Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Daino-Myte!... I really coudn't resist.
Moments after my last post, as we were (thankfully) delaying cleaning up the kitchen, the restaurant's game man showed up. Not like in the states at all, though. This guy, who's name has slipped my mind, showed up with half a daino (deer, basically) in that back of his Fiat. OK, it wasn't really a Fiat, but it was a half of an animal that was probably shot today in the back of his car. I was like a kid in a candy store! This isn't how "wild game" happens in the United States, even in CO where it's practically a required menu item. Within five minutes, it was broken down by Stefano and hanging in our meat cooler. In about a week, we will be having an entire feast celebrating this beautiful animal. What I know so far is a marinata of the tenderloin, a BRT roast of the hind quarter and a ragu with the shoulder. This leaves a little left along with quite abit of bones for stock, so I'll keep you posted! Like everything else, I'm quite excited about this development.
P
Correction - Carpacio
Turns out that my recipe for carpacio the other day was wrong. I was describing "marinata di daino". The salt cure with tuscan aromatics (the bay and juniper) is technically a marinata, a way to preserve back in the day. I guess if you took this further, it would be similar to a bresaola. In Italy, where carpacio originates, it is not cured or cooked at all but sliced raw. The searing we do is a French version of the dish.
Hopefully more to come tonight.
P
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Just checking in... with limoncello and sambuca recipes
Just thought I'd check in and say a few things. Things are going very well here at Toscani da Sempre. It is a little slow after almost a month of feasting for the holidays. I'm learning alot from Stefano and Roberto. They have the most amazing passion for food. It is incredibly inspiring. A few things I am looking forward to soon are visiting the Mercato Centrale in Firenze to check things out in general, but mainly to do a side-by-side Prosciutto tasting. Hmm... a dozen or more types of ham, heaven! Also visiting Roberto's other job, which exports Tuscan wines, cheeses and other artisinal products around the world. We will see cheeses being made, among other mouthwatering things I'm sure. A local bakery to make some wood fired breads. And... (saving the best for last) to go to slaughter and cure local pork (Suino Cinto is the DOP) into salumi, proscuitto etc...
I'm also looking forward to try to get some skiing in this winter. Stefano's sister has a place at a local resort, so I've been promised a few days to go and ski. Italy is supposedly having an incredible winter for snow, so this is pretty exciting. Also going to try to visit my friend Maria in Greece for a few days. Should be a nice little sub-tropical vacation!
I've got plenty of new recipes to get to you all (Charles, Jen, Kevin...), but thought I'd start with the excitement of the day. Johansen, maybe some could be ready for our little class reunion in April?
Limoncello and Sambuca
Limoncello [limon'tʃɛlːo] is a lemon liqueur produced in Southern Italy, mainly in the region around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the coast of Amalfi and islands of Procida, Ischia and Capri, but also in Sicily, Sardinia, Menton in France and the Maltese island of Gozo. It is made from lemon rinds (traditionally from the Sorrento lemon, though most lemons will produce satisfactory limoncello), alcohol, water, and sugar. It is bright yellow in color, sweet and lemony, but not sour since it contains no lemon juice.
from wikipedia, just for a little history lesson
These are made in a very similar fashion. There are many variations and different flavors to make, but these are two basic ones. The picture above is from the restaurant. You can see a limoncello infusion in process in the center. We finished two today (I really only watched).
Limoncello:
Peel or zest (peeling is better) 8 - 12 organic lemons, making sure you leave no bitter white pith. Organic is stressed because we don't want to make an infusion of the part of the lemon covered in insecticides and fertalizer. Cover in 1 liter of pure alcohol - I guess everclear would be the thing to use in the states. Cover tightly and place in a cool room for one to one and a half months. Do not refridgerate. Using a cool canning jar allows you to display your project.
After one month, the peel should be leather-like and break when bent. If not, let infuse a little longer. Strain this through a chinois or wet coffee filter. Wetting the filter makes a great deal of difference for all straining, same for using a linen for consume. Clean the jar you infused in, you will need it again.
Make a simple syrup with one Kilogram of sugar and 2 liters of water. Roberto likes to make some of his with caramalized sugar. I bet it would be really good, although not as nicely colored, with turbadino sugar. Cool this completely and add to jar with infusion. Allow this to age for 15 more days at room temperature. After 15 days, filter again and pour into small bottles and cork. The longer they are aged, the more they mellow.
Sambuca:
This is made in exactly the same way, but it is much easier. To one liter of pure alcohol, infuse 35 grams (that's an ounce and a quarter, some of you know this though) of star anise and anise seeds. This is a combined weight, not 35 g each. Not sure of the ratio. Also add 15 grams of whole roasted coffee beans. Cover and store one month.
Filter and mix with same amount of syrup, but use white sugar and do not caramalize. Also age 15 days before bottling.
That's enough for today,
Ciao!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Toscani Da Sempre
My home and workplace for the next 2 1/2 months
"la caverna" dates back to the 16th century. The rest is post war.
"la caverna" dates back to the 16th century. The rest is post war.
Salsa Medicia - caramalized onion, red wine vinegar, dried fruits, toasted almonds and walnuts with pork jus.
Guttus-Sheep's milk blue
Pula - Cow's milk blue. Both are Tuscan, I'll go soon to see them produced
Prosciutto Tuscano - More savory than Parma or San Dannielle, which are considered sweet proscuitto. I can't stop eating this stuff!
I've been trying to get my notes onto the computer every night, but haven't taken much time to really refine anything. Here are a few that have made it into the digital realm so far.
Some recipes
Sformato
Basically, this is vegetable custard
Rapini/broccoli rabe, sautéed
Fresh ricotta
Whole eggs
Egg whites
Parmesan
Puree rapini, parmesan, and eggs. Puree or fold ricotta in and season to taste. Pancake like consistency. Cook in ramekins (sformatino) in water bath or in steam oven
Pate de Tuscano
Everyday item in Tuscany, a chicken liver pate
2 # chicken livers, excess fat removed and soaked 30 minutes in cold water
Mirepoix made with red onion (buttato)
Olive oil
A couple whole cloves garlic
Vin Santo – Tuscan dessert wine similar to sherry
Anchovies paste
Capers
Bay leaf
Sage
Juniper
Butter
s/p
sauté buttato and garlic in a lot of oil (more of a confit) until browned, add livers. Confit 30 – 40 minutes. Add 1-2 tbs anchovie paste and equal amount of capers, some bay, juniper and sage. Deglaze with a little vin santo. Drink a little vin santo. Cook another 15-20 minutes to infuse flavor. Mix in cold butter and season to taste. Grind though meat grinder. Reheat with a little chicken stock and serve on crustini
Budino de Ricotta
Puree fresh ricotta (sheep’s milk in Tuscany), with 15% (of ricotta’s weight) egg whites, ½ & 1/2, and sugar – you could also fold in egg whites at peaks.
In a sauté pan gently heat pine nuts with sugar, quite a bit of it. Do not melt sugar or caramelize, just let it start to melt while stirring it will coat the nuts, but have a sandy consistency. This is called “Pinole sabiati” sandy pine nuts. Stop them cooking before they take much color or the sugar darkens.
Place a small handful of pinholes sabiati in greased ramekins and top with budino. Bake at 90 Celsius/195 Fahrenheit until barely cooked through.
Carpaccio di Diano (die-no)
Diano was described to me as “like deer”, smaller than an elk, bigger than a deer
This is interesting. There is no searing involved and I like. Make a mix of coarse salt (they have a really coarse salt that’s used a lot, not quite rock salt. Think what you’d serve oysters on), black peppercorns, juniper, crushed bay leaf (anything really, fennel seed, coriander, mustard). Make like 4 # of this mix. Take the venison (or whatever) we used whole diano rib roasts, about the size we get from prairie harvest ect… and completely bury it in the mix and put heavy weight (2 big tins of olive oil) on top. Cure in this manner for 3-4 hours. Rinse and dry well. Slice and serve how you wish. The cure can be saved (make sure meat was good and dry before putting in cure).
Farinata de cavello nero
Cavello nero is what we call black cabbage, looks a lot like a dark braising green (which you could probably sub)
Blanch for about 20 minutes or so and drain. In a saucepot, basically make a soup with buttato (mirepoix w red onion), white beans, chicken stock and cavello nero. Once flavor is good, and cavello nero is breaking apart, add cornmeal. Basically you are making black cabbage and bean polenta. Cook as you would polenta. Can be served creamy or sliced and fried. We use as an amuse (not allowed to use that word though) creamy or fried with fresh fennel sausage and shaved aged pecorino/olive oil.
Il gratinato di baccala e patate con pesto capperi
Cod mousse with gratineed potatoes and caper pesto
Apparently baccala really is salt cod, and the dish a way to serve the preserved fish. We use fresh cod. This is really delicious.
Poach cod in an aromatic but rather neutral court bouillon, not much acid. In Robot Coupe, puree well with s/p and freshly dried parsley (dries won’t turn whole thing green I guess). Once it’s pureed well, add good extra virgin until it is of a mousse consistency. Bake quenelles’ until hot throughout.
Blanch and peal russet potatoes. Slice ¼ inch and top with blended oil and breadcrumbs and s/p. bake until golden
Serve baccala with potatoes and a pesto of capers, good olive oil and parsley. Makes a nice first course (Il principio)
Observations so far on pasta in general
Notes on pasta: Do not blanch and shock, esp. don’t shock. It washes away starch. Dishes such as carbonora do not have cream/milk but pasta’s starch. On this same note, do not oil water or pasta because nothing will stick to the pasta. Finish with oil if necessary. Also, to develop starch in finished dish, giving luxurious feel, pull while very el dente and finish in pan, adding stock or pasta water (both) to finish/reduce. This will keep a lot of starch in the dish, giving it a very creamy feel. Buy very good dried pasta – artisanal.
Some recipes
Sformato
Basically, this is vegetable custard
Rapini/broccoli rabe, sautéed
Fresh ricotta
Whole eggs
Egg whites
Parmesan
Puree rapini, parmesan, and eggs. Puree or fold ricotta in and season to taste. Pancake like consistency. Cook in ramekins (sformatino) in water bath or in steam oven
Pate de Tuscano
Everyday item in Tuscany, a chicken liver pate
2 # chicken livers, excess fat removed and soaked 30 minutes in cold water
Mirepoix made with red onion (buttato)
Olive oil
A couple whole cloves garlic
Vin Santo – Tuscan dessert wine similar to sherry
Anchovies paste
Capers
Bay leaf
Sage
Juniper
Butter
s/p
sauté buttato and garlic in a lot of oil (more of a confit) until browned, add livers. Confit 30 – 40 minutes. Add 1-2 tbs anchovie paste and equal amount of capers, some bay, juniper and sage. Deglaze with a little vin santo. Drink a little vin santo. Cook another 15-20 minutes to infuse flavor. Mix in cold butter and season to taste. Grind though meat grinder. Reheat with a little chicken stock and serve on crustini
Budino de Ricotta
Puree fresh ricotta (sheep’s milk in Tuscany), with 15% (of ricotta’s weight) egg whites, ½ & 1/2, and sugar – you could also fold in egg whites at peaks.
In a sauté pan gently heat pine nuts with sugar, quite a bit of it. Do not melt sugar or caramelize, just let it start to melt while stirring it will coat the nuts, but have a sandy consistency. This is called “Pinole sabiati” sandy pine nuts. Stop them cooking before they take much color or the sugar darkens.
Place a small handful of pinholes sabiati in greased ramekins and top with budino. Bake at 90 Celsius/195 Fahrenheit until barely cooked through.
Carpaccio di Diano (die-no)
Diano was described to me as “like deer”, smaller than an elk, bigger than a deer
This is interesting. There is no searing involved and I like. Make a mix of coarse salt (they have a really coarse salt that’s used a lot, not quite rock salt. Think what you’d serve oysters on), black peppercorns, juniper, crushed bay leaf (anything really, fennel seed, coriander, mustard). Make like 4 # of this mix. Take the venison (or whatever) we used whole diano rib roasts, about the size we get from prairie harvest ect… and completely bury it in the mix and put heavy weight (2 big tins of olive oil) on top. Cure in this manner for 3-4 hours. Rinse and dry well. Slice and serve how you wish. The cure can be saved (make sure meat was good and dry before putting in cure).
Farinata de cavello nero
Cavello nero is what we call black cabbage, looks a lot like a dark braising green (which you could probably sub)
Blanch for about 20 minutes or so and drain. In a saucepot, basically make a soup with buttato (mirepoix w red onion), white beans, chicken stock and cavello nero. Once flavor is good, and cavello nero is breaking apart, add cornmeal. Basically you are making black cabbage and bean polenta. Cook as you would polenta. Can be served creamy or sliced and fried. We use as an amuse (not allowed to use that word though) creamy or fried with fresh fennel sausage and shaved aged pecorino/olive oil.
Il gratinato di baccala e patate con pesto capperi
Cod mousse with gratineed potatoes and caper pesto
Apparently baccala really is salt cod, and the dish a way to serve the preserved fish. We use fresh cod. This is really delicious.
Poach cod in an aromatic but rather neutral court bouillon, not much acid. In Robot Coupe, puree well with s/p and freshly dried parsley (dries won’t turn whole thing green I guess). Once it’s pureed well, add good extra virgin until it is of a mousse consistency. Bake quenelles’ until hot throughout.
Blanch and peal russet potatoes. Slice ¼ inch and top with blended oil and breadcrumbs and s/p. bake until golden
Serve baccala with potatoes and a pesto of capers, good olive oil and parsley. Makes a nice first course (Il principio)
Observations so far on pasta in general
Notes on pasta: Do not blanch and shock, esp. don’t shock. It washes away starch. Dishes such as carbonora do not have cream/milk but pasta’s starch. On this same note, do not oil water or pasta because nothing will stick to the pasta. Finish with oil if necessary. Also, to develop starch in finished dish, giving luxurious feel, pull while very el dente and finish in pan, adding stock or pasta water (both) to finish/reduce. This will keep a lot of starch in the dish, giving it a very creamy feel. Buy very good dried pasta – artisanal.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
January 7, 2009
I’m finally here! I got in last night, the sixth at about eight thirty pm. Had to take a shuttle and a train to the restaurant b/c the city was jam packed for a holiday.
The restaurant is small, about 35 seats and somewhat casual. I’ll take pictures tomorrow. I really loved the décor, very clean and sharp. I especially love the table and chairs and how the menu is presented. The tables are simple square hardwood tops with plain white linen placemats and linens. The really cool thing is the slots cut into the edges where your linens are hung and the swing-out arm that holds the nights menu (I assume it changes regularly) until you choose, then the menu is taken away and the arm swings under the table, or the lady can hang her purse. Silver is smart and modern as are the water glasses which appear to be hand blown (maybe semi-one of a kind) with orange glass accents. Orange is the accent color of the whole place, with postmodern (probably not correct, but I don’t know art) molded plastic chairs (comfortable and casual) and floor to ceiling abstract paintings in shades of orange. Floors are slate and walls are both white concrete and sleekly paneled wood. Music is very Euro jazz, verging on trance that works very well in the room. A small brick and stone lined wine cellar sits off the main dining area. It looks unfinished at the moment and looks like it could someday be small private dining room for 8-12 guests. In America, where there aren’t great butchers/salumi makers around every corner, I would hang some meat in there too.
Of course I was hungry when I arrived and I had decided to save my months budget and not buy truffles, foie gras and caviar in the Zurich airport because I knew (hoped) Stefano would be feeding me. I was seated almost immediately and had a near perfect dinner. Roberto, Stefano’s business partner and the restaurant’s waiter, sommelier, host, tableside carver and dishwasher took care of the front of house. He’s very friendly and good at what he does, I have no question he is just as big a part of the restaurant’s success as Stefano. I would have liked to have the chef just send me what he liked, but I got the impression that I should order off the menu. My first item was the amuse (I’m sure they would hate that I use the French term). It was simply wood grilled eggplant with local olive oil, garlic and herbs on some crusty bread. I don’t even like eggplant! Mind changer. Perfect in one bite, simple and full of flavor without any bells and whistles. Far better and more simple than the amuse I enjoyed at one of Chicago’s finest just a few nights earlier. For my antipasti, I was served Proscuitto Tuscano with a little more crusty bread spread with local fresh fig compound butter (this is not Land O’ Lakes.) That was it! Again, a few ingredients and some very nice Chianti deliver everything one could need to make the mouth very happy. I haven’t pinpointed the subtle differences between Tuscan Proscuitto and Parma (or any of the many more I can’t wait to get my teeth into), but that’s all part of the journey. I can tell you it was very good. *** Again, simplicity ruled on the next course. A bowl of what we would call linguine (can’t remember the name) with some fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil and a little garlic. This was topped with a little grated semi-firm goats milk cheese and a little more olive oil. Finally, a perfectly sautéed pork loin with exquisite marbleing and even a little crackling attatched, all topped with orange pieces and an orange pork jus. A few perfect cannellini beans completed the dish. Although just a touch salty, but a great ending to a wonderful first meal in Italy. I cannot wait to get in this kitchen and learn!
Tomorrow we go to the market. I’ll keep you posted, as soon as I get a new transformer.
*** this is where i realize i'm frying my euro>american power converter
I’m finally here! I got in last night, the sixth at about eight thirty pm. Had to take a shuttle and a train to the restaurant b/c the city was jam packed for a holiday.
The restaurant is small, about 35 seats and somewhat casual. I’ll take pictures tomorrow. I really loved the décor, very clean and sharp. I especially love the table and chairs and how the menu is presented. The tables are simple square hardwood tops with plain white linen placemats and linens. The really cool thing is the slots cut into the edges where your linens are hung and the swing-out arm that holds the nights menu (I assume it changes regularly) until you choose, then the menu is taken away and the arm swings under the table, or the lady can hang her purse. Silver is smart and modern as are the water glasses which appear to be hand blown (maybe semi-one of a kind) with orange glass accents. Orange is the accent color of the whole place, with postmodern (probably not correct, but I don’t know art) molded plastic chairs (comfortable and casual) and floor to ceiling abstract paintings in shades of orange. Floors are slate and walls are both white concrete and sleekly paneled wood. Music is very Euro jazz, verging on trance that works very well in the room. A small brick and stone lined wine cellar sits off the main dining area. It looks unfinished at the moment and looks like it could someday be small private dining room for 8-12 guests. In America, where there aren’t great butchers/salumi makers around every corner, I would hang some meat in there too.
Of course I was hungry when I arrived and I had decided to save my months budget and not buy truffles, foie gras and caviar in the Zurich airport because I knew (hoped) Stefano would be feeding me. I was seated almost immediately and had a near perfect dinner. Roberto, Stefano’s business partner and the restaurant’s waiter, sommelier, host, tableside carver and dishwasher took care of the front of house. He’s very friendly and good at what he does, I have no question he is just as big a part of the restaurant’s success as Stefano. I would have liked to have the chef just send me what he liked, but I got the impression that I should order off the menu. My first item was the amuse (I’m sure they would hate that I use the French term). It was simply wood grilled eggplant with local olive oil, garlic and herbs on some crusty bread. I don’t even like eggplant! Mind changer. Perfect in one bite, simple and full of flavor without any bells and whistles. Far better and more simple than the amuse I enjoyed at one of Chicago’s finest just a few nights earlier. For my antipasti, I was served Proscuitto Tuscano with a little more crusty bread spread with local fresh fig compound butter (this is not Land O’ Lakes.) That was it! Again, a few ingredients and some very nice Chianti deliver everything one could need to make the mouth very happy. I haven’t pinpointed the subtle differences between Tuscan Proscuitto and Parma (or any of the many more I can’t wait to get my teeth into), but that’s all part of the journey. I can tell you it was very good. *** Again, simplicity ruled on the next course. A bowl of what we would call linguine (can’t remember the name) with some fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil and a little garlic. This was topped with a little grated semi-firm goats milk cheese and a little more olive oil. Finally, a perfectly sautéed pork loin with exquisite marbleing and even a little crackling attatched, all topped with orange pieces and an orange pork jus. A few perfect cannellini beans completed the dish. Although just a touch salty, but a great ending to a wonderful first meal in Italy. I cannot wait to get in this kitchen and learn!
Tomorrow we go to the market. I’ll keep you posted, as soon as I get a new transformer.
*** this is where i realize i'm frying my euro>american power converter
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Gotta start somewhere
Well, here goes. I know myself pretty well (almost 29 years we've been acquainted), so this could turn out to be my only post on this thing. I'd like to keep all my friends and family updated on things, so I'm going to give it a shot. Most everyone ought to know me, so no need for an introduction. I guess I mostly plan to tell you all about my experiences with the food I make and the food I eat.
Right now I'm sitting on my mom's couch not packing for Italy. I leave at about 3pm tomorrow, so I have time... I'm a procrastinator.
Tomorrow I go to a small town outside of Florence, Italy called Pontassieve. It's kind of a working vacation in the kitchen of a restaurant called Toscani da Sempre. I know little more than that. Not the least of which being the Italian language. Thankfully, the staff speaks English.
Aside from food, I hope to post about my adventures skiing (oh, how I've missed you), traveling, playing in the mountains and enjoying some great music. Which brings me to the title of this post. I love music. Not the shit they play on the radio. I thought about a nod to Bobby Dylan with "My Blog Pages", but there's nothing I'd rather have playing in the kitchen that the Talking Heads. I decided that if I wanted this blog to survive more than one post, I'd better not call it "Once in a Lifetime," so welcome to "What a Day That Was!"
Right now I'm sitting on my mom's couch not packing for Italy. I leave at about 3pm tomorrow, so I have time... I'm a procrastinator.
Tomorrow I go to a small town outside of Florence, Italy called Pontassieve. It's kind of a working vacation in the kitchen of a restaurant called Toscani da Sempre. I know little more than that. Not the least of which being the Italian language. Thankfully, the staff speaks English.
Aside from food, I hope to post about my adventures skiing (oh, how I've missed you), traveling, playing in the mountains and enjoying some great music. Which brings me to the title of this post. I love music. Not the shit they play on the radio. I thought about a nod to Bobby Dylan with "My Blog Pages", but there's nothing I'd rather have playing in the kitchen that the Talking Heads. I decided that if I wanted this blog to survive more than one post, I'd better not call it "Once in a Lifetime," so welcome to "What a Day That Was!"
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