12/8 - Sweet Potato Gnocchi

For the Gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Pierce the sweet potato with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/sweet-potato-gnocchi-with-maple-cinnamon-sage-brown-butter-recipe/index.html

Ingredients
For the Gnocchi:

2 pounds sweet potatoes
2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/3 cup for the work surface

For the Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
20 fresh sage leaves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/sweet-potato-gnocchi-with-maple-cinnamon-sage-brown-butter-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Directions

For the Gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Pierce the sweet potato with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes and transfer to a large measuring cup to make sure the sweet potatoes measure about 2 cups. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, and pepper and blend until well mixed. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork. Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet. Continue with the remaining gnocchi.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon onto a baking sheet. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue with the remaining gnocchi.

For the Brown Butter sauce: While the gnocchi are cooking melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling the butter occasionally, until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Careful, the mixture will bubble up. Gently stir the mixture. When the bubbles subside, toss the cooked gnocchi in the brown butter. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/sweet-potato-gnocchi-with-maple-cinnamon-sage-brown-butter-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Bread Tips 2

(information read from hamelman's bread book)

Importance of steam in baking bread:

• reason is steam allows the bread to rise once put into oven
• bread rises only when dough's surface is moist...once it gets hard, the bread can no longer rise
• steam enhances color, gives the crust a nice sheen, and gives the bread better volume
• steam cools the surface of dough allowing for a longer time to caramelize and rise
• think my bread is denser than i want because it doesn't have enough steam...not enough steam no dough doesn't get to rise and puff up the inside to give it a better texture...
  

How to pre-steam a home oven:

1. stick a cast iron pan into oven as oven is preheating...
2. boil some water on the stovetop
3. when oven is done preheating, moisten oven by placing ice cubes onto another pan into the oven
4. score the bread and mist the surface lightly
5. load the bread into oven and pour boiling water into cast iron pan and shut door asap
6. when bread starts to show color, open a crack in the oven door slightly to allow the oven to dry up. this ensures that the crust is thin and crisp
   

Do i need to vent the oven???

• books say that it keeps the bread's crust crisp and thin...in my experience, the crust is about the same either way...just that the bread into the oven gets more even head throughout with the door open
• i feel that it depends on the amount of steam is in the oven...
• normally i just squirt some water into the sides of the oven so by the time the bread browns, its already very dry so no need.
• if i follow the above method for steaming, i think i would need to open the door a crack for atleast a few minutes to dry out the oven from all the steam
  

Bread Tips

Bread doneness test:

Continue baking for 20 to 22 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Tap the bottom of the loaves; a hollow sound means they're done. Or, insert an instant-read thermometer into the bread, and if the internal temperature is 205°F to 210°F, the bread is done.

http://www.gardenguides.com/1064-bread-ever.html

bread baking problems: http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm

12/5 - Potato Bread

this was a complete accident...messed up my potatoes for the gnocchi as it came out very off color and gluey pile of mess so i tried to salvage it by adding flour then yeast and making it into a bread...remarkably, it turned out very well and became one of my best loaves ever...haha

ingredients:

• potato mess from roasting shaved potato in a foil pouch with a little but of water for 40 minutes at 400 degrees (40%)
• bread flour (60%)
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp kosher salt

procedure:

• break off golf ball sized pieces of potato mess and add onto a pile of flour
• start kneading as potato mess has lots of liquid...don't add any water...if anything, i added more potato
  
• when smooth and tacky feeling, its done so roll into a ball and placed into an oiled bowl...oil the dough ball then cover with plastic wrap
• when risen to double size, gently pat out then fold onto itself and shape into a circle shape and flour all sides, then place on cardboard
  
• wait about 1 hour for it to rise about 50-70%, then turn on oven to 450 degrees
• when oven at 450, score bread several times vertical and same amount of times horizonal (i did 3x3)
• presteam the oven, then add bread
• bake for 45 minutes (til hollow and 205-210 degrees internal temp)...may need to turn down to 425 or400 if gets too dark...potato bread darkens faster so be ready to turn down...i turned down to 400 for last 20 minutes

Evaluation: (grade A-)

• dark flavor to the crust but very nice crust
• soft interior but slight sticky
• wish holes were bigger
• potato cannot be tasted
• i think potato just makes the bread more sticky and smooth and less dry
  

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

12/1 - Singapore Inspired Crab

ingredients:

• crabs - 2 whole ( broken down and cracked)
• garlic - 6 cloves (smashed)
• ginger - 2 inches (sliced)
• green onion - 1/2 cup (1 inch slices)
• onion - 1/2 (chopped)
• chili pepper - 1 pc (crushed and seeded with hands)
  
• ketchup - 2 tbsp
• fish sauce - 2 tsp
• coconut milk - 1/2 can

steps:

1. take food processor to garlic, ginger, and onion til a pulp
2. add oil to wok
3. stir fry garlic mixture with chili pepper with a pinch of salt and pepper
   
4. fry til mixture releases flavor and translucent and slight brown (3-5 minutes)
   
5. add ketchup, fish sauce, and coconut milk and mix til bubbles
6. add crab pieces (except shell)
7. mix and stir fry 1 minute
8. add shells (shell side up, hole side down) and mix a little bit more
9. if too little liquid, add 1/4 cup of hot water
   
10. cover and cook at med high about 5-8 minutes til turns red and cooked
11. if too thick, add cornstarch + water (should be thick like chowder...not too thin)
    

grade: A

Coffee Tips

from tiptionary:

• use 2 level tbsp of coffee for 6 oz (3/4) of water
• for stronger coffee, use 2 level tablespoons for each 4 oz (1/2 cup) of water
• standard coffee cup holds 6 oz water
• a mug holds 10-12 oz water