The menu:
Páte Á Choux
Gnocchi De Pommes De Terre
The JC method of making gnocchi is unlike any that I have previously used. Instead of making a robust dough and poaching small gnocchi in boiling water until they rise triumphant to the top of the boiler, JC asks you to make large delicate gnocchi that you poach in barely simmering water for 15 minutes in a frypan (which I did with surprising recipe conformity). To try and "toughen them up" and dry them out I removed them to the oven for five minutes. Le Gourmand suspects that they were overcooked in the poaching process and lacked the chew he expects from gnocchi. Next time I invite him to stand there and sample at 2 minute intervals so we can determine the perfect gnocchi cooking time.
I appreciated the flavour that the cheese and nutmeg added to them, when they were eventually extricated from the oven and served with reheated ratatouille and Bastille Day chicken but Le Gourmand pronounced the meal a bit bland, dousing things in cheese and salt and pepper. He may have been more appreciative if he had made the additional ingredient of choux pastry batter and then spent what seemed like an eternity pushing boiled potato through a sieve, as we lacked a crucial potato ricer. I was not highly impressed by the gnocchi's texture either (and wonder if the variations (gratineed or mornayed) will improve the base product) but I fear that Le Gourmand is showing a lack of commitment to Julia on Day 3. A bad sign!
For tomorrow:
Pralin
Biscuits À La Cuiller
How much are you going to cook from this book? he asked. We'll see, I said, as I completed two pre-recipes for tomorrow's desserts. Sponge fingers and praline. Sponge fingers were a bit challenging but at least they are done. The only problem with praline was not eating it (and burning my fingers in the process). I fear the praline's minutes are numbered in this house.
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