The Cooking and Cuisine of Tuscany

[Pontormo]

Does everyone have clay pots except me? Tempting crespelle, Elie. I didn't realize they were a Tuscan specialty, though I've seen them often enough at lunch, filled with something from the day before.

I have to wonder about wives and chicken livers, though. Kevin said the same thing. I'm still wearing my training wheels in cooking them, slowly getting to like them a little more each time. Very assertive taste, but kind of sweet. Girl thing? Hope not.

* * *

I'm a sucker for pears cooked in red wine at Christmas. What I like especially about Kevin's is the fact that the fruit is unpeeled, or so I am guessing from the photograph: a bit like baked apples. It's actually a method James Beard recommends, too, surprisingly, or so I learned while searching for interesting things to do with persimmons. Lovely description, too, Kevin, especially regarding the bundling of different flavors. I can imagine a platter of small Seckel pears roasted and presented this way.

[FoodMan]

I could not tell that his pears were unpeeled! interesting. I just would think that peeling them would make them more absorbant for the flavorful sauce. I also like the difference in color between the bottom and top of the pear due to standing them upright in the pot. The recipe I use for baked pears is from another Jamie Oliver book actually and it asks for the pears to be peeled so I've never tried it any other way. He also asks to whisk a large amoutn of butter in the reduced sauce, something I usually omit because I like the pure taste of the syrup.

[Pontormo]

Yes, Elie. I always peel, too, whether for simple poached pears served in a bowl or on a gingery tart (with blue cheese crust ); I agree about the beauty of the color. That's why I am in love with quinces at the moment.

I'm waiting for Kevin to confirm or deny my suspicions.

BTW: I looked at Jamie Oliver's book this weekend which Klary has cited as well. It looks great, especially in its treatment of Franci's Puglia. Beautifully designed and presented. Interesting recipes and discussion of regionality.

[FoodMan]

BTW: I looked at Jamie Oliver's book this weekend which Klary has cited as well. It looks great, especially in its treatment of Franci's Puglia. Beautifully designed and presented. Interesting recipes and discussion of regionality.

Yeah, you could really tell he is passionate about Italian food and cutlure. The rustic look and feel of the book and pictures make it really attractive as well. I bought the Italy book as soon as it came out in the UK (via Amazon UK) and like his other books, it was worth it. BTW, the pears recipe is in an older book, not the Italy one.

[Kevin72]

The pears I used were Bosc and indeed were unpeeled. Maybe that's what sets up that custard texture I was referring to since they're baked in their skins and get softer inside. Their own natural sugar comes out during baking and caramelizes on the skin, too. Yum.

Nice looking crepes. I really don't cook with them enough and should've thought of them this month.

Chicken livers are an aquired taste but certainly not something I'd limit to the wives: took me a while to get into their charms as well. And one of our good friends is an East Texas, damn near Lousiana girl and she loves it when I make them.

Speaking of Jamie, he had a mini-series on Travel Chanel (rapidly outpacing FoodTV in my book) recently where he went to Italy on a cooking trip. I saw two eps: one where he was running a Sicilian guy's restaurant for a night and both the clientele and the owner ripped him royally on his cooking efforts. The other ep, he stayed with some famous monks and was distressed to find them eating processed, frozen food instead of relying on their own cooking as they had in years past. Pretty interesting stuff.

Edited December 1, 2006 by Kevin72 (log)

[FoodMan]

Speaking of Jamie, he had a mini-series on Travel Chanel (rapidly outpacing FoodTV in my book) recently where he went to Italy on a cooking trip. I saw two eps: one where he was running a Sicilian guy's restaurant for a night and both the clientele and the owner ripped him royally on his cooking efforts. The other ep, he stayed with some famous monks and was distressed to find them eating processed, frozen food instead of relying on their own cooking as they had in years past. Pretty interesting stuff.

This is the miniseries the Italy book was based on. I realized too late that they were running it last week and unfortunatly it does not seem like they will re-run it anytime soon.

[Pontormo]

Never mind. Found the recipe for pears on Foodnetwork. They've been haunting me...

Edited December 4, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[hathor]

Divina posted a wonderful octopus/polpo recipe on Daniel's Christmas thread.

I made it as one of the dishes on Christmas Eve, simple but very tasty! Sorry the photo doesn't do it justice.

[orangeman747]

When I was in Tuscany this summer, near Sienna, we went to a small family owned restaurant called "Il Catini" in a tiny village where I had some of the best pasta of my whole trip. The dish was called "penne al pino" they said, and all I know is that it had penne pasta, saffron, bacon fat, and cream. It was simple, creamy, perfectly cooked... it was delicious! I have looked in many cookbooks and online and haven't been able to find a recipe for it.

Does anyone know how to make this or have any ideas on how I might go about attempting to cook it?

Here is a picture of it from Italy:

Thanks!!!

[divina]

I have had versions of this, with Sausage..

a sort of saffron-ed Carbonara..

Restaurants often us a cooking cream called panna da cucina, a thick processed cream kept in the pantry and not the fridge.

I would say.. reduce some heavy cream by cooking it down to about 1/2, add your saffron to the cream, salt to taste.

in the skillet heat some pancetta, ham or sausage..till cooked

Drain your penne pasta into the pan with the ham. toss it to flavor.. then add the cream sauce.. and some parmesan!

Buon appetito

I have also had a lighter version where the pasta was cooked in saffron water!

[Kevin72]

Fall is my favorite full-on season of the year but I've really taken a shine to the "transition seasons" where it's not quite one or the other yet. So naturally a favorite of those is the summer-fall transition, when there's a last burst of summer produce combined with the first hints of the cooler weather to come. In English, we call this special season "September".

I've been a grilling fiend, too, of late.

One dish I usually make this time of year is some variation of grilled squid, served over a bed of cannellini beans and peperonata. Tuscan-ish, I guess. This version was the stuffed squid tubes (the filling is the chopped tentacles, breadcrumbs, garlic, rosemary, and anchovies). Fresh arugula wilts in over the top as well.

[Kevin72]

So, going back a couple years ago when I made this meal, you'll recall that I have ongoing problems with the chicken "sticking" to the grill losing much of its precious skin and marinade in the process and then winding up tasting "metallic". At the time I speculated on shaking it up and trying a different method. Well, after a two-year break, and again jonesing for all these "transition dishes" I love this time of year, I delved back into pollo alla diavola once more. I really had to talk myself out of my comfort zone this time and trying something new instead of just sticking to the grill one more time and inevitably ending up disappointed. After waaaay too much fretting and worrying, I decided to get a cast iron skillet shrieking hot on the burner attachment of my grill, douse it in olive oil, dump the split chicken in, back-down, and then toss the whole pan atop a preheated grill.

Rewinding a bit: I marinate the chicken in a combination of mustard, olive oil, rosemary, black pepper, and chilies overnight. A few hours before grilling, I take it out of the fridge but leave it in its marinade bag and place several iron skillets atop it to flatten it out.

I do the whole maneuver above and put it in the pan and then over the grill. I also toss like half a rosemary tree over the flames to get a good smoke going. The split, flattened chicken cooks remarkably fast and gets brown quickly. It's done in 20-25 minutes, tops.

The pan comes off the grill sizzling and sputtering and doesn't quiet down for 5-10 more minutes. So the chicken obviously continues to cook.

Oh. My. God. The skin is perfectly crisp this time, no loss on the grill, no metallic taste. It's soooo juicy and smokey, too. I was extremely, extremely pleased with myself.

Oh, and a double triumph meal: going a few pages back, you'll see I was also frustrated with the pasta with arugula pesto I'd been making. Recently, a small boutique produce market that caters to Dallas's top restaurants has opened its doors to the public and it's now a weekly obsession of mine. So one week they were selling wild arugula. I bought a bunch and pureed it down into the pesto. Sure enough, as Pontormo had suggested, the differences in variety shone very clear and the whole dish was redolent of that earthy, peppery goodness that is arugula.

[Adam Balic]

I also doubt we have quite the variety of arugula in the US as is available in Italy.  Here are just two links in English that discuss & critique the use of the term "rucola selvatica" or wild arugula.  Italian explanation: here (clicking on Union Jack results in no change).

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I would think that your would have both Eruca sativa (salad rocket) and Diplotaxis tenuifolia (wild rocket), but I think that it is more the stage that they are picked that is the difference. To be honest most of the rocket I have seen in Tuscany is the same type was Kevin is using, but the size of the leaves indicates that they are being picked very young (like this is the stage in development that I planted out my rocket from the garden store punnet). The flavour gets very better as they get older.

[hathor]

Ah, Kevin, I've missed your cooking!!

It all looks fabulous!

The first cachi (persimmons) have shown up at the market. But, no cardoons yet. I'm with you, loving the whole transition into fall foods.

(and just a weird side note: no one in my area uses/knows/ or understands cooking in cast iron...it's like I'm speaking in a foreign language! Are cast iron pots an American thing?)

[FoodMan]

Lovely food Kevin. I love the chicken especially! I've never tried Pollo Ala Diavola, because my wife cannot eat spicy foods. I do love cooking in good old American cast iron skillets. Yes, Hathor, I believe it is mainly and American thing.

[Kevin72]

Aww, I miss having us all together on these threads!

Don't the Dutch or the Germans use cast iron skillets, or some sort of cookware at least with cast iron? Though Lodge, the biggest manufacturer of Cast Iron, is in the US . . .

[FoodMan]

Aww, I miss having us all together on these threads!

Don't the Dutch or the Germans use cast iron skillets, or some sort of cookware at least with cast iron?  Though Lodge, the biggest manufacturer of Cast Iron, is in the US . . .

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Yeah, I miss these threads too and I do try to post when I do something regional.

I think basically Le Crueset is cast iron, but not like Lodge. LC is enameled and is not as heavy. I think the use of the ungalzed, enamel free cast iron cookware is very chuckwagon Amercian. Of course this is merely by observation and not based on any fact.

[Pontormo]

Adam: I'm not knowledgeable enough to know the various sources of arugula sold in the U.S. I just figured that it was all cultivated and not the stuff you see little old ladies dressed in black and shod in sparkling trainers gathering by the side of the autostrada. Here, the green purchased at the market has a thicker leaf in hot weather when it acquires a very sharp taste. Then it stops production (or sale?) altogether in extreme heat and returns early in the fall. Supermarkets carry hydroponic.

Kevin: Beautifully introduced. Anthropologists would say you prefer liminality. Wallace Stevens, "the exhilarations of changes". The chicken looks great.

To add to Foodman's comments, I've seen Staub pots and pans that are not enameled, but the cast iron is treated in a special way. The Griswolds (pre-Lodge, pre-Wagner US manufacturers of wide range of cast iron cookware) have ties to Switzerland, though I don't know if they go back to mid-19th century. I just tried to find out via googling and only learned that cast iron became popular after the Industrial Revolution in England, especially for decorative things in Central Europe. Italian members of Slowfood write long articles on the use of cast iron in 19th-century Alaska when making sourdough bread (shades of No-Knead trend). Otherwise, there are grill pans for steak, or enameled ware for special dishes such as this nod to Umbria along w European imports.

Thanks for reminding us of the collaboration behind these topics. Perhaps we could come up with other themes or different ways to organize a new series of cooking threads, based on ingredients, history, the growing season, techniques or methods...

Hathor: No cardoons from Heinz, either.

Edited September 27, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[hathor]

Just for fun, I posed the cast iron question over in the cooking forum. Maybe we can get an international perspective.

I love the idea of a collaborative thread based on seasonal ingredients. Anyone else?