jvalentino

To living right, and helping the next generation do the same. Cheers!

One of my favorite shapes, pacherri with meat sauce. I'm very burnt out on traditional Sunday gravy with its cooked down tomato taste. Lately when I make a meat sauce I start w a soffrito of carrot, celery and onion and cook that over low heat for 45-60 min. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook for another minute, remove from pan and set aside. Brown ground beef and pork then add soffrito and hand crushed San Marzano tomatoes. Simmer for 20-30 min and finish w fresh basil, butter, parm and olive oil. The sauce has a great depth of flavor with a fresh tomato taste. Good stuff.

I've been making this take on tori meshi from Paul Qui I found on Andrew Zimmern's site for a couple months. Love it. http://andrewzimmern.com/2013/04/04/paul-quis-tori-meshi/

A friend had a couple of different homemade soppressata. I hade homemade wine and just pulled some fresh mozzarella. Great lunch.

Chicharones are a great idea! A handful of roasted chickpeas would have been nice too. I did make some roasted with this batch but they were a morning snack. Thanks for the ideas.

Kale and chickpea tacos with sharp provolone cheese. I braised Tuscan kale and chickpeas with garlic and calabrian chilis and served it on a home cooked tortilla with some melted provolone. I wish there was some crunch but otherwise very good.

Ground pork based somewhat on this recipe- http://www.marthastewart.com/314644/thai-beef-with-chiles-and-basil-over-coc I add bok choy or other veg and tweak the sauce. Simple tasty Tuesday meal.

Orecchiette w sausage, broccoli, kale, and Calabrian chili. One of my favorite pasta dishes.

I've purchased quite a few things from them and am happy. Prices are good-shipping depends on location order size etc.

Whole Foods had strip steak on sale for $9.99/lb so I picked these that had really nice marbeling. Rubbed with a little sugar, salt and pepper for 18hrs and grilled over lump charcoal. Really happy with the results.

Leftover "farrotto" with kale. Pickled hot cherry peppers.

Leftover pasta w roasted vegetables.

I don't think so. The pasta extrusion is at a very low speed. I was at an aluminum extrusion factory, amazing that hard aluminum ingots just get squeezed out the die like spaghetti. The die gets very hot because they have to heat up the aluminum. dcarch They do get hot even with a slow extrusion. The machine we use has a water cooled head and we knead with cool water. High temps from the head, die or dough are the enemy of artisanal pasta.

I've used both in our pasta business and can tell you brass or bronze makes a difference. I'd guess the main reason you didn't see a difference was the hydration of the dough you used-if it was on the wetter side it extrudes more easily and even bronze dies won't give much more texture. There are other possible causes but that is the most common. The extruder you use has to be able to handle a dryer mix, create more pressure to get the most benefits from those dies. Did you dry the pasta before cooking it?Here's a video that says to show a side by side. ETA: Sorry copying the YouTube link doesn't seem to be working-if you search YouTube for bronze vs Teflon pasta you will see it.

Kale and chickpeas w grilled bread.

Looks perfect for this hot weather! Have you told Moe how lucky he is lately?

I made a calabrian chili glaze for some grilled wings. The agrodolce and spice was a nice combo with the crispy wings.

Marcona almonds. Candied spicy smokey chopped.

My take on watermelon feta salad. Compressed melon tossed w feta mint and arugula then finished with olive oil, hot honey and sea salt. I put a little Aperol in the bag w the melon when compressing.

I'm usually a pizza topping minimalist but sometimes like to load up the thicker ones. This had sausage, pepperoni, green onion and garlic scapes. Sorry the photo isn't up to my usual high standards.

Carby goodness for Fathers Day. Picci with chili and garlic, finished with breadcrumbs and green onion.

We had ribs tonight too. Simple rub and mopped w sherry vinegar and apple juice w some soy sauce.

Old school baked ziti. I used Bianco Di Napoli tomatoes which are very good if you can find them.

Carnitas. I loosely followed this Tracy Des Jardin recipe- http://www.chow.com/recipes/30677-traci-des-jardins-carnitas-tacos

I'm honored Steve. Nice looking pizza!