Inspired by Pasta Grannies and the Daily Stoic, we explore the value of the input versus simply measuring the outcome. Come with us on a tasty culinary adventure in this Feed Your Fire podcast episode as we find purpose in the process.
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Episode Transcript:
Hello and welcome to Feed Your Fire. I'm Kim Baker, founder of Kim Baker Foods. Today's episode is going to be focused on enjoying the process, the process of doing, of creating, making, with less focus on the result. Now that's not to say that what we prepare today isn't going to be delicious, it is, but our objective today is bigger than the outcome. So grab something to sip on and come with me as we head into the kitchen and make homemade gnocchi.
I'm actively manifesting in today's episode. On Instagram, there's this channel for pasta grannies. Yeah, that's my life's goal. In 40 years, my aspiration is to be one of those grannies. Olive trees growing in the yard, maybe some grapes for wine, and I'm going to be in the kitchen with a rolling pin and a wooden board making some luscious pasta by hand.
Technically, gnocchi is not a pasta, but it's pretty close, so we're rolling with it. Part of the reason I wanted to make gnocchi today is because it's a process. It's not hard, but it takes a little bit of time. It feels like enjoying the process has become a lost art. We all want quick wins, but listen, these pasta grannies didn't get where they are with a box of Ronzoni. And the reason I want to be a pasta granny is because it looks fun. It may be time intensive, but it's not stressful. And if time is a love language, then it's making me feel all the feels.
Now believe me, I'm not one of those content creators on social media, creating paints with my own pigments and milking cows. You won't find a working single mother on that side of the table. But there's something to be said for putting in the effort, being conscious about the way in which we go about things, seeking not only outcomes, but doing things in a way that feels right. It's so tempting to want quick wins, things that make us feel good, make life easier. I get it, but doing that all the time cheats us. It cheats us of the satisfaction that comes from the effort, and we can overlook the downsides or impact of our quick motions.
In the age of AI and fast speed supercomputing, this seems kind of old fashioned, but virtue and results are not at odds with each other. They're complimentary.
The Machiavellianism happening in the world today demonstrates a real disconnect between aspiration and humanity. It's like we've fallen into a trap believing that the fastest and loudest way is the only way.
It was actually through a job where I first learned to see the value of a process. Though it was a high performing culture, results were not the metric by which you were measured. They wanted you to show your math. It's like doing long division when you presented a solution, they wanted to know how you got there, who you talked to, did you get buy in from everyone, where there things you overlooked, and what went into your recommendation and your approach? It was kind of jarring at first, and sometimes it was frustrating because you just wanted to get things done. But it created comfort. It created alignment. It created common understanding and showed respect.
And right here, over this shared plate, we can create an environment where the process matters. And in fact, without our focus on it, this meal would not be nearly as good as it is.
As I was making these, my son came through the kitchen and tasted one, and I think he believes that I found my life's purpose. He put them in a paper cup to share with his friends as he left the house, as if they were Auntie Anne's pretzel bites. And so I promise you that our focus on the process indeed affects the outcome in all the right ways.
So the first thing that we're going to do is make our potatoes. So grab some yukon golds, cut them in half and put them in a pot filled with cool water, add a generous dose of salt and bring it up to a boil. Interestingly, we're going to peel these potatoes after they're cooked. So once they're fork tender, drain out the water and let them cool. And with your fingers, or you can use a spoon or a fork, just scrape off that skin. Then we're going to mash them up. I just use a fork. You can use a potato ricer and add those mashed up potatoes to a bowl. Add in two egg yolks. In a separate container, combine a cup and a quarter of flour with a pinch of salt and preferably some freshly ground nutmeg. Incorporate that flour mixture slowly into the mashed potatoes and form it into a smooth ball. I let the dough rest for a minute, while I clean up the kitchen.
Then, using a bench scraper, I cut the dough into eight equal pieces. Roll them out into sort of a snake like shape with your hands. It won't be like rolling cookie or a yeast dough with your hands. You kind of have to pull it along and shape it with your fingers, then cut each one of those snake like shapes into small half inch pieces. You need a lot of bench flour for this process. I find the dough kind of gets sticky as you cut into it. Then I just kind of touch up the edges on each of those small pieces. Take a fork and gently press it into the top to create grooves. Those are important for sort of catching the sauce that you cook these in.
Now grab a pot of salted water and bring it up to a boil. We're going to work in batches, putting a couple handfuls of the gnocchi into the boiling water, but not overcrowding the pot. Now, when they first go into the pan, they'll sink to the bottom, and as they cook, you'll see them rise to the top, and that's when you know that they're done. They only take about a minute or so to cook. Now I'm going to make a really quick pan sauce.
In a saute pan, I'm going to heat up some olive oil and add in some chopped shallots, let them cook about 30 seconds, and then add in halved grape or cherry tomatoes. Add a splash of white wine, let that reduce, and then a little bit of chicken broth. Season it with salt and pepper, and add in a little pat of butter.
Now, with a slotted spoon, remove your cooked gnocchi from the boiling water and place it right into that pan sauce. Stir it up and add a little bit of salt and pepper to taste and a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese. This dish is literally divine. It's more than worth every minute that went into it. The gnocchi themselves are like these light, fluffy clouds in your mouth. It's the equivalent of sleeping on the most dreamy pillow. If you prefer to be a purist, just take those cooked gnocchi and combine them with some melted butter and parmesan cheese.
You may notice that your gnocchi don't look perfect. Mine certainly don't. They by no means look bad, but they're not as consistent or well-manicured as the ones you might find in the store. The shapes may be a little haphazard, and you can tell they were made by a person and not a machine. Take comfort that what the pasta grannies make never looks perfect either, and that's a huge part of its appeal. And even if the pasta grannies aren't your thing, there are other ways that you can find inspiration from this recipe.
Maybe you're one of those people that go around thinking about the Roman Empire every day. I can't say that we relate to that exactly, but I do love the daily stoic. These gnocchi have a lot of character, and making them has helped shape ours. Marcus Aurelius said that perfection of character is this to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense. And that, my friends, perfectly sums up the value of this culinary adventure. Until our next episode. I say, so long.
Feed Your Fire, where food nourishes growth.