Haute Cuisine Part Deux

My friend Heather & I were ecstatic to have discovered upon first meeting that we had the same insatiable appetite for good food & good wine. Elated to have a foodie companion in the city of haute cuisine and the dichotomous food obsessed stick-thin citadines, I quickly decided it was only logical to have Sunday night dinners together, and she, of course, obliged. Our routine has been this: Wake up at the buttcrack of dawn, visit a marché en plein air, purchase cheap, fresh, & seasonable produce/seafood/dairy, and cook the night away.

This week, we decided to make. . .

Homemade Gnocchi with Marinara sauce
& Endive Salad with Bleu cheese, Tomatoes, & Balsamic Vinaigrette

(Paired with a red Bordeaux)

I'm pretty proud of our accomplishment, because it had been a first attempt for me, but I'm glad I tried it, because it was delicious & so very easy! Of all the random goods that this apartment came furnished with, one of them happened to be a potato ricer. What are the odds? After a long night previous (ha. don't ask.), we met up at the Marché d'Aligré where the street was crowded, the vendors were beckoning, and the ingredients looked delicious. I came home having only spent about 10 euro on all kinds of goodies that will last me for 2 weeks, more or less. I of course, could not pass a tartlette aux fraises from the local pâtisserie as well ;)

Scoping the realm of recipes available on google, I came across this awesome recipe. What I like about it is that you can use gold potatoes (I liked this because I still had potatoes from before), and there are only 2 ingredients.

For those of you who pronounce gnocchi (guh-nochy), I give you a swift internet slap on the head. For those of you who honestly just don't know what it is, it's a bite-sized Italian potato pasta that you must try!

Allez-y!

Ingredients
Gnocchi
2 parts potato to 1 part flour
Tip: I just did 1 kg to potatoes & .5 kg flour...which is still a lot for 2.
You can also freeze leftovers & save them for later!

Sauce
3 tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
3 tbs. chopped basil leaves

Tip: Add or subtract ingredients as you please!

Directions

Gnocchi:

1. Peel potato skins, place in boiled water for 10 - 15 minutes, or until soft. If you want to quicken the process, you can also cut the potatoes into halves.
2. Drain potatoes & twist in potato ricer (or shredder).
   
3. Add flour to potatoes gradually & knead until doughlike consistency develops.
4. Separate dough into quarter parts, or more, if needed & roll into "snakes"
5. Cut "snakes" diagonally & indent with tines of a fork.
6. Place in pot of boiling water (salted).
7. Gnocchi is done once risen to the surface!
8. Sauce & enjoy.

For the sauce:

1. Wash & dice tomatoes, garlic, & basil.
   
2. Pour olive oil & garlic into saucepan. Stir on medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
   
3. Add tomatoes & switch to low heat. Stir occasionally. "Sweat" mixture for about 3o minutes until tomatoes soften.
   
4. Add basil

I really do apologize for the poor quality of these photographs. Yucky yellow lighting.

Really looks like rice!

So cute.

Endive salad. Cheese was GOOD.

MMMmmmm..

Another Ladurée confection. I am determined to try every one.

Let me describe this for you: Frosted cream puffs nestled on a puff pastry & enveloped in rose essence, confite, and rose whipped cream. Topped with raspberries & a rose petal.