gnocchi — PALATE — theCULINARYIST

LOCAL
/ˈlōk(ə)l/

Belonging or relating to a particular area, neighborhood, person or thing

FLAIR
/fler/

A special or instinctive aptitude or ability for doing something well; stylishness & originality

Les poissons, les poisons~ how I LOVE les poissons!!

What do you do when you’re vacationing on a Hawaiian island? Lounge on any beach, snorkel & swim with sea turtles, jump into every waterfall you can find, and eat EVERYTHING & ANTHING LOCAL. Spending time in Maui inspired me to look for locally caught seafood and see what I can come up with.

Maui has so much to offer – meats & seafood, fruits & vegetables, wine & vodka – and I’ve only barely scratched the surface! After a couple of days of eating delicious foods made by others – the professionals – I wanted to have a home cooked meal. We found a small local market off the beaten path called Rexel Pacific Fish Market. Honestly, the market didn’t look like much but we did see that they had fish that was freshly caught that morning and we were hooked in – see what I did there? We were sold on a fish I’d never heard of before called Papio or locally known as Ulua, members of the jack family which can be caught shore fishing in Maui. I had told the owner that I wanted to make fish broth and he recommended us using the Papio fish head. Add in some garlic, onions, carrots, celery, green onions, bay leaves, and of course local pineapple wine…et voila, fish broth!!! The pineapple wine definitely gave it a surprisingly sweet and tart flavor to the stock that I wasn’t expecting. We found Fuji Apple Sake (from California, funnily enough since that’s where we flew in from) while digging around in a small grocery/hardware/everything store in Hana and I think it’ll be a great substitute for fish broth in the future. It’s all about trying things for yourself, learning, and seeing what can be improved or changed.

CHOP CHOP

no need to worry about making perfect cuts! This is for broth…not for presentation of every little piece.

and CHOP

cut about an finger digit thick. Besides, it’s easier to remove later when straining. If it’s too thin, it gets too mushy and makes the broth cloudy

toss all the cut veggies into a pot with some vegetable oil, pepper corn, & bay leaves

and TURN UP THE HEAT!

sauté until slightly brown…doesn’t need to be cooked all the way since it’ll be simmering in amazing juices soon

where's the WINE??

we can never forget the most important part of any meal…WINE~ yes!

lower the heat and layer the fish head & bones on top of the sautéed veggies. Add some stalks of green onions. Pour in the wine LIBERALLY. Then cover and let the mix “sweat” and steam for approx. 15 minutes…you’ll see beautiful beads of “sweat” (flavorful protein droplets) on the fish bones.

mmm...take in the aroma

when you open the lid, breath in the beautiful steamed fish & veggies!! And try not to be so squeamish about the white eyes…you don't have to eat them. No pressure!

after the sweating is complete, add enough water to just cover the fish head & bones. Let it simmer for another 20 minutes then leave alone to steep for another 10 minutes before straining. Now you have fish broth to use immediately (as I did for this meal) or to store away for later.

With the fish broth, I decided to make Potato & Leek soup with seared fresh Maui scallops and shrimp topped with crispy prosciutto. And since I was already getting the potato, I tried my hand at making homemade gnocchi for the very first time. If you recall, I made homemade ravioli in my last post and I’m finding that after making homemade pasta, it’s a bit hard to go back to the store bought, dried stuff. I say this now, but I’ll get lazy soon enough and go right back to it…until my next menu calls for it.

TIME TO MAKE THE PASTA

I went ahead and boiled the potato while i was chopping up the veggies so that I can make the pasta while the broth was simmering. For gnocchi, it’s a 1-1-1 ratio of ingredients…(1) cup of flour, (1) medium sized potato [boiled and mashed], and (1) full egg.

add all the ingredients into one bowl + a pinch of salt. Mix it all together and knead the dough until it forms into a ball. Remember to keep your surface, hands and ball well dusted with flour.

ladies & gentlemen, we’re have a ball!!

I prefer to flatten out the ball a bit and then cut into slices about an inch wide.

ROLL, CUT, & ROLL SOME MORE

Roll the slices into ropes about the size of your finger then cut into bite sized pieces. **Dust the pieces with flour as you go** With a fork, roll the pieces down along the teeth of the fork to get an indentation design.

the indentation is not necessary and you could just cook immediately…but it looks so pretty this way!!

bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the gnocchi pieces. When the gnocchi floats to the surface (approx. 3-5 minutes), remove with a slotted spoon and serve!!

leeks are surprisingly dirty…so make sure to clean well! Cut the root off the leek and cut lengthwise (as shown in the image). Run water through each layer…dirt and mud can be trapped in the tight folds.

once cleaned, chop off the dark green tops (it’s too tough to enjoy) and discard. The rest can be chopped up about half an inch wide

chop onions

and plenty of garlic!!

add the chopped leeks, onions, garlic, and cubed potatoes [process not shown] into a pot with vegetable oil

sauté with a pinch of salt, ground black peppers & herbs until soft and lightly browned

time for the broth

add the fish broth and let it cook until the potatoes are soft (approx. 20 minutes). Use an immersion blender to blend into a soup - you can do less for a more chunky texture or more for smoother. I like mine to be more of a puree. Salt/season to your taste. **side note** Personally, I prefer to not add cream to the soup as I like to taste the natural flavors but those days when you want something hearty and creamy, add to your heart’s content

with the soup done and warming on the side, season the scallops with salt, pepper, olive oil & herbs.

hot hot HOT

in a hot pan with oil or butter, quickly sear the scallops on each side…make sure it’s not too long otherwise it’ll be rubbery and no one likes rubbery scallops. NO! When I’m cooking scallops or shrimp or steak, while it’s cooking on one side, scoop the hot oil with a spoon and pour it onto the up side of the protein…it’ll help with even cooking and keeping the meat from drying out. Take the browned scallops out of the pan and onto a paper towel to soak up some of the oil.

for the shrimp, I only seasoned with a bit of salt, pepper and oil to allow the natural flavors to really push through. I also cooked it at the same time as the prosciutto to add a smoky flavor. mmm…crispy prosciutto!!

serve to EAT!!

plating is always fun…it means I get to eat soon!! Ladle the soup into the bowl, gently add the scallop & shrimp and gnocchi, sprinkle on the crispy prosciutto and top with chives…ENJOY!!

I was able to make gnocchi twice this Maui trip. Once for this meal and once for a meal I made for us and my sister-in-law & her family who met us here all the way from Florida. My Gorgeous Girl niece helped me make the second batch and I was so proud of how well she did!! She not only listened to my instructions but also watched what I was doing and followed suit…kids are amazing little sponges. I may not be a kid person but making gnocchi with my 4 year old niece on a kitchen island on the island of Maui, miles away from home, created a bond with a niece in a way that I couldn’t have imagined. Food truly brings everyone closer together and gets us to try new and different things. This is a memory that I will never forget and I’ll never let her forget either…I guess this is why I started this blog. To keep a record of my happiest of happy memories.

this girl and her FACE!!!

so many expressions…this is her “I hear what you’re saying Auntie and I got this” look

the concentration is strong!!

look how she’s holding her fork!! and I didn’t even tell her to…she looked at me and just followed along! I don't even know if we’re doing it properly or not but I’m still a proud Auntie and I love these moments with her!!

Mahalo to the beautiful people of Maui, my sister-in-law Melissa, her husband Eliot and their two mischievous kids, and my Teri!!