Great. The very first Daring Cooks challenge ever, and I completely got the posting date wrong...it was last Thursday and I'm a couple of days late. I really thought the posting date was the 17th.
I joined Daring Cooks in addition to Daring Bakers, but truthfully, I think it's really going to be in place of the Daring Bakers. Lots of food around the house I can handle, lots of desserts, not so much.
This first challenge was chosen by the two founders of Daring Bakers and Daring Cooks,
Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice and Lis of
La Mia Cucina and they chose Ricotta Gnocchi from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. Ricotta gnocchi are more delicate than potato gnocchi and are messy and yet oh so very worth the effort to make. Sadly, inaugural challenge was photographed with camera phone while my lenses and camera equipment make their way home over the next two weeks.
It's pretty satisfying to know you made everything from beginning to end and that you were in complete control of the ingredient list. I added a bit of fresh chopped basil to my ricotta. And while messy, it wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be. Just 1/2 hour for the gnocchi and an hour in the fridge to firm up before cooking. I went simple for the sauce with just a bit of tomato and a bit more basil sauteed in olive oil and garlic for a minute or so. Easy peasy.
Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi
Source: From
The Zuni Café Cookbook.Yield: Makes 40 to 48 gnocchi (serves 4 to 6)
Prep time: Step 1 will take 24 hours. Steps 2 through 4 will take approximately 1 hour.
For the gnocchi:
1 pound (454 grams/16 ounces) fresh ricotta (2 cups)2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) unsalted butter2 or 3 fresh sage leaves, or a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg, or a few pinches of chopped lemon zest (all optional)½ ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about ¼ cup very lightly packed)about ¼ teaspoon salt (a little more if using kosher salt)all-purpose flour for forming the gnocchi
Step 1 (the day before you make the gnocchi): Preparing the ricotta.
If the ricotta is too wet, your gnocchi will not form properly. In her cookbook, Judy Rodgers recommends checking the ricotta’s wetness. To test the ricotta, take a teaspoon or so and place it on a paper towel. If you notice a very large ring of dampness forming around the ricotta after a minute or so, then the ricotta is too wet. To remove some of the moisture, line a sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels and place the ricotta in the sieve. Cover it and let it drain for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can wrap the ricotta carefully in cheesecloth (2 layers) and suspend it in your refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours with a bowl underneath to catch the water that’s released. Either way, it’s recommended that you do this step the day before you plan on making the gnocchi.
Step 2 (the day you plan on eating the gnocchi): Making the gnocchi dough.
To make great gnocchi, the ricotta has to be fairly smooth. Place the drained ricotta in a large bowl and mash it as best as you can with a rubber spatula or a large spoon (it’s best to use a utensil with some flexibility here). As you mash the ricotta, if you noticed that you can still see curds, then press the ricotta through a strainer to smooth it out as much as possible.
Add the lightly beaten eggs to the mashed ricotta.
Melt the tablespoon of butter. As it melts, add in the sage if you’re using it. If not, just melt the butter and add it to the ricotta mixture.
Add in any flavouring that you’re using (i.e., nutmeg, lemon zest, etc.). If you’re not using any particular flavouring, that’s fine.
Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the salt.
Beat all the ingredients together very well. You should end up with a soft and fluffy batter with no streaks (everything should be mixed in very well).
Step 3: Forming the gnocchi.
Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. When it boils, salt the water generously and keep it at a simmer. You will use this water to test the first gnocchi that you make to ensure that it holds together and that your gnocchi batter isn’t too damp.
In a large, shallow baking dish or on a sheet pan, make a bed of all-purpose flour that’s ½ an inch deep.
With a spatula, scrape the ricotta mixture away from the sides of the bowl and form a large mass in the centre of your bowl.
Using a tablespoon, scoop up about 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter and then holding the spoon at an angle, use your finger tip to gently push the ball of dough from the spoon into the bed of flour.
At this point you can either shake the dish or pan gently to ensure that the flour covers the gnocchi or use your fingers to very gently dust the gnocchi with flour. Gently pick up the gnocchi and cradle it in your hand rolling it to form it in an oval as best as you can, at no point should you squeeze it. What you’re looking for is an oval lump of sorts that’s dusted in flour and plump.
Gently place your gnocchi in the simmering water. It will sink and then bob to the top. From the time that it bobs to the surface, you want to cook the gnocchi until it’s just firm. This could take 3 to 5 minutes.
If your gnocchi begins to fall apart, this means that the ricotta cheese was probably still too wet. You can remedy this by beating a teaspoon of egg white into your gnocchi batter. If your gnocchi batter was fluffy but the sample comes out heavy, add a teaspoon of beaten egg to the batter and beat that in. Test a second gnocchi to ensure success.
Form the rest of your gnocchi. You can put 4 to 6 gnocchi in the bed of flour at a time. But don’t overcrowd your bed of flour or you may damage your gnocchi as you coat them.
Have a sheet pan ready to rest the formed gnocchi on. Line the sheet pan with wax or parchment paper and dust it with flour.
You can cook the gnocchi right away, however, Judy Rodgers recommends storing them in the refrigerator for an hour prior to cooking to allow them to firm up.
Step 4: Cooking the gnocchi.
Have a large skillet ready to go. Place the butter and water for the sauce in the skillet and set aside.
In the largest pan or pot that you have (make sure it’s wide), bring at least 2 quarts of water to a boil (you can use as much as 3 quarts of water if your pot permits). You need a wide pot or pan so that your gnocchi won’t bump into each other and damage each other.
Once the water is boiling, salt it generously.
Drop the gnocchi into the water one by one. Once they float to the top, cook them for 3 to 5 minutes (as in the case with the test gnocchi).
When the gnocchi float to the top, you can start your sauce while you wait for them to finish cooking.
With a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and gently drop into the sauce. Carefully roll in the sauce until coated. Serve immediately.
Freezing the gnocchi: If you don’t want to cook your gnocchi right away or if you don’t want to cook all of them, you can make them and freeze them. Once they are formed and resting on the flour-dusted, lined tray, place them uncovered in the freezer. Leave them for several hours to freeze. Once frozen, place them in a plastic bag. Remove the air and seal the bag. Return to the freezer. To cook frozen gnocchi, remove them from the bag and place individually on a plate or on a tray. Place in the refrigerator to thaw completely. Cook as directed for fresh gnocchi.
A 20-something friend mentioned that he would be attending a birthday event for a friend this weekend. While he regaled us with tales of birthday bashes past, and expectations of partying this weekend, I nodded and smiled...I had many a 20-something birthday bash in my day.
One of my favorite shows is Throwdown with Bobby Flay. And so my sister and I challenged my mom to a sweet spring roll throwdown. Spring roll wrappers are neutral flavored, perfect for a fabulous fried dessert. Mom made a peach and cream cheese spring roll with chocolate sauce, I made a bananas foster spring roll with vanilla ice cream, and Sister made a german chocolate cookie spring roll with vanilla ice cream. But then the boys and dad were wimps and said they were all equally good. There is no *tie* in Throwdown. 
Some might think that purchasing over 10 lbs of cherries might be excessive. Perhaps it is, but for those of us who are produce obsessed, it's actually pretty par for the course....visions of jam dance through our head. Pitting pounds and pounds of cherries is not fun, but with 6 jars of cherry preserves waiting at the end of the work, it was more than worth the effort. And the best part? Ball makes a "No Sugar Needed" variety of fruit pectin that allows you to add sugar to your taste preference. I will take that over equal parts sugar and fruit anyday...even if you lose some of the color vibrancy without the sugar.
