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Creamy Maine Lobster Broth, Russet Potato and Lobster Coral Gnocchi
“You spend all day, 12, 14 hours a day, cooking refined food, you want to go eat something that’s simple,” says Thomas Keller, the multistarred chef/owner of the French Laundry in Napa and Per Se in New York City. Keller’s taste for the simple things, specifically classic French bistro dishes, inspired him to open Bouchon, a casual counterpoint to his other gastronomic palaces. But this is one beautiful dish that everyone must enjoy and if you are like me, a simple amateur cook, with no Michelin stars to your name, its entirely in the sphere of possibilities to make Creamy Maine Lobster Broth, Russet Potato and Lobster Coral Gnocchi
By Chef Thomas Keller, The French Laundry, Yountville, CA
Lobster Broth Ingredients:
(Makes 3 cups)
1 dozen Lobster Bodies
2 bunches Fresh Tarragon
1 gallon Water
3 cup Freshly Chopped Tomatoes
1/2 gallon Heavy Cream
Method:
1. Clean the cavity, remove the gills from the lobster, and then cut the lobster into quarters. Sear the lobster bodies in hot oil until they begin to color. Cover with the gallon of cold water, bring to a simmer, skim off the impurities, add tomato product and continue to simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Strain through a china cap and then through a chinoise or fine sieve. Return strained stock to the stove and simmer until it is reduced down to 3 cups. Let chill, re-heat while vigorously whipping to a frothy consistency where air suspends the broth “A la Cappuccino.”
Russet Potato and Lobster Coral Gnocchi Ingredients:
(Makes 20 Dozen Small Gnocchi)
2 lbs. Russet Potatoes
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
3 large Egg Yolks
1 tbls. Lobster Coral (raw, green)
2 tbls. Kosher Salt
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375F, wash and season the potatoes, and bake until tender on a baking sheet. This will take about 1 hour. Split the potatoes, scoop out the flesh, and press it in through a potato ricer. Place the hot potatoes on a board or a counter. Make a well in the center. Place a layer of about 1/2 cup flour in the well, add the egg yolks, then add about 1/2 cup more flour, the coral and the salt. Use a dough scraper to “chop” the potatoes into the flour and eggs; This process should be done quickly (15 to 30 seconds), as overworking the dough will make the gnocchi heavy and sticky. Add more flour as necessary. The resulting dough should be homogeneous and barely sticky on the outside. Shape the dough into a ball.
2. Roll the ball of dough lightly in flour. Pull off a section of the dough and roll it in by hand on a lightly floured surface into a “snake” about 1/2 inch thick.
3. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces, and using your hand, roll each piece into a ball. Then roll the balls on a gnocchi paddle or over the back of a fork to create an oval shape with indentations. Test one gnocchi by placing it in a pot of rapidly boiling lightly salted water. It is cooked as soon as it floats to the surface. Taste for seasoning and add salt to the dough if necessary, or add flour if the gnocchi seems mushy. Continue to form the gnocchi, placing them on a lightly floured tray until ready to cook.
Place the gnocchi in the boiling water. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pot when they float to the surface, and plunge them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Store them on a parchment paper lined sheet tray, and place them in the refrigerator if they are going to be used right away, or in the freezer. Once frozen, they can be stored in well sealed plastic bags, and kept frozen for several weeks; cook them while they are still frozen.
