Pate choux method for gnocchi

[Jakea222]

I was in a restaurant somewhere and the chef had done a choux method for gnocchi and I have had no luck finding an idea on the quantites of ingredients and have no time to play - anyone done this and what is your method?

[jsmeeker]

Have you seen the thread about Thomas Keller's French Style gnocchi?

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=95409

You may find that it's exactly what you are looking for. I personally have not tried it yet, but am eager to give it a go at home.

[Doodad]

I was in a restaurant somewhere and the chef had done a choux method for gnocchi and I have had no luck finding an idea on the quantites of ingredients and have no time to play - anyone done this and what is your method?

←

Same recipe just piped out of a bag into simmering water is my understanding. Ruhlman states equal parts flour and water by volume and 1/2 part each butter and egg. Someone here stated they pipe with a star tip to get edges to hold sauce. I made pate a choux for the first time last year and it was killer for such an easy dish. Add cheddar cheese and pepper juice and it is texmex puffs to top chili.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Doodad (log)

[shaunchavis]

I was in a restaurant somewhere and the chef had done a choux method for gnocchi and I have had no luck finding an idea on the quantites of ingredients and have no time to play - anyone done this and what is your method?

←

I've pasted a choux recipe below. It's been a few years since I've done this, so it's off memory (someone else may have a better recollection), but for making the gnocchi, you'll need a pastry bag with a large, plain tip. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil -- it shouldn't be too vigorous. Fill the pastry bag with the choux, and have a small knife (like a sharp paring knife) on hand. Over the boiling water, give the pastry bag a steady squeeze and cut segments of dough as they come out, about 1/2 to 3/4-inch long, and let them fall into the boiling water. (You might need two people - one to squeeze the pastry bag, one to cut.) The gnocchi are done when they float to the top. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place on a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel.

Take the cooked gnocchi and put them in a buttered casserole dish with a sauce - a cheese sauce is decadent. Sprinkle with more cheese (or breadcrumbs, if you like) and bake the casserole for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Good luck! (This is making me hungry!)

Shaun

Pate a Choux

1/2 lb. butter

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

2 cups all purpose flour

8 eggs

Place butter, sugar, salt, and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

When liquid comes to a boil, take off the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon.

Place mixture back on the stove and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes until mixture forms a film on the bottom of the saucepan.

Take mixture off the stove and place in a mixing bowl. Beat with a paddle or by hand for a few seconds to let some of the steam escape.

Slowly beat eggs in one at a time.

Stop adding eggs when the mixture is shiny and holds a soft peak.

[Jakea222]

The ingredients I know that were in it had potato, and the Keller recipe does. Yes it is very hard to squeeze the bag and cut with a knife....I did that part just did not get to make the contents of the bag. I remember I was cussing the entire time due to the akwardness - I ended up for the secong huge batch using a pair of small scissors I kept in my bag - thanks for the keller recipe I will give it a shot and let you know -

[maggiethecat]

This is a job where it's excellent to have a helper. One squeezes, the other snips. (I like your scissors idea.)

[bandregg]

To me, pate a choux and potato is pomme dauphine, not a gnocchi.

[Qwerty]

They are also good sauteed--they brown nicely and puff up a bit as well.

[plk]

I've made gnocchi this way (used the recipe in Keller's Bouchon book) and they are great. But, it is sweaty, tiring work to pipe out those little buggers with one hand held above the boiling water and cut them off with the other. I used an ordinary steak knife. I think scissors would just gum up really fast and a bigger knife just seemed to collect goo.

I used a gallon-sized freezer bag and just cut off the tip. You keep up a constant, slight pressure with one hand and lop off each one until you can't hold your arm up anymore. Then skim them out of the water and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment so they can dry. At that point, you can use them directly or freeze them. Put the entire pan in the freezer and make sure they don't touch. When they are frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer bag. Then when you want to use them, toss them into the med-hot saute pan (browning the butter first is great here) frozen. So, yes, do it, but the easiest way is to do them ahead and freeze for later.

[Timh]

But if its blanched, that's "Parisienne".

[plk]

I don't think the blanching has anything to do with it. You blanch Italian gnocchi as well.

[RosalieC]

I was in a restaurant somewhere and the chef had done a choux method for gnocchi and I have had no luck finding an idea on the quantites of ingredients and have no time to play - anyone done this and what is your method?

←

I just saw a demo of that on "a chefs story"

http://www.chefsstory.com/recipe17.html

This was the base recipe used. If I remember he used 1/2 pate choux, 1/2 potato that was put through a fine ricer. It was a fairly recent episode you may be able to find it "on demand"

[Jakea222]

It is in fact Kellers recipe - I found the chefs email and asked - it was kellers recipe - the scissors did not gum up - this worked great as the squeeze and cut wore me down. I took them out when they floated, and drained well, they were bagged to a certain quantity and then finished - however - never saw that. We are going to use them on an evening menu as an app - tossed in a sauce of the week and served in small somethings - small cast irons or something don't know yet - still in the development stage...thanks for the info - great response

[Timh]

I don't think the blanching has anything to do with it. You blanch Italian gnocchi as well.

←

Yes, but this was reference to pomme dauphine, mentioned previously which are fried.

[mymymichl]

The ingredients I know that were in it had potato, and the Keller recipe does.  Yes it is very hard to squeeze the bag and cut with a knife....I did that part just did not get to make the contents of the bag.  I remember I was cussing the entire time due to the akwardness - I ended up for the secong huge batch using a pair of small scissors I kept in my bag - thanks for the keller recipe I will give it a shot and let you know -

←

You might try using a parchment covered tray sprayed with Pam. Or you can lay a skewer across the top of the simmering water.

I found I had to vary water or flour when humidity varied with the flour and the size of the eggs.

[papalolo]

I make gnocchi parisien all the time, and here is my suggestion...pipe long strips of the choux dough onto a sheetpan, then half freeze so that you can easily and cleanly cut through the dough with a knife..then you parboil...you should get the same results.

[trekflyer]

churros are made exactly the same way as this gnocchi just of course instead of boiling water, it's over oil.... A trick thats done at churros places is to tie a tight piece of fishing line or thin string to both of the handles that are positioned at either side of the deep frying pot. With your piping bag you pipe some dough and "cut" it by swiping the tip of the bag over the fishing line... If you do want to cut with a knife... i guess dipping it in cold water every once in a while would help keep from sticking... i just figure that because pate choux doesn't stick to wet surfaces......

[plk]

I make gnocchi parisien all the time, and here is my suggestion...pipe long strips of the choux dough onto a sheetpan, then half freeze so that you can easily and cleanly cut through the dough with a knife..then you parboil...you should get the same results.

←

Now that is a great idea. Holding one arm above a pot of boiling water for however long it takes to get through the batch is why I never make them.

[Qwerty]

I make gnocchi parisien all the time, and here is my suggestion...pipe long strips of the choux dough onto a sheetpan, then half freeze so that you can easily and cleanly cut through the dough with a knife..then you parboil...you should get the same results.

←

Now that is a great idea. Holding one arm above a pot of boiling water for however long it takes to get through the batch is why I never make them.

←

Did you have shoulder surgery or something? It's not THAT hard to hold the bag and cut at the same time....you could just divide up the dough into several portions so the bag is not so heavy when you have to hold it.

[plk]

I make gnocchi parisien all the time, and here is my suggestion...pipe long strips of the choux dough onto a sheetpan, then half freeze so that you can easily and cleanly cut through the dough with a knife..then you parboil...you should get the same results.

←

Now that is a great idea. Holding one arm above a pot of boiling water for however long it takes to get through the batch is why I never make them.

←

Did you have shoulder surgery or something? It's not THAT hard to hold the bag and cut at the same time....you could just divide up the dough into several portions so the bag is not so heavy when you have to hold it.

←

No, it was just annoying. I tend not to repeat doing tasks that are annoying and difficult unless there is a compelling reason to do so. It is not a matter of it being impossible or "that" difficult; I just don't want to do it again because it is sufficiently unpleasant. Capisce?

[Qwerty]

I guess I just don't see what is so difficult about it. If you are holding a big, heavy bag over the water for a long time, I guess I could see it, but why not divide the batter up into several smaller bags, or just fill the bag up in batches to make it lighter? Why not construct some thing to rest the bag on above the pot of water (like, I dunno, stacking a bunch of phone books or something).

I'm just saying that to deny yourself something because it is unpleasant isn't how I would do it. I would keep working to find a solution to make it less unpleasant. It gets easier the more times you do it.

[plk]

I've made it three times. It was good, but I don't need to make it again, at least not that way, hence why I was glad for the alternate suggestion. Hold your arm up over a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes and tell me how fun it is.

[Qwerty]

Well, I imagine that holding my arm up, holding a bag for 20 minutes would be a little tiring. But, like, if your arm gets tired, just stop for a few minutes. You can do them in smaller batches if you want/need.

[plk]

Look, it's not the size of the bag. The weight of the dough itself is trivial. And of course you have to take breaks while skimming out batches of gnocchi when they float to the top. The method suggested above by papalolo sounds interesting and sufficiently easy that it might be worth making them again, but also I've made them enough now that my curiosity about the recipe has been entirely satisfied. I don't see the problem.

Edited March 23, 2008 by plk (log)

[Joisey]

I make these all the time and they are a great and easy dinner (and a killer special if you need one on the fly). In another thread I recommended using a star tip because the ridges hold sauce better and look more interesting.

I LOVE the idea of stringing a fishing line across the top of the pot. A tip to those whose arms get tired is to place a pot of the same size upside down next to the blanching pot. You can easily rest your arm there and just put the tip of the bag over the water. This method is also a good one to have your kids help you with, I always have a couple of 6 year old volunteers to help cut the dough Daddy is squeezing out of the tube.

Edited March 25, 2008 by Joisey (log)