Runner-up honors in the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council’s recipe contest went to Chef Gide Merriman of Chicago’s The French Lunchbox for this house-made blueberry pancake gnocchi.

Ingredients

Blueberry Pancake Gnocchi

  • 1 quart all purpose flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 pound unsalted butter
  • 3/4 quart of water 
  • 1/2 cup shredded swiss
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt and kosher salt to season blanching water

Equipment

  • 2 each 8 quart stock pots 
  • 1 each 21 inch piping bag
  • 1 each silicone spatula
  • Butcher’s twine
  • Pallet knife
  • Kitchen spider strainer
  • Metal sheet tray lined with parchment paper

Sweet Potato Tater Tots

  • 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (make 1 day prior to making the tater tots so they can be refrigerated over night.)
  • Peel, dice and boil 3 sweet potatoes. Add salt, heavy cream and butter to taste and mash.
  • 2 each eggs
  • 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
  • 2 quarts canola oil
  • Kosher salt to taste

Equipment

  • 8 quart stock pot
  • Kitchen spider strainer
  • Pallet knife sheet tray lined with food safe.      towels 
  • Rolling pin

Bacon Lardons

  • 3 lb. neuskies applewood slab bacon

Equipment

  • Sheet tray with metal rack
  • Chefs knife
  • Convection oven

Maple Syrup Gastrique

  • 1 pint maple syrup 
  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 cup honey

Equipment

  • 8 quart stock pot
  • 1 each small tipped squeeze bottle

Fried Eggs

  • 10 each farm eggs
  • Butter as needed
  • Salt and black pepper as needed as needed

Equipment

  • 2 each 2 inch non stick egg sautee pans 
  • Offset spatula
  • Sheet tray lined with parchment paper

Garnishes

  • One quart shredded Swiss cheese
  • 1 quart captain crunch cereal 
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a perforated top shaker
  • 1 pint sliced scallions

Equipment for Assembly

  • 3 each 10 inch non stick sautee pans
  • Unsalted butter as needed
  • 10 each 18 inch rectangular plates

Directions

Blueberry Pancake Gnocchi

  • Fill a stock pot 2 inches from the top with water. Season it like the sea with salt and bring it to just under a simmer. 
  • In another stock pot combine portioned water, buter and portioned salt. Bring to a boil and once the butter is fully melted take the pot off the heat and add the flour, Swiss cheese and blueberries. Mix with the spatula until fully incorporated. Keep mixing and crack the eggs incorporating one by one into the dough.
  • Scoop the dough into the piping bag and tie off the end with butcher’s twine. Cut and opening half an inch wide at the tip of the piping bag. Pipe the dough into the seasoned water using the pallet knife to cut 3/4 inch pieces.
  • When the gnocchi rises to the top of the water after a couple minutes, use the spider to remove the gnocchi form the water and place on the sheet tray. Refrigerate until fully cooled.

Sweet Potato Tater Tots

  • Combine the day old mashed sweet potato with the eggs and flour.
  • Roll the dough into 1/2 inch tubes. Cut the tubes into 3/4 inch cylinders.
  • Heat the canola oil to 350 degrees in the stock pot. Fry the tater tots in small batches until crisp using the spider to remove the tater tots from the oil and spread on the sheet tray in a single layer.

Bacon Lardons

  • Slice the slab bacon into 1/4 inch strips with a chef’s knife. Slice the strips into 1/4 lardons.
  • Place in a single layer on the sheet tray lined with a metal rack. Cook in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

Maple Syrup Gastrique

  • Reduce the vinegar and honey by half in the stock pot. And maple syrup.
  • Bring to a boil then reserve in the squeeze bottle and keep warm.

Fried Eggs

  • Cook the eggs in the egg pan with a little butter and season with salt and pepper. Make sure the yolk in centered. Reserve on the sheet tray and keep warm.

Garnishes

  • Pick up each dish (serving) in one sautee pan. Repeat 10 times. Having 3 sautee pans will make plating faster.
  • Make a cross hatch design on all ten plates with the gastrique.
  • Saute 1 and 1/2 cups of gnocchi with 1/2 cup tater tots, 3 oz bacon lardon, a table spoon sliced scallions with a tablespoon of butter in a sautee pan on high heat agitating occasionally. Add a pinch of kocher salt.
  • When golden brown take off the heat and add a large pinch off shredded Swiss, 2 tablespoons captain crunch cerial and 1 oz gastrique. Toss in the pan to blend.
  • Plate over the crosshatched gastrique. Add the fried egg on top. Garnish with sliced scallions and powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

For more, visit the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council’s website for more blueberry recipes and inspiration.

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