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My friend Jane is Korean and she loves food too. I have had some of the best Korean BBQ and Kimchi at her parents’ house. But when it comes to French food, Jane knows quite a lot too. Growing up in Montreal, and she was once the Queen Bee at the front of a very prestigious restaurant in the city. And today she was helping me cook not just one but TWO dishes from The French Laundry Cookbook.

For the dish Smoked Salmon with Potato Gnocchi and Balsamic Glaze, the salmon did not need a lot of work and the balsamic glaze was already made. It was all about the gnocchi! I don’t think I did a very good job – the little dumplings were a little lumpy and didn’t have the fluffy texture that I was looking for, probably because I didn’t have a potato ricer to work with. But the whole process was a lot of fun. It was a good exercise to help me work on my patience in the kitchen.

This is totally a quick but sophisticated and elegant dish if gnocchi and balsamic glaze were prepared before hand. Pan frying gnocchi with butter and all the other ingredients takes very little time. For the salmon, it was just need to poached and hydrated in warm milk. This is a very smart technique, and I would definitely use it more often for a quick protein component on a main or an appetizer dish!

Recipe for Serving 2

Salmon

2 cups milk
1/2 lb center-cute smoked salmon fillet

Gnocchi

1/2 tbsp canola oil
12 potato gnocchi
1/4 cup chicken stock
few drops white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp salted butter, at room temperature
1/3 tbsp Brunoise
1/3 tbsp tomato diamonds
1/3 tbsp chopped chives
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Greens

1/3 cup spring mix baby lettuce
1/4 tsp very finely minced shallots
lemon oil
kosher salt and ground black pepper

chive oil
balsamic glaze