Sundays With Jacques, Sept. 22

Chanterelles were on sale, so I had to get some. I sauteed them in butter and oil, finished with shallots, parsley, and chives. I thought it was strange to put them on toast, but if JP says it's good, I'll try it. Sure enough, duh, it was delicious.

 And I did continue the lamb theme this week with a lamb steak from the leg. It was a quick sear followed by a quicker pan sauce of soy sauce, sambal oelek, ketchup, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. I am just realizing now that I forgot the mint! Ug. I did remember to add it the first night - it rounded out the flavors nicely - but leftovers night, no mint. Oh-oh, that means there is a little container in the fridge somewhere.

 Leek gratin and sauteed potatoes were the sides. It seems like a lot, but it was all pretty simple and came together quickly. The potatoes were from our garden. I think there is some sort of potato worm out there. I need to look this up because many of my potatoes had little guys hanging out inside, which means you have to really peel all of them. I tried my hand at "turning" a few - that's a French technique where you make little football shapes with your veggies. They not only look adorable, but they also cook at the same rate.

I was over at the neighbor's house and we were discussing dinner. I was talking about this and she about her tacos. I realized that I make a lot of dishes to complete one meal because she thought I was done when I mentioned the lamb and potatoes and I had to say, "Wait, I also made ..." lest she think potatoes were the only vegetable. Hardly!

Stupid Gnocchi

Gnocchi is something to be ordered, not made. I have made it a couple of times - potato, potato with spinach, and now sweet potato. The little writeup even talked about how adding sweet potato is a good trick for novices because taking away some regular potato would remove some of the gluey potential. Ha.

I have heard good gnocchi described as airy and light, as little clouds. Mine were like lead. Mine were the opposite of airy and light. Mine were a travesty. Oh, but we still ate them with sage and butter and Pecorino.

Sam was even excited at the prospect of dinner because he has had the gnocchi that I buy frozen from Trader Joe's. I sauté them in butter and melt a little cheese on them. He loves those gnocchi. Of these, however, he said, emphatically, "I don't like them." But I had worked so hard and was so angry that they didn't turn out well that I snarled at him to eat them or eat nothing and if he chose nothing he would most likely throw up in the morning from low blood sugar. So there.

I know that I went wrong in a couple of places. The sweet potatoes were perfectly roasted, but the yukons were not. Little, hard bits of potato in your gnocchi? No, thanks. I guess I also worked too much flour in, which would create toughness, but I just don't get how to not add so much. I have worked with many doughs in my day. With bread, I know the difference between "tacky" and too darned sticky. But these gnocchi were a mess and I kept adding and adding flour.

And don't even get me started with how difficult it is to roll the little guys off the back of a fork for the cute little tine impression. Mine were far from cute. And tough. Did I mention tough?

The one saving grace was that I further developed my browned butter sauce. If you have never done it, I highly recommend melting a few tablespoons of unsalted butter, letting it brown, throwing in sage, and then tossing your pasta in the pan too - gnocchi, cheese ravioli, even a plain pasta would be good.

But, do yourself a favor, and order gnocchi at a restaurant or purchase frozen for home.

Sunday, Sept. 15, With Jacques

I thought you would want to know what I made. Lamb shanks with white beans. I might just devote the following weeks to all the lamb recipes in Essential Pepin. I just adore lamb. And beans. Which reminds me that Sam has all but declared himself a vegetarian. He says that animals are our friends and we have to protect them and not eat them. Where does he get such ideas? Are the Wild Kratts vegetarians?

I also made a salad - that I forgot to photograph. It was so simple and so good: arugula with oil-cured olives and croutons, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. I just adore oil-cured olives. And arugula, or rocket, as they say in Jolly Old England.