Gnocchi

Are nutrition and speed in the kitchen compatible? We think so, and most of our columns are about just that. But when you add children to the preparation equation, the food should not only be quick and nutritious, but fun. We tried to think of the meals that we liked making when we were children. One was gnocchi, a light potato dumpling. Gnocchi (pronounced "nya-kee" in Italian) calls for cooked potatoes, and these can be done quickly in the microwave. The potatoes are then peeled and pressed through a ricer or food mill, a step the children love to do. After the dough is mixed, the individual rolling of the dumplings is something children also are really good at. We suggest that the adults do the boiling of the dumplings in batches, while the children continue the mass production.

By Rachael Ray Clarkson Potter. 360 pp. $24.95 Reviewed by Robin Currie, for the Inquirer First, a confession: I have never been a big Rachael Ray fan. I have always found her, well, annoying. But I was willing to look at her new Big Orange Book with an open mind. Rachael refers to this book as "BOB," for Big Orange Book , so I will, too. Well, BOB and I did not get off to a great start. I could not identify the first photograph in the book. What was it? Why did it look like there was raw chicken in it?

October comfort That snap of fall sent Christian Gatti, chef/co-owner of the BYOB Avril in Bala Cynwyd, to his roasting pans. One of the hearty results is braised brisket with gnocchi stroganoff, a twist on a classic comfort dish. He braises the brisket for three hours with carrots, celery, and spices, caramelized pearl onions, Brussels sprouts, and several kinds of mushrooms. To make the sauce, he adds Dijon mustard, sour cream, rosemary, the braising demiglace, and a splash of cream.

Afirst impression at Gnocchi, the newish Italian restaurant on Passyunk Avenue, off South Street, is that it's very much like its namesake: very, very simple, with a silken touch of sensory elegance. This, I later learned, is precisely what its Italian-born chef and owner had in mind. "I just wanted to have a nice, cozy restaurant. To give good food to people; good quality and not charge them a lot. I want everybody to be happy," Sandro Frusone told me by phone after a recent visit.

Walt Ziejewski likes happy people. When people are happy, he says, then he is happy. Managing the service area of a major car dealership didn't bring him into close contact with many smiles. "Most of the people coming to me were having car problems. When I saw them, something was wrong. They weren't very happy. " Wrong kind of business for a social guy who became completely stressed by seeing people in bad moods. So Ziejewski, 30, thought he'd give another type of stress a try - the restaurant business.

Lamberta Cavallito Massaglia, 80, of Mount Airy, who with her son Giovanni operated La Grolla Restaurant in Queen Village for 22 years, died of cancer Sept. 5 at home. Pasta was Mrs. Massaglia's speciality. She made gnocchi and tortellini with such skill and delicacy that another son, Joseph, would secretly steal her pasta dishes to feed celebrity clients at the Atlantic City casino where he worked. "Before she died, she told me she was going to be making gnocchi for St. Peter and some people in heaven were going to get fat," Giovanni Massaglia said.

When Brandywine closed its doors last Aug. 17, it would have been hard to find many people (including and especially track employees) who thought the track would reopen for its 35th year. Brandywine's property was to be rezoned to make way for a shopping center and harness racing was to be a memory. Subsequently, the zoning change was turned down. And, now it's time for a whole new set of memories to be developed at the Delaware Valley's first and now only harness track. Tomorrow night (post time 7:30 p.m.)

How would you like to take the family to a place where, for $7.50, each of you could have a juicy filet-mignon dinner? And, if you were in an extravagant mood, all you would have to do is toss in an additional 50 cents and the dinner would arrive with salad and spaghetti. Does the suggestion sound like the words of someone who has eaten one dinner too many? Or the shameless utterings of a practical joker? Well, if you have ever been to Strolli's Restaurant, on Dickinson Street between 15th and 16th, you know it is not a joke.

It has been seven long years for Maria Forte. Since she sold Alla Letizia on Passyunk Avenue in 1993, the sprightly 60-year-old chef had been pining to find another restaurant to call her own. "I looked every day, but I was never happy," says Forte, who comes from a long line of restaurateurs in the Molise region of Italy. "I told my husband, 'Tony, before I die, I want to be myself again.' " She cooked for other people's restaurants, of course, but it was never the same. "They destroyed my gnocchi!"

Craig: I had a number of great bites this week — including the season's first al fresco tacos al pastor from Los Taquitos de Puebla, which can only mean one thing: the return of the Head House Farmer's Market … what a joy! Here ares some other great flavors that make up this week's Crumb Tracker Quiz. (1) spinach gnocchi with ricotta salata; (2) peanut butter ice cream double-chocolate chip cookie sandwich (3) artisanal ham plate (with Finchville Farms sugar-cured country ham from Kentucky, with drop biscuits, honey butter and green tomato marmalade (people, this is a "wow" ham if there ever was one)

October comfort That snap of fall sent Christian Gatti, chef/co-owner of the BYOB Avril in Bala Cynwyd, to his roasting pans. One of the hearty results is braised brisket with gnocchi stroganoff, a twist on a classic comfort dish. He braises the brisket for three hours with carrots, celery, and spices, caramelized pearl onions, Brussels sprouts, and several kinds of mushrooms. To make the sauce, he adds Dijon mustard, sour cream, rosemary, the braising demiglace, and a splash of cream.

When I was young, one of my favorite meals was a dish my mother called "creation. " It consisted of ground beef, noodles, and whatever she had in the pantry. I didn't realize it then, but it was also a way Mom fed a family of six on a budget. She could make her "creation" for about $1.50. I look back now and marvel at her ingenuity. My idea of a cheap dinner is a box of macaroni and cheese. And there was my mother, Pat DeHaven, concocting her own inexpensive meal and turning it into a family favorite.

By Rachael Ray Clarkson Potter. 360 pp. $24.95 Reviewed by Robin Currie, for the Inquirer First, a confession: I have never been a big Rachael Ray fan. I have always found her, well, annoying. But I was willing to look at her new Big Orange Book with an open mind. Rachael refers to this book as "BOB," for Big Orange Book , so I will, too. Well, BOB and I did not get off to a great start. I could not identify the first photograph in the book. What was it? Why did it look like there was raw chicken in it?

Craig LaBan: Good afternoon, my hungry friends, and welcome back to the Philly food chat that puts the sizzle in your summer dining. Sorry about my unexpected absence from the chat last week - I was covering the Fancy Food Show in New York. It's a fun, but overwhelming event, what with five miles of olive oils, cheese, truffled butters, jams, miracle waters and salted caramels lining the Jacob Javitz Center. Still, I found some great things to nibble on, like a chile-spiced pineapple marmalade from Mauritius (made by Poivre d'Or)

Lamberta Cavallito Massaglia, 80, of Mount Airy, who with her son Giovanni operated La Grolla Restaurant in Queen Village for 22 years, died of cancer Sept. 5 at home. Pasta was Mrs. Massaglia's speciality. She made gnocchi and tortellini with such skill and delicacy that another son, Joseph, would secretly steal her pasta dishes to feed celebrity clients at the Atlantic City casino where he worked. "Before she died, she told me she was going to be making gnocchi for St. Peter and some people in heaven were going to get fat," Giovanni Massaglia said.

When I think back upon a year of meals and try to single out the best, thousands of well-dressed plates spin into a dreamy blur. Oh yes, I can smell a whiff of musky North African spice, the minty fragrance of Thai basil, or the earthy tug of porcinis and truffles caressing the depths of my hunger. I can still feel a giant slice of steak convincing me with tenderness, or the sweet vapors of moonshine tickling my nose. But what really surfaces from my memory as clear as consomme, more than any one dish or brush with luxury, are specific moments, like postcards of an eventful and beautiful journey.

Walt Ziejewski likes happy people. When people are happy, he says, then he is happy. Managing the service area of a major car dealership didn't bring him into close contact with many smiles. "Most of the people coming to me were having car problems. When I saw them, something was wrong. They weren't very happy. " Wrong kind of business for a social guy who became completely stressed by seeing people in bad moods. So Ziejewski, 30, thought he'd give another type of stress a try - the restaurant business.

It has been seven long years for Maria Forte. Since she sold Alla Letizia on Passyunk Avenue in 1993, the sprightly 60-year-old chef had been pining to find another restaurant to call her own. "I looked every day, but I was never happy," says Forte, who comes from a long line of restaurateurs in the Molise region of Italy. "I told my husband, 'Tony, before I die, I want to be myself again.' " She cooked for other people's restaurants, of course, but it was never the same. "They destroyed my gnocchi!"