Sunday afternoon and inspiration hits: I'm going to make gnocchi. The fact that I've tasted gnocchi only once before doesn't daunt me; I am absolutely confident in my abilities.
I get well into the process and then realize that I don't have a ricer to mashify the potatoes. No matter - I can just mash the potatoes by hand, right? This worked well in theory, but once I started rolling out the strands, little chunks of unmashed potatoes fleck the dough like flies. Ew.
The next step of shaping the gnocchi on a fork reads like brail to me. (Note: I don't read a lick of brail) Roll the dough down the fork how?? Thankfully, some industrious soul has posted instructional videos on YouTube. Mystery solved.
Everything else seemed to work smoothly. My favourite part was boiling the wee suckers. They bob right up to the surface when done, like little corks. It's so cute!
I tried a recipe I'd found for lemon-thyme sauce (loaded with butter and onions), which sounded delicious. I followed the recipe studiously, despite some reluctance when it came time to add the tbsp of lemon zest and 2 tsp of lemon juice. After it was done I tossed all of the gnocchi in the sauce. BIG MISTAKE! I took one bite of it and wanted to spit it out. So bitter and lemony. I was so disappointed! After I had taken the time to make the gnocchi by hand (and decipher the recipe), just to have it ruined in the end. I guess I'll be taking one important lesson from this experience (which should be a given by now): to always taste first.
We followed this failed meal the next night with homemade chicken souvlaki pitas. Yum! I left this in the able hands of P and he did not disappoint. Loaded with pickled turnip and fresh tzatziki from the local Middle Eastern bakey, it was incredible! It was enough to resolve some of the lingering bitterness left in my mouth from the gnocchi.
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