Ore

In GR - page 408...check it out! Ore

Make a savory sorbetto - very yummy - frozen slushy brine - very delicious - and also palate clensing!! Ore

Ciao, strange, strange, strange... Kosher Mozz - when making mozz, we are talking about the initial cheese curd being of kosher production. It is hard for me to believe that this restaurant is curdling its own milk to make mozz - lots of waste - Mozz = Cheese curd and hot water (some preffer salt, some don't!) + the knowledge of making it. If it is made in house, the rubbery chewy texture is because it was overworked when made. That very wet, super soft mozz was made with the least amount of work, but the most amount of skill!!! I don't think that the problem lies within the rennet. Many can argue that one cant taste the difference in fresh cheeses using different curdling agents. Kosher has to be kosher, so prob. a vegetable base!?! But, the bread and pasta make up for it so have fun!! Ore

Thank you all for the replies! Boulak = great reply! I dont have a good ciabatta recipe here - and in this kitchen it is near impossible to execute without working 20 hours a day! What I do now... I autolyze and let the dough rest approx. 40 minutes. Add the salt and this begins the bulk ferment time. I fold every hour in bulk ferment - total of three folds - i then pre shape - let rest 30 min - then I shape and let rest as long as possible - about 30 min. - then i bake. tomorrow i will try to cool the loaves out of the oven - i have noticed that the next day, the crust is chewy and not crunchy, like some have mentioned - i want CRUNCHY!!! Thanks again! Ore

Ciao, Amazing overall job with this huge, life changing project! I am now in Italy and at least three or four times a day my chef yells out, " c'e linea???" I was looking for a connection to Alinea in other languages and it matches almost perfectly in Italian, where La Linea roughly translates to our mise en place. I find that to be a pretty cool other meaning! Ciao. Ore

quick note... Last night was Gambero Rosso's release of this years guide as well as the awards for this years restaurants at the Cita del Gusto in Roma. We were scored with 80 from what I hear. This place has only been open 8 months...a great compliment! I have yet to confirm but we all here at La Locanda di Bu are having a celebration!!! Ciao, See you at the Salone del Gusto! Ore

Ciao, I will be attending the Salone (a short vacation from my stage too!!!). I get there Wed. night and my hotel cost 570 E for 6 nights...not bad i think! I hope to meet some other Egulleters there. PM me if you get a chance! I will def. report back with some photos, etc.! Ciao, Ore

TWODOGS...wanna share what that product is called??? oh...also, how does wylie make all those flavored papers...you know the base formula?? Ciao, Ore

Ciao, I have been playing with dough and a baguette recipe for a few weeks now. The post can be found HERE and there are pictures to help out. Any pointers would be great. My biggest questions is about the shaping stage. I don't really know where or what to do there. I just shape the baguettes like I think they do elsewhere! Also, the first rise...is that before or after the salt...if you autolyse? Ciao, Ore

Ciao, ArtisanBaker...you ROCK! I changed the recipe to 1250 g. H20 and the dough is much easier to work with and the bread that it yields is amazing. Strange what 150 g. of water will change! I will try to post pics soon! Thanks! Ore

Ciao, I can’t believe no one here has asked for me to finish the last two weeks of the Slow Food Program! I am finding some spare time so hopefully in the next few days I will have a chance to finish that part of Italy. The last time I wrote about the school was week 8. Still left are week 9 and 10. Look forward to that soon. (the biggest problem is this new layout and the change of imagegullet. It takes way too long to upload pictures now) So, Check back in a few days! Ciao, Ore OH – if anyone gets the Gambero Rosso Channel (RAI SAT), my chef will be on Sunday, October 3rd. The show is called “Collazione con Rocco” - OR - Breakfast with Rocco. Rocco's The Restaurant premiers Sunday night too! Ahh...look out! Doc: The fried tomato skins are horrible once in the mouth. You know that thing we call Unfunctional garnish...that is number 1 on my list, but it is pretty, huh!?! Almost forgot...PM ME IF YOU ARE GOING TO THE SALONE DEL GUSTO! We should meet up!

Ciao, In a blind taste test at the slow food school, de cecco beat 4 other types, including barilla and three artigianal products! (not a formal statistic! for my class only!) Ciao, Ore

Rocco is still in...his show...The Restaurant, premiers tonight on Sky...the Gambero Rosso chanel here in Italy! So, out of the US but still making the $$$$!!!! Ciao, Ore

Ciao, Here in Nusco the weather is changing and Fall is coming in early. I am at 900 meters so we are in a much different micro climate then nearby Avellino and (still hot) Napoli. All is going well at the restaurant. The Chef is in Toronto and Montreal for the week cooking at some restaurant or food show in that area. I made reservations for him to eat at Toque in Montreal…I hope his meal will be as good as mine…last July! Here is a great picture. It is of Umberto (Bu, the nick name, is who the restaurant is named after, he is the chefs son) and the Fruttivendolo, the guy where we get our fresh produce from. There were four gourds in total which weighed over 100 KG!!! They should last us about 3 months! I have been baking fresh bread for the restaurant for a few weeks now and with help from eGulleters I have almost perfected my recipe. Here is a link! Last week the chef brought in some new proteins to play with. He brought in rabbit, which I am a very big fan of, and fresh pancetta…Pork Belly! Last Spring, while I was still in NY, I made my way down to NYC for three consecutive weekends to eat three consecutive times at WD-50. By far my favorite restaurant, I tried to mimic the way WD cooked his Pork Belly. Mine came out pretty close but not exactly the same. I seasoned my pieces of belly with salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and a touch of dried wild mountain oregano. I then cryovacked each piece individually and cryovacked that piece as well – so each piece of meat was under two bags (to make sure my fatty sauce doesn’t leak out!). I then would drop one or two bags into the water of the pasta cooker and by noon the meat would be ready. Take it out and crisp the skin side very well! Yummy! I remember WD’s as a bit finer, more elegant, and perfect! It was my first time, and recipeless! Back to some of the previous posts… I have still not eaten at the restaurant of Feudi di San Gregorio. One Monday night (if they are open on my day off) I will make my way over there. Here is a picture of their quite famous sign and logo. The winery is situated in a very beautiful area and the dining room of the restaurant has a priceless view. Truly a place worth a lot (a LOT) of money! Here is a picture of a recent dish. It is a piece of tuna sitting on a puree of chickpeas and chicory. Garnished with EVOO and fried tomato skin. A few weeks back I went with my chef to cook at a Short Film Festival in a beach town called Sapri. This place was very very beautiful. Here is a picture of the beach and the calm, warm water! This picture is of my chef and I with Enzo, the person responsible for the Slow Food chapter of Sapri. I hope to get a ride to the Salone del Gusto (Slow Food Show) in October from Enzo; Torino is about 8.5 or 9 hours from here…by car. By train I can only imagine much longer! Ciao, Ore

Ciao, Thanks for all the help! Like a said, here are some pictures of my progress. What do you think!?! Pic 1 Here is my dough in the mixer…looks good…right!?! Pic 2 Here is my dough resting. After I took the picture, I put the trash bag on top of the dough. I can’t seem to find the time to get over to the local bakery and I don’t think my chef wants to fork out more cash for some linen when I and he think the plastic liner does fine…What do you think!?! Pic 3 Here is a shot of the dough after resting and pre shaping. As you can see, I yield about 6-8 loafs from my recipe. I try to stick to six because I can get two on a hotel pan and three hotel pans in the oven is max. Pic 4 Here are a few loaves ready to go into the forno. They look OK? I need to get one of those cool yellow razor blade bread scoring things…for know, my knife works fine! Pic 5 Here is a shot of the outer oven. The settings so you can see them…Oven set to COMBO at 230 C (works best for me). Pic 6 Here is the bread right after they are done baking…Look good right!?! Pic 7 After baking, I turn the fan on in the oven and open the door, I put the bread on the racks to cool this way. I pull them out when the oven temp reaches about 70 C. Do you suggest just letting them cool on a work bench…I don’t have a rack for even cooling…that is why I do it in the oven. Pic 8 Here are the finished Baguettes. Color OK? Shape OK? Pic 9 Here is the internal shot. What do you think? I think the bread is OK…this is the best result I have seen. I nice amount of bubbles, not as dense as the first stuff I was baking! It tastes great too! Thank you for helping me this far…what else should I try and bake now!?! Ciao, Ore

Ciao, Thanks for all the tips! I have taken a few bits from all and have come up with this solution which is working out well. 1400 g. H20 2000 g. 'O' flour (W of 310-340) 42 g. yeast 42 g. salt I add the water and yeast in the mixer and dissolve the yeast with my hands. The water now is not as warm as before and my final dough temp is 76-78 F. Into the mixer goes 2 kg. flour. It is mixed until well incorporated...about 4-6 minutes. Then it rests for about 40 minutes. Goes back into the mixer for a sprinkling of salt. Mixed for 2 minutes then rest. I start this process at 10.00 AM every day. My bread must be ready by 13.30 so the resting period between the adding the salt and scaling often varies with the other jobs I must do. On a perfect day I would shape and proof at 12.30 and divide and pre-shape at 11.45...so that means one hour of resting after adding the salt. What do you think!?! One other thing...the shaping...I remember at school (CIA), we folded over one side of the dough and rolling it up. I always make sure that the crease is on the center of the bottom of the dough but sometimes O have noticed that the bottom side of the bread in a way explodes. Do you know what I mean!?! Also, scoring techniques? Also, the use of flour...should it be minimal throughout the whole process? I now don't proof in the oven, I proof out on a stainless steel work bench. I just put the dough down and cover with a plastic shopping bag. Should I lay flour down first? Should I flour the top? Is there anything else I cam use other that plastic bags to cover my dough? I tried damp cloth but the dough sticks to it too much and is difficult to clean. The plastic bags I can throw away...but I will run out of them soon! I am baking in a COMBI oven at 230 Celsius for about 15 18 minutes with the setting to (I think) mist or combi - the setting with both dry and moist heat...the vent is also closed during this time. I then switch to the dry heat setting and open the vent to dry the bread out a bit. I found that at 240 or 250 C, the bread was too dark and the interior not fully cooked. What do you think!?! I think for now this info will be sufficient! Thanks for all your help! I will try to post some pictures soon! Ciao, Ore

Ciao, My baguette recipe is kinda off in my opinion...here is what I do... 1300 g. water 2000 g. Type "O" flour 42 g. yeast 42 g. salt I dissolve the yeast in the water (slightly warm), then add the flour and salt. I mix it in a mixer (the type where the whole bowl turns one way and the corkscrew looking thing turns the other way). It is mixed for about 6-10 minutes. Then I put the dough in a hotel pan, cover with a plastic bag and let proof for 60 minutes at 33 degrees C. After the hour I for my loafs and let proof another 10 to 20 minutes, then turn oven to mist setting (COMBY) and at 220 C bake for about 27 minutes. What do you think? My bread is too dense. Not airy like the real stuff. Also, I save a bit of the previous dough and use it the next day. Ciao, Ore

Ciao, Quick question...can you see the pics that I recently posted. On the pc I am using, they are all X'd out. I know Doc saw the pepper sauce but I hope they all went through. Thanks for the great comments too! I am glad you all are getting to experience a bit of my journey as well. Earlier today my chef and I were on RAI 2...one of Italy's main TV channels. The program was all about the food and wine of the Campania region. It was good fun! I was only really on the TV for about 2 seconds but I am not asking for more...not yet! It was filmed at the winery Di Meo and also featured other wines from the Irpinia area...where I now am. Last week I visited Feudi di San Gregorio...boy do they have money!!! Very nice place...and a restaurant with the most high tech equipment available. But can you call a kitchen a kitchen when there aren't any burners...all electric...I think NOT! Ahhh...got to go... Got to get back to the kitchen...Ciao for now! Ore

Ciao, I just found a great way to go on-line so hopefuly I will be regularly posting again...with great pictures of the area and the food we cook at the restaurant. Good idea Divina, I might as well do that...I wonder how long it lasts...but thats another subject! Florence...I am sure I will stop by before I leave Italy. We can meet up and have a glass of prosecco! I've been feeling kind of homesick lately...maybe it is because all I do now is work and sleep! Hopefuly I will find my rythm here soon. Ciao for now..... WAIT...here are some pics... Here is my chef, Antonio Pisaniello, in the kitchen. As you can see, it is a fairly small kitchen! This dish is tuna tartare. As you can see...the plates are well decorated...or...LOUD! Here is a spin on the tartare. It is a tuna ravioli...I made stock with the tuna scraps and gelatinized it...chef digged it and we had lots of fun playing with the tuna gel! Cavatelli...one of the pastas I can now make blind folded, with my hands tied behind my back, while asleep, is really well made here. The sauce is made with lardo, onion and pomodorini! Yummy! This is spaghettoni with a peperoni sauce. The other side of the kitchen. You see, it really isn't that big...or small! These two are pics of the area I am in now. They were taken last week in the afternoon. Today it is raining . This bell tower broke some years ago and is off by fifteen minutes (I think)...or the bells here are insignificant in terms of time!. The mountains!!! So peaceful! Well...thats it... Ciao, Ore

If in Vicenza, do look to nearby Bassano Del Grappa as a great place to visit and stay as well. Home to Grappa Nardini, the town also has an ancient bridge and a great hotel. Train very easy from Vicenza...See you at Salon del Gusto! Ciao, Ore

Ciao, Its been a while since I have last posted. This is my first day off since I got to my stage...2 weeks...lots of work but lots of fun as well! Also, internet isn't very easy to come by! The food at La Locanda di Bu, where I am staging, is great and the chef is great too. The other day he came in with two dvd's he has never watched before, but he knew what was on them. I brought my laptop down and we played the film. It was episodes of Rocco's TV Show. I thought that was very strange but kept watching. Then came a part when Rocco and his girlfriend went to the airport one night...to pick up none other but the chef I am working with now!! I thought it was very strange at first but my chef didn't think anything of it! "Hey...Tony" (Antonio) My chef arrived in NYC for the first time because he cooked for Rocco at the winery Mastroberardino, nearby. It was Rocco's B-day, so the TV show hooked my chef up with two tickets and a hotel room! He was also in NYC to cook for Roccos birthday. It was very funny and I had to share that! Also, he went to NYC with a young chef named Christophe, who was then another stagier. Chris now has a restaurant in San Francisco called A-16 (a major highway in Campania). Anyone been there?? So...on another note, I found a way to kinda help pay for my travels, and lack of compensation from the restaurant. I've been picking fresh FENNEL POLLEN from the local wild fennel and now have about three ounces. If you, or anyone you know are interested in some pollen, PM me PLEASE!!! It is really robust, intense stuff - I can't offer it as cheap as the other websites can BUT I make the stuff, so it is GOOD!! NO JOKE So, till the next time...hopefuly I will be able to post some pictures soon - the connection is soooo slow here!!! Ciao, Ore ...and I am really serious about the fennel pollen...tell your friends!

Ciao, Week 8 Week 8 Week 8 Week 8 Week 8 Week 8 Week 8 Week 8 This past weekend we went on a class trip up to the Veneto. Saturday we visited the winery Bisol, had lunch at Bisols new Agriturismo which was great, had dinner at some place I can’t remember right now – when I do, I will post it. It had an amazing wine cellar – pictures will follow. We spent all of Sunday in Venezia (blah!). Some photos of the weekend: Until arriving to the school in Jesi, I wan unfamiliar with Bisol and their wines. This photo shows some of their achievements. Theses bottles were all specially made for some occasions – not the Ferrari bottle in the front – this was the bottle they drank – not the Mumm they spray all over the place!!! Bisol is in the heart of the Prosecco region. Its wines were all great in my opinion and I really liked the still prosecco they offered. They make a dessert wine which is fantastic and is done using the Solera System. Here are some more pics of the winery and its area. This is a shot of the Agriturismo – where we stayed. A beautiful shot of the rolling hills covered with vines. The weather was perfect that day. It was cool and just after a light shower so everything was extremely bright green! Here is another shot of the landscape. Doesn’t this make you want to go there!?! We had a great lunch at the Agriturismo. We started with some bruschettas. I remember one being of Ricotta cheese with treviso – yummy! Also, we had Porcini sott’ olio and radicchio sott’ aceto. Both were perfect and great with the sparkling wines. Here is a shot of the lunch table from my bedroom! Saturday night we had dinner at an amazing restaurant. The wine cellar was amazing. Here is a picture of George from India leading the gang out of the cellar. The rest of the pictures are inside the cellar. By far the largest cellar I have been in. There were cases of almost every spirit I knew of (minus some great tequilas!). There was one wall dedicated to grappas and eau de vies! One wall dedicated to the wide array of Bisol Prosecco bottles! One wall dedicated solely to olive oils… And then wine…lots and lots and lots of wine… And then the good stuff – the really good stuff that is…Behind a locked vault!! To top that all off, they even head some Salumi hanging near the kitchen. These pictures were actually of my house…in my dreams maybe! The restaurant was called Gigetto. We had a set menu and all the dishes were great but lunch was only five hours before dinner and I honestly barely touched most of the plate – a shock for the people who know me!!! Sunday, as I mentioned earlier, was spent in Venice. By far the worst city in my opinion. It was a either Spaghetti made for tourists – with a huge scoop of sauce atop white noodles, a seat in the piazza where a snack for two is at least 40 Euros, or Burger King – the whopper won!!! (Slow Food people don’t read this!!!) It was the first fast food in over three months! So – I had to get a Bellini at Harry’s Bar. It was OK – way overpriced at 13 (I think) Euros each – but ok – nothing special. It was too early to get food though – too bad. I wanted to try the carpaccio! SO………………………….That ended the weekend. Monday and Tuesday were spent learning about ABRUZZO and its cuisine. Wednesday was a cheese and Salumi tasting and Thursday and Friday were wasted trying to learn about Lombardia and Risotto from a very ignorant chef (in my opinion of course!). Abruzzo: The chef was Severino Forcone who was one of the greatest chefs we had. He was truly a comedian before a chef – he was soo funny. Hopefully you can see it in some of the pictures! Abruzzo is made up of four types of cuisine. Like the rest of Italy, its geography plays the major role. The cuisine types are of the Mountains, the Hills, the Plain Lands, and the Sea. The city of Panarda was one of the grandest cities for cuisine back in the days. It was know for its grand scale of banquets which would range from 36 to 40 courses. The worst part was that it was DISRESPECTFUL to leave the table at anytime and in drawings, there are always armed guards present – maybe to keep them safe, maybe to fatten them! The meal of Virtues – on May 1st, the meal of Virtues is prepared. This consists of the key number 7 being repeated by all the different types of foods available. You would cook 7 different vegetables, 7 different meats, 7 different grains, herbs, etc. all for seven hours! For seafood, like in neighboring Marche, the Brodetto is a major player. Also, there is a dish called Scapece which is fish that is fried and preserved under vinegar and onion – very similar to the north’s style of in Saor. Abruzzo is home to the first school for training chefs. I think the date was around the 1500’s. It is said that the best chefs were Abruzzese and the noble court of Naples had a desire for royal foods – prepared by Abruzzo trained chefs. We truly made some great food in these tow days. Here are the pictures! This first picture is something I am sure you are familiar with, although it may not be what you think. This photo yes, is of a truffle, but this is a summer truffle – no where near the potency or grandness of the truffles available in the fall/winter. These are very mild and are best for infusing in oils. We made a simple pasta chittara – a regional specialty – with a truffle sauce – just minced truffles in olive oil with salt, pepper and parmigiano to finish. Here is the pasta being made. The chittara must be tuned just like a guitar (where it gets its name from) by plucking at the strings. The tone should be nice and high! And then the finished product! Here is a photo of Baccala, salt cod, very simply prepared. The cod was soaked for two days and then grilled, skin on for about 15 minutes or so – the skin was taken off, the meat flaked and seasoned and tossed with roasted peppers. That’s it! It is best served the next day, when all the aromas have been absorbed – the peppers give a strong flavor to the fish. The photo below is of a diamond cut of pasta called sagnette. The sauce is an Aquilana style and was made with duck meat that was braised in a rich broth and then pureed with a blender. As simple as this may be, it was my favorite dish from Abruzzo. I know, all it is is grilled bread – but it was perfect. It was grilled slowly on both sides, then, rubbed with garlic. Afterwards, it was seasoned with salt and olive oil – lots of great olive oil! Like Campania – one of the first posts of this blog – Abruzzo also has a version of lamb with an egg yolk sauce. I prefer this one 10 times to the one from Campania. It was a bit piccante but delicious. It was rich and creamy too! In Abruzzo, the dish is called Agnello Cac’e Ove. The cheese and egg sauce used Pecorino or sheep’s milk cheese. Ciabotto, very similar in sound to the bread, is very farm from. It is much closer to a ratatouille actually! This dish was a type of mixed vegetable stew with the major herbs in play being basil, garlic and hot red pepper. Actually, most of the Abruzzese food we made had a bit of hot red pepper in it. Not a shocker at all. This following pasta was a quick chef invention. He used some regional ingredients to make this beautiful, tasty plate. There was eggplant as well as a regional cured meat that was very rich in both sweet and hot red pepper – more sweet. The chef mentioned that the peppers helped the salumi age and protect against rancidity. Dessert in Abruzzo is great. The region is plentiful in almonds and uses it a lot ground in sweet breads and cakes. We made Pizzel (spelling and two other words for the same cookie). This was basically a waffle cone batter put into a press and squeezed. The outcome was a crisp cookie. Our pasta had fennel seed in it. Here is a photo of the chef analyzing the cookie with the class. Enjoy! So – the famous group picture…here it is! On to LOMBARDIA. I mentioned earlier that I didn’t like these two days very much. That is because the chef was teaching us as if we were seven years old. She was wayyyy tooooo slowwww and it really aggravated me. Really! But, on to the facts… Lombardia is home to Milano, Italy’s most populated city, where you can almost find anything. Kind of like NYC! (in terms of food products, etc. This is where the Japanese go to find their special ingredients. Sake is very hard to find in Italy!) When we started the day, we had an actual risotto lesson first. We learned all about the grain and used a special sheet of paper to actually see the individual grain. This paper was half white and half black. Very cool to see what your rice really looks like! Rice has its origin in the Oryza Sativa strain. From that strain we get today’s Indica and Japonica (no, these are not Marijuana strains!). The Himalayas naturally created a division between where these two grains grow best. Indica south of the mountains, Japonica north. West Africa has its own strain of rice, Oryza Glaberrima Zizania Acquatica is what we know as wild rice and is not a rice but a grain. Between the 1700’s and 1800’s is when industrial rice growing began. If you are familiar with the rice grain, there is always an indentation in the grain. This is due to the embryo of the rice which is separated from what we eat. All rice will have this indentation. Indica varietals are the form like Jasmine, Basmati - they have a characteristic aroma. Japonica is the rice used for risotto or sticky rice. This grain absorbs the aromas of what it is cooked in/with. One thing that throws many rice consumers familiar with Italian short grain rice is their classification. Superfino, fino, semi-fino, tondo and commune ARE NOT quality standards. THEY ARE AN INDICATION OF THE GRAINS ACTUAL SIZE. Superfino being the largest grain, commune the smallest. Carnaroli is a Superfino grain. Vialone Nano is a Semi-fino grain. The best rice for risotto has the highest percentage of Amylase in it. The Vialone Nano is the winner with 21%. Any more and the grain would not cook. Vialone Nano is the best rice to use for risotto. I have never used it in the US. Carnaroli come in 2nd with Arborio and Baldo coming in third and fourth. For desserts, you want to use the rice with the lowest amount of amylase in it. Amylase helps keep the rice intact during the cooking process. Amylopectin represents the grains capacity to retain liquids. There are many defects that your rice can contain. That is what the black paper is used for – to see these defects. A higher quality rice will have less defects. One of the most common are broken grains of rice. This is very bad because of the different cooking times the rice will have. Another is all white grains of rice – they may appear to be chalky. This is called Gessato and will also prevent the rice from cooking evenly. Always keep your rice in a cool, dark place. A cool fact: Italian rice must remain in the hull for at least three months before it can be hulled. The great producers wait two years before they hull their rice. The best machine for hulling the rice is called Elica and gives the rice a polished, golden hue. On to the food! There are five photos for Lombardia – thank god! The first is a typical filled pasta. The filling is sweet/savory and includes steamed acorn squash, amaretti crumbs, nutmeg, butter, and mostarda di mele. The sauce was a simple butter sauce with sage – lots of sage. He Tortelli di Zucca were great! The next shot is of a famous pasta dish called Pizzoccheri della Valtellina. This pasta is made with buckwheat flour and I personally don’t care too much for it! The ratio is 180 g. buckwheat flour, 80 g. white flour, 1 egg, and salt! The pasta is layered between cooked potatoes and cabbage that have been seasoned with butter, salt, lots of sage and grana padano cheese. The famous Risotto Nero con le Seppie is well known. It gets its black color from the ink sack of the cuttlefish and has a very distinct flavor and aroma – one I do not care for at all! This preparation called for half of the cuttlefish meat to be cooked in with the rice and half cooked in a sauté pan with butter! La Panissa di Vercelli is a risotto dish that is cooked with legumes to make a complete winter meal. Every family has its own “real” recipe. Basically, this is a risotto dish with beans and vegetable stock. It is very hearty. The leftovers are usually sliced and browned in a hot pan for a crispy snack! Ending this post id the group pic with the chef, Marcella Cicognetti. Thanks for reading. Thanks for reading. I leave for my stage in about five hours so the next time I get to the internet I will post again – I don’t know how long that will be. Wish me luck!! Ciao and thank you! Ore

wow...I wish I had some foie right now! A really easy recipe follows: Torchon of foie gras Marinade your deveined lobe in 1/2 oz. Brandy, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper. Place in fridge covered with plastic wrap. The next day take it out and cut it into small cubes or pieces. The cut does not matter as it will cook out of its cut shape. The pieces should be about the size of small dice - 1 cm. square. In a seperate sautee pan, slowly cook some minced shallots with EVOO and salt. Cook them slowly in enough oil so that they kinda melt down. Towards the end add a touch of brandy and some lemon juice. Cook that out. Get a large sautee pan SMOKING HOT...Season your cubes a small but at a time with salt and pepper and sear the hell out of them for about 30 seconds to one minute. Do NOT move or shake that pan until you think the bottom is nice and caramelized...not BURNT! When ready, pull of to a paper towel or slotted hotel pan to drain. When all your foie is ready, mix it with the shallots in a mixing bowl. At this point adjust the seasoning - it should taste DAMN good! Get some plastic wrap ready and some butchers twine. Basically you are gonna make a sausage out of the foie gras. Take a piece of plastic and pull it out straight. Place a line of foie grasabout 2/3 the width of the wrap. Start ROLLING IT UP! As long as your rolling up skills are cool, you should have no problems. Tie the ends with butchers twine and use a teasing needle to get the air bubles out...You want to avoid those at all cost! The fat should squeeze out of all the teasing holes you put into the torchon. Place in the fridge until set, eat and enjoy, then post your findings! I hope that helped! Ciao, Ore

Ciao, If you are staying in an Agriturismo, most likely they can make a 'lesson' out of your dinner, etc. I would look into something like that. I am not aware of any formal cooking schools in Bologna for such a time period. Good luck and let us know what you made! Ciao, Ore

Thanks for all the great comments! Keep reading and tell your friends... Oh, if you know how I can get a 'grant' out here, please let me know as cash is getting kinda tight!!! Ciao, Ore