Fantastic Gnocci Recipe, Day 4 of Large Queens and Sales Continue to Pick Up and Paul Lynde

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Fantastic Gnocci Recipe, Day 4 of Large Queens and Sales Continue to Pick Up and Paul Lynde

Today is a bit of a mixed bag. I managed to get through the 2c Large Queens yesterday, but the threes, as I had a very lovely facebook conversation with an old classmate in Brazil, and my ex-partners had e-mailed me with a problem they were having, ao I had to respond. Today, I continue with the three cent stamps and hopefully the 5c stamps.

Last night, I made the best Gnocci I have ever tasted with a gorgonzola sauce that I just had to share. This one is so simple that you can have dinner made in less than 30 min. Generally, Gnocci only takes about 3 min to cook, so it is the sauce that will take the bulk of the time.

You will need, per 2 portions - for additional portions increase the quantities proportionally:

1 1 pound pack of fresh Gnocci

300g of fresh gorgonzola cheese, left out of the refrgerator all day

1/3 cup grated parmesan

1/2 cup of milk

3 tablespoons of butter

1/2 cup of heavy cream

2-3 cups fresh chopped spinach (optional)

The main danger with the sauce is that it can sometimes be too salty as I discovered. So it is important to taste it as you are preparing it. If it is too high in salt, add more cream until the salt level is more tolerable. You do want it to be somewhat salty, as the Gnocci is a heavy, bland pasta, so the flavour needs to be strong. The reason for leaving the gorgonzola out for the day is to develop the flavours, as the cold of the refrigerator stunts the flavour of the cheese.

While you are waiting for the water to boil, take the cheese, the milk and the butter and place in a large saucepan. You are going to toss the pasta in the sauce later, so you want a pot big enough that you can do that in. Turn the leat to low and gradually melt the cheese into the milk and butter, mashing it with the back of a wooden spoon. This takes a while, but eventually you will have a thick sauce with no lumps. Turn it off until you are ready to drain the pasta.

Then add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until the gnocci rises to the surface, which, as I said, will take about three minutes. Drain.

Then turn the sauce back on and add the heavy cream. Cook over medium-low heat until it reduces somewhat. Test for salt level and if necessary add more cream. When it is at the a little runnier than the desired consitency and salt level is a little lower than you want, add the spinach if you are using, and mix until wilted, then turn off the heat. Add the pasta and toss until coated, then add the parmesan cheese and toss until melted. The addition of the parmesan will bring the consistency and salt level to what they should be. Then serve and watch jaws drop!

My sense of humor is not that great - I'm not good at coming up with good jokes, and I always manage to laugh at my own jokes and ruin them. So I thought it would be good to share some of my favourite comedians. I personally like the comedians of yesteryear, before political correctness took hold and before profanity became a substitute for good humor. I am a child of the 70's, and one of the comedians I remember very well is Paul Lynde.

He was famous for being the centre square on a game show called the Hollywood Squares, which ran for well over 15 years around dinnertime 5 nights a week. He was a favourite because every time he was asked a question, he would initially respond with a zinger. Now Paul was gay, but not openly so, because back then it was not socially acceptable. But as you view the following clips, I'm sure you would agree that it is very hard to see how he could be straight. But back then people simply didn't have the exposure to gay culture to be able to recognize someone who was gay. His double entendres were just classic and when you watch the following clips, remember that they aired almost 40 years ago.