Pan-Fried Gnocchi with mushrooms & spinach

Gnocchi is delicious. Little fluffy pillows, made from potatoes and flour - what's not to love? I've promised to make gnocchi myself, many times. However, I just can't seem to get around to it. I've tried, once, and failed miserably. (Thanks Jamie Oliver, for saying "use as little flour as possible" - NO, don't. Because they will turn to mush after cooking. You need a fair amount of flour, actually.)

So, I usually just stick to store-bought gnocchi. It usually contains additives that I don't really like, but once in a while, I can't resist. Besides, they're a quick dinner solution, and making them from scratch would pretty much take away from that.

This recipe might seem a bit fussy, and it does dirty several pans. Sorry about that. But I hope you'll like it anyway.

Pan-Fried Gnocchi with mushrooms & spinach
Serves 2-3

500 g gnocchi
200 g mushrooms
100 g spinach (fresh - or frozen, then thawed)
50 g bacon
250 ml cream (lighter versions are fine)
50 g parmesan, grated
butter or olive oil for frying
salt, pepper

Dice the bacon, and fry until crispy, in a dry pan. Slice the mushrooms, and fry them in the same pan, until they've lost all of their liquid and start to color. Add the spinach. Pour in the cream, and cook on low heat for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper if you'd like.

Boil the gnocchi in plenty of salted water. Meanwhile, heat a large grying pan and melt some butter. The gnocchi is cooked through when it starts to float - so fish out all the floating gnocchi with a skimmer, and move them to the frying pan. Fry all the gnocchi until lightly golden. Serve with the sauce.

Recipe in Swedish:
Smörstekt Gnocchi med champinjoner & bladspenat

Tarragon Pork Tenderloin

Life of a food blogger: when you're really hungry, a photo of the leftovers will have to do. Also, this was very tasty. It's very rich, due to the cream and crème fraîche - feel free to use lighter versions if you'd like. (Even milk instead of the cream will work well, although this will make a runnier sauce.)

Tarragon Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4 (at least)

600 g pork tenderloin, in thin strips
200 g mushrooms, divided into smaller pieces
200 ml crème fraîche
200 ml cream
3 tbsp cognac
3 tbsp chili sauce (Heinz or similar - that means thick, and without much heat)
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt, pepper
butter for frying

Fry the meat in some butter. Let it color and then remove it from the pan. Brown the mushrooms and fry until they release their liquid. Add the meat back to the pan.

Whisk together cream, crème fraîche, cognac, chili sauce, tarragon and cayenne pepper, and add to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until your sauce looks good, and the meat is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice, and whatever fresh herbs you might have.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fläskfilé i dragonsås

Mushroom Barley with Caramelized Onions

Easy, quick and delicious - this was an attempt to vary Titus' favorite dish: risotto. It's sort of a barley risotto, and it's absolutely great. I know it doesn't look like much, but really, the flavor makes up for it.

You can eat it like we did, on its own, or as a side dish for perhaps a chicken breast or a steak.

Mushroom Barley with Caramelized Onions
serves 2

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp sugar
200 g mushrooms, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
250 ml barley (I use a quick-cook kind)
500 ml water
1 bouillon cube (chicken), or concentrated chicken stock
olive oil

I use my Le Creuset dutch oven for this dish - use any pot that has a close-fitting lid and that's good for frying.

Start by frying the onion in some olive oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the sugar and fry until the onion is caramelized - a few more minutes. Set aside in a bowl.

Heat some more olive oil, and fry the mushrooms with garlic and salt until the mushrooms have released their liquid. Set aside, in the same bowl as the onions.

Combine the barley, water and bouillon cube in the pot. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and lower the heat - cook until the barley is soft. (Mine took about ten minutes, but you have to follow the instructions on your package.) Add the mushrooms and onions, and season with more salt and black pepper.

Recipe in Swedish:
Korn-otto med svamp och karamelliserad lök

Pork tenderloin with mushrooms

Here's a quick and easy dish that's perfect if you happen to have some leftover uncooked meat. I had pork tenderloin, so that's what I used, but you could use beef instead if you'd prefer. You can serve it with anything - potatoes or rice would be easy choices, but I wouldn't mind a good pasta either.

As you can see, this was so tasty I had to photograph the leftovers. Sorry. What can I say, I was hungry!

Pork tenderloin with mushrooms
serves 3-4

300 g pork tenderloin, in small dice
300 g mushrooms, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tbsp dry sherry
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
1-2 tsp soy sauce
200 ml cream
Salt, pepper
Fresh oregano
oil for frying

Brown the meat in some oil. Add the mushrooms, onion and garlic, and fry until the meat is nearky cooked through.

Add the sherry and let it reduce for a minute or two on high heat. Add concentrated chicken stock, soy sauce and cream and cook for a few minutes,. Season with salt, pepper and fresh oregano.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fläskfilégryta med champinjoner