Gnocchi - doing it the simple way

GNOCCHI

I love gnocchi soup, especially when made with roast turkey. It just provides that different taste than chicken.  Ideally you would want to roast the meat first to get a little bite into the taste.

Start off with boiled potatoes, used for making mash.  The chips type just are not soft enough. Mix the potatoes with the meat (remember, chicken or turkey) and grate some Parmesan with two yolks of eggs together. Salt and nutmeg for taste is also added.

Now place it on a large flat surface, spray with flour and roll into little sticks as thick as your small finger.  Cut them up in small 2-3 cm pieces (about an inch) and drop them into boiling water.  leave for about 5 - 6 minutes.  

Now they are ready for serving.

And you thought it was difficult.

Cooking ideas with eggs

EGGS WITH PEAS

Take one and one-half cups of green peas, and cook them with one and one-half tablespoons of good butter, and a pinch of salt. Take four hard-boiled eggs, cut them in two lengthwise, and put them on a platter; pour over them the peas as a sauce. Works well if you don't have enough sauce and you find some extra guests at the table. Stretching a sauce is never a good idea but well there are emergencies.

EGGS "ALLA MILANESE"

Hard boil four eggs, cut them in four pieces each, put them in a platter, and pour over them the following sauce:

CREAM OF LEMON SAUCE

Take one cup of cold water, and pour one-half of it in a bowl with one tablespoon of starch, stir well until starch is dissolved. Pour the other one-half onto one heaping tablespoon of powered sugar and boil for a few moments—until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Allow it to cool, and then add the starch, and one cup of milk, a pinch of salt, a little grated lemon-rind, and two yolks of eggs. Mix all thoroughly, then strain through a sieve, then put on the stove again, and over a moderate fire, stir it constantly, always in the same direction, until it has assumed the thickness you desire.

EGGS "ALLA SCIARMANTE"

Hard boil four eggs; cut into several pieces. Then prepare the following:

Boil down to a syrup one heaping tablespoon of sugar, rind of one-quarter of lemon, one scant cup of water, and a little piece of cinnamon. Then remove the lemon-rind and the cinnamon, and add one cup of milk or cream. When heated through, take off of fire, and add the yolks of four eggs, beating well together. Then pour the sauce over the hard-boiled eggs in a shallow baking-dish, put it in a very moderate oven, and bake. Before serving squeeze on a little lemon juice and garnish with squares of fried bread.

EGGS WITH PIQUANTE SAUCE

Chop up fine one pickled pepper, one teaspoon of capers, one-half small pickled onion and one pickle, and some parsley. Dissolve in boiling water one tablespoon of butter, add the juice of one-half of lemon, a pinch of flour to give a little body, and the chopped pickles. If too sour add some sugar.

Hard boil four eggs, cut them in four, and pour over them the sauce.

EGGS "ALLA MONACHILE"

Hard boil four eggs, divide them in half, and pour over them the following sauce: Put two tablespoons of vinegar into a saucepan and one tablespoon of sugar (brown or white), fifteen almonds chopped up fine, and a small piece of candied citron. Let it boil for a little while, then add a pinch of cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and salt, and if too acid add a little water.

Before taking off the stove add a little flour to give body to the sauce. Pour over the eggs and serve.

EGGS "ALLA FIORENTINA"

Hard boil four eggs. Let them cool in a bowl of cold water. Peel them and divide them in half. Take the yolks and mix with them one heaping tablespoon of butter, one tablespoon of Parmesan cheese grated, and a little salt and pepper. Put this mixture into a saucepan with the yolks of two raw eggs, and one-half of the white of one egg. Stir well until the mixture becomes thick. Then fill the hard-boiled whites of the eggs with the stuffing; if any stuffing remains over, spread it on the platter under the eggs. Then put one-half cup of milk in a saucepan with one-half tablespoon of butter and one-half tablespoon of flour, salt, and pepper. Boil for a few moments, stirring well, then pour over the eggs, sprinkle well with grated Parmesan cheese, and put in the oven and brown.

LIGHTNING OMELETTE

Butter a baking-dish and put in the bottom of it slices of stale bread (brown bread is better than white) which have been dipped in milk. Then put in a layer of very thin slices of Gruyere cheese. Take two eggs, beat them up to a froth, add salt and pepper, pour them into a baking-dish on top of the bread and cheese, then put it in the oven until it is browned on top. Serve hot.

EGGS "ALLA PIACENTINA"

Take the whites of four eggs, and beat until stiff. Then add the yolks and one rounded tablespoon of melted butter, and a little salt and pepper. Take a small baking-dish, butter it well, and put in the bottom a layer or two of very thin slices of cheese, Parmesan or Gruyere. Put into the oven for a few moments until thoroughly heated, then pour on the whites of eggs mixed with the other ingredients, put back in the oven, and serve when the eggs are a golden brown.

EGGS "ALLA BENEDETTINA"

Roast two small peppers, take off their skins, remove the seeds, and cut into strips. Take two tomatoes (not too ripe), boil them, remove the skins and seeds, and cut into thin strips also. Then wash two anchovies, remove the bones, and cut also into strips. Take a small baking-dish, put in the strips of peppers and tomatoes and the anchovies. Add two tablespoons of good olive-oil and put on the top of the stove until the ingredients boil. Then break into the dish four eggs, taking care to keep the yolks whole. Add salt and pepper, and put the dish into the oven until the eggs are cooked.

EGGS "ALLA ROMANA"

Beat four eggs, whites and yolks together. Add one tablespoon of milk or cream, salt and pepper, one tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, and a little chopped-up parsley. With this make three or four omelettes about the thickness of a ten-cent piece. As the omelettes are finished lay them on a napkin to cool; then cut them transversely into strips about one-quarter of an inch wide. Then put the strips into a saucepan with some heated butter. Heat them through thoroughly and serve with grated cheese and the following meat sauce poured over them:

MEAT SAUCE

Chop up some ham fat with a little onion, celery, carrot, and parsley. Add a small piece of beef and cook until beef is well colored. Then add one and one-half tablespoons of red wine (or white), cook until wine is absorbed, then add one tablespoon of tomato paste diluted with water, or four fresh tomatoes, and boil fifteen minutes.

Quick sauces for the non expert

ROUX FOR SAUCES

Roux is necessary to thicken and give body to sauces. Put one tablespoon of flour and one of butter into a saucepan and cook until the flour has lost any raw taste. Then put the saucepan on the back of the stove and add slowly the stock or milk, one cup for every tablespoon of butter or flour, and stir until smooth. For white sauces take care the flour does not color; for dark sauces let it brown, but take care it does not burn.

AGRO DOLCE SAUCE

Take two tablespoons of sugar (brown or white), one-half a cup of currants, a quarter of a bar of grated chocolate, one tablespoon of chopped candied orange, one of lemon-peel, one of capers, and one cup of vinegar. Mix well together and let soak for two hours; pour it over venison or veal, and simmer for ten minutes.

BECHAMEL SAUCE NO. 1

Put two ounces of butter and two tablespoons of flour into a saucepan and stir for five minutes. Pour one and one-half pints of boiling milk gradually in, beating well with a whisk. Add some nutmeg, a few peppercorns, a pinch of salt, and some chopped mushrooms. Cook for one-quarter of an hour, and rub through a fine sieve.

BECHAMEL SAUCE NO. 2

Mix three tablespoons of butter and three of flour to a smooth paste, put some peppercorns, one-half an onion, one-half a carrot sliced, a small piece of mace, two teacups of white stock, a pinch of salt and of grated nutmeg, in a stew-pan; simmer for one-half an hour, stirring often, then add one teacup of cream; boil at once, and strain and serve.

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE

Take ten fresh tomatoes, remove the skins, cut them up; put them into a saucepan and boil them until soft. Then pass them through a sieve. Put their juice into a saucepan with one heaping tablespoon of butter or one-half tablespoon of good lard, salt and pepper, and boil again, adding water if the sauce becomes too thick. This sauce can be kept in a bottle for several days. It can be used for macaroni, etc., in place of the tomato paste.

TOMATO SAUCE WITH ONIONS

Mince one-quarter of an onion, one-half a stalk of celery, a few leaves of sweet basil, and a bunch of parsley up fine. Add one-half cup of olive-oil, a pinch of salt and one of pepper, and cut eight or nine tomatoes into slices. Boil until the sauce is as thick as cream, stirring occasionally, then strain through a sieve and serve.

TOMATO SAUCE WITH SOME WINE

Take four pounds of tomatoes, cut them in two, and put them into a two-quart saucepan with two wine-glasses of water, two saltspoons of salt, one of pepper, cover the saucepan, and boil for forty minutes, stirring often to prevent burning; then strain. Make a roux in another saucepan with one ounce of butter and three-quarters of an ounce of flour. Cook for three minutes, mixing well. Take roux off the fire, and pour the tomatoes into it a little at a time, stirring to keep it smooth. Add two wineglasses of stock, put on the fire, and cook for twenty minutes, stirring all the time.

STANDARD BUTTER SAUCE

Take eight ounces of butter, one tablespoon of salt, one of pepper, and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Stir with a wooden spoon over the fire until the butter is half melted, then take it off and continue to stir until it is quite liquid. By taking the butter off the stove before it is all melted it will have a pleasant taste of fresh cream; this is all lost otherwise.

LOMBARDA SAUCE

Put two tumblers of white roux and one of chicken jelly into a saucepan, reduce, and add three yolks of eggs mixed with two ounces of butter and the juice of one-half lemon. Before it boils take the saucepan off the fire, and add one tumbler of thick tomato sauce (see Sauces, page 30), strain, and just before serving add one tablespoon of sweet herbs minced fine.

"ALLA PANNA" SAUCE

Melt one-half a pound of butter, add a little flour, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Stir until thick, then add one pint of cream, a little chopped parsley, and heat for five minutes.

MEAT AND ONION SAUCE

Put into a saucepan one pound of beef and one-half an onion chopped up with three ounces of lard, some parsley, salt, pepper, one clove, and a very small slice of ham. Fry these over a hot fire for a few moments, moving them continually, and when the onion is browned add four tablespoons of red wine, and four tablespoons of tomato sauce (or tomato paste). When this sauce begins to sputter, add, little by little, some boiling water. Stick a fork into the meat from time to time to allow the juices to escape. Take a little of the sauce in a spoon, and when it looks a good golden color, and there is a sufficient quantity to cover the meat, put the covered saucepan at the back of the stove and allow it to simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Then take out the meat, slice it, prepare macaroni, or any paste you desire, and serve it with the meat, and the sauce poured over all, and the addition of butter and grated cheese.

ECONOMICAL SAUCE

Take one-half of an old onion and chop it up fine. Take one small carrot, wash it, scrape it, and cut it into transverse slices; do the same with a stalk of celery, some parsley, and one fresh or canned mushroom. Then take a slice of ham (raw if possible), fat and lean, about four fingers wide and one finger high. Chop it up fine, and put it into a medium-sized saucepan with one tablespoon of butter. When the ham is colored, put in the chopped-up vegetables, one clove, salt, and pepper, and stir constantly, allowing the vegetables to cook thoroughly but not to burn, which will destroy the taste of the sauce. It should be a golden color. A little red wine may be added if you have it, but this is not necessary. Then add four fresh tomatoes, cut into several pieces, the skins removed, and the seeds taken out. Allow these to cook in the sauce until they sputter, then add a little water (or bouillon if you have it), allow it to boil for a few moments more, then take it off the fire and pass it through a sieve or fine colander, pressing hard so that all will pass through. If it is too thick after straining, add water or bouillon, and put it back and allow it to boil again a few moments. This sauce can be used for macaroni, gnocchi, left-over meat, egg, etc. The success of the sauce depends upon the proper frying of the onion in it.

HOT PIQUANTE SAUCE

Chop up fine two ounces of lean ham and a small piece of onion, add a little celery, the stalks of parsley, one clove, one-half tablespoon of pepper, and one-half bay-leaf. Pour over these ingredients a scant one-half cup of vinegar. Cover the saucepan and allow it to boil until it has consumed one-half. Put into another saucepan one-half cup of bouillon (or water in which you have dissolved one tablespoon of extract of beef). Allow it to boil, and then thicken with a teaspoon of potato flour which has been diluted in a little cold water. Drop this, little by little, into the saucepan until you have gained the required thickness for the sauce. Then pour in the boiled vinegar, passing it through cheese-cloth. Mix well together and add a teaspoon of French mustard, some capers, and some chopped-up pickles. Serve hot with meats or tongue. The pepper should predominate in this sauce.

PIQUANTE SAUCE WITH EGG

Take some anchovy paste—one tablespoon, two tablespoons of chopped parsley, some capers and chopped pickles, one teaspoon of French mustard and the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. Work this all together into a paste, then add three tablespoons of olive-oil and two or three of vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper. This sauce is good with both meat and fish.

Quick and easy fish recipe ideas

CODFISH "ALLA GIARDINIERA"

Take one pound of salted codfish, boil it, remove the skin and bones, and shred it. Then take one good carrot, one-half a turnip, scrape them, cut them into slices, and boil them for a few moments. Then drain off the water, and put them into a saucepan with one and one-half tablespoons of butter and finish cooking them, adding from time to time a little boiling water. When the vegetables are cooked add the codfish, mix well, and serve.

CODFISH WITH EGG SAUCE

Take one pound of salt codfish. Boil it and remove the skin and bones. Then fry lightly in butter, adding chopped-up parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir about constantly, and add from time to time a little boiling water, until the fish is thoroughly cooked. Then beat up the yolks of two eggs and add them with a little flour, and cook for a few moments more. Squeeze on some lemon juice and serve.

CODFISH "ALLA MARINAIA"

Take one pound of salt codfish. Boil slightly until you can remove the skin and bones. Chop up fine a piece of onion, and parsley, and fry them in a saucepan with three tablespoons of best olive-oil, then put in the codfish with salt, pepper, and a pinch of allspice. While this is cooking, put into another saucepan three tablespoons of best vinegar, two tablespoons of fish broth, and one-half bay-leaf. Add a little flour to give body to the sauce, stir well, then remove the bay-leaf, and take the saucepan off the fire. Arrange the platter with pieces of fried bread in a layer on the bottom, then the codfish, and then the sauce poured over it.

FRESH CODFISH "AL VINO BIANCO"

Remove the bones from three-quarters of a pound of fresh codfish. Cut into slices lengthwise. Butter a baking-dish, put in the fish, put more butter on top of it, salt and pepper, and one-half glass of dry white wine. Cook for twenty minutes in a hot oven, then place the fish on a platter, take the juice left over in the baking-dish, put it into a saucepan, add a little flour, some more butter, and the juice of half a lemon. Before taking off the fire, add some chopped-up parsley, and then pour the sauce over the fish, and serve.

CODFISH WITH GREEN PEPPERS

Take one-half pound of salted codfish which has been soaked to remove the saltiness. Remove the skin and bones, and cut the codfish into small squares. Then dip it again into fresh water, and put the squares onto a napkin to dry. The fish may either be left as it is, or before proceeding, you may roll it in flour and fry it in lard or oil.

Then take two good-sized green peppers, roast them on top of the stove, remove the skins and seeds, wash them, dry them, and cut them in narrow strips. When this is done put three generous tablespoons of olive-oil into a saucepan with one onion cut up small, and fry the onion over a slow fire.

Take two big tomatoes, skin them, remove the seeds and hard parts, and cut them into small pieces. When the onion has taken a good color, add the tomatoes, and cook until they sputter, then add the peppers and a little salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick add a little water. When the peppers are half cooked, add some chopped-up parsley and the codfish. Cover up the saucepan and let it simmer until the fish is cooked.

This dish is also good cold.