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pedalaforte

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  1. A couple of thoughts (some suggested in the previous post): -- panna cotta for dessert. Make it first thing, as it needs fridge time to set up. (lemon is great) -- i love the grilled pizza idea. We do it all the time. It's easy, fast, and you can choose from any number of toppngs. MAKE the pesto to spread on. -- I can't believe you've never done filled pastas. Call them what you will (agnolotti, ravioli, etc.). Do them. They're easier than you might think. Be bold. -- Maybe my top pick of "new" things people might not have tried. Savory flans. Parmesan flans made, of course, with good reggiano. But you can do spinach, RR pepper, squash (although that would be out of season). Flans are a major treat in, at least, Piedmont. I'll send you a great recipe (from Kramer's "Passion for Piedmont"). They're fun to make as a group also. Easy. Can't miss. -- How about grilled asparagus (or broiled) with reduced balsamic vinegar? Easy. Perfect. -- Gnocchi are easier than you seem to think. And they're are fast to make. Practice a little before the big date. We had them last night with -- get this -- browned lovage butter. Yes, lovage, used like sage (which we paired it against). We thought "who in Logan, Utah, is eating this right now? Hell, who ANYWHERE was eating it right then." Lovage! -- Baked polenta w/carmelized gorgonzola on top with any kind of saucy topping (arrabiatta). Or, how about crostini with carmelized gorgonzola and fig slices (buy they dried from the store). Show them how to toast the crostini, but creamy gorg -- special treat: saute the figs in port a bit. -- show people what good anchovies really mean. Lots of choices to play with there. Ramblings. How about changing the order of things -- drinking a lot of wine early in the evening so no one cares how frou-frou the food things become, then just cracking some good sardines and slivered parm on good bread. ... that is, DRINK, be merry and eat. In that order, in other words. Cheers
  2. Hi all. The loooong zucchini in the photo from the market are a variety we've fallen in love with. Look for "zucchetta rampicante." You can get seeds. I'm fairly certain the ones in the photo are the ones we've grown for three years now. They are extremely tender, think-skinned and almost buttery. I've also seen them (or something very similar) listed as "zucchetta trombocino," although these (one time) turned out to be a darker, less-tasty variety. Am I confusing anyone? In this year's picture-laced catalogue, the trombocino variety look light, like rampicante. Try them. Cheers
  3. Just back: Great restaurants in Piedmont, Veneto I’ll surprise some people here with my recommendations because the places are not necessarily profound spots – at least they’re not profound in the Michelin-stars definition of the word. But I’m comfortable with my picks and my reasoning. … extremely stream of consciousness – forgive me. Near Alba Antine (in Barbaresco) – brilliant place and I doubt I’ll get much grief for the pick from anyone here (since the place came so highly recommended here). You were all right. Thanks, especially, to Bill K. for all the ideas. Antine, star and all, lived up to its accolades at every level – food, wine, service, smiles. Go there. Definitely. We made one, somewhat humorous, mistake. My Italian is scabby, at best, so I made a first-night-in-Italy mistake of thinking I could effectively communicate at least restaurant Italian. Nope. My friends and I (five of us) are used to the American habit of sharing a couple of appetizers among all of us; so, when I ordered three appetizers and did that little animated, in-my-Italian-blood waving of my hands around the table and, in effect, pointing to everyone, I MEANT, and said (in English), that we’d share the three. They, of course, thought I meant all five of us wanted all three. Damn. Then, before we knew it, it happened again with the primi. Agnolotti and the tajarin for all. Damn 2. Luckily we were engulfed in too much barbera and Barbaresco by that point to care. Then I had the bunny. Great stuff. And the panna cotta was the best of the trip. (Disappointingly, no one else even came close.) We spent a lot of money -- $100 Euros each. But we ordered too much food. You can definitely get by for much less. OK, now we change tracks, and I’m going to argue that there is more to life (and restaurant recommendations) than great (perfect) food, (perfect) wine, and (perfect) setting. Crota (in Calosso/a) – next night we took up another recommendation from this site and went to Crota. The food was excellent, the wine very good, and the place had stories. That adds up to perfect. Nothing there was stunning, as at Antine, but the entire experience was, yes, profound. That is to say that our moment there was perfect. I am always stumped by people who look only for Michelin stars – ANY stars for that matter, including even recommendations from ME – as reason to judge some place. I do the same thing, and it’s with somewhat good reason. We don’t want to, ya know, just put food in our bellies. We want the magic. Well, magic comes from different hats. Crota had it that night. Which is to say find your own stories, not only mine. We got to Crota and there was only one couple and this server guy – Seba – who knew how to make us smile. We put our wine picks in his hands and it worked. The food was flawless in a simple-yet-yummy way. I wish I had my notes to be more specific, but I’d bore you anyway. But here’s the story of the night – I referred to it as the magic up above. The local winemakers were meeting there to discuss whatever the heck they wanted to discuss. But as the wine began to flow -- into us, into them – we started this interchange of friendship and, well, guttural yahoos/silliness to where, in the end, the president of the local win co-op or coordinator or some such title drove back home to bring us back a series of local wine labels for our collections (it helped to have along with us a beautiful, without-spouse woman or two). Then we were singing in the streets of Calosso together – and we were NOT embarrassingly drunk, despite what you may think. Our Italian moment. So, what’s the best restaurant in Italy? Crota. That night. The night before it was Antine; the next night? Next night The next night we ate on the porch of Cascine della Rosa – our B&B in Tre Stelle. Now, Bill recommends La Meridiana for good reason (been there and loved it). It was full this time so we found Giovanna and Italo at della Rosa. It was fantastic. I can go into details for anyone who wishes, but it was inexpensive, charming and the hosts were beyond incredible. (We were problem children for them in many ways.) We tried to get take outs from Il Vicoletto, which was closed for construction last time I was in Alba and this time was out of bread. Jeez, man. In their defense, it was the end of the night, but pickings were slim. (We had spent too much time in a wine bar tasting boring old Giacosa, Vietti, Monsordo? and others. I wish I had my notes. And I am joking about “boring.” Star appeal in this case meant great.) So we just went into another place closing up shop on the main drag and mama filled bags with all her favorites, including wine. We went back home, dragged out sweaters and ogled at spotlighted Barbaresco in the distance as we oooohed and ahhhh’d the night away while slathering gooey stuff on bread. Italy. Ah. Then, Ostu d’Ajou? – I’ve butchered the name, but it’s close (maybe it’s in Castegneto; maybe not. I can find out for anyone who cares). So, Bill, we were planning to go to Rondo or Il Centro or that other place whose name escapes me at the moment. And they still sound great. But Giovanna, our host to whom we had become close over the previous cheery days, invited us to join her and some out-of-town friends at a favorite restaurant. We had done this brutal bike ride that day into the mountains where Castlemagno cheese is made. We actually hiked, in sandals with cycling shoes in jersey pockets, through snow with our road bikes to get beyond some drifts so we could make it to the top of this pass that was one of the main reasons I wanted to come – we were tired, in other words. But how could we turn this invitation down. Her friends were restaurant owners, chefs, cheese makers, bar owners and such from near Sondrio. And they wanted us to join them. Well, take a little Vioxx (no, not Viagra!) and get in! This place was, well, … the best restaurant in Italy. Hey, friends matter. The place only serves magnums. Our friends ordered everything. We HAD everything. And it was all great. We talked about my 8 chickens, their 80 chickens. My favorite dish to cook, their favorite … this and that. My stories. You don’t need them. It was a perfect, and, as I’ve said, the best. At the end of the night, this guy I sat next to (Alessio) and his spouse handed me a magnum of some blend of barbera and nebiollo. To do what with, I asked? He spoke very little English, me, very little Italian. “To drink, later, as a gift from us! You seem so excited by life!” Who, me? … I’ll continue this discussion if anyone cares. I can tell you about Bolzano, our surprise city of Trento, and our stay near Verona (La Forestiere, dinner in San Giorgio – thanks Marco and, hmmmmmm, I know who you are and I love you, but I don’t have time to look back at my notes). And cycling if anyone is truly a geek. That's my true passion. Anyway, cheers to all. Bill Klapp, thanks for doing that thing you do (giving us all those great details). Now I have to work.
  4. Grazie, Alberto. You are kind to do this for me. I will bring your list with me on my trip -- and put it to good use. Cheers
  5. Yes, great job. I am interested in more information about the Parma eating spots. I embarrassed to say that we'll only be passing through Parma on our last day on the way to airport home. But we have about 8 hours to kill somewhere, and I though Parma sounded like a unique, old, not huge stopping-off point. Does the article give any "have to's" you might pass along? Cheers
  6. Craig: I, too, love Food and Memories of Abruzzo. I've never met anyone else with similar feelings, but I love her personal insights into food, living, family and, of course, recipes. And to Bill: As I've said, I'm wiht you all the way on Kramer's book. And thank you for pointing out that I'm looking at Neive on the cover. We leave May 22; first stop Alba area (Tre Stelle). Four nights, what do you think (I mean, they're your suggestions, afterall): Antine, Rondo, Crota and either Il Centro or Enoteca? We're looking for moderate, low-key, unpretentious, and food, food, food. (Oh, and much wine). Cheers
  7. How to really see any place? Here's how we do it: Plan more time than you think you want to spend in a place, and cut out a few places at the end. That is to say, stay at least a couple of days longer than any guidebook suggests as optimal. How does one get to know Florence? Most people don't want to get to "know" Florence, or any other place for that matter. They want to see "things." It's check-off traveling. And this is not a criticism of the above recommendations. They are great. But I suggest limiting the days to just a few, even a couple, of the hgihlights. Then just walk someplace out of the ordinary. Examples: * We went to well-respected ceramics place the first time we went to Florence -- Sbigoli. While there we asked the owner where the stuff was made. Turns out his family make the stuff and paint the stuff on other side of the river a mile or so over the bridges. When we suggested that we'd like to see, he gave us directions and said to himself, sure they'll go. We went. When we arrived to closed doors, it turns out he had called his wife and daughter at the site, and they came to the door opened up and took us on an amazing tour. It took some time, but we sure got to know a bit of the people and place, not just the monuments. * We checked a map and find an out-of-the-way park near, hmmm -- over the river by the fort ... we brought dinner in boxes, walked along a beautiful lane, and ate with Italians playing Frisbee and soccer. No English -- within a 15-minute walk of the tourist-massed middle earth (city). My point: get out of the tourist loops for at least a few hours of the day, or A day. The highlighs are exquisite; the place, however, is exceptional. There a city of real people and real Italian flair out there. Eh, maybe I'm a romantic! Cheers
  8. I second Burton Anderson's "Treasures of the Italian Table." I second it and third it and ... I love this book. I've read it (sections of it) dozens of times. Seriously. It has a great premise and the writing is crisp and still current. Also, as mentioned in another cookbook thread, Matt Kramer's "A Passion for Piedmont" is a cookbook with much deeper thoughts on food of the Piedmont. It is well worth reading -- if you can find it. It's out of print. Find it! Cheers
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