20 Jan

Mt Etna Biscotti

Posted By: Carlin
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I may never be able to look at another cookie again.

Along our road trip around Mt Etna we did a few nice hikes in the lava fields and sampled too many of the local sweets in each town. This area is known for the nut trees that grow around the periphery of the volcano. The Southern region for the almond trees, the Eastern for their hazelnuts and the Northwestern for their pistachios. Each town makes their own style of biscotti made exclusively from the locally sourced nuts.

There are too many to list, but this was the unanimous favorite: a hazelnut biscotti from the village of Sant'Alfio.

31 Dec

A Slow Food Festival

Posted By: Carlin

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My husband and I are in Sicily and last weekend we drove to Polizzi Generosa for a bean festival.  It wasn’t just a bean festival, it was The Sagra del Fagiole Badda celebrating a legume that grows only in this one tiny village.  We had read that it was a Slow Food event so we were prepared for crowds despite its semi-isolated location within the walls of a mountain town in Sicily’s interior.

We arrived at 12:10, a little anxious since the tasting began at noon.  Once he managed to maneuver though the winding alleyways streets (we actually pull in our side mirrors for these often) we found a small parking area and heading into the centro in search of the festival.  We no sooner arrived to the main square, where a small tent was set up with ladies stirring big pots of soup.  We noticed that there were mostly men in their late 70’s and 80’s gathered in small groups chatting away while waiting for tasting. We were clearly the only people that had traveled for this festival.  Everyone else in town was most certainly local.

The bean soup was delicious, laced with wild fennel and garlic and generously topped with fresh linguine and we sipped local red wine in plastic cups.  We left town with full bellies and two kilos of freshly picked beans to take home and experiment with.

12 Dec

A Winter Vegetable Salad

Posted By: Carlin

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As the last week of my work in Rome was approaching, I began to plan what my final meal presentation would be. Each of the culinary interns were given free reign on a menu of their choosing and I  wanted a menu that would feel very much my style, with plenty of fresh and bright flavors. The only restrictions we were given was that we source our ingredients from the pantry of the kitchen and what the farmer had brought that week.  For me, this was a treat since the bounty of what had been arriving from our farms had been a diverse medley of gorgeous produce.

The weather had been chilly with some rain so I had a menu that was a bit heavier for the late autumn weather.  The one thing I was stumped on was the salad so I visited one of my favorite sites for inspiration, Food 52, and found the salad of my dreams.  This is my adapted version.

Winter Vegetable Salad

1 red beet, peeled

1 small butternut squash, peeled

1 bunch of radishes

1 bulb of fennel

4 carrots (multicolored if avail), peeled

1 handful of picked flat leaf parsley leaves

Using a mandolin, slice each vegetable so that they are paper thin shavings. Place the vegetables in their own individual bowls and place fennel and radishes in an ice bath.  Set aside and make the dressing.

Bagna Cauda Dressing

8 flat anchovy fillets, chopped (1 1/2 tablespoons)

1 small garlic clove, chopped

sea salt & pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Mash anchovies and garlic to a paste with salt and pepper using a mortar and pestle. Whisk in vinegar and lemon juice then add oil in a slow stream, whisking to emulsify.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Toss the shaved vegetables (except the beets) on the dressing.  Platter the salad, tucking the beets in and garnish with picked parsley leaves.

29 Nov

Shoko’s Pumpkin Pie

Posted By: Annie

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My friend Shoko is one of the most amazing cooks I know. In the past, she has hosted the most incredible multi-course Japanese meal and a rainbow-themed crepe extravaganza. This year's Thanksgiving dinner did not disappoint, however there was one standout dish. Everyone there, though stuffed from the delicious meal, agreed that the pumpkin pie was beyond words. I've begged for the recipe so that I can attempt to replicate it at Christmas, and with her permission, I'm sharing her mother's soon to be famous pumpkin pie recipe below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Crust (for a 9" pie)
1 1/2 C flour
5 Tbl shortening
2 1/2 Tbl butter (cut into small pieces)
3 3/4 Tbl cold water

Mix flour, shortening, butter, and salt in a bowl with hands. Add water and mix and to make it into a ball. Add a bit of flour to the outside of the ball and wrap it with wax paper. Chill in fridge for at least 30min. Grease a pie pan with butter. Roll the chilled pie dough into a 13" round.  Place the dough in the dish, folding the extra dough around the edges to add thickness to the crust using  a fork to press.

Pie Filling
2/3 C. heavy cream
2/3 C. milk
1 C. brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/6 tsp cloves
2/3 tsp ginger
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 Tbl applejack
1 3/4 C. pumpkin puree (Cut a pie pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and place the halves on a baking sheet and roast at 400F until tender. Scoop the flesh from the outer skin and blend or process it in a food processor until smooth. For the best results, strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve until all strings and lumps are removed.)

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Mix heavy cream, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger in a large bowl, then add eggs, applejack, and pumpkin puree. Pour it into the pie shell. Bake for 40–50min, checking to insure the crust doesn't burn. Serve hot or cold, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

23 Nov

Thanksgiving Inspiration

Posted By: Carlin

While Annie and I are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving in different parts of the world, I wanted to pass along a fabulous piece by someone who consistently inspires how I think about food, Mark Bittman.  His column, The Opinionator, has a article called, No Turkeys Here, that celebrates what he was thankful for in the food world this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

3 Nov

Porcini and Chestnut Soup with Farro

Posted By: Carlin

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I am seeing roasted chestnuts being sold everywhere in Rome right now! This week we decided to incorporate some of these delicious seasonal treats onto the dinner menu.   Using some dried porcini to make a broth, we made a chestnut porcini soup with farro. It was a deliciously rich with earthy notes from the porcini broth, sweet undertones from the chestnuts and heartiness that came from the farro.  It was the ultimate soup for our Wednesday night vegetarian dinner to celebrate the onset of autumn.

Chestnut porcini soup with farro (proportions to be estimated)

Carve an X on chestnuts and roast for about 10 mins in a hot oven, peel while still warm.  Coarsely chop the chestnuts and set aside. Steep dried porcini mushrooms for 20 mins, remove mushrooms and chop mushrooms. Strain liquid and reserve the liquid.

Cook farro and reserve the cooking liquid.

Sweat red onions and celery, to the point of carmelization and add sage & thyme.  Add the soaked mushrooms to onion celery sauté until ‘sticky’.  Add mushroom jus and farro water as part of the base for the soup.

Blanch vegetables in a  small dice: carrots, broccoli leaves, broccoli stems and reserve blanching liquid. Remove half the soup, and puree with half of the chestnuts. Combine the blended soup with the chunky, adding the reserved chestnut pieces. Simmer for an hour.

Add blanched vegetables and the farro to the soup and thin with the blanching liquid if needed.

28 Oct

A Crash Course in Squash

Posted By: Annie

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These days the market is overflowing with the cute, the odd, the smooth, the stubbly, the quirky and the strange...

Winter squashes exhibit such a variety of characteristics that it can be a bit overwhelming trying to decide what to choose. In the past, I've tended toward what was familiar — working mostly with pumpkins and butternut squash. However, this winter I'm making an effort to branch out a bit and try a few new options. First on the list was a roasted acorn squash, which has been lunch for the last couple of days. These are small, so one can easily be eaten by one person without the fear of wasting. I roasted mine (in a pan with a bit of water) and seasoned it simply with a little salt, pepper, crushed almonds and nutmeg.

Next up is a warty little gold nugget squash that's going to become an eastern-inspired soup. We'll see how lime and ginger play off the nuttiness of the squash...

Spicy Pumpkin and Coconut Soup
(serves 6)

– 2 tbl sunflower oil
– 1 1/2 lb pumpkin or squash (peeled, seeded and cut into chunks)
– a bunch of scallions
– 2 in piece of ginger (peeled & chopped)
– 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
– 2-3 red chillies (seeded and chopped)
– 2 lemongrass stalks (split lengthwise)
– a large bunch of cilantro (stalks & leaves separated)
– 5 C. vegetable stock
– 1 14oz can coconut milk
– 2-3 tbl Thai fish sauce
– juice of 2 limes

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and, over low heat, sweat the pumpkin/squash and onions with a pinch of salt until soft, but not browned (about 15-20 min).

Put the ginger, garlic, chilies, lemongrass and cilantro stalks in another saucepan with the stock and simmer gently, covered for 20-25 min. Let the stock cool a bit, then liquidize and sieve into the saucepan with the pumpkin mixture. Discard the debris in the sieve, then puree the liquid again with the pumpkin mixture until smooth.

Return the soup to the (rinsed-out) saucepan, add the coconut milk, 2 tbl of fish sauce, and juice of 1 lime. Reheat, stirring the whole time to just below boiling. Adjust to taste. Chop most of the cilantro leaves and stir them into the soup. Heat a few more minutes, then serve hot, topped with a few cilantro leaves and/or some extra chile slices.

As a kid, pumpkins and zucchini pretty much rounded out my knowledge of winter squash. Yes, those tiny, strangely colored gourds popped up from time to time as decorative elements, but I never really associated them with food. It's too bad it took me so long to These days, though, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the many options

25 Oct

The Social Soup Experiment

Posted By: Carlin

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Mona Talbott, the former executive chef and creator of RSFP (my program here in Rome) hosted an incredible event last Saturday. Did any of you make it?  It was called The Social Soup Experiment and it was held on the Highline in NYC. Her new cookbook entitled, Zuppe, is coming out in March.  The event was an experiment. She prepared a locally sourced and sustainable communal meal for $5 a person.  A hearty bowl of bean, farro and kale soup was served with a chunk of bread from Hot Bread Kitchen and an apple from a farm in upstate New York. They fed 240 people in two seatings!  It sounded like an amazing afternoon.

22 Oct

Autumn Salad

Posted By: Carlin

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We are making gorgeous salads here in Rome.  This week, we have been receiving crates of bitter greens from our farmer and there are amazing fruits falling off the tress in our small orchard.  We composed this salad as a starter to a meal that was followed by slow roasted pork shoulder with cicerchie, cavolo nero and fennel and completed with buffalo milk ice cream. Quite the perfect fall meal with a balance of sweet and savory and bitter all at the same time.

Escarole and frisee salad with shaved persimmon, pear, pomegranate and toasted walnuts
escarole, chopped
radicchio, chopped
frisee, chopped
persimmons, shaved thinly on the mandolin
pears, sliced thin
pomegranates, seeded
walnuts, toasted

balsamic vinaigrette
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper

Make the vinaigrette using the ratio of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil.  Add salt to taste.

Toss the escarole, radicchio and frisee with salt and pepper and dress with the vinaigrette.  Add the pears and pomegranate seeds to lightly dress and plate.  Top with shaved persimmon and toasted nuts.


9 Oct

Leeks with mustard aioli and egg

Posted By: Carlin

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Two large crates of leeks arrived in the kitchen last week from our farmer and we were brainstorming ways to incorporate them into our menus beyond the obvious of soups and stocks.  Our sous chef, Giovanni, suggested that we make a light and fresh leek salad to be served at room temperature.  This simple and beautiful dish was a huge hit during lunch here at the American Academy.

Leeks with mustard aioli and egg

1 lb leeks, trimmed of the green tops

White wine vinegar

Sea salt

3 Eggs (1 for aioli, 2 for leeks)

1 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons whole grain mustard

Lemon juice (to taste)

Leeks: Wash the leeks and peel the outer layers.  Cut into coins about ½ inch thick.  Bring water water to a boil and blanch for about 4 minutes.  Remove and place single layer on a sheet tray.  Pour some white wine vinegar and sprinkle some sea salt to make a quick ‘pickle’.

Medium cooked eggs: Bring water to a boil.  Add 2 eggs for 9 ½ minutes.  Remove from water into an ice bath.  When properly cooled separate the yolks from the eggs.  Keeping the yolk and the white separate, press the eggs through a wide toothed mesh colander to make rice shaped bits of egg.

Make a mustard aioli: Whisk an egg yolk with a couple of teaspoons of whole grain mustard.  Whisk in 1 cup of olive oil.  Loosen with some water and lemon juice and season with salt.

To serve, layer the leeks in a single layer on the platter.  Drizzle with the aioli and sprinkle the entire platter with the ‘riced’ egg white.  Top with the yolk for a contrast in color.