FoodMan

Elie, I'm planning to use that exact recipe for the exact same purpose (cassoulet on New Years Day, in fact). Can you give precise details on your tweaks of the recipe? ← Simple tweaks really. I used the leaves from about a bunch of fresh thyme and added it to the mix (figuring thyme is usually an herb used in cassoulet). I also used white wine in there, not red. The use of white wine was inspired by Paula Wolfert's recipe for Toulouse sausages. She uses white wine in there. Other than that, The recipe was followed from the book. edit: For nutmeg, I used about a 1/4 of a nut freshly grated.

Very nice! So are we celebrating X-mas early? Actually also if I am not mistaken, both of Schwartz in "Naples at Table" and Kaspar in "Italian Country Table" include ricotta as well.

Michael- Sponge is basically a flour, water and yeast mixture left to ferment at room temperature for several hours or sometimes a couple of days. This is then added to the rest of the flour and water to make bread dough. The long slow yeast action adds lot of flavor to the bread. Kevin- You would think my wife wouldn't eat this, right! She actually liked the liver toast. she even surprised herself. That is why I keep saying these rabbit parts sure taste much better than chicken. Glad to read your onion soup report. It really looks and sounds great, I can almost smell it. I can certainly see how that bomba can benefit form a good bechamel but like Pontormo said, there are far too many elaborate dishes that use a mold and are very very tasty (see my Timpano in the Campania thread for anb example) to bother with this again. the duck braise was very tasty BTW. Klary- the filling for the tortelli also had a couple of eggs, salt and pepper and of course Parmeggiano cheese.

Sunday dinner: Earlier in the day I baked one of my favorite breads, one that I bake often, from The Splendid Table "Modena Mountain Bread". This bread is so full of flavor from the wheat flour, wheat berries, potatoes and long fermenting sponge. It comes out crackly on the outside and moist and soft inside. I used it to make a couple of antipasto toasts while the dinner was cooking. - rubbed with garlic, topped with homemade pancetta and broiled. What's not to love? - Topped with rabbit liver, kidneys and heart (sauteed with rosemary and lemon juice in butter and olive oil). I'd never had rabbit liver before and had no idea this stuff is so good. It beats chicken liver by a mile IMO. Homemade Tortelli stuffed with potatoes and chives and sauced with butter and sage. This recipe is from Mario Batali's Simple Italian Food. I had not made homemade pasta, let alone stuffed pasta since my son was born in August, so I really enjoyed preparing those and took a few pics too many. Main course was from Splendid Table, "Rabbit Dukes Of Modena" (cool name). Basically a braised rabbit that was marinated in wine and a bit of vinegar. It simmers in a sauce with some tomato and broth, rosemary and garlic and is finished with syrupy balsamic vinegar. When I went to buy the rabbit from Central Market, there was only one left and I needed two. Apparently rabbit is pretty popular these days. So, I bought two chicken legs and two thighs to add to the bunny and make up the difference. I also figured I'll see how the two meats compare. Well, the dish was spectacular and worked great with both meats. Rabbit BTW, is mild but really does not taste like chicken and sure has more of a resilient texture. It's meat is also a bit sweeter. The sauce for this dish is so good I am sure to make it again, even if only using chicken. Contorno was cabbage and cauliflower sauteed with garlic also based on a recipe from the same book in which she uses only cabbage though. Truth be told the Tortelli made for an awsome accompaniment to the saucy falvorlful rabbit. sine they are stuffed with potatoes, they sopped up the juices very nicely. Dessert from Splendid Table, Ciambelle con Marmellata, or as she calls it a Jam Cake. I love the crumbly texture of Ciambelle (isen't that a venetian specialty though?) and by filling it with jam the cake is even more addictive. I filled half of it with apricot and the other with mixed berry jam.

Andrew: That mortadella is very cool. I wish I could make one this size at home, but for many reasons (least of which the size of my food processor) that is impossible . So, I cooked more food from E-R this weekend. Friday's dinner was a recipe that sounded so cool in writing but un fortunatly did not deliver. From The Splendid Table I made the Bomba di Riso (Dome of rice stuffed with braised duck). The recipe is supposed to have braised pigeon, but following Kaspar's suggestion I used duck instead The Bomba has alternating layers of arborio rice and stewed duck and here it is right before addding the final top/bottom layer of rice Ready for the oven The darn thing stuck and was difficult to take out of the bowl, but I managed This dish was not really bad and it might be my execution that was flawed. I think the rice layer/crust was a bit thick and a bit bland. So, the whole thing felt out of balance. If I made the rice layers thinner I think it would've been more successful.

What an awsome write-up pontormo. That ragu sounds good and all these Rennaissance and baroque recipes are very inspiring. I am seriously thinking about making that Lasagna from Ferrara made with rosewater dough and baroque ragu. As for pasta flour I do like to mix in some semolina in mine. The white fat in the mortadella was not really lardo, just blanched chopped fatback.

Just seem like asking for trouble to me.... In any case this thread is slowly moving away from it's subject: Shawarma. Please, no more discussion here about the proper temperature for food to be kept at. I am sure we can find another thread that deals with that subject. If not, then one can be started in the General Food Topics forum. Thanks.

Not to get too much off subject, but I was not at all impressed with Silver spoon. It does have a huge amount of recipes, but necessarily all Italian or regional. I even tested a couple of recipes for Leites culinaria and was less than impressed. If someone needs a book that deals with regional Italian food then there are much better options out there that have been thoroughly discussed on these threads.

Pontromo's comment about Mortadella reminded of a homemade version I made a few months ago using the recipe from Charcuterie. I figure this is a good place to post two of the pics. The lack of any pink color is due to my decision not to use any Nitrites in the mix. The taste was very very good though. Unfortunatly, these do not freeze well and the one that I did freez turned spongy after defrosting later.

Dave- I see a clear distinction between clean and sanitary. True, sometimes and often the two are closely related, but not always. In this case it SEEMS the establishment left raw meat on the counter at room temperature to ferment overnight. I do not care how clean they might be, but they clearly do not give a crap about their food and it's state. From Wannabechef's comments, the place sounds new, and I bet they will not last. Bottom line is, I would not eat there even if they sell it for 50 cents a sandwich. A street vendor on the other hand might not be as clean as a restaurant, but one could tell if the guy treats his food with some measure of respect and care. If not, then I would not eat there either.

Chuck, chuck, chuck and do not trim too much fat away. I never use any other cut for pot roast, beouf Bourignon, brasato....

That is a bad bad sign! you did the right thing by not going there again.

This is all very interesting and I really appreciate all the info/experiments. How do you know how much juice to add to your mead after the initial fermentation? are you mainly going by taste here or is there a more accurate scientific explanation?

Klary- that soup looks decadent and the onions are very nice as well. Is the chestnut flavor really pronounced? Would you say the soup has anice roasted chestnut sweet flavor? I made some garlic sausage recently and I am planning on putting up some confit this week as well. So, a cassoulet is in my not too distant future .

Better late than never. For T-Giving I made the sour cream Pumpkin pie and the chocolate bread pudding. The pie was outstanding and is easily one of the best I've made. I did bake and puree my own pumpkin since they are in season. I served this with red wine caramel and whipped cream. The Chocolate bread pudding did not fare as well for some reason. I am guessing it might've been due to the type of bread I used combined with the fact that the custard base was cooked (ie thick). Basically the bread did not soak up the custard and the whole thing, while it tasted good, just felt like you were eating bread with chocolate! Every other bread pudding recipe I've made uses uncooked custard (sauce royale?)to soak the bread, I wonder how come this one makes you cook it.

This one had a lot of coarce black pepper (well, my plate did) so I felt ok not to sprinkle chilies on top .

Seems like I don't need to, but I'll add my two recs for both of the Kaspar books. Both are one of the most 'splendid' purchases I made at half-price books. ok, here is last night's quick (< 1 hour) E-R meal. Primo, from The Splendid Table is spaghetti with braised garlic and balsamico. The garlic is slow cooked till soft and sweet, pasta is mixed in along with butter, a load of Parm cheese and lots of pepper. The balsamico is drizzled on top last minute. This is so delicouse and easy to make that it will be a new standard. The pasta "sauce" really reminded me of an Alfredo sauce but this one has braised garlic and balsamico so it takes the combo to a new hight. Secondo, this was what Kevin would call and "inspired by" dish. Chicken thighs roasted with brussles sprouts, garlic and glazed with balsamico at the end. IF you do not like brussles sprouts, try them roasted in chicken fat like this. Even my mother in law who normally has to be coaxed into eating "green cabbagy vegetables" loved them. Oh, yeah and the chicken was good too . BTW, is anyone planning on making one of The Splendid Table's keeping cakes and maturing them for a couple of weeks? I might do the "Honey Cake" or the "Xmas spiced Chocolate Cake" this week and save it for a couple of weeks to see if it can compete with the Alton Brown fruit cake I have maturing till xmas week.

Magic, I believe a "sticking charm" does the trick! Seriously though, I am not sure why you say that a piece of chicken is small. A good sized whole chicken breast is bigger than two hand palms put together. This is more than enough to more or less skewer it and keep it in place. Also remember that there is a large sized "nut" at the bottom of the skewer to keep it in place and prevent the meat from sliding down. Hope this helps.

I have no problem getting pig skin. I buy wholoe fresh pork bellies from an asian grocer to make bacon/pancetta and can easily get the skin from there. Anyways, I'll make sure to document the whole process with pictures and hopefully post a recipe in RecipeGullet. Right! I forgot you do not like the cooked onion flavor much BTW.

Ah! Pork braised in milk...Do you use Marios's recipe from his first book? I love that one and the onion-y sauce is makes. Even better the next day sliced thin and served on bread. BTW, I am as guilty as any by slacking off. But man, an extra kid in the house really adds 3X the work. I am glad we are keeping on going though. My ambitious commitment this month (and I am counting on all of you to coerce me to make it if I do slack of): a homemade Cotechino sausage with potatoes, lentils and Zabaglione. I need to buy the pork and pork skin soon and make the sausage. After that, it should be easy...

We really are getting technical here and maybe it is just me, but I honestly do not care much. Well, I do care but I the bottom line is there is a risk in eating any type of prepared food anywhere. I know this sounds bad, but good restaurants/joints/shacks do not get people sick. On the other hand bad management in any restaurant or packing factory (a fancy "French" place or a Falafel shack or a Burger ice house) more often than not gets people sick. On the techniucal side of things what I believe is that the places I frequent when in Beirut all pack their own skewers and sell them so fast that I seriously doubt any bugs have much time to do much damage and raise the level of toxins so high as to be dangerous. If you really want to try a good shawrama sandwich find a place that sells them fast and frequented by locals Jack. Do not let whatever little to non-existent "risk" there is stop you from doing it.

Everyone knows that saying "everyone knows" on these forums in regards to a national food is asking for trouble . Please voice your opinions but make it clear these your opinions because chances are someone will take offense at the "snub" implied in your comment by claiming "everyone knows". ok, sermon over.... Jackal- Like both Nicolai and Daniel said, these skewers are not bacteria on a stick. the marinade helps keep these beasties at bay, but definitly the searing heat of the grill is not going to leave anyhting alive. This is not meat eaten rare or medium. this is well done meat and the best ones stay juicy because of the marinade and the good amount fat. If your local Shawarma vendor decides to serve you Shawarma alla Carpacio...run like hell the other way. Chefcrash- These are some mouthwatering pictures...too bad it is so late at night and I live nowhere close to my favorite shawarma spot in Beirut! Oh welll, I am hoping to be there around next september at the earliest . Oh, BTW those pork "shawarmas" in Nicosia were pretty bad when I tried them there several years ago. So, IMHO you did not miss anything.

This is the miniseries the Italy book was based on. I realized too late that they were running it last week and unfortunatly it does not seem like they will re-run it anytime soon.

If it is not too much to ask, for reference, can one of you expert meaders post a recipe in RecipeGullet for mead? I enjoy these slow long projects that require very little effort and a base recipe would be great to start from at some point. Oh, yes and some pictures of a finished mead would be great here too .

Yeah, you could really tell he is passionate about Italian food and cutlure. The rustic look and feel of the book and pictures make it really attractive as well. I bought the Italy book as soon as it came out in the UK (via Amazon UK) and like his other books, it was worth it. BTW, the pears recipe is in an older book, not the Italy one.