Making Potato Gnocchi

Place whole unpeeled potatoes into a medium saucepan with cold water on medium heat. 

Leaving the skins on lets them cook but keeps a lot of the moisture out. Or you could bake them instead. Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook for 20 to 25 minutes until soft enough to mash. Check with a knife to see if potatoes are cooked through and tender. When done, drain the potatoes. 

When cool enough to handle, peel each potato and cut into small pieces. You could mash the potatoes with a potato masher but for best results, use a potato ricer. Press the pieces of potato through the ricer over a bowl. Add 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2 egg yolks, salt and pepper and gently mix into a doughy consistency with your hands adding more flour as needed. 

Transfer the dough to a well floured surface and lightly shape it into a ball.You want light airy gnocchi so don't over-work the dough. If you do, they will be too dense and heavy.

Cut a piece of dough and gently roll it out into a rope about 1/2 inch thick. 

Cut the rope into pieces about 1 inch long then roll them across a gnocchi board. This will put groves in the gnocchi so they can hold the sauce (plus it gives them a cool look). Lisa is rolling one on the gnocchi board I made from scrap hardwood. If you don't have a gnocchi board use a fork and roll each gnocco across the tines to make the groves. Or just leave them plain.

Lisa, thanks to her OCD, made the perfect gnocco.

Bring salted water to a simmering boil not a hard boil. This goes for cooking ravioli too - don't put them into a hard rolling boil. That's one of the reasons they break apart or in the case of ravioli, burst. When they float, they're done. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon or wire spider.

And sauce with a light tomato marinara or sage butter or olive oil and grated cheese or a mushroom cream sauce like this - 

Roast chicken, broccoli and gnocchi with a mushroom cream sauce

Mushroom cream sauce:

1 shallot minced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 box fresh cremini mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet add three tbsp butter, the crimini mushrooms and the fresh thyme. 

Saute about 5 to 7 minutes. 

Add 1/2 cup white wine and reduce by half, about 5 minutes. 

Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and gently simmer for another 2 to 5 minutes. 

Once the sauce has simmered, add the gnocchi and stir together. 

Serve and garnish with a little grated Parmesan

Pan Seared Bone-In Ribeye!

The Perfect Steak
(Recipe, back story and video courtesy of The Tasting Table) 

The video: The Perfect Steak)

Nothing beats a gorgeous bone-in rib eye for dramatic shape and rich, funky flavor. But you've got to know how to handle it.

One: Salt the hunk of meat like there's no tomorrow. Now salt a little more. Rub it all over with rosemary, thyme, lemon peel and garlic and let it rest overnight before the big day.

Two: Rub a little olive oil on the steak and introduce it to an extremely hot cast iron skillet.

Three: Step away from the stove. Resist the urge to turn it a hundred times. Sit on your hands or have another drink if you need it. The key is to let the meat and the heat work their magic. Your reward: a deep, crisp, charred--but not carbonized!--exterior and an interior that's evenly cooked to a perfect medium-rare all the way through.

1. Gear: A simple cast-iron pan is key. It sustains a high, even heat that translates to a nice, deep caramelization and no need to finish in the oven. Short metal tongs are best for handling a big piece of meat. Turn the meat to sear every side (fat edges included). Yeah, poking the meat is cool, but a simple cook's instant-read thermometer is the most reliable way to know when you hit the 130° medium-rare sweet spot.

2. The meat: We've got love for all kinds of cuts, but we agree with Grant Achatz: "The rib eye is my all-time favorite. Rib eyes have the highest marbled fat ratio. They just taste better."

3. Salt early, salt often: Salt is a steak lover's bestie. The meat needs way more salt than you think it does, so always be salting (ABS). Under-salting results in tasteless meat--even if you've splurged on the best quality--so really go for it.

4. Here's the rub: Rosemary, thyme, lemon peel and garlic supply a subtle fragrance and flavor.

5. Oil, but not much: Put the oil on the steak, not the pan. You're searing, not frying.

6. Butter: We like to baste the meat with foaming brown butter (quickly infused with rosemary, thyme and garlic) as it cooks because it perfumes the meat and adds another layer of flavor.

7. A very sharp knife: Don't underestimate its importance. After all the care you've put into cooking the perfect steak, you want even pieces--cut against the grain--that do your work justice

INGREDIENTS

One 2-pound bone-in rib eye steak, preferably dry aged

Kosher salt 

2 sprigs rosemary

4 strips lemon peel

6 sprigs thyme

DIRECTIONS

1. Pat the steak dry with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture, then season generously with salt. Remove the leaves from 1 sprig of the rosemary and add to a small bowl along with the lemon, 4 sprigs of the thyme and 4 cloves of the garlic; mix to combine. Using your hands, rub the steak with the lemon-herb mixture. Wrap the steak in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.  

2. Remove the steak from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the rosemary, thyme, lemon and garlic. Rub the steak with the olive oil.

3. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the steak and cook until the bottom is crusty, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, hold the steak up on its sides, turning occasionally, to sear its edges, about 5 minutes. Flip the steak. Add the butter to the skillet along with the remaining rosemary, thyme and garlic. Using a large spoon, baste the steak with the herb butter until medium-rare, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into its center reaches 130°, about 5 minutes more.

4. Transfer steak to a cutting board and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the steak off the bone and slice the steak, against the grain, into thin slices. Garnish with fleur de sel. Serve immediately.

Read More:

http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/national/16929/How_to_Make_the_Perfect_Steak.htm#ixzz33rUqNmWn