A year of Italian cooking

[Kevin72]

Amen to that. Although I have to say december is definitely not my favorite month.. but October is. This season is just so inviting for cooks to go back into the kitchen.. have something simmer away on the stove...

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I'm a Christmas nerd, so that is my favorite time of the year. January, on the other hand, is a little too bleak, too much of a comedown after the holidays.

Great post, Kevin! I believe you meant Montepulciano d'Abruzzo?

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I did indeed. Kids, this is why you need to drink your coffee before posting.

I guess I was just dizzy from looking at all those wines that I just grabbed the first "Monta--" in my price range.

Great looking bread Kevin. The saltless thing does take some getting use to and I tire of this bread after a week or so. But it is great with salty ingredients (it is excellent as a crostini base, the best really) and bread salads. One good simple thing to do is fetunta, this is simply the toasted bread drizzled with load of olive oil and some salt. I allows the olive oil to shine. This is mostly done when the "New Oil" has just been pressed, but try it with any excellent olive oil you have.

Regarding salt and tax, that is one story (there are a few variations on this theme), this bread also seems to be restricted to places where there were Etruscan populations, so if could predate the taxation thing. No that most modern Tuscans are Etruscan.

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That would make sense about the Etruscan thing, since the Umbrians, also of Etruscan descent, make saltless bread as well.

We always do the olive oil and pinch of salt on the bread, even right out of the toaster. No butter here!

[Adam Balic]

All though it makes modern Tuscans very sad (or indeed angry) it seems that few of them are descended from the ancient Etruscan population (they are likely to be descended from other Italian groups or, horror, germanic invaders). It seems that the closest living people to the Etruscans too date, belong to some populations in Turkey and a few isolated hill top towns within Tuscany.

From a recent study:

"Etruscans appeared as genetically variable as modern populations. No significant heterogeneity emerged among archaeological sites or time periods, suggesting that different Etruscan communities shared not only a culture but also a mitochondrial gene pool. Genetic distances and sequence comparisons show closer evolutionary relationships with the eastern Mediterranean shores for the Etruscans than for modern Italian populations."

Still there is no reason that the modern Italians ancestors could not have taken on some aspects of the Etruscan culture, before they killed them or out bred them.

[helenas]

i think this might be an appropriate thread to pose this question:

Antonio Carluccio's Italia was just published: has anybody seen it?

i'm so tempted - Carluccio with Alastair Hendy as a photographer - what's not to love?

[Kevin72]

It certainly looks promising.

Edit: Doesn't look like it's available in the U.S. yet. I'm amazed at how many books he's had now that I'm looking deeper into him yet I don't think I've run across his books here before. Is he a big deal in Europe? Did he have a cooking show? If so, and if it ran on PBS, then he's where I first learned about Sardinian maggot cheese . . .

Edited October 4, 2005 by Kevin72 (log)

[FoodMan]

What a fine looking hunk of steak! I do have a comment or two about this:

I do it still as I said on the linked thread: smear it with oil, season it liberally with salt, pepper, and rosemary, and let it sit for a few hours. A cut of meat that thick will not loose its juices with the salt on there (a myth anyways). I just can’t bring myself to try other methods, particularly when this one is so damned good. Then I toss it over a high heat on the grill to sear it, reduce the heat and let it cook through.

First of, and I think I mentioned that on the other thread, I prepare it exactly the same way, I love the rosemary flavor with the oil. Also salt does draw moisture out, but that is a good thing in this case. I always salt steaks and let them sit for a while. This brings out some moisture and proteins to the surface and helps make for a wonderful crust due to the Mai-whatchamacall-it reaction. Basically you cannot salt a steak and leave it for 24hrs. or you will have cured meat, but an hour or two (depending on thickness) is a very good thing.

Elie

[Kevin72]

Absolutely correct, and thanks for putting a finer point on what I was trying to say. But isn't it even debatable if salt on something that thick would have such a bad effect even after 24 hours?

Glad we agree on the prep method (another Batali recipe!); I think the way the rosemary cooks off on the hot grill just adds this incredible smokiness to the meat.

[FoodMan]

Absolutely correct, and thanks for putting a finer point on what I was trying to say.  But isn't it even debatable if salt on something that thick would have such a bad effect even after 24 hours?

Glad we agree on the prep method (another Batali recipe!); I think the way the rosemary cooks off on the hot grill just adds this incredible smokiness to the meat.

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Yeap a Batali recipe....

24 hours might be ok for something that thick. I've never tried it though and I would think it's pushing it. Besides for the purposes of this preparation, you do not need more than a couple of hours to get the results you want. On the other hand I wonder if a longer period might "guild the lilly" .

Elie

[calimero]

The primo was cavatapi (sp?) with kale and sausage, from the older versions of Mario Batali's cooking shows.

cavatappi - corkscrew

[Kevin72]

Yeap a Batali recipe....

24 hours might be ok for something that thick. I've never tried it though and I would think it's pushing it. Besides for the purposes of this preparation, you do not need more than a couple of hours to get the results you want. On the other hand I wonder if a longer period might "guild the lilly"  .

Elie

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True, I'd hate to tinker with a good thing. But I do salt chickens rather heavily, smear 'em with oil, and then toss 'em in the fridge overnight. Never seem to dry out. Totally off the wall theorizing here, but maybe with the oil added into the mix the meat absorbs some of it in exchange for the juices and keeps its moisture? I'm sure I'll get smacked down on this idea though.

[Kevin72]

Both casual observation and a number of ccokbook authors note that Tuscans, particularly Florentines, are more enamored of soup as a primo than they are of pasta. I'm not sure why that is, shall we blame the Etruscans again?

And there are a wealth of soups to chose from, most of them emphasizing simple seasonal ingredients, water, and, quite often, their bread, either as fett'unta at the base of the bowl, or even directly cooked into the soup to make it more of a porridge.

Pappa al'Pomodoro is a prime example. It makes use of the abundance of end-of-summer tomatoes, cooked with garlic or onion, aromatics, and water until collapsing, then pureed or passed through a food mill and torn up bread is added along with basil. Top with olive oil, that most Tuscan condiment.

[ludja]

Yum, one of my favorite soups. The drizzle of good olive oil on top really sends it into orbit.

[Kevin72]

Yeah, that really does the trick. And I know it's frowned on in Tuscany, but with some soups it's really good to do oil and parm on top. They meld together in the heat and oh my it's good . . .

[Kevin72]

Friday night’s meal:

Tortino di carciofi; artichoke frittata.

Sciacciatta di uve, pane di uve: Flatbread with grapes. A harvest/vendemmia tradition. Some recipes really play up the sweet angle and make it more like a dessert, I just used a standard bread recipe, mixed with aniseseeds and topped with grapes. In retrospect, though, I probably would’ve liked a little more sweetness in there.

[Kevin72]

Cooler weather at last! Opened up the windows Saturday, turned off the A/C, and aired out the house. Time for some real autumn fare.

For an antipasto, I made one of my wife’s favorites: bruschetta with Tuscan kale.

Braise kale with garlic, olive oil, and a spot of water or white wine until nearly melting. Top some slices of grilled bread, then shards of pecorino Toscano, and a generous jot of olive oil. That glorious bread I made last week is, alas, not holding up well and fell apart trying to cut it.

The main were grilled spiedini of quail and pancetta over sage polenta.

The quail were a little undercooked and flabby in parts, and the pancetta, normally one of the best parts of this dish, was tough and fibrous, damned near inedible. And I didn’t season the polenta right so it was pretty bland.

Dessert was a made-up item using leftover ricotta filling from the torta della nonna from last weekend. I mixed it with flour, yeast, and shot of warm milk, then let it rise. Grated a couple of apples into the mix, punched it down, and let it rise again, then put spoonfuls of it into hot oil and deep-fried it. Pretty tasty.

[Kevin72]

For Sunday morning’s brunch, I made pane forte, the heavily spiced “cake” of Tuscany and especially Sienna. Raisins, prunes, orange and lemon zest, cocoa powder, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, clove, black pepper, and a little bit of flour are mixed together, then boiling honey/sugar are poured in and mixed together as well. Pat this mixture into a baking pan and let it bake in a relatively low oven.

Grrrr. I’m really hitting a run of bad luck here after Saturday’s meal. You’re supposed to bring the honey/sugar mix to 240F and pour it in. In the time it took for me to get it off the heat, lift the mixer head on my KitchenAid, and pour it in, it had gone from 240F to 268F, so some of it seized along the sides of the mixing bowl. The cake came out very dark brown and got harder and harder as it sat, to when we finally sat down you had to dunk it in coffee or risk losing some teeth.

[Kevin72]

Sunday night’s primo: Papardelle with mushroom ragu.

I used shitake mushrooms and dried porcini, then simmered them with red wine, chilies, and a dash of tomato sauce. I’ve really picked up a liking for shitake mushrooms: they have this nearly garlick-y flavor to them and they really stand up well to robust cooking methods. I’ve only relatively recently learned that Tuscans and Emilia-Romangnans(?) regard using cheese with a mushroom pasta almost on the same level as cheese on a pasta and seafood dish: it masks the subtle flavors of the condimento. So we tried it without and it wasn’t missed.

The secondo was roasted game hens with vin santo (actually Marsala, again) from Pamela Sheldon Johns’ Italian Food Artisans book. And, keeping with my bad luck streak, here is the botched item for the night: the flavor of the marsala, cooked with lemon zest, didn’t carry through at all after being reduced away to nothing in the very hot oven (not part of the recipe, but that’s how I cook my birds), so it’s a good thing I didn’t stick to tradition and splurge for vin santo, which wouldn’t have been tasted at all. The contorno were stewed beans and tomatoes.

Dessert was baked pears with wine syrup and honey. I love this dish; one of the most evocative of autumn. The pear takes on an almost custard-like texture after baking and the wine, honey, and shards of parmigiano over it create such a perfect blend of flavors.

[mrbigjas]

kevin, if it makes you feel any better, last night i made that pumpkin, escarole and farro soup for a family gathering and it was a big hit--my sister said that it was the kind of thing she thought she could eat for dinner every night.

so even though you're having some issues at the moment, this thread of yours is still inspiring some good cooking up in here.

[petite tête de chou]

That pear is simply beautiful. The tiny drop coming off the stem looks like a jewel and the light reflecting on the pool of syrup reminds me of gold leaf flakes.

Autumn in a bowl.

edited to ask...Kevin, what kinds of pear and wine did you use?

Edited October 10, 2005 by petite tête de chou (log)

[Kevin72]

That pear is simply beautiful. The tiny drop coming off the stem looks like a jewel and the light reflecting on the pool of syrup reminds me of gold leaf flakes. 

Autumn in a bowl. 

edited to ask...Kevin, what kinds of pear and wine did you use?

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Yeah, I'm really proud of that shot.

I used a Bosc pear (the most photogenic, I think) and nothing special on the red wine. Merlot, I believe. Add sugar and cloves to it as it bakes and reduces.

[Kevin72]

kevin, if it makes you feel any better, last night i made that pumpkin, escarole and farro soup for a family gathering and it was a big hit--my sister said that it was the kind of thing she thought she could eat for dinner every night. 

so even though you're having some issues at the moment, this thread of yours is still inspiring some good cooking up in here.

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Thanks! Glad it was a hit.

I'm just hacked 'cuz I was looking forward to the weekend of cooking all week and so many of those dishes didn't quite turn out as good as I knew they could be.

[Pan]

Hi, Kevin. So, I miss this thread for a few days and come back to a bunch of great photos!

For Sunday morning’s brunch, I made pane forte, the heavily spiced “cake” of Tuscany and especially Sienna.  Raisins, prunes, orange and lemon zest, cocoa powder, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, clove, black pepper, and a little bit of flour are mixed together, then boiling honey/sugar are poured in and mixed together as well.

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They use candied citron peel and melon in it, from what I remember the proprietor of a store on a corner of the Piazza del Campo telling me. I don't remember raisins or prunes. Then again, it's a secret senese recipe. For the record, the name of the confection is panforte, and to my knowledge, it's made for sale only in Siena and Monteriggioni. All panforti on sale anywhere in the world, unless based on reverse-engineered recipes, come from those two places. The most widely available brand is Sapori.

Where did you get your panforte recipe from? I see some other recipes on the internet, such as these on About.com, this one on chefs-help.co.uk (coriander seeds?), yet another here (1 stick of butter???), and this one at Cooking.com (candied apricots and pineapple?). It looks like a lot of people have rather original takes on this venerable old Sienese tradition. But the most important thing is, did it taste good? Panforte is very dense but it shouldn't be so chewy you really risk losing teeth.

[Kevin72]

It's sort of a hybrid of the recipe in Culinaria: Italy and a loose recollection of a version cooked on Cucina Toscana, a favorite cooking show hosted by Damien Mandola and Johnny Carraba (of Carraba's restaurants--it's still a good show though!), two Houston-ites who've founded quite an Italian restaurant empire between their extended families. Their version had raisins and figs in it; the prunes were my substitution. And I didn't have the candied zests on hand nor could I find it anywhere, so I used fresh.

Okay flavor, a little bitter, certainly not that dense chewy goodness of the real deal. One of my bigger disappointments of late.

[anzu]

I almost never bake anything, but make an exception for panforte, which I do make quite often. Since yours was so hard, it sounds as if you baked it for too long.

Since the cake is so dense I always find it close to impossible to check for doneness in any normal way. Instead, one needs to be fairly sure of one's oven temperatures and to take the time given in the recipe completely on faith, pulling the panforte out of the oven immediately at the time the recipe says it should be fully baked.

The only time I didn't do this and left it in for slightly longer, I got the hardness you described.

Do try it again though, as panforte is , and if even a baking amateur like me can manage it, then your lack of success was just plain bad luck plus a slightly too long baking time.

[Kevin72]

I almost never bake anything, but make an exception for panforte, which I do make quite often. Since yours was so hard, it sounds as if you baked it for too long.

Since the cake is so dense I always find it close to impossible to check for doneness in any normal way. Instead, one needs to be fairly sure of one's oven temperatures and to take the time given in the recipe completely on faith, pulling the panforte out of the oven immediately at the time the recipe says it should be fully baked.

The only time I didn't do this and left it in for slightly longer, I got the hardness you described.

Do try it again though, as panforte is      , and if even a baking amateur like me can manage it, then your lack of success was just plain bad luck plus a slightly too long baking time.

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Would the honey/sugar mix getting too hot have also contributed?

Thanks for the tips. That sounds about right that it baked too long.

[Kevin72]

Man, I'm really having a run of bad luck after this weekend. I need to get back on track with something that won't frustrate me so easily, that I never screw up--hey, I'll make crepes!

Yes, no better way to cap off a frustrating weekend of cooking than by taking my culinary kryptonite for a spin. I decided to do chestnut crepes, aka neci.

First challenge is the whole chestnut angle. Given my previous experience with chestnut flour, I was leary of trying it again. I went to the store and stole a taste from the bin and sure enough, it had that smokey, then bitter, aftertaste that I just didn't want to chance. So instead I bought a can of chestnut puree, mixed it with milk, eggs, and a dash of flour. I heated the pan up, spooned some of the batter in . . . and it stayed in the same shape of the spoon. Okay, that didn't work. Thin out the batter with milk then and try again. It spread beautifully this time but stuck to the pan. Crap! Not enough eggs in the batter I guess. Add more eggs. Now it sets up right but still tears very easily. Maybe add more flour? Too thick again! More milk . . . ah, just right, and it only took four crepes and 30 more minutes of tinkering to get it there.

The meal I made Monday night is based on a dream I had about our honeymoon about a month before we left. It was a very vivid dream where we landed in Rome, then had to take a train from Rome to Venice, our first destination on the honeymoon. On the way, we stopped overnight in a little mountain town in Tuscany and ate at a trattoria. No menus, we just sat down and immediately were handed two sizzling skewers of porcini mushrooms right off the grill. Then we had neci, layered with ham and pecorino toscano. I woke up before we got to eat any of it, though . . .

So, the mushrooms. No fresh porcini, so I just used a mix of other exotics: shitake, bluefoot chaunterelle (I think), and trumpet. Marinate in olive oil, salt, and rosemary, then toss on a grill.

The crepes:

Actually, barring the disastrous start, the meal turned out pretty good. The only drawback was that after all that tinkering with the batter . . . all together now . . . you couldn't really taste the chestnut flavor anymore. Still, given that previous crepe cooking experiences have had me hurling the batter into the sink and stomping out of the kitchen in disgust, I was pleased.