Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle

Last Wednesday, I put up a post for Beef Shank Ragu. I had modified the recipe slightly to make it more like the ‘Ox Tail Ragu’ I had eaten at the Bar Corvo restaurant in Brooklyn.

I had served mine over polenta, which was easy for me…like Italian style grits…after all this is the South! The real deal was served over a semolina gnocchi. A what? I know, I’d never heard of it before either. I thought all gnocchi were those little rubbery balls of dough made from potatoes. Oh, no my friends. Apparently, there are many forms of gnocchi. Most of which are made from potato, but some are pillowy soft and cut in squares instead of the rolled version. It’s kind of sad what the commercial food industry has done to them. I mean, it’s nice that we can buy a box of gnocchi sealed in a bag from the store. Although, for those of us who aren’t Italian, and have never had any other kind, it’s a disappointment. I’ve always wondered what people saw in those things. My eyes have been opened! 

I found this recipe from Bon Appetit published back in ’08 and is from Osteria in Philadelphia, so it’s gotta be incredible. It is. This gnocchi is clearly more than a three step process, but the steps are easy. The ingredients aren’t expensive and available at most mega-marts these days – so no excuses. Make a list and then make this gnocchi. 

Semolina Gnocchi

Step 1:

You’ll need…

3 Cups Whole Milk (I didn’t say anything about lo-cal here)
1/2 Cup (1 stick) unsalted Butter, diced (or salted and cut back on the following)
1-1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Semolina Flour (aka ‘pasta flour’)
4 Large Egg Yolks (save those whites – you’ll be eating them for breakfast after you have this for dinner!)
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
*plus an extra 1/2 cup and some parsley for later

Step 2:

Butter the 13 x 9 pyrex dish and set aside. If you have a kitchen, you need one of these baking dishes!
Get the milk, butter, and salt in a large pot (mine’s 4qt) and bring to a simmer, over med-high heat. 

Step 3:

Gradually, whisk in the semolina flour. Meaning, sprinkle a bit and whisk, then sprinkle, and whisk until it’s all in. Like with the polenta, a big dump = a big lump. 

Step 4:

This comes together quickly. When it’s too much for the whisk, switch to a wooden spoon.

Step 5:

Take it off the heat and add the yolks, stir/fold them in one at a time. We don’t want scrambled eggs here! And, yes, it’s still hot enough that I’m not worried about any salmonella in my semolina.

Step 6:

When the eggs are in, add the cheese the same way. Then return the pot back to the heat, but on low this time, and continue stirring for maybe 2 min. 

Step 7:

See how the texture has changed and it pulls away from the pot? Now, it’s done.

Step 8:

Put it into the baking dish. Mine, more or less, rolled out of the pot.  Using a rubber spatula, smooth out the surface.

Step 9:

Cover it and park it in the fridge to cool. You can leave it out on the counter for a bit, but it’ll need the chill-chest for at least 2 hours to set up right.
Yes, that’s what those big drawers are for. I love mine. Anyway, I lifted the corners on the plastic wrap to allow the heat to escape a bit.

Step 10:

…and the next day. (because I made it too close to dinner time) Get it out and find your little round biscuit cutter (1-3/4” is good). Cut out rounds. 

Step 11:

Now, this is where I diverge from the original recipe. At this point you’re supposed to take another, bigger, baking dish and lay out the rounds, cover them with sauce and bake at 475 for 10-15 min until heated thru. But that’s not how the restaurant served it to me. As I recall, they had placed 3 of them in a ‘chili bowl’ and topped it with the sauce, cheese and parsley. The gnocchi was like this treasure you found waiting at the bottom. Mmmmmmm.

Step 12:

Get that ragu out of the fridge and heat it up. Like so many tomato based sauces, to me, they’re better the next day. I even mashed this up a bit more to be a closer texture to the restaurant version. I can’t wait for lunch !!

Leftovers:

Oh, I just rolled the dough like I would for a sugar cookie in my hand and mashed it into a circle. 

Finale:

Here it is, Jes…the final Bar Corvo Salute! Beef Shank Ragu over Semolina Gnocchi. (I’m sure I have a prettier bowl somewhere) I left the gnocchi uncovered for the photo…but I’ll be smothering it very soon. 

O M G ! Now I can dream about this one too – only, when I wake up I can just heat n’ eat !!

   
Michelle Beal
http://badzoot.com

It’s Spring here in Florida! Yes, I have to quantify that statement because parts of the country haven’t been released from Winter’s icy grip just yet. But here – Spring has Sprung. Unfortunately for me that means spring cleaning – ugh. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. One thing I do, in the Spring and Fall, to maintain the kitchen is to moisturize my wood utensils – of which I have many. I love using wood boards and I have a drawer full of spoons and spatulas of all shapes and sizes! Some are kinda pricey, and some are antiques. So, I try to care for them consummately. Years ago, I used a product made in England that looked like a clear shoe polish and it smelled of orange oil. It was nice, and lasted forever. When we moved it went missing. It was old anyway. I never did find a replacement and I simply used mineral oil for a long time. One day I spotted a Pin (of which there are many it seems) about wood butter – Oh, yes, I remember that ! Wait – I can make this myself? I could hear my favorite Littledeer tools squealing with delight from their resting places. “Please Mom – we’ve worked hard all year – we’re soooo dry!” Not to mention the guilt of looking at my Grandfathers old wood bowl looking pale being stocked with onions these days instead of the butter that used to be ‘kneaded’ in it. Poor old things.
I looked around the house and discovered that I had just enough mineral oil and some lemon oil too. I even had some leftover beeswax beads from another project. These beeswax beads are refined and can be found with the herbs, etc. at the health food store. But, you could use the tan colored block of wax too. And yes, they all smell bad. Why did I think that beeswax would smells like, well…honey? It doesn’t. It’s remarkably petroleum smelling. Weird. That’s where the orange or lemon oil comes in. It’s edible, strong and smells great.  So, here’s how I did it…

Wood Butter

Step 1:

you’ll need…
4oz Mineral Oil (1/2cup)
1oz Beeswax (about 3-1/2 Tbl of beads)
3 or 4 drops Lemon or Orange Oil

Step 2:

Using the double boiler method, warm the mineral oil and beeswax. 

Step 3:

Combine them and stir. Add in the citrus oils.

Step 4:

Pour into jars and let cool. It doesn’t look like much – a little goes a long way!

Clean up :

DO NOT just pour the excess down the drain – wipe it out with a paper towel and then soak in hot water with some Dawn to break up that wax. 
Beeswax + Plumbing = Bad Things!!!

Now go and rub down all of your wood tools with it – Oh, and look at those hands! Seems that skin loves it too !!!

But that smell? Yes, it still had a tinge of Vasoline smell. Here’s the crazy bit. The next day, after the wax/oil had really soaked in….the tools no longer smelled like beeswax. Just wood tools – weird.

Look how happy they are – my tools are ready for another year of work. Maybe I’ll treat my tools to a semi-annual rub down. (my husband would be jealous!)

 
Michelle Beal
http://badzoot.com