12/5 - Potato Gnocchi (1st attempt)

used combination of recipes, but technique was mainly from an online website:

http://rouxbe.com/recipes/117-gnocchi-with-warm-sage-butter


notes:

• reason for ricer is to get flour on as much surface area as possible (WRONG!)
• real reason for ricer is to get smooth potatoes without mashing them (mashing makes it harder to incorporate flour evenly with least amount of kneading)
• basically we want to have the egg and flour really well incorporated into the potato without having to work the flour much...best way is to rice it and fluff it as in this recipe
• all other recipes (giada, batali, jamie, and lydia) all ask for the well method which i feel would work the dough way more than the tossing technique the above uses...kind of ruins the need to rice if just use well method
• without a ricer, u have to extrude through a strainer
• ideally, u should use as little flour and kneading as possible...3/4c - 1 1/4 c of flour per pound of potato
• next time, don't worry about it being wet, just as long as its incorporated and able to be shaped into a log
  

tips online:

• http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/guarda/how-make-gnocchi (video included...simple instructions)
  
• http://www.istrianet.org/istria/gastronomy/osteria/gnocchi.htm
  

ingredients: (yield about 180 pieces)

• 4.2 lbs of russet potatoes (weight is unpeeled)
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
• approx 2 cups of flour
  

my technique:

1. baked potatoes at 425 degree oven for 45-50 min with 1/2 cup of water and covered with foil on a baking sheet til a knife can be inserted and taken out without lifting the potato (if add oil to the water, the potatoes won't stock to the sheet pan)
   
2. slice in half and peel or scoop out the insides and toss into big metal strainer (with bigger holes)
3. mash and push the potato through the bottom holes of the strainer into a big pot (which has been dusted with flour at its bottom) with a wok spatula...lots of hard work
4. after we get a good 1 inch layer at the bottom of the pot, pour out onto lightly floured table to cool
5. keep doing til finished...
6. when cool, add salt, then flour liberally
7. lift and fluff and distribute flour all over with a dough scraper
8. add beaten egg and flour then fluff again...
9. keep adding more flour and fluff til u can squeeze it with our hand and it no longer sticks...(about 1 cup of flour per 2 lbs of potato)
10. shape into a rectangle
11. knead gently a few times to get smooth
    
12. cut into strips as thich as pointer finger (about 3/4 in)
13. add more flour and roll into long smooth ropes about as thick as pointer finger (3/4 in diameter)
14. line up with other ropes and cut about length of thumb (3/4 in)
15. more flour, then roll the gnocchi on the front side of a fork til u can see ridges on back and indendation on other side...OR u can use the back of a fork to roll it...(i used 2nd way)
16. put onto floured sheet pan andfreeze
17. to cook, put into salted boiling water and when floating, about 2 min, it is done and should be strained and placed into sauce and mix then serve

evaluation: Grade B

• smooth but not exactly as pillowy as i hoped
• i didn't fluff the flour that well...i chopped more than fluffed
• in the beginning, i was messy and inefficient with the straining of potatoes so i think texture suffered because of it
  

12/6

served with quick sauce made with butter, olive oil, and 4 smashed cloves of garlic (sauteed on med heat with 1 tsp salt) that was later thickened with pasta water after the gnocchi was added....also added strips of smoked salmon and black pepper for flavor