Daring Cooks Challenge: Chicken en Croute and The MIA Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Cannolis December 14, 2009

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

For this challenge I change up the recipe A LOT ended up subbing the chicken for the salmon, used only spinach, and subbed herb and garlic feta for the cream cheese.

Now you ask me why did you not use Salmon or making Beef Wellington.

Answer: Salmon and I have a bad history together….REALLY bad.  It goes back to an incident in my childhood and we just don’t get along.  Now, I have discovered over the past few years that I am completely fine with eating raw salmon at sushi places but once you cook it or smoke it, it is all over.  At one point in my life, I also worked in a seafood restaurant in the kitchen and would often have to cook my Nemesis Salmon and that didn’t bode well either.

Now, no Beef Wellington because I made it once and my husband said he really didn’t care for it.  But he fessed up later that he really doesn’t like things encased in pastry.  Then I had to remind him of the lamb and potato pies that we had in New Zealand, that he couldn’t get enough of

So, it came down to chicken, spinach, and herb/garlic feta because it was A LOT less expensive and I love the combination.  I ended up making a little packet for each of us and we actually enjoyed it a lot.  I used a small package of frozen spinach that I squeezed on the excess water, a small log of feta, and put it in a food processor and pulsed until combined.  Then I spread half of the spinach mixture on one piece of pastry and half on the other.  I laid one boneless-skinless chicken breast on top of the spinach mixture for each pastry, brushed egg whites on the edges of the pastry, and wrapped the dough around the chicken to seal it.  I cut a vent hole in the top of each pastry and baked it at 390°F for approximately 45-50 minutes.

Now…the MIA Daring Bakers’ Challenge for November 2009

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Sorry it took me so long to actually make and post about this, but I told you that I would do it because come on…who in the right mind does not like a Cannoli.  I was so happy when this was chosen because it finally gave me a chance to use the Cannoli Forms that I bought over 3 years ago These turned out fantastic and I really enjoyed making them.  Last but not least, they were very yummy.

Recipes for the above Challenges:

Salmon en croute:

Recipe source : Good Food online

Ingredients
Mascarpone or creamcheese 5.2 ounces/150 gr
Watercress, rocket (arugula) and spinach – 0.6 cup/4.2 ounces/120 gr
Shortcrust pastry – 17.6 ounces, 500 gr. Use a butterversion such as Jus-rol which is frozen or dorset pastry. or… make your own!
Salmon fillet (skinless)- 17.6 ounce/500 gr
egg – 1 medium sized

Directions:
1.Heat the oven to 200°C/390 F. Put the mascarpone or cream cheese in a food processor with the watercress, spinach and rocket and whizz the lot until you have a creamy green puree. Season well.
2. Roll the pastry out so you can wrap the salmon in it completely (approx. 2-3 mm thick) and lay it on a buttered or oiled baking sheet (it will hang over the edges). Put the salmon in the middle. If it has a thinner tail end, tuck it under. Spoon half of the watercress mixture onto the salmon. Now fold the pastry over into a neat parcel (the join will be at the top, so trim the edge neatly), making sure you don’t have any thick lumps of pastry as these won’t cook through properly. Trim off any excess as you need to. Make 3 neat cuts in the pastry to allow steam to escape and make some decorations with the off-cuts to disguise the join if you like. Brush with the egg glaze.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and browned. To test wether the salmon is cooked, push a sharp knife through one of the cuts into the flesh, wait for 3 seconds then test it against the inside of your wrist; if it is hot, the salmon is cooked. Serve with the rest of the watercress puree as a sauce.

Shortcrust pastry
While this is not mandatory to do, I highly recommend making your own shortcrust pastry as it is very simple to do! As mentioned in the notes; please make sure to not add too much water as that is the key to having a successful shortcrust pastry. Watch this video to check the correct consistency of the dough Making shortcrust pastry

Ingredients:
450 gr (15.8 ounces or 3.2 cups ) of plain all purpose flour
200 gr ( 7 ounce) cold butter
pinch of salt

Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you have a food processor you can use that as shown in the above video.
Stir in the salt, then add 2-3 tbsp of water and mix to a firm dough. Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface. Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.

For best results make sure the butter is very cold.

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:
1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:
1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:
1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Sushi November 14, 2009

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

This challenge comes in four parts: Making proper sushi rice, Dragon sushi roll, Decorative sushi, and Nigiri sushi.  I also decided to make a Spicy Tuna Roll and a California Roll, with the extra rice and ingredients that I had.  I found a local Japanese market call Tokyo Market that had everything that I needed (fish/seafood wise).  I already had all of the other necessary components to make sushi because back in college I use to make Spider Rolls and California Rolls for me and fiancé (husband now) so that made it a little easier.

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Vietnamese Beef Pho October 14, 2009

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

This months Daring Cooks’ Challenge is hosted by Jaden of Steamy Kitchen. She chose Vietnamese Chicken Pho and Chocolate Wontons from her new book The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.  For the challenge we were given the option to change the meat base in the Pho (chicken, beef, pork, seafood or vegetarian/vegan) and the filling in the wontons.   I chose to make  Beef Pho because anytime we use to go out for Pho Mike always gets beef.  I personally prefer chicken, but decided to go with beef since he was alway partaking in this meal.

Because the original recipe we were given was the quick version of the Chicken Pho, I went onto Jaden’s webpage to check the Beef Pho recipe so that I could get the right spices.  I loved the way this turned out.  It was fantastic, and Mike loved it too   The Chocolate-Strawberry Wontons turned out great too.  They reminded me of a chocolate covered strawberry.

Challenge #1: Vietnamese Beef Pho

Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the Beef Pho Broth:

1 cinnamon stick

1 tbsp. whole coriander seeds

1 tbsp whole fennel seeds

6 whole cloves

5 whole star anise

1 cardamom pod

2 quarts (2 liters/8 cups/64 fluid ounces) store-bought or homemade beef stock

1/2 lb flank steak, sliced as thin as possible

1 onion

1 3-inch (7.5 cm) chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife

1 to 2 tbsps. sugar

1 to 2 tbsps. fish sauce

1 lb. (500 grams/16 ounces) dried rice noodles (about ¼ inch/6 mm wide)

Accompaniments:

2 cups (200 grams/7 ounces) bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off

Fresh cilantro (coriander) tops (leaves and tender stems)

½ cup (50 grams/approx. 2 ounces) shaved red onions

½ lime, cut into 4 wedges

Sriracha chili sauce

Hoisin sauce

Sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice

Directions:

1. To make the Beef Pho Broth: heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, star anise, and cardamom pod and toast until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning.

2. In a large pot, add all the ingredients  (including the toasted spices) except the beef and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed. Strain the broth and discard the solids.

5. Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.

6. Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately.

7. Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.

Challenge #2: Chocolate-Strawberry Wontons

Recipe Source: Jaden of Steamy Kitchen from her new book The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

Servings: Makes 6-12 wontons.

Ingredients:

1 large egg

1 tbsp. water

12 wonton wrappers, defrosted (keep wrappers covered with damp towel)

12 pieces or nuggets of chocolate (use any type of chocolate you like)

6 strawberries, hulled and sliced

High-heat oil for frying (i.e., vegetable oil, corn oil)

Confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar) for sprinkling

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water to make an egg wash.

2. On a clean, dry surface lay 1 wonton wrapper down with a point toward you, like a diamond.

3. Place 1 slice of strawberry near the top end of the wrapper and place a piece of chocolate on top of it.

4. Brush a very thin layer of the egg wash on the edges of the wrapper.

5. Fold the bottom corner of the wrapper up to create a triangle and gently press to remove all air from the middle.  If the strawberries are large, you might have to top with another wrapper. Press the edges to adhere the sides. Make sure the wrapper is sealed completely.

6. Repeat with the remaining wrappers, strawberries,  and chocolate pieces.

7. Keep the folded chocolate wontons covered under plastic wrap or a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying.

8. In a wok or medium pot, pour in 2 inches (5 cm.) of high-heat oil.

9. Heat the oil to 350º F (180º C) and gently slide a few of the chocolate wontons into the hot oil. Make sure you don’t crowd the chocolate wontons.

10. Fry the wontons for 1 ½ minutes, then flip over and fry another minute until both sides are golden brown and crisp.

Daring Cooks: Indian Dosas September 14, 2009

This months Daring Cooks Challenge is brought to you by Deby from The Healthy Vegan Kitchen.  She chose  Indian Dosas, the only rule we had to follow was to keep the recipe vegan (no animal products whatsoever).  If you read my blog you know that I dabble in vegan cooking and baking so this wasn’t too hard, and I actually had most of the ingredients on hand.

Or so I thought…..

I purchased all my ingredients last week and kept putting off making this because I kept getting home from work and being too tired.  Cut to Monday morning when I decided that I would make them for lunch for Mike and I.  I get all my ingredients out so that I can start chopping.  Then I realize that I don’t have any curry powder.  I swear I had some.  I guess I little gnome stole it.  Mike runs out and gets me some and then I start making the sauce and realize I am out of oregano.

WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!

There must be a family of gnomes running around my apartment stealing my spices and herbs.  Mike ends up getting that for me too, my savior

The recipe didn’t call for it but for the filling I sautéed the vegetables in 2 tbsp vegetable oil, and for the sauce I used 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to sauté the onion and garlic.  For the filling I ended up substituting one jalapeño for the hot banana peppers because I couldn’t find any.  Also, the filling ended up being a little THICK, so I added 1 cup of vegetable broth to thin in out a little.   I garnished the Indian Dosas with toasted coconut and slices of cucumber.

This were so tasty and I love them.  That actually reminded me of a bean burrito and the toasted sweetened coconut on top added a slight sweetness that was nice.  I really enjoyed making and eating these.  It actually didn’t take too long for the whole recipe to come together.  At most it took one hour from start to finish, chopping and everything.

I made these for lunch today, and I loved them.  I will post more about what I did to the recipe and my full opinion but for now the picture to prove I made them

Indian Dosas

Source: reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes From the Award Winning Fresh Restaurants by Ruth Tal and Jennifer Houston

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don’t be afraid to make a full batch.

5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

The Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Gyoza aka Potstickers June 14, 2009

This months Daring Cooks’ Challenge is brought to you by Jen from use real butter.  She chose Gyoza/Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers.  The rules for this challenge were that we had to make our own dough (no store bought wonton wrappers), make a filling, and chose a cooking method.  YAY!!!

I was so excited to make these because I love gyoza or whatever you want to call it and I have never made my own dough for them before.  For the filling I decided to stick with just the plain pork filling and for the cooking method I decided to do two: steaming and pan frying.  The dough was easy to make the only thing I needed to remember was to flour each round so that they don’t stick together.  I had this problem when I would roll/cut out all the rounds and stack them and when I started filling and I was on a roll I would get to the bottom of the stack and the last 5 would be stuck to each other :/ Grrr

The Daring Cooks Challenge: Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi May 16, 2009

This months FIRST EVER Daring Cooks Challenge is brought to you by Lis and Ivonne!  They chose Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi fromThe Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers.  When I saw this challenge I was very happy because I have made Gnocchi before; however, I have never made Ricotta Gnocchi.  It was actually pretty straight forward and easy to make.

I did have some problems: 1) I kept putting off making it so, 2) I am late , and 3) I experienced the dreaded busting of the gnocchi.  Which is a ritual all cooks like to preform to put them in an extra bad mood :/  So yeah, it happened.  Which really means too much moisture in the little guys.  When I finally got my little guys not to explode for joy, I made a lime cream sauce to go with them.

LIME!!! you ask.  Yeah, I ran out of lemons :/ So lime cream sauce it was and it actually turned out pretty good.  I garnished the gnocchi with chopped parsley.  The whole entire time I was tasting the gnocchi, I kept thinking CHEESE!!  They were yummy, but I couldn’t eat too many because the sauce made it a little rich.  So all in all, it wasn’t a complete disaster for the first ever Daring Cooks Challenge.

Below is the original recipe for this months challenge.  For the gnocchi flavorings, I actually used sage.  Enjoy

Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi

Source: From The Zuni Café Cookbook.

Yield: Makes 40 to 48 gnocchi (serves 4 to 6)

Prep time: Step 1 will take 24 hours. Steps 2 through 4 will take approximately 1 hour.

For the gnocchi:

1 pound (454 grams/16 ounces) fresh ricotta (2 cups)
2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon (1 ounce) unsalted butter
2 or 3 fresh sage leaves, or a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg, or a few pinches of chopped lemon zest (all optional)
½ ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about ¼ cup very lightly packed)
about ¼ teaspoon salt (a little more if using kosher salt)
all-purpose flour for forming the gnocchi

For the gnocchi sauce:

8 tablespoons (227 grams/1/4 pound/8 ounces) butter, sliced
2 teaspoons water

Step 1 (the day before you make the gnocchi): Preparing the ricotta.

If the ricotta is too wet, your gnocchi will not form properly. In her cookbook, Judy Rodgers recommends checking the ricotta’s wetness. To test the ricotta, take a teaspoon or so and place it on a paper towel. If you notice a very large ring of dampness forming around the ricotta after a minute or so, then the ricotta is too wet. To remove some of the moisture, line a sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels and place the ricotta in the sieve. Cover it and let it drain for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can wrap the ricotta carefully in cheesecloth (2 layers) and suspend it in your refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours with a bowl underneath to catch the water that’s released. Either way, it’s recommended that you do this step the day before you plan on making the gnocchi.

Step 2 (the day you plan on eating the gnocchi): Making the gnocchi dough.

To make great gnocchi, the ricotta has to be fairly smooth. Place the drained ricotta in a large bowl and mash it as best as you can with a rubber spatula or a large spoon (it’s best to use a utensil with some flexibility here). As you mash the ricotta, if you noticed that you can still see curds, then press the ricotta through a strainer to smooth it out as much as possible.

Add the lightly beaten eggs to the mashed ricotta.

Melt the tablespoon of butter. As it melts, add in the sage if you’re using it. If not, just melt the butter and add it to the ricotta mixture.

Add in any flavoring that you’re using (i.e., nutmeg, lemon zest, etc.). If you’re not using any particular flavoring, that’s fine.

Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the salt.

Beat all the ingredients together very well. You should end up with a soft and fluffy batter with no streaks (everything should be mixed in very well).

Step 3: Forming the gnocchi.

Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. When it boils, salt the water generously and keep it at a simmer. You will use this water to test the first gnocchi that you make to ensure that it holds together and that your gnocchi batter isn’t too damp.

In a large, shallow baking dish or on a sheet pan, make a bed of all-purpose flour that’s ½ an inch deep.

With a spatula, scrape the ricotta mixture away from the sides of the bowl and form a large mass in the center of your bowl.

Using a tablespoon, scoop up about 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter and then holding the spoon at an angle, use your finger tip to gently push the ball of dough from the spoon into the bed of flour.

At this point you can either shake the dish or pan gently to ensure that the flour covers the gnocchi or use your fingers to very gently dust the gnocchi with flour. Gently pick up the gnocchi and cradle it in your hand rolling it to form it in an oval as best as you can, at no point should you squeeze it. What you’re looking for is an oval lump of sorts that’s dusted in flour and plump.

Gently place your gnocchi in the simmering water. It will sink and then bob to the top. From the time that it bobs to the surface, you want to cook the gnocchi until it’s just firm. This could take 3 to 5 minutes.

If your gnocchi begins to fall apart, this means that the ricotta cheese was probably still too wet. You can remedy this by beating a teaspoon of egg white into your gnocchi batter. If your gnocchi batter was fluffy but the sample comes out heavy, add a teaspoon of beaten egg to the batter and beat that in. Test a second gnocchi to ensure success.

Form the rest of your gnocchi. You can put 4 to 6 gnocchi in the bed of flour at a time. But don’t overcrowd your bed of flour or you may damage your gnocchi as you coat them.

Have a sheet pan ready to rest the formed gnocchi on. Line the sheet pan with wax or parchment paper and dust it with flour.

You can cook the gnocchi right away, however, Judy Rodgers recommends storing them in the refrigerator for an hour prior to cooking to allow them to firm up.

Step 4: Cooking the gnocchi.

Have a large skillet ready to go. Place the butter and water for the sauce in the skillet and set aside.

In the largest pan or pot that you have (make sure it’s wide), bring at least 2 quarts of water to a boil (you can use as much as 3 quarts of water if your pot permits). You need a wide pot or pan so that your gnocchi won’t bump into each other and damage each other.

Once the water is boiling, salt it generously.

Drop the gnocchi into the water one by one. Once they float to the top, cook them for 3 to 5 minutes (as in the case with the test gnocchi).

When the gnocchi float to the top, you can start your sauce while you wait for them to finish cooking.

Place the skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Swirl it gently a few times as it melts. As soon as it melts and is incorporated with the water, turn off the heat. Your gnocchi should be cooked by now.

With a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and gently drop into the butter sauce. Carefully roll in the sauce until coated. Serve immediately.