So we had the gnocchi that Peter froze tonight, and they were the absolute best gnocchi he's made thus far! Certainly, I do refer to gnocchi in general as "little pillows of love" among other monikers.But I think the small amount of flour that he added this time really made them tender and delicate. They cooked very quickly, just a minute or two in the boiling water and they floated to the top. We tossed them with homemade sauce and topped with a little freshly grated Parmesan.
Mmmm... too bad there aren't any leftovers!
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 8
Tuesday, January 1
Gnocchi
Yesterday, we made stuffed gnocchi, for which we needed to make a basic gnocchi. Kimberly likes to refer to gnocchi as 'little pillows of wonderful;' I agree whole-heartedly.
I usually use leftover mashed potatoes to make gnocchi, but we didn't have any this time, so I needed to start with cooking the potatoes. We used yellow potatoes, cooked whole, then peeled and mashed. I added a little evoo, but not much.
After mashing, I was worried that the potato mixture would be too dry. After consulting our America's Test Kitchen cookbook, my fears were assuaged. As it pointed out, the drier the potatoes, the less flour I would need to add, the lighter the gnocchi would be. This was great, because I've found that when I use leftover mashed potatoes, I always add a ton of flour, and the final product is pretty dense; I am always envious of the light gnocchi at restaurants.
As I added the flour, I certainly didn't add as much as usual, which I think would be good. At first, it wasn't coming together, but as I kneaded the potato-flour mixture, it became a nice and smooth, not unlike a bread dough, but with less bounce.
I then rolled out the dough in a small tube (diameter of a quarter, maybe), then used a fork to cut each little dumpling, maybe half an inch long. I then rolled each gnocchi on the gnocchi-board my aunt in Italy gave me (it's wooden, with grooves in it). It made nice little balls, with grooves, just like in a restaurant.
We didn't end up eating any plain gnocchi, I simply froze them (individually on a sheet pan, then when they froze, put them in a ziploc bag). When we want to eat them, we'll just throw them in a pot of boiling water still frozen; once they float, they'll be ready to eat.
Notes and Next Time
Ingredients/Recipe
I usually use leftover mashed potatoes to make gnocchi, but we didn't have any this time, so I needed to start with cooking the potatoes. We used yellow potatoes, cooked whole, then peeled and mashed. I added a little evoo, but not much.
After mashing, I was worried that the potato mixture would be too dry. After consulting our America's Test Kitchen cookbook, my fears were assuaged. As it pointed out, the drier the potatoes, the less flour I would need to add, the lighter the gnocchi would be. This was great, because I've found that when I use leftover mashed potatoes, I always add a ton of flour, and the final product is pretty dense; I am always envious of the light gnocchi at restaurants.
As I added the flour, I certainly didn't add as much as usual, which I think would be good. At first, it wasn't coming together, but as I kneaded the potato-flour mixture, it became a nice and smooth, not unlike a bread dough, but with less bounce.
I then rolled out the dough in a small tube (diameter of a quarter, maybe), then used a fork to cut each little dumpling, maybe half an inch long. I then rolled each gnocchi on the gnocchi-board my aunt in Italy gave me (it's wooden, with grooves in it). It made nice little balls, with grooves, just like in a restaurant.
We didn't end up eating any plain gnocchi, I simply froze them (individually on a sheet pan, then when they froze, put them in a ziploc bag). When we want to eat them, we'll just throw them in a pot of boiling water still frozen; once they float, they'll be ready to eat.
Notes and Next Time
- Any kind of sauce is good for gnocchi: red (tomato), white (cream or butter), pesto, etc. One of the best ways is to simply drizzle nice evoo over the cooked gnocchi, then grate parmigiana over them.
- When we finally cook them, we'll put tasting notes in there.
Ingredients/Recipe
- Yellow potatoes
- Flour
- evoo
Monday, December 31
Stuffed Gnocchi
When we were in Padova over the summer, we went to a restaurant and had Stuffed Gnocchi; they were amazing. The stuffing seemed to be similar to a ravioli filling. The outside was a green potato dough. The contrast between the green and white was pretty cool. They were served in a white sauce, with arugula and cheese. They were pretty big - like the size of a meatball - so there was only 5 on the plate. We decided to try to replicate them at home.
For the outer dough, we made a standard potato gnocchi (see here). We kept it white; in the end, I wish we had colored it with spinach or tomato, to give the dish some additional color.
For the stuffing, we decided to go with a basic ricotta filling, similar to what we make for ravioli. We mixed some ricotta cheese with egg (to bind it together), some parmigiana cheese, chopped fresh parsley, grated fresh nutmeg, and s&p. We mixed it up, but we felt it was too loose to work properly as a filling, so we added some flour. It helped, but we didn't want to add too much, as it was beginning to change the flavor of the ricotta.
Once we had the two parts, we made little beds of gnocchi. We placed a small dollop of filling it he middle, then tried to close the dough around the cheese. It wasn't easy: the potato was uneven around the stuffing.
As we brought the water to a boil, we made a quick sage butter sauce: heated butter, fresh sage, and chopped spinach. It was really tasty.
We put the dumplings in the boiling water and cooked until they floated. After a test, we noticed they weren't totally cooked, so we let them float in the water for a while to ensure they were cooked through.
In the end, we had a nice facsimile of the the original stuffed gnocchi. There were some small problems, but I think they could be remedied through practice.
Notes and Next Time
For the outer dough, we made a standard potato gnocchi (see here). We kept it white; in the end, I wish we had colored it with spinach or tomato, to give the dish some additional color.
For the stuffing, we decided to go with a basic ricotta filling, similar to what we make for ravioli. We mixed some ricotta cheese with egg (to bind it together), some parmigiana cheese, chopped fresh parsley, grated fresh nutmeg, and s&p. We mixed it up, but we felt it was too loose to work properly as a filling, so we added some flour. It helped, but we didn't want to add too much, as it was beginning to change the flavor of the ricotta.
Once we had the two parts, we made little beds of gnocchi. We placed a small dollop of filling it he middle, then tried to close the dough around the cheese. It wasn't easy: the potato was uneven around the stuffing.
As we brought the water to a boil, we made a quick sage butter sauce: heated butter, fresh sage, and chopped spinach. It was really tasty.
We put the dumplings in the boiling water and cooked until they floated. After a test, we noticed they weren't totally cooked, so we let them float in the water for a while to ensure they were cooked through.
In the end, we had a nice facsimile of the the original stuffed gnocchi. There were some small problems, but I think they could be remedied through practice.
Notes and Next Time
- The gnocchi was uneven around the stuffing; we need to find a way to better close the pouches. The potato was a little overwhelming, hiding the flavor of the filling. I think upping the intensity of the filling would also help.
- The stuffing was kind of loose, but needed to be thicker. I think if we add shredded mozzarella or parm to the stuffing to help solidify it some. Also, less egg. And if all else fails, some flour or corn starch.
- I would have preferred a sauce with more sauce; the butter tasted good, but there wasn't much 'dressing' for the gnocchi. Maybe a cream sauce would work nicely. Also, I think adding some mushroom would be a nice thing.
- Coloring one of the components would make the dish more visually interesting would be good. Spinach, squash/pumpkin, tomato, etc, would be fun to try; depending on the season, you could definitely play with the color combo to reflect the time.
- These would be a fun dinner party food. They're kind of time consuming to make, but with a good color contrast, they are a fun food, with a fun surprise in the middle.
- Standard Gnocchi recipe
- Ricotta
- Parmigiana cheese
- Egg
- Whole nutmeg
- Parsley
- Butter
- Sage
- Spinach
- s&p
Tuesday, November 27
Split Chicken with Roasted Potatoes
We've been experimenting with buying and cooking whole chickens instead of buying the store rotisserie chickens. It gives us better control of what goes on the chicken, it's cheaper, and it turns out that it's a lot easier that I originally thought. We never had good luck with cooking the chicken whole, but we've found that splitting the chicken prior to cooking works significantly better.
On the recommendation of Cook's Illustrated, I brine the bird. Since it's not so big, I just threw the bird in a large pasta pot with about 1/2 C of salt, a couple cloves of garlic and a couple t of thyme, then covered with water. I let it sit about 1 - 1-1/2 hour in the brine. After pulling it out and wiping it down with paper towels, I cut out the spine and cracked the breastbone (so it would lie flatter in the roasting pan). To help dry the bird, I put a drying rack on a sheet pan with the chicken on top, then the whole set-up into the fridge for the rest of the day.
For the potatoes, I peeled and cut about 5 medium sized reds into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices. I also julienned half of a sweet onion. I tossed everything in a bowl with s&p and evoo.
I then lined the bottom portion of a 2-piece broiling pan with foil, sprayed with PAM, and layered the potatoes. The split chicken was put on the top portion of the broiling pan, and the whole thing replaced on top of the potatoes.
The whole set-up was cooked in a 500 oven for about an hour. At the half-way point, the chicken was rotated. We used a thermometer to make sure the chicken gets to temp.
Notes and Next Time
On the recommendation of Cook's Illustrated, I brine the bird. Since it's not so big, I just threw the bird in a large pasta pot with about 1/2 C of salt, a couple cloves of garlic and a couple t of thyme, then covered with water. I let it sit about 1 - 1-1/2 hour in the brine. After pulling it out and wiping it down with paper towels, I cut out the spine and cracked the breastbone (so it would lie flatter in the roasting pan). To help dry the bird, I put a drying rack on a sheet pan with the chicken on top, then the whole set-up into the fridge for the rest of the day.
For the potatoes, I peeled and cut about 5 medium sized reds into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices. I also julienned half of a sweet onion. I tossed everything in a bowl with s&p and evoo.
I then lined the bottom portion of a 2-piece broiling pan with foil, sprayed with PAM, and layered the potatoes. The split chicken was put on the top portion of the broiling pan, and the whole thing replaced on top of the potatoes.
The whole set-up was cooked in a 500 oven for about an hour. At the half-way point, the chicken was rotated. We used a thermometer to make sure the chicken gets to temp.
Notes and Next Time
- Having the potatoes and chicken all cooking in one pan and finished at the same time is really nice.
- The chicken comes out nice and moist, due to the brining.
- We've been having a problem with the bottom of the potatoes burning. Maybe if we cut the potatoes a little thicker or maybe flipping/rotating them at the halfway point will be better. I think the flipping will be better, since we've already started cutting them thicker than originally, and that hasn't worked.
- The chicken skin isn't crisping, despite an EVOO massage. Butter may be better.
- The onion, although a nice idea, worked out poorly. They all burned to the point of inedible. If I could figure out a way to make bigger pieces, it might work. The only thing I can think of is thick rings, but that doesn't solve the problem of the thinness of each onion layer.
- The brine could probably be done the night before, and the chicken left in the fridge for the whole next day. I might cover it with some cheesecloth or something similar in that case.
- The chicken carcass will be used to make stock in the future.
- One whole chicken, about 5#, brined
- Red potatoes
- Onion
- s&p
- evoo
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