Reader, it’s no secret that I love French Fridays. Bistro night is a tradition at 1840 Farm that makes my whole family smile. We try to have at least one night a week that would make Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and Dorie Greenspan proud.
This last week has been a banner one. We’ve had Paris Mushroom Soup followed by our own concoction of pan roasted garlic-rosemary potatoes with Gruyère omelets. Then we ended the seven-day span with Gnocchi a la Parisienne. Talk about saving the best for last.
I find myself at a loss for words when trying to describe these gnocchi to you. The best I can do is to say that they are light, airy, delicious bits of gnocchi heaven. I admit that I was skeptical about boiling pate a choux dough. I couldn’t fathom what their texture would be like. I was worried that they would be water-logged and soggy blobs of dough. I was concerned that I might question my judgment for turning beautiful homemade pate a choux into the soggy blobs instead of making eclairs or gougeres.
There was no need for me to worry. I will admit that I tasted a gnocchi as it exited the boiling pot to make sure that my family wouldn’t be sorry that I wasn’t making our standby sweet potato gnocchi for Bistro Night. As soon as the gnocchi hit my tongue I knew that we would soon be considering this new gnocchi variety our standby.
This gnocchi was everything that I would believe that a gnocchi dreams to be. It was light and fluffy with a lustrous texture and the rich flavor that a pate a choux dough imparts on its recipes. Suddenly I was salivating at the thought of these gnocchi baked in the oven under a lovely blanket of fresh Bechamel and Gruyère cheese.
We served our gnocchi with fresh baby peas dressed with sea salt and a lovely bottle of Poggio Amorelli Gode II Rosso di Toscana 2007. They were sublime. The brightness of the peas was a perfect accompaniment to the rich gnocchi. We agreed as a family that the baby peas would always find their way onto our dinner plates when we were lucky enough to find Gnocchi a la Parisienne on them.
Before the last bite had been taken, we were making plans to make this dish again. It was sublime. It was delicious. It was one of my top five meals of all time. No joke. If I had ever been lucky enough to eat this dish at a restaurant, I might have refused to leave. Ever.
Thank you Dorie for another fantastic recipe. For those of you that don’t already have Dorie’s latest book, Around My French Table, I’m sorry that I am not allowed to share the recipe with you. I do, however have one sage piece of Bistro Night advice for you. Get thyself to a local library or book store. Immediately if not sooner.
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9 comments
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Lola's Kitchen
January 14, 2011 at 11:59 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Enjoyed your post and your blog!
ComeUndone
January 14, 2011 at 12:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What a great idea to have weekly Bistro Night! The gnocchi fits right in.
Jessica of My Baking Heart
January 14, 2011 at 1:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Looks wonderful! How great to have a family night like that around the dinner table!
Denise@There's a Newf in My Soup!
January 14, 2011 at 2:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Peas make a nice side and your gnocchi look very cheesy and decadent…also, your farm sounds wonderful – any photos on your site?
1840farm
January 14, 2011 at 5:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thank you. It was decadent and absolutely delicious. We love our farm. You can see a photo of the farmhouse here http://1840farm.wordpress.com/1840-farm/.
kitchenarian
January 14, 2011 at 6:05 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I also loved this dish; it was delicious. Looks like a great wine choice.
steph - stephsbitebybite
January 15, 2011 at 6:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I loved these too! I love that you added peas. I thought about doing that, and know that I’ve got to add them next time.
wannebechef
January 19, 2011 at 2:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
We celebrated the New Year Italian style, w/ my first attempt at gnocchi. They were SO amazing. I also downloaded a playlist of Italian romance music to play during dinner, it was a fantastic evening.. you should add french music to your french Fridays. I enjoyed your blog!
1840farm
January 19, 2011 at 3:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
We do listen to French music. In fact, we were listening to Edith Piaf just last week as we were preparing the gnocchi. I’ll be posting our recipe for sweet potato gnocchi soon. It’s delicious. I’m glad that you enjoyed the blog. I’ll be reading yours next!