The 100th Post Is...Gnocchi!

It's finally here! After weeks of anticipation, the big moment is finally upon us. And what better way to start this party then by presenting what I can honestly say is one of the best plates of food I have ever made: Homemade Potato Gnocchi.

Before we get to the goodies, I need to fill you in on the back-story to this dish. And by "back-story", I mean way back. Like, I actually made this last year. I know, it's an awfully long time to wait to do a blog post, but I was really waiting for the right time to post this. I wanted it to be, for lack of a better word, special.

For the longest time, gnocchi was pretty high on my culinary bucket list. It was something I always wanted to make, but I was always scared to make because of all the stories of how difficult it can be to make, or if they aren't made right, they could be as hard as a rock.

As my career in cooking has evolved, and with the creation of this blog, my view on foods that seem "impossible" to make have changed dramatically. A big part of that change came from watching Chef Thomas Keller calmly, and easily, create a dish I had put on a pedestal out of my own reach. Why don't you take a look for yourself. Click on the link to see the video:

Thomas Keller Tutorial

After watching the video, I knew I had to make it. Yet, there was still one thing that was bothering me: I didn't have a ricer or a food mill. Every recipe I had ever seen called for one of those two items to be used to break down the potato. I didn't have one, and I still don't. But, it came out great. Here is how it went down...

I started by baking two 1/2 pound potatoes for about an hour. I gave them a good squeeze and they felt pretty tender to me. As they were cooling, I got some prep done for some of the other items I would be using towards the end.

I stuck with Keller's recipe, for the most part. 2 Egg yolks, flour and mushrooms. Since I can't stand broccoli, I decided to add Portuguese sausage to the mix.

I mentioned earlier that I didn't have a ricer to break down the potato. What I decided to do was about as simple as it can get. I scooped out the inside of the potato and just ran my knife through there an assload of times.

Since I only have two hands, it was a bit difficult to take a lot of pictures without having to wash my hands a gazillion times. Please bear with me as I jump a bit ahead with the pictures. Don't worry, I'll explain as best as I can with what's going on.

Once the potato was chopped up to my liking, I added the egg yolk, flour, and a pinch of salt. Just like the video, it comes together slowly.

Since Keller never really said how much flour to add, I had to keep adding small amounts of flour until it started to look like dough. I honestly don't know how much I put in there. I think I started with half a cup of all purpose flour.

As the dough started to form, I began to get worried because I could feel small lumps in the dough. Mentally, I was completely freaking out. "OHMYGODOHMYGODFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKSHIT!!"

When I stopped my mental curse fest, I took a couple breaths, stepped back, and told myself it would be a waste to stop now. If it came out lumpy, I would know exactly where my mistake started. The best bet would be to just keep going and keep taking mental notes. Here is what the dough looked like:

I quartered this little log and rolled out a single rope with each quartered piece. Since I was working on a slab of marble, I used a cake decorating tool to cut the pieces. You don't want to ruin the edge of a good knife on marble.

From here, I rolled up each piece, then ran each piece along the back of the fork.

Let me just say, this does take time to do. I'll be honest, I did the little fork trick with only half the dough. I really wanted to get to the end of that dough.

Now it's time for the simmering water. I dropped in a couple handfuls of gnocchi at a time and took them out about 30 seconds after they started to float.

At this point, I did something that I didn't see in the Keller video, but had seen Chef David Chang do. That is to drop the poached gnocchi onto a tray coated with olive oil.

Once I had poached all the gnocchi, it was time to get cooking. FINALLY!

I cooked the gnocchi until it had started to take on a little bit of color. Then I added the mushrooms and sausage pieces to the pot.

After a short saute, I added a small amount of warmed chicken stock and started to make the sauce.

As I moved the ingredients around the pan, I noticed the sauce wasn't coming together like it did in the video. Then, I realized I forgot the vinegar. At this point, a good amount of the stock had reduced, so I didn't want to try it with the first batch.

The next batch I cooked up, I added the vinegar, and still no pretty sauce! Fuck! Oh well. I think the oil released from the sausage had something to do with it. Maybe next time I'll stick closer to the recipe.

At this point, it's done. I spooned the gnocchi onto a plate and garnished it with green onion and good quality parmigiana. Take another look:

I think this deserves one more look:

Now, the last and final reveal: How did it taste? Well...it tasted FUCKING FANTASTIC!! This was absolutely wonderful! I normally don't speak about my own food like this, but it was that damn good!

The gnocchi was so soft, but still had a little chew to it. There was nothing lumpy about it. All that worry in the beginning was for not. I've said this before and I have to say it with this dish: It was so good, it tasted like I didn't make it.

The mushrooms and sausage were an excellent accompaniment to the gnocchi. They added flavor while not overpowering the real star of this show. The parmesan was the icing on the cake. Truly a spectacular meal!

One thing that did surprise me was how filling this dish is. While the gnocchi are small, and the amount I plated up would have been good for appetizer, they really do carry some weight to them. I had two small servings, and at the end of the second, I was full.

And there you have it. I know, this was one of the longest posts I have ever done, and I'm glad you made it all the way to the end. Don't you feel good now? I know I do! I also know I felt great when I finished cooking this one. I felt a sense of accomplishment, making that dish that seemed out of reach a reality. A delicious reality.

So, what did you think? Was this what you expected? Was it worth all the hype? Or do you feel like slapping me right now for wasting your time? Let me know what you think! Your input will help make this blog the best it can be.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come down this culinary road with me. I've had insane amounts of fun writing this blog. I sincerely hope that you are having a blast, too. I've got something really cool planned for this blog very, very soon. But, I'm going to need your help to do it! I will explain all the details next post. For now, I hope you have enjoyed the 100 posts of Food And Such Things. There are many more to come, so stay tuned!

I'm out. (No Homo) :)