Bonus Monday! I'm giving you two recipes in one. I'm all about the hearty, cold-weather foods right now. It's bringing joy to my soul on those crisp days that I despise. Yes, I'm not afraid to admit that I hate being cold. In college I refused to leave the house while it was snowing. Since I went to college in Utah this was sometimes a problem. I only went if I absolutely had to, like I had a huge test or had to go to work or something that couldn't wait. Otherwise I'd just wait until the snow stopped falling. And then I'd still hate it because it was still cold. When it is cold outside all I want to do is curl up with a blanket and eat hot comfort food. I'm loving this dish because it utilizes the slow cooker and the gnocchi can either be made fresh, or frozen ahead of time. Gnocchi cooks in just a few minutes so you could plausibly run in from the cold and have dinner on the table in under 15 minutes. That's the kind of meal I need when it is cold outside! Grab my snuggie and dig in!
Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Sear the short ribs on each of the 4 sides for about 60 seconds per side. Remove from skillet and place directly into a slow cooker.
2. Pour the beef broth, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper into the slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Serve hot with the drippings from the slow cooker.
Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 tsp salt
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 cup flour, approximate
Instructions
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the sweet potato cubes in and boil until soft, about 15 minutes. Strain well.
2. Mash the sweet potatoes well. Using a hand mixer to whip them up can ensure a well mashed potato.
3. Sprinkle the mashed sweet potatoes with the salt, nutmeg and parmesan cheese. Stir.
4. Stir in the egg until everything is well incorporated.
5. Slowly add in the flour to form a very soft dough. Add more flour to the outside of the dough to prevent if from sticking. Divide the dough into 8 portions.
6. On a floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough into a long snake about the thickness of your thumb. Cut into half inch pieces. If you have any problems with sticking, dust with additional flour.
7. Repeat with each of the 8 portions. At this point you can freeze the gnocchi in a single layer on a baking sheet or cook immediately. If freezing, once the gnocchis are frozen you can remove them from the baking sheet and store them in a ziploc bag.
8. To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the gnocchi in batches. The gnocchis are done when they float to the top which should only take a 1-2 minutes (add 2 minutes for frozen gnocchi).
9. Serve hot.
**Optionally, you can drizzle a little olive oil or melted butter and top with shredded parmesan cheese.
