FoodMan

Abra- I am very anxiously awaiting the report of your dinner as well as pictures. It all sounds great. Pontormo- As usual, your post is very interesting to read and informative. I cannot say I run into any of the problems you mention in your post with LRK's book. Then again all cookbook authors are fallible and I almost always use the recipe as a guide and just use my judgment. I have not cooked any E-R things for christmas, but my Cotechino will be served on New Year's Eve or sooner. I did make a quick meal from ST this past weekend though and will post about it when I download the pics.

It's been a tradition to bake a Panettone every year around christmas time. The recipe I'd been following and very happy with is the one from Peter Reinhart's "Bread baker's Apprentice". This year I wanted to try something different and instead used Carol Filed's "The Italian Baker" to make a recipe for Pannetone with Dates and Walnuts. According to her introduction, only one shop in Milano makes this bread and is very tricky to get to. Supposedly her driver took the "long and complicated" way to get to the bake shop on purpose so it would not be easy for her to get back. Maybe it's just me, but I find wierd information like that fascinating... On to the bread which is really like no other Pannetone. It is basically a croissant dough made with lots of eggs and turned (folded) 4 or 5 times. Then it is rolled and divided into 3 rectangles. One rectangle is left plain, the other has walnuts on top and the third has chopped dates. The whole thing is combined and formed into a loaf. The end result is delicious and addictive, but more similar to a brioche in taste than a panettone.

Mike- Thanks for the helpful pics. I never manages to get my tying to look so perfect, so I just cut small peices of string and tie it corsswise. I'll try your method when I roll my new pancetta this weekend. If I can add one more tip for anyone who wants to roll pancetta it would be to make sure it is very very dry or you'll be in danger of it molding on the inside. I usually use paper towels then let it sit uncovered for an hour to make sure it is not damp from the washing water. Russ- That's a sure keeper of a picture. He seems to be having a great time too. I get my 3 year old son to help me with the pasta maker, I need to get him to help me when I make sausage now.

I've been so busy this week I had no time for a single hom ecooked meal (lucky for us we have a few leftovers). Abra- I cannot wait to see your comments about the cake. I was tempted to make it instead of the chocolate one, but the 'chocolate' part in the other cake made me try it instead. It is still resting/maturing/ripening on my kitchen counter. I am hoping to slice it this Friday and share some pics and notes. Kevin- Nice meal, and so easy to prepare. Did you use lard in your Piadini? If so, did it remind you at all of good flour tortillas? LMS- first time polenta maker, huh? Looks great and it's amazing what happens to cornmeal when cooked right and mixed with some butter and cheese. Judith- You are the queen of Parma now! This must've taken you an inordinate amount of time and all looks so perfect. We all would love to see the final results though. So, don't forget the pics of the tortellini in brodo.

I'll "third" it -- great job! Any tips you can share for how you accomplished that? =R= ← Don't forget to skin the belly and it'll roll up perfectly.

Pontormo- Another great report with tons of information. Thank you for detailing the LRK (not HAZAN right?) procedure. But, what did you serve it with?

I do lots of cooking and prepping late at night...that's why I am so tired during the day . For a cooking surface I used my trusty well seasoned Lodge cast iron skillet. I did not even need to rub it with oil or anything.

Hathor- The Umbrian flat bread we are talkign about was the one called Testa, click here for the pictures when I baked some in the Umbria thread.

Chris- How did you end up making those Toulouse sausages? On another note I recently recieved a Grizzly from my dear wife as a congrats gift on my new job! So, I am itching to give it a whirl. A Cotechino for the Emilia Romagna thread (in the Italy forum) is certainly in the works soon. Very nice Pancetta Dynamike. I have some curing right now as well as some pork belly for bacon (brown sugar and pepper cure).

[Moderator note: This is part of an extended topic that became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it into shorter segments; the preceding part of this discussion is here: “Baking: From My Home to Yours” (Part 1)] Baked two things this weekend I bought a new silicone bundt cake and of course flipped in this book for a recipe to try. The very first one "Brown Sugar Bundt Cake" caught my eye (brown sugar, hazelnuts, prunes...) so I gave it a try. I did sub apples for pears but other than that I followed the recipe. Well, the end result was deliciouse, the brown sugar and hazelnuts really came through, with a perfect texture that is light and fluffy. The problem is I followed the instruction that said not to butter/flour the pan if using silicone! Yeah right! The cake stuck and my bundt was stripped of all its "crust" . Maybe no buttering and flouring is needed for simple silicone shapes, but a bundt pan with all the grooves needs it. The cake was very ugly (hence, no pics) but so tasty that I am hoping to make it again, this time I will butter and flour my pan though. I also made Rugulachs for breakfast. Yes they are a cookie..technically...but They go so great with a good cup of coffee. These worked perfectly, but I like them more when they are room temperature as opposed to hot from the oven. Something about the pungency of the flavors works better when tamed after cooling. Once cool these are addictive.

Last night I made the Pampepato or Christmas Chocolate Spice cake. This is one of the cakes LRK describes as winter keeping cakes in Splendid Table. So, I am hoping to age this for a few days and try it out this coming weekend, if I can wait that long. I used home made candied citrus peels (orange and pumello) and I made one cake out of the recipe using a cake ring instead of two cakes. We'll see how it comes out (it sure smelled heavenly).

The Umbrian flatbread is more fluffy almost like the Gyro bread, I don't remember if it had baking powder in it or not. Piadina on the other hand reminded me a whole lot of flour tortillas, thin pliable and flavored with lard. I think the Umbrian ones are more suited for what I used them for (stuffed with hearty meats and greens). Piadina work great with simpler toppings. Do try them for a simple dinner, they take less than an hour from start to finish. Use a hot well seasoned cast iron skillet to cook the bread.

Sunday dinner was also supposed to have a main dish (Balsamico Chicken probabaly) and a dessert, but you know how these "lazy" Sundays go. With errands to run and two kids, plans have a 50/50 chance of actually working out. Piadina for an early snack/antipasto. I've had these flatbreads on my mind ever since I first read about them in the ST. They are very very easy to make and make for a staisfying quick meal. These flat breads are so very similar to flour tortillas and even taste similar, since they both have lard in them. For toppings I had: - Fresh Squaqerone cheese, well actually the imitation of that cheese provided in, what else, the ST book. It is a mixture of cream cheese, buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice and salt. This is a traditional topping for Piadina - Proscuitto di Parma - Red and green baby letuces We basically mixed and matched the toppings, a favorite was the combo of fresh cheese, lettuces, sea salt, coarse pepper and olive oil. Pasta/Main course Fresh Tagliatelle with Proscuitto Di Parma and peas. the recipe is from ST as well, but the peas were my addition and they work so well that I am not sure I will make this without them. This simple dish IMO embodies everything that we love in E-R- butter, proscuitto, fresh homemade egg pasta, stock and Parmegianno Reggiano. It really was so satisfying that we did not miss a main course and head two bowls each instead. Note: my 3 year old had a blast helping with the pasta machine.

I am really glad we are giving E-R it due. This region is so inspiring and rich with good food, it would've been a shame if we let it slip. Great job everyone. That cabbage with garlic is sure catching on, and I have to try it alla Pontormo with cream and pasta. Weinoo- you meal looks fantastic and perfectly harmonious. Abra- Only 30 recipes are marked! was just telling my wife yesterday how amazing ST is and I always get flustered trying to pick one or two things to cook especially in the awsome pasta section. I keep going back and forth till I finally breakdown and decide on one damn thing. Kevin- Great looking meal, especially that antipasto salad and the beautiful pasta. Yes, veal chops are prohibitvely expensive.

Yeap, see here for something along those lines. It seems like there might some law somewhere about that, but like I commented in that thread, in Houston the meat is piled on the skewer raw. Probably not. Shawarma is cooked on that vertical spit roaster that was shown above. Were the ones you had cooked like that or simply grilled on a charcoal fire?

Maybe it's just me, but this is one cool line. Honestly my favorite recipe that I've tried so far for Ragu, comes from Molto Mario, from his Babbo book. I am not a big fan of the tomatoey Hazan one. To me it tastes a bit too much like the meat sauce you get at Italian-American restaurants in the US. Mario uses very little tomato paste, some white wine and also milk. It ends up as a rich and delicious meat sauce with the slightest pink color. Of course being the eternal experimenter that I am, I will probably try a Kaspar one next.

Yeap, that's the one I use BUT only as finishing salt of course. Using it in cooking (like M. Chiarello does with Maldon) is just wasteful. Kosher salt is more than enough for that.

I thought Sugo was more or less a meat broth.

This subject definitly gave me a laugh this morning too. Like you say, some things just cannot be translated 1 to 1. The Zankha smell is not necessarily malodorous. It is not really a foul smell and I cannot figure a word for it in English. I usually just call it "chicken-y" when describing it to my non-arabic speaking wife. Zankha that forms on top of a boiling meat stock is simply "meat scum or foam". BTW, is the word used anywhere outdside of Lebanon?

Too funny, I actually thought you meant that the polenta is "wrapped tightly around fingers of each hand." and couldn't figure out why or how, until it clicked that you are talking about the floss. I also agree about the Ragu in a risotto, I know Marcella has a recipe for that in her Essentials book. Basically make a good risotto the normal way and stir in the ragu towards the end. A classy hearty dinner in under 30 minutes.

Boy do these look cool, good and pretty damn refined In the Splendid Table (are you sick of us quoting the E-R bible yet?) she has a very good sounding recipe where she makes a "pie" of sorts with polenta and Ragu. Looks very tasty and seems like a great use for the ragu. If you like I can PM u a short summary of it.

Sugarplum- These cookies look perfect, and the cake looks so moist and tasty with all these ginger bits in it. Richard- I also never eat/bake with white chocolate. I just never cared for it and always thought of it as an "impostor" smearing the chocolate name . After your describtion though, I might have to give it a shot in those brownies.

Here's a cool coincidence, my father in law invited us to dinner yesterday and to my surprise what he made is his ragu Bolognese. Now, this is important because his ragu based on his mom's recipe is a once or twice a year occurance. For him to make it this week was a very welcome coicidence. My father in law was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia with no Italian background. But he always said that this is the recipe his mom uses to enetertain when she had people she wanted to impress. The ragu is certainly not like any traditional one I've seen, but it is so damn good, I could care less. He uses a whole simmered chicken, it's stock, ground chuck, tomatoes, sausage, mushrooms and little bell peppers among other things. It is thick, rich and deliciouse after it simmers for 4 or 5 hours. Also very non traditional is the pasta he serves it with, but again the stuff works. He uses freshly made (from a local deli) ricotta stuffed ravioli! The end result is like a deconstructed utterly sensational Lasagna. I'm having leftovers for lunch.

Mr. b- Looking forward to your results. Pancetta is always used when I make a ragu. Pork belly that is cured and spiced beats regular salt pork IMO. Wendy- I absolutly love that dinner of yours and the perfect tortelli. BTW, I am so glad we are doing E-R right with lots of homemade pasta this month. As for feral pigs in TX, it is true. I have a coworker who lives in a suburb west of Houston, and tells me that small herds of wild boar are a regular sight in his neck of the woods (so to speak). Many of his hunting neighbors do bag a few evry so often since there are so many of them. Unfortunatly I have not recieved any meat yet...

I whole heartedly agree about E-R and that awsome book. Those tortellini you made are picture perfect. About Mortadella, they do use synthetic casing not natural. Pontormo- Your vivid describtions are worth a thousand pictures. I can smell and taste that 16th century lasagne and I am so hungry. BTW, your describtion makes me want to try it even more!.