I_call_the_duck

Hey everyone, Mr. Duck and I just got back from a glorious 10-day trip to Italy to visit his sister Amy, her husband Alfredo, and their daughter Alesandra. Triple-A (as we collectively call them) live with about twenty other people on a farm near Sovicille, a small town a few miles outside Siena. It’s an organic farm and they grow grapes, olives, and all this other fun stuff. Everyone shares the duties, including making meals, and we delighted in several days of fabulous meals, so we wanted to share our travels with you. Two trains, two planes, a bus, and about 21 hours later, we arrived to this--La Comune di Bagnaia: Just in time for a quick nap and dinner. It was Alfredo’s turn to cook that night. On the menu was Mediterranean shark braised with garlic, tomatoes, and olive oil; penne with tuna, capers, and tomatoes; boiled head-on prawns; sautéed peppers; braised beans with tomatoes (yes, it was tomato season); homemade cheese; salad; and of course, wine. Dinner is served on a cart, buffet-style. I thought I got a photo of the separate dishes, but I guess I didn't. Here's my plate: What a nice way to start our vacation. They make their own wine, and had only red left since they ran out of white a few weeks ago (grr…Amy said it was really good). But they took out the rosato, which they save for special occasions. Oh, so good to be back. This is one of my favorite places on earth. Day 2 - our first full day in Italy. We decided to take it easy that day and refamiliarize ourselves with the farm. Breakfast was just caffé with some bread, with honey and jam. More views of Bagnaia: The vineyards: Nearby villa: Lunch was made by Alessandra. The cart: White bean dip and pesto. Timbale (rice with tomatoes, peppers, and onions) Roast pork with rosemary. Pies with carmelized onions and a spinach “quiche”. Cheese There were other cheeses, as well as salad. For dessert, apple-raisin bread pudding and ricotta tart. ...and assorted pastries. For the record, they don’t usually eat like this for lunch. In the evening, we went to Sovicille, where they were holding an organic fair. There was a stand selling pork products: This was Bagnaia's stand: At night, Alfredo wanted to take us to this osteria in a town called Chiusdino for a light supper. Pretty cool little place. It also sold meats and wine. The restaurant used to be part of a larger estate. This used to be the storage cellar: And the well. The menu: Crostini: Our primis: Tagliatelle al funghi e panna - so rich and tasty. Spaghetti nera alla bottarga - a little salty, but delicious. Bucatini al sugo di prosciutto Spaghetti al scoglio (sorry a little blurry) - so good. Fusilli alle zucchine. Haven't had that combo before. Creamy and delicious. Sottaceti e Sottoli salad: Almost too full for a secondo, but we did manage to fit in one order of tagliata di chianina con radiccio. Really, really tasty. But too full for dessert. Until tomorrow's meal.

With snozberry on the menu, how could you not order it?

Agreed. I went yesterday, and that was damn tasty stuff. The chicken was flavorful and moist, and the falafel was really good too. Looking forward to Monday.

Kid's gotta start sometime!! How else is she gonna learn to like it? It was great seeing Katie and other eG'ers. I had the blood orange margarita, and Mr. Duck had the Salty Pomeranian. Both were absolutely delicious. Now looking at Andrew’s pics, I wish we stayed for dinner, but Mr. Duck had other plans that night. Seems like the happening scene--we'll just have to go again soon.

Cool, divina!! I'd love to take a dim sum course. My mom stopped making har gows before I was born--my sisters ate them faster then she could wrap them, so she decided it just wasn't worth it. I'm leaning towards bringing my sauces and buying fresh stuff in Florence. hathor, I'm curious--what are you envious about?

^^Perfetto!! Grazie, Divina. Do you remember which brands of sauces they carry? (I'll probably shlep some there anyway so I can be sure that I have the brand I like.) This is going to be fun. Mr. Duck requested chow fun, but I have a couple of weeks to perfect my recipe before it goes public. We're going to be in Florence Sept. 17-20th, and I'm going to try to convince Mr. Duck to take one of your classes.

If you wish to make your way into Astoria, I've always loved Sabor Tropical on 30th Avenue (near the N/W/R/G lines). To be honest, I haven't been in about a year, but everything there was really good, and they make killer caipirinhas.

What, no duck?! Wow, everything looked so good. How spicy was the rabbit ding? The one at Chung King was painfully spicy but really tasty. I'm sorry I missed it. I'm up for Part Two whenever that may be.

^^Apparently shilling for Bertolli and blogging on Top Chef for Bravo. docsconz is right. He's very talented, and it's very unfortunate that his career took the path that it did.

Thanks, WYF. It's a great start. It's going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it.

Mr. Duck and I will be heading to Italy next month. His sister lives with about 20 other people on a farm near Siena. We always eat very well there, but on our last visit, one of her housemates hinted that he wanted me to cook an authentic Chinese meal. I’m delighted to oblige. The dishes that I’ve had in mind are not the fancy banquet-style stuff, but more Ah Leung-type dishes, since that is what I do best. I'm willing to adapt to what is available, and am planning on bringing some jars of sauces and condiments, but: What type of fresh ingredients I can get in Italy? Ginger? Tofu? Scallions? Greens? Where can I find them either in Siena or Florence? …and what can I NOT bring into Italy? Thanks for your help!

I like Tyler Florence's (before he sold out to Applebee's) recipe, but I added a bit more banana, more nuts, and banana liqueur (instead of vanilla).

Dinner at Pif: the penultimate night. Thanks, Matt for asking about the quail. It was not on the menu, but Matt nicely asked the chef if there was any left over from the night before. What I got was not exactly the same dish that philadining had (Chef Ansill apologized), but it was great. It came with roasted potatoes and spinach in this lovely sauce. The little bits of foie were just enough to make this dish shine. Mr. Duck had the salmon with cucumber and dates. I'm not a big fan of salmon, but this piece was very fresh, and perfectly prepared. The cucumbers added a lovely fresh/cool contrast to the salmon. Oh, and we started off with the pig trotters. Tasty. Dessert: Financiar and the tart. Delicious. Made Mr. Duck and me wonder why we haven't been there more often. Thanks, Chef Ansill and all the staff at Pif for the wonderful meals we've had there. It will be missed, and I hope we can make it to your Pif dinners in the future.

From Tony Bourdain's blog: Would have been even funnier if Hung was on the beef team, seeing that he talks about his monkey all the time.

Portions were a little small-ish, but even then, by the time I got to the duck (is anyone surprised that I ordered the duck?), I couldn't finish it. I hope they do continue the $30 prix-fixe. One of the best deals in town. Everything we had that night was delicious. I think they ran out of the veal cheeks the night we went, so I guess I'll have to go back again.

Purty!I keep my kosher salt in a Morton's salt tin box with a flip lid. It's big enough for Mr. Duck's hand. I just dip right in, but Mr. Duck uses the little wooden spoon. No pretty container for the sea salt.

Haven't been able to shlep down to Brooklyn lately, but Yonah Schimmel's is my fav by far. Just a few days ago, I had a broccoli knish and sweet potato knish. The sweet potato knish had a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top, which made it soooo tasty. I usually put mustard on knishes, but those would be the street vendor variety. No mustard was needed for these little babies.

Thanks for the recommendations and condolences. I'll pass them along to my sister. I think the Black Forest Brewhaus sounds like the best bet, but I'll let her make the final decision.

^Yeah, I've been imdb-ing this morning, but they didn't have the food-related credits listed.

I saw it yesterday with Mr. Duck, and there were more adults in the theatre than adults with kids. Thoroughly delightful movie, but the credits were rolling by so quickly that I barely got a chance to read the names. I caught Thomas Keller, and I was wondering if it was the Thomas Keller, or just some dude who just happened to have the same name. Glad to hear that it was indeed the great man himself.

Try New Hampshire or Delaware. No sales tax. My sister made my other sister (who lives in Boston) shlelp to NH to buy booze. Twenty years ago, and she's still bitter about it. Or if that isn't a possibility, try Trader Joe's. I have a friend who had Two Buck Chuck at their wedding and nobody was the wiser. I haven't tried TJ's wine yet, so I really don't know how good it really is.

Hey weinoo, did you do our wedding?

^^We were thinking along the same lines after interviewing a place in Brooklyn. $10/slice and $75 delivery. Granted, the cake was pretty damn tasty, but that was also pretty damn expensive. Our $200 ($50 delivery from Jersey) was just fine. Sheesh. Weddings are such a racket.

My sister's father-in-law just passed away, and will be buried in Farmingdale, NY (Long Island). She has a lot going on right now, so I'd like to help her find a place nearby that people can go to eat and reminisce after the service, which takes place on Sunday at 11am. Any recommendations? I think there will be about a couple of dozen people, most of them elderly, so nothing too fancy or noisy. Thanks for your help.

Nina, Congratulations!! It isn't easy getting married on a tight budget, especially in NYC, but it can be done. We did. We found most of our stuff on craigslist. There are a lot of people who are starting out in the wedding business and just want a recommendation or something to add to their portfolio--and are willing do to stuff for little to no cost. We found our officiant, photgrapher, and wedding planner--all for free (Our photographer turned out to be flakey, but we won't go there.) Our reception was at a bar that our friend owns, which cut down on the cost of renting tables, linens, etc. He also gave us a good deal on alcohol. The caterer we used was Indiana Catering. I would recommend them. The food was creative and tasty, and presentation was beautiful. We settled for passed hors d'oeuvres, along with a cheese station. Our cake came from a place in New Jersey. We had about 65 guests at our wedding and our entire cost was around $10K. It was a casual yet elegant, and we all had a great time. Good luck.