Developing and Refining One's Sense of Taste - week 15

The energy in the classroom was almost as frenetic as it was on pork night. The class was excited -a request for a gnocchi demonstration was made and Chef agreed to make it for the class.  In addition, Chef lectured and demonstrated how to prepare linguini with clams, lemon pasta, squid ink pasta, ravioli, lasagna. The class was asked to make basic pasta dough and lasagna in the kitchen.

This week's focus is sheeting dough versus stretching dough.



What I learned

• This week's focus is 
• 00 flour makes pasta that is thin and delicate
• Pasta is generally flavored by the sauce added to it
• Pasta is hydroscopic - it can dehydrate the air and your skin
• It's easier to make a dry dough wetter than to make  a wet dough drier
• Squeeze the dough - it should release from your hand without any dough remaining on your hand. If not, add a little more flour
• Squid ink is perishable and needs to kept in the freezer
• Don't rinse pasta, you wash away the residual starch
• The "gnocchi" is though to be a derived from the Italian word "nocca" which means "knuckle" - gnocchi cutters often shape the pillow of dough into a shape reminiscent of knuckles.

Observations

• Chef recommended the Kitchen Aid past attachment or Imperia's past machine to make past at home
• Squid ink does stain and should be washed from hands or clothing as quickly as possible.
• I have a great deal of respect for the volunteer Assistant that support the class - Mary Joyce, Sue, and Michael. They show up before the class and get the classroom set up. They put together the ingredients for the class to cook as well as the ingredients for chef. They serve the dishes Chef prepares in class to the students/ They remain after the class leaves to clean up the classroom kitchen. That's a long evening. Sometimes there's no food for them to eat.
•  A classmate asked about gnudi - a close cousin to gnocchi. I learned about gnudi a few weeks earlier via Chef Erin Clarke at Casa Luc she prepared stinging nettle gnudi for a dinner. 
• A classmate asked if I was aware that there'a picture of me in the L'Academie de Cuisine recreational course catalog. I became aware of the picture a year ago. I was a student in a class and one of the chefs was taking photos.  In that class we made tricolor pasta that evening.

gnudi prepared by Chef Erin Clarke

Self-reflection

• I discovered gnocchi years ago via a former co-worker who was dating a restaurant owner. After several foiled attempts to take the gnocchi home with me ( the restaurant owner would see me "saving" my gnocchi and ask my co-worker  to tell me that the gnocchi would not survive my airplane ride home and that I should I consume all of my dish).  I later asked  for the gnocchi recipe. He readily shared the recipe with me. I soon discovered that the recipe was  in metric measure and fed about 60 people. 
• Marl offered to let borrow his Kitchen pasta attachment. I politely declined. I just don't know if I will have  sufficient time to make the pasta before class concludes. 
• It turns out Marl has several Kitchen Aid attachments. I'm impressed, very impressed. Santa, if you're reading my blog - please send me an attachment or two for Christmas or my birthday. 
• I didn't cook any dishes in the classroom kitchen. I was exhausted. Rather than subject myself or my classmates to an potential accident because of my sleep deprivation I went home and got a good night's rest. 
• I made gnocchi with bolognese sauce over the weekend. The sauce was delicious. I followed a gnocchi recipe I found on the internet. I had noted what I will adjust moving forward. I'll share the recipe.
• I suppose I'm sensitive to the plight of the Assistants because I'm a volunteer Assistant in recreational classes. As much as I enjoy volunteering, it can be physically taxing.  

Tonight: shellfish

Be well,

Technicolor girl