Top Chef with Teanna - Season 1, Episode 6 - Date and Apricot Stuffed Gnocchi and Duck Confit

Oh, where do I begin with this post.  

This dish gave me nightmares.  Many of the Top Chef winning dishes have recipes online.  This, however, does not.  Not only does it not have a recipe, but I was hard-pressed to find a good stuffed gnocchi recipe.  I also could not find dried figs.  It also takes 2 days to make duck confit. 

I was so stressed with this dish, that I even went out of order last week, making Episode 9's dish of Truffle and Cognac Mac and Cheese and Filet Mignon with Truffled Mirepoix. 

But I couldn't escape this dish for long.  Oh no.  I needed to face the music.

This week's challenge had the chef-testants cooking dinner for Ted Allen, then of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fame, at a dinner party.  The chefs had to prepare a 7 course meal.  Each chef drew knives and had to come up with their dish to fit the corresponding course.  Stephen "took one for the team" at the request of Tiffani and took the dessert course.  He then used AOL to find a dessert recipe.

Let's talk about some historical references for this episode, which aired in April of 2006.

1.  Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was popular.

2.  People still used AOL.

In true Top Chef fashion, Tom Colicchio came into the kitchen with his pretty blue eyes and turned the tables on the chefs by telling them that they were not going to cook the dish they came up with, but would be assigned another chef's dish.  Of course, the chefs were dumbfounded.  

Regardless, the meal ended up going very well, with the chef-testants pitching in to help each other with the dishes and put out a very nice meal. Leanne won with Tiffani's Fig Stuffed Gnocchi with Duck Confit.

Also in the episode, Miguel felt that Tiffani was conspiring against him, as Tiffani told the judges he should be the one sent home.  "You're a snake."  He hissed.  Then he hissed.  Literally.

Now let's talk about duck confit, shall we?  We all know that duck is fattening in and of itself.  But how about we submerge duck in 4 CUPS OF DUCK FAT and let it sit for two days?  Who wants to talk about fat now?  

Since I could not find figs, I made a stuffing for the gnocchi out of dates, apricots, sage, parsley and shallots.  I also could not find duck fat, so I rendered as much fat as I could from a 5 pound duck and used Michael Ruhlman's duck confit recipe, which uses olive oil instead of duck fat. Finally, I lightly tossed the gnocchi 2 tablespoons of brown butter before serving. 

Obviously, you do not eat anywhere near the amount of oil or duck fat that the duck is soaking in, but in the name of keeping healthy, I did not eat the dish and instead had a pear while I watched Jack and his master metabolism enjoy the succulent duck with its crispy skin, fluffy light gnocchi filled with a sweet and savory stuffing of dates, apricots, and sage. 

But I did not walk away empty handed.  With this challenge, I learned how to deconstruct my first duck, make duck confit, and make a damn good stuffed gnocchi recipe all on my own.  This was an absolutely solid dish that served as a perfect birthday dinner for Jack.  

Next week, my favorite episode and yours, Restaurant Wars.

Duck Confit Recipe by Michael Ruhlman

Gnocchi Recipe from Michael Chiarello

Date and Apricot Stuffing

For the stuffing: 
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup pitted and coarsely chopped dried dates
1/4 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots
2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tsp. chopped fresh sage
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Set aside to cool. Put the dates and apricots in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the , parsley, sage, and onions and pulse a few more times until everything is minced and well combined. 

To Fill the Gnocchi:

After you have rolled and cut the gnocchi, place a scant 1/4 tsp filling into gnocchi, roll into a ball to cover filling, and then roll on a well floured board to shape gnocchi. Repeat with remaining filling.  Freeze gnocchi or cook immediately in a pot of boiling, salted water. 

Forgive the flash, my kitchen is a window-less dungeon.

Comments

[Cheri]

Yowza! What a feat! Great job Teanna. I can feel my arteries clogging just smacking my lips at the picture. Beautifully done.

[Tracy]

Those gnocchi look amazing! I loooove homemade pasta. :-)

[Tracey]

Wow, seriously, Teanna - you are so adventurous in the kitchen! That dish looks amazing!!

[Raffaela]

That looks amazing! I LOVE gnocchi and make it pretty often but i never tried stuffing it! I will have to try this. Any other ideas of what to stuff it with???

[Caitlin]

Wow. Just wow. Now that's dedication (and a heart attack waiting to happen!).

[Erin]

It sounds and looks divine, but I can't believe you didn't eat it! Although after immersing yourself in duck fat you probably didn't want to eat it.

[isabelle]

Those gnocchi look delicious!
I just can't believe you didn't eat it!
Nice job!

[Wendy]

You couldn't find dried figs? Look in trader joe's for bagged version or whole foods bulk section. The gnocchi look and sound amazing!

[Tangled Noodle]

Great job putting together a recipe for the stuffed gnocchi! (BTW, I was just watching Chef Chiarello on a Top Chef Masters rerun.) This dish is definitely a winner!

[Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction]

What an amazing dish! Your version looks absolutely delicious!

[ingrid]

You know YOU are the man! I'm totally in awe of your skills in successfully, yes, successfully recreating all these dishes. Kudos to you Teanna!
~ingrid

[Ashley]

Mmm I love gnocchi - just made some lemon ricotta gnocchi for dinner on Friday night. I've never had stuffed gnocchi though - must try that!

[buy kamagra]

It's really not fair to list this one because the site I'm referring to is still in development. It should launch in the next few weeks. I list it because it's going to be very "top 5" worthy when it launches.

[Cheap MLB Jerseys]

That looks amazing! I LOVE gnocchi and make it pretty often but i never tried stuffing it!

[new balance]

Success grows in hard, often because of psychological shadow, deviation cause abnormal condition. This deviation is in the society, people always have a hatred of hostility, don't trust anyone, no more any sympathy. Miserly, or psychopaths driven of the secondary phenomenon.

[first in math]

Top Chef with Teanna - Season 1, Episode 6 - Date and Apricot Stuffed Gnocchi and Duck Confit<-- Wonderful to read!

[free apple ipad]

Top Chef with Teanna - Season 1, Episode 6 - Date and Apricot Stuffed Gnocchi and Duck Confit<-- interesting!

[Investment in Brisbane]

Top Chef with Teanna - Season 1, Episode 6 - Date and Apricot Stuffed Gnocchi and Duck Confit<-- Yup that's what i've been searching for!

[Supra Society]

Where would we be today if we had looked at our past experience

[Supra Skytop II]

*Great show keep it up*_*