Pontormo

Underneath that crisp black skin, the chicken was very, very moist. I'm not Southern girl, I guess. I type with four painful fingers and one painful thumb since I started out with my tiny cast iron skillet, planning to fry only two pieces. Not having any country ham or lard, I decided to add a small dallop of bacon fat to peanut oil. Big mistake. Burst into flames when temperature reached the dizzying height Ms. Lewis specifies. Didn't go out right away with pot lid since too much air was getting in. Sink and water closer than baking soda. Wooden cabinets right above sink. Scary and ouch. I was not born to fry. Tried again. I just don't know. Help me out. Is it the fact that I scrubbed off finish and totally reseasoned my big cast iron skillet less than a year ago? It seems that whenever I use an extremely high heat, the item plunged immediately into the fat burns instantly. Okay, maybe not every time, but it seems that way since I rarely cook this way and I was not born to fry. So, this time, using just peanut oil, I probed the fat with my probe thermometer which really does not seem to like being stuck into things other than meat or water-based liquids. Shoulda used the other old thermometer. Just decided what the hell, can't be toooo hot, but cast iron skillets are all forged under the sign of Taurus and do not change the intensity of their heat quickly enough. Instant color of mascara made for blondes, black by the time the flesh cooked through. I'm not a Southern girl, for sure. As I said, chicken was moist. Succulent. Any advice would be gratefully received. I had a one & two rather than a one & three or whatever it's called. Buttermilk-battered fried green tomatoes (my first, NPR recipe courtesy of a cook from New Orleans. Fine, but not all that impressed. Needed something.) Buttermilk-mashed potatoes, based on a recipe by Judy Rodgers, a Missouri girl, born betwixt the South and the midwest and taught about food in France and Italy before California bound. Fi-ine! She and me, we go way back. Ms. Lewis, I truly, truly respect what you could do and I cannot. Yet.

This would make a wicked little signature line.

We're good. Where do you get caul fat States-side?

Definitely, Stephen. Sounds like a great combination. I envy you all your canned tomatoes from the summer. After raking the leaves, do post a photograph if so inclined. * * * Hathor: the chestnut-lentil soup ws made by frying pancetta, removing it, them returning it to pot after softening onion, garlic and celery. (No carrots, too sweet for chestnuts.) THEN with pancetta back in, white wine gets reduced. Crucial step, I think, since this removes cloying effect that chestnuts tend to impart unless you're careful. I may have puréed [isn't it cool? I finally learned how to add one kind of diacritical mark!] some of the soup afterwards--though probably not. Dollop of reduced yogurt not traditional, but effective.

You're a grown-up, now. Do as you want! Pappa is generally made with fresh tomatoes. I personally never was tempted to eat it in the summer. It's so damn hot and muggy. That's when I have the"drier version" as a salad: panzanella with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and chunks of bread.

It's like being back in a college dorm when all the women on your floor discover they're in sync. Honest, I did the Judy Rodgers pre-salting thing on pieces of chicken Monday to cook thighs in Umbrian fashion last night and to soak the drumsticks in buttermilk for tonight to accompany green tomatoes! Alas, I am winging it so to speak, since I returned the cookbook to the library. If I don't find Ms. Lewis's instructions online, would someone mind telling me if there is anything special I should do besides soaking the chicken in buttermilk?

1) Here, here! Yes, lovely passionate post, Kevin. 2) Rinds, YES, Hathor. With pecorino, you have to scrape off paper, usually. I don't bother to much of anything with Parm or other waxy rinds except use a peeler or scrub them. 3) Didn't I write about the chestnut-lentil soup somewhere? I don't own the cookbook on Italian soups I consulted since I am the only patron of my neighborhood library who borrows it, but I followed a recipe that includes prosciutto or pancetta and the rest of the usual suspects. Twas very, very good.

I DID! I saw the foolish virgins, the man with the apple, the whole deal...but I couldn't make out what was behind him (L'ouevre de Notre Dame continue, madame, et il y a beaucoup de barrieres.)! Tell me, tell me! ← Well, there may be a better photograph on the Web, but the third image here is a large detail of the jamb figures of south portal that represents the Bridegroom leading the Wise Virgins with their prepared lamps to the (ultimate) wedding feast on the right side of the door (not shown) and on the left, the Seducer holding out a luscious, crisp fall apple to a row of Foolish Virgins who are so caught up with the Things of the World that they neglect to tend their lamps and do not hear the call. It's hardly noticeable, but you can see some squirmy bumps beneath the straight folds of the king's courtly garments. They are toads and snakes who are intent on eating his rotting flesh until there is nothing left but bone. Very Halloweenish, no? The moral, of course, is that this young, charming, richly attired man may flirt and offer delicious treats, but he, like you, shall one day be rotting corpse, food for worms. So, heed not the pot of hot chocolate that calls out your name. Light your lamp.

It's wonderful to see how much hot chocolate you drank with whipped cream in Prague, Megan! Now, did you check out the portal on the cathedral in Stasbourg that I suggested you look out for? The detail I wanted you to discover is VERY culinary...

Sorry about the photo? Those ribs look glorious and it's nice to see a sign verifying reports that polenta is served in Umbria. I turned back to Anna del Conte tonight to make Il Coniglio della Zia Lidoria, substituting chicken for rabbit. A battuto of garlic and sage leaves flavors the olive oil before the chicken is browned and stewed in a mixture of white wine vinegar and water. At the very end, the pan juices are thickened with potato flour (left over from Lombardy) and a fine mince of capers, anchovy and lemon zest. Nothing like truffles or fresh porcini, but I liked the gremolada-like effect of the final addition since the assertive flavors remained so. This was placed on a bed of mashed turnip instead of the recommended potatoes. The other vegetable served as a nod to the cardoon gratin photographed by Judith above. This time, Heinz provided superior cardoons even if they are no match for the perfect ones I see in pictures all over the internet with absolutely no discussion of problems in growing them. Unlike the full-scale, woody, virtually hollow stalks that cooked in around 8 minutes that I purchased from him in the spring, without deribbing them, these mostly hollow baby stalks took around half an hour to soften fully, a promising sign. They retained an unpleasantly bitter taste, but it diminished. I decided that I was a bit tired of bechamel, so my gratin became more French than Italian, perhaps. I tossed the cardoons with grated Parmesan and then added chicken stock and heavy cream, topping the dish with breadcrumbs and more cheese. The bitterness mellowed even more and the stock really picked up the artichoke-like flavor.

Franci, it's good to see you back ! I would merely second your response to Judith regarding rinds. After collecting nearly 20 in a freezer bag, I had thought it time to check out reports of their virtues. I found that if you keep the rind used in making a soup in the pot each time you reheat a batch, eventually it becomes so soft you can scoop gooey, glorious cheese off with a soup. Yumm ! I even hacked the little strip of solid core into chips and was surprised to find it dry--a bit like the texture of a freshly sliced hunk of pecorino or Parm. Good sprinkled on top of the soup. * * * And Judith, I LOVE chestnut-based soups, especially with lentils. However, simple, straight-forward combination of a sparing number of ingredients sounds even better! It's not just a matter of economy. Am I allowed to mention France in this forum ? MFK Fisher's contribution to the Time-Life series of international cookbooks included observations about home cooking and dining habits. She said that French families tended to eat little at the end of the day: a bowl of soup and the loaf of bread tucked under arm on their way home down the pretty streets. That comment stayed with me and always seemed so civilized. (More links to individual posts from regional threads, later. Please feel free to link yourselves when the spirit moves.)

1) I may not have said much about the combination of fats here since I reported results in a thread where I first sought advice about the flour and learned more about the fats. I got the inspiration from Andiesenji here. No matter how much I give away, I still have leftovers. It's still quite moist. 2) I'm not sure about the apples. There are several farmers who bring 8-12 kinds of apples to the market. I am partial to two (Gold Rush and Mitsu), but like to gather lots of different types for making applesauce or baking. In that season in between all the peaches, plums, cherries and melons of summer, before the citrus fruit is good, a week or two of concord grapes and bunch of bananas will get me only so far. I need variety! 3) Since I was relying on Leite's Web site for the recipe, I didn't realize there was advice about cinnamon. I used two different kinds and noticed the SE Asian one was much lighter. Good to know.

Hilarious ending to a creative array of tapas. Not at all what I expected! I once participated in an international food blog by mail where the person who paired up donors and recipients was wicked. She asked if there were any allergies or aversions we needed to announce. I said I was easy, but would prefer not being paired with anyone from countries familiar to me, or in mentioning the UK, I mentioned my utter dislike of Marmite. So, what does she do? Yup, a package from Australia was thrilling except for the fact that it contained a little packet of Vegemite! I hope you at least used a green box of Kraft Parmesan to go with the company's other ignoble product. ETA: Really, meant in fun. Looks gorgeous. Okay?

Interesting, Bryan! I must have mentioned this elsewhere, but I finally found pimenton at Whole Foods fairly recently, offered in sweet, bittersweet and hot flavors. The employees of each store get to chose what products they will carry, so make a cheerful noise. The number of Spanish items are slowly starting to expand here in the city where José Andres makes his mark. I am not sure if that is the connection, though. The number of Spanish items have been growing over the years, beginning with almonds to a few more cheeses, orange blossom honey, a few more wines... To answer Mark's question, the one ingredient that really has proven to be a revelation is Spanish chorizo since I have never cooked with it before. Serrano ham does not have that effect since it is so close to prosciutto crudo, at least as far as my tongue's memory goes.

Since you're a New Yorker, your experience is probably colored by the fact that you live in a city where there are many restaurants and many solo diners, including residents who think nothing about going out to a neighborhood place to dine alone instead of doing take-out at the end of busy day. Here in Washington, D.C., I am accustomed to seeing lots of solo diners in places where you can drop in on the way home from work or in between errands. I get the impression that the few lone folk in "better" establishments are from out of town and taking time away from a conference, scheduled appointments, a trial, etc. I personally do not "take myself out" to a really good meal except while traveling. In Italy, if I am spending weeks or months there at a time, the same habits apply. In my home base, I'll go out only with company at night, but dine out alone if I'm off in a different town or city for a few days. You may be paying closer attention to Italians who dine out to celebrate, court, socialize or avoid cooking in their home towns where they know and possibly live with their dining companions. If traveling, perhaps they're there with family or expressly to see friends. If you're comparing what you're accustomed to in an American destination for business travelers to Italian towns where the business culture may not be transparent to an English-speaking visitor, then it's not an exact comparison. However, plenty of Italians travel for business or research and sometimes that means dining alone. Unless you are fluent in Italian and have a personal connection to the country, the experience of being foreign intensifies feelings of isolation in a culture where more of life takes place in public spaces than it does back home in the United States. Think of the rituals of the evening passeggiata, for example, when the streets fill with people out on a stroll, greeting one another. In tiny towns unaccustomed to foreign visitors, rude, menacing or mentally-challenged (in one case) provincial men might ask me where my husband is, but in the streets, never in restaurants. I might be exceptional or even unique as a solo diner, but as Hathor said, this is sometimes an advantage and diners at other tables or restauranteurs would often be solicitous and friendly if they sense you're in the mood for more than your book. I have eaten amazing things not on the menu in Parma, for example, because I was having a fabulous time and the locals were proud and took care of me. As someone who lives in a tourist town myself, I understand that natives get weary of outsiders. Many Italians don't appreciate reminders of what happened in my city during two recent Januarys, four years apart. I would suspect these factors would compromise your dining experience in Italy more than any refusal to seat you since a larger party at the table would be more profitable for the establishment.

Sigh. Here I go again, but : please, I invite you to spend some time down in the Italian forum where there are individual threads devoted to individual regions of Italy whose titles begin "The Cooking and Cuisine of...." These were begun in January of this year, starting with Piemonte; Kevin72 has his own impressive year-long thread (2005). Browse through the dishes participants prepared, or conduct a search to find "pancetta" mentioned in posts. Pancetta fequently is used to enhance the flavor of a dish, crisped at the beginning so that the fat melts and mingles with olive oil before chopped onion, garlic or other ingredients are added and softened. THEN you add the chicken or the tomatoes or....(depending on the dish). Meanwhile, since you've got a sizable hunk (spiral?), slice it about half an inch thick. Wrap each individually and freeze the pieces. Pancetta thaws rapidly when frozen this way and easier to dice when only partially thawed. That way, you give yourself time to find uses. P.S. One of the best uses is in hearty soups for cooler weather, especially those laden with beans and dark greens.

Thanks for the response, Chef! I ended up using about a 1/3 cup of canola oil and 1/2 cup of butter, substituting applesauce for the remainder of the 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil the recipe requires. It's hard to gauge the effect since I did not eliminate oil altogether, but the cake did bake quickly, in about 50 minutes instead of the 75 minutes recommended (Lewis & Peacock say check at 50). It's moist, especially due to the quantities of large apples. I think I'd prefer restoring a little more fat to the batter since it is a wee bit drier (not exactly the right word; let's just say I may be more partial to the "greasy" effect that inspired this thread) to some degree, though that also might have been due to the fact that I used a Pyrex pan while retaining the recommended temperature of the oven.

Sounds great! Thanks for the recommendation of a cookbook and a restaurant, both unfamiliar to me. Please join us in the cooking thread in this forum next month when we move from Umbria to Tuscany.

Anne: Thank you for the long response, written from experience. I understand that WL Four is low-gluten and highly processed and therefore not appreciated by the Yanks who give you stone-milled flours. However, I made the spiced apple cake with caramel glaze using cake flour instead of AP (Ling told me she always makes this sub) and probably got similar results for that reason. I liked it! Also, after no one responded to my questions, I found a little information online about white cornmeal that confirms what you say in distinguishing white cornmeal from white grits. I have some green tomatoes to fry, coated with a buttermilk batter. I imagine white cornmeal might be good for them, too. Mike, Abra, Melissa, Ludja, et al: I agree about the apple cake!!! HOWEVER, I did cut back the amount of sugar to 1 1/3 cups vs. 2. This was a good change. I used muscovado (only 1/2 c) and light brown sugar, no white. I'd keep the muscovado, but use half white next time just to lighten up the taste a bit. I would also cut back on the cinnamon and the vanilla since I would rather have the foreground tastes to be apple combined with the caramel. I love spice cakes, but what can I say? I hail from the North. My pecans had been in the freezer at least since the aftermath of Christmas cookie-season. Therefore, I toasted them using Deborah Madison's trick: boiling the pieces for one minute before putting them in the oven. Really brought out the nutty taste of these tired souls and crisped them up. This I endorse as well. Finally, I cut back the amount of fat by 1/3---not for the sake of diminishing calories, it's cake after all--because someone else had written a thread about large quantities of oil in apple, carrot and spice cakes. I wanted to see what it would be like to use fresh applesauce instead. The effect of such a minor substitute was hard to gauge, though a stick of butter replacing 1/2 cup of oil was kind of nice. Since it made such a large cake, I brought pieces down to the market to thank some of my favorite farmers. They liked it too. What smiles!

Mike: I can't believe it! I am waiting for the fresh apple cake to come out of the oven in 5 to 20 minutes (recipe says 75 minutes, start checking after 50) and I thought I'd look down here since I remember Gifted Gourmet documented the same cake some time ago. You said you wouldn't change a thing. Please see my question about ingredients (White Lily flour, etc.) which is a few posts before you started contributing to this thread. It was written some time this summer. If you have any thoughts on the matter, let me know. I did change several things, but in minor ways since I don't like overly sweet things and I wanted to use up stuff in the house, including too many apples of various kinds. I prefer butter to vegetable oil and actually combined butter, newly made applesauce and just a little canola to replace the 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil. It smells incredible. So hard to wait.

Actually, I had a different question regarding this apple cake from Lewis & Peacock which I just noticed calls for 1 1/2 c. oil. I wanted to know if I could use up a box of cake flour instead of the 3 c. of AP flour. Looking at Andie's linked article, I noticed there's advice to use lower-gluten flour when subbing fruit purée for oil. So, what do you think? Could I use a combo of melted butter and apple sauce instead of the oil AND cake flour instead of AP? There are lots of apples and nuts in the cake, so add-ins to the batter are heavy. Cake flour=1 c. AP flour plus 2 T. Do I still add the extra 4 to 6 T flour or leave it out, given advice about using low-gluten flours with fruit purée? Hope I am clear enough in questions. Someone should start a "Stupid questions you're afraid to ask" thread in this particular cooking forum. Thanks.

Home-made SPAGHETTI????!, Shaya? Wow.

No one else having this problem? ← Reading through this entire thread would be exhausting. Don't. However, you should read some of it. You'll find most of us use jars with screw-on lids. I sterilized mine. Read Foodman's recipe (under Laban) in RecipeGullet and the early link to a biologist's site if you want something very explicit and precise that includes instructions for sterilizing. Phlawless, your question has been raised repeatedly but never answered as far as I know. However, there are lots and lots of internet sites that help. This is not the first that pops up with google search (yogurt making in 1st line, soy milk as exact phrase), but it's kind of scary-thorough: Making vegan yogurt.

Took me a month, but this week I finally did get around to making my first batch of yogurt, thanks to all the advice offered here, consulting Foodman's excellent, simple instructions as well as an academic site with very specific instructions regarding temperatures. I used 2% milk and Brown Cow whole-milk yogurt as a starter, adding a generous 1/4 c. to each jar that holds roughly 3 cups. I also went with flannel pajamas instead of the sweater Elie recommends, then a (synthetic) blanket wrapped around both jars. The results will be breakfast for the forseeable future. Very pleased with the creamy texture, especially. Alone, the taste is mildly tangy. Drizzled with Spanish honey and mixed with apples and a little granola, the yogurt's bite disappears. I tried leaving one jar out for almost 20 hours and it does not seem all that different, though I am sure it wasn't very warm. The consistency is pourable rather than firm, but it reminds me of some Italian and French yogurts I've had. I think I will try to keep the jars warmer a bit longer before I fiddle around with powdered milk.

So, it is true. Ideally, crisp fresh cardoons take forever to tenderize. In *Lulu's Table*, Olney writes about boiling de-stringed pieces of the stalks for 30-45 minutes until they're tender, before baking them in a gratin dish covered with an anchovy sauce. Lulu makes a blanc w/ a little bit of a flour slurry, coarse salt, lemon juice, butter & olive oil to boil them on low. When I read through every recipe and reference book I had at home and then boiled the cardoons grown here on the east coast back in early spring, they were done in 8 mins. and overdone in 12. We'll see if the ones growing in fall are better. I"m surprised by the description of taste. I don't know if Italians do this, though you'd think it's a natural. However, I've heard that on their own, cardoons make a fabulous pureed soup that tastes as if it were made with artichoke hearts. There's a Persian stew of cardoons and beef, so the plant seems to have traveled.