hathor

Oh, Shaya, trust me...we all look forward to your meals! I love osso bucco, when our son was little he would beg me to make 'that soft meat'. I have a question: what does the paper under the lid do? I used that technique for the first time making octopus over the holidays. I just followed the recipe, but I didn't understand why I was doing it.

Some dried chili peppers and a habenero (sp?) pepper. I'm also currently 'in love' with smoked Spanish paprika, not spicy but it seems to lift the chili pepper flavor.

Just gorgeous photos and meals everyone! I'm getting smarter, I'm reading this thread when dinner is just about ready. Megan, I thought of you on Christmas Eve...there were brussel sprouts! What's going to happen when pomegranate season is over?? They add such a 'bright' component to a dish. That salad of yours, Shaya, has exactly the right amount of those little jewels. Last night: Fiery sauted shrimp (7 or 8 alarm fire) with julienned snow peas on saffron rice and a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds.

Aw shucks....Domestic Goddess and Pontormo...you made me blush. Its not me, its the nature of Italian cooking. Its not fussy cooking, its all about pleasure and satisfaction. Italian cooking is more about the heart, than the mind. (uhmm....I think I've spent too much time in the yoga studio the past few days. )

Wine pairings are frequently an option in top Italian restaurants. Isn't it also the case that the most common criticism of "top" Italian restaurants is that they're not all that Italian? And that their typical customers aren't Italian? ← That's another debate, for another thread. Why Italians don't dine out regularly? I've pondered that question many times.

Wine pairings are certainly an option in top Italian restaurants. As far as Italians consuming Barolo...they are too regional. A Sicilian is not going to track down a Barolo when he already knows he has the best wine in the world at his doorstep. Sorry...off topic in regards to pairing.

That sounds really good, Pontormo! We fooled around with almonds too...a sort of chopped almond candied with orange peel. But...I went back to Sicilian granita-ville for Christmas Eve desserts: fennel/rum compari/limonata espresso with sweet cream These deserts are simple and palate cleansing after a heavy, long meal. Can't wait to find some decent blood oranges!

My cooking for the holidays was sort of 'pan-Italian'. This Christmas Eve dish is something that is certainly Umbrian inspired: roast quail stuffed with sausage and chestnuts...roasted on a bed of potatoes and fennel. Had to use bacon instead of pancetta, but otherwise it tasted pretty close to home. Oh, and befpre that dish I served some celery root soup...another one of those nice central Italian dishes.

Just curious, how did you make out with the farro? Make sure you introduce the farro to some porcini.

Divina posted a wonderful octopus/polpo recipe on Daniel's Christmas thread. I made it as one of the dishes on Christmas Eve, simple but very tasty! Sorry the photo doesn't do it justice.

So....come on....any pictures?? Really glad to hear the party was a success, not that any of us had any worries! Happy New Year to you!

Kudos Kevin!! That was one gorgeous meal! Bravo!!! You were really cooking! You can tell you had a good time doing it, too. Pontormo: what's going on with that cheese??

Happy New Year!! Hope everyone's holiday was tasty and full of laughter! I've just emerged from a week long food orgy....too long to post here!! I belong in the lobster for New Year's camp, as well, so I went with butter poached lobster. Next year, I'll poach....but without the butter mount...its just toooo...buttery. And we all know that next year is gonna be here in a blink of the eye! Buon' Anno!!

Now that's as good as it gets. That ham and the lamb look just gorgeous.

In bocca di lupo, Daniel!! Can't wait to see the photos! With any luck, if I stick my head out of the window, I'll catch a whiff of the porchetta. Enjoy!

Thanks guys, I needed a pat on the head! Holidays can be a little stressful, if you know what I mean. Took one long afternoon to make those pastas...with a lot of interuptions. But...I was going thru Artusi's "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well" as I was looking for some inspiration for Christmas Eve dinner, I need a good amuse...but I came across this passage: "Sugo di Carne or Brown Stock. In Romagna, which is a stone's throw from Tuscany, they do not much care for dictionaries, and so they call meat sauce "brown stock," perhaps because of its brown color." The footnote goes on to explain, "The 'meat sauce' described here is not what we have come to understand by that name, i.e. the 'ragu' or 'bolognese' sauce often served with pasta. It is, in fact, more like a 'dark broth' and is used as a base or flavoring for many other dishes. Artuse makes frequent mention of it in the recipes that follow." So, it seems like the ragu-sugo-bolognese debate has been going on for awhile. Everytime I pick up this book, I get lost in it, as in 'whoops'...an hour has just slipped away. Highly recommend it...in English!

I just found out that I'm getting some excellent polpo. Anybody have a great recipe for polpo? The ones that I have are good, but not FANTASTIC....if you know what I mean. Thanks.

Wow, you guys have been busy!! Wendy, that little stick with your gnocchi board? That's for someone to sit next to you and beat the time so you keep rolling your gnocchi's even and quickly! Seriously, they look beautiful! That stick looks a little thick to make garganelli, I think you'll wind up with 'sagne'...Pugliese style. It's all good. I could eat polenta and sugo at least once a week, however the husband, he's not so fond of it. Pontormo, your comparitive ragus are great, really fun to read about and informative, not to mention thought provoking. Is it a good thing that we are walking around thinking about the greater mysteries of a ragu pot? I hope so. Everyone getting ready for the holidays?? I think a earned an E-R badge of honor yesterday. A small mountain of tortellini, stuffed with a veal and parm mixture. About 250 of the little buggers, destined to go into brodo. A batch of pear and ricotta ravioli, these guys are headed for a gorgonzola/pancetta sauce. Only about 125 of these. And for dinner last night, spaghetti bolognese with fresh pasta. Ran out of pear filling, so we got some tagliatelle. This ragu recipe is from the 'peasant handbook'. Bits of left over everythings have gone into the pot...braised oxtail, veal, osso bucco sauce.... Sort of like the soup pot on the back of the stove. Today's plans call for some Sardinian raviolis. We'll see if I get there.... Ripe persimmons?? Mmmmmmm...... Stirred into yogurt in the morning, excellent! Mushed up and served in little bowls, with amaretto cookie crumbles on top. Simple desert, but really good. The persimmons in the U.S are a totally different variety than most of the ones I saw in Italy. The Italian 'cachi' are really, really soft and difficult to get home without destroying them. Can't wait to hear about the 'stored' cakes! What fun!!

Not enough coffee in me....I thought I had opened a website for a Westchester restaurant! I think this must be where some of them go for inspiration....

I believe the people from Le Marche lay claim to this dish. I have a recipe but it calls for lots of organs, lungs, esophagus etc. If you would like it, I can PM it to you. What you ate, may very well have been sublime, but it's a 'clean' version of the real deal. Make your recipe and enjoy! That's my advice.

Elie, I see what you mean about the testa or torta di testa. You were right, usually its a bit thinner. The E-R version is even thinner, but these two breads are certainly related. That testa looked marvelous on the Umbrian thread! And I blew by that spiced chocolate when I was looking at the thread earlier. What a would give for a whiff of that cake.

Beautiful meals everyone! Kevin, your veal chops look perfect, and I love the farfalle, or whatever they are called. Ellie, I'm now craving piadini with bitter greens. Your mention of Umbrian flat bread...I don't think I've ever seen it, I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Maybe I'm just naturally drawn to the flat bread style. They freeze pretty well too and then you can have a really quick meal! I think tomorrow is ravioli day for me. Need to stock up before the hoards arrive.

What a fascinating bite of history. Opus Dei regulating cheese. How bizarre. Somewhere there is a Dan Brown meets John LeCarre novel buried in that sentence.

It just takes so damn long for the legs to grow back...it's ages before you can harvest them again! (At the Coop in Italy, you buy the whole skinned frog, and do the leg harvest bit yourself. Can you make frog soup...like turtle soup??) P.S. If frogs are endgangered, I had no idea. This ragu conversation is just great...you guys sound EXACTLY like a bunch of Italians discussing the exact same thing!

I've never heard it used for a broth. A broth is usually a brodo. Maybe its just a regional/dialect type thing, although I've heard both words used for basically the same type of sauce. Then again Pontormo's theory makes a lot of sense, a ragu is a sub-class of sugos. Boh!