Picture this: I'm flipping through Cook With Jamie, trying to find the perfect meal to impress our friends George & Kara. They were driving in from Toronto so I wanted to make something special. I noticed a recipe for Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms & Sage. Yum, right? Best of all, it appeared I could make the gnocchi a day ahead and then cook them for a fabulous Saturday night dinner. The first step in the process was finding a potato ricer. That only took three stores...I should have hit Little Italy first! Next, I baked the potatoes...easy peasy.
Once I turned the potatoes into dough, I placed the gnocchi on a semolina flour lined cookie sheet and left them in the fridge overnight. Pretty.
The following day, I made crispy sage and sauteed wild mushrooms for the sauce. 
When the sauce was almost ready, I placed the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water. 
And, here is our "gnocchi" with wild mushrooms and sage.
And, here is our "gnocchi" with wild mushrooms and sage.Wondering what happened to my beautiful homemade (filled with love) gnocchi? Well, something went terribly wrong and I had a total gnocchi fail -- they disintegrated. My hard work disintegrated in front of my very eyes...and my guests' eyes. So I did what any good hostess would do, I pretended that I wasn't absolutely heartbroken and I threw a bag of brown rice pasta in another pot of boiling water. And, then proceeded to talk about how F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S brown rice pasta is for your health...it's lot easier to digest and much better for you than regular pasta or gnocchi, ya know!
Ah, we all have our kitchen fails. Those were pretty little puffs of goodness before they turned into, er, nothingness. You recovered beautifully and there's much to be said for a nice wholesome brown rice pasta meal. : )
ReplyDeleteYou are brave to have attempted it! Gnocchi scares me....I have just bought Cook With Jamie and am still reading through it to find my first recipe attempt. Wish me luck. ;)
ReplyDeleteJordana - next time I come to Windsor we can have a gnocchi marking party. We did that at the beach - gnocchi for 14 and they turned out great. I will invite my friend from Detroit who taught me how to do it and they will never fail again....
ReplyDeletexoxox Susan
You're much too hard on yourself Jordana. Everything you made was delicious. We were so lucky to have an expert chef like you treat us all weekend. So, what the Gnocchi didn't work out- everything we ate wouldn't have worked out if George and I were making it. ha ha
ReplyDeleteBy the way, LOVED the brown rice pasta too- we will definitely use it in the future for a healthier alternative.
Lots of love, Kara xo
It sounds like your gnocchi was gyucky. It makes me smile that you post your triumphs and failures. It lets us know you're human and even the best of cooks can have kitchen mishaps. I love your honesty. Don't give up on the gnocchi.
ReplyDeleteAw that's too bad. I have yet to attempt gnocchi but it's on my list of things to try for the new year. Now I am afraid!!!!
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