re: Commander's Crawfish and Gnocchi Dish

I found this:

Creole Cream Cheese Gnocchi with Crawfish

"Creole cream cheese combined with gnocchi, crawfish, and chanterelle mushrooms is about as decadent as it gets. We make our own Creole cream cheese, which is quite different from regular cream cheese - it is tart, and has a smoother, more liquefied texture. If you order some from our resource list, you will not regret it. Another favorite way of eating Creole cream cheese is with sugar and berries. If you cannot get Creole cream cheese, substitute sour cream or crème fraîche.

When making gnocchi, you need to work fast because if the potato in the dough gets cold, it gets too starchy and sticky to work with and will not bind with the other ingredients. It becomes potato glue."

Crawfish Gnocchi - Commander's Palace, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Gnocchi
Serves 4 as a first course

Ingredients:
1

1-Pound

Russet Potato
1 ¼

Cups

All-Purpose Flour, plus additional for work surface and dough
¼

Cup

Unsalted Butter, melted
2

Tablespoons

Creole Cream Cheese
½

Teaspoon

Kosher Salt
½

Teaspoon

Ground White Pepper
2

Large

Egg Yolks
1

Tablespoon

Vegetable Oil

Method for the Gnocchi: In a medium saucepan, cover the whole potato with salted cold water. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat and cook until tender. Drain. Hold the hot potato in your hand with a kitchen towel and peel away only the skin with a knife. Run the potato in a ricer or a food mill.

Combine potatoes with 1 ¼ cups flour, butter, Creole cream cheese, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and stir with a rubber spatula for about 15 seconds until smooth and the flour is completely incorporated. Add the egg yolks and stir for 15 seconds more, being careful not to overwork the dough.

Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and cut it into eight portions. Working with one portion at a time, and rolling your hands back and forth, outward from the center to the ends, roll the dough into a long thin strand, about ½ -inch in diameter. Cut each dough strand into ½-inch pieces and sprinkle the tops lightly with flour. (Add as little flour as possible to prevent sticking.) Lift gnocchi from the work surface using the edge of a large knife or bench scraper and transfer on a baking sheet.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add all of the gnocchi to the water, stirring, and cook, undisturbed, for 3 to 3 ½ minutes, until the gnocchi start to float. Remove with a slotted spoon or strainer and place in an ice bath to stop cooking. Drain the gnocchi, transfer to a large bowl, and toss with oil. Gnocchi can be made up to 1 day ahead, covered, and chilled or frozen. Toss the gnocchi with extra vegetable oil to prevent sticking if you are making it ahead.

Crawfish Sauce

Ingredients:
1

Tablespoon

Unsalted Butter
2

Tablespoons

Shallots, minced
8

Ounces

Louisiana Crawfish Tails, cooked
2

Ounces

Tasso, minced (Cajun specialty, thinly sliced smoked, spicy pork)
2

Ounces

Chanterelle mushrooms, torn into pieces
¼

Teaspoon

Creole Seasoning
¾

Cup

Heavy Cream
2

Tablespoons

Creole Cream Cheese
1

Teaspoon

Truffle Oil
½

Teaspoon

Fresh Tarragon, chopped

Method for the Crawfish Sauce: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat about 1 minute. Add the butter and shallots and cook about 30 seconds until shallots are wilted. Add the crawfish, tasso, mushrooms, and Creole seasoning and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Add the gnocchi and cook for 2 minutes, until gnocchi are hot and sauce is thickened slightly. Stir in the Creole cream cheese, truffle oil, and tarragon and cook for 30 seconds. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

"The Potato Behind the Chef - Potatoes made Tory become a chef. When he was a child, his mom and grandmother would occupy him while they were making dinner by giving him a warm baked potato to play with. He sat at the kitchen table completely fascinated with kneading the potato in his hands and transforming it from a fluffy, crumbly potato into play dough. Everyone tells their children not to play with their food, but Tory's mom let him, and it sparked his food curiosity."