Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Pendulum Swings

After the decadence of the steak frites, we were in the mood for something cleaner. I had a bunch of ideas swirling around, so I got to work and let them take shape around the ingredients at hand. To begin, I wanted to make a simple broth to warm us up at the end of a raw fall day. So I simmered some soba-cha, dried shiitake, and toasted walnuts in water for about an hour. Strained, and with a drip of soy sauce and a garnish of chives and truffle oil, it tasted not a little like beef tea, which is what I was shooting for.





















There were mashed sweet potatoes left over from the shepherd's pies from last week, so I turned them into gnocchi with a little flour and an egg yolk. I sliced and apple, and sautéed it gently with sage leaves, then browned the gnocchi in the same pan. I crumbled the leaves over the plates, and hit them with a little maldon salt. I've made this before, in different versions- boiled first, sautéed in duck fat instead of olive oil- and it's always a winner this time of year. Last year I paired it with duck confit, cranberry-wine reduction, and nettle purée for the "main" course in our insane 11-course Thanksgiving dinner. It's quick, easy, filling, and delicious.





















Next, I cooked some beets sous-vide at 83˚ C for a couple of hours- that's the magic temp for vegetables, giving them the perfect al dente texture and rich flavor. I served them like sushi on brown rice, with a soy-balsamic sauce and lemon thyme. And to follow, kidney beans that I pressure-cooked with onion, garlic, herbs, tomato paste, spices, and their soaking water. I forgot to take a picture. I do love multi-course meals- even though they tend to dirty a lot more pots- because the variety eliminates fatigue with the same flavors, and I find that I end up feeling more satisfied with less food.

5 comments:

michael, claudia and sierra said...

i'm about to give gnocchi a whirl... i have actually never made it. i'm thinking of investing in a $4 gnocchi board so that i can feel professional. i can't roll em off the fork times, i just know it...

sous vide... one day...

Brittany said...

The gnocchi looks great!
So fall-ish and festive.
Yum! I want some NOW

....I think that was an unintentional haiku...

cookiecrumb said...

Simmered toasted walnuts?
Oh, I gotta give this a try.

The Spiteful Chef said...

I'm certain you're terrible in bed. That's the only fair way to compensate for the delicious food that you're creating.

peter said...

Claudia: I rarely tine my gnocchi. They don't need it.

Brittany: Would you like them before your steak, or on the side?

CC: It's surprisingly rich and convincing.

Kristie: Life isn't fair. But believe whatever you need to in order to keep from stabbing yourself or your fiancé.