I'm intrepid in the kitchen. I like to try all manner of things. Most recently, I began making potato gnocchi, not because we ate a lot of it in the past. In fact, I don't think I had eaten it at all prior to my finding a recipe that called for it that I wanted to try. That lead to my curious mind moving to the "how would I?" moment on wondering how I would make it from scratch. I generally make all my baked goods from scratch. I don't recall buying a boxed cake mix in decades.
Thanks to all of the excellent ethersphere contributors, I found a successful method of making the gnocchi. It was easy, delicious, and I enjoyed doing it.
Switch to a different genre: pasta. I love pasta. We eat it weekly. But I've never tried to make it from scratch. I again had one of those "How would I?" moments. Again, the ethersphere did not disappoint. In fact, there are probably so many pasta making videos out there that I could watch them for the rest of my life.
I tend to be pretty objective about my approach to things. I embrace my inner nerd. I like to know the optimum way to make things--not how the hillbilly kitchen or the Italian grandmother makes it. Enter Helen Rennie. Helen Rennie is a cooking instructor. I stumbled upon her videos, and I like her approach. Below is the video that I used for my maiden voyage.
I ordered a set of pasta rollers for my Kitchen Aide. I found them on markdown and bought them at a nice discount. However, they are still an investment at > $200. I always look for these types of items when I can find them. I would not make this were it not for the convenience of the roller and cutter attachments.
The attachments couldn't be easier to manage as I soon learned in making the batch last night. Though HR says that it is unlikely that your eggs will weigh more than 185g...my eggs and yolks clocked in over 200 grams. I just whisked, I pulled off the excess. I found that I needed a little more than 185g of liquid to my flour. And I measured my flour on the scale with grams.
The hardest part was kneading the dough. It is not like any dough I've worked before. Again, her instructions were clear and concise.
My family REALLY enjoyed the fettuccine that I made as a side dish. I made a cheddar sauce to go with them as my Parmesan stores were too small to do anything but put it in a soup pot--the little nub that I had. It was so much more flavorful and delightfully toothsome. (I used bread flour as she recommends, and the texture and taste were superb).
Her video makes the sensible approach of focusing on common mistakes. I like knowing where the "risks" are and how to mitigate them--in all things.
So was it worth the time and effort? Indeed it was. To be sure, it was not nearly as convenient as opening a box. But it was no more difficult nor time consuming than making gnocchi.
If pasta is something that you enjoy AND you enjoy the process, take a look at the video and consider giving it a try.
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