 batches)

Remove them with a strainer when they begin to float.

Place them in a warmed bowl and drizzle with a little of the browned butter.

Repeat with the next batch; Boil, skim, drizzle.... Until all the gnocchi have been cooked.

Toss gently with a little more chopped Sage and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Serve with more Parmigiano-Reggiano......

And DIG in!!!

Yes, cross over the the dark side....   it's ALL kinds of good!

Mangia!!
~~

Ravioli, It Really Get's My Goat - Ravioli di Chevre y Noce

Have you ever just been sitting there, minding your own business and you are suddenly whacked in the back of the head by one of the Muses from ancient Greece? Hmmmm, Yeah. Well, whichever one of the nine it was, she gave me whiplash. (I wonder if you can sue a Muse) Anyway, that is how this recipe came to being.

Which also begs the question, which muse IS responsible for culinary inspiration? Food is kind of like a dance, or at least running around the kitchen is kind of a dance, especially when there is more than one person cooking. But then again, the prepared dish is kind of like poetry or music that you can taste and smell. So would it be Calliope of the Epic Poem, Erato of Lyrical poetry, Euterpe of Music, Polyhymnia of Choral Poetry, or Terpsichore of the Dance? I would say that it was the tenth Muse, but I am pretty sure that Plato already bestowed that honorific on Sappho.

I suppose, in order to forgo stepping on any of Sappho's toes, I should propose that there is an eleventh muse out there in this age of Foodistas, Gastronomes, Foodies, Gourmands and the ever "Epicurious". I have decided to call her Culinathyra (kull-in-a-THEE-ra). At the least, this give me an idea of who I need to serve papers too.. LOL

As far as the resulting ravioli is concerned, I always make my filling first, so it has time to cool while I am prepping the pasta sheets. So here is the inspired recipe

Chevre and Walnut Ravioli in Sage Brown Butter

1 TB Butter
1 large Shallot, minced
6 Sage Leaves, Minced
6 oz Chevre
4 oz Mascarpone
1 large Egg
1/2 cup Walnuts, toasted and chopped fine
Zest of 1 Lemon
2 TB Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

First melt the butter over medium heat and add the shallots when the foam subsides.

Sauté over medium heat until the shallot caramelizes (This takes awhile - 15-20 minutes).

Stir in the chopped Sage and set aside to cool. (the hot shallots will draw out the oils)

Toast the walnuts and allow to cool before chopping fine, set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, mix Chevre, Mascarpone, and Egg until smooth.

Add the Walnuts and Caramelized Shallots and stir to combine.

Finish off with the Lemon Zest and Parmigiano-Reggiano,

Then adjust the seasoning by adding Kosher Salt and/or Black pepper as needed.

Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until the pasta is ready for filling.

Makin Pasta...

I made a double batch of Pasta (cause I wanted some extra left over for something else) so the amounts in the pictures will not match the recipe.

3/4 cups Semolina Flour
3/4 cups AP Flour
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
2 large Eggs (room temperature)
2 1/2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a large bowl place the Semolina flour, AP flour, and the salt; Blending well with a whisk

Create a well in the center and crack eggs into the well and add the olive oil.

Remove any rings you may have on.

Stick your fingers in the eggs and break up the yolks (Come on, lets get acquainted with our food, don't be shy)

Working your fingers in a circle begin incorporating the flour into the eggs/oil mixture until it begins to thicken.

Eventually you will need to dump it onto a board and knead it

until it is smooth and elastic.


Bringing it all together....

Now I get to play with 2 toys today. The Kitchen Aid Pasta Roller (Yay!)

and my Ravioli Press.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and wrap them in plastic wrap (which I forgot to do at first)

Take the first piece of dough and run it through the widest setting on your roller, fold and run through again, using the roller to knead the dough a little more.
Begin tightening the roller 1 notch at a time and running the dough through each setting until you reach size 6 (as opposed to 8). This is where I stop for Ravioli.

Take the resulting sheet and cut it in half, then lay 1 sheet over the ravioli press.
Use the top plate to press pockets into the pasta.

Fill with the Chevre/Walnut filling (mine makes small squares so it only takes about 1 tsp of filling).

Brush all the edges with water and lay down another pasta sheet over the top and press down gently to partially seal before running a rolling pin over the press to cut and crimp the pasta (you may need to make a couple passes)

Flip the press over....

and cut the ravioli apart with a knife if necessary.

Place on a flour dusted baking sheet, to prevent sticking.
Continue with the next piece of pasta dough until all the filling or all the dough has been used whichever comes first.
Cover with Plastic wrap and place in the freezer, then move to a Zip-Loc bag for longer storage.


How to Serve...

Bring a large pot to a boil.
Warm some Browned Butter with a few fresh Sage leaves in it.

Drop ravioli; when they float, they are done.
Toss with browned butter and garnish with a sage leaf or two and some toasted walnuts.

I think these would be just as delicious tossed with Pesto Genovese, but the nutty flavor of the browned butter really enhances the walnuts and lemon zest in the ravioli filling.

Mangia!!
~~