[Sca-cooks] Restaurant August's Gnocchi with Crab and Truffle

[Jeanne]

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
5 egg yolks
3.4 oz. butter
7 oz. all-purpose flour
1 dash of freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 qt. crab stock
2 cups dry vermouth
2 cups heavy cream
2 sprigs marigold mint
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 shallots, minced
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
1/2 lb. unsalted butter
1 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through for shells
1 medium black truffle
1/4 lb. reggiano parmigiano cheese, shaved paper thin


Directions:
For the gnocchi, place the potatoes in water to cover in a small pot. Cook
over high heat until tender when pricked with a fork. Strain water from
potatoes, add them back to the pot, and place in a 250-degree oven for an
additional 15 minutes.

Remove potatoes from pot and press through a potato ricer into a fine mesh
drum sieve. Using a rubber spatula, pass all of the riced potatoes through
the sieve into a clean stainless steel mixing bowl. Add the butter and egg
to the warm potato puree and mix well. Fold the flour, a dash of salt, and
nutmeg into the mixture until a manageable dough has formed. Roll dough out
into six logs, about one inch in diameter. Cut into 1-inch pieces. With a
gnocchi board (a grooved wooden board found in specialty stores), roll the
dough out using your thumb so that the dough curls around the thumb and
grooved edges form on the outside of the dumpling. Drop immediately into
boiling water, and allow gnocchi to poach for 30 seconds before removing
from water.

Sauce:
In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the vermouth, cream, crab stock, shallots,
cayenne pepper, and marigold mint to a boil. Reduce the liquid by two thirds
and stir in butter. Add gnocchi and crabmeat to the sauce, season with salt
and white pepper to taste, and reserve in a warm place.

To serve:
Spoon gnocchi into a bowl. Shave paper-thin slices of truffle over the top
and finish with shaved reggiano parmigiano cheese.