The Perfect Bite

For my last bite of any meal, I have to have the “perfect” last bite. Dan makes fun of me relentlessly over this peculiarity, but I just can’t help myself. If I’m at breakfast, my perfect bite typically consists of a bit of egg atop a small piece of bacon over some hash browns, lightly dipped in ketchup (unless I’m having pancakes or French toast in which case the bite has to be from the very middle, no side/crust) … YUM! I simply cannot end a meal on a sour note. It is so important to me that often, I’ll even assemble and line-up 2-3 last bites. The other night, we went to a steakhouse and Dan couldn’t help himself from torturing me as I lined up 3 last bites: 2 onion strings on each of the 3 cubes of ribeye so that I could then dip my fork into my potato then spear the onion/steak combo for my perfect last bites.

It was because of his ribbing that I think I may have come up with the perfect restaurant idea … American food served tapas-style. In other words, every plate would have 5-6 perfect bites!! This would also solve my problem of when I just want a bite of something. I would definitely serve breakfast as I am often conflicted when faced with ordering breakfast. I want a bite of everything but the combo meals are too much food for just one person; I try to talk Dan into ordering some of what I want so we can just split but he usually orders something I don’t want to touch; so either I end up half-way satisfied because I only order one thing or wasting a ton of food because I order everything even though I only want a bite. How great would it be if Dan and I could order breakfast tapas?? We could have a few bites of pancakes, some waffles, eggs with sausage, (oh yea, and a plate of something he wants too) I am DROOLING here just thinking about it! For lunch, we’d serve small shot-glass sized tastes of various soups paired with bites of matching sandwiches; for example, I’d love two shots of tomato soup with 5 bites of grilled cheese followed by a shot of black bean soup and 3 bites of a chicken tortilla wrap. OR you could pick your favorite bites served on skewers over a lunch-sized salad.

Dinner would be magnificent. We’d serve some traditional things like bacon-wrapped scallops and grilled bbq shrimp skewers, olive and cheese plates, various croquettes, etc. for the Happy Hour crowd but our signature foods would be our Perfect Bites. My star attraction would be the ribeye bites described above but I’d also have pot roast bites (roast topped with a slice of carrot, slice of celery and cube of potato drizzled in gravy) and for sure serve chicken parmesan/fettuccine alfredo spears! I’m seriously having difficulty concentrating on anything else while I sit here brainstorming different Perfect Bites and wondering how I’d be able to build things like the “baked bean with macaroni and cheese over corndog” bite off the kids’ menu without making it an ugly mess. I think the shepherd’s pie bite would be ok but the chicken pot pie bite difficult; lasagna bites easy but any other pasta besides ravioli too messy. And for gnocchi and prosciutto with asparagus, do I layer them one on top of the other? In which order? Or should I just wrap the gnocchi/asparagus in the prosciutto?

So many questions, but I’m sure I’ll get it all figured out before I ever actually open a restaurant … if I ever do open a restaurant. In the meantime, enjoy how to turn your leftover mashed potatoes into delicious and light homemade gnocchi!

Leftover potato gnocchi:
3 cups leftover mashed potatoes, a little bit dried out (leave uncovered in the fridge overnight)
**really this can be any amount, just alter the egg/flour amounts**
1 egg, beaten well
1 cup flour, if using whole wheat flour you'll need more (make sure you sift it or if you don’t have a sifter, toss it in a bowl and run a fork through it a few times)
Salt to taste

- Mix the egg into the potatoes until fully incorporated and the potatoes are sticky, lightly salt the mixture to taste (I sometimes add pepper and garlic here too)

- Add the flour a little at a time until you get a crumbly mixture then knead the dough VERY gently, if it’s too crumbly add a few drops of water, if it’s too tacky add a little more flour; the dough should be moist but not sticky (I usually start by adding about ¾ cup of the flour to get it crumbly then the rest as I knead it to make it a more consistent dough)

- Now the hard part … cut the dough into 8 pieces and roll each of the 8 into a long, thin log without overworking the dough (very light touch required); cut each of the logs into ½ inch pieces (I use a pizza cutter for this) and lightly dust with some flour until ready to boil OR lightly dust and follow next step if you’re up for the challenge (I failed next step 4 times before finally succeeding)

- Optional step (aka HARD step) - to shape the gnocchi hold a fork in one hand and place a gnocchi piece against the tines of the fork, cut ends out; very quickly but lightly, use your thumb and press in and down the length of the fork creating a little curl/C-shape with the ridges from the fork on the back

- Finally you get to boil the gnocchi!!!! Bring your pot of salted water to a boil and drop the gnocchi a little at a time into the boiling water; gnocchi is done when it floats to the top, it should only float for no more than 30 seconds or so before you fish it out with a slotted spoon

- Immediately toss the gnocchi in sauce and serve … enjoy! I like this best with pesto, for a super easy homemade pesto w/ tomato, blend a jar of sundried tomatoes (with the oil they’re in) with a big handful of fresh basil, 2 garlic cloves and some black pepper until smooth.