hathor

Maple syrup marinade for venison

Thanks Elie...that looks excellent. (psss...I'm a pea snob....I'm going to wait until spring....really obnoxious, aren't I!!! ) How did it go mrbigjas? I tried the whole roasted cauliflower over the weekend. Looked pretty when served, and easy to quarter...sort of wound up having a florally orange flavor.

Very well said and accurate comments, John. In my naivity, and enthusiasm, I'd forgotten the attribution aspect. There is still a humbleness coming from the chef's that we've spoken about, and that is also part of the appeal.

The autogrill serves an absolutely perfect white truffle oil. It's completely pure, it's never even seen the dirt...only a chemist shop! I live part time in Umbria, and we have white truffles as well. These truffles are from Pietralunga, in northern Umbrian, close to the Le Marche border. They are not the same variety as the truffles from Piedmonte. Unfortunately I don't have my truffle book with me (I'm in NY) so I can't tell you the latin name. They are not as fragrant as the Alba truffles, however...they are quite delicious and fragrant and cost about 1/10 of what you have to pay.

Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to write about this event. Your excitement is contagious! Reading about this conference, and reading what goes on at "Ideas in Food", maybe the real revolution that is taking place is the willingness to share and the generosity of these chefs. It really is inspiring.

and from pomegranate seeds, you make pomegranate syrup, that is fantastic over roast quail

Finally hit the calm after the ......storm? Not really a storm, but certainly a marathon of family, friends and dishes! And a chance to catch up. I've always wondered about the Fairy Tea in your signature, it's far more interesting and beautiful than I imagined. Thank you for sharing. I've also got an incredible craving for pho, your're right, it's the perfect yin to balance out that rich yanging that's been going on. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your life and your table with us. Un abbracione! (big hug) Judith/hathor

MIso + udon noodles + wasabi

If you like the kale thing, try this: cook some cauliflower in salted water until it is mush. Spread the mush on Tuscan (or Umbrian!) bread that has been drizzled with olive oil, a little salt and rubbed with some raw garlic. A variation on this is to serve the cauliflower bread in a bowl of chicken broth. Its sort of like kid-comfort food, but highly addictive. I made it 3 times in one week.... I bought bags of farro in Ital that say the same thing about soaking...but, THEY LIE. It just isn't necessary. Ellie, what are Piselli alla Toscana? Judy/Divinia: New wine should only be consumed in very, very small quantities. It took me days to recover from San Martino and I swear my body smelled like yeast. Not a pretty picture....and I spilled out most of the wine I tasted!! Somewhere this month, you called the toasted bread/olive oil/rub with garlic by a name I never heard before? What was it? In Umbria, its called 'bruschetta'! I've been wondering why I haven't cooked more Tuscan dishes....and I'm a little stumped where Umbria cuts off and Tuscany begins....so many of the dishes are very similiar. Please dont' tell any Umbrians or Tuscans I said that or I'll never live it down!!

Hathor: Ok: I'll try braised anise, same recipe as for fennel? Re milk products - a vegetarian is a person who does not eat dead animals (so no fish, chicken, shellfish, animal stocks, etc.) But vegetarians usually consume dairy products (because the animal is not killed in milk production) and some eat eggs. So they're called lacto-ovo vegetarians. Vegans on the other hand don't eat anything animal in origin, so no dairy products, no eggs, no honey, don't wear silk or leather or wool or fur, etc. My remark to you was in response to your description of your one vegetarian meal a day saying "protein twice a day can be so heavy". I wanted to point out that: 1) vegetarian meals DO include protein, whether from bean type ingredients, or as in your pecorino pasta dish, from dairy products. So your vegetarian meal cannot be described as a no-protein meal. And also, there are small amounts of protein in almost all foods., which add up..... 2) dairy products ARE animal-origin ingredients, but are acceptable to most vegetarians (unless they have food sensitivities) since it's not directly a dead animal. Vegans on the other hand would not find dairy products acceptable. Like others have pointed out, it's not that hard to have to leave out animal products from one's diet as there are myriad ways to omit or substitute. It's a matter of habit..... HTH Milagai ← Thank you for the clarification and explanation Milagai.... I meant animal protein/meat, but I completely agree with you that I should have been been more specific. I would treat the anise the same way as the fennel. Let me know how it turns out!

I'm not an expert, I don't think fennel and anise are the same thing, but I thing braised anise would taste wonderful! Uh, obviously I'm not a vegetarian either.... no milk products?? That would be a challenger fro me.

Cool idea, Pontormo! Not by design, but we tend to eat one vegetarian meal a day.... protein twice a day can be sooo heavy. Today's lunch, pecorino risotto and sauteed spinach. Oh, can somebody tell me, is it safe to eat spinach in the States again?? I sure hope so....... I posted the photo on the dinner thread...but here you go!

What a wonderful blog...and who better to celebrate Thanksgiving with than Rachel?? I've been feeling like a fish looking for water since we came back to the States, and your blog is helping me re-assimilate. Thanks! We called my paternal grandmother Nana. I don't remember much about her cooking, but she ALWAYS had a can of YooHoo for me in the fridge. I never drank YooHoo anywhere else, but I couldn't wait to drink it when I got to her house. Do they still make YooHoo? My mom's Mom was called Busia. She came from the Old Country: Poland, and her cooking I remember! She made the absolute best pumpkin pie, it was only about an inch thick and it was pale orange in color, with little brown baked flecks, with a slightly sweet, off white, crumbly pie crust. The pumpkin wasn't too sweet, and it was light and fluffy, and actually tasted like pumpkin. There would be 7 or 8 pies laid out in the basement kitchen, ready for Thanksgiving dinner, but she always kept one whole pie for me, one I didn't have to share. We lost her unexpectedly and the recipe went with her. I could kick myself for thinking that I could get the recipe next Thanksgiving.... (and now I'm craving vanilla pudding!! These memories are just a wonderful thing to share!)

OH!! I'm sorry!! It's Albertson's. sorry... I was going by my memory, and you see where that got us!

Fa niente! Maybe another time! If you want my fish guy info, PM me.

If you come back in January, come up to Snowbird and I'll feed you!! I ship a lot of food out there (meat from Ottomanelli's, fish from a guy up in Port Washington, Wa.) I think its Wegmans, they have an online service and will deliver groceries to your condo. The restaurants up at Snowbird are not so fantastic, mostly we eat in.

Elie, that steak looks perfect!! We are down to, uh, nothing left to eat in the house, so I might beg to be taken to our local steak joint tonight. Its our last meal before heading back to NY. Your steak just looked tooooo good. Kevin, you're too modest. That pork looks outstanding! I'd be the one picking at the filling with my fingers! Nice idea on the crostini, not everybody likes chicken liver, I need to remember that.

Multiple quotes are very challenging.... This is certainly a wide ranging discussion! Question: when did 'health food' become so expensive? Why? I've been rolling this around my brain for the past 2 years simply because I live part time in the US and part time in Italy. Everyone goes to the Italian market, they are inexpensive, you are buying local. It's not a political choice, its not an economic choice, its just where you get your vegetables. Why is the Greenmarket in NYC so incredibly expensive?? Its downright shocking. The logistics are pretty much the same, gas/transport is more expensive in Italy. So, you have a situation where anyone who is even mildly economically challenged cannot shop at the Greenmarket. You also have to consider the marketing aspect. The companies that make processed food want you to believe that it takes longer to make from scratch. They want you to believe that its too hard or complicated to make it your self. Look at the row of salad dressing in any major grocery store...it's a whole row of salad dressings!! Come on, what's it take? It costs more per serving to serve canned spaghetti than to make your own (why did canned spaghetti become the pivotal icon in this discussion? how random!). Then comes the backlash.... a knee jerk dismissal of all processed food, it develops a snob aspect, but, we are a generation that was primed to believe that canned soup is easier and faster and its cheap. So, have we lost a whole generation of culinary experience? Do the subjects of this article, the mothers, want the snob appeal of 'healthy food', is it a way of subtly saying you are richer than other people, but they don't know how or are not willling to prepare it? I had some 18 year old boys in my kitchen this summer, and we were prepping dinner together, and it was the first time one of them had ever cleaned a salad. I was stunned, but with a little help, he got the hang of it. Which brings me to Daniel's observation about eating alone. I also thought the article was inferring that the kids eat alone, canned spaghetti is for kids. Anyone who knows me, knows how strongly I feel about eating as a family, and if you get to prep and prepare together...that is a delicious bonus. I'm in a different situation now, but when our son lived at home, and I worked stupid hours, we still ate together, it may have been 9:30 or 10:00, but we ate together. Our son's were always amazed at what time we would eat....they would also hang around to make sure they were invited. Ah.... twirling on the head of a pin, am I?? This is a complex subject for sure, with no absolute answers, of that, I'm sure! edit: To take out my multiple quotes because I made a mess of it! I figure you guys understand what I mean!

I'm going to ask a dumb question, I might be missing the boat on something simple. Is there a way to register so that you automatically get notified when the next blogger has started? I'm always searching thru "View New Post" pages looking to see who is next. I'm a terrible guesser!! Maybe FoodBlogs should be their own forum?

As they say around these parts, "Oh, Mama!!" If you want details on how I spent my San Martino festa, here's my blog entry. I'm still in a sort of recovery mode... I have also officially closed the season on chestnuts. I. Can. Not. Eat. Any. More. Chestnuts. (Last night I brought a chestnut semifreddo with my home made saba as a sauce to a dinner party.) I'm done. Finshed. There will be no more chestnuts. Until next year!

Grazie mille for blogging Divina!! It was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to spend some time with you. Total drag about the license. So far, I put on my happy tourist face, and ask the nice policeman, "Which way to Cortona? You know, Under the Tuscan Sun?" They get frustratred and let us go. But, I know those days are numbered..... Its amazing to me to see the quantity and variety of ingredients that you have at your disposal. Its weird to think that you are about 2 hours away, but a world away at the same time. Ah, Italy never ceases to confound. We head back to NY this week, so I'll have to live vicariously thru your blog! Thanks again, Judith

Given your charm and enthusiasm, you would be a natural! IACP is a great source of info and connections. I've gone thru blogging trials and errors...still am going thru them, so PM me if you want some info. Good luck....and just go for it!!

Not enough hours in the day... I didn't even do a Tuscany intro! Mi dispicace!!! But, I did make mialie arrabiata. The recipe was in the magazine, Sale & Pepe, and says its eaten inthe Maremma area of Tuscany during vendammia. The pork is marinated in white wine, lemon slices and bay leaf, then sauteed with garlic, chili peppers and fennel seeds. The marinade is reintroduced and cooked down, the olives get tossed in at the last moment. Tasty dish, but the recipes calls for the chili peppers to stay whole, the pork was more felice than arrabiata, secondo me. Next time, I'll chop up the chilis.

Milagai, I'll share my recipes, on one condition....you take them, add your own twist and report back! I think this thread is about the evolution of a dish. Braised Fennel: Chop the raw fennel into small pieces, simmer in a small amount of chicken stock. Warning: the fennel produces more water than you might think. When you've got the fennel pretty mushy, and the juices are almost completely evaporated, add some butter and let it melt. At this point, you can leave the dish until you are ready to serve it. Heat it in the oven with a small amount of grated parmigiana on top. Frizzled Artichoke Thinly slice a raw artichoke, let the slices marinate in acidulated water for at least an hour. Using a mixture of flour, cornstarch and salt, thinly coat the wet slices of artichoke. Shake off any excess flour. Fry. I fried this in a combination of pork lard and olive oil, because its what I have a lot of in my kitchen. What will you do?? p.s. Paul, did you ever see the Adams Family movies? Not sure which one, but its the one where Grandma admonishes Wendy, "Now, play with your food." and the bowl of food is all wiggling worms and eyeballs?

For me, it starts with an ingredient. Something that has captured my attention, for whatever reason, and then comes the desire to focus that flavor. To keep that flavor distinct. Then what? Success for me comes when I can create a flavor 'journey', if you'll allow me this conceit. Example: Shola of StudioKitchen fame is an expert at creating this journey. He served a smooth, silky, rich parsnip soup with honeyed walnuts and grapefruit. You could manipulate each spoonful toward sweet or tart, it was a magnificent journey, and the diner was in control. Current experiments: chestnut semifreddo with saba. I had a ton of chestnuts in the kitchen, and 5 liters of mosto. Mosto is an early fermintation wine, sort of like grape juice with a little somethin'somehin' going on. The grainy chestnut semifreddo is smooth and calming, the mosto a tart counterpoint. I'm not sure I like the grainy-ness of the chestnut and I may pass the next batch thru a fine strainer. I've also reduced the mosto even further to a thick syrup, with the addition of quinces, to something that is called saba. The plan is to serve the saba warm over the semifreddo. Frizzled artichokes: thin slices of artichoke that are fried. Completely delicious, but they it's a counterpoint flavor, not a featured flavor. Could work with: creamy polenta, poached fish, roasted sausage. As far as pleasing the audience: I strive for a balance between the safe and sure and a little touch of the unexpected. I've converted a whole table full of 'safe eaters' to the divine pleasure of braised fennel. If you are lucky, you can develop a level of trust. Paul, is this what you were askin??