tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4612891719121665847.post-12471040707364533722007-12-19T22:44:00.000-08:002007-12-19T23:00:14.997-08:00This is a meal for cooking night, tomorrow. I had to make the gnocchi tonight because every time I make pasta the day of cooking night, I end up rushing and regretting it.<br /><br />I referred to <a href="http://omnivorousfish.com/node/199">the Omnivorous Fish's guidelines for gnocchi,</a> as usual. Boiled some sweet potatoes and riced 'em as soon as I could stand to peel them:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/81691155@N00/2124507708/" title="Riced Sweet Potatoes by eternalgratitude, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2077/2124507708_3b51a03ffd.jpg" alt="Riced Sweet Potatoes" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><br />I got a ricer at Marshall's for $5.00, so this time the texture was actually right. Marshall's, by the way, is an amazing store for cookware of all kinds. They even have nice Le Creuset for 50% off! It's hit-or-miss, but man, it's worth checking out. T.J. Maxx is, too; it's basically the exact same store as Marshall's; they're interchangeable.<br /><br />I made a dough with the potato and an egg and a bunch of flour, cut it up, and started rolling and cutting it to make gnocchi:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/81691155@N00/2123734463/" title="Gnocchi dough by eternalgratitude, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2132/2123734463_d8069fd3dc.jpg" alt="Gnocchi dough" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><br />An hour or so later, after much rolling of my thumb over fork tines, I had a bunch of gnocchi. Hooray!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/81691155@N00/2124507906/" title="Gnocchi by eternalgratitude, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2129/2124507906_9efc566dcc.jpg" alt="Gnocchi" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><br />The entire time, my actions were carefully monitored by a quality control agent, you'll be glad to know:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/81691155@N00/2124507846/" title="Gnocchi - quality inspector by eternalgratitude, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2400/2124507846_939f6a7d6c.jpg" alt="Gnocchi - quality inspector" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><br />Stoically she sat and watched me make the gnocchi. She watches me cook a lot. Her sister never does. I'm pretty sure she's studying to become a chef, and practices when I am not around.<br /><br />I pan-fried the gnocchi in plugra butter with rosemary and served it over fresh arugula, which wilted ever so slightly just from the warm butter.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/81691155@N00/2124507966/" title="Finished Gnocchi by eternalgratitude, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2124507966_45842ecef3.jpg" alt="Finished Gnocchi" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /></div><br />I might throw on some chipped Parmigiano or add some pine nuts or something, but it really stands pretty solidly on its own. It was tasty.brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16427702387286733536noreply@blogger.com