If Rosemary is not in your body of spices, get it! The three fresh spices that are a necessity, period, are Fresh Basil, Fresh Rosemary and Fresh Sage. Most others can be dry. To have these you need to have these plants in your garden. Sage can handle even the worst winters. Rosemary may have to be taken in, in the winter. Basil is an annual, and unfortunately rarely lives on during winter even indoors...and if it does it has rather unimpressive leaves. With Basil I suggest taking all the leaves at the end of the growing cycle and placing them in hot water for just 30 seconds. Then vacuum pack them or put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze them. This will give you all the fresh Basil you will need for the winter. Drying them is useless. Dry Basil is just crap.
But let's move on to Potatoes. This potato recipe is easy.
Patate al forno con Rosmarino (Rosemary Potatoes).
For six people.
(6) large potatoes
(1) cup of extra virgin Olive oil
(3) small branches of Rosemary
Sea Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the potatoes well under cold water. Dice into inch and a half squares with the skin on.
Dry with a paper towel and place in an oven pan that can handle that quantity. Pour Olive oil on potatoes and pull leaves of rosemary off the branch and sprinkle them on the potatoes. Add Sea Salt. Take your hands and mix everything around well.
Every 20 minutes mix potatoes up...make sure you use a good scraping device like a metal spatula. This will ensure that you do not tear them up.
Cook until golden brown and serve (approximately one hour).
Buona Sera
Showing posts with label Potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Potatoes. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Gnocchi alla Romana
Gnocchi is not an easy thing to do. Current practice in Italy is to make gnocchi with Potatoes, eggs and flower. The egg in gnocchi is much more commonly used in the north of Italy. Fore instance Gnocchi di Patate alla Piemontese requires eggs. If you are not aware of it Piemonte is the very far north eastern province in Italy.
Anyway, the result, if not careful, is a chewy mess or a hard gnocco.
Whichever way you make Gnocchi one rule is very important. The potato needs to be a dry and pulpy. The best way to determine a good potato to use is to boil a series of different potatoes and then take a fork and press down. If the potato crumbles and looks dry, you have a winner.
If you do not want to go through all that I suggest a baking potato (Idaho variety is best). They tend to be mealy and dry.
Onward!
The recipe for these gnocchi is WITHOUT eggs. These are Gnocchi di Patate alla Romana.
For 6 people
4.5 lbs of potatoes
.9 lbs (or 14 oz) of Flour (this is an approximate figure)
Tomato Ragu' (2lbs of tomatoes, 1/2 a pound of ground veal [ground chuck will do], white wine, onion olive oil)
3.5 oz of Parmigiano
Salt
Boil the potatoes with the skin. Leave the skin on. It prevents too much water from entering the potato. Also remember to salt the water well (almost sea-water). Salting also creates an isotonic solution so the water will not enter the potato as much, and harden the potato.
Once cooked peel the potatoes, then crush them in a ricer or something of the sort. Do not overwork them. This will release the starches and make it glutenous.
When cold, add the flour.
It is difficult to say how much flour because each potato is different. Some will require more flour. As a general rule usually one needs about 200g for every Kg of potatoes (ca. 1/2 a lb of flour for every 2.2 lbs of potatoes).
Once well folded together (it should not be sticky to the touch. The secret is not to over-flour this will make them hard...too little will make them fall apart and be too sticky to handle properly) roll them about the size of a finger on a well floured surface, then cut then approximately 3/4" long. Dimple them slightly with your index finger in the middle and place them on a kitchen towel with some flour on it.
Boil some well salted water and individually place them in the water. When they return to the surface they are cooked! Remove them individually with a serrated spoon and place them in a colander to drain some more....then placing them in a bowl with a small amount of your sauce to keep them from sticking. this process should be fast. After they are done add a good amount of sauce (very hot), and add your parmigiano and a drizzle of fresh olive oil. Serve immediately.
Buona Sera.
Anyway, the result, if not careful, is a chewy mess or a hard gnocco.
Whichever way you make Gnocchi one rule is very important. The potato needs to be a dry and pulpy. The best way to determine a good potato to use is to boil a series of different potatoes and then take a fork and press down. If the potato crumbles and looks dry, you have a winner.
If you do not want to go through all that I suggest a baking potato (Idaho variety is best). They tend to be mealy and dry.
Onward!
The recipe for these gnocchi is WITHOUT eggs. These are Gnocchi di Patate alla Romana.
For 6 people
4.5 lbs of potatoes
.9 lbs (or 14 oz) of Flour (this is an approximate figure)
Tomato Ragu' (2lbs of tomatoes, 1/2 a pound of ground veal [ground chuck will do], white wine, onion olive oil)
3.5 oz of Parmigiano
Salt
Boil the potatoes with the skin. Leave the skin on. It prevents too much water from entering the potato. Also remember to salt the water well (almost sea-water). Salting also creates an isotonic solution so the water will not enter the potato as much, and harden the potato.
Once cooked peel the potatoes, then crush them in a ricer or something of the sort. Do not overwork them. This will release the starches and make it glutenous.
When cold, add the flour.
It is difficult to say how much flour because each potato is different. Some will require more flour. As a general rule usually one needs about 200g for every Kg of potatoes (ca. 1/2 a lb of flour for every 2.2 lbs of potatoes).
Once well folded together (it should not be sticky to the touch. The secret is not to over-flour this will make them hard...too little will make them fall apart and be too sticky to handle properly) roll them about the size of a finger on a well floured surface, then cut then approximately 3/4" long. Dimple them slightly with your index finger in the middle and place them on a kitchen towel with some flour on it.
Boil some well salted water and individually place them in the water. When they return to the surface they are cooked! Remove them individually with a serrated spoon and place them in a colander to drain some more....then placing them in a bowl with a small amount of your sauce to keep them from sticking. this process should be fast. After they are done add a good amount of sauce (very hot), and add your parmigiano and a drizzle of fresh olive oil. Serve immediately.
Buona Sera.
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