Gnocchi Dokey

Matt... Love that smile

We've hit a snag in our summer. Our last few weeks were far too sunny and hot to be real for Oregon, so it came as a relief when I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of the rain pouring so loud it sounded like bags of rocks were falling on my house. I loved it. I adore the shitty, rainy weather that is so typical of Oregon, especially in the summer time to break up all the perfect days of sun. It's so refreshing and cozy. The two worst days were on my boyfriend and my days off together, so it gave us a perfect excuse to just snuggle up together, grab coffee from our favorite spot, and watch tons of Degrassi together. That's right ladies, my man LOVES Degrassi; what cool tricks does your boyfriend do?

The Okonomiyaki Tots- watch the bonito curl!

Anyways, we watched tons of Degrassi together over our rainy weekend, went to Boxer Ramen, because we were both craving spicy, umami, perfect ramen. Boxer Ramen was the first place we ate together. We went with a bunch of our mutual friends before we were dating, but I liked him and he liked me. We didn't know it yet, but apparently it was obvious to everybody else because my best friend sent me a text the next day saying 'You have a crush on Matt.' I denied, but then agreed. I guess the two of us sitting across from eachother all afternoon and evening, totally engrossed in each other, laughing, giggling, and hardly paying attention to anybody else was a pretty obvious sign to everyone but us. But two weeks later, we were going on our first real date, so it didn't take long.

Sorry, back to ramen! It was great. It always is at Boxer Ramen. I bought a great book at Powell's a couple weeks ago, on the sale rack, called Takishi's Noodles. It is about authentic Japanese noodles, like ramen, udon, soba, and other great recipes. I've been dying to try my hand at making ramen, because Japanese cuisine is probably my favorite. I love the way they capture all of the five tastes and balance them in perfect harmony. They were using umami as a flavor far before the rest of the world knew what it was. Umami is basically 'intense savory'. That's the best American-ized definition of the word. To me, it is the flavor that makes many dishes complete. Some foods high in umami are Parmeasan cheese, soy sauce, cured ham...those may all sound like they are just salty, but salt is a different flavor. Other umami rich foods are green tea, tomatoes, and oysters. In Japanese, umami roughly translates to 'deliciousness', which seems just about right to me.

Gnocchi w/ carrot corn puree, mushrooms, baby scallops

I haven't made any noodles from the book yet, but I did try the gnocchi recipe in it. It was super simple, and the only ingredient for it that I didn't have on hand were the russet potatoes. I picked kale from my garden and lightly wilted it, made a carrot and corn puree, portabella mushrooms,and pan seared the most adorable baby scallops to go on top. It was fantastic! Gnocchi is awesome, they are little pillows of delicious starch, and are perfect for collecting sauce. The longest part is baking the potatoes, so I would start that a couple hours before you plan on eating. Also the rolling out and shaping takes a little while, but Matt and I had a blast doing it together. I rolled out just what I needed for dinner that night, and then he rolled out the rest while I did dishes afterwards. Another wonderful thing about gnocchi is that you can freeze them and use them later. Just make sure to roll them in olive oil first, and lay them on a tray with parchment paper, and saran wrap. I didn't boil mine before freezing, so I just have to pull them out of the freezer and boil them til they float, and then I can go ahead and cook them like normal. It's great to have such a delicious standby just waiting in the freezer for the day that I decide to bust it out.

Little pillows of delight

Potato Gnocchi

• 1# russet potatoes (about 2 large)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 C grated Parmesan
• 1/2 TBSP extra-virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Preheat oven to 425. Use a fork to poke holes in potatoes, but I also cut them in half so they baked quicker. Roast until very soft, it took about an hour and a half. Remove from the oven and let cool about 15 minutes. You still want them to be warm, because you scoop out the insides from the skin. Discard the skin.

Put through a ricer, or mash them with a hand masher until there are no lumps left. Stir in the egg, yolk, parmesan, olive oil, and salt.

Use your hands to slowly mix in the flour until well combined. It's messy, but fun! Divide into 4 pieces.

Rollin like a pro

Roll one piece on a lightly floured surface into a long, 1/2" thick rope. Gently pinch one end with your thumb and forefinger, and cut. It should look like a small pillow. Continue pinching and cutting, make them about 1" long, and place on a floured plate. Repeat with remaining 3 pieces. (I rolled out 1 piece to begin, and it was enough for us to both eat and have seconds.)

Prepare an ice bath (ice and cold water), and bring a large pot of water to boil. Add one fourth of the gnocchi to the boiling water, and slightly decrease the heat to a simmer. Simmer gnocchi until it floats to the top, then remove and put in the ice bath. Drain, and set aside. Repeat until all is cooked.

To eat: Melt a couple TBSP butter in a sautee pan over high heat, and add the gnocchi. Toss until the gnocchi is cooked through. At this point you can add vegetables, or other pre-cooked meats. 

It's easy! I added blanched carrots to mine, corn kernals, and kale. I had already seared my scallops, so I placed them on top of each plate. Enjoy, and get creative, there's a lot you can do with gnocchi.