FoodMan

Susan- From your picture it seems like you are not using any kitchen towels or any other device to act as a couche to support the sides of your batards as they rise. See page 37 of the BBA book for a picture. I do not have the professional couches, so I just use a heavy kitchen towel. Hope this helps.

Coconut? There is no coconut in or on the cake Kevin. As for Alkermes or Alchermes click here. This is the recipe I used.

The little one turned 2 this week (2 months that is ) and my wife asked me to make a cake for this monumental occasion. See, we try to find any reason to "celebrate" in my household and that is as good as any. So, I said I had just the treat, and made Della Croce's Ciaramicola cake aka Sweetheart cake. The picture looked so festive with the meringue like topping and the sprinkles and all. Here is my version hmmm...that glaze is not as meringue-like as the picture in the book make it seem to be, but it is still pretty good. Also I think the recipe needed more than just 3 Tbsp of Alchermes in it (I used some homemade Alchermes BTW). I also could not properly judge the donness of the cake since the batter is not really a batter, but more like a stiff bread. So, it was a bit underdone in the center. The taste and texture were very good, and it was perfect with a strong coffee made in the Moka. I really enjoyed the dry almost powdery-cookie texture of the cake and the hint of Alchermes in it, but like I said I think it needed more of that spicy booze next time. Tonight we fry Umbrian herb GARLIC chicken.... Hathor, great writeup and that bunny looks very very tasty as well.

I know it is getting redundant, but jeez Patrick these pictures are too much...too bad I have no applesauce in the house or I'll be making those right now.

Thanks for the report Bill. Cold veal?? no excuse for that. I sure hope they get their act back together soon.

The latest breakfast treat was the Apple Muffin Cake. Very good and definitly muffin-like with a good texture due to the apples and oats. However, the phenomenal Sour Cream Pecan Biscuits really ruined it for many other baked goods and lots of stuff including this one will pale in comparison.

Pete Wells is one of the main reasons I enjoy reading Food and Wine. His columns are always a great read, informative and witty. The November issue features his latest column, The New Era of the Recipe Burglar, an article about this very subject we are discussing here (here is the URL if the link does not work http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/new-era-of-the-recipe-burglar). This thread, The Society and Fat Guy get some good column space as well.

Quiche with homemade bacon, mushrooms, onions and cheese (aged Mozzarella and white farmer cheese) So, why am I posting yet another picture of quiche, even though we've discussed it at length before and posted pictures? Well 2 reasons: 1- It is so damn pretty and even though I made it many time, everytime just seems like the best yet. Also this is a reminder for those who have not yet tried this marvelous piece of pastry to try it soon. 2- I recently found out that a lady who lives more or less in my neighborhood, who has about 30 free roaming chickens and she sells the eggs! Her chicken eggs are absolutly gorgeous, with a deep rich orange colored yolks. I of course had to try them in a quiche, and that is what gave the custard that deep yellow color. I think I've said it before, but I tinkered with the proportions for the custard to suit our taste and what I use is: 3 Cups milk 0.5 Cup cream 7 eggs

Great looking food Kevin! Anything topped with Pancetta cannot be bad, no matter where you live. That pasta looks perfect as well. My first Umbrian meal was pretty straight forward, but I guess, like Hathor assures us, that is the Umbrian way. I made broiled trout, stuffed with garlicky breadcrumbs, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The recipe is from Anna de La Croce's Umbria book. I really loved how the flesh of the fish was perfumed with the garlic from the filling. From the same book I also made the roasted garlicky potatoes and fennel (I believe she calls them ala Porchetta as she does so many other things). These were tossed with a good dose of olive oil and baked till crispy. Seems like Umbrian, as opposed to Neapolitans, do love their garlic, huh. A simple tomato salad with the end of summer tomatoes. I love this simple recipe from Marcella Hazan's essentials. Simply, let some crushed garlic macerate and falvor olive oil and vinegar. Peel tomatoes (using a peeler it is very very easy and makes a big difference IMHO), slice them and toss them with the strained garlicky dressing and some basil. I had also baked some Pane Di Terni, pretty much the only Umbrian bread I found in Carol Field's Italian Baker book. It is saltless, but is made with a long fermenting starter (biga), so the flavor is just amazing and very earthy. This sopped up the tomato salad juices very nicely. BTW, I am really thinking about making a smaller version of Porchetta this month. I'll prbably use Batali's recipe in his first book for the actual pork. Any idea what kind of bread to use for the sandwich? Will a ciabatta work or maybe the bread above made into some kind of roll?

Sounds right up my alley for my next beer. Actually I still want to do that Porter with the wood chips and all. I would like it to be ready by November if possible. Any recipes you've tried for that? What exactly is a Dubbel? Also, will the golden ale I made really benefit that much from aging even though I did not use the Saison yeast?

Please please tell me there is something "bad" about living in Umbria! This blog is just too perfect, and I am looking out of my office window at the drab, slightly hazy Houston, TX skyline. Thank you so much for sharing your life with us this week. Two things among many caught my attention: 1- There is really no smoking? in a bar/cafe? in Europe? The only bad thing about our visit to Spain was the haze of smoke in every little restaurant. Is it a new law in your neck of the woods? 2- I love the market photos and the Porchetta. What kind of bread is used for the sandwich? Is it the same as the saltless Umbrian bread, but in roll form? I want to make some for the Umbria month in the Italy forum. Back to living my dream vicariously through you......

Xiong's Cafe on Bellaire (9888 Bellaire Blvd Ste 150) and their other branch called Old Place Cafe on Highway 6 (4555 Highway 6) in Sugar Land makes the best soup dumplings. Other favorites there are the cilantro/pork dumplings and their spicy beef noodle soup. We eat there about once a week for lunch and I sometimes pick stuff up for dinner. They also make their noodles fresh inhouse and sell it by the pound if you are interested.

It was a review from an individual in the on line Zagat. Don't worry, we're going--I'll give a report. ← yikes! these are even less trustworthy than the official Zagat review. That might be the same person who sends "whines" to Whine and Dine . Looking forward to your report Bill, because like you this place is one of my top picks for good Italian food and I would hate to know it has declined in the last few months.

here is, a good selection of recipes as well. I bought the De La Croce book a couple of months ago in anticipation for umbria, so I plan on using it. I love that pastry Franci.

Bill, I would take any Zagat "review" with a large grain of salt. Unfortunatly, we had to cancel our reservation at simposio two weeks ago. So, the last experience I have there was back in April. I would certainly still go there and judge for myself. Please let us know how it goes and do not cancel your res. based on Zagat's opinion.

I wonder why you are having problems with the bagels. Here is a batch I made a couple of weeks ago from this recipe and as always it works out great and everyone loves them. These are made with regular Gold Medal Better For Bread flour. I've also used All Purpose with no problem.

Yes, yes, and yes. Shrotening has no place in my baking at all. It is horrible tasting and has that icky tongue coating thing that never goes away for the next hour. I would use butter instead of shortening in any recipe that asks for it. I've never had a problem, and made a much better tasting product.

great mouthwatering pics as usual Chef, but I also agree that yogurt is not typical. I've never seen it marinated in yogurt until you linked to those recipes. My mom uses red wine, vinegar, some spices including cardamom and ground ginger,....Same goes for a couple of Arabic cookbooks I've seen. It could be that some are using the yogurt to up the acid without being too harsh? You know like marinating chicken in buttermilk before frying. It is possible.

Ah! that's the one. So it was Clemenza then. I should've reviewed my DVD before posting. Thanks for the compliment Mike.

hmmm Phylo dough, great idea! Does it crisp up nicely? I actually think a decent pastry dough, like the one in Naples At Table would have worked much much better. Yeah that scene is one of my all time favorites. I even mopped some sauce straight from the pot with a piece of bread thinking of it.

Sunday Dinner: Project “Pasta al’Antica Per Timpano” or Big Night’s Timpano (aka, disaster nearly averted). Click Here for FTV recipe I hope you were looking forward to this, I sure was. Planning for it more or less for all of October. As you can see from my title, this threatened to be a disaster, a Molto disaster. Let’s get the bad out of the way first, because in the end it was a grand dish and pictures should confirm. The problem with this recipe, or should I say series of recipes are two fold. First, the quantities, second the Pasta Frolla (pastry). There is no way on earth that this recipe can be made in a 4 quart mixing bowl. The white pasta alone comes about fills about 75% of the pastry lined Pyrex bowl. Solution: remove half of the white pasta, mix it in with half the red pasta, place in a casserole dish and freeze. This means I have dinner for some other time at the ready. The pastry recipe is not good. It is the most fragile, brittle, curse-inducing (f-words and their variations. Glad the kids were asleep), no way on earth it can be rolled and placed in bowl piece of dough I’ve ever worked with and I've done lots of baking. Yes I did refrigerate it for a good while before attempting to roll. Add to that the quantity of dough, it is far too little to cover the sides and top of the Timpano. Solution: use the cut and paste method to paste small pieces of the dough on the insides of the bowl. Also make an extra batch last minute to cover the top (ie: bottom) of the Timpano. Swear to never ever use this dough recipe again for such a preparation. I should’ve gone with a recipe from Naples at Table, but this one just had such a cool title and it invoked a favorite movie of mine, Big Night. Ok, enough complaining. Other than the mad 2 hour rush caused by the problems above, making this and presenting it was a blast. I still think the pastry is crap and I did not even care for it’s sandy texture or taste. The whole piece though was lovely and tasted awesome. The pastas and their sauces with the layer of the meatballs makde this month were heavenly. I allowed it to bake for about 1.5 hours and rest for a good 40 minutes (too hot, too hot ) and it still steamed when cut into and was very warm. You live you learn, so learn and if you plan on making this Timpano, keep my notes up there in mind. Ok, on to the pictures. Hope that's enough pictures! Looking forward to Umbria, but I cannot promise Campania will not be revisited soon.

Kevin- I love that bread. Actually your last post is all lovely. See how much better your chicken looks than mine because you baked it in the oven. Saturday I made the Ragu Napoletano for tomorrow's Timpano. Boy did I replay that scene from the Godfather where Michael is getting taught how to make a proper "sauce" with beef and sausage from the fat guy (Lou or Carmine is it?). Looked just like this Just starting Some 2-4 hours later I only need about 3 cups of Ragu for tomorow, so, I slow cooked some white beans and served them with sliced sausages, some of lovely rich sauce, a good pinch of chili flakes and parsley for dinner

Actually most of the time I prepare and cut the biscuits and put them on the baking sheet the night before I want them for breakfast and put the whole thing in the fridge. I never noticed any difference in texture, they come out just fine. I do that mainly because I do not want to mess with a whole lot of stuff early in the morning right before heading to work. All I want to do is pop them in the oven!

I bottled the latest brew last night. So, it spent a good 2.5 weeks in the fermentor and I think it needed it. There was still some yeast floating on top there. The smell as soon as I opened the tub was absolutly fantastic, very aromatic a little floral and crisp. It tasted quiet good too and none of the original strong bitterness I detected was there. Looking forward to giving the final result a try in a couple of weeks. I also was a little short on PET bottles this time (a 4 gallon batch like last time) so I ended up with two one liter glass bottles full of beer to make up the difference. This will be the first time I use glass, so I hope I don't have any bombs on my hand!

Shaya- So glad someone took up the Calzone challenge. Yours look stunning and perfect. Mike- That pasta with beans look excellent as well. I like the background. These simple homey dishes is what I most think of when thinking of Campania. Kevin- After cooking the garlic in the oil botulism is not a problem. I do it all the time both with the Italian spicy oil and my Chinese one. I do not even remove the garlic afterwards. I made another simple Campnian meal from Naples At Table this week. Lemon chicken was the main dish. his process for cooking it is very interetsing but I prefer my tried and true -sear then finish in the oven- method. The flavor was outstanding though, with a very good dose of tangy lemony flavor. A little too much for my wife actually but I loved it. I had a head of red cabbage in the fridge so I made the braised cabbage recipe from the book as a contorno. I know, red cabbage is probably not very Campanian, but it does look very nice and tastes great. I actually had leftover cabbage with some bread for dinner the next evening.