jg488

Thank you, everyone, for your wonderful posts. I have a good idea on how to cook the cotechino and lentils. I'd appreciate some more input on the menu. Craig helpfully wrote that: Maybe I'm breaking tradition, but I'd nevertheless like to serve the cotechino with a few other courses, even if they're simple and light. Wilfred offered the following: Any more ideas?

Good point, Craig - I'm hoping some food experts who know more I do can chime in on this question.

I just called Faicco's again and confirmed the info on their cotechino. It is raw, not cured. The boss told me that I could cure it by leaving it out at room temp for 2-3 weeks, which would dry it out. But they make it fresh and refrigerate it, so it has to fully cook. He recommended that I simmer it for an hour, maybe an hour and a quarter. New Yorkers are lucky to have a butcher like Faicco's that makes fresh cotechino, but I don't believe even Faicco's does zampone. I could be wrong...

I called the good people at Faicco's and they told me it's raw, so it needs to cook. They suggested that I prick it a few times, then simmer it for at least an hour. Does that sound right? Good call - that's exactly why I wanted some suggestions. Wilfred, those ideas sound very good. I'd love some ideas on an appropriate salad and cheese. Maybe the cheese should come from Emilia Romagna or somewhere in the north?

This sounds great - how do I do it? I'd also welcome suggestions on the overall menu. I guess the cotechino will be the piece de resistance, but I need to put together an entire dinner. Right now I'm thinking about the following: Appetizer - Fettunta - toasted bread rubbed with garlic and drowned with extra-virgin olive oil and some chunks of parmesano drizzled with balsamico Pasta - maybe just a spaghetti with tomato sauce then the cotechino - maybe with lentils, or over cubed friend potatos Any other ideas???

Great idea, Steve. I've enjoyed mostarda with cheese in New York and during trips to Italy. I guess I'd boil the cotechino in the usual manner, then slice it into rounds and serve it with the mostarda as a first course. Unfortunately, St. Thomas doesn't have a shop that would carry mostarda. Do you have any ideas about where to order some good mostarda online?

I hope someone out there can help me prepare a wonderful meal with cotechino sausage. I live in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands - not exactly a great place to find Italian sausage. But good friends just visited me from my old neighborhood in New York and brought me some meat from Faicco's on Bleecker Street. They froze the sausages and brought them to me in a cooler. They brought the regular sweet Italian sauages with fennel, and a more exotic cotechino, which I've never cooked. So I have a few questions. First, how should I deal with defrosting the meat? I don't have a microwaver, so I assume the thing to do it put the meat in the fridge the day before, and it will be ready to go. But now I need to know how to cook the cotechino. I found some recipes online that suggest pricking it with a fork and boiling it, and serving it with lentils. Does anyone out there have alternative suggestions? I'd love to hear your input. Thanks- JG

That's a great question. I read a wonderful article on this topic by Mark Bittman in the New York Times. I'm going to paste it here (hope I'm not breaking any eGullet rules...) Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company The New York Times December 25, 2002, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final SECTION: Section F; Page 6; Column 1; Dining In, Dining Out/Style Desk LENGTH: 1205 words HEADLINE: A New Way to Find a Bottle in a Haystack BYLINE: By MARK BITTMAN BODY: NOT long ago, I realized I needed professional help. Even though I have written about wine off and on for 15 years, every time I scanned a wine list I got the same sinking, desperate feeling. There was a reason: the lists forced me to make choices without sufficient information. Picking between roast chicken and braised veal is easy; selecting from a long list of wines, when I am familiar with only a few, is not. And asking for help, at least for a control freak like me, is like asking for directions: it takes strength. Driven by frustration and embarrassment, I devised a novel solution. Sitting at L'Impero in Tudor City with a friend, I ignored the wine list entirely. Instead, I asked the sommelier to bring us a "fruity red, but one with some structure, something interesting, and less than $50." He positively beamed, and returned with "a personal favorite," a pinot nero from Friuli that was actually exciting. In restaurants, I began to explain what kind of wine I wanted and how much I was willing to pay. ... [in the interests of complying with both the laws regarding copyright infringement and the ethical issues invloved in reposting text not in the public domain, I have, after consultation with the original poster truncated this article to include its main theme and not the full and interesting details. The full article should be available in the NY Times archives. There's no reason to delete the post in it's entirety, but we do ask members to read the parts of the agreement dealing with copyright infringement. --Bux] http://www.nytimes.com

Thanks for all of your wonderful suggestions. The meal was great. I wound up buying a '97 Marchesi di Barolo, which was wonderful. I paid $80 for that bottle - anyone know if that's a good deal? (Maybe this belongs on the wine board...) JR

I'm invited to a dinner party where they're serving osso buco and polenta. My job is to bring the wine, and I'm hoping you have some suggestions. I live in an area where the retail wine selection is very limited, so general recommendations would be more useful than specific bottles which might be hard to find. I'll write in after the party with a report. Thanks! JR

thanks for the reply, stefanyb. but could you tell me more about exactly how you'd use the truffle oil in preparing those dishes?

A friend of mine just received a bottle of white truffle-infused oil as a gift. How can she use it in the kitchen? She's a quasi-vegetarian: fish and seafood is ok, but no chicken, pork, or beef. Any ideas out there? Josh

I have a Rancilio Silvia, which I bought from Jim at 1st-line.com I know you doo too - I checked out your posts about espresso. I'd say you should get a good grinder when you can. I've been really happy with the Rocky for almost 2 years now. I once had a small problem, and Jim from 1st-line.com fixed it right away. So I'd recommend the Rocky, but I don't know anything about the Spanish grinder you mentioned. But back to beans... I've heard good things about Danesi, but I'm surprised that you buy it in a 2 kilo bag. How fast do you go through it? And how do you store it? I guess I'd worry about freshness. Do you notice that it dries out over time (you have to grind finer and/or tamp harder to get a good shot)? And why no home roasting? Is it that you just don't want to get into what can be a very time-consuming endeavor (especially if you're blending on your own)? Or do you think that one can't produce excellent coffee by home roasting?

Another espresso topic for Egullet: I'd like to hear people's thoughts on beans for making espresso at home. (I use a Rancilio Rocky grinder, which has proved very effective and reliable.) I was using Illy beans for a while, but that got pretty expensive. So my standby has been the Espresso Roast from Gourmet Garage on 7th Avenue in Manhattan. Not too expensive, and tastes good. But then I wanted to take it to the next level, so I got a Hearthware home roaster. It's been fun experimenting with it, but working on creating my own blends is just too time consuming. So I've been using the two espresso blends from Sweet Maria's, which are pretty tasty and easy to deal with. Home roasting is fun, and you get the advantage of very fresh coffee. The downside is lack of consistency - of course I'll never get my home roasting down to a science the way Illy does. Do any of you have some thoughts on home roasting or roasted beans for home espresso making? Josh