230 replies to this topic

[Anna N]

Those ravioli look lovely Anna N! was that really your first stuffed pasta ever.. they look great 
I really like the idea of the lime/ginger sauce, doesn't sound very Italian, but why not be creative with the flavors sometimes..

Truly, it was the first time for making not only stuffed pasta but pasta of any sort that was edible! I have made a similar dish in the past using wonton wrappers but the pasta was so much better. These cook-off threads are inspiring whether one merely lurks or digs in with both hands.

[Susan in FL]

Those ravioli look lovely Anna N! was that really your first stuffed pasta ever.. they look great 
I really like the idea of the lime/ginger sauce, doesn't sound very Italian, but why not be creative with the flavors sometimes..

These cook-off threads are inspiring whether one merely lurks or digs in with both hands.

Well put!!

[Mottmott]

My nine year old granddaughter and I made dinner together tonight. She's suggested we cook together on Fridays when she doesn't have homework.

We made ravioli stuffed with shortribs I had made a couple nights ago. She made the dough in the processor and then kneaded it by hand. We caramelized some shallots together, I deglazed it with red wine, added the beef and porcini that was pulled apart by hand (not minced) with some of the juice, reducing it to remove excess liquid. After we'd formed the first batch, her mother dropped by and we gave her some to take home.

When we finally assembled dinner, Missy also wanted to try the beet ravioli I'd made and frozen, so I added a couple of those. We had a simple "sauce" of oil, grated parm, and a sprinkling of chives. We accompanied this with a composed salad of mixed heirloom tomatoes, beets, & lima beans (she passed on the limas) that had sprinkled with balsamic and maldon salt.

My sweet gd was swooning with pleasure over it all, the best dinner ever, she said. And and all the better for being made by two. (This was only the second time we'd made ravioli together though we often cook together.) We finished dinner off with the apple tart we made.

On the way home, she was setting up the menu for our next dinner together. Her choices: cream of broccali soup, roast chicken stuffed with lemon, garlic, herbs and chocolate. mousse. We'll do gnocchi at a future time.

[Smithy]

Mottmott, you two are building happy memories as well as learning to cook together. Lucky you, lucky granddaughter! I'm smiling here, thinking of it. Thank you for sharing your success and good times.

[nan]

Okay, a week or so ago, I gave gnocchi a try. This is my first time making it, or even much of anything involving a dough from scratch. It turned out okay, I guess, though not very flavorful. I followed the recipe in How to Cook Everything, but I think next time, I'll try to use the instructions that were linked to in this thread. I tried to make a butter sage sauce, but was in frantic mode by that point and so it was too much butter. I should have mashed the potatoes more - I had left that part to my husband to do ahead of time.

I'll try again, though I'm not sure I'll convince my husband to try it again. :)

Here's my dough


The uncooked gnocchi (too big?)


The finished result (served with a tomato & mozzarella salad)


Any tips / advice for next time would be appreciated!

nan

[Chris Amirault]

Cook-off XIV: Bibimbap.

[eJulia]

Does anyone know if you can use a food mill to process the potatoes for gnocchi instead of a ricer? What blade would one use?

Thanks, Julia

[slkinsey]

I've used a food mill, yes. It's okay, if not as good as a ricer. You do have to be very careful about doing small amounts at a time so it doesn't end up gluey from being overworked in the mill.

As for the blade, I assume you are actually talking about the disk. The medium disk is just fine.

[eJulia]

thanks, slkinsey. Yes, I meant disc, not blade. Perhaps I can rationalize a new kitchen toy (a ricer) so I can attempt gnocchi with all the other novices!

[daniellewiley]

thanks, slkinsey.  Yes, I meant disc, not blade.  Perhaps I can rationalize a new kitchen toy (a ricer) so I can attempt gnocchi with all the other novices!

Keep your eye out for one at antique stores or garage sales. I got mine at a garage sale in Vermont for $5 - works like a charm!

[helenas]

OK so I was all set for gnocchi today. I had bought potatoes, asking the potatoguy at the market for "not too floury not too waxy" ones. Then I saw the Kabocha squash I had bought a couple of days ago. I decided to make pumpkin/potato gnocchi.
Potatoes were boiled in their skins, pumpkin roasted in the oven. Both were nice and dry when I mashed them. I decided to be brave and not add an egg.. only flour. I added enough flour to make a dough that was soft but not very sticky. Shaped the gnocchi.. I thought they looked very nice.
Ofcourse the cooking was the hard part. I fished them out as soon as they floated to the surface, but by then they were almost dissolved. In the serving dish they collapsed together into an orange mealy mush. Sauced with enough sage butter to make an old shoe edible, we ate them anyway.

But not a succes. What went wrong?

oh no: i was meaning to make kabocha gnocchi tonight - i even googled out this lovely article: Masterful gnocchi: An Italian chef demonstrates the secrets of making those feather-light dumplings . (the recipe does call for an egg)

and to adrress the comment by somebody on this thread that kabocha produces too much moisture, i thought that it's the driest squash, is this not true?

anyway reading about your disaster made my thinking of switching to pumpkin spaetzle tonight

[Chufi]

and to adrress the comment by somebody on this thread that kabocha produces too much moisture, i thought that it's the driest squash, is this not true?

anyway reading about your disaster made my thinking of switching to pumpkin spaetzle tonight 

I think you should try the gnocchi, I still think it was just my fault and not the Kabocha's ,

[MobyP]

A tortelloni problem!

[snowangel]

Over here, you can see that Kris and I are both making pasta.

Given her recent experience, and my lack of experience, help over on that blog is appreciated! Toward the end of the topic, I have some questions...

[Mooshmouse]

A bit late to this topic, to be sure, but I thought I'd add this photo of a dish that a few Vancouver eGulleters made last Monday in the Serious Foodie Class being offered by the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver.


Seared Halibut with Piamontese Gnocchi in a Basil/White-Wine Broth

We tried three different methods of making our gnocchi: with a board, with a fork and with the two-fingered technique used by Andy Garcia in Godfather III (cheesy movie reference courtesy of Chef Tony Minichiello). Chef Tony intimated that Piamontese-style gnocchi are lighter than those to which most people are accustomed. All in all, I figure that the gnocchi turned out fairly well for my first attempt; now I won't be so cowed by the prospect of trying to make them in my own kitchen.

[snowangel]

Over on our Tagteam blog, both Kris and I successully made pasta.

And, I was successful once again. I am using a mix of a cup and a half each of AP flour and some stuff I bought at the coop from a bin, labeled "duram seminola for pasta, along with five eggs and a splash of olive oil. It is working well, epecially now that I realize that an occasional bare dusting of flour can be my friend. I also am finding it helpful to cut the sheets in half when I am about 1/2 way through the rolling process (an atlas). Further, I am discoversing that of the 8 settings I have, we are happiest when the last level is #3.

The two neighborhood boys that were here tonight (raised on Chef Boyardee) were darned impressed.

So, time for me to braise something so that I have leftovers. I'm feeling confident enough to try a stuffed pasta!

[Susan in FL]

A bit late to this topic, to be sure, but I thought I'd add this photo of a dish that a few Vancouver eGulleters made last Monday in the Serious Foodie Class being offered by the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver.


Seared Halibut with Piamontese Gnocchi in a Basil/White-Wine Broth

We tried three different methods of making our gnocchi:  with a board, with a fork and with the two-fingered technique used by Andy Garcia in Godfather III (cheesy movie reference courtesy of Chef Tony Minichiello).  Chef Tony intimated that Piamontese-style gnocchi are lighter than those to which most people are accustomed.  All in all, I figure that the gnocchi turned out fairly well for my first attempt; now I won't be so cowed by the prospect of trying to make them in my own kitchen.

That looks so good. Beautiful dish, all of it! Nicely seared fish!

Great job Susan, too. Keep us posted.

[snowangel]

Susan, the weather here is finally turning. After historical October high temp weather (the leaves still haven't fallen!), the temps are dropping rapidly to what should be at this time of year.

So, tonight, I took a nice bit chuck roast out of the freezer to braise tomorrow for dinner on Saturday. I took out an extra big one figuring that I would have a nice lot of leftovers for my first stuffed pasta attempt.

This pasta thing, once I figured out the tricks, is not nearly as difficult as I'd made it before.

Even the little boys who were here for dinner noticed a vast difference in the pasta served here tonight (alfredo, at the request of the boys and Diana) than what they get at home. Plus, it was a fascinating lesson for inquisitive 9-year old boys (whose mothers' are unappreciative of the fact that the boys have informed them that they should be making pasta from scratch).

[snowangel]

Needing a bit of advice. At some point this week, I will try my first stuffed pasta. I think I can handle the pasta and the stuffing part, but have some questions about the filling.

So, tonight we had a lovely braised pot roast. Onions, celery, cinnamon stick, some sweet paprika, garlic, more onions, and prunes. It was wonderful.

So, if I'm going to use this to stuff pasta, I assume that I need to add a binder? Or not? And puree it? Or just mince everything very fine?

Any suggestions or advice?

[MobyP]

I would remove the prunes and obviously the cinamon stick.

When I have left over short ribs, I fry up a sliced clove of garlic, and then add a small tin of plum tomatoes, and reduce to marmelade consistency. Then add this to the meat , veg, and braising liquor of the short ribs, and a handful of parmagiano, then process. I find you don't need anything to bind.

[Chris Amirault]

To accompany some sausages I made over at the sausage cook-off, I made a tomato sauce using bacon, onions, garlic, crushed tomatoes, sage, bay, and pinches of allspice and clove. I was going to use dried spaghetti because I was worried about fresh standing up to the sauce, but changed my mind. I was glad I did. I used Moby's base recipe from the eGCI course but made sure to flour very liberally during the rolling. I rolled it down to 4 on the KitchenAid and then cut it. It turned out great!

[melkor]

Since Chris is bringing this topic back up I might as well post a pic of our dinner last night. 100 grams semolina, 100 grams AP flour, 2 eggs, and a large pinch of salt. Let the dough rest for a bit, rolled out to 7 on the Belpasta Trattorina. Cut the dough on a chitarra. The pasta cooked for all of a minute then tossed with cream and mascarpone. Black truffle shaved on top. We regularly make this dish (sans truffle) after foraging for mushrooms - chanterelles and hedgehogs work particularly well in the sauce.

[slkinsey]

Looks good! Interesting that you cut it on a chitarra. Any particular reason why? When I do that -- and when I've had pasta alla chitarra in Abruzzo -- it's tended to be fairly thick (almost square) and rustic (I'll roll it by hand rather than in a machine).

[melkor]

I think the pasta has a better texture after being cut with the wires than it does using the cutting rollers in my pasta machine. I use a knife for more rustic preparations. The pasta cooks to an even thickness with well defined corners after cutting it with a knife or wires and after running it through the cutters it ends up pinched on the sides and thicker in the center. The problem is most likely that the cutters on my pasta machine are dull, but I had the same results with my old atlas machine also.

The other side of my chitarra has narrowly spaced wires that work well for making squared off pasta roughly the width of spaghetti. Mostly though, I use the chitarra because I enjoy the process - if it produced an equal quality product I'd still use it, that the end result is to my taste significantly better is a nice bonus.

[slkinsey]

Ah! You used the wide side of the chitarra. You know, I've never used that side. Never actually made pasta from that side. It may be that my wide side is a lot wider than yours as well. I got mine from friends in Abruzzo, and it's nothing like the ones I've seen for sale here (which tend to look like this one, whereas mine looks like the one on this page).

Your point is very well made about the pasta cutters that come with machines, though. I've never been happy with them. Even brand-new they don't separate the pasta strands to the extent that I would prefer, and you do get that "pinching" effect you describe. I prefer to simply roll the finished sheets of pasta into a cigar and cut them into whatever width I would like using a sharp knife.

The chitarra is cool to use, though, isn't it? I've been needing to re-wire mine so I can use them again (I have two). After a while, the wires seem to get stretched out too much. When I rewire, I also plan to quadruple wire each strand on the wide side so the strength of the wires on the two sides is more evenly balanced when the chitarra is tightened. With only single wiring for each strand on the wide side, the narrow side has about 5 times the number of wires compared to the wide side.

[melkor]

My chitarra looks a lot like what you have. Sur la table sells it for $21. The way the wires are rigged some of the pegs are wired with an even number of wires to each side others are 2:1, the fewest any of them have is 4 going each way. It's got 5mm spacing on one side, 2.5mm on the other. I think you're right that you get the same quality pasta using a sharp knife as you do a chitarra, though the chitarra has exact spacing so the end result is more uniform. How wide is the wide side of your chitarra?

[slkinsey]

Yea, that one from SLT looks a lot like mine. I'll have to take a look, but I'd swear that mine have five wires on the narrow side for every one wire on the wide side.

I'll try to remember to get mine down and look.

[Chris Amirault]

Using Moby's great recipe, I made fresh spaghetti tonight, and served it with my first San Marzano tomato sauce (sauteed garlic in evoo, the can o' tomatoes, salt, pepper, little wine, and chiffonaded basil just before serving) -- excellent.

The occasion of this meal was discovering, at the IKEA in Stoughton MA, the Frost clothes drying rack. Little does IKEA know, but this is an outstanding pasta drying rack. I installed it just above my head, and used it throughout the rolling and cutting process.

[JasonTrue]

I finally had a camera ready to go when making squash gnocchi (kabocha gnocchi) with cream sauce...

I stole the concept from an Italian restaurant I visited in Ginza many years ago. It's a kabocha and potato-based gnocchi with a sauce made from the same squash, cream, and butter.

Details in blog entry

[TongoRad]

Last night Lady Rad was out of the house, meaning that I could eat as late as I wanted to. This was an opportunity to play that I just could not refuse- normally I would have done the same sort of dish that I wound up making but it would've been with dried pasta instead of the gnocchi.

Here are my humble ingredients:

A potato, sausages and some sauteed broccoli rabe.

And here is my weapon of choice (well...necessity, actually, seeing as I don't have a ricer)- grandma's Foley:


I put the potato in the oven while I got the kids to bed. It was ready when I was. The food mill worked well enough for one potato but the holes were getting kind of clogged by the end of the process. I really do need to get a ricer because this was easy to do even when time is tight and I would like to make gnocchi more often. I started at 7:30 and was eating by 8:15, and that included quite a bit of cleanup time in between.

Here is my dinner for one:

I really like to caramelize my sausage for this dish, and I prefer not to blanch my broccoli rabe so the flavors are pretty aggressive. Once the gnocchi came to the top of the water I added them to the pan with the other ingredients along with a ladle of water, allowing them to cook a bit longer with the other flavors. When I turned off the heat I added two pats of butter and gave it all a toss before serving.

The final verdict was that the gnocchi were a bit too soft and delicate for the rest of the dish, though flavor-wise it is a classic. Orichietti is still the way to go, but I really enjoyed my gnocchi making experience and can see myself doing it more in the future.