food stuffs
as usual there is a fair amount of research and development going on at the lad/bf household. i have a tendency to make the same recipes over and over with slight variations until i get something i like. then i immediately stop making it, and the next time i make it i forget what i did. i'm a searcher, what can i say? here's what i learned:
jam
make it in the microwave, it's a perfect. no direct heat means less chance of burning and no stirring. use as little sugar as possible for the fruit and add a squeeze of lemon which helps the pectin coagulate. the smallest screen on the food mill is good enough to get the seeds out of raspberries -- although i must say, i'd have to get one of those french screen things to make it absolutely seedless.
shortbread
i used 2 cups of flour -- 1/4 c. of which is rice flour. better than confectioner's sugar -- process sugar until it's finer than castor/bar sugar but not yet confectioner's. also reducing the sugar by 10% makes a shorter product -- more tender. i want to get these cookies right so i can make royal shortbread and sandwich cookies (with the homemade jam) for my mother's card parties. o the ladies will love them!
gnocchi
i've been making gnocchi forever. research was completed by great, to the 14th power, nonna. we just love them. i made them really as an excuse to eat ripe fresh tomatoes.
people really seem to have a hard time with gnocchi, but really it's much easier than homemade pasta. here's the deal:
get a big old baking potato. the more mature the better. boil the potato at a tender boil. if you boil it too hard the skin comes off and it gets all water-logged -- not good. for light fluffy gnocchi potato shold be light and fluffy.
now here's the thing about italian cooking, but really all cooking, but i always think about it re: italian cooking. you have got to do it like you're making love (and i'm not even kidding). i mean when you have to be hard, like kneading foccacia, you have to be hard. when you have to be soft, you have to be soft. with gnocchi you have to be soft.
let the potato cool off enough to peel it. it's better warm -- but you don't have to hurt yourself. put it through the food mill* (you can mash, but the mill gives you a lighter product). for a big old potato i put in:
2/3-3/4 cup flour
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt
pat of butter
the thing is with gnocchi you have to be gentle gentle like with a baby. take the bowl with the potato. mix in the yolk and the butter. make sure the potato isn't too hot and the egg doesn't cook. you know mix it around quickly. use the wooden spoon, then use your hands -- i do.
add 1/3 c. flour mix in with a wooden spoon. it will be like stiff mash potatoes. flour a board. mix in the rest of the flour into the potato. this is important: ADD AS LITTLE FLOUR AS YOU CAN MANAGE TO MAKE DOUGH. (i used less than 2/3 of a cup last night.) do this all gently. don't compress it. just knead lightly. it shouldn't be resilient. ie when you press it, it should stay pressed.
roll the dough into a rope about 1/2 in diameter (they'll get bigger so keep them on the small side.) cut 1/2 - 3/4 inch pieces on the diagonal. make a little depression on the top with the back of a wooden spoon. (the traditional is to roll a fork over them, but i like the depression, it's the way my gradmother did it.)
in a large pot of boiling salted water put in about half the gnocchi. COOK THEM ONLY UNTIL THEY RISE TO THE SURFACE. (only a couple of minutes) gently, gently scoop them out using a spider. put them in the simmering sauce which should be in a wide low saucepan. cook the remaining gnocchi. keep in sauce for a minute or so.
put on plate. cover with parmigianno reggiano. eat immediately.
people say gnocchi don't keep, but you know -- i've kept leftovers and zapped them the next day and i, and whoever, was always happy to eat them. as for sauce. you can put anything on gnocchi and they'll taste good.
brown butter, sage and parm (this is good for pumpkin gnocchi)
marinara
bolognese (you know from emilia romano)
pesto i bet
this time of the year i am always looking for ways to use fresh tomatoes and this is my favorite sauce for gnocchi. get 2lbs fresh egg tomatoes; takes skins off. cut out core and seeds. chop them coarsely. salt. add 4 T butter and 1/2 onion cut in half. simmer until the butter and tomatoes separate -- 20 to 40 min. take out the onion. toss the gnocchi briefly with this sauce and add parm and it's heaven. a chiffonade of basil at the end would be great too.
here's few tips for larger batches. use 1 pot/2/3 cup flour per about 2 servings. cook the gnocchi in small batches. keep the cooked unsauced gnocchi in a warmed pasta serving bowl (you know wide and shallow). when they are all cooked toss with sauce.
i'll probably make them again this weekend. the b/f has been too lazy and busy to take pics (and let me tell you the scones, creme and jam were gorgeous), i'll try to take step by step pics.
also with all gnocchi and even hand made pasta if they don't come out don't fret. throw them away and make macaroni. we all have failures. just keep trying. eventually they'll be edible and eventually they'll be perfect.
*a food mill or at the very least a ricer is an absolute essential for the serious cook. i don't really think you can make truly excellent mashed potatoes without them. for average the old masher is okay, but for transcendent silkiness the ricer is the way to go.
jam
make it in the microwave, it's a perfect. no direct heat means less chance of burning and no stirring. use as little sugar as possible for the fruit and add a squeeze of lemon which helps the pectin coagulate. the smallest screen on the food mill is good enough to get the seeds out of raspberries -- although i must say, i'd have to get one of those french screen things to make it absolutely seedless.
shortbread
i used 2 cups of flour -- 1/4 c. of which is rice flour. better than confectioner's sugar -- process sugar until it's finer than castor/bar sugar but not yet confectioner's. also reducing the sugar by 10% makes a shorter product -- more tender. i want to get these cookies right so i can make royal shortbread and sandwich cookies (with the homemade jam) for my mother's card parties. o the ladies will love them!
gnocchi
i've been making gnocchi forever. research was completed by great, to the 14th power, nonna. we just love them. i made them really as an excuse to eat ripe fresh tomatoes.
people really seem to have a hard time with gnocchi, but really it's much easier than homemade pasta. here's the deal:
get a big old baking potato. the more mature the better. boil the potato at a tender boil. if you boil it too hard the skin comes off and it gets all water-logged -- not good. for light fluffy gnocchi potato shold be light and fluffy.
now here's the thing about italian cooking, but really all cooking, but i always think about it re: italian cooking. you have got to do it like you're making love (and i'm not even kidding). i mean when you have to be hard, like kneading foccacia, you have to be hard. when you have to be soft, you have to be soft. with gnocchi you have to be soft.
let the potato cool off enough to peel it. it's better warm -- but you don't have to hurt yourself. put it through the food mill* (you can mash, but the mill gives you a lighter product). for a big old potato i put in:
2/3-3/4 cup flour
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt
pat of butter
the thing is with gnocchi you have to be gentle gentle like with a baby. take the bowl with the potato. mix in the yolk and the butter. make sure the potato isn't too hot and the egg doesn't cook. you know mix it around quickly. use the wooden spoon, then use your hands -- i do.
add 1/3 c. flour mix in with a wooden spoon. it will be like stiff mash potatoes. flour a board. mix in the rest of the flour into the potato. this is important: ADD AS LITTLE FLOUR AS YOU CAN MANAGE TO MAKE DOUGH. (i used less than 2/3 of a cup last night.) do this all gently. don't compress it. just knead lightly. it shouldn't be resilient. ie when you press it, it should stay pressed.
roll the dough into a rope about 1/2 in diameter (they'll get bigger so keep them on the small side.) cut 1/2 - 3/4 inch pieces on the diagonal. make a little depression on the top with the back of a wooden spoon. (the traditional is to roll a fork over them, but i like the depression, it's the way my gradmother did it.)
in a large pot of boiling salted water put in about half the gnocchi. COOK THEM ONLY UNTIL THEY RISE TO THE SURFACE. (only a couple of minutes) gently, gently scoop them out using a spider. put them in the simmering sauce which should be in a wide low saucepan. cook the remaining gnocchi. keep in sauce for a minute or so.
put on plate. cover with parmigianno reggiano. eat immediately.
people say gnocchi don't keep, but you know -- i've kept leftovers and zapped them the next day and i, and whoever, was always happy to eat them. as for sauce. you can put anything on gnocchi and they'll taste good.
brown butter, sage and parm (this is good for pumpkin gnocchi)
marinara
bolognese (you know from emilia romano)
pesto i bet
this time of the year i am always looking for ways to use fresh tomatoes and this is my favorite sauce for gnocchi. get 2lbs fresh egg tomatoes; takes skins off. cut out core and seeds. chop them coarsely. salt. add 4 T butter and 1/2 onion cut in half. simmer until the butter and tomatoes separate -- 20 to 40 min. take out the onion. toss the gnocchi briefly with this sauce and add parm and it's heaven. a chiffonade of basil at the end would be great too.
here's few tips for larger batches. use 1 pot/2/3 cup flour per about 2 servings. cook the gnocchi in small batches. keep the cooked unsauced gnocchi in a warmed pasta serving bowl (you know wide and shallow). when they are all cooked toss with sauce.
i'll probably make them again this weekend. the b/f has been too lazy and busy to take pics (and let me tell you the scones, creme and jam were gorgeous), i'll try to take step by step pics.
also with all gnocchi and even hand made pasta if they don't come out don't fret. throw them away and make macaroni. we all have failures. just keep trying. eventually they'll be edible and eventually they'll be perfect.
*a food mill or at the very least a ricer is an absolute essential for the serious cook. i don't really think you can make truly excellent mashed potatoes without them. for average the old masher is okay, but for transcendent silkiness the ricer is the way to go.
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