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ambra

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Everything posted by ambra

  1. I guess that it's because for example, the (my) three recipes I mentioned specifically call for Pecorino and if I do try to substitute another like Parmigiano, it just doesn't taste right to me. It could just be because I am just used to that taste. (The recipes are from the area of Puglia where my ancestors are from, what I grew up eating and where they do use Pecorino a lot.) When I am cooking with Pecorino, I add the cheese before the salt and only add the salt it then needs, if at all. Nothing ever comes out salty. As for salty snacks, I just don't like salty with salty, I guess. I love what they do in Tuscany. Saltless bread with cold cuts etc. It's perfect to me.
  2. Everything looks delicious...wish I was there to eat it! And yes I have experienced it....in fact in a wierd way...I live in Italy and if I dare cook something other than Italian, my Italian family won't eat it thinking it will be too fattening, too heavy, too spicy, too many spices....apparently, that's what they think of every other culture's food!! They will however eat my desserts. Go figure. I guess chocolate goes a long way....
  3. I grew up eating it as it was the only cheese my parents would buy- for grating purposes. No parmigiano in our household which I only discovered when I moved out!! However, I can't jump on the romano bandwagon, I find it too salty and just not very good. ...I only use it for cooking. It's wonderful for stuffings and other bread mixtures e.g. stuffed squid, meatballs...I even use it in a recipe for leg of lamb. I eat plenty of other pecorinos from Tuscany-aged and not aged, not so much from Sardegna.
  4. there's always Judy at Divinacucina....
  5. There's a chain in Los Angeles called "(something with an R) Tuscan Grill"...Not a single Tuscan thing on the menu. Not a one. I think they make chicken with Rosemary and decided it must be Tuscan. I've always known Tuna fish to be tuna from a can and Tuna to be the fresh fish. I have no idea why I think that.
  6. ambra

    Crudo v Carpaccio

    Hmmm, I've never hear the skin version either. Just the Cipriani version- even on Foodreference.com. Also, AFAIK, pelle is the word for skin. Or buccia if we're not talking out about people or animals. I love Lobster Carpaccio. It's been a long time since I've seen it on a menu!! A restaurant I used to work at took it off the menu because it was just too expensive to make and charge a decent price. Best "salad" I ever had though. (Salad because it came topped with arugula, corn, hearts of palm and a lemon vinaigrette.)
  7. You know it could have been a sorry attempt to cover the arse of the person in charge of ordering. Instead of fessing up, they tried to cover it up! Especially when charging premium water prices for club soda!! The whole well liquor in premium bottles is all to common. That's why it isn't legal in many places too marry bottles. Even of the same brand. Doesn't stop people from doing so though! Edit: dang typos!
  8. With a student visa, you can work 20 hours in Italy as well. I wouldn't try to come to/work in Italy illegally. Right now, Italy is trying to toughen up their immigration policy so much so that even tourism is affected.
  9. In the past, I blamed it on pregnancy. lol. However this week, I oven steamed supposed oven roasted vegetables, I made a bland turkey and when I tried to make gravy to combat the blandness, I forgot to burn off the little bit of wine I added because even the gravy had no flavor, and it tasted like gravy that had a wine spilled in it by mistake. Then I made Chocolate Chip muffins to take to my neighbour and while they are cooked through, they taste like raw flour... YUCH....I used the wrong flour. Problem is, I'm not pregnant anymore. So NOW what's my excuse!!? Here's hoping it's temporary. Zoe, my mom always says that too.
  10. If you want to go to Italy, there is an Expats in Italy (called just that) website that specializes in informing people on how to do exactly what you are looking to do.
  11. Homemade Plum Jam Homemade Limoncello. But I think the best gift was Homejarred Tomatoes from a family in Brooklyn. Oh and homemade salami from that same family. To die for....Miss it.
  12. There can never be too much garlic, sir. ::bites into a head of garlic, Iron Chef Chairman-style:: ← I used to think that too, until I went to see Tony and Tina's wedding 15 years ago! Now I don't even chop garlic into sauces. I leave them whole and take them out. Well, quick sauces depend on how you stock your fridge/pantry, no? I always have canned beans (white, borlotti and Ceci), canned tuna, olives, capers, garlic, onions, anchovies, canned tomatoes, bacon, eggs and olive oil among others on hand. Do you know how many (cheap) recipes come out of that? Just to start: Pasta with Garlic and Oil Pasta with Garlic, Oil and Anchovies Pasta with Tuna Garlic, Capers and Olives Pasta with Tuna and Garlic Pasta with Bacon and Eggs otherwise known as Carbonara (if you keep parmigiano on hand.) Pasta with Fagioli (ok better with real fagiolis but canned is fine in a hurry or a budget.) and with or without tomatoes. With our without Pancetta Pasta All'Aglione. Ok recipe is really Pici all'Aglione, but I guess any pasta could work. Although the Pici do give it that creamy texture.... I know what you are going to say, this thread was about tomato sauce. So I will give you the recipe for All'Aglione which is: Brown garlic in olive oil, add tomatoes (pelati- best you can get as SLKinsey said) and salt and cook til done and tomatoes break down on their own. It's usually done in the time it takes the pasta to boil. Recipe is usually one piece of garlic per person but since your one person and you've opened a whole can of pelati you should probably use a minimum of 4 up to 6 depending on size and taste.. I know, not really for Garlic lovers and really intended for Pici, but still yummy. Can also be done with Passata. Sugar if needed. Red Pepper if desired. Edited cuz I forgot something.
  13. Well, since you all rave so much about it, and I happen to trust ya'all, I am going to try that butter tomato concoction even though it does actually sound like culinary blasphemy! In any event, why can't you just make your basic tomato sauce and freeze portions of it. Doctor it up anyway you please when you take it out?
  14. I HATE the use of WE in place of YOU. But probably because I used to have a boss who would make requests that way. So obnoxious. I landed up quiting because of her. I also had a restaurant owner (a complete maniac for many reasons) prohibit waiters from asking tables if everything was ok. He claimed it was opening things up for negative feedback forcing us to take food back to the kitchen, change orders etc. He wanted us to say, can I get you anything else? I think that's a little over the top. I landed up quitting that job after a week too for other reasons. lol. I made it sound like I am a big quitter, I am really not.lol
  15. If she just wanted to clarify, all she had to do is repeat back, "Coke," or even "Regular coke" (at the most!) when she repeated back your order (if she does that.) I think it's pretty obnoxious in any event. As you state, it's not much different then asking someone if they want chicken after they ordered the steak. But you can always sit in somone elses section. Shoudn't blame the restaurant if you really like it because how can they fix the problem if they don't even know about it?
  16. It's interesting because I've noticed where I live in Italy, families make just enough so as not to have leftovers. Pasta is weighed out etc. I love leftovers and sometimes I have to argue with my husband about making extra of anything! He always wants to know the exact time and meal we will eat them! Iwas never so aware of the weight of my food before I married him! In any case, I make leftovers anyway, and we always eat them. If on the off chance we have left over pasta or rice, it gets turned into an frittata style concoction. It sounds gross, but quite yummy! Other vegetables and lunch meats often get eaten but if not, since I like to make stuffed meats, chickens etc they often get thrown in there! Stuffing is always yummy! I love Hash. I was just curious though. When you make it, do you grind up all the ingredients? How do you cut the potatoes and onions? I ask because recently I was looking up recipes on the internet and some suggested grinding. I don't want to eat mush. I know it's OT, but was curious!
  17. Glad I'm not the only one that thought that!
  18. For me, prosciutto, can't just be from Italy, It has to be from Parma. I like it so much better than San Daniele or other.
  19. Alanamoana... Re: creme parisienne and whip-ability.... you actually gave me the recipe for it on a previous thread (thank you!!!! I love it! It rocks!) This actually happened to me once when I made the recipe. It just wouldn't whip. I just assumed that I either didn't get it cold enough or I put too much chocolate. Are those better possible answers (for creme parisienne) or did I get whipping cream with not enough butter fat as well? Just want to make sure so I don't screw it up the next time. It turned into a family favorite. I buy the same exact cream from the same exact store everytime.
  20. That ice cream sounds....sublime!!! Prune cake is one of my favorites...This recipe comes from a dear friend. I have no idea where she got it. I guess just sub out the jar of prunes for yours! PRUNE CAKE: 2 CUPS FLOUR 2 CUPS SUGAR 1 TEASPOON BAKING SODA 1 TEASPOON SALT 1 TEASPOON NUTMEG 1 TEASPOON ALLSPICE 3 TEASPOONS CINNAMON 1 CUP OIL (CANOLA) 1 CUP MILK 3 EGGS 1 16 OZ JAR PRUNES WITH PITS (TAKE PITS OUT) 1 CUP WALNUTS CHOPPED MIX TOGETHER PUT IN A BUNDT CAKE PAN BE SURE TO REALLY SPRAY WITH PAM BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR 1 HOUR I guess it's not really suited for a cheese plate though...oh well.... ETA: for typos
  21. As an ex-waiter gulity of NOT writing down orders- unless for large parties, I can assure it has nothing to do with tips or waiter theatrics and everything to do with time- at least for me, or anyone I knew back then. And never, ever in my entire career did I mess up an order because I forgot their order. And I think I can count on one hand the times people asked me why I wasn't writing things down. Remembering an order really isn't brain surgery, it's just a couple of dishes. I can't imagine telling a waiter how to do his job just like I wouldn't tell my doctor, my lawyer, my mechanic how to do their jobs either. Even actors have to remember entire scripts and don't always get a lot of time, some people just have good memories and like anything else practice makes perfect.... For me, working in an extremely busy restaurant it was just a waste of precious time. I write slow, often can't understand my own writing, (as totally pathetic as that it is,) and as Fat Guy pointed out 9 times out of 10 you walked straight over to the POS and punch in the order. I admit that sometimes, I had even taken more than one order by memory before walking to the POS! I don't mean to sound defensive, I haven't even been a waiter since the 90s even though I remained in the biz. And I am sure there all plenty of waiters that have screwed up orders for this reason. But when I get a waiter who doesn't write things down, I don't think, "What a show-off!" I think, "He's been a waiter a long time." Sadly, those of us who have done it, can often remember all our customers orders in our sleep that night! All these years later, I can still remember what my regulars ordered! Re: the POS, I know that some restaurants owners I worked for in the past in NYC specifically, thought they were cheesy and would make them look like a chain.
  22. ambra

    Weetabix

    They are realllllly soggy in milk. They become a completely unbearable inedible texture. Mush. In my opinion, that is.
  23. This was a really cool challenge, I am sorry I missed out on it. I grew up with a mother who kept the pantry full, full full at all times. She said it's because her mother did it (Lived through Holocaust) and then lived Back East where she feared hurricanes and the like would prevent them from buying fresh ingredients, and then we grew up in Earthquake country where (at least when I was growing up) it was recommended that families keep a healthy supply of bottled water and canned good just in case a big one hit. I will say that when a big one actually hit, we had plenty of supplies. I also remember during the black out in NYC a few years ago I was happy and sad about my reserves. I lost tons of money on all my frozen goods that defrosted but I was happy I had some canned items to live off of becasue in my neightbourhood, the supermarkets were cleaned out! While I was pregnant and on strict bedrest, my husband had to go on a mandatory business trip....I lived off our reserves for two weeks buying only the occasional fresh item when my neighbour offered to shop for me. However, I am sure I would have made it a minimum of a month on what we keep in the house.
  24. It's not so easy to just go to Italy and work...but some people make it happen anyway. try this website for info on what it's like to look for work and live in Italy. It's not a food website, but information for expats.... Expatsinitaly.com
  25. Oli, I am sorry I didn't see this earlier...... Thank you for posting the recipe. Unfortunately, I don't live in the US, so I can't use Duncan Hines... but I will find a devil's food recipe. As for mine, I haven't made it again because I am about to give birth. When I do, I will post the recipe i choose. I think I am leaning towards a genoise? I think that's the name. I can however, highly recommend the chocolate whipped cream recipe from above... its divine.
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