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I'm going to the Italian Market tomorrow and need veal stock. The small demi-glace packets are available several places but IIRC they're expensive. Any other recommendations?

we are meeting friends for dinner tonight and they would like to go to an Italian restaurant. We will be in the East 80's from 2nd Ave to Madison. Would like to keep it moderately priced. Any ideas? Thank you.

I am looking for cookbooks that feature recipes and cuisine from the Northern region of Italy. ( My ancestors originate from Torino. ) I am looking for 'light' or healthier versions of traditional northern Italian recipes. Any recommendations?

We'll be visiting the Ft Pierce area in February. Staying for a couple of weeks. We're looking for recommendations as to the best places to dine. We eat just about anything, but would be particularly interested in places that serve the best fish or steaks or Mexican or Cuban. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

So I am sat here watching Masterchef professionals and they complained about how someones pasta is too thick. How can you make pasta too thick? Given you just keep turning the dial to make it thinner and thinner till the lowest setting how is this possible and especially for a professional? I'm more interested because I might be missing a trick to make my pasta thinner! Thanks, Paul

So I've yet to ever cook with polenta, so I bought some to experiment with. I got the 'pre-cooked' package this time to simplify things. What should I make first? Other ingredients on hand: A couple of racks of pork ribs (on sale!), lots of great frozen hatch chilies, all kinds of root veg and aromatics. I'm jonesing to use the ribs, green chile AND polenta, but so far have come up with nothing inspirational. Any ideas?

Okay, pizza in Buenos Aires...a very complex topic to tackle! At once, it's ubiquitous and elusive. There's cheese (to the gills!) and no cheese. There's ham--deli-type and salt-cured--but no pepperoni. There's the thick, gooey crust that tastes and tooths like bread or there's the "pizza a la piedra," or stone-baked, thin, crispy crust that tastes like a water cracker. There's faina, a...hmm, how to describe it...chickpea flour biscuit-like, focaccia-shaped bread thing, slightly reminiscent of cornbread in appearance, that is eaten on top of the very local, very traditional pizza called fugazzetta (pizza dough piled thick with lots of onions, oregano and cheese, maybe some green olives...yep, that's it.) So, what's the complexity about? For starters, locals--Porteños, the residents of the Capital--will say that they LOVE pizza and that Buenos Aires has the best pizza in the world. Being here in BA, you will quickly identify that the former statement is as true as can be: almost every commercial corner in this city has either a pizza joint (or two) or a resto-bar that serves pizza proudly. Any lunch cafe will serve pizza. In other words, ubiquitous. But you will find that these eateries serve an identical menu--empanadas, pizza, ham and cheese sandwiches, milanesas--indicating that the local palate is quite limited. That isn't to imply that a limited palate necessarily must be an indiscriminate one, but...here, it kind of is. Argentine pizza is in its own category of cuisine. It is not Italian pizza. It is not NYC pizza, nor Chicago pizza. In order to appreciate it at all, you MUST divorce your preconceived notions of pizza from the experience of eating Argentine pizza. Then--and only then--you might be able to enjoy what you are ingesting. You will find that Argentine pizza is oozing with unbrowned, insufficiently baked, rubbery, bad mozzarella. You will find that the sauce is both lacking in quantity and flavor. You will find the crust, if it is the soft kind, bready without any yeastiness, often toothless. The cracker-crisp crust is better because of the improvement in texture, but again, tends to be flavorless. Sorry I sound so cynical, but 90% of the Argentine pizzas I have eaten have caused in me regrets and disappointment and low after-dinner self-esteem. My suggestion: try it for the experience of it, but I can't bear to make any recommendations here on an integrity basis and because I refuse to be held accountable either for intentionally leading anyone to a negative dining experience or for finding out that anyone had a great experience with something I define as mediocre! So, to find a GREAT pizza in Buenos Aires was an exercise in patience and grave tolerance, but finally that elusive pie has been identified... Siamo nel Forno Costa Rica 5886 in Palermo Hollywood 4775-0337, reservas@siamonelforno.com.ar Tues-Sun from 8 pm to close An exercise in Neapolitan-style, artesanal excellence: Original, imported, wood-burning oven from Italy; thin-crust, gourmet pizzas using highest-quality ingredients; nice wine list; great coffee! Warm, personable, professional service, English-speaking staff; owner/head chef will probably stop at your table to check in; comfortable ambience Super busy on weekends, so reserve if you plan to go after 9 pm. Second choice: Piola, 2 locations Libertad 1078 in Barrio Norte 4812 0690 / 4815 4746 open late night (until 2 or 3 am) Gorriti 5751 in Palermo Hollywood 4777 3698 / 4777 3298 http://www.piola.it/...mber=21〈=en International chain of pizzerias out of Italy, but consistent and with a huge variety of pizzas; also offer pastas and other dishes. They give a complimentary sweet limoncello (?) blended drink at the end. Service is sometimes perfunctory and slow, but generally kind. Lots of English-speaking waiters. Also very busy; they take reservations, but if you go early, you'll get in. Open all day. I don't quite understand why there are always TV's on at this restaurant.

After candying some quince, I decided the best fate for it is panforte, then realized that there is no way I'm going to be able get the ostie (thin, flat wafers made of I'm-not-sure-what) that cover it. My first thought was 'Make them!', then I wondered whether the rice wraps used for spring rolls could be used (thin as the discs are, the seem a bit thicker than what I have in mind, and the starch looks more gelatinized than it is in ostie). Have any of you either successfully used rice wrappers, or made ostie? I could get them online, but then I'd have masses of them, and I'd rather not have to store anything I won't be using relatively quickly, since storage is at a premium (we're in a very temporary space).

Genuine Deruta Dinnerware - "Old World" Tuscan Majolica-- can I get some ideas, where to look, what to watch for, any thoughts, or helping ideas? Want some nice dinnerware to use for entertaining ?

My own recipe, though influenced by many sources. Santucci's Practical Torrone (Christmas Nougat) 180g honey (½ cup) 100g egg whites (2 eggs) 350g sugar (1 ½ cups) 50g water (2 tablespoons) 450g (1 pound) roasted nuts 5-10 drops orange oil 2 sheets (8 ½” x 11”) Ostia (aka wafer, edible paper) Combine honey, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Skim foam (if any is seen) off the honey when it reaches the boil. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Cook the honey mixture to 280° F (137° C). Remove from the heat. With the mixer on high speed, slowly pour the mixture into the egg whites. Continue to whisk until volume has increased by about half and the mixture just starts to lose gloss – only about 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed and add the orange oil and nuts. When they are thoroughly mixed in, spread the resulting nougat over a sheet of Ostia. Try to cover the sheet as evenly as possible- the nougat is sticky and will make things difficult. When it is evenly covered, top with the other sheet of Ostia. Leave to cool and crystallize completely in the open air before cutting, preferably overnight. Note: I call this 'practical' Torrone because the recipe is made for home confectioners of reasonable skill to be able to easily understand what and how much to buy and what to do with it. The ingredient portions are biased for my country, the USA, but I saw no point in using English ounces for the weight-based version – those of us who prefer weight generally prefer it in grams. Tips and tricks: 1.Keep nuts in a warm oven ( about 150° F / 65° C ) until you add them. Adding room temperature or colder nuts will reduce working time. 2.Getting the nougat spread between sheets of Ostia is the trickiest part of the process. I use buttered caramel rulers on the outside edges of the bottom sheet, pour and press nougat in place, and then press the top layer on with an offset spatula. If you don't have caramel rulers, try spreading the nougat with an offset spatula, topping with the other sheet, and rolling with a pin to smooth. I advise against trying to cast the slab in any kind of fixed side pan, as the stickiness will make it very difficult to remove. 3.Score the top layer of Ostia before cutting through. Once scored, a straight down cut with a Chef's knife works well. Cut into six 8 1/2” long bars and wrap in parchment or waxed paper to store, then cut into smaller rectangles to serve. 4.There are many possible alternate flavorings. 1-10 Lemon oil or 1 t. (5 ml) vanilla or almond extract work well and are traditional flavors. Candied orange peel and/or orange zest can also be added. 5.I use half pistachio and half almonds as the nuts. Hazelnuts (filberts) are also traditional. Any common nut should work. 6.Ostia is available from confectionery suppliers. I get 8-1/2” x 11” sheets from www.sugarcraft.com under the name 'wafer paper'. This recipe is copyright 2009 by Patrick J. Santucci. Contact the author on eGullet under the username psantucc.

1 C Northern Beans soaked over-night in 4-6C Water or Chxn Stock 1/2 t Cayenne Pepper 1//2 t Granulated garlic 1 twig Dried oregano-- dried from last yr 2 Bay pinch of salt ( yes ) and few pepper corns in the Morning; All into the Slow Cooker for 5 hrs. ( Crock Pot ) I removed half the liquor and added chicken stock here back in . to this I added diced cooked Italian sausage about 1 whole .. simmer in a pot.. I transferred to... then add 1/2 head of shopped chicory ( curly endive ) finish cooking 15 mins cheers Most measurements again are from feel

I was walking along Grand Street yesterday when I noticed that the Italian Food Center was closed up. I remember 10-15 years ago the Italian Food Center was an amazing deli-grocery. The last time I checked in, maybe 2-3 years ago, it had become more of a mediocre-looking pizzeria. Now, it's gone. Makes me a little sad.

So, Looking at purchasing one. Under 1500$ I'm not a fan of the add on, KA or Atlas roller/motor. I was looking at an Imperial 220, looks o.k . But is their anything else out , that is stand alone. Not the Roma either. This is for home use, as we periodically entertain for 12-16 people. Paul Ideas

Is there such a think anymore as an Italian bakery that bakes without shortening? If so, I would like to check them out on my upcoming visit to the city. I will be staying in the Financial District but will travel anywhere for a really great Italian bakery that doesn't use shortening. Specifically, I am looking for places that make all butter or butter/lard sfogliatelle. I assume that if bakeries in NYC use lard it is non-hydrogenated lard? Doesn't even have to be an Italian bakery. Really my search is for sfogliatelle so if there are notable ones in non-Italian bakeries I would love to find them.

Occasionally, I will create a dish in which I cook pasta directly in the sauce. The sauce is usually pretty brothy to start out with but the starch from the pasta converts it into a rich, creamy sauce. It's a technique that I've never seen in a recipe book or described anywhere but it makes a lot of sense to me. Does anyone else do this? What are some great applications?

I've been fooling around more often with homemade pasta lately, and I've been trying my hand at making different pasta shapes. I'm no expert at all, and I'm hoping that others can chime in with ideas and photos of techniques. Besides long shapes like tagliatelle and linguini, the two shapes that I have been making are farfalle and orecchiette, and I documented the exceptionally easy and forgiving orecchiette below. I always use the dough from the eGCI course on stuffed pasta: 400g ‘00’ flour 4 large eggs 1 additional egg yolk 1 tablespoon olive oil pinch of salt Once the dough rested, I rolled it out two about 1/2" and then cut it into strips about the same width. Then I rolled the strips into tubes. I then cut the tubes into small bits: Then, one at a time, I'd center them on my thumb: Push them down: The pull them slightly to release: Halfway there: The whole batch: After cooking in well-salted water and draining them, I sautéed them with some cavola nero, onions, sausage, and S&P: I'm sure others have a broader repertoire of shapes than I do. I've never tried strozzapreti, for example, and would appreciate a tutorial. The examples I've seen on the internet must make shapes the length and thickness of a large carrot.

How do you all compute pasta serving sizes?

(Please forgive the double post if you've already read this on Chowhound.) I'd appreciate your help in tracking down old-fashioned NYC Italian bread. I'm about to make a New Orleans bread pudding, which calls for traditional New Orleans French bread. NOLA French bread is thin-crusted, and has a light, airy crumb. When I moved to NYC in 1970, I used to make this recipe with NYC Italian loaves. While not as light as New Orleans French, Italian bread was a credible stand-in. Most importantly, the crust (sometimes sprinkled with sesame seeds) was neither too thick nor too chewy. Thick, chewy crusts or a chewy crumb make for a dense, heavy pudding. Do any Manhattan bakeries still sell old-fashioned Italian bread? It used to be everywhere, but I haven't seen it in ages. Crusty "artisan" breads are easy to find, but I'm searching for a lighter, humbler loaf. Thanks for the help.

A friend of mine, who used to live in the NY area, is visiting currently, and said he wanted to eat "New York Italian". In my mind (and I'm pretty sure his, too), this refers to the sort of old school, red sauce driven style we all used to think of as Italian food. While we've moved on from that style in many ways, it can still be really good and satisfying, so I was wondering what people thought were the best places to get that kind of fare currently. Specifically, we're looking at Manhattan spots (not Bronx/Arthur Avenue, etc.), preferably downtown, or easily reached parts of Brooklyn. My first thought was that a good option would be Torrisi and/or Parm, since they are essentially odes to that style of food, but executed better. And I guess to some extent, places like Roberta's, Frank, Piccolo Angolo, and Franny's might be evolutions of the style. Il Mulino, Emilio's Ballato and Ponte's are still open, though I never hear anyone mention them much these days. Any thoughts on these and others?

Does anyone know of anywhere in (preferably central) London selling decent guanciale?

Not talking tuna casserole. I have quite a few jars of tuna, including belly, that i canned this past year. I am looking for some of your favorite recipes? I feel greedy about these jars and don't want to waste them on run of the mill.

Society members Alex and Aki (twodogs) over at Ideas in Food have been displaying some remarkable pasta made with their Arcobaleno extruder. I need another kitchen gadget like I need a whole in my head, particularly one that has no price listed on the website but instead offers a "Financing" tab. But that doesn't prevent me from living vicariously from y'all. So who's got a good extruder out there these days? Even the hand-cranked ones are in the $400 range, it seems. Any budget options for those of us who just must make bucatini at home somehow?

My girlfriend recently returned from a trip to Milan with a 1k (2.2lb) bar of chocolate for me to use in a cooking application. It's not marked, but it tastes like it is 60% cacao. While I know of a couple recipes that use a couple ounces of chocolate, I can't think of one that would use this much. Any ideas on something I could make that would use up a large portion of it?

Hey all! I have been doing a little research trying to find cooking courses in Italy. I am at the tail end of a year abroad and figured that would be a nice way to finish the year. My problem is that it seems that most cooking schools/courses advertised online (at least the ones over shorter periods of time) are aimed at "couples on holiday" and people looking to say they "know how to cook Italian food." So what I would like to know is if any one here know of any interesting options for a more experienced cook to learn somemore about the food he loves in a serious but fun program. Thanks in advance!

I'm planning on making a dish that will include chestnut-flavored fresh tagliatelle, but I'm unsure of the best way to make my tagliatelle taste of chestnuts. Being autumn here I can easily get both fresh chestnuts and fresh (i.e., not rancid) chestnut flour. My ideas were to make a purée from the fresh chestnuts and mix this into my regular pasta dough, or, to make a pasta dough substituting some chestnut flour for plain flour. Which would be the best way to get that chestnut flavor into my pasta, such that it still comes through after it has been cooked?