having got all the ingredients together for this week's dish, i found myself struck down by a kind of cheffy version of writer's block: i mean, is there a name for that?? anyway, luckily the phone a friend option was clear, so i dialed up my chef for help...
kent baddeley, now back in hawkes bay & opening his latest venture tentwentyfour, always a phone call away for those inspirational shots: chef, help! what to do???
so then, the path fwd from ground zero gnocchi-zone:
stage1: the gnocchi
potatoes/salt'n'pepper/egg/flour(1kgpotato to 300gflour): boil potatoes whole, skins on, remove & peel with a knife (hold potatoes in a tea towel so you dont scald yr hands) & put thru the moulix or just mash to smooth. while hot, season with s'n'p, add the egg & stir in quickly before the potato cooks it. add a handful of flour or two, mix in. turn out and knead in the remaining flour on your bench until firm. roll into long & skinny, cut into pieces & drop, when shaped, into a pot of boiling salted water, 20-30 at a time. you'll know they're done when the gnocchi begin to rise to the surface; this only takes a few minutes. when floating, remove with a slotted spoon & place on a tray, separately, & drizzle with olive oil. they will firm up, but you dont want them either too soggy or too rubbery. herein lies the skill factor; it may take a little practice, but the results speak for themselves.
stage2: the sauce
onions&garlic/oilve oil/thyme/mushrooms/marsala/tomato puree/stock/cream: sweat or pot roast the onions&garlic in olive oil thyme salt; blitz the mushrooms in the blender & add to the onions; on a high heat, cook out for a few minutes, before the liquids are released, then add a squeeze of tomato puree & stir in, deglaze with a generous splash of marsala; add the stock, bring to temperature & simmer briefly. you dont want soup here, the stock to solids ratio should look saucy, ie not too thin. finally, finish with a little cream. pour this over the gnocchi.
stage3: the garnish
(risking bringing together too confusing a range of flavours, the walnuts as a garnish work nicely)
walnuts/porcini powder/icing sugar: i toast the walnuts first, then in a bowl cover them with boiling water & let them sit for 5; drain, place in a tea towel, wrap up & roll on the bench to dry off & to remove the skins; toss in a bowl with porcini powder & icing sugar; place on a baking sheet & into the oven to caramelise; sprinkle over the gnocchi when ready.
so now to confession time: as well as my discoveries & triumphs, it is only fair to catalogue the occasional disaster too...i burned two portions of the walnuts thru turning my back on them. moral of the story: they turn very quickly so keep an eye out! mine ended up feeding the sparrows, tho the semi dark handful i rescued were delicious, they were too far gone to serve to the fridaynightdinnerboxers this week...but thats just the way it goes sometimes.
kent baddeley, now back in hawkes bay & opening his latest venture tentwentyfour, always a phone call away for those inspirational shots: chef, help! what to do???
so then, the path fwd from ground zero gnocchi-zone:
stage1: the gnocchi
potatoes/salt'n'pepper/egg/flour(1kgpotato to 300gflour): boil potatoes whole, skins on, remove & peel with a knife (hold potatoes in a tea towel so you dont scald yr hands) & put thru the moulix or just mash to smooth. while hot, season with s'n'p, add the egg & stir in quickly before the potato cooks it. add a handful of flour or two, mix in. turn out and knead in the remaining flour on your bench until firm. roll into long & skinny, cut into pieces & drop, when shaped, into a pot of boiling salted water, 20-30 at a time. you'll know they're done when the gnocchi begin to rise to the surface; this only takes a few minutes. when floating, remove with a slotted spoon & place on a tray, separately, & drizzle with olive oil. they will firm up, but you dont want them either too soggy or too rubbery. herein lies the skill factor; it may take a little practice, but the results speak for themselves.
stage2: the sauce
onions&garlic/oilve oil/thyme/mushrooms/marsala/tomato puree/stock/cream: sweat or pot roast the onions&garlic in olive oil thyme salt; blitz the mushrooms in the blender & add to the onions; on a high heat, cook out for a few minutes, before the liquids are released, then add a squeeze of tomato puree & stir in, deglaze with a generous splash of marsala; add the stock, bring to temperature & simmer briefly. you dont want soup here, the stock to solids ratio should look saucy, ie not too thin. finally, finish with a little cream. pour this over the gnocchi.
stage3: the garnish
(risking bringing together too confusing a range of flavours, the walnuts as a garnish work nicely)
walnuts/porcini powder/icing sugar: i toast the walnuts first, then in a bowl cover them with boiling water & let them sit for 5; drain, place in a tea towel, wrap up & roll on the bench to dry off & to remove the skins; toss in a bowl with porcini powder & icing sugar; place on a baking sheet & into the oven to caramelise; sprinkle over the gnocchi when ready.
so now to confession time: as well as my discoveries & triumphs, it is only fair to catalogue the occasional disaster too...i burned two portions of the walnuts thru turning my back on them. moral of the story: they turn very quickly so keep an eye out! mine ended up feeding the sparrows, tho the semi dark handful i rescued were delicious, they were too far gone to serve to the fridaynightdinnerboxers this week...but thats just the way it goes sometimes.
beautiful texture to the gnocchi, lovely mushroom richness...a beautiful dish! Generous serving, too...a little left over for snacking!
ReplyDeletethanx missi! glad you liked it.
ReplyDelete