Gnocchi with Bison and Mushroom Ragu

For the longest time, I had wanted to make fresh pasta but had been too intimidated to try, but when I saw a recipe for gnocchi with pork ragu in Bon Appetit, I knew it was time to get down to it. I then promptly berated myself for waiting so long: it was fun, satisfying, and delicious! The dish was so addictive that I had to make it again a few nights later. A girl's gotta make up for lost time, right?

I decided to use ground bison instead of pork since it was more convenient, and I'd wanted to cook with bison meat for a while. Two birds, one stone: that's how we roll at WTF. I was also doubtful whether the gnocchi would turn out well as the blocks of dough plopped and sunk into the boiling water, but lo and behold, they miraculously floated up after a minute. Success!

Beef Stew with Craig's Beer Bread

So I was immediately intrigued when Craig happened to mention he had a wicked beer bread recipe at work one day. I've heard rumors of people roasting chickens or turkeys with beer, but never in bread, though it's rather logical when you think about it. Craig mentioned that his last batch made with a can of Bud came out really well, and I was all gung-ho to do the same, except I then found a forgotten bottle of Heineken in the kitchen. And really, if I don't have to buy an extra ingredient, so much the better. I thought I'd get a nice-ish bottle (we're only so classy here at WTF) of French wine for the beef stew to make up for the Bud, but then I found a small bottle of questionable wine that my grandmother had picked up as a party favor at a wedding. It contained exactly one cup of wine. Perfecto.

The beer bread ended up tasting like banana bread. Go figure. And the beef stew was great back when the weather was freezing. I might add more cumin next time, though.

Swiss Chard

This is a cop out as far as updates go, but isn't the Swiss Chard glorious?

I'll have a more substantial post within the next few days, stay tuned...