eG Foodblog: tupac17616 - Barbecue & Foie Gras

[suzilightning]

We go through New Braunfels occasionally, usually either on our way to Lockhart for BBQ or to San Marcos to shop at the outlet malls. I may have been missing out on the German experience in New Braunfels. Only good food I have had there is from an old bakery in their kinda historic downtown-ish area. Any particular places in New Braunfels that you would recommend? I'm sure good German food would be worth traveling for.

you probably are thinking about Friesenhaus Resturant and Bakery. they do make hearty old world style breads. i really liked the leberkase and john went for the pork schnitzel.

we were staying near the New Braunfels Smokehouse and between the bread from Friesenhaus and the smoked meats from here we tended to have a very moveable feast while we were out birding. i kept being drawn back to the smoked jalapeno wurst and john really liked the venison and pork sausages as well as the weisswurst.

[tupac17616]

Sorry I am so late in getting back to blogging tonight. An early start to the day getting up before sunrise to go running, followed by a long day at work, called for a nice 2 1/2 hour nap before dinner. But anyhoo, here I am, back at it...

Tonight I was in the mood for Italian. And did I mention that it is without a doubt my favorite cuisine? Hmm, I don't guess I did...

[boring Personal Ramblings]

I love Italian food. With a passion. Sono italiano in fondo, if ya know what I mean. It is without a doubt my favorite cuisine to cook and to eat. I love the simplicty. I love the tradition. I love the language, and having been taking it for a year. Everything Italian to me is just beautiful. Ask anyone who knows me well and they will probably tell you that I must've been Italian in a former life (although truth be I'm actually half Mexican, half Polish....but shhhh...Don't tell anyone ). Case in point, as a birthday gift a friend of mine got me a T-shirt that features Mario of Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers fame with a caption reading "Everybody Loves an Italian Boy!". It has become practically part of my kitchen uniform.

I unfortunately haven't had the chance to travel to Italy yet, but that's a situation I'll do everything I can to remedy sooner rather than later. I should be there right now actually, as a month-long trip I had planned with a couple of friends ended up not working out for one of them, so we post-poned it. I had a route all mapped out: Napoli-Roma-Firenze-Modena-Bologna-Parma-Venezia-Milano. And when I go, it will be mostly for the food, hence the focus on Emilia-Romagna, perhaps the most important gastronomic region in the country. I was so disappointed when that friend decided to jump ship so late in the game like that. But I will go next summer, come hell or high water. And I guess by then, I'll have completed another year of studying the language, and I'll be celebrating my graduation as well. So I guess it all works out in the end.

I am thinking that since I didn't make it to Italy this summer, I'll at least try and plan things so that I can take a vacation to California at the end of the summer, to check out a few graduate school options, and of course eat at a few restaurants there that I've really been wanting to try (most notably, Chez Panisse and The French Laundry). I've never been to California, so that should be interesting. After experiencing Texas and New York, I'm curious to see what the other coast is all about. Anyway, guess we'll see how it goes

[/boring Personal Ramblings]

Anyway, on to dinner. I took lots of pictures today...

Sicilian Pistachio Pesto -- This was inspired by a dish I had at Tempo, an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. To prepare the pesto, I blanched the pistachios for a couple of minutes in boiling salted water to turn them a bright green color and to allow easier removal of the pusplish-brownish outside skin of the nuts (after we had shelled them the other night while watching Miami: CSI. Very important step ). Then tossed with a good Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, and roasted for a couple of minutes in a 500 degree oven. In the meantime, I also toasted some pine nuts in a small pan on the stove top. My mom went outside to pick some basil, and came back with that huge bunch pictured below, which we blanched for about 30 seconds in more boiling salted water, then drained and squeezed out any excess moisture. Added all this to the food processor along with some Pecorino Romano cheese, salt, pepper, and hot red pepper flakes, drizzled a bunch more of that Sicilian olive oil while it was processing, and that was that. This is one leftover that I won't mind having around.

Bucatini con Pesto Siciliano, Fagioli e Pomodori -- Bucatini (also called Perciatelli, depening on who you ask) is my favorite type of pasta. Sure, it can be tough to eat, the fat tubes wiggling around like snakes on the plate as you try to get them on your fork. But that's a small price to pay for such greatness. A properly al dente dish of bucatini puts a smile on my face like no other. I just love their toothsomeness. To serve as the condimento, I blanched some green beans that had been cut into short 1" segments in some salted boiling water to bring out the green color, then tossed them and some teardrop-shaped yellow and red grape tomatoes in some olive oil and roasted them in the oven. Tossed this all together with the pesto and the cooked bucatini, and we were in business.

Chicken Saltimbocca --No veal in the freezer meant I had to go the non-traditional route, so I chose to make this from what we did have: boneless skinless chicken thighs. Sure, breasts could have worked too. But a little extra fat never hurt anyone. We pounded each flat with a paper thin sheet of Prosciutto di Parma on top, lightly dredged in flour, and cooked in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Went out to the garden to pick some sage leaves, and tossed those in as well. Very quick and easy dish. Turned out well, too, even if I do prefer the flavor of the traditional version with veal.

Chef's Snack -- A little snack while cooking never hurts. My mom made this wonderul pico de gallo, with homegrown tomatoes, homegrown jalapeno peppers, red onion, salt and pepper. I guess since we were having Italian food tonight, Mexican would be a little out of place, so we'll just refer to it as, uh, Salsa di Pomodoro. Yeah, that works.

Dinner is served...

And of course dessert...

Banana Split Panini -- Took some pain au lait hamburger buns that tasted almost like brioche, cut them in half, hollowed out some of the insides, put sliced bananas in one side and a mixture of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate on the other side, grilled on the Griddler for several minutes until the outside was crisp and the chocolate inside was gooey. Then fillled with vanilla ice cream, sliced in half, and ejoyed. Sort of a weird idea, perhaps, but it was really tasty. Kind of the at-home version of the gelato-filled brioche alla Otto in NYC.

[tupac17616]

you probably are thinking about Friesenhaus Resturant and Bakery.  they do make hearty old world style breads.  i really liked the leberkase and john went for the pork schnitzel. 

we were staying near the New Braunfels Smokehouse and between the bread from Friesenhaus and the smoked meats from here we tended to have a very moveable feast while we were out birding.  i kept being drawn back to the smoked jalapeno wurst and john really liked the venison and pork sausages as well as the weisswurst.

Turns out the place I was thinking of is Naegelin's Bakery, which has apparently been around since 1868. I love the beautiful aroma that greets you when you walk in the door. They make wonderful strudel, breads, and other goodies. Really neat place.

Sounds like I ought to give Friesenhaus and NB Smokehouse a try, too, though. Thanks for the tips!

[Chufi]

That pesto looks so good! Together with the saltimbocca, that's very much my kind of dinner.

Why do you blanch the basil? Does it make for easier processing? I would be worried that it would dull the flavor of the basil... does it?

Edited June 16, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Shaya]

That pesto looks so good! Together with the saltimbocca, that's very much my kind of dinner.

Why do you blanch the basil? Does it make for easier processing? I would be worried that it would dull the flavor of the basil... does it?

←

That looks great Tupac. My kind of dinner, indeed. (I too am convinced I was Italian in a former life. I love how you say "Sono italiano in fondo"- can I quote you?).

Klary - I also blanch and then shock my basil when making pesto, and add a pinch of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in order to preserve the bright green color.

[Megan Blocker]

OMG, I LOVE the banana split panini idea. I am going to co-opt it for my friend's five year old. He will worship me. I, in turn, will worship Tupac.

Also, that shot of the torch and the asparagus? Priceless.

[Susan in FL]

Oh my goodness, two real big winners in a row! Somehow though, I know it's just the first two of seven that will be awesome. I can't tell you how many times I went back and looked at the photos of the first dinner and its prep. I've never had chicken fried steak, and it never appealed to me before, but now: I've already bought the steak and will be trying it.

What creative desserts, too! I love how you can whip up something with stuff you have on hand. You're liable to influence my dessert habits, too.

[tupac17616]

Why do you blanch the basil? Does it make for easier processing? I would be worried that it would dull the flavor of the basil... does it?

I don't always blanch the basil when making pesto. I figured a quick blanch might make it a brighter green as it does with most green foods. Not sure if I accomplished that or not, but I figured it was worth a try. It didn't seem to dull the flavor of the basil at all, although I did throw in some raw basil while I was processing it, so I can't be too sure.

(I too am convinced I was Italian in a former life.  I love how you say "Sono italiano in fondo"- can I quote you?)

Si, certo!

OMG, I LOVE the banana split panini idea.  I am going to co-opt it for my friend's five year old.  He will worship me.  I, in turn, will worship Tupac.

[tupac17616]

I can't tell you how many times I went back and looked at the photos of the first dinner and its prep.  I've never had chicken fried steak, and it never appealed to me before, but now:  I've already bought the steak and will be trying it.

Awesome! I'll look forward to seeing the results in the Dinner thread!

[Abra]

I'm starting to think that your future might lie in pastry. Your desserts are so creative, and quirkily appealing.

And I like your Mom, and I like it that you like your Mom. Can we see some family pictures? Garden shots?

[alanamoana]

definitely would love to see some garden shots! my mom is a crazy gardener...never rhyme or reason to it...just go outside and pick some stuff and make dinner with it.

tupac, i'm really impressed with you and daniel and bryanz, et al....all you young guys that are so in love with food and cooking. since you're all in the ny area, have you ever gotten together for a foodie blowout? that would be a great foodblog...the 25 and under set tag team foodblog! (i'm not sure how old daniel is, but i know you and bryan are under 25) i just think it is such a great passion, especially without the need to jump into the food business, which can just suck the life out of the passion you have.

please continue with your blog...we're all just holding our collective breaths waiting for the next meal to materialize.

oh, and if you hit norcal (bay area) in your school visits, don't forget about manresa for a great dinner (much cheaper and a little more relaxed-but still great bang for the buck-than the french laundry). and feel free to pm if you'd like any tips on the area.

[tupac17616]

I'm starting to think that your future might lie in pastry.  Your desserts are so creative, and quirkily appealing.

And I like your Mom, and I like it that you like your Mom.  Can we see some family pictures?  Garden shots?

Thanks for the kind comments. Trust me, I've got a looong way to go when it comes to pastry/sweets. I'm very good at eating them. But making them, eh, not so much.

I've been wanting to get some garden shots but just haven't had the time yet. I will make sure to take care of that before the blog is over, though. As for the family pics, I can't make any promises, but I'll definitely try. I haven't asked each of them how'd they feel about that. Personally, I'm fine with it, but I'll see what they think about it.

tupac,  i'm really impressed with you and daniel and bryanz, et al....all you young guys that are so in love with food and cooking.  since you're all in the ny area, have you ever gotten together for a foodie blowout?  that would be a great foodblog...the 25 and under set tag team foodblog! 

Now that sounds like fun, both the NYC eGullet young guns extravaganza and the tag team blog. I like the way you think.

oh, and if you hit norcal (bay area) in your school visits, don't forget about manresa for a great dinner (much cheaper and a little more relaxed-but still great bang for the buck-than the french laundry).  and feel free to pm if you'd like any tips on the area.

Thanks for the advice, and the offer to PM for more. I'll definitely take you up on that. I've heard good things (and seen some nice pictures) about Manresa, too. Much like NYC, it seems the Bay Area has a ridiculous number of good options. So many restaurants, so little time!

[BryanZ]

tupac,  i'm really impressed with you and daniel and bryanz, et al....all you young guys that are so in love with food and cooking.  since you're all in the ny area, have you ever gotten together for a foodie blowout?  that would be a great foodblog...the 25 and under set tag team foodblog! 

Now that sounds like fun, both the NYC eGullet young guns extravaganza and the tag team blog. I like the way you think.

So it would, but I think when tupac is in the city I'm at school and vice-versa. I guess it'll have to be just you and Daniel.

[H. du Bois]

Tupac, I'm loving this blog! So funny to have it be both of a different world (Texas) and a very familiar one, too (I reside conveniently near Blue Ribbon and Tempo in Brooklyn).

How'd you get to be such a good cook? Reading the right books? Practice, practice, practice? Were there any particular influences in your life that headed you there?

[BarbaraY]

I'm really enjoying this blog. You have inspired me so we're having Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potato and Country Gravy. My daughter says gravy is a beverage.

[mizducky]

I'm really enjoying this blog. You have inspired me so we're having Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potato and Country Gravy. My daughter says gravy is a beverage. 

←

Now see, I used to think gravy was a food group.

May I also say kudos on your excellent photography of your excellent food. That closeup of the pistaschios made me go "Mmmmmmm ... nuts!"

[tupac17616]

As promised....

A PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR OF OUR FAMILY GARDEN

Banana Tree

Basil & Zucchini -- Note the difference in the leaves of the two basil plants. They are different varieties of basil. The zucchini plants got pounded by a storm last month. They are usually among the most bountiful plants we have, but they've got a lot of catching up to do now.

Bay Tree

Blackberries -- Finally showing some signs of life in recent weeks

Dill -- This plant is "spent" according to the resident gardener (a.k.a. mom). However, the caterpillar that morphs into Monarch butterflies is attracted to this particular plant for some reason, so it didn't die without a purpose

Fig Tree -- No figs yet

French Tarragon

Guava

Jalapeno Peppers

Japanese Eggplant

Japanese Plum Tree

Lavender

Lemon Tree

Lime Basil

Lime Tree

Mandarin Orange Tree

Mexican Marjoram

Onions

Oregano

Parsley

Pineapple Mint

Rosemary

Sage

Serrano Peppers

Spearmint

Sweet Genovese Basil -- One of six basil plants and four different varieties that we have.

Thyme -- I may have sucked this one dry. Probably my favorite herb behind basil.

Tomato Plants -- Beefsteak, Roma, and Sweet 100

Random shots of the backyard

Please excuse any mistakes in the names. I'm definitely not much of an expert when it comes to gardening. These are, of course, just the food-related plants. There are plenty of other kinds of plants spread throughout our front and back yard, which I know even less about. But hey, at least there's always room for learning. I imagine over the years I've probably soaked up more gardening wisdom that I realize.

Some plants are not pictured. Hey, nobody's perfect. Some omissions that come to mind are poblano peppers and agave. My dad keeps insisting that we use all that agave to produce our own tequila. Clearly, the man loves his margaritas (which is a very Tex-Mex/San Antonio drink, by the way) .

Tomorrow, I'll update with the pictures from tonight's dinner. Tonight we had Mexican. And after spending some time in the garden this evening before dinner, we didn't have to stray too far to find ingredients for that dinner. Stay tuned...

[The Old Foodie]

O.K. I cant stand it any longer. Will someone please explain to those of us outside the US of A - "Cream Gravy" (looks like what I would call White Sauce!) and "Country Gravy"?

As Charles Dicken's said "There is no such passion in human nature as the passion for gravy".

Amen to that. And a fig to those Frenchies who say - intending it as an insult - that England only has two sauces. That might be true, but one of those is gravy, and the other one is custard, so who needs more?

[Rehovot]

Great blog, and an awesome garden! For someone like me, who can barely keep alive a few herbs, this is staggering.

You mentioned earlier that your heritage is Mexican and Polish; maybe you can comment on how both cultures have influenced your tastes, or if one is more dominant in your cooking/eating than the other... Or maybe Italian won out over both?

[misgabi]

Yay - curly parsley. After watching all the food channels denigrate one of my favourites am glad to see you grow it too.

Great blog (although I second Old Foodies question about the gravy - looked damn anaemic to me).

[IrishCream]

Really enjoying your blog. And nice garden. In 20 yrs in Houston I could never keep Tarragon alive. Maybe the lower humidity in SA helps? The Japanese Plum looks like what I always call a Loquat which grows wild in the Houston area.

Ms. Old Foodie...Southern gravy differs from a white sauce because it is based on caramelized meat drippings as opposed to plain butter or oil a la bechamel. Also a lot of black pepper and never nutmeg...it's amazing how different they taste with almost identical ingredients. While it may be called cream gravy it is based on milk. Southerners are way too frugal to use real cream in gravy. Country gravy is just another name for the same thing though some claim that country gravy is based on a browner roux. Sausage gravy is another variation where fresh pork sausage is crumbled and fried and the gravy is built on it's fat. Doesn't it sound horrid? Tastes very good.

[tupac17616]

Tupac, I'm loving this blog!  So funny to have it be both of a different world (Texas) and a very familiar one, too (I reside conveniently near Blue Ribbon and Tempo in Brooklyn). 

How'd you get to be such a good cook?  Reading the right books?  Practice, practice, practice?  Were there any particular influences in your life that headed you there?

Glad you're enjoying the blog! And excellent choice of a neighborhood to call home, might I add. Al Di La, Tempo, Blue Ribbon... Not bad at all. The fact that I've gone to your neighborhood on back-to-back nights to eat at different places (in that case, Al Di La, then Tempo), coming from the far upper west side of Manhattan, that says something right there.

As far as my skills as a cook, I've still got a lot to learn. I am nowhere near a master chef. I'm a good eater, though! Or, as a guy on TV said in a recent commercial, "I'm just a lover, a looker, and a BBQ cooker."

I've got a handful of cookbooks, most of which I enjoy more for the pictures than anything else...

As you can see, I am a big fan of Batali. I couldn't care less that he is a TV personality. I just like his cooking style, flavor combinations, and the way he both honors traditional Italian cooking and makes it his own at the same time. And his flagship restaurant Babbo continues to remain one of my favorite restaurants in the city.

While the cookbooks are neat to have as a reference if I want to make something requiring precision, say a cake, for example, I soon realized how incredibly impractical it was as a home cook to try and take these recipes as the infallible culinary truth. When I first started cooking, I'd try to shop for the exact ingredients, measure things and follow the recipe word-for-word, etc. But the more I cooked, the more I just did my own thing. I began to shop based on what's in season, what looked very fresh that day at the market, what we happened to harvest from the garden in the back, etc. Once I started doing that, I developed more and more confidence in the kitchen, and there was no going back.

I'm not sure what exactly the influences were that led me to enjoy cooking so much. I've often wondered that myself. I attribute a lot of it to simple encouragement. When encouraged in the right way by one's parents, I'm a big believer that pretty much any curiosity can become a fascination and a passion. My parents always supported my experiments in the kitchen, and I think that was a big part of my love of cooking today. Another big contributing factor was NYC. Eating out at all the different kinds of restaurants the city has to offer really opened my eyes to all kinds of new flavors, ingredients, and techniques. I've been to 270 different restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and food shops all over the city in the three years I've been at school (I only know that because I keep a list to make sure I don't repeat unless I think the place is just incredible). All that exposure to things that are just so different to what I might find here in Texas had definitely had an impact on my cooking style, too.

I'm really enjoying this blog. You have inspired me so we're having Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potato and Country Gravy. My daughter says gravy is a beverage. 

Wonderful! How did it turn out?

[May I also say kudos on your excellent photography of your excellent food. That closeup of the pistaschios made me go "Mmmmmmm ... nuts!"

Thanks! I'm still trying to learn a thing or two from my younger brother. He's the resident photographer in the family.

Great blog, and an awesome garden!  For someone like me, who can barely keep alive a few herbs, this is staggering.

You mentioned earlier that your heritage is Mexican and Polish; maybe you can comment on how both cultures have influenced your tastes, or if one is more dominant in your cooking/eating than the other... Or maybe Italian won out over both? 

Yeah, I'm afraid Italian may have knocked 'em both out.

Growing up in San Antonio, where the Hispanic population is the majority rather than a minority, the influence of Mexican culture is everywhere. As far as cooking/eating goes here, though, what we think of as "Mexican food" is unquestionably Tex-Mex. The restaurants where you can get a typical combo plate of enchiladas, rice, beans, chile con queso, etc are a dime a dozen. The likelifood that you can find, say, an authenic mole from the cuisine of some region in interior Mexico, or a Mexican seafood restaurant here is incredibly slim, though. Kind of sad, actually. Not that Tex-Mex is bad, I just wish there were more places where a could explore the other sides of Mexican cuisine, a cuisine that I know is much more intricate and complex that it is often made out to be here. I'd say my two favorite kinds of Mexican food would be puffy tacos (for those unfamiliar with them, a picture can be seen here) and queso fundido (melty cheese and chorizo ...what's not to like?).

The influence of my Polish heritage has not been as strong for whatever reasons. I guess some of it had to with the fact that that side of my family is a lot more spread out geographically around the country. I've been curious to try and discover what Polish cuisine is actually like, a question my mom (whose heritage is Polish) was not too sure about either. I got her a combination storybook/cookbook about Polish culture and cuisine last year (called "At Hanka's Table"...seen in my cookbook collection pictures above), so she read through that and we've talked about trying out a few of the dishes in there. One of these days.

Great blog (although I second Old Foodies question about the gravy - looked damn anaemic to me).

Ouch. Low blow. What can I say? Sometimes, even people who love to cook need to take a shortcut or two. Sometimes, the family gets hungry when I take twice as long to make dinner because I am trying to photograph the entire thing. Sure, normally I would make it with the pan drippings and milk, so maybe me taking the butter and buttermilk shortcut this time means it doesn't technically qualify as a gravy at all. So shall we call it a Buttermilk White Sauce, Buttermilk Bechamel with Cracked Pepper, or perhaps "Cream Gravy" in quotation marks a la Thomas Keller? I wouldn't want to offend any sticklers for tradition who might feel the need to scrutinize the apparent texture of something they did not even have the opportunity to taste.

Really enjoying your blog.  And nice garden.  In 20 yrs in Houston I could never keep Tarragon alive. Maybe the lower humidity in SA helps? The Japanese Plum looks like what I always call a Loquat which grows wild in the Houston area.

Ms. Old Foodie...Southern gravy differs from a white sauce because it is based on caramelized meat drippings as opposed to plain butter or oil a la bechamel. Also a lot of black pepper and never nutmeg...it's amazing how different they taste with almost identical ingredients. While it may be called cream gravy it is based on milk.  Southerners are way too frugal to use real cream in gravy. Country gravy is just another name for the same thing though some claim that country gravy is based on a browner roux. Sausage gravy is another variation where fresh pork sausage is crumbled and fried and the gravy is built on it's fat.  Doesn't it sound horrid?  Tastes very good. 

Yeah, it may very well be the humidity that's the thing with the Tarragon. Ours was slow to establish but it's yield has been pretty good. I just asked my dad about Japanese Plum vs. Loquat, and he says they are one and the same. So I think we're talking about the same thing.

By the way, excellent explanation of bechamel vs. cream gravy vs. country gravy. I am in the camp that believes country gravy usually has a more developed brown in the roux (well past the light blond stage that a cream gravy would usually stop at). And no, sausage gravy does not sound at all horrid. I've had it several times before, and it is definitely the stuff dreams are made of.

[tupac17616]

Last night, in honor of half of my heritage (actually in honor of my mom's request ) we had Mexican food...

The Prep

Homegrown Tomatoes harvested minutes before, many of which will go into fresh Pico de Gallo and Guacamole. Some just go straight into our mouths.

Refried Beans (cooked in pork fat, of course) reheating in cast iron skillet

Ground meat seasoned with chile power, cumin, black pepper, fresh garlic, and red onion

Fresh guacamole stuff (Lime not pictured)

Charring corn tortillas on the gas stove. I always do mine this way as I love the flavor this brings out.

My mom and dad usually prefer to fry theirs for a minute in some lard

The Results

Fresh Guacamole

Crumbled Queso Fresco

Refried Beans

Mexican Rice (with some chunks of more homegrown tomatoes thrown in for good measure)

Ground Meat flavored with cumin, chile powder, pepper, garlic and red onion

Lettuce

Red Onion

Pico de Gallo -- homegrown tomatoes, onions & jalapenos, black pepper and a bit of fresh lime juice

Taco time...

Un Poco de Todo

The table -- As you can see, my mom got into the festive Mexican dinner theme tonight We found that little rooster in Mexico several years ago.

Dessert Prep

Zabaglione -- 3 egg yolks, 3 tbsp. sugar, 3 tbsp. sweet Marsala wine. Lots of whisking.

Fresh Whipped Cream

Chocolate Pasta

Chocolate Pasta with Marsala Zabaglione, Red Grapes, Blueberries, Blackberries, Fresh Whipped Cream and Grated Mexican Chocolate -- My favorite dessert of the week so far

[H. du Bois]

And excellent choice of a neighborhood to call home, might I add.  Al Di La, Tempo, Blue Ribbon...  Not bad at all.  The fact that I've gone to your neighborhood on back-to-back nights to eat at different places (in that case, Al Di La, then Tempo), coming from the far upper west side of Manhattan, that says something right there.

When I chose this neighborhood, it was derelict and I had to step over piles of empty crack vials every morning. How my little stretch of Fifth Avenue became a gastronomic heaven is one of those strange mysteries of evolution. Guess the gods of cuisine smiled upon me!

Batali - well, you chose a wonderful influence! Have you ever read Marcella Hazan? I like it that you looked to the garden and market for inspiration.

[Susan in FL]

This continues to be excellent. I must say I am especially pleased to see two techniques in particular, whacking an avocado seed and an egg yolk in the palm of a hand.