Gnocchi with Pesto

There are some things that I am completely afraid to attempt to cook, but as of last week, there is one less of those things. Since forever, I was terrified of gnocchi, and it had nothing to do with the process of making the dough and cutting the pieces. I was afraid of the result. I remember an episode of Top Chef in which someone, and now I can’t remember who it was, made gnocchi. One of the judges, can’t remember which judge either, held one little dumpling on a fork above his plate and let it drop. It thudded to the plate like a heavy ball of paste. That’s what frightened me. If I was going to cook potatoes, rice them, make dough, cut it into little pieces, boil them, and make some kind of sauce for them, I wanted them to be light and pillowy and delicious. So, for my first foray into gnocchidom, I gathered several sources of information and learned that every cook seems to have a different opinion about what makes perfect gnocchi. Marcella, in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, recommends boiling potatoes, and she boils them, skins them, and purees them in a food mill. Mario, in Malto Italiano, uses russet potatoes instead, but he also boils them, skins them, and purees them in a food mill. Anne Burrell, who calls her recipe "Light as a Cloud Gnocchi," uses russet potatoes, bakes them, skins them, and purees them in a food mill. Last, I had the good fortune to watch David Bull make gnocchi right in front of me at a Central Market cooking class that I attended earlier this summer, and his potato choice and cooking method were the same as Anne Burrell’s. So, three of them used russet potatoes, and it was split two to two for boiling vs baking. I nervously looked from one recipe to the next, comparing notes, biting my nails, and finally jumped in and made my first batch of gnocchi.

It killed me a little to ignore Marcella’s advice, but russet potatoes seemed like the fluffier choice, so that’s what I used. And, again, since baking seems to produce a fluffier cooked potato than boiling, I ignored Marcella and Mario and baked rather than boiled. I don’t own a food mill, so I used a ricer to smoosh the cooked potatoes. Then there are the eggs, if you’re adding eggs that is. Marcella recommends that you don’t, but everyone else was for eggs. Marcella explains that gnocchi from the Veneto are cloud-light and are made with no eggs. She goes on to say that gnocchi dough with eggs is easier to handle but can easily become rubbery. For my first time with this, I felt like I needed eggs if this was going to become a dough, so to the four big, riced potatoes, I added two eggs. David Bull used semolina flour while everyone else added all-purpose flour. I used all-purpose. You should start with half the suggested flour and work in the rest as needed. Two other last ingredients were parmigiano which Anne Burell added and I didn't and chopped chives which David Bull added to his dough and so did I. Everyone says to knead the dough gently and don’t over mix it. Anne Burrell leaves all the ingredients on a board and folds in the eggs and flour with a bench scraper. That seemed like a good idea, so I did that. Last, when you have a cohesive dough, you break off pieces, roll them into ropes, and cut the ropes into gnocchi. You can leave them like that or roll them on the back of a fork or along a cute gnocchi board to make grooves in them. You press with your finger as you roll so each piece has a dent one side and ridges on the other. I have to explain that I bought the cute gnocchi board months ago as a way of convincing myself to make gnocchi. It worked eventually. Once you have your finished gnocchi, you can cook them immediately or freeze them. I left mine in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before boiling, draining, and adding sauce.

For the sauce, I went back to Marcella and followed her instructions precisely for basil pesto. It’s pretty much what you would expect for pesto except that she adds three tablespoons of softened butter after she stirs in the cheese. It was a lovely pesto. She recommends it as one of the best sauces for potato gnocchi, and I’m a believer now too. In an attempt at balancing the meal, I sauteed some sliced summer squash and mixed that with the boiled gnocchi before topping it all with pesto. After all of that, was there a thud when a piece was dropped onto a plate? No, believe it or not, they were truly tender and delicate although not quite perfectly formed. I actually wondered if I didn’t knead the dough quite enough. I’ll work on that next time, since there will definitely be a next time, and I might even try boiling the potatoes and not adding eggs.

Fried Salt Cod with Garlic Sauce and Artichoke Soup from Vefa’s Kitchen

I don’t know why I didn’t cook Greek food more often in the past. I’ve always really liked Greek food, but I felt like I didn’t know enough about it. That excuse is about to become a thing of the past. I received a review copy of Vefa's Kitchen, and this is a comprehensive guide to all types of food from every region of Greece. Central Greece has a rich history of cheese production because sheep and goats spend winters in mountain pastures full of green grass. Messinia, in the Peloponnese, is the country’s leading olive producer, and the mountains of Arkadia are where the best feta is made. Venetian influence on the Ionian Islands is apparent in Italian-sounding dishes like pastitsada, but the cuisine has taken on a character of its own. And, we have the island of Cyprus to thank for lovely, lovely halloumi cheese. There’s a simplicity to a lot of the cooking in that it’s the freshness of ingredients that brings great flavor. Grilled fish with just olive oil and lemon and maybe parsley or oregano is as good as it is because of the fish itself. That being said, there are plenty of complex dishes involving pastry or pasta, but there’s always a clear link to seasonality. I could have focused on the salad chapter alone for days with options like potato salad with octopus, broiled zucchini halloumi and lettuce salad, and grape and lettuce salad with kefalotiri. First, I had to try the fried salt cod with garlic sauce and artichoke soup.

I was thrilled when I finally found some salt cod locally since I’d wanted to try cooking with it for ages. I had imagined it would have some aroma as it soaked in water to remove the salt. I let it soak for 24 hours, and changed the water four times keeping it tightly covered with plastic wrap as it sat in the refrigerator. Happily, it didn’t have a strong smell at all, and 24 hours was plenty of time to remove excess salt from this particular piece. After rinsing and drying the cod, which had already been skinned and de-boned, it was cut into chunks. A batter was made from flour, olive oil, beer, and salt and pepper, and that was set aside for one hour. Just before frying, whipped egg whites were folded into the batter before the cod chunks were coated. The crispy, golden fish pieces were served with a garlic sauce made from, obviously, garlic, but also cooked potatoes, bread crumbs, red wine vinegar, water, olive oil, and salt and pepper. I was thrilled with the crunchy, fried cod and the garlic sauce was a nice, although somewhat thick, accompaniment.

Next, I used some spring artichokes in a simple, pureed, and chilled soup. This was a lot like vichyssoise with the addition of artichokes. Big, green, globe artichokes were cleaned and peeled to the heart and stem and then sauteed with onion and leeks in olive oil. Speaking of Greek artichokes, there was a great story about them with a slideshow on The Atlantic site the other day. Once the vegetables had softened, stock was added along with some chopped potatoes, parsley, and lemon juice. That all simmered for about 20 minutes, was allowed to cool, and was then pureed in a blender. The soup was poured through a strainer and then refrigerated for a few hours. Just before serving, I tasted it and thought it was missing something. That something was the Greek yogurt that was to be whisked in at the last moment. The yogurt’s acidity gave the soup just the zip it needed. The chilled soup was velvety smooth, and the vegetable flavor was spring in a cup.

I haven’t even finished reading the book yet, and I already have several pages marked of more things I want to try. Stuffed pastas, chicken pilaf wrapped in phyllo, baked giant beans, and kataifi and cheese rolls are just a few. I’m also really looking forward to using summer’s stars, zucchini and eggplant, in several Greek specialties. I hope to visit Greece some day, and while I’m daydreaming about that, I can learn more about the country through its food.

Fennel and Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes

Deciding what to serve with a whole grilled chicken was easy. I had some potatoes from our CSA and the Potato book from Williams-Sonoma, and I put the two together. I’m really not being paid by WS this week, but I seem to keep mentioning them. I handed this book to Kurt and asked him to pick a potato dish, and his choice was fennel and parmesan scalloped potatoes. Fresh fennel bulb was thinly sliced to bake within layers of potatoes and cheese, and it became tender and mild as its anise flavor mellowed and mingled with the other ingredients. It was a simple dish to assemble, and the hour it spent in the oven gave me plenty of time to prepare the rest of the meal.

I always seem to get lazy when it comes to peeling potatoes, and I don’t mind seeing the peel anyway. So, as usual, I ignored the step about removing the peels. Slicing the potatoes and the fennel was made quick and easy with a Benriner. Once sliced, they were placed in a pot with half and half, milk, chopped chives, chopped fennel fronds, and thyme. That half and half was supposed to have been cream, but I was feeling like I just didn’t need a dose of heavy cream that day, so I used half and half instead. The pot was placed over medium-high heat, brought to a boil, and allowed to boil for a minute. Half of the mixture was transferred to a greased baking dish, it was sprinkled with shredded parmigiano reggiano, the other half was layered on top, the remaining liquid was poured into the baking dish, and more cheese was added. This baked, covered with foil, for 40 minutes, and then the foil was removed for an additional 20 minutes in the oven.

Given the combination that went into the baking dish and the amount of time the layered potatoes and fennel spent melding and becoming fetchingly golden, I don’t think it’s necessary to explain how good that was. It’s not even possible that it wouldn’t be good. The fennel had a barely noticeable sturdier texture than the potatoes, and the cheese added its lovely nutty, salty richness. This potato dish could be paired with a lot of things, but it worked very well with chicken.



I'm submitting this to the June PhD.

Roasted Potato Leek Soup

I caught a little bit of Barefoot Contessa on the Foodnetwork the other day, and I saw her making this soup. This was just a potato leek soup, but when I watch her show, I get completely drawn in to whatever she’s making. It doesn’t matter if it’s something I don’t even eat, like beef tenderloin, I still become mesmerized. I’ll start thinking of how Kurt would like that, or I can make this when we have some friends over for dinner. Whatever Ina’s cooking, it always looks good, and I always want to run and cook it too. Potato leek soup is pretty straightforward, and I’ve made it many times, but Ina turned this version of it into something special. Instead of boiling the vegetables in the broth and then pureeing the soup, the vegetables were roasted in the oven.

Potatoes and leeks were chopped, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted until tender. Then, arugula was added to the pan and roasted until wilted. I cleared the end-of-season arugula from my garden last weekend and used the last small, upper leaves for this. The roasted vegetables were then placed on top of the stove, and wine and chicken stock were added. That combination was then pureed in a food processor, in batches, with additional chicken stock. Once pureed, it was returned to a pot on the stove, more stock was added to achieve whatever consistency you might prefer, and then the recipe started getting rich. An eight ounce container of creme fraiche was stirred into the soup along with some grated parmigiano, and three quarters of a cup of cream was suggested. Now, I do love Ina and I’m no prude when it comes to cream and butter, but I just couldn’t do it after the creme fraiche. I used two percent milk instead. Trust me when I say it didn’t weaken this soup. First you can control the thickness during the pureeing and adding of chicken stock, so I already had a nicely thick soup. And, the richness was definitely not lacking because of my milk substitution. Last, a little more wine was added and the seasoning was adjusted.

The soup was served with crispy shallots on top and some parmesan cheese bread on the side. It was incredible. It had great flavor from the roasting, and the arugula added a little pepperiness and fresh, green flecks. The dairy richness and salty bite of the cheese were exactly right with the vegetables. Just watching it being made on television convinced me it would probably be good, but I had no idea. I wanted to curl up and take a nap in this soup. Dare I say, this may very well be the mac and cheese of soup. It is comfort food as it should be, and you can use the cream if you want, but it really didn’t even need it.

I'm submitting this to the May PhD.

Zucchini Vichyssoise

Potato leek soup can be excellent, or it can be so so and a little heavy. It can be served hot or cold. So many options. This rendition included zucchini, was excellent, and was served warm. Adding zucchini to the mix was an inspired approach. The recipe is found in Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten.

The instructions suggest passing the soup through a food mill to puree. I really think a blender is the way to go here. The smoothness you get from blender pureeing is ideal. And then, there’s the zucchini. Including it did a couple of things that were very tricky of that zucchini. It made the soup less dense and the texture very silky. I even omitted the bit of cream that is to be added after pureeing because the soup was already so smooth and delicious just as it was. The mild zucchini complemented the potatoes and leeks nicely, and the consistency was perfect.

I’m not a huge fan of chilled soups, so I can’t offer any comments on it in a chilled state, but it did re-heat beautifully for lunch the next day. I can also highly recommend a grilled cheese sandwich on the side made with sharp white cheddar.

Zucchini Potato Fritters

Fresh from the farm yesterday, my share included zucchini, potatoes, and onions which made me think of fritters. I’ve made potato latkes a million times, but I’d never tried any sort of vegetable combo. I think I once saw Sara Moulton making zucchini potato fritters, and I mentally filed that away for future use. Remember Cooking Live and the occasional market basket cook along? It was fun to watch her get flustered trying desperately to fill so many Food Network hours, but at least she can cook. I learned from her and have made several of her dishes. And, on one occasion, I think she made something like these fritters. It couldn’t be easier, but it is necessary to work quickly. The excess liquid needs to be squeezed out of the grated zucchini and potato, and the rest of the ingredients need to be mixed in before the potato sugars start oxidizing and changing color. I used eight ball zucchini, a baby yellow squash, a couple of small white potatoes, a red potato, some red onion, and an egg to bind. I also tossed in a little chopped parsley and garlic chives and fried them until crisp in canola oil. You really can’t go wrong with a fritter. These fresh, crunchy wonders were served with a small dollop of sour cream on top of each.