Exploring The Silver Spoon

Funghi Porcini Fritti - Fried Porcini

2009-12-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

We're going to casually slink past the fact that I haven't written in over a year and launch right into a shiny new recipe! Not only that, this isn't just any recipe, this is recipe2.0, in which I don't just review the recipe (which, admittedly, is not much of a recipe, it's really pretty simple and obvious), I actually go on to do much more: Take this basic idea (fried porcini) and incorporate it into a restaurant-style main dish.

Ever since the first rains this season, mushrooms have been popping up on my radar in a number of ways: Friends of mine have been mushrooming several times and telling me about and occasionally sharing their delicious findings; recipes have been cropping up for hearting warming mushroom recipes; a wide range of mushroom types have been showing up in food stores. All of this has lead to massive mushroom cravings for me.

One day in September, I first saw huge gorgeous porcini mushrooms at the mushroom shop in the Ferry building and I immediately remembered the drool-eliciting photos of porcini in the Silver Spoon and knew I needed to buy some and get back on track with my blog. After my purchase, I met a friend for lunch at Boulette's Larder, a restaurant that is often the source of culinary inspiration for me. A fellow luncher sitting at the group table ordered one of the specials that day which was a lightly breaded and fried pork chop sitting on four small heaps of lentils topped with a structure of greens. It was very 3-dimensional and spectacular to look at.

When I got home, I flipped through the mushroom chapter to see my options. After a survey of the recipes and a tally of my ingredients, I decided to make something rather elaborate and inspired by that lentil-pork dish, but vegetarian in nature. In lieu of pork chop, I decided to use the porcini. Enter today's recipe.

I sliced the mushrooms into thick slices cross-wise, coated them in flour, then dipped them in a beaten egg. I preheated some vegetable oil, and tested it with a little drop of water to make sure it was hot enough (it sizzled), then began deep frying the mushrooms until they reached a satisfyingly golden glow.

I drained them on paper towels and salted them lightly. This is where our recipe form SS ends. Not too exciting, but a solid Italian classic recipe.

Before frying the mushrooms, I'd prepared the following:

French Lentils: In a small pot, I sautéed a chopped shallot in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once it was golden, I added a cup of green French lentils and stirred until they were all coated with the oil. I added one cup of vegetable broth and simmered on medium-low until the lentils were cooked. I don't like them to be too al dente, so I tend to test the lentils until they just lose that toughness but before they get mushy.

Green beans: I steamed a small batch of green beans until they were bright green but then ran cold water on them to flash them and prevent them from getting overcooked, drab and soggy.
Sliced one huge heirloom tomato into 1/2" to 3/4" slices - nice and big and beefy.
Sliced the other type of mushroom I bought - butter boletes - into 1/4" slices, lay them out on a cookie sheet with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of thyme, salt and pepper and oven roasted them. (You didn't really think I could leave the mushroom shop with only one type of mushroom, did you?)
Opened a jar of homemade hazelnut-basil pesto I'd made the previous week (it had olive oil, toasted hazelnuts, a ton of basil I'd gotten from my CSA, some Parmesan cheese and a couple of cloves of garlic).

The fried porcini were the last things to be cooked and I made sure that everything else was ready by the time I finished frying them. Then began the architectural assembly.

On each of our two dinner plates, I first built four little lentil pyramids as elegantly as possible (a feat in itself. Why don't we just pretend they were elegant.)

Then I placed one large tomato slice centered atop the pyramids.

I spooned a tablespoon or so of pesto onto the tomatoes and spread it to cover it as much as possible.

Then I split the mushrooms into two batches and set them atop the tomatoes like sun rays, emanating from the center of each tomatoes.

In the spaces on the plate between the mushroom rays, I sprinkled little batches of the roasted mushrooms.

Finally, I mounted a tower of green beans on top of each of the structures, sprinkled some freshly ground pepper and Voilà!

Vegetarian porcini summer veggie & lentil extravaganza!

Maybe I need to come up with a better name.

Point being, some of the recipes in Silver Spoon are admittedly on the basic side. However, the more basic recipes can definitely be combined with other ideas or even other recipes for more elaborate concoctions. It's sort of like using the béchamel recipe which is then incorporated in the lasagna recipe...

Tasty Factor: A+ (let's think about this one: Deep fried mushrooms... What's not to love?) Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: No. Really, not much there to modify.

Risotto Alle Fragole - Strawberry Risotto

2008-08-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

I should have written this ages ago, but if you recall, back when I ended up with a surplus of cherries, thanks to the Mariquita Farms mystery box delivery, I also ended up with a boat-load of strawberries. Since I was already looking up a variety of desserts to use up said fruit before it turned moldy (a battle I've often struggled with), I thought that turning to other solutions other than sweets much just help.

I've often been intrigued by the fruit risottos in SS: Blueberry risotto, apple risotto, strawberry... Initially, when I first got this book, it wasn't really all that tempting to me. I would have much rather tried the more recognizable risottos (like Milanese) but in the years since then, I've had the opportunity to taste a white wine pear risotto that was simply fantastic! The flavour was subtle but very satisfying and now, a strawberry risotto didn't seem so much of a stretch anymore but rather a great way to use up my strawberry surplus without yet another dessert.

The recipe is pretty straight forward: just another risotto. Heat up your vegetable stock, chop an onion (I used a red onion this time), sauté it in some butter, add the rice, stir to coat and cook. Pour in some white wine (I used a cup and a half of Sauvignon Blanc here), cook till it evaporates then start the stock adding show.

There are conflicting tales of how to make risotto: Some claim you have to stir constantly and never let it stick, others claim you don't need to stir it much at all , scrape the bottom, don't scrape the bottom... I myself am a fan of the don't stir much plan that Mario shows Mark in the NY Times video.

About 20 minutes in, after a couple of ladles full, I added a bit over 2 cups worth of strawberries that I've mashed up. When the rice is almost done (tender but still al dente), I turned off the heat, added a cup of half and half (instead of light cream) and seasoned it with salt and pepper. The remaining strawberries made for a gorgeous garnish - I enjoyed playing around with different toppings.

The flavour was very different from the risottos I normally make, and like the pear risotto I'd had before, it was very subtle. It tasted a bit like savoury Strawberries and Cream. I think at the first bite, the resemblance to an ice cream flavour was a bit off-putting (who put onions in my strawberry ice cream!?) but it quickly grew on me and by the 3 or 4th bite, I was sold. It was delicious and worked out quite well with the garlic kale and miso-glazed tofu I served with it.

However, I don't know if I'd be able to sell the more conservative palates in my acquaintance-base. Definitely save this as a surprising treat for your more open-minded eaters and serve it with something that would act as a savoury complement and contrast - perhaps something with earthier notes.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- (I suppose this depends on how easy you think a risotto is) Modifications: Yes. But only minimal ones: cut down a bit on the high-caloric factor with half and half instead of light cream.

Clafoutis alle Ciliege - Cherry Clafoutis

2008-06-14T18:26:00.001-07:00

We've been getting tons and tons of cherries lately, over a quart from our C.S.A. and then a half pallet that our friend Robert got from the Mariquita farms soup-nazi-esque mystery pickup.

I'd been dying for a clafoutis lately, not exactly what planted that distant memory in my head... But conveniently, when I scanned the SS for cherry-related recipes, sure enough they had a clafoutis recipe. (Again, this is where SS shows itself as being more a cookbook written by Italians for Italians and not necessarily a book of Italian cuisine - a clafoutis is a French dessert).

This is one of those recipes that's fantastic if you've just returned from a pick-your-own orchard with a bushel of cherries and are far too exhausted from your long day in the sun to hop out to shop for other ingredients. You probably have everything this recipe calls for in your kitchen already (or close enough).

First, I did the most difficult part of the recipe: halving and pitting 2 cups worth of cherries. Since I'm recovering from Strep and Mono, this was just about my speed today.

Once that was done, I started by sifting a cup of flour into a mixing bowl. The recipe called for a scant cup of flour but I didn't just want to use regular white flour, so I decided to experiment with a variety. I used a quarter cup of whole wheat flour, half a cup of white flour and a quarter cup of coconut flour (which is very high in fiber). To that I added a cup of milk and two lightly beaten eggs. That's it. I mixed the ingredients till the batter was smooth, then poured it into a greased cake pan and sprinkled the cherries over it.

I baked the clafoutis in a 400º pre-heated oven for 40 minutes, then instead of
sprinkling it with vanilla sugar (which I did not have), I used a touch of brown sugar then drizzled a bit of Amaretto.

It was absolutely delicious - so quick and easy (minus the pitting). A wonderful dessert.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A- (well, maybe all the pitting warranted a lower grade, but I do feel that the recipe came together so easily that it couldn't really score lower) Modifications: Yes. Used 2 parts white flour to one part coconut flour and one part whole wheat flour in an attempt to make it a bit healthier. And used brown sugar and Amaretto instead of vanilla sugar.

Puré di Cicoria - Chicory Purée

2008-06-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

I do love my leafy greens (and leafy yellows and reds) and chicory happen to hang out near the top of that long list. Radicchio, curly chicory, frisée and endive are all types of chicory. So it's a bit surprising, actually, that it's taken me so long to explore the Chicory Family chapter of SS.*

There are only three recipes in this chapter so I decided to start with the one that struck me as most unexpected: Chicory Purée. I mean really, purée? The only time I really purée leafy veggies is for my spinach pesto. But this recipe did sound delicious: cream, nutmeg and Swiss cheese? Perfect comfort food (à la creamed spinach. Yum.)

The recipe called for white chicory, which I didn't have, so though red chicory (aka radicchio) would do. I boiled it in salted water for 15 minutes (very much in line with the SSVTR rules - in this case seemed not to matter since gratins are often on the more-cooked side of things). I preheated the oven to 350º and greased an ovenproof dish.

I drained the chicory well and then squeezed it well to drain as much liquid as possible, then puréed it using my lovely immersion blender. At this point, I noticed that it wasn't really getting a very smooth texture. I kept going until I decided to move along and maybe that was just something that wasn't going to happen?

I mixed in some heavy cream, a pinch of sugar and processed some more. It got a bit smoother but still didn't quite achieve what I would call a purée-texture. I finished it with a bit of nutmeg, salt and pepper, spooned it into the baking dish and sprinkled with grated Swiss. just a touch of butter and put into the oven. I baked it until the cheese was bubbly and golden.

The flavour was really yummy and the dish was quite satisfying in a comfort-food sort of way, but ultimately I wasn't too psyched about the texture. I almost wonder if I shouldn't have just cooked it more like a creamed spinach and not bother with the purée. Still, we did enjoy the dish very much - I served it with Pearl Onions with Sage and Savory Artichoke and Potato Pie (both coming soon) - a delicious dinner!

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: Yes. Used red chicory (radicchio) instead of white. Cut down a touch on butter.

*It's interesting that there is also a Chicory chapter with three more recipes. This is probably due to the Italian naming system: Chicory Family is Cicoria whereas Chicory is Indivia.

Barbabietole alle Acciughe - Beet with Anchovies

2008-05-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this lovely series of films for the past 9 months or so now, about five Italian grandmothers' food stories. I would leave every editing session with this huge appetite and a desire to rush home and make whatever it was that I'd seen that day on the video. One of the most common cravings was Bagna Cauda - a Piedmontese anchovy, garlic and olive oil type of fondue.

I've since gone home and made this dish several times, to great success! Big E and I both loved it and it's one that I'd make again and again. This has made me reconsider the various veggie and anchovy recipes in SS that I'd been carefully ignoring since this failed fiasco. So when I had some beets in our latest C.S.A. box, I scanned through SS and decided on this recipe.

The recipe wasn't too difficult and it was a great one to time with other recipes, because once I tossed the ingredients together, it still had to sit for about 15 minutes for the flavours to set. I first had to boil the beets then peel and dice them. This could be done in advance. In a small bowl, I tossed the diced beets with chopped parsley and a minced small garlic clove. Then in a frying pan, I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with a splash of red wine vinegar. To that, I added 3 anchovy fillets to the oil and sautéed them, while mashing them with a wooden spoon till they were almost completely disintegrated and mixed into the oil.

I drizzled the anchovy oil over the beets, tossed them to coat and then let them stand for 15 minutes before serving them. They were milder than I'd expected and with my new found love of Bagna Cauda, I might even make more sauce in the future. The salty and savory anchovy sauce was a great contrast to the naturally sweet and earthy flavoured beets. Yum! We ate the entire bowl in one sitting.

I served the beets with Asparagus with Parmesan (from SS, coming soon), simple sautéed greens and braised Marin Sun Farms flank steak with soy sauce and garlic olive oil.

On a side note, the first of the five films we've completed for Rabbits and Wrinkles has been selected to show that the NYC Food Film Festival on June 17th at 8:20pm - it's called In Pignata and is about Carluccia, a lovely Calabrian farmer. If you're in the area, come see it - It's only 24 minutes and it's free!

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: No.

Pollo Alla Birra - Chicken in Lager

2008-04-23T21:41:00.001-07:00

We'd been joking around for some time about Beer Can Chicken, so when I saw this recipe, I decided I had to try it. Same beer and chicken goodness, minus the potential for oozing chemicals into the chicken while it cooks for an hour.

This recipe calls for a bit more than just a chicken and a can of beer, thus moving even further away from the realm of the authentic dish. Then again, this isn't the place to read about authentic American recipes.

The ingredient list is somewhat short, but does involve a fair bit of chopping: one carrot, one onion, one leek and a celery stalk - all finely chopped. That was the hardest part of the recipe.

The next trickiest part was the choice of beer. The recipe called for 4 cups of lager. I'm not much of a lager drinker myself (much more into the more flavourful, Belgian-style beers and other caramelly wonderful brews) so I sent Big E to the corner store with the simple instruction of buying me 4 cups worth of lager.

This is what he got: Red Stripe lager - and then he pointed out that the reason the recipe called for a lager is because Italy isn't really known for its beer*. If you order a beer in an Italian bar, you'd most likely get a lager. He also pointed out that the recipe might be tastier with another type of beer. As the recipe title in English specifies that this is Chicken in Lager, the Italian title merely states that it is Chicken in Beer. Sure, a lager would be more authentic - but wouldn't the Italian cooks using this book prefer a more flavourful beer to cook with if given the option.

This is of course all speculation, and I decided to go ahead with the recipe as translated. I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and placed it in a big pan. I added the chopped veggies and poured in the beer till the bird was almost completely covered. Then I brought it to a boil, lowered the heat and simmered it for about an hour. After that time, I'm supposed to look for a golden brown bird and almost no more beer. I'm not sure the colour of the bird was really anywhere near golden brown, but the beer had reduced and the chicken was almost falling off the bone.

That's the good news: this recipe certainly does provide a very tender chicken. Unfortunately though, it wasn't all that great. I mean, it was fine but the beer didn't really add much. It was almost as though I just boiled it in a weak veggie broth (I think a normal veggie broth might have yielded better results). Ultimately, I'd imagine that the choice of beer would make a substantial difference in the flavour. Perhaps I'll make some Chimay chicken next time or some other flavour.

Tasty Factor: C Ease of Preparation: B+ (small amount of chopping) Modifications: No. Though I probably should have used a different beer.

*I do want to point out that apparently Italy now has a growing microbrewery industry, of very high quality.

Arrosto di Tacchino all'Arancia - Turkey à l'Orange

2008-04-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

What with my mysterious turkey craving not gone yet, I found myself poring over the SS turkey recipes, trying yet again to find the one that would satisfy my desire. My desire for turkey, that is. I am fully aware that it would be ridiculous to expect a recipe to fulfill all my desires (glances around nervously).

This recipe seemed to do the trick, especially since we'd just received a bunch of gorgeous oranges and beets in our latest box.

What a tasty and colourful recipe! And it wasn't too complicated, either. There were a few questions that I had, but nothing that seemed to pose a problem to the final outcome. For one thing, the recipe called for a 1 3/4-pound turkey breast. So I headed out to my lovely butcher and asked for just that. And that's what I got - a lovely turkey breast, complete with skin and bones.

Once I got home and read the instructions (I know, I know, I should really do that before I go shopping.), SS told me to tie the turkey breast neatly with kitchen string. Well now. I imagine if my turkey breast were deboned, that would be a lot easier to do, now, wouldn't it? I decided to skip that step.

Next, I heated equal parts butter and olive oil in my large gorgeous Le Creuset pot. A little sidebar here, I love this pot. It may be my most frequently used large pot - I use it for all kinds of braising, in the oven, on the stove top. It makes me happy. Anyway, it's the perfect size for a turkey breast.

When the oily mixture was ready, I tossed in a chapped onion, a chopped celery stalk, and a chopped carrot. In retrospect, the recipe didn't actually call for any beets, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, so I chopped them up as well. I also decided to add some of the gorgeous thyme we'd gotten in the box because A/it smelled divine and B/the recipe seemed to lack any good savory flavours to balance the sweetness of the orange and now beets, and well, thyme goes so well with orange! So I cooked them all over low heat for about 10 minutes. Then, I raised the temperature to medium, added the turkey breast and browned it all over.

While it browned, I peeled two oranges and blanched a few pieces of rind in boiling water. I juiced one of the oranges and sliced the other (SS said to separate it into segments, but I thought the slices looked much prettier.)

When the turkey was golden brown all over, I poured in the orange juice and a half cup of white wine. I added the blanched rind and seasoned the turkey with salt and pepper. I lowered the heat and simmered the bird for about an hour, then removed it and placed it in a serving dish. I added two tablespoons of hot water to the juices and scraped up the tasty sediment, then thickened the sauce with a pinch of flour. I finished it with about a quarter cup of heavy cream and some black pepper.

I spooned the sauce over the turkey and decorated it with the orange slices. It looked and smelled fantastic and I couldn't wait to taste it!

Well, it was not a disappointment. The turkey was nice and juicy as well as incredibly flavourful. The beets and orange sauce combined beautifully with the thyme. Even better, the leftovers were delicious the next day! I will definitely be making this again soon, maybe with different root vegetables this time. Yum!

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: B- (fair amount of chopping and multiple steps of cooking) Modifications: Yes. Added beets & thyme. Used a whole turkey breast instead of a skinned boned one. I wonder if that helped with the juiciness?

Uova in Cocotte ai Porri - Eggs en Cocotte with Leeks

2008-02-21T16:36:00.001-08:00

As I think I've mentioned before, we love eggs with dinner in our household. Loooove them! So when I got my C.S.A. box yesterday, with fresh new half dozen eggs as well as several bunches of leeks, this recipe seemed like the obvious choice.

And oh my god, was it good! This is going to be my new go-to favourite - even more exciting that because I serve it in a little ramekin, it can even look presentable and even elegant to serve to dinner guests. So exciting.

Also so easy: I halved two leeks lengthwise, then thinly sliced them. I've had trouble with the leeks from Eatwell before because they are often packed with mud, but I discovered that if I slice it half lengthwise, then rinse them before doing the slicing, it's quite easy for me to get all of the mud off. I did the same with a couple of garlic greens, since I had a few of them in the box and they looked so yummy. I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and sautéed the whole lot for about five minutes.

After that, I added a few tablespoons of water, some freshly ground nutmeg, salt and pepper and let it simmer, covered,
till they were all nice and soft (I think it was about 20 minutes). At this point, I tasted it to make sure it was properly seasoned and I promptly got so excited about how tasty this was going to be once there a soft-baked egg on top!

I split the leeks between three ramekins (one for me, two for Big E) and broke an egg onto each. I hoarded a bit more of the leeks for mine, since I was only getting one - It seemed only fair.

I stuck them in a 350º pre-heated oven and cooked for the allotted 4 minutes. At this point, according to SS, it's only supposed to sit for two more minutes, but the whites were still completely translucid. It really took much longer for the eggs to set (I did a little poke test to the whites to make sure they were set, but tried to make sure the yolks were still soft).

It was fantastic! Really fun to eat, because you had to break through the egg to uncover the soft, buttery almost caramelized leeks underneath. And when you broke the yolk, it mixed in with the rest and was just warm and flavourful - I think it is definitely a newly discovered comfort food for me.

I served them with some polenta with mushroom broth and polenta and Butternut Squash with Rosemary (from SS - coming soon!) and the whole dinner was just incredibly satisfying and comforting.

I don't know if the garlic greens made much of a difference - they definitely didn't stand out, though they did blend in nicely. I can imagine different variations where I throw other veggies or even nuts or mushrooms into the mix, but it really was quite perfect as is. And there's a whole Eggs en Cocotte section!!! I can't wait to try another one.

Tasty Factory: A+ Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Yes. Added some garlic greens and much longer cooking time for the eggs.

PS. While I was surfing the Egg section of SS, I realized that with 2000 recipes to go through, there were certain recipes that I might keep putting off for quite a while, such as Eggs with Ketchup. No really - Eggs with Ketchup. Uova con Ketchup. What's up with that?!

Spaghetti con il Tonno - Spaghetti with Tuna

2008-02-13T22:07:00.001-08:00

This was the best ever "I just got back into town and haven't had time to go shopping yet" dish. We'd just gotten back from the holidays, mid-morning on a saturday, and were a bit too exhausted from our trip to head to the supermarket.

These are times when having a well-stocked pantry can really come in handy. The recipe required very few ingredients and most of them dried or canned. Sure, I didn't have spaghetti, but I seem to enjoy to like rotini or other shorter pasta a lot better these days.

I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, added a clove of garlic and cooked it until it browned. I then added a can of tuna (in oil, generally Spanish or Italian - I really like Ortiz), drained and flaked.

I stirred in a can of crushed tomatoes (the recipe only called for 3 tablespoons of table paste, but since this was our entire meal, I was really hoping for some lycopene or other healthful redeeming value). I cooked the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirred in some chopped parsley and seasoned it with salt & pepper.

We scarfed the rotini and sauce down and it was perfect! Very flavourful, very satisfying - exactly what we needed.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Yes. Used full can of crushed tomatoes instead of 3 tablespoons of tomato paste.

PS. Clearly by the description, you can tell I made this a while ago (over a month) which means I'm still working my way through old photos. Almost onto the new though! In the meantime, however, if you want to see some newer photography, head on over to my other blog for a meal from another source.

Fesa alle Mandorle - Turkey Breast with Almonds

2008-01-31T19:57:00.001-08:00

I've been craving turkey a lot lately. Not sure if it's the Christmas leftover shortage I experienced this year or a greater need for protein with all the working out I've been doing... But anyway, it's been well over a month now that I'm just craving turkey. So I skimmed through the turkey section of SS and sadly nixed the oh-so-enticing Turkey Stuffed with Brussels Sprouts (ooh!) and the Turkey Stuffed with Chestnuts (aah!) and selected the clearly much more low key Turkey Breast with Almonds. (Side note: most full turkey recipes in SS call for a 6 1/2 pound turkey - do turkeys even come that small in the US?! I swear, I've never seen smaller than a 10-pounder).

This recipe won because the ingredient list (minus the turkey breast) was all included in my CSA box that week or already in my pantry and it took around a half hour till eating time. And while it turned out tasty (and somewhat satisfied my turkey needs), it was definitely a stranger recipe and didn't look all that photo (please note the evidence above, not entirely blamed on my sad old camera and lack of photography skills).

The recipe wasn't too complicated: I melted some butter in a deep pan and cooked a chopped onion, a chopped carrot and a chopped celery stalk for around five minutes over low heat. I then placed two turkey breast steaks on top of the vegetables and cooked until it started to colour. The recipe said to cook it until browned, but the steaks didn't ever quite turn brown. I wonder if the low heat was to blame for that?

I seasoned the lot with salt and pepper then turned up the heat to medium, added five tablespoons of white wine and cooked it till it evaporated. I then covered the pot and let it cook over low heat for another ten minutes. Here's where it gets interesting: while the turkey was cooking, I took a half cup of blanched almonds and simmered them with 3/4 cup of milk and a tablespoon of brandy for about 15 minutes then transferred this mixture to the food processor and attempted to purée it. I say attempted because the texture was more mealy than purée like. It's possible the almonds needed to cook longer, but since I only had time as a reference point (and not texture), I don't know for sure if this was the correct texture.

Lastly, I poured the almond sauce over the turkey and let it simmer for a few minutes before serving. The taste was very good, but the presentation and the texture were a bit less than appealing, so it makes it hard to judge the recipe. I might have to try to make the almond sauce again and see if I can come up with a better visual/texture result. Though I don't, those other turkey recipes are sounding awfully tempting now.

Tasty Factor: C+ Ease of Preparation: B- (fair amount of chopping and use of food processor) Modifications: No. Though it seems I should have... I just don't know what would have helped.

Finocchi alla Diavolo - Devil's Fennel

2008-01-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

Yet again, I find myself drawn to a recipe by its name. Sure, I chose it because I had fennel and was trying to figure out what to do with it. Sure, this recipe made sense because all the other ingredients were in my pantry. But let's face it, I probably wouldn't have made the recipe if it were merely called Fennel with Anchovies. Or Fishy Fennel. (On second thought, it's distinctly possible that I would have decided that Fishy Fennel was just amusing enough to make the cut... Who knows?)

The point is, Devil's Fennel is what I chose to make. I'd like to point out for you fish-haters out there that the anchovies in this recipe are quite mild and completely disintegrate and disappear into a tasty savory sauce. Fishy, it is not... Rather, faintly reminiscent of the sea. I personally was hoping for a bit more of an anchovy pungency, but I'd imagine that could be obtained by simply increasing the quantity of anchovies in the recipe.

The recipe is easy: chop about four anchovies and then sauté them in some olive oil. The recipe calls for a scant half cup, but I used quite a bit less - about a quarter cup. I then mashed the anchovies into the oil until they are uniformly disintegrated and mixed into the oil. Then I added four fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into wedges. I drizzled on top a teaspoon of Dijon mustard mixed with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and sprinkled with salt and pepper, then covered the lot and cooked over very low heat for about 15 minutes, until the fennel was tender.

I then removed the fennel into a serving dish and added the juice of one lemon to the remaining cooking juices. I cooked the juices, stirring them until they thickened slightly then poured them over the fennel.

The fennel tasted great - I love slow cooking it in this fashion... It becomes tender with a lovely mild flavour. The sauce was very tasty and suited the fennel very well. I didn't miss the extra olive oil - the recipe says to add a little water to the pot if necessary, but it didn't seem to be. I don't know how devilish the dish felt, though I've come to realize that "alla diavola" usually means a bit spicy.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Yes. I halved the olive oil and in the future may double the anchovies.

PS. Sadly, the photo sucks. I'm still working through some dishes that predate my new camera. Can't wait to start improving the photo quality!!

Coniglio in Umido - Stewed Rabbit

2008-01-06T18:38:00.001-08:00

Continuing my ongoing love affair with rabbit, I decided to attempt another recipe from that chapter. Actually, that's only partially true. I did enjoy that first rabbit recipe very much and was looking forward to making another one, but what really prompted me to cook another rabbit so soon after the first was the message I received from my friend Robert: "YOU HAD RABBIT WITHOUT ME?!?!!!! I LOVE RABBIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Now, to be honest, I wasn't even sure how he knew that we'd had rabbit several days before, so my first reaction was to ask how he knew, suspecting my husband of spilling the beans. Turns out I actually have friends who read this blog - who knew?! (Hi Robert!)

So I did what any normal easily bullied cook would do: I offered to have him over for rabbit. A mere four days later, I returned to my local butcher and bought a rabbit. This time, I decided to cook up this stewed rabbit. The instructions were really short and simple and now that I had the rabbit sectioning part down*, I knew dinner would fall into place nicely and I even selected a couple of other silver spoon recipes to go with it (such as the tasty artichokes aglio e olio).

I cooked the rabbit pieces in some olive oil until nicely browned, added a chopped garlic clove, some chopped thyme and parsley and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Then I added a cup of white wine (a dry-ish pinot grigio) and cooked it until the liquid was mostly evaporated. I added a can of chopped and peeled tomatoes and cooked the lot over low heat for a bit over an hour.

The result was delicious! The rabbit was a bit juicier than its precedent (the oven roasted one) although the flavours were not quite as exciting, just solidly good. Very tasty recipe though not over-the-top exciting. Sorry the photo isn't the best, but on the plus side, I've got exciting news! I bought a new camera and hope to have lovely new photos to share in the near future...

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: None.
(The preparation gets an A- only because of the rabbit chopping bit, otherwise, it was really easy.)

*Not really, but I am improving dramatically! I just need a few more times to practice.

Insalata di Bresaola e Songino - Bresaola with Corn Salad

2007-12-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

So after my first failed attempt to use corn salad in a recipe, I decided to specifically seek out corn salad recipes and try again.

I chose this recipe on a night when I had a little dinner party planned and thought it would make a great first course. Then I went out of my way, driving all over the Bay Area looking for Bresaola, and finally found some in Berkeley on Fourth Street, not at Café Rouge (which was why I'd gone there in the first place) but at The Pasta Shop.

With the Bresaola in hand, I headed off to look for the rest of the ingredients, and lo and behold, still couldn't locate any corn salad. Now, you might say I should have looked into this before I went around buying the Bresaola, and definitely before the actual evening of the dinner party, but I did happen to read that mâche is a good substitute for corn salad, and I loooove mâche! So that sealed the deal.

With mâche and Bresaola in hand, I scurried home to fix up this salad and not only did it make a delicious first course, but the quantities I bought were far, far more than I needed for a little appetizer dinner for 6 (the recipe said it served 4, I increased the quantities a bit, and had leftovers for days). The good news is, the leftovers were quite tasty and easily assembled and I had salads for the next two days.

The salad was not too difficult to prepare, especially since I have a mandolin. Without a mandolin, I think it'd be a lot more tedious thin slicing. I trimmed and sliced two fennel bulbs and cut a celery stalk into thin batons. Then I mixed up the dressing: basically a Balsamic vinaigrette but with an egg yolk. I have to admit I was skeptical about the egg yolk (salmonella fears and whatnot) but it really made the dressing quite tasty! I whisked the yolk with 3 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar, a scant half cup of olive oil and some salt and pepper.

On a pretty serving dish, I spread out the mâche, topped it with fennel and celery, then lay slices of Bresaola on top. I served the dressing on the side. We all really liked it. The nuttiness of the mâche was a nice contrast to the crisp freshness of the fennel and the celery and the Bresaola was a delicious salty meaty complement.

When I made a salad with the leftovers the next day, my quickly whisked together balsamic vinaigrette (minus the egg) was not quite as tasty, so it's good to know that an egg yolk is such a great addition.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: B (with the mandolin) Modifications: Not really. I substituted mâche for corn salad, but they're apparently quite similar, so I don't know if I should count that.

Carciofi Aglio e Olio - Artichokes in Garlic and Olive Oil

2007-11-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

This is the first recipe I've gone back and made again before I've even written about it the first time. True, I do have a bit of a backlog of recipes to write up due to excessive work, Thanksgiving travel and holiday sewing projects, but it doesn't really date that far back. And given my propensity, nay my compulsion to constantly test new recipes, returning so soon to repeat a recipe is definitely something to take note of.

The thing is, I love artichokes. When I was growing up, we most often ate them steamed and served with a vinaigrette or melted butter.

Given the late start on tonight's dinner preparation - supermarket trip and Cardio X workout took priority - we probably won't eat till around 9:30. On a night like tonight, it's true that I'd either stick to a tried and true recipe or something easily whipped up without too many steps. So to choose to simmer the artichokes in a mixture of olive oil and water (the recipe says 2 parts olive oil to 1 part water, but I've amended that a bit... too much oil! I ended up using the inverse proportions) with four or so whole garlic cloves for 30 minutes seems to make much less sense than my family's traditional steam, serve, peel & dip method.

Especially since I had to first prep the artichokes by peeling off some outer tougher leaves, chopping off the tops, quartering them and emptying out the inner choke (there's a great step by step if you're a newbie).

It's just that it's so good! Absolutely delicious. The artichokes are just meltingly good. The garlic cloves are tasty golden flavour interludes. They're even delicious the next day, cold, straight out of the fridge. The preparation might bring the grade down but it is definitely well worth the effort.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: B- Modifications: Yes. Cut down on olive oil quantity and doubled or tripled, possibly quadrupled the garlic.

Crema di Legumi - Cream of Dried Legumes Soup

2007-11-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I may not have chosen to make this recipe based on the name. The only reason I chose this recipe was that I wanted a white bean soup and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand.

This turned out to be a great recipe and I'm sure I'll be using it again very soon as our weather starts to get colder. I didn't use mixed dried legumes, as the recipe called for, because that requires a type of foresight that I don't often seem to possess. I'm working on that.

I did however have a couple of cans of cannellini beans, which inspired this recipe to begin with. I put about two cups of cannellini in a large pot with a chopped carrot, a chopped celery stalk, a chopped onion and two diced potatoes and covered them with water. I brought this to a boil then simmer till tender. I puréed the veggies with my trusty immersion blender then added a mere two tablespoons of cream (gotta love these cream soups that are so light on the cream!)

I tasted the soup at this point, and while it was pretty good, I decided it could use a little dollop of dry sherry. Shocking, I know. I finished the soup with some truffle oil and chopped parsley, and served it with a touch of grated Parmesan.

The soup was delicious, filling and flavourful. Heary enough for a winter dinner even though this time, we had it as a first course. Quick and easy, but dressed up nicely as a fancy soup course. Definitely much more appetizing than its boring name would lead you to believe.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: Yes. ETBB & some truffle oil.

Filetto di Rombo con Verdure - Halibut Fillets with Vegetables

2007-11-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

Since the first phase of our nutrition plan for the P90X workout scheme was low in carbs but high in protein, I'd been avoiding the Silver Spoon for a while, thinking that I'd be primarily making pasta type or otherwise heavy dishes (so glad that stage is over). That was silly. I have barely even grazed the fish section of this book and a fish and veggie heavy dish such as this one seemed pretty good for a post-workout dinner.

The fact that it was also really quick to make and had a mere tablespoon of heavy cream (just enough to fool you into thinking you were being naughty) made it perfect.

The recipe was pretty easy, the worst of it was the chopping of vegetables: I had to slice a half onion, a carrot, a celery stalk and a cup of mushrooms into think slices. Then I cooked them in a large pan with about a half cup of white wine and a half cup of water and simmered them for 15 minutes (until the liquid was reduced). I added the fish fillets, and cooked for another four minutes then removed the fish.

I then mixed in the tablespoon of cream, seasoned it with salt and peppers and heated it just a bit longer. That was it. I spooned all the veggies onto the fish and we devoured it. The fish was really nice, pretty mild but tasty. The vegetables were yummy. I wouldn't really classify this as a "impress your guests" dinner, but for a weeknight meal it hit the spot: quick, tasty and healthful.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: None. Couldn't really think of any.

Insalata con Melagrana - Mixed Salad with Pomegranate

2007-11-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ah, the beauty of misreading recipes! I chose this recipe for two reasons. The first is that I recently received two pomegranates from my friend Aram. (He also brought me a big bag of fresh olives to cure myself. So exciting!!!)

The second is that our box surprisingly had three cobs of corn in it, this week. The very last of the season!

This recipe seemed perfect. Perfect, that is, until I actually paid attention to the ingredients. The recipe didn't actually call for corn, but for corn salad. To be honest, I had no idea such a thing even existed, but since it's compared to mâche, I'm sure it's quite tasty. I'll have to try it next time.

On with this recipe... (What? Did you think wrong ingredients would stop me from making it? Come on now. You should know better by now.)I realize that corn isn't native to Italy, but I've had so many salads in Italy that had corn in them, and there are other SS recipes that call for corn. It seemed quite reasonable really.

The salad was delicious: I mixed some arugula, some spinach and some other lettuce we got in our box with the pomegranates and the corn (lightly boiled and sliced off the cob). The recipe called for carrots, which I thought we still had from our box, but apparently we were all out, so the salad was carrotless. The dressing was simple and delicious: 1/2 cup of olive oil, the juice of half an orange, two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper. The flavours were fantastic - the pomegranates and corn were delightful bursts of sweetness and complemented the greens nicely. I used the leftover dressing for a mixed green salad the next day and it was still quite tasty.

And now that I know what corn salad is, I'll try to track some down for the bresaola salad.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Yes. I substituted corn for corn salad and omitted the carrots.

Coniglio al Miele con Verdure - Rabbit with Honey and Vegetables

2007-11-01T23:26:00.001-07:00

I haven't been around lately. Almost two weeks ago, I started a new workout campaign, the P90X, that involved a nutrition plan. Between getting all our workouts done and eating appropriately for the nutrition plan, I didn't have any time to do much more than just cook whatever would feed our poor exhausted aching bodies.

Now that I've had some time to adjust, I was excited today to plan ahead and get a more interesting meal going. I prepped and chopped before our workout began and then it baked while we did our workout.

The dish was so exciting to me - it was a first! I've never cooked rabbit before... in fact, my butcher seems to have not sold rabbit before. I'd noticed that that Faletti's market carried rabbit and had been thinking about getting one. When I asked the butcher for a rabbit, he was so excited... He said no one ever ordered rabbit from him before!

This recipe was perfect since we'd just gotten our box which had carrots and green beans in it. I just bought a few turnips and some peas and I was all set. The hardest part was figuring out how to butcher the rabbit. I did a "How to" google search and the best thing I could come up with was the fabulous Brett's Flickr image of a rabbit he chopped into pieces. A lovely photo indeed, and fine work on his part, but I needed more help. A step-by-step preferably.

The best description I found was this:

1) With a large, heavy knife trim the ends of the front and hind legs.
2) Cut off the front and hind legs at the joints. Cut the hind legs into 2 pieces at the joint and the body into 3 equal sections. Cut the rib section in half through the breast and back bones and then cut each half in half.

And while there were steps, they weren't quite as detailed as I'd hoped.

Oh well, I figured this will have to do and I forged on ahead, chopping up the rabbit as well as I could. Not nearly as neat and pretty as Brett, but serving pieces nonetheless. I then melted most of a stick of butter and a tablespoon of honey. Sounds delicious already. (Can you tell I've been feeling deprived?)

I put the rabbit pieces in and cooked them for a few minutes, turning them often till they were browned all over and then removed them from the pot and put them aside.

I added 5 tablespoons of white vinegar to the lovely juices and reduced this for a while, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. While this was reducing, I heated a large pot of salted water and cooked the sliced turnips (4 small ones), sliced carrots (also 4), two thirds of a cup of green beans and a half cup of peas for about 5 minutes. Then I strained them and tossed them in the rabbit juice, added the rabbit, gently mixed to coat everything, put a lid on it and tossed it all in a preheated oven (400º). I baked this for 45 minutes while we did our workout. I have to say, there is something supermotivating about working out while smelling your delicious reward baking for you in the oven. It really did smell fantastic.

I served it with a simple green salad and we opened a bottle of our leftover wedding wine (a bounty that seems to go on and on). It was delicious!!! The rabbit was very flavourful - the sauce fantastic. The thicker parts of the rabbit were a little bit on the tough side, but the smaller ones, where the meat was closer to the bone, were juicy and delicious.

The real discovery though was the vegetables. They were so tasty, Big E suggested always cooking our veggies in honey and rabbit juices from here on out. So good!

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: B+ Modifications: None.

Crostini Marinari - Seafood Crostini

2007-10-22T22:02:00.001-07:00

Having some leftover seafood from a tapas party, I was looking around for a somewhat uncomplicated recipe that wouldn't require a shopping trip and this recipe fit the bill.

I found it odd that the recipe called for cooked shrimp but did not specify whether the small squid should be raw or cooked. I decided to lightly poach both, since they were going to get another fifteen minutes in the oven anyway.

I chopped the seafood, a garlic clove, and some parsley and mixed them with a couple of tablespoons of breadcrumbs and a lightly beaten egg, drizzled it with extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I thought it seemed a bit bland and dry, so I decided I'd do some test batches. I spooned some of the mixture onto a couple of slices of bread and baked on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes (350º).

Sure enough, the first batch was dry and bland. I added another beaten egg and some more garlic and parsley and tried a second batch. Still not that great. So I applied my ETBB method and drizzled in some dry sherry. Still another less than exciting and somewhat dry batch. In a last effort to save the food, I added a slice of fresh mozzarella onto each crostini. Bingo! The melty cheesy goodness packed in the moisture and saved the flavour.

While the end result was tasty, I don't think I'd bother with this recipe again... I'd probably look for a different use for my seafood in the future.

Tasty Factor: C Ease of Preparation: B Modifications: Yes. Many. Added another egg, some sherry, more garlic and mozzarella.

Passatina di Ceci con Gamberi - Purée of Garbanzo Beans with Shrimp

2007-10-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is the first of the recipes that I make from the Celebrated Chefs menus. I had initially planned to tackle these as an entire menu at a time, but recently had some shrimp that needed to get used up and when I looked in the index, this recipe was the most interesting looking one I found. Unfortunately, I wasn't up to cooking Fulvio Pierangelini's entire menu that evening, regardless of how tasty the fish ravioli and red wine squab looked.

Now I love shrimp and garbanzo beans and this recipe sounded quite tasty: lightly steamed shrimp over a rosemary garbanzo bean purée. Sadly, it was wasn't really all that good.

I mean, the shrimp were fine: I barely steamed them until they just turned pink, so they were nice and tender and not rubbery as overcooked shrimp tend to be. However, they weren't seasoned in any way - this recipe relied entirely on the garbanzo purée flavour. Which was not that great.

I believe that it's quite possible that using canned beans that didn't get a chance to have a long simmer with the garlic and rosemary may have made a difference, but I sautéed the drained beans with some olive oil, garlic and fresh rosemary, then added a little bit of water and let it all simmer for a while longer.

When I puréed the mixture and added olive oil, it was really thick, so I added all the simmering water (in theory rosemary-garlic infused) and some more olive oil, but it was still really bland and thick. I kept messing around with it until I gave up and served it. Big E and I deemed it edible but uninteresting. In the future, I'll be a good girl and not use canned beans, though we'll see if that completely fixes the problem!

Tasty Factor: C Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: Yes. Used canned precooked garbanzo beans.

Pollo alla Filippina - Phillipines Chicken

2007-10-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

It is very difficult to muster the energy to write about tasty food when you're having trouble eating food. I didn't intend to disappear for this long again, so soon after I'd returned from my wedding-induced hiatus, but there you have it. I'm back again now, and hoping to stick around for a bit...

I've spent the past few weeks finishing up my cookbook proposal and am excited to say that I think it's ready to go! So now it's time to buckle down and do some serious food writing.

I made this recipe a while ago, but remember it fondly. This is one of those bizarre recipes that reminds you that the Silver Spoon really isn't as much about Italian cuisine as it is an Italian all-purpose cookbook.

I've been going through some intensive poultry cravings lately, which is a bit strange, because it's never been one of those things that I've craved in the past. The SS does have a large selection of poultry recipes to choose from and I'm excited to try more of them.

This recipe is great for a weeknight dinner, as it's very easy and calls for all pantry ingredients (aside from the chicken). While recipe called for a whole chicken, I was only cooking for two of us, so I just used two bone in chicken thighs (with the skin still on). I fried it in some oil until golden brown all over. In a sauce pan, I mixed three tablespoons of soy sauce, five tablespoons of white wine vinegar, two chopped garlic cloves, a bay leaf and some peppercorns.

Once the chicken was evenly golden, I poured the sauce over it, covered it and let it simmer for around 30 minutes. I basted it once or twice, whenever I remembered. Then, I removed it from the pan, put it into a serving dish. I added a little bit of water to the cooking juices and let it simmer for just a little bit then served it on the side.

Pairing this with some rice and a vegetable or two makes a great little dinner for two. I have no idea how authentic this dish in its claim to be from the Phillipines (though I wouldn't hold my breath) but it was quite tasty and very easy to make. Not all that exciting - I wouldn't pull this one out to impress some friends - but solid and great for a home dinner.

Tasty Factor: B Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Caprese di Mozzarella di Bufala - Buffalo Milk Mozzarella Caprese Salad

2007-09-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

There are some recipes you just don't really need, like how to make scrambled eggs for example. Sure, everyone has their theories about how much milk to add (if any at all) and what the texture should be when they're done, but rarely does anyone ever use a recipe. Or perhaps a more apt comparison would be how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, because really, what it boils down to is these are assembly recipes more than anything else.

Almost anyone who's ever had a caprese salad will have noticed that it basically comes down to alternating slices of tomato and mozzarella, sprinkling some chopped fresh basil, drizzling some olive oil, salt and voilà!

The SS recipe didn't offer up any additional insight, either. For example, it didn't say that when they're in season, fresh cherry tomatoes can be delicious in a caprese, but since the slices are too small to match up with the mozzarella slices, you can halve them and cut the cheese into cubes, then toss the two with the other ingredients. Sure it isn't as pretty as the perfectly alternating concentric rings of red and white, but quite functional and just as delicious.

SS also did not say anything about the importance of using fresh mozzarella, generally found sold in a container of its own whey (looks like water). The plastic wrapped partially dessicated stuff just doesn't compare. Or that you really want to use a flavourful extra-virgin olive oil on this. I probably don't need to point out that using ripe fresh tomatoes at the height of their season leads to a much tastier salad. I sometimes even add a splash of Balsamic vinegar or some sliced avocado, but then it isn't strictly speaking a caprese anymore.

Serve this up with some crusty bread and a grilled fish and you're have a great little meal. Summer dining just doesn't get any easier!

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: A few. Because I was using cherry tomatoes, I didn't follow the assembly instructions. I also added a tiny splash of Balsamic vinegar.

Bistecche all'Aceto Balsamico - Steak in Balsamic Vinegar

2007-08-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

Some day soon, I hope to break away from the easy obvious meat choices in The Silver Spoon. I mean, with over a hundred pages of recipes in the "Meats - Variety Meats" section, all I've made is one lamb recipe, a meatball and a steak. I mean, come on! For a die-hard variety meat fan, that's playing it pretty boring.

Sadly though, today isn't that day. I made this steak recipe several months ago, to go with the zucchini-tomato accordion. And while later tonight, I'll look into a more interesting recipe to make, I have to admit that this recipe was absolutely delicious. And simple, too!

As Big E pointed out, you've got to love a recipe for steak that begins with melting butter and mixing it with olive oil. Just how can that go wrong? I cooked the steaks on high on each side till they were nice and browned - about two minutes each side. Then i removed them to a serving platter and salted them.

In the remaining juices, I sautéed a chopped shallot for about five minutes, and added a little dab of butter, melted it then added a couple of teaspoons of Balsamic vinegar. I poured the sauce over the steaks, sprinkled them with chopped vinegar and we ate them.

They were delicious. I've been trying to master the poke test for determining whether the steak is done, but I think it was just luck that the steaks were done exactly the way we like them: deliciously rare. I used a hot skillet and watched the steaks like a hawk till they were perfectly browned and took them off right away. I loved the flavour of the Balsamic on the steak and the butter and shallots didn't hurt. All around yum.

And now to plan my next meat dish from SS: perhaps the sweetbreads with Madeira?

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Pomodori Alle Zucchine - Tomatoes with Zucchini

2007-08-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

I turn to cookbooks for a variety of different reasons: for ideas for what to cook for dinner, for instructions on how to prepare a specific dish I've tasted elsewhere, but more often than not for inspiration. And to be honest, for the most part, The Silver Spoon is not one of those cookbooks that inspires me.

It definitely gives me ideas for dinner and specific instructions for Italian dishes, but it just doesn't inspire me. For one thing, I tend to be a mostly visual person (makes sense for a film editor, I guess) and while the drawings in SS are charming, they aren't really mouth-watering.

Though I have to admit that sometimes they're downright hilarious. Like this soup drawing that astutely points out that the soup is inside the tureen.

I also enjoy reading my cookbooks like a good novel, so any book with good chapter introductions and recipe descriptions definitely draws me in and inspires me. SS doesn't do that so much either.

Lately, I've been craving inspiration but have kept on browsing and searching through SS, mostly out of obligation. Last night, I finally killed that sense of obligation with a disappointing seafood crostini. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This post isn't about a failed recipe, it's about rediscovering inspiration and in this particular instance, it is about the last recipe found within the covers of The Silver Spoon which succeeded in inspiring me.

This came a few weeks ago, when our box was brimming with summer vegetables: three types of tomatoes (cherry, roma and heirloom) and week after week of zucchini.

We'd been getting zucchini and tomatoes in our box for several weeks at this point and while I love both of those vegetables very much, I hadn't been varying what I did with them so much. The zucchini were all sliced and oven roasted - I do so love the caramelized taste of roast zucchini. The tomatoes were almost always sliced and eaten raw.

When I searched through SS this time for a recipe using my box ingredients, I stumbled upon this one, which didn't sound new and different, and well, inspiring, at first blush but it certainly used what I had in the house. It was upon reading the instructions for the recipe that I became intrigued.

The preparation was rather satisfying, a bit like a kindergarten project: I sliced a lovely heirloom tomato, but not all the way through, so that it opened like an accordion. I slipped thin slices of zucchini in between the tomato slices. After that, I sprinkled the tomato-zucchini accordion with chopped parsley and garlic, drizzled it with olive oil and baked it for about thirty minutes.

Then I added thin slices of fresh mozzarella in between the slices and sprinkled some dried oregano and returned the dish to the oven for another ten minutes. I served this dish alongside steak in Balsamic vinegar and some delicious potatoes with onions.

The zucchini-tomato flower looked beautiful on the plate and tasted delicious. I did not often prepare recipes that involved such construction and this opened my mind to other potential baked vegetable creations. I will definitely make this dish (or some variation thereof) again: it would be great dish to serve to company and a different way to use up the zillions of gorgeous tomatoes in our box.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: B- Modifications: None. This dish didn't need any help.

And now that that's out of the way, time to turn to my gathered pile of inspiration:

The Tra Vigne Cookbook because it is a recommendation from my friend and erstwhile cookbook co-author (hopefully we'll get back to this project sometime soon)
The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert because I'm dying to use the tajine we got as a wedding gift
The Naked Chef Cookbook by Jamie Oliver because I loved his Happy Days Cookbook
The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali because we also got this as a wedding gift and it's GORGEOUS!

Petti Farciti al Mascarpone - Chicken Stuffed with Mascarpone

2007-08-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I've been missing for a while (or maybe you didn't, in which case, feel free to skip on to the next paragraph... Don't worry, my feelings won't be too hurt). Well, it's been a bit of a whirlwind summer - mainly leading up to our wedding and the wedding aftermath.

But in case you think I wasn't cooking all this time, I was. I just didn't have time to write about it all. So I'm back now, as ready as ever to cook, but also ready to write about the backlog of recipes that I made these past two months. I'm also really excited to make use of the awesome new cookware and appliances our friends and family have been so sweetly sending us.

Stuffed chicken has always been a favourite dinner party dish: usually easy to make, elaborate enough that its not just your average weeknight meal and absolutely delicious.

The version I usually make is a bit simpler than the one I found here: goat cheese and pesto at its simplest, sometimes with fresh herbs or a sliced vegetable.

The Silver Spoon recipe for this is excellent: a tad bit more involved but well worth it. The extra step is to chop and sauté mushrooms in butter with a few garlic cloves and some chopped parsley. SS says to remove the garlic once browned, as it so often does, but I chose to ignore that and used chopped garlic instead, as I so often do.

I sliced the chicken breasts horizontally in half and pounded them as flat as I could. I then lined each piece with a slice of prosciutto (the recipe called for cooked, cured ham. I don't tend to like ham all that much, but I love prosciutto... and it is dry-cured ham, which isn't that far off, right?). I then spoon in some mascarpone, the cooked mushrooms and close the chicken breast. I top each breast with some halved cherry tomatoes and bake the whole thing in the oven (at 400º) for about 25 minutes (15 minutes with foil, then till browned). The recipe actually just called for one slice of tomato on each piece, but since I had cherry tomatoes in my box, that's what I used. I would probably do that again though, because I think it looked more elegant.

The chicken was incredibly tender and the flavours very rich and earthy. Absolutely delicious with a lovely glass of red wine (we had a Chalone Pinot Noir). One of our dinner guests was a fungiphobe - sadly, I seem to know many of them - so I made hers without the mushrooms but it still seemed quite tasty. I would highly recommend this dish for small dinner parties when you're out to impress.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: B- Modifications: Sorta, prosciutto instead of "ham"... does that even count as a modification? I'm counting it as a yes, because I wouldn't make this recipe any other way. I love prosciutto.

Tagliatelleine alle Cipolle - Tagliatelline with Onions

2007-07-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

With all the effort that went into making my first batch of homemade pasta, I figured a low effort sauce would be best. I also wanted something that would overwhelm the delicate flavour of the fresh pasta.

Those factors, combined with the fruit (or bulbs, haha) of my most recent CSA box, drew me towards this recipe. I had a bunch of beautiful onions that I thinly sliced up.

I cooked them in a couple of tablespoons each of butter and olive oil (the SS recipe called for 3 and 4 tablespoons respectively, but I cut that amount down a bit). I occasionally stirred the onions, and left them slowly cooking over a low fire for about ten minutes, until translucent.

I just barely boiled the fresh pasta (until it floated) then seasoned it with pepper and tossed it with the onions. I served it amply sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan. I also added some chopped Italian parsley, to keep the pasta from looking too drab.

The recipe was delicious and incredibly easy and the onions and cheese were the perfect topping for my homemade whole wheat pasta.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Yes, if you count adding parsley, though really, that's barely a modification at all!

Pasta all'Uovo (Ricetta Base) - Fresh Pasta Dough (Basic Recipe)

2007-06-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

One of the most fun things about getting married is the cool kitchenware you can register for. My aunts had a shower for me a few weeks ago and it was my lovely mother who got me the gift-most-useful-in-conjunction-with-SS: a pasta machine and a food mill.

I couldn't wait to bring it home and make some pasta! The first Sunday that I had free, I brought it out and invited some friends over for dinner. The basic recipe seemed to be a good place to start, although, true to form, I couldn't just use regular flour and follow the recipe. No no, I had to try to make the pasta using 100% whole wheat pastry flour. I'd recently bought a wide array of different types of flours searching to use as substitutes for more nutritious baking and figured I'd start swapping different types of flour into the recipes I made. It probably would have been wise if I had any idea how to make pasta dough to have a sense of texture before I started but when has that ever stopped me before?

I replaced the 1 and 3/4 cups of flour with the same amount of whole wheat pastry flour, mixed in a pinch of salt and built a mound on my counter. I beat two eggs together and poured them into the well in the center then frantically tried to mix in the flour before the ran off all over the counter. I then kneaded the dough for about ten minutes. I wasn't sure what the texture should feel like at this point, but left it to rest for 15 minutes. When I started working with it again and tried to pass it through the pasta machine, it fell apart too quickly, so I decided to knead it some more.

At this point, Big E and I, along with our dinner guests, were beginning to get hungrier and less confident of our likelihood of eating in the near future, so Big E jumped on board. It was then that this shower gift showed its great potential for our household: the pasta rolling process worked best when we did it together. I fed the pasta in with one hand and collected the rolled sheet with the other while E cranked the handle.

Not too long after, we had a whole series of sheets (not all that soon either... it took us a while to figure this out). At this point, I decided I was too hungry to deal with figuring out how to use the fettucine slicing attachment, so I just sliced them by hand.

The pasta was absolutely delicious! It cooked in less than a minute and was fluffy and very flavourful. I made a very simple onion sauce with it so that the pasta was properly showcased. While the recipe worked out quite well, I feel that a lot of that was due to our trial and error and not so much to the instructions in the recipe. I've since checked a couple of other recipes for fresh pasta to see if I could get any useful tricks and found pages of description compared to this mere one paragraph.

That being said, how do I rate this recipe? Homemade pasta is delicious and I would give the taste an A. The recipe, however, was not all that helpful. But my rating system has not been so much for the effectiveness of the recipe, but the end result.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: C- Modifications: Yes. Whole wheat pastry flour instead of white.

Piselli con Carote - Peas with Carrots

2007-05-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

While some might say that peas and carrots are boring, in springtime, with fresh peas and baby carrots in their prime, this dish is anything but boring.

I melted some butter, added some peeled pearl onions and cooked them over medium heat for about 5 minutes. I then added the carrots and cooked them for 10 minutes. Finally, I added peas, a teaspoon of sugar, some chopped parsley, a few tablespoons of water and salt and pepper and cooked over low heat for a while longer.

The recipe says to cook it for 40 minutes. Yet again, that is clearly the standard SSVTR problem. I cooked them for barely another 5 minutes before I decided it was already far too much time. I added a pad of butter and served them up.

The veggies were a tad overcooked, but absolutely delicious! They were a great side dish with the steak and aside from the pea shelling (which I had Big E do - the perfect low impact activity), and some carrot chopping, it was pretty easy to make.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: B+ Modifications: SSVTR only.

Lombate alla Salvia - Steak with Sage

2007-05-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

People do the strangest things because of guilt. This past sunday, I cooked a guilt dinner. Big E had been experiencing a mysterious pain in his rib for over a month, and it didn't seem to be going away. This lead to quite a bit of pain (for him, a lot of worrying (for me) and many sleepless nights (for both of us).

When the pain finally disappeared but then decided to come back on the other side a mere two days later, I became angry. I was not prepared to go through this all over again. I was angry with E for seemingly not doing anything about it and even angrier with myself for being so unsupportive.

My guilt (as well as my inability to figure out what to do to help him through this) lead me to try to comfort him in the best way I know: cook a really nice, tasty dinner. We happened to have some flank steak we had gotten at the farmers' market, from Marin Sun Farms, so I headed out to the supermarket to get a few ingredients and a special dessert and got to work.

This recipe is incredibly easy. I just dusted the steaks with some flour on both sides, melted butter in a cast iron skillet, added the steaks and cooked them until they were golden brown on each side. Then I added a sage leaf to each steak and cooked for a minute or so more on each side.

This recipe isn't at all precise for timing or how to know if the steak is rare or medium rare, and so on. I just cooked it till it looked ready to me, although I didn't actually cut it open to check. We both prefer our steaks quite rare, and I was hoping that since I was using a hot skillet, I could just cook it until it looked right on the outside, for as little time as possible. I seasoned it with salt and freshly ground pepper.

It ended up working out well for us: the steaks were perfectly to our taste. However, if someone wanted it more well done or if the steaks were thinner, I'm not sure that I'd really know what I was doing. The recipe recommended serving it with a side of boiled potatoes sautéed with some olive oil and pepper, so I boiled up some baby red potatoes on the side. The other side that I prepared for this meal was Peas with Carrots (will post that soon) which made for a very basic dinner. It's not the fare I normally would make, but I spiced up the meal with an artichoke soup appetizer taken from my newly acquired Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest Cookbook (which was quite delicious!).

The meal was delicious: the steak was perfect, the sage leaves delicious and crispy. I think if I made it again, I'd add more sage leaves because I do love them so especially when they're lightly fried.

Later that evening, when I ended up taking Big E to the emergency room for his pain (he's getting better now, but it's been a pretty horrible week), we joked about how at least he had one tasty dinner before having to deal with hospital food. Before that happened, I had, in tears, confessed to E that the dinner was a guilt-dinner, and I'd like to think that that helped motivate him to decide to go to the ER that night. Well, that and his increasing pain. Turns out he has blood clots in his lungs. The worst of it is passed now but now that we're home, and I recall how angry I was at him for being in pain, I might be doing some more guilt-cooking.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: None.

Tagliatelle Al Salmone - Tagliatelle with Salmon

2007-05-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... those aren't tagliatelle. But they were delicious multi-grain spaghetti and I didn't have any tagliatelle in my pantry, and I wasn't quite up to making some in my new pasta machine! (More on that very soon!!!)

It was a Saturday evening, after a long busy day, and I was throwing together a quick little dinner for three of us after spending the afternoon baking. Big E & M were playing video games and wandered in, only to find a bottle of 12 year old single malt Glenlivet sitting suspiciously near the stove, with the cap off and a measuring spoon near by. That brought on an incredulous "You're cooking with that?!?!"

"No, no!" I protested, "Not really, just a tiny bit!" Five tablespoons, actually, and what was I to do? It was the only whiskey we had and the recipe called for whiskey. While I do firmly believe my ETBB mantra, there are definitely types of alcohol that don't fall into the line up of usual boozy suspects I cook with. (Another extremely rare visitor was the gin used here)

I had selected this recipe because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, and even more importantly, because I could toss it together quite easily. I chopped up about a half cup of smoked salmon (I had a ton leftover from catering event I'd done two days before) and sautéed it up in some melted butter, then added some lemon juice. I cooked the salmon for a few minutes then added about a half a cup of half and half (instead of heavy cream) and five tablespoons of Glenlivet, seasoned with salt and pepper then cooked over low heat for about 5 minutes.

I cooked the pasta, drained it and tossed it in the sauce and cooked it some more. Before serving, I decided it needed some more colour and added some chopped parsley.

The flavour was fascinating! The smoked salmon and whiskey combination was delicious and quite unexpected. The sauce however was a lot thinner than I'd hoped. If you look closely at my terrible photo, you'll see that the cream doesn't really coat the pasta, it disappears. I'm not sure why that is, although I'd hate to blame the swap of half and half versus heavy cream. But who knows? That could indeed be the cause. Regardless, it was tasty, fast and simple and I'd highly recommend it for a somewhat fancy dish to serve when there is little time to prep.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Yes. Half and half instead of heavy cream, added chopped parsley.

Torta Ai Broccoletti - Broccoli Pie

2007-05-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

After the delicious success of the Fabulous Broccoli, and with the leftover frozen pastry from the Pumpkin Pie, this broccoli pie seemed to be the obvious next choice.

The recipe was quite easy, since I already had the crust. I merely had to chop the broccoli into medium sized flowerets, parboil them in salted water for about 5 minutes, then drain them.

I then sautéed them in some melted butter, seasoned them with salt and pepper and put them aside. Since they're about to be baked in the pie for 40 minutes, this definitely falls into the SSVTR category, but since the Fabulous Broccoli worked out so well with all that cooking time, I figured the sautéing in butter was essential to the recipe, more as a means of buttering the broccoli than as a way to better cook the broccoli. SS recommended 5 minutes of sauté time, but that doesn't seem to be absolutely essential.

I rolled out the dough and fit it into a quiche pan lined with parchment paper. I then mixed some grated fontina cheese (about 4-5 ounces) with some freshly grated nutmeg and sprinkled it over the bottom of the dough base. I arranged the broccoli on top, and then poured a mixture of béchamel sauce with another 4-5 ounces of grated fontina cheese and covered it with the remaining dough. (I didn't quite have enough dough leftover, which is why you can see the broccoli peeking out.) The pie baked for about 40 minutes, till the crust was nice and golden brown and the filling was bubbling.

It was a delicious pie! I served it with a salad, lightly dressed with oil and vinegar. The flavours were mild and creamy and quite tasty, although not nearly as delicious as the Fabulous Broccoli. I think in the future, if I were making a broccoli pie, I'd use the Fabulous Broccoli as filling instead of this one. The addition of garlic, leeks and white wine to that sauce make the flavours a lot richer.

Rolling out the dough and getting it to fit is what brings the grade down and had I not been using a frozen store-bought puff pastry dough, the ease factor would be even lower.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: B Modifications: No.

Puré di Fave Fresche - Fresh Fava Bean Purée

2007-05-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

Spring is definitely here as our CSA box has been showing up with more and more variety & surprises. The first two to show up, in the same box, were a bag of fava beans and a small basket of strawberries. Already! I was really surprised but they were absolutely ripe, sweet and intensely flavoured!

I'd been dying to get some fava beans and decided a simple fresh fava bean purée would be the perfect way to showcase their flavour. The note at the head of the Fava Bean chapter says that if the beans are small, fresh and ripe, they should be tender enough that you shouldn't necessarily have to remove their skin. After shelling them, I tried a few to see if they seemed young enough and decided to skip the peeling step.

I put them in a pan and brought them to boil over low heat, then drained them, returned them to the pan and puréed them using my trusty immersion blender. At this point, I began to question my decision to leave the skins on the favas because they weren't quite disappearing into the purée. Too late now. I went on with the recipe: seasoned the purée with some sea salt, added two small diced potatoes and a half cup of veggie stock and cooked it until the potatoes were soft. Then, although the recipe didn't say to, I puréed it all again to get the potatoes nicely mashed in, drizzled it with olive oil and some freshly ground pepper. I served the purée on some baguette crostini.

They were... ok. They weren't bad at all, really, but I guess I just wanted more out of them. For a simpler fava bean recipe, I've since just shelled and peeled them, cooked them very briefly in boiling water and seasoned them with olive oil, salt and pepper.

For a more flavourful purée, I'd probably eliminate the potatoes, which just seem to dilute their flavour, and add a bit of garlic and maybe a few shavings of Pecorino Romano.

Tasty Factor: C+ Ease of Preparation: B (I think it'd be difficult for a fava bean recipe to ever get a really high grade here due to all the shelling and peeling) Modifications: Sort of. Didn't peel the beans, though I probably would in the future. Mashed in the potatoes after they cooked. Would do even more modifications next time, such as adding garlic and cheese. I'll keep you posted, I just got a whole new bag of favas in this week's box.

Torta di Zucca - Pumpkin Pie

2007-04-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

In my latest CSA box, I found a butternut squash, and since SS does not have any butternut squash specific recipes, I decided a pumpkin one would do. The idea of a savory pumpkin pie was quite appealing so I hit the grocery store and bought some puff pastry *hang head in shame*

In my defense, it was a lovely frozen organic whole wheat puff pastry that I'd never seen before and I really didn't have time to make my own. The recipe is quite elaborate, as are most of the recipes in the pie and quiche section, but not overwhelming... unless you're like me and you have a really hard time slicing, peeling and seeding butternut squash/pumpkins, but that's why I like to keep handy assistants around.

First, I set some dried mushrooms to soak in enough warm water to cover them. I'm still using dried porcini mushrooms that I smuggled in from Bologna on my last trip and they have a wonderful flavour. Depending on where you shop there are a variety of other dried mushrooms you can find. They're generally quite worth the price for the lovely flavour and richness they add.

I drizzled the squash with some olive oil and baked it in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes, then pushed them through a strainer. You could also purée them till smooth with an immersion blender. I then set the oven to 400º.

I drained and chopped the mushrooms, then cooked them in 1/4 melted butter with a chopped onion for about five minutes. I added the squash purée and cooked it for another ten minutes stirring frequently. I removed the pan from the heat, stirred in 4 tablespoons of parmesan, an egg and an egg yolk and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Using the ETBB philosophy, I also added a good dose of dry sherry.

I rolled out half the dough and covered the base of a buttered pie dish, then covered the bottom with 2 ounces of sliced swiss cheese. I spooned in the squash mixture then covered the top with the rolled out remaining dough, and did my best to crimp the edges together to get it to seal. The pie takes about an hour to bake, however, I had trouble with the timing and since it's really difficult to tell if the filling is done, when we cut into it we found it wasn't quite as done as I would have liked.

The pie looked gorgeous and smelled divine! I was really impressed with the wonderful aroma that seeped through the house and couldn't wait to taste some. I wasn't completely let down, despite the slight undercooked filling: it was still quite tasty - the flavours meshed together quite nicely.

The dried mushrooms add a depth to the squash, an earthiness or umame that balances its natural sweetness.
I can't imagine changing anything at all to the recipe, I just need to make sure it cooks long enough next time. Perhaps leave it in for a few more minutes, as much as the top crust can bear with out turning into tar. However, I definitely want to make this recipe again, with my own puff pastry crust, when I have pumpkin chopping (wo)manpower and a fair amount of time.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: C+ Modifications: Yes. ETBB - added a splash of sherry.

Bietole Gratinate - Swiss Chard Au Gratin

2007-03-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ah the mild confusion of similar recipes on the same page. Having received a gorgeous bunch of Swiss chard in my CSA box, I decided to make the Swiss chard with Parmesan recipe at the top of page 411. I began to separate the chard leaves from the stems and set aside the leaves.

Now my confusion possibly began when I read those last instructions. Set aside the leaves? The recipe had a parenthetical note saying I could make soup with them. This was just very confusing to me. If anything, I had always done the opposite: primarily used the leaves, perhaps keeping the stems for a stock or something. A recipe only involving the stems was a novelty for me. I went ahead and chopped them into 2-inch pieces.

Then, I made a béchamel sauce. After I had a large pot of béchamel, all steaming, seasoned and ready to go, I realized I'd switched recipes to the one at the bottom of the page, the chard gratin. Oh well, no concern: the first steps for the recipe were identical (in terms of describing how to chop the chard and separate the stems from the leaves) and then this one actually used the leaves, so I didn't have to worry about another recipe for the leaves. (Never mind that I had actually yet again misread the instructions and this recipe had said the exact same thing about saving the leaves for a soup... According to my brain, the recipe used the leaves, so I did. It wasn't until a few days later that I sat down to write this post and "re"-read the instructions to find that I'd completely made up the part about using the leaves.)

I cooked the stems in lightly salted boiling water for about 12 minutes, then drained them and completely missed the part of the instructions that said to cut them into small pieces. In a buttered oven proof dish, I then began layering the chard stems with layers of béchamel, grated Parmesan and chopped chard leaves (in the actual recipe it was just the stems, béchamel and cheese) until I'd used up the ingredients, ending with a layer of Parmesan. For two and a quarter pounds of chard, I used about a cup of béchamel and a cup of Parmesan.

I baked the chard in a 350º oven for about 15 minutes till it was bubbling and golden on top. The chard was delicious and with some of the taste testers that evening, it was the favourite. (I still preferred the fabulous broccoli, but the chard was a close second.) I love the nutmeg in béchamel sauce, but can sometimes find it a bit bland and wonder if this recipe would not have profited from a bit of ETBB tampering, but that will be an experiment for another time.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: B- Modifications: Yes. Due to misreading the recipe, I included the chopped Swiss chard leaves as alternating layers with the other ingredients. I'd say it was a great mistake and I'd make it that way again, but then, I do love my greens. I also used large pieces of chard stem because I didn't see the part about cutting them smaller.

Broccoli Fantasia - Fabulous Broccoli

2007-03-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

In keeping with a bit of a trend here, I've yet again selected a recipe based on the massive claims its title has made. Fabulous is no understatement, that's a big claim. And considering my disastrous previous broccoli recipe from SS, I was a bit skeptical.

However, this recipe was indeed fabulous. So fabulous, I've actually been craving more of it. Even just writing about it now really makes me want to eat some more of it. Sadly, I cooked this about a week ago, and don't have any leftovers or any more broccoli in the house, and am feeling a bit lazy.

For starters, the Fabulous Broccoli has presented an interesting work around to the SSVTR (last mentioned here): after a brief parboil of the chopped 2 1/4 pounds of broccoli, draining, and cooling, it is baked in the oven with a sauce. This is quite different from the other overboiled veggie problems. It seems that when you bake the veggies with a sauce, they're nowhere near as offensive and quite a bit more flavourful. Or at least, that's what happened in this case.

I heated two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan, added four garlic cloves (that's two more than requested by the recipe) and two trimmed and sliced leeks. I sautéed the lot for about five minutes or so, until softened, then refused obstinately to remove and throw out the perfectly good garlic cloves.

I stirred in a tablespoon of flour, and cooked for about two minutes until it was lightly browned. I then added a scant half cup of half and half, seasoned with salt and pepper and mixed well. The recipe called for heavy cream, but I opted to use half and half partly because I'm still fighting the good fight and trying to trim down a bit, and partly because I misread the recipe before I went shopping and didn't buy any heavy cream.

I then added the broccoli, a half cup of dry-ish white wine (needed dry, ended up with something not so dry... I can't remember what it was, but the fact that Gewürztraminer was one of the grapes should have been a giveaway.) I simmered the mixture for about 10 minutes, then poured it into a greased oven-proof dish, sprinkled it with about 6 tablespoons of grated parmesan, a couple of dabs of butter and baked it in a preheated 400º oven till bubbling.

So much for that effort to trim down. It was fabulous. Sooooo tasty and creamy and rich and delicious and comforting. I can't rave enough about it. I loved it. Yum!

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: B+ Modifications: Yes. Doubled the garlic, left it in, & replaced the heavy cream with half and half.

Patate Saltate Alla Provenzale - Provençal Sautéed Potates

2007-03-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

The Silver Spoon has quite a few potato recipes, but it took me a while to try any of them. I tend not to cook with potatoes all that often, as I try to replace them with the slightly healthier sweet potatoes, for example. (I have a bit of a trying to be healthy thing going on these days)

But anyway, I decided to finally approach this section and chose this one because I love saffron and it looked like it would make a great weeknight easy side dish.

The preparation was indeed straightforward: I diced a little over two pounds of potatoes, and cooked them in a pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 5 unpeeled cloves of garlic. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and stirred frequently. Perhaps not frequenly enough, as they decided to stick to the pan and soon I had a lovely crunchy thick coating at the bottom of the pan. Either that or I didn't have enough olive oil.

In a small bowl, I combined a quarter cup of softened butter with a pinch of saffron and mashed it together until smooth. The saffron remained quite separate from the butter and I wondered if I was supposed to have used powdered? but the recipe did not specify.

I removed the potatoes from the pan with a slotted spoon, as indicated, but it didn't really seem necessary... there was not oil to be seen. Neither did it seem necessary to drain the potatoes on a paper towel, so I didn't. I put them in a serving dish, sprinkled them with chopped parsley and thyme and dotted them with the saffron butter.

The potatoes were delicious, but I didn't feel like the saffron butter added anything. I've had saffron butter elsewhere before and it's usually a lovely subtle flavour. This butter didn't really stand out in any way. I'll have to research that a bit to see what was wrong. Otherwise, the potatoes were quite good.

Tasty Factor: B+ Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: None. Unless you count the no draining of potatoes, but really, that doesn't feel like it was a legitimate modification.

Polpette Saporite - Meatballs with a Tasty Onion Garnish

2007-02-26T22:29:00.000-08:00

Well, when a recipe pitches itself like that, how can you turn it down? Tasty little onion garnish! Bring it on, I say. Then there's the part where I seem to not really be into meatballs, but whatever, we can overcome that if we have a tasty little garnish to better them with.

Part of the problem is likely that, what with Big E and my lessened consumption of meat and focus on only free range, organic and preferably somewhat local meats, when we do decide to buy meat, getting ground beef seems like a shame. I'd much rather a leg of lamb or a thick, juicy steak.

It just so happened that several weeks ago, I had a little Tunisian dinner and movie party and among other favourite dishes that I prepared, I made Briks. Now while briks can be made with any number of different fillings around the egg, our family pretty much always makes the ground beef filling (quite delicious, with onions, parsley, turmeric... yum!)

Because of a series of unfortunate events, my guest list that night was halved, so I put the remaining uncooked ground beef in the freezer and now, a week or so later, decided to begin to better tackle the lengthy Variety Meats chapter of SS.

I chose what seemed to be the simplest recipe with the fewest ingredients, but I must admit, the title completely cracked me up, and ended up being my primary reason for making this recipe. And simple it was: I cooked 1 large sliced onion in 2 tablespoons of melted butter for ten minutes then seasoned it with salt. I took half of the onions and combined it with 3 1/2 cups of the meat and two egg yolks and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I shaped the mixture, as directed, into 8 meatballs. These were eight large meatballs.

I then melted another 3 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and cooked the meatballs over high heat until they were browned all over. I put them in a lovely serving dish and spooned the juices and sauteed onion on top.

For some reason, I didn't really like them, although Big E seemed happy enough. But I only had one that night and we had to refrigerate the remaining meatballs. The next day, I put the meatball dish in the oven to reheat them, and they got even browner and the juices thickened a bit, and I thought they were delicious! So maybe I hadn't cooked them enough the first time, but I don't know if that was their main problem. There are so many more meatball recipes in this book with really long ingredient lists and varied seasoning, and I must admit, despite the enticing "tasty" garnish, I think this recipe might be a bit too bland for me.

Tasty Factor: B Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Crema Verde - Green Cream Soup

2007-02-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

We had some new friends over for dinner last night, and I have to admit, for the first time in a really long while, I was a tad intimidated
and nervous about pulling off the perfect meal. See, this new friend happens to be a professional chef and culinary artist in the Bay Area.

Given these circumstances, one might imagine that it would be best to stick with recipes one has made in the past, perhaps several times, and has always been successful with. But then one wouldn't have any new recipes to write about and really, it's silly to not be a little bit adventurous!

So, along with a menu of other previously made dishes, I selected a new soup recipe from SS, the Crema Verde. This soup was an easy selection because I've recently begun getting a CSA box from the quite wonderful Eatwell Farm and had recently received some leeks and some spinach.

The recipe was very easy and left me plenty of time to get everything else finished, the table partially set (for some reason, I forgot to put spoons and wandered off leaving the silverware in an unsightly pile in middle of the table), and check out Big E's new P-to-B web application (more on that soon).

I melted two tablespoons of butter and added 3 thinly sliced leeks (white to light green parts only, although the recipe said white parts only, but the light green bits looked so fresh and yummy, I couldn't bear to leave them out). I cooked them over low heat for about five minutes, then added 3 diced potatoes and 4 cups of chicken stock. The recipe actually called for vegetable stock for a change, but I was all out. I cooked these for about ten minutes then added 3 cups of chopped spinach and a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg. SS says you can use either spinach or watercress for this recipe.

Ten minutes later, I puréed the mixture with my immersion blender then added some cream. Here, the recipe called for 2/3 of a cup of heavy cream, but that seemed like a lot and I'm on a bit of a reduction campaign, so I just added a dollop, mixed it in, tasted it, added another dollop, and so on. I'd imagine I didn't put in more than 1/2 cup, but probably more like a 1/3.

Finally, after seasoning it with some salt and a good grind of pepper, I added a generous splash of sherry, because after all Everything Tastes Better with Booze (That's ETBB, for those of you who are keeping track.)

The soup was delicious! It tasted very green and fresh. The addition of spinach to a regular potato leek soup was a great change both in terms of flavour and added nutritional value. It definitely did not need quite as much cream as the recipe called for. It was a great beginning to our meal.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Less cream and ETBB. Actually, the recipe also called for buttered, toasted croûtons to serve, but one of my dinner guests has a wheat allergy, so I hadn't bought any bread that day.

The rest of the meal consisted of this delicious lamb shank recipe, slow cooked with red wine and caramelized shallots and onions, a parsnip purée from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook and a mâche salad with Argan oil and a splash of sherry vinegar.

PS: I forgot to mention, this post is another entry for Veggie Venture's Soup's On Event.

Pancotto - Bread Soup

2007-02-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

The cold rainy days of winter are here and the time for soup has come! Alanna, over at A Veggie Venture has issued the soup challenge with Soup's On! for the whole month of February.

The first soup I've made in a while turned out to be the perfect soup on a cold rainy night, when I don't feel like venturing out to do any shopping and just have to make due with what I have around the house.

Conveniently enough, I happened to have a baguette, which, when I cubed it up and opted not to remove the crusts (SS called for removing the crusts, but that just feels like such a waste of food to me!), turned out to be just about the 14 ounces of bread needed. My baguette happened to also be seeded, but I figured that would just add some flavour.

In a large soup pot, I heated four tablespoons of olive oil, added one 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes (SS called for ripe, but hey - It's winter!) and two chopped cloves of garlic, and cooked them over low heat for 10 minutes. Again, I strayed from the recipe: while SS called for only one clove of garlic, I really felt that that couldn't possibly be enough. Cold rainy nights tend to draw vampires and I had to make sure we were protected. Not to mention all the great health benefits of the little fellas. In retrospect, I feel I could have added even a bit more than I did.

After the 10 minutes of simmering, I added a cup of boiling water and the bread and mixed it well. Then I poured in 4 more cups of water and some salt. I cooked over medium heat for a few more minutes until the soup thickened then removed it from the heat and let it stand for a few minutes. I ladled it into soup bowls, drizzled with olive oil (extra virgin, this time), sprinkled it with Parmesan and black pepper and it was good to go.

The flavour of the soup, while quite simple, was very tasty and perfect for the weather. The one flaw that I found with it is that the bread got a bit of a slimy consistency, which, while it didn't bother me at all, would definitely be a deterrent to some friends of mine. On the whole though, a great quick pantry dinner on a cold night.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Yes. I did not remove the crusts from the bread, and doubled the quantity of garlic. Which I'll definitely do again. Or perhaps even triple it. You can never be too careful.

Ceci con il Tonno - Garbanzo Beans with Tuna

2007-02-05T22:28:00.000-08:00

Garbanzo beans aren't my first bean love. In fact, they don't even come in second or third. I much prefer cannellini, or black beans, lentils, fava, navy, great northern... The list goes on for a while.

I don't really have anything against them, and enjoy eating them if served to me, but I have found that in my pantry, though I usually have a can or two of garbanzos, I rarely ever use them. In fact, the only times I have in as far back as I remember was when I was making one of two Tunisian dishes: either a Tunisian couscous BelKhodhra (with vegetables) or Lablabi, Tunisia's unofficial national dish.

Needless to say, the garbanzo section of SS was being ignored. I hadn't even browsed through it, let alone post-it'ed a recipe within it.

It was the lovely Molly who gave me a yearning for this bean and more specifically, for a simple salad made with it. And while the recipe she'd posted looked amazing, I thought I'd check to see what SS offered. So there it was, Garbanzo and Tuna salad. It seemed like an odd combination but I figured I'd give it a chance.

The recipe was incredibly easy. I mixed one cup of canned garbanzo beans with 5 ounces of tuna (preferably dark packed in olive oil, something Spanish or Italian. I used Flott tuna.)
For the dressing, I whisked 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The recipe said to serve the salad right after dressing it, but I found that letting it sit a bit after dressing it allowed the flavours to mingle nicely. The salad was delicious!

I garnished it with some chopped parsley, and we devoured it. What a great find. This is going on my list of quick pantry recipes.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Not really. Although I might add a tiny bit of garlic next time. Just a touch.

Soufflé di Cipolle - Onion Soufflé

2007-01-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

So I had this bright idea, a week or so ago. I'm going to give myself deadlines, in order to make myself write more. And what better way to do that than to use other people's deadlines! I'm subscribed to Is My Blog Burning? and read the post about the last HHDD, Challenge: Soufflé! I've never participated in one of these group blog events before and figured this would be the perfect one to do. I've never made a soufflé before, but do enjoy eating them.

I chose the onion soufflé because I wanted to make a savory one and it seemed to be the simplest one in the SS. And then, I started early: A full five days before the post was due, I began chopping my onions, 11 ounces of onion, to be precise (and I figured this recipe would warrant precision). Once finely chopped, I melted two tablespoons of butter and added the onions, and began cooking them over low heat for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. I then added one cup of vegetable stock (the recipe called for meat, but I was cooking for a vegetarian). I then left it to simmer for an hour.

In the meantime, I meticulously buttered a glass oven proof dish and preheated the oven to 400º. It seemed to be the right proportions and dimensions for a soufflé, but I wasn't positive about this.

I then cooked up a batch of béchamel, also from SS, which I'll be sure to write up later, though it will be lacking photos.

When the hour was up, I seasoned the onions with salt and pepper and sprinkled in a half cup of brandy. Some of you may be aware of my proclivity for cooking with booze. Adding the brandy in this dish not only satisfied that, but also left the brandy (long ignored bottle) sitting innocently by the stove and tempting me when I came to cook later dishes. Let me just say that a splash of brandy does not disappear quite as delicately as do my beloved marsala or sherry.

The recipe said to add a pinch of sugar if the mixture tasted sour, which I didn't find. I then cooked a bit longer till it seemed like the liquid was diminished, but it didn't seem that it was completely evaported. I wasn't sure how much this mattered so I moved on. I stirred in a cup of grated Emmenthal and removed the pot from the stove. I stirred four egg yolks into the béchamel, one at a time, then added the onion mixture and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.

Then I whipped the four remaining egg whites until stiff and gently, oh so gently folded them into the mixture and carefully spooned it into the prepared dish. I baked it for 20 minutes then lowered the heat to 350º and baked for five more minutes. I'd already staged the area where I planned to take its photo and lurked around the kitchen like a crazed papparazzi.

A crazed papparazzi with a dead camera.

The much awaited starlet emerged from the oven, all poofed up and lovely, moved to the staging area, and while I scurried around looking for my cell phone (to use its camera) promptly fell. Flump.

And I couldn't get one single decent photo of it.

Since my documentary film professor hammered into my head that if I don't have it on film (or disc) it didn't happen, I decided I'd start all over again. But this time, I was inching closer to the deadline. I should probably mention that we devoured the sunken starlet and it was absolutely delicious! Just not very airy, more eggy.

The next day I had some spare time was saturday, dangerously close to the deadline. In fact, it was the day of the deadline. I just had to have the new soufflé made, photographed and written up by midnight. No problem, right?

Clearly, that's wrong, otherwise you would have seen this post days ago. I went through the steps again, examining what I could have done wrong. Were the onions not dry enough after I'd added the brandy? This time, I let them simmer as long as I could and got them as dry as I could. Was the glass dish too thin to sustain the temperature? I knew I had miniature soufflé dishes, so I just made individual ones. Eight individual ones and a ninth larger bowl because I ran out of dishes before I ran out of soufflé.

I also apparently forgot to buy cheese this time, but had some goat gouda around and decided to grate that up instead of the Emmenthal. There. Nine soufflés, all in the oven, didn't open it once lest I make them fall. Took them out as directed and, well... They weren't even above the edge this time.

I had filled them up to three quarters full, which I read online somewhere.

I tried not to overmix the soufflé once I'd added the egg whites.

I was careful to not leave too many liquids in the onions. I'm really not sure what went wrong.
Also, I somehow got distracted by eating and drinking some wine and never got around to writing it in time, and then, once I'd missed the deadline, what was the rush?

As for the cheese choices, the goat gouda was even more delicious than the soufflé with the Emmenthal. When I try this recipe again, hoping yet again to succeed, I would probably use the goat gouda again. Or maybe some drunken goat?

Tasty Factor: A-/C+ (depends on if you're rating on flavour or texture) Ease of Preparation: C (well it can't be that easy if I've failed it twice!) Modifications: Yes. The second time, I used goat gouda instead of Emmenthal.

Maltagliati con La Zucca - Maltagliati with Pumpkin

2007-01-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

I love pumpkin! This recipe is incredibly easy and really focusses solely on the deliciousness of pumpkin. I didn't have any maltagliati (or time to make any) so I used whole wheat penne, which worked beautifully.

I started out by heaint 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 4 tablespoons of butter (the recipe called for 6 of butter, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.) and cooked 4 cups of cubed pumpkin over low heat for 5 minutes. Then I added a couple of tablespoons of water, seasoned with salt and simmered until the pumpkin was tender. Meanwhile, I cooked the pasta until it was al dente (which is always a bit trickier when using whole wheat pasta, but I've adapted to a more al dente bite).

Finally, I drain the pasta, stir in the pumpkin, another tablespoon of butter, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, and some pepper. Before serving, I sprinkled with Parmesan and some parsley.

It was delicious! I look forward to making this dish again and again. It was so easy, very tasty and a great side dish. The only thing I plan to experiment with in the future is how to use a tad less butter... but only for casual weeknight dinners. If I make this for guests, I'll use the only-slightly reduced butter version that I made tonight.

The parsley I added as garnish looked really pretty. Sautéed or deep-fried sage would work as well, since that's a flavour that works beautifully with the sweetness of pumpkin.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A- (Chopping the pumpkin is what made me lower the score a tiny bit, but if you have a willing strong sous-chef, like I did, this would become an A+) Modifications: Yes. I cut out 2 tablespoons of butter and added chopped parsley at the end. Also, I used whole wheat penne instead of maltagliati.

Side Note: I had a remaining half pumpkin, which i wrapped and refrigerated, then decided to roast it the following day for purée. To do this, I followed the Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook and merely scooped out the seeds, placed the half face down on a tray, sprinkled it with water and then put it in a 350º oven for an hour. The pumpkin cooked this way was no where near as tasty as the stove top pumpkin. Yes, yes, I know that the butter is largely responsible for this, but really the roast pumpkin wasn't sweet at all! Is it merely the butter that did this? Any suggestions about what to do next time for a simple easily cooked pumpkin purée?

Carciofi alla Napoletana - Artichokes Napoletana

2007-01-15T13:52:00.002-08:00

Having moved from one country on the Mediterranean to another part of the world with a climate very similar to the Mediterranean one, there are many little things around that have made me feel at home: the bougainvillea creeping up the sides of houses, the scent of jasmine in the air, those plants that grow on the middle of the freeways with the big pink flowers (are they called laurel? In Tunis, I thought they were Laurier plants, growing on the center of the highway down to Hamamet), and the artichokes.

California is the artichoke capital of the country but it is often surprising to me how many California residents know very little about artichokes and how to eat or prepare them. I've always loved the globe artichoke, possibly because of the fact that eating it made everything else taste better. After a bite of artichoke, a taste-altering chemical mixture coats the tongue so that the next thing tasted is sweet, so my glass of milk became sweetened milk and I loved that.

Anyway, while I usually would just boil an artichoke and then eat it with a little bowl of vinaigrette (I've long since dropped the bowl of melted butter for health purposes), I've recently been enjoying more complicated preparations of the vegetable because they can all be so incredibly tasty.

This recipe was no exception. The most labour-intensive part was cleaning eight artichokes, which involved cutting off the top inch or so (so that the pointy parts are all gone) and then slicing them into wedges. You really do need a sharp knife for this task. Then, place the wedges in a large bowl of cold water with the juice of half a lemon. Let them soak for 10 minutes, then drain them and pat them dry.

In a large pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and add two cloves of garlic, cook them for a few minutes until they're golden brown. At this point, you're supposed to discard them, but I didn't. I couldn't help it, I just feel that throwing garlic away is wrong and I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I added the artichoke wedges and cooked them over high heat for 5 minutes, then I added 1 tablespoon of capers (drained) and a scant cup of pitted and chopped green olives. I seasoned the lot with salt and pepper (lately, I've been using this pink Himalayan salt, but I miss my fleur de sel...), added 2/3 of a cup of warm water, mixed and covered to simmer for about 30 minutes. At the end, there was still a bit of water left, so I removed the lid and let it boil off.

To serve it, I sprinkled it wtih parsley and garnished with lemon wedges.
The artichokes were delicious this way - the olives especially were spectacular with the sweetness inducing artichokes, and the combination made for wonderful melody of sweet, salty and a touch of sour. On the whole, it was well worth the labour and made for a wonderful side dish for almost anything else. (I also love the little caramelized chunks of garlic that I specifically hunted for and took before anyone else had to endure the uncouthness of their presence.)

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: B- Modifications: Yes. Did not remove the garlic.

Gnocchi di Patate - Potato Gnocchi (Basic Recipe)

2007-01-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

I've only made gnocchi once before and that was under experienced tutelage. I myself did not really do enough to really learn from the process. Also, this happened about 10 years ago. I was basically starting from scratch and decided that of the eighteen gnocchi recipes featured in SS,
the basic potato recipe was the one I should attempt.

The recipe calls for 2 1/4 steamed potatoes (I used russets), and while SS doesn't explain the steam vs. boiling, my research online found that steaming the potatoes leads to a lighter, fluffier base for the gnocchi. I steamed them for 25 minutes until tender adn then mashed them with a potato masher while they were still hot.

I stirred in 1 and 3/4 cups of flour, a lightly beaten egg and a pinch of salt and kneaded the misture until it was a soft, elastic dough. The recipe said to be careful not to add too much flour, because that would make the gnocchi hard; however, if there is too much potato, they would disintigrate while cooking. So I decided that the best way to do this would be to make a first batch light on the flour and test a few to see how they'd hold up.

I shaped the dough into long rolls about 2/3 inch in diameter and cut 3/4 inch lengths. The recipe said to press them into the underside of a grater but this did not work for me so I just squeezed them by hand and then arranged them on a dish towel lightly dusted with flour.

I brought a large pan of salted water to boil and ran the first test: I added a first group of gnocchi and waited for them to rise to the surface. Amazingly, they held together perfectly and weren't at all hard. Success! I boiled them all up, drained them and served them with the tomato sauce.

The recipe was easy to make, albeit time consuming, and since the cooking takes a while, and has to be done in smallish batches, it makes for a slightly less social dinner party dish. However, it does seem that you can make them much earlier in the day and then let them sit (perhaps refrigerated?) on the flour-dusted towels until you are ready to boil them up.

The gnocchi were delicious, not overly chewy and obviously not all that flavourful, but that's what the sauce is for. Quite tasty but perhaps nothing too exceptional.

Tasty Factor: B Ease of Preparation: B+ Modifications: None.

Sugo di Pomodoro - Tomato Sauce

2006-12-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I've finally gotten my Thanksgiving posting out of the way, I can get back to my back log of SS recipes... However, while my new kitchen is fabulous, it seems to have somehow swallowed my camera (it was last seen hanging out in the vicinity of the kitchen counter).
So this next slew of recipes will unfortunately be photo-less (unless I miraculously get my camera phone photos to transfer over to my email...).

I decided to break my kitchen in properly with a big SS feast and try to knock off some of my 2006 resolutions while I'm at it. I spent most of the day in the kitchen, working on dessert and pâte brisée, although instead of making a stuffed pasta, I opted for homemade gnocchi.

So this first recipe that I'm writing about is merely the sauce I made for the gnocchi. Since it was my first time making gnocchi by myself (I'd done it many years ago under very apt guidance), I decided to go with the most basic recipe and therefore wanted the most basic of sauces. It seems that my options would be: basic tomato sauce, basil pesto or sage butter.

I opted for the first choice, and decided to make the recipe from SS since it's a bit different than the recipe I typically make (and have made for years!).

This recipe begins by pouring your chopped tomatoes into the sauce pan and adding some crushed garlic , and then simmering away. Once you're ready to serve it, throw in some chopped basil and a splash of olive oil and you're all set.

It's interesting because this isn't at all how I make mine: I always pour some olive oil into the sauce pan first, with crushed garlic and some crushed red pepper (CRP), sauté that for a bit, then add the chopped tomatoes and basil. So the order in this recipe was completely different.

I think adding the basil at the end is brilliant if you're using fresh basil. Otherwise, I'm not sure which is better. I do love the smell of the sautéed garlic and CRP and believe that that does make a difference in the overall taste. But I can't complain. The recipe was easy and delicious!

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Melanzane Arrosto - Broiled Eggplant

2006-11-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

OK, OK... I admit it: Coming back with an eggplant recipe now that it's almost December is a sure give away. I haven't been keeping my word. I've been slacking on the SS recipes. Truth to be told, I've been slacking on most cooking, aside from some survival pantry dinners here and there.

I have excuses - pretty good ones at that! International travel, visiting mother, moving into a new house and being too busy to unpack my kitchen... (Which, by the way, is fabulous! and far better suited to this whole cooking experience than my previous one. Yippeee!)
But this past weekend, glorious Thanksgiving weekend, I've rediscovered my burning desire to spend considerable amounts of time in the kitchen. I'll tell you more about my Thanksgiving experience on my other blog, Le Fabuleux Destin.

For now, I must do my bloggerly duty and write up this simple, delicious recipe and then spend some quality planning some new recipes from SS to make this week and get back on track.

The eggplant in this recipe is not too different from the zucchini I wrote about last, which makes me think that the two recipes could be combined quite deliciously (although I'll wait until next summer to do that). I sliced 3 eggplants thickly, sprinkled them with salt and let them drain for about 30 minutes. My college roommate Ramon claims that this is torturous, but I truly believe that the eggplant love this, that it is akin to a spa treatment for them.

I preheated the broiler, rinsed the eggplant and patted them dry (furthering their complete spa experience) then broiled them in the sauna for a few minutes on each side. I let them cool off by the pool then arranged the slices in layers in a serving dish, sprinkling each layer with garlic, basil leaves, salt, pepper and a good amount of olive oil. Then I set them aside for about an hour to properly mingle.

And mingle they did - quite beautifully. Roast eggplant is a wonderful flavour and the addition of garlic, basil and olive oil (a holy trinity of sorts) elevated the flavour to great heights. The dish was simply delicious, and I look forward to making this many more times next summer.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Zucchine Arrosto - Roast Zucchini

2006-10-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

As the seasons change and zucchini are about to disappear from the market (ok, not really, but the local, in season zucchini will be gone and that's all that really matters), I decided to cook some up as simply as possible, in order to fully appreciate the flavour.

This recipe was the most basic one that I found and I always find that roasting vegetables really brings out their flavour quite nicely.

This recipe is somewhat similar to this eggplant recipe, and I'd imagine the two would combine together quite nicely. I first sliced 8 smaller zucchini lengthwise, about 5-6 slices per zucchini. I thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves, and chopped 2 tablespoons of parsley and 6 large basil leaves. I then placed the zucchini in a roasting pan, drizzled wtih a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, and tossed them to coat them well.

I roast the zucchini in a 425º for about 20-25 minutes and then layered the zucchini with the garlic, parsley, basil, sea salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. The recipe recommends cooling for about an hour. I'm pretty sure I waited almost that long, but can't promise it. Although, obviously, the longer it sits the more of a chance the flavours have to properly mingle!

The dish was delicious and quite simple to prepare. The cooking and mingling time is a bit on the longer side, but the prep work is minimal and it's a great way to showcase the flavour of the zucchini. It's even delicious as a cold antipasto a day or two later.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Insalata Gialla al Mais - Yellow Salad

2006-09-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

The second our team, The Horned Melons, arrives in Italy every year, one of the first foods we seek (along with the Squaquerone piedina) is the salad with corn in it. Doesn't usually matter which one, there are few to choose from, but it must have corn. So I recently decided to browse the SS salad section, simply seeking an Insalata al Mais (sorry about the sibilance there).

The insalata gialla isn't exactly the same as the salads we've gotten and loved in Bologna or Rimini because those usually include rocket or another green, but it did sound tasty and fairly simple. The recipe called for canned corn, but as we were still in corn season, I decided to make it with fresh corn. I boiled some water, and boiled the corn cobs just a short while, and then sliced the corn off of the cob. (I only cooked them for about 5 minutes). I peeled, cored and diced a Golden Delicious apple, put it in a salad bowl and sprinkled it with lemon juice. I then added 2 ounces of diced mature Romano cheese, 2 carrots, cut into thin batons, and 5 thinly sliced radishes. The recipe also called for bean sprouts, but I had forgotten to buy those.

I whisked together the dressing: 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of a half lemon and seasoned it with salt and pepper then drizzled it over the salad and gently tossed it. I let the salad sit for about 30 minutes, in a cool place.

The effect was delicious: fresh, crunchy and quite summery. I think I'd add a bit more cheese in the future (the romano was barely noticeable) or perhaps use ricotta salata shavings. I could see this salad also being delicious with a bit of dijon mustard in the dressing... I'll have to try that next time.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: B (so much chopping!) Modifications: Yes. I accidentally forgot the bean sprouts and used fresh corn instead of canned.

Tortino di Funghi e Patate - Mushroom and Potato Pie

2006-09-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

You can't go wrong with mushrooms and potatoes. Well, maybe you can, but I have yet to see that happen. This recipe, however, did take me closer to that than I would have liked.

Reading the recipe, it's hard to imagine what could have gone wrong. My first impression was that this was a Gratin Dauphinois,
but with mushrooms. In retrospect, that could be where I went wrong: it was missing two keys elements that are fundamental for a gratin Dauphinois - Gruyère and cream. The recipe does call for Parmesan cheese, but that isn't nearly as creamy and melty.

Don't get me wrong, the mushroom and potato Tortino was indeed delicious, just not quite what I was expecting. I began by thinly slicing a pound and 2 ounces of potates (that was about 4 large russet potatoes) on my lovely mandolin. I do love my mandolin.

I also thinly sliced a pound and 2 ounces of mushrooms. The recipe called for Porcini, but I could not procure any of those, so I used a mixture of Crimini and a chef's sampler box. I then began the layering, in an oven-proof dish with 3 tablespoons of melted butter: potatoes, porcini slices and then a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, parsley and a bit of salt. When the ingredients were all used up, I added 5 tablespoons of water, covered the dish and baked it in a 350º oven for an hour.

Since there wasn't much of an adhering ingredient (like eggs or melty cheese), the dish didn't quite hold together as well as a pie or a gratin. The flavour, however, was excellent! It made a great side dish, although perhaps a bit too rich for every day consumption.

Tasty factor: B (docking points for texture) Ease of preparation: B (lots of slicing) Modifications: Yes. Mixed mushrooms instead of porcini.

Uova Affogate con Verdure Miste - Poached Eggs with Mixed Vegetables

2006-08-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

I love poached eggs and so does Big E. One of our go-to dinners is a poached on a bed of french lentils served with wilted spinach and a loaf of crusty bread. Or sometimes, we bake the egg in the oven, which isn't quite as nice as poached but also yields the nice soft yolk.

So when I stumbled upon the Poached Egg chapter (yes, there are still chapters in this book I have not discovered), I quickly looked through it to try to locate a new one-dish poached egg dinner et voilà!

The vegetables it called for, very similar to those needed for a ratatouille, are all currently at their prime, and quite in season: 3 small eggplants, 3 tomatoes and 3 small zucchini. I diced the epplants, peeled and sliced the tomatoes (some gorgeously ugly heirlooms) and sliced the zucchini. I also diced an onion. I added the onion and eggplants to three tablespoons of olive oil that had been heating in a large skillet and cooked them for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then, I added the tomatoes and zucchini and cooked over low heat for about thirty minutes. Now at this point, besides a little salt, that's all this recipe called for. So in the name of proper scientific method, I held out for as long as I could and tasted the mixture as it was meant to be, before finally throw in my hat (and the glass of red wine in my hand), and giving in to the urge, nay the necessity, of modifications! (In addition to the wine, I also added a bunch of chopped fresh basil. I did. I put Basil in the Ratatouille.)

The eggs were poached pretty much the way I always do: I brought a pot of salted water to boil, added a couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar, broke in the eggs, cooked for 3-4 minutes, then scooped them out with a slotted spoon. I patted them dry, placed them on plates and surrounded them with the mixed vegetables. Some freshly ground pepper and bread to dip and you're good to go.

Oh alright. Fine! I admit it. I added one more modification: a drizzle of Argan oil. Some extra-virgin olive would work as well.

Tasty Factory: A- Ease of Preparation: B (lots of chopping) Modifications: Yes. Added a glass of red wine, some chopped basil and a drizzle of Argan oil or Extra-virgin olive oil before serving.

Fagiolini Glassati al Sesamo - Frosted Green Beans with Sesame

2006-08-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Oh my - it's been quite a long while since I've reviewed a recipe... I have good excuses - Really, I do! I've been traveling back home to Tunisia, where the internet connection was quite spotty. I took on a full-time video editing job for the summer, and did not have as much time as usual to write. July is Big E and my birthday months and that just swallows up weeks of time! (I'm a big fan of multiple birthday celebrations)...

Now that I'm back to normal life, I promise to post a lot more... I also need to work a bit harder at my 2006 challenges!

This recipe isn't one of my challenges, but it was quite tasty and simple, so a good way to ease back into my Silver Spoon world.

The dish is quite fast - once you take into account the SSVTR (Silver Spoon Vegetable Timing Rule, which has been also been noticed here and here) and is an excellent side dish for most dinners. Its fresh lemony taste goes quite well with fish and chicken.

I began by cooking the beans (about 4 1/2 cups trimmed) in salted boiling water until they were bright green (the recipe says 10 minutes, but since more cooking follows, I took them out once they were nice and uniformly bright - about 5 minutes in) then drained them and put them in ice water.

In a large pan, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter, added 2 thinly sliced scallions and cooked for about 5 minutes, until softened. I stirred in the juice of a 1/2 lemon and some grated rind, the drained green beans, salt and freshly ground black pepper and simmered for a bit longer. Again, the recipe says here 10 minutes, but I kept an eye on the colour and tasted a bean after about 5 minutes. If you leave it too long, the nice bright colour will dull to a canned green bean hue and at that point, in my opinion, you've gone too far.

On the side, I dry-fried a tablespoon of sesame seeds until they gave off that wonderful toasty aroma and then put the green beans in a serving dish, sprinkled them with sesame seeds and drizzled with a bit of olive oil.

The lemon-butter and toasted sesame flavours work quite well together and the beans were a hit.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: SSVTR only.

Crostini con Fegatini di Pollo - Chicken Liver Crostini

2006-06-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, I have quite an affinity for chicken liver pâté. Well, actually pretty much all animal-based pâtés and terrines (the jury is still out on vegetarian ones). Imagine my joy at discovering that The Silver Spoon has not one but six chicken liver pâté, mousse or spread recipes!

The chicken liver recipe here is not so much a pâté as just a warm topping for crostini. For this reason, it is actually less decadent than my normal selections because it doesn't have the usual entire stick of butter. For this same reason, it is quite a bit less decadent but nonetheless, still quite tasty.

I followed the recipe without any modifications since I've made so many pâtés on my own, I really wanted to see how this recipe would work, and not just eat my favourite chicken liver spread. I chopped and sautéed a carrot, half of an onion and a celery stalk in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for about five minutes. During this time, I dipped six trimmed chicken livers in some red wine vinegar and then patted them dry with paper towels and added them to the vegetables along with a half cup of dry white wine and some freshly ground black pepper. I cooked the mixture until the chicken livers were evenly browned then used my immersion blender to finely chop them and then cooked them for another two minutes.

I beat two egg yolks with the juice of one lemon, removed the skillet from the heat and stirred in the egg mixture. The mixture was then ready to spread on the toasted sliced whole wheat bread. The recipe said it served 4-6 people, but I'd have to imagine that this meant 4-6 very hungry people as their main course. It was a lot of spread! There were four of that night, and I don't think we even came close to eating a third of it. Which brings me to what I think is the recipe's main flaw: it doesn't keep so well. It's delicious when it is served piping hot or even nice and warm, but as it cools off, it's not nearly as tasty. I imagine that if I were to reheat I could probably save it by adding a bit more wine or perhaps some broth so that it can be properly revived, but it is not nearly as versatile in that sense as the chicken liver pâté.

That being said, I found the crostini to be delicious. But would I modify the recipe when I make it next time? Absolutely. Perhaps I did not have the right type of white wine, but I thought the flavour lacked a certain note that it could easily be obtained from a splash of dry sherry or madeira. Also, I'm not sure what the purpose of dipping the livers in vinegar was and perhaps I didn't dry them off well enough, but the taste of vinegar remained through to the end product and I thought it was a bit too pronounced.

Still, they were quite delectable and despite the large amount of leftovers, we all enjoyed them very much!

Tasty Factor: B+ Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: None this time, at least.

Zucchine Capricciose al Salmone e Porri - Zucchini Capricciose with Salmon and Leeks

2006-06-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

Stuffed zucchini was one of the first dishes I began to make when I first started cooking in college. After a year or two of pastas and stir fry, I moved on to more complicated dishes and stuffed zucchini was at the top of that list for quite a while. My recipe was fairly simple and I thought of it as Italian: grated Parmesan, bread crumbs, rosamary and thyme, some chopped onions. But it wasn't particularly whimsical.

What drew me to this recipe were two words: capricciose (or capricious) and salmon. While I had initially debated what could be capricious or fickle even about stuffed zucchini, once I made the recipe, I decided that they definitely meant whimsical, and what was whimsical was its colour: The zucchini boats become soft pale green and filled with pink. Pink is definitely whimsical.

This recipe is delicious and somewhat decadent, albeit very simple. I cooked four zucchini in salted boiling water for about 10 minutes (again, I decided to skimp on the recommended 15 minutes based on experience). I then drained them, sliced them lengthwise and scooped out the flesh.

I melted two tablespoons of butter and sautéed two chopped leeks (white parts only) for about five minutes. I stirred in three ounces of chopped smoked salmon and removed the mixture from the heat. Finally, I spooned the salmon and leeks into the zucchini boats, seasoned with salt and pepper, drizzled half a cup of light cream over them and baked them in a greased dish which I baked in a 350º oven for about ten minutes.

The zucchini, leek and salmon flavours worked together very well: they were all equally subtle and delicately complimentary. It made for a delicious side dish, though I'd imagine it would be really easy to overpower its flavours. It would also make a great main dish for a light summer meal, maybe with a small salad and a loaf of crusty bread.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: None. (I don't count the 5 minutes of boiling difference.)

Tortiglioni con Funghi e Melanzane - Tortiglioni with Mushroom and Eggplant

2006-06-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

I must begin this post by telling you how much I debated whether or not I should even write up this recipe, since I feel that more than ever, the modifications I made changed the dish enough that it is no longer a recipe review but a review of some cooking inspired by the recipe. But Big E did not agree with me and convinced me to write it up nonetheless.

The inspiration for the recipe was the plethora of eggplant I had around the house. It seems that lately, every time I go shopping, I am inexplicably drawn to the eggplant and completely forget that I'd already bought some the day before. This recipe sounded delicious and needed only minimal additional shopping to prepare it. The main change that I made was that the recipe called for a half cup of heavy cream, and I just could not do it: I've been completely on track with my working out and trying to be careful with my eating habits to prepare myself for a ten day trip to the beach in Tunisia this summer.

While debating what to use instead of the heavy cream, I opted for lowfat ricotta since I am quite fond of pasta tossed with ricotta. I was also unable to find tortiglioni pasta at Rainbow, so opted for some spelt rigatoni (again, the more slimming/healthful eating option).

The recipe for this sauce is joining my easy pasta favourites. First, I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and cooked one thinly sliced onion and a whole garlic clove over low heat until the garlic browned. Then I removed the garlic and, against my better judgement, threw it out. I say against my better judgement because I'm a big garlic fan, and have a tendency to use more than the requested amount. In Italian cooking, I've noticed that occasionally, the garlic is used in a much more subtle manner and removed before serving the dish. This was shocking to the point of almost thorougly distressing me. I've gotten over this, but it still makes me a tad uncomfortable when a recipe calls for this.

The recipe did not specify what type of mushrooms to use so I chopped 2 and 3/4 cups of the Chef Sampler mushrooms and diced one large eggplant then added them to the onions and cooked them, stirring frequently, until golden brown. I stirred in a half cup of low fat ricotta, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked it for another 10 minutes. At this point, I tasted the sauce and decided that while they were delicious, they could probably benefit from the addition of a generous splash of Madeira. (Notice how I didn't mention this in my concerns about the modifications... Yeah, I'm a bit absurd sometimes.)

I cooked the pasta until al dente, drained it then mixed it in with the sauce and cooked it for another minute. The pasta did not look that pretty, because of the drabness of all three of the main ingredients - eggplant, mushrooms and spelt pasta. The ricotta didn't help the appearance any, since it just added specks of off white. I added a sprinkling of chopped parsley to help the aesthetics, but really, once I had one bite of this dish, I got over how it looked.

It was delicious! The mushrooms and eggplant taste lovely together, I didn't feel that it lacked any garlic and the sauce was just creamy enough. I'm sure that if I had used the heavy cream, it would be more decadently delicious, but I did like it quite a bit without the extra decadence.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Yes. I replaced 1/2 cup of heavy cream with 1/2 cup of low fat ricotta and added a splash of madeira and some chopped parsley for colour.

Lasagne alla Bolognese - Lasagne Bolognese

2006-05-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

It was a chilly Saturday afternoon, so soon after gorgeous warm spring weather, so I decided to make something warm and comforting to soothe us and assuage our disappointment in the weather. Now having chosen this form of lasagne, a couple of minor dilemmas arose or rather, points to ponder. For starters, this was the first recipe in The Silver Spoon that included something I'd been making myself for several years and had in fact developed a recipe I was quite pleased with: the Bolognese sauce.

My Bolognese sauce was a recipe that I had originally taken from the Chez Panisse Café Cookbook, but had worked on and tweaked and changed it enough to be able to call it my own. Glancing through this recipe, I knew that it wouldn't quite be the same as my own, but I decided to follow it as well as I could rather than just give in. After all, with my propensity to modify little things here and there, what would be the point of writing this review here if the sauce itself were a different recipe?!

The second issue was the pasta itself. I knew I did not have time to make my own, so I'd bought some pre-made lasagne sheets. I also decided not to boil them first and just make sure that they were properly drenched with sauce before baking. This is a question that has come up frequently among my friends: is it necessary or preferable to pre-boil the pasta? And I don't mean that I was using the "no boil" variety - these were just regularlasagnea sheets. Now was my chance to find out.

I began by making the sauce: I chopped a carrot and an onion and cooked them over low heat in 3 tablespoons of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then I added 2 3/4 cups of ground beef and cooked until the beef was uniformly brown. I added a half cup of dry white wine (Whenever a recipe calls for dry white wine, I usually use a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc, but I've never known if this was the best choice.) Once the wine had evaporated, I added salt and a cup of chopped strained tomatoes and cooked for half an hour.

During this time, I made once recipe of Béchamel sauce (also from The Silver Spoon) and set it aside. Once the time was up for the sauce, I tasted it and decided it was a bit too thin. So I added a little bit more than a tablespoon of tomato paste and cooked it a few minutes longer. Finally I began building my lasagne. While the recipe said to start with a layer of lasagne, I first put some Béchamel at the bottom to properly encase the uncooked pasta. Then the layering began: pasta, Bolognese, Béchamel and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese. Repeat until all the ingredients have been used. The recipe actually called for dots of butter with each sprinkling of Parmesan, but I decided to limit the butter to the top and final layer.

After the last layer, which should end with the Béchamel, I put the lasagne in the oven and baked it for 30 minutes. The end result was delicious. The pasta was perfectly cooked, the two sauces blended with the cheese to form one creamy savory one that packed a vibrant punch of flavour. This lasagne was a lot less cheesy than most that I have made, but it was quite rich nonetheless. As for how the Bolognese compares to my own? Well, this sauce was delicious, though a lot less complex than the sauce I normally make. So while I enjoyed it very much, I'll probably return to using my recipe in the future.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: B Modifications: Yes. I added some tomato paste to thicken the Bolognese, used store bought lasagne and did not pre-boil it.

PS. My apologies for the lack of photos. My camera is still sadly dead and my camera phone was completely incapable of capturing this beast.

Biscotti Inglesi - English Cookies

2006-05-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

I've always believed the union of hazelnut and chocolate was one of the most divine I'd ever witnessed... Their co-existence alone could make anything a treat. So when my friend Molly sent me home with strict orders to bake something for our planned happy hour later that day, and I really did not feel like stopping by a supermarket, I chose these, perhaps less than thrillingly named, English cookies because A/I had all the ingredients and B/those ingredients included the divine duo (chocolate and hazelnuts, but if you didn't guess that, you should really be paying more attention!)

The recipe was suitably simple and the ingredients were all easily found in my pantry yet the overall effect was, well, not quite divine. But I'm getting ahead of myself:
I came home, preheated the oven to 350Âº, creamed 1/2 cup of butter, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of white sugar then beat in an egg and a splash of vanilla.

In another bowl, I sifted 1 1/2 cups of flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt. I added the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating constantly. (The recipe said to beat constantly with a wooden spoon, which I did, though I was intrigued by that. Normally, I'd use a metal fork or spoon. Any ideas why they specified "wooden"?)

At this stage, the mixture was rather dry. The recipe said to soften it with milk, in this case, but my baking buddy Rose and I decided to use Amaretto instead. (I'd have used Frangelico if I had any, but figured the Amaretto would do)

I stirred in 1/2 coarsely chopped hazelnuts and 2 ounces of chopped semi-sweet chocolate and then Rose and I spooned up tablespoons of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and baked them for about 8 minutes.

While the overall flavour of the cookies wasn't bad, the texture was problematic. The cookies were very doughy, nay, floury. Similar to chocolate hazelnut chip cookies, but far too dry. Not crispy or chewy, just dry. I don't think the Amaretto was to blame, as (I may have mentioned this before) I often add booze to my recipes, including other cookie recipes. My guess is that this had to do with the butter to flour ratio and I've decided I should try them again with more butter.

Tasty Factor: B- Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: Yes. Used Amaretto instead of milk to moisten the dough.

Asparagi Alla Parmigiana - Parmesan Asparagus

2006-05-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Spring is here at last! When I left San Francisco for my little trip, it had been raining steadily for at least 20 days. Then in Italy, spring was everywhere! The weather was sunny and gorgeous almost the entire time I was there, brightly coloured wildflowers sprinkled the landscape and restaurants everywhere were serving fresh asparagus, those early messengers of spring.

Now that I'm back in the Bay Area, spring seems to have followed me here. The sky is bright blue, without a hint of clouds and San Franciscans are out in tank tops and shorts, sitting in little patches of sunny grass, wherever they can find them.

I decided it was only appropriate for me to cook asparagus, to properly greet the season. The preparation I saw most frequently while in Italy was cooked asparagus with a basil sauce. I didn't find a recipe for this in The Silver Spoon, so I opted for this one, since I had brought home some real Parmigiano cheese with me.

The recipe was quite simple, though once again, seemed to drastically overcook the asparagus. I began by bringing a pot of salted water to boil and then tossed in my trimmed spears. The recipe said to cook them for 15 minutes, but when I went to look at them after 10 minutes, they were already losing their bright colour. I quickly removed them and put them under cold water.

To serve them, I put them on a plate, sprinkled them with grated Parmesan and then drizzled melted butter on top. The recipe was very easy, great for a weeknight dinner and quite tasty. The keys for a recipe such as this one is the freshest young asparagus, the thinner the spears, the better and the better quality Parmesan.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Yes - cut cooking time by at least 5 minutes.

ps. I apologize for the bad quality photo. My camera is currently sadly out of commission and I had to resort to my cell phone!!!

Terrina di Melanzane - Eggplant Terrine

2006-05-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

Now that I've finally returned from my travels in Europe, I'm thoroughly ready to get back to some serious cooking! The trip was inspiring and there are a wide variety of dishes I'd love to attempt to recreate. But first things first: there are a couple of loose ends that need tying - recipes I haven't yet written up.

This eggplant terrine was a dish I'd chosen for a small movie night with a friend of mine. It tempted me with the combination of the healthful fresh vegetables and the comforting cheese and eggs. It wasn't the fastest recipe, but was ideal for a rainy saturday afternoon, after my visit to the farmers' market.

First, I broiled 2 red yellow bell peppers and one red one, drizzled with olive oil, in a 350º oven till charred and blackened all over then I removed them and put them in a plastic bag to make them easier to peel. Meanwhile, I sliced three eggplants into half inch slices, brushed them with oil and broiled until golden brown on both sides. Once they were in the oven, I peeled, seeded & chopped the peppers.

Once the eggplant was golden brown, I covered the bottom of an oiled ovenproof dish with them. I mixed the peppers with 1/2 cup grated emmenthal and a little bit of basil into three lightly beaten eggs.

I arranged a layer of sliced emmenthal over the eggplant, then added the egg mixture and continued alternating layers until I'd used up the ingredients, ending with the egg mixture. I placed the dish in a roasting pan, added boiling water up to about half way and baked for an hour at 350º.

Meanwhile, I chopped and peeled three tomatoes and put them in a sauce pan with a garlic clove and two tablespoons of olive oil. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and cooked them over a medium flame for 20 minutes.

I removed and discarded the garlic, and passed the sauce through a strainer into a small bowl. I removed the terrine from the oven, turned it out onto a serving platter and served it with the tomato sauce.

The terrine was tasty and the sauce was an excellent complement to the vegetables. It had the texture of a vegetable quiche without the crust. However, I think that I would have appreciated more herbs to enhance the flavour. The simplicity of the eggplant and roast peppers worked quite well together, but the Emmenthal is such a mild cheese that the overall flavour was a bit underwhelming.

Perhaps I am simply incapable of appreciating the subtlety of the dish. The texture of the terrine was very satisfying and comforting on such a cold rainy evening, but its flavour was definitely lacking. If I prepared this again, I think I'd experiment with a touch of pesto or more liberal use of fresh basil.

Tasty Factor: B- Ease of Preparation: B- Modifications: None.

Mattonella Tricolore - Three-Colour Terrine

2006-04-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

Today marks the eve of my departure to Italy for our annual ultimate frisbee pilgrimage. This will be my fourth year in a row going, Big E's sixth, and while it may seem like an odd reason to go to Italy, in my mind, any excuse is a great one. While I don't play myself, I find myself playing the key role of interpreter and restaurant coordinator for a team of about 15 starving frisbee players. It could be worse.

This trip is even more exciting this year because I'm staying beyond the usual week, skipping over to Montpelier for the second week to visit one of my best friends and then returning to Italy for the final third week for the Slow Food Film Festival in Bra.

Though preparing for this trip has made it difficult for me to cook or write as a much for my blog, I sat down today, intent upon writing something before I departed, and discovered that conveniently enough, the few recipes I still had to write about happen to be problem kids of sorts. These were the dishes I just couldn't decide about or wrap my brain around.

So here we have the three-coloured terrine. I generally think that all terrines and mousses should inevitably involve duck or liver or some other meat product. Even salmon mousse has left me doubting - though I've discovered it has nothing to do with the taste. Whenever I try one, I find it is quite delicious and undeserving of my apprehension. Nonetheless, time goes by and I find my self yet again skeptically eyeing the brightly coloured mousses or terrines and then opting to select a more earth-toned liver-packed one.

I decided on this terrine because I thought at the very least it would look pretty, and I could begin to overcome my terrine prejudice.

The preparation was fairly straight-forward, and satisfyingly colourful. I boiled 3 1/2 cups of peas and 14 ounces of chopped carrots in two separate pans of salted water for around 20 minutes. I cooked 7 ounces of spinach in a few sprinklings of water for 5 minutes. Then I puréed each of the vegetables in a separate bowl. I added an egg yolk and 3 tablespoons of cream to each and seasoned with salt and pepper.

I added 2 tablespoons of ricotta to the spinach and set the three bowls aside. I whisked 3 egg whites until stiff, then folded a third into each of the vegetable purées. Then I spooned half of the pea mixture into a greased terrine, followed by half of the carrot mixture, then all of the spinach mixture, the other half of the carrot and finally the rest of the pea mixture. I covered the terrine with aluminium foil, then baked it for 40 minutes in a pre-heated 375º oven.

Well, it didn't turn out as prettily as I hoped it would but I chalked that up to lack of proper terrine mold paired with my lack of experience. The texture was nice: smooth, light & fluffy. As for the flavour, I am completely befuddled. I feel that it lacked something, but perhaps it was merely too subtle for me to appreciate.

Placed on a table that also held chicken liver pâté & caviar tartines, I have to admit, I was underwhelmed by its taste.

However, while my tasty grade for this dish will not be stellar, I've decided to take the opportunity ahead of me and seek out vegetable terrines while in Italy and France to see what it should really taste like. Then perhaps I will try this recipe again. Or I may just decide to stick with the terrines I've always enjoyed. We'll see.

And now, I must wish you a happy three weeks for I've decided that lugging The Silver Spoon with me to Europe is a bit absurd. I promise to return invigorated and excited to attempt to recreate the delectable morsels I've discovered in my travels.

Tasty Factor: C+ Ease of Preparation: B- Modifications: None.

Cavolini di Bruxelles con le Mandorle - Brussels Sprouts with Almonds

2006-03-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned, I'm fond of Brussels sprouts and I have been dying to try another one of the recipes from that chapter. Fortunately, on Ray and my trip to the farmers' market, there were still tons of gorgeous ones as it's still the right season.

This recipe had a similar general idea to the previous one, but with a few additional steps and ingredients.

After cooking the Brussel sprouts in boiling water for 5 minutes and draining them, I melted 1/8 cup of butter and cooked 1/4 cup of almonds and 1 garlic clove for a few minutes. This combination, with the browning butter, smelled heavenly!

I added the rind of one lemon, thinly chopped, and seasoned with salt and pepper and set it aside in a small bowl, discarding the garlic. Then I melted another 1/8 cup of butter and
pan fried 1 1/2 teaspoons of bread crumbs till they were golden brown, and added this to the almond mixture. I spooned the topping over the Brussel sprouts and tossed them lightly before serving.

I feel like something didn't quite work with this recipe. It was good, but not as good as I'd hoped given the combination of ingredients. I'm not quite sure what was off, but my inclination is that the problem was with the texture. Perhaps the bread crumbs needed to be a bit crispier or perhaps I needed more of them. Or perhaps the almonds should have been slightly toasted and crunchier.

The flavour on the other hand was delicate and lovely. The lemon zest and garlic complemented the almonds perfectly, with a seductive undercurrent of browned butter.

Tasty Factor: B Ease of Preparation: B Modifications: None.

* I feel I need to bring up this little manner that I've been debating with friends of late.
The question is whether my rating system is valid since I so often use modifications to the recipes. I feel that it is. For one thing, since I rarely ever follow a recipe exactly, it makes it more accurate for me to stay within that same frame of reference. I don't believe that recipes are instructions generally but merely guidelines, to quote the lovely Geoffrey Rush. Also, when I'm adding things such as booze, I always taste the recipe without the addition first and use that as my rating reference. So I'd say it's generally a pretty accurate measure. Then again, unless you knew my palate, by tasting and comparing notes as we go, my tasty rating is completely subjective and serves nothing at all, really. So take that, mom!

Finocchi al Vino Bianco - Fennel in White Wine

2006-03-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

Fennel is one of those vegetables that was an integral part of my life growing up. It is very common in Tunisia, as it is around the Mediterranean and my mother realized early on that she could convince us gullible kids that chopped, chilled fennel sections were "licorice popsicles." We (or at least I) bought it and munched them right up.

Despite - or perhaps because of - this little trick, I've always loved fennel. Recently, though, I've decided that I like cooked fennel better than eating it raw. This recipe sounded delicious and easy so I thought I'd give a whirl.

I cut 2 1/4 pounds of fennel into wedges and put them in a pan with one chopped garlic clove, two tablespoons of olive oil and a cup of dry white wine. I covered and then cooked it for about twenty minutes. Before serving, I sprinkled the fennel with chopped flat-leaf parsley and salt and pepper.

The result was quite tasty: the fennel was tender but not mushy. The white wine and garlic gave a great delicate flavour that tamed the fennel's often overpowering anis-like taste down to a mere whisper.

I would suspect that many of those who don't like fennel because of this licorice-like characteristics might very well like this preparation. However, I have no proof of this since the audience at Raymundo's SF Farmers Market dinner did not hint at any such bias.

All that being said, I didn't feel this recipe was the most inspired one I've tried, and have decided it does not quite deserve an A. It was tasty, but perhaps not quite that interesting. I have high hopes that the Devil's Fennel recipe listed above this one will serve up a more tantalizing dish. Although I admit this hope is based on name alone.

Tasty Factor: B+ Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: None.

Vellutata di Lenticchie - Velvety Lentil Soup

2006-03-23T09:31:00.000-08:00

In honour of Raymundo's visit, we decided to throw a little dinner party. What better way to plan the menu than spending the morning at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market!

Ray & I headed out with only a rough idea of what we wanted to look for, deciding instead to let ourselves be seduced by the lush bounty of the market. And seduce us it did. One of our first stops was at a little stand (sadly, I cannot remember the farm name) that sold little bags of lentils. Lentil soup was one of the rough ideas we'd had, and I remembered that the recipe called for both red and green lentils. The lovely gentleman at this stand had mixed bags that contained both! So we bought several of those.

When I got home and reread the recipe, I realized that it actually called for dried lentils. These were anything but: the insides of the bag were somewhat damp and didn't quite lend themselves to an Amélie moment - they would stick moistly to your hands. Also, some of them had little tendrils sprouting out of them.

I assumed this wouldn't make a difference in the recipe; that in fact, it would probably enhance it. I decided to skip the soaking and put the lentils (about 3 cups) with a couple of garlic cloves, four halved pearl onions and a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme in a large pan with 8 cups of water (I was doubling the recipe).

I cooked this for about 40 minutes and then removed the thyme & puréed the soup. I then realized that the recipe was pretty much done, and my soup could really benefit from one or two of those thickening devices that so haunted my previous soup making experience. I opted for adding a tablespoon or so of tomato paste and cooked the soup a bit longer. I whisked in a cup of heavy cream and a hefty splash of sherry.

At this point, I decided to declare the soup ready despite its persistent thinness, ladled it into individual bowls, and topped it with a grating of nutmeg and some chopped parsley.

The flavour was excellent, though the soup was not quite velvety. I'm assuming this is likely due to the use of fresh over dried lentils. Had I had more time, I would have attempted another thickening trick, perhaps the whipped egg yolk.

Tasty Factor: B+ Ease of Preparation: B Modifications: Yes. Used fresh lentils instead of dried, added a splash of sherry and a tablespoon of tomato paste. I also cut the amount of heavy cream in half.

Tartine al Burro di Gamberetti - Shrimp Butter Tartines

2006-03-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

Ladies & Gentlemen, from the same genius that brought you Salmon Butter, I'd like to introduce to you our new friend: Shrimp Butter! The same logic that concluded that things mixed with butter were inherently tastier has now brought us yet another example... But this time, there are a few enhancements.

This recipe featured a few more than the two ingredients involved in the previous decadent butter. It also was not located in the Butter chapter but rather in the Tartine section. Because it was a tartine, it included two crustless slices of white bread in the ingredient list and I must admit, I chose to ignore this. For one thing, I generally like crusts and I tend not to be a big fan of white bread. For another, I've found that with appetizers like this that require spreading, I'd much rather serve the spread in a pretty bowl with a basket of sliced bread and thus keep my guests occupied while I finalize the next course.

The recipe was quite simple: I chopped about a pound of cooked shrimp, peeled & deveined and beat them in with a cup of creamed butter. Then I added a tablespoon of chopped parsley, 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh marjoram and 4 chopped fresh basil leaves. I mixed this together well, then seasoned with salt and pepper and voila ! The butter is ready.

I served it with a warm, crusty baguette that a friendly sous-chef diligently sliced. It was spectacular! While I liked the salmon butter a lot, this shrimp butter had a much more interesting and complex flavour. The texture was not as smooth, but the herbs complemented the shrimp beautifully while adding a bit of depth. This recipe is fabulous!

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Sorta. I dropped the white bread squares.

Pâté ai Fegatini - Chicken Liver Pâté

2006-03-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

Pâté is one of my favourite foods, my guilty pleasures. I tend to like liver in general, but in pâté, it's almost too difficult for me to resist. But unfortunately, I don't resist it as often as I probably should. Pâté just isn't the healthiest food. I mean, it gets its lovely smoothness from over a stick of butter!

But I am not one to deprive myself of the things I love for such paltry reasons. I would just choose to maybe limit them, or save them for special occasions. One such occasion would be the elegant, decadent Oscar party we attended.

The recipe for chicken liver pâté in this The Silver Spoon is very similar to the one my mother makes. First, I whipped some heavy cream - I love it when a recipe begins this way!

Next, I melted a half cup of butter in a double boiler, then let it cool. I melted 3 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and added about 14 ounces of chicken livers, half of a small white onion, and some fresh thyme and cooked this over medium heat for 2 minutes. My mother uses rosemary instead of thyme.

I sprinkled 2 tablespoons of Marsala into the skillet, seasoned wtih salt and pepper and cooked for 3 more minutes. Then I removed the skillet from the heat, chopped the mixture with my immersion blender, and added the cooled melted butter. I folded 2 tablespoons of the whipped cream in and added a tablespoon of Armagnac. Once it was well mixed, I refrigerated it for around 6 hours.

I topped it with capers & served it with a warm fresh baguette. The flavour was a lovely & complex yet delicate. The texture was decadently smooth and rich. I had a tough time keeping myself from eating the entire bowl right there.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: Yes. Armagnac instead of Brandy. Didn't seem that far off...

Tartine Al Caviale - Caviar Tartines

2006-03-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

For an Oscar party, what could possibly be more elegant than caviar? When I was very young, I was lucky enough to develop a taste for caviar because my father traveled to Russia for work, and back in those days, could purchase it at a considerably more reasonable price than anything one could find nowadays. So at five, I decided I loved caviar & my parents worried for my financial future.

Growing up, whenever we ate caviar for special occasions, the preparation was fairly simple: small piece of bread, a little bit of butter, some caviar and a thin slice of lemon. This recipe isn't that different, but offers some interesting twists. First, the lemon slices are sprinkled with vodka and set aside. Then, 4 tablespoons of butter are whipped with a pinch of paprika (I considered using my smoked Spanish paprika, which is my personal favourite, but decided it probably would be too strong for this recipe. Instead I used some Hungarian paprika a friend bought me recently.)

I sliced up some more of the lovely Della Fattoria bread, cut it into squares, spread it with the paprika butter, then put a drained piece of lemon on it & topped it with a half teaspoonful of caviar.

They were really delicious! I didn't know what purpose the vodka served, but I think it's to mellow the lemon's tartness. The resulting flavour was a delightful contrast of lemon, salt and paprika. The smoothness of the whipped butter was a great complement to the gently exploding caviar. How elegant!

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Burro al Salmone Affumicato - Smoked Salmon Butter

2006-03-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

Now why haven't I thought of this before? Whipped butter for canapés or crostini, with delectable ingredients mixed in... It's genius! As Big E says, everyone loves butter.

I somehow originally missed the Flavored Butters chapter of The Silver Spoon when I first went through it. Then, when I was flipping around this past weekend, looking for Oscar party hors d'oeuvres, I stumbled across it and decided that smoked salmon butter was definitely the way to go.

I mean, it really doesn't get any easier: 7 tablespoons of softened butter, 2 ounces of finely chopped smoked salmon and cream the two together. I served it on little toasts I'd made from a gorgeous rectangular loaf of seeded wheat bread from Della Fattoria at the Ferry Plaza. A delicious & simple, yet elegant, hors d'oeuvres. If only Charlize Theron's dress were as simple.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A++ Modifications: None.

Tirami Su - Tiramisu

2006-03-06T22:20:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I was issued a challenge and promised myself (and my lovely readers) to tackle five cooking challenges of my choosing - the first of which was to make more desserts. Alas, dear readers, it's been over a month and I have yet to post one dessert recipe. Post, I say, because I have actually made one dessert recipe from The Silver Spoon. In fact, I have made the same recipe twice! Not only that, but I used a lame excuse - that I hadn't taken any photos to document the outcome.

Ah, if only you could get over your intense disappointment in me. I know, I have let you down. Perhaps I could make it up to you. Perhaps if you had a little taste, a small spoonful, of this... this simple little nothing. I mean, really, it isn't that much. Took me a second or two. You probably won't even like it.

They call it Tirami Su because it will lift you up. The mere mention of the words does seem to cause an odd perking up around some of my friends, like puppies who think they may have heard someone pronounce the word W-A-L-K but aren't sure. The first time I made it was several weeks ago, for my friend's birthday. I brewed up a cup or so of Illy espresso, stiffly whisked a couple of egg whites & beat twice as many yolks with a bunch of confectioner's sugar until they were the palest buttercup yellow. Then, I gently folded in the mascarpone and then the egg whites.

I didn't have a deep rectangular serving dish, so I used my pretty blue Le Creuset pot with a lid because I figured it would travel well that way. I began to line the pot with ladyfingers. Now, the recipe did not call for any liqueur, which in my mind is a travesty (but I think you may have heard my views on cooking with booze), so I added a healthy splash of rum to the coffee and proceeded to brush the cookies with the mixture.

I covered the layer with the mascarpone mixture, sprinkled with grated bittersweet Callebaut chocolate, and then began the next layer of ladyfingers. I repeated three more times and ended with a layer of the mascarpone cream and instead of dusting with cocoa, I finished off the rest of the grated chocolate. Then I put this in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.

Well, I took it to the party, where there were quite a few people, and was able to get a little spoonful of the tiramisu. The birthday girl enjoyed it very much and jealously protected any leftovers to take home with her. Clearly, I could not write anything useful to analyze this recipe. That's it, I decided, I must make it again.

A week later, I repeated the process, this time for the lovely O.'s birthday dinner. I didn't change anything, although I did use a spoon to dribble the coffee-rum mixture onto the cookies. (It's possible that in my meager little taste of the previous tiramisu, I may have noticed that the cookies hadn't gotten thoroughly soggy.)

The pictures I have don't do the lovely little treat anything near justice (but the candles don't hurt). This dessert is so heavenly - the cream so rich yet light and fluffy. Its contrasting textures: the slightly rougher cookies that quickly yield to slight pressure from the tongue and melt into the smoother, creamier texture of the mascarpone. The strong, dark flavours of the chocolate, coffee & rum are softened by the sweet delicate cream.

I'm not sure really. I think I might need to make it again before I can even begin to describe this delicacy.

Perhaps by the next time, I will have acquired a suitable glass serving dish that will allow me to show you the strata, the little undulating line of dark brown cookie caught between two engulfing layers of creaminess. Perhaps. But more likely, I won't wait till I have the appropriate dish, and will continue to make it in whatever bowl, pot or tin that I can find.

Tasty Factor: A++ Ease of Preparation: B+ Modifications: Yes. Added dark rum, used bittersweet chocolate and did not dust with cocoa.

Crema di Porri - Cream of Leek Soup

2006-03-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

While the cream of fennel soup astonished me with its lack of ingredients and incredible simplicity, this soup befuddled me with its long list of seemingly unnecessary ingredients.

To make a leek soup, generally I would start with a large mess of beautiful bright green leeks, slice them up, sauté them in butter till they soften, add broth, cook a bit longer, add some cream, some Parmesan, salt and pepper and serve.

That is not the recipe for this soup. First, instead of butter, I heated several tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. But that isn't that shocking of a change - I do that quite often, especially when I'm feeling more weight conscious.

Next, I mixed a tablespoon of tomato paste with 3/4 of a cup of milk. Wait, what?! Now why would I do that? My only guess is that it seems to give the soup a soft pinkish colour. Huh? Why would I want that? It's leek soup! It should be green! OK, alright, I'll admit it... I'm just kidding! I understand that tomato paste is a thickener and adds some flavour. I just didn't think that leek soup needed so much thickening... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I added the milk & tomato paste mixture to the leeks and heated for a bit then proceeded to purée the mixture. In the meantime, I melted some butter, stirred in some flour and began to add vegetable stock, a little bit at a time. Wait! Isn't that yet another thickener? How very interesting... Anyway, I cooked this broth for about twenty minutes then added the leek purée and cooked this for another 15 minutes over very low heat. I seasoned the soup with some salt.

In a small bowl, I beat together an egg yolk, a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and whisked this into the soup. An egg yolk. A.K.A. yet another thickener. This soup should be so thick, I could build little pinkish leek soup towers!

But the soup was really quite good and not too thick at all. In fact, it was about as thick as most cream of something soups I've made - with or without extra thickeners. I enjoyed it very much, as did my guests. It did take longer to prepare than some other soups, but not all that much longer. The thickening ingredients it calls for all happen to be things that I always have on hand. In fact, I've recently started buying tomato paste in tubes. (I'm not sure why I hadn't done this before - instead I kept convincing myself that I'd use the other 3/4 of that tiny can of tomato paste, only to find it, weeks later, covered in a scary layer of green-grey fluff.)

The bottom line is this: Was the soup delicious? Yes. Was it too thick? Absolutely not.* Did it really need all of the additional thickeners? I'm not sure. I think I'll have to make this recipe again, and perhaps also make my previously mentioned super-simple recipe, and have a taste off. I'll keep you posted...

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: C+ Modifications: Yes. I sprinkled some freshly grated nutmeg on top, and added a splash of dry sherry. An ample splash. Maybe it was a bit more of a deluge.

*I realize that this may be a bit of a moot argument - If the soup were too thick, I could always have just added more broth. As the Soup Peddler says, soup is a very tolerant medium.

Insalata di Cavolfiore (2) - Cauliflower Salad (2)

2006-02-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

For O.'s multi-course birthday extravaganza dinner, I wanted to begin with antipasti. Since there was limited time to prepare this, I had to skip over the more extravagant terrines, tarts & barquettes. We had gotten some cheeses, baguettes and olives to nibble on and I decided to add something light, simple and fresh.

As eating fresh seasonal produce is a current obsession of mine, cauliflower seemed to be an excellent choice - especially since according to this Italian Cuisine blog, it's cauliflower season! As you may have been able to deduce from the title, this was the second of two listed recipes. I decided on this one because the first called for anchovies and I guess I'm not quite over my previous debacle with vegetables and anchovy combinations.

The recipe is very easy and happens to be similar to a Spanish cauliflower salad I often make for my tapas extravaganzas. I boiled the cauliflower flowerets in salted water until al dente and then drained it and placed it in a salad bowl. In a separate bowl, I mixed 1 part apple cider vinegar (the recipe called for white wine vinegar, but we didn't have any) to 2 parts olive oil and added some chopped fresh parsley and tarragon. I poured this over the cauliflower and seasoned it with salt and pepper then let it sit as long as I could bear: my hungry friends were waiting in the other room so although the recipe said to let it sit for an hour, I probably only managed fifteen minutes or so.

The recipe said to serve the salad with some mustard mayonnaise, which I didn't have, mainly because I'd forgotten to buy some and didn't have the time to make it from scratch. I wish I had though, because it would have been a lovely addition.

Instead, I served it with warm baguette, cheese and olives. It was really quite good, although I did not like it quite as much as the Spanish cauliflower salad, although I think that is because of the addition of the smoked bittersweet Spanish paprika.

I would definitely make this recipe again, although I'd make sure to let it sit long enough and serve it with the mustard mayonnaise (or perhaps some sort of aioli) because that would make it stand apart from the other salad. As it is, it is similar enough that it seems bland in comparison.

Tasty Factor: B+ Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Yes. Apple cider vinegar instead of white wine & forgot the mustard mayonnaise.

Involtini di Pollo alla Salvia - Chicken Roulades with Sage

2006-02-24T20:12:00.000-08:00

Chicken and sage go together very well in my mind. Off the top of my head, if I were to prepare chicken from scratch, and were asked to select one herb, that herb would be sage. Similarly, for lamb, I'd choose rosemary.

I chose this as the main course for O.'s big birthday dinner because it looked like something I could easily put together during the mad rush and after having already prepared 4 courses. I also chose it because there was a photo in the cookbook and it looked delicious!

Earlier that day, while doing my shopping, I was having trouble locating panchetta... For one thing, my first stop was at the Rainbow Grocery Co-op and they are a vegetarian establishment. But I knew better than to look for meat products there... A friend of mine was once almost lynched for asking about tinned anchovies. I had been counting on my next stop, Andronico's, which was able to provide me with organic free-range chicken breasts, but alas! No panchetta.

Just then, my friend A. called to see if I needed anything and miracle of miracles, he was in North Beach, mere steps from Molinari's deli. Perfect*. I asked him to get the panchetta. However, when we met up, it turned out there had been some misunderstanding: A. had gotten prosciutto, not panchetta. No problem. I like prosciutto; I was sure this would be fine.

The recipe calls for "4 skinless, boneless chicken breast portions." At first, I assumed that meant 4 chicken breasts, but in retrospect, it seems pretty obvious that is not at all the case. Based on the photo in the book, if I were to speculate how many portions could be obtained from one breast, I'd guess four. Which means I really bought 20 portions (5 chicken breasts).

Because of my aforementioned frantic state, I rushed through the light pounding of the chicken breasts and thus, ended up with not chicken roulades, but just plain chicken breasts... I draped sage leaves over the chicken, then the prosciutto and secured this all with toothpicks.

I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet, added the chicken not-roulades and cooked them, turning frequently until they browned. Then I covered them and cooked over low heat for about 20 minutes. Because the chicken breasts were much thicker than the roulades would have been, I sacrificed one of the breasts and cut in the thickest part to make sure it was done. When they were, I sliced them into serving pieces, around each toothpick, so that for each breast, I ended up with about 7 or 8 pieces.

The recipes said to serve it with a radicchio salad, so I chopped up this gorgeous radicchio from Rainbow and dressed it with a drizzle of olive oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The chicken was very tasty - the prosciutto had a lovely smoky flavour and it contrasted nicely with the sage. It was a bit tougher than I'd like and I think I would definitely try the recipe again with the proper flattening of the chicken and use of panchetta to impart more moisture. The radicchio was the perfect light & fresh compliment to the chicken although some in our group found it to be a bit too bitter.

We had tons of leftovers, which were equally yummy the next day, eaten cold as an appetizer.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Yes. Prosciutto instead of panchetta. Chicken breasts instead of roulades. Though I wouldn't recommend repeating this modifications.

*Now I don't actually know whether Molinari's has panchetta or now. It just seemed like a good idea.

Penne Gialle - Penne with Saffron

2006-02-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of risotto - it's one of my standby easy weeknight dinners. I can generally make a risotto with ingredients I have around the house, if I haven't had time to shop on my way home. Risotto alla Milanese is one of my favourites, as I've always been a fan of saffron. For some reason, I'd never realized that you could prepare pasta the same way as you make risotto - starting with dry pasta and adding ladles full of broth a little bit at a time.

The preparation really is pretty much identical to risotto: I started by boiling the broth. Now, I appreciate that The Silver Spoon authors want to promote homemade broth... I really do! However, that is not possible for whatever reasons. In the ingredient list for the penne, they call for "1 quantity Meat Stock (see page 208)." OK. I go check page 208 to see if I get a sense of how much the stock recipe yields, but nowhere in the recipe are any quantities of liquid listed. I understand that when The Silver Spoon was translated into English, there was talk of how American audiences need far more hand holding and specific guidelines and quantities than the Italians do. This seems to me to be one of those areas. I know that I didn't really need a specific measurement for this recipe, however, it would have been helpful to know how much broth to pick up at the store, since I didn't have time to make it myself. I also chose to use a vegetarian broth.

Moving right along... I melted some butter, and then, vastly distracted, I added the penne before sauté-ing the onions. Now, I apologize, but I must digress once more and explain why I was distracted: I was cooking a five-course dinner for my lovely friend O.'s birthday. It was a gorgeous day in San Francisco, and O. and I had spent the day running around, enjoying the weather and didn't get started cooking till fairly late. I had already served antipasti and a soup course, and I was running around trying to coordinate the pasta course and the main course all at the same time.

So I added the penne before the onions. I was terribly ashamed and just a bit frantic, so I just threw in the onions on top, and tried to stir them so that they were towards the bottom of the pan. Fortunately (please note the sarcasm in my tone), Daniel San had so kindly volunteered to photograph the dinner and caught my misstep on digital film.

I cooked this for about five minutes, then started adding a ladleful of broth at a time, until the pasta was cooked. Then I added an envelope of saffron strands and mixed that in with the last ladle of broth. In the end, I used around 8 cups of broth, but I had doubled the recipe.

I mixed the pasta until I obtained an even yellow hue, and then I sprinkled it with about a cup of grated Parmesan cheese. As garnish, I added some chopped parsley, even though the recipe didn't call for it, because I love the contrast of the bright green on top of the golden yellow.

The penne was fabulous! This is going to be added to risotto as one of my staples. The texture was perfect, and the flavour delicious yet subtle. It would nicely complement any number of dishes if I chose to serve it as a side instead of its own course. I do love how saffron tastes and it is such a unique flavour. Ever since I cooked this, I've been trying to think of how I'd describe the flavour. The only thing I could come up with was that it almost tasted a little bit metallic, but in a good way.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: Yes. Vegetable broth instead of meat & added parsley.

Zucca Alla Parmigiana - Parmesan Pumpkin

2006-02-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

I have a very bad habit of not reading recipes all the way through before deciding to make them. This is particularly problematic when it's fairly late in the evening and I begin the recipe, only to discover that it's going to take much longer than I'd expected it to.
This is also particularly problematic when I'm hungry, because with hunger I tend to get sad, then sadder, then depressed and then suddenly, raging mad - we call it hangry. But I digress.

It was a weeknight - I'd just worked out and was quite hungry, and decided Butternut Squash Parmigiana sounded delicious, simple and healthy.

Big E helped me by slicing the butternut squash (which I decided would be a perfectly decent substitute for pumpkin, since their texture & tastes are so similar) while I made the tomato sauce. I chopped one small onion (in lieu of two shallots) and cooked it over low heat with two tablespoons of olive oil for five minutes. Then I added one 14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes and seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper. I also decided to add a healthy dollop of red wine because I had a bottle there and I've already mentioned my predilection for cooking with booze.

Next came the part I somehow missed. I was supposed to dust the squash with flour, then fry it in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. This took forever! And I was starting to feel a bit sad. I could only do batches of 5 pieces of squash at once, and the olive oil kept getting really low, so I had to use more (and quite a bit more) than the recipe called for. So much for my quick healthy dinner.

When the squash was a lightly browned, I drained it as much as possible on paper towels, then began layering - feeling at this point both really sad and a bit dumb for having duped myself into choosing this recipe. In a small loaf pan, I put a layer of squash, then some spoonfuls of the tomato sauce, some thyme, a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese and some thin slices of mozzarella. I repeated this until all the ingredients were used up, and quite dejected, put the pan in the oven and cooked it at 400º for twenty minutes, until it was golden brown.

During this time, I moped around the living room, lamenting my inability to pull together a reasonable meal and to properly figure out what needs to be done. But when I pulled the Squash Parmigiana out of the oven, miracle of miracles, it looked and smelled phenomenal!

The dish was delicious - an interesting new twist on the cheesy comfort food: Eggplant Parmesan. The squash added a good bit of sweetness and was nicely balanced with the salty cheese, the savory thyme and tomato sauce. The bad mood was gone - the hanger averted!

In the future, I will definitely make this again, though I'd probably try roasting the sliced squash next time, for a slightly lower fat meal.

Tasty factor: A Ease of Preparation: C+ Modifications: Added red wine to the sauce, swapped butternut squash for pumpkin

Torta di Porri - Leek Pie

2006-02-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

This was my first baby step towards tackling '06 Challenge #2 - Pâte Brisée. It is only a baby step because I feel that pies and quiches do not really showcase the delicate flakiness of the dough in all its glory.

I volunteered to cook this past Friday when I was heading over to a friends' house because I wanted to keep on track with my posting and figured this would be easy to transport. Ah, the best intentions!

I spent my friday afternoon baking the pie: I sifted the flour (2 1/4 cups) with a pinch of salt, added the diced cold butter (3/4 cups) and rubbed the butter into the flour, until it got a bread crumb consistency. I then shaped the mixture into a mound and made a well in the center to hold a slightly beaten egg & 2 tablespoons of water. I don't know why, but this was something I always enjoyed doing when I was a kid. I wonder if it had anything to do with my obsession with Close Encounters around the same age - I think I watched that movie over a dozen times.

I kneaded the dough, as lightly as possible, formed it into a disc, wrapped it in plastic wrap and refrigerated it for an hour while I went out for a run. The pie filling was quick and easy: I sautéed 1 & 3/4 pounds of leeks, thinly sliced, in 2 tablespoons of melted butter for about 5 minutes. Then I sprinkled them with a tablespoon of grated Parmesansan cheese and seasoned with salt and pepper. I beat together a cup of milk, 3/4 cup of heavy cream, three eggs, a tablespoon of flour, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and 1/2 cup of grated Emmenthal cheese. I stirred in the leeks and let the mixture sit, then packed it all up to go.

Before going to dinner, we went to The Orbit Room for happy hour. This is where things began to go awry. The drink on special that night was a tamarind-infused vodka cocktail with crushed raspberries, served up. How could I resist? I had several of those, and by the time I showed up at my friends' house, I was a tad inebriated and perhaps less methodical and precise than I would have liked to be.

In a bit of a haze, I rolled out the dough, placed it in a quiche dish, pricked the base all over with a fork and lined it with parchment paper. My friends did not have baking beans, so I filled the crust with rice and baked it for 15 minutes at 350º. The recipe said: "Bake blind for 15 minutes." I'm not sure what that meant, but figured my somewhat tipsy state could be considered somewhat blind and forged on.

After the time was up (fortunately, I'd set a timer, otherwise the raucous laughter would have inevitably led to a burnt crust and no subsequent pie), I removed the parchment and rice, spooned in the filling and baked for another 40 minutes. We ate it as soon as we could bear the heat.

Now, it looked gorgeous and tasted delicious, but I forgot to take any photos and don't know how much I can trust my palate.

Note to self: When critiquing recipes, try not to drink too many tasty cocktails as they may impair judgement.

Tasty Factor: Well, at the time I would have said A+, but who knows, really? Ease of Preparation: B+ (Breaks down into Crust: B- Filling: A+) Modifications: None

Index by Menu

2006-02-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

The First Silver Spoon Meal:
Tartine alla Campagnola - Rustic Tartines
Bocconcini di Gamberetti - Shrimp Bites
Crema di Finocchi al Salmone Affumicato - Cream of Fennel Soup with Smoked Salmon
Bucatini Con Salsa ai Peperoni - Bucatini with Bell Pepper Sauce
Spalla al Mirto - Shoulder of Lamb with Mirto
Broccoletti alle Acciughe - Broccoli with Anchovies
Piselli al Prezzemolo - Peas with Parsley

Oscar Party 2006:
Burro al Salmone Affumicato - Salmon Butter
Tartine al Caviale - Caviar Tartines
Pâté ai Fegatini - Chicken Liver Pâté
Three Vegetable Terrine

Ola's Birthday Feast:
Insalata di Cavolfiore (2) - Cauliflower Salad (2)
Crema di Porri - Cream of Leek Soup
Penne Gialle - Penne with Saffron
Involtini di Pollo alla Salvia - Chicken Roulades with Sage
Tirami Su - Tiramisu

Raymundo's SF Farmers' Market Dinner:
Tartine al Burro di Gamberetti - Shrimp Butter Tartines
Vellutata di Lenticchie - Velvety Lentil Soup
Finocchi al Vino Bianco - Fennel with White Wine
Cavolini di Bruxelles con le Mandorle - Brussels Sprouts with Almonds
Merluzzo al Forno con Verdure - Baked Cod with Vegetables (coming soon)
Zabaglione - Zabaione (coming soon)

Chilly in Park City:
Crema di Carote - Cream of Carrot Soup
Risotto alla Milanese (coming soon)

A Movie Night:
Torta di Porri - Leek Pie
Amaretto Charlotte (coming soon)

Crema di Carote - Cream of Carrot Soup

2006-02-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

While carrots can be served year-round, they are best in spring and summer. Therefore, it's easy to deduce that they are not likely to be at their best in January, in Park City, Utah. Nonetheless, when I was planning my meal and preparing the shopping list for the Park City Wild Oats, I decided to make a carrot soup. My decision making process for this particular meal was not the standard whimsical approach (strongly tempered by what is actually in season, available and fresh) - I had a newly pregnant and very nauseated friend to feed.

We were in town for Sundance and the aforementioned nauseous one's film premiere. That evening, in our adorable little rental house, I sat with my enormous cookbook (I lugged it with me all the way to Park City much to my friends' surprise & amusement.) and read off suggestions while J. deliberated and tried to decide if her stomach could handle it. We settled on Cream of Carrot Soup & Risotto Milanese.

The soup was fairly easy: I chopped 4 1/2 cups of carrots and put them in a pan with water to cover them, a garlic clove and a pinch of salt. I brought it to a boil over medium heat and cooked until most of the liquid was gone. Next, I puréed the lot in a blender.*

I poured the mixture back in the pan, added 2 1/4 cups of warm milk and 1 3/4 cups of beef stock. The recipe called for meat stock and since I was spending my day wandering around Park City, I didn't have time to make my own. Also, I would normally use vegetable broth or chicken broth for this type of soup, but decided to try the meat broth since we were able to find organic natural beef stock. I mixed well and cooked for 10 minutes until it was fairly thick, then I seasoned it, topped it with some nutmeg, 1/3 cup grated fontina cheese and some pepper. The soup was hot enough to melt the cheese, so I didn't put the plates under a broiler as the recipe suggested.

The soup was yummy - very creamy without being too rich. The fontina cheese was a tasty touch I wouldn't have thought of: it added both interesting texture and soothing creaminess. The meat broth did add a lot to the flavour and made me rethink my tendency to avoid using it. In the future, when I make this, I'll probably add a splash of sherry but that's mainly because of my propensity to add booze to almost any recipe.

However, now I'd like to return to my initial point: the soup was indeed very good, but I could taste the woodiness of the carrots. If I had uses (or been able to find) fresh younger carrots, this soup would be infinitely better. I look forward to making it again later this year.

Tasty Factor: B+ Ease of Preparation: B+ (had to use a blender, that gets messy) Modifications: None

*I had planned to bring my immersion blender with me but forgot at the last minute. I mean, it was much lighter than The Silver Spoon! I had also debated bringing a flask of marsala wine. It was a very strange packing experience.

Zuppa di Cipolle Al Latte - Milk and Onion Soup

2006-02-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

I'm sick. Or at least, I seem to be fighting off the flu my boyfriend had last week - so far so good. But I wasn't really up for much tonight and the aforementioned boyfriend is out for the evening, so I don't have anyone to take care of me. I debated ordering in, but did that last night and wasn't sure I wanted to do it again tonight. However, I didn't shop on my way home, so I looked around my kitchen and all I saw were some onions.

Luckily, I found this recipe: all it calls for is an onion, some milk, butter and croutons. Well, it also calls for parmesan but I'm all out. Sad day.

Regardless, I decided to try this out. I mean, what would better as a comfort food? Milk & onions with toasted bits of bread? Sold!

I started by thinly slicing a large onion and sautéed it in two tablespoons of butter for thirty minutes over a low fire. All I had to do was stir it occasionally to make sure it didn't burn. During that time, I opened a bottle of wine and lit a fire in the fireplace.
I also discovered that I didn't have enough milk, so I ran to the corner store to get more.

Towards the end of the 30 minutes, I warmed three and a half cups of milk to a simmer. When the onions time was up, I poured in the milk and increased the heat to medium, added some salt and let the mixture simmer for another 30 minutes. During that time, I took some leftover bread, cut it into small cubes and sautéed the bread in some olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Then, I sat in front of the fire, drank a glass of wine and watched House, M.D. (I can't help it, I love the guy).

I don't know why I continue to underestimate the simple recipes. I doubted. There, I said it. I doubted this recipe would turn out well. But it did. It was delicious: thick and creamy, packed with rich, onion flavour. I'd imagine, with grated parmesan on top, this would be comfort food heaven.

*sigh* Who needs to be pampered when you can pamper yourself so easily?!

My only question: The milk seems to have curdled a bit. I don't have a problem with that, the flavour was phenomenal, but I do know friends who have a predisposition to dislike the look of curdled milk. That knocks the + off the final score, but I will research this phenomenon and figure out what caused it.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A+ Modification: One (sad sad lack of parmesan - it wasn't intentional!)

Index by Type

2006-02-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

Sauces & Spreads:

Burro al Salmone Affumicato - Salmon Butter

Puré di Fave Fresche - Fresh Fava Bean Purée

Sugo di Pomodoro - Tomato Sauce

Antipasti:

Bocconcini di Gamberetti - Shrimp Bites

Crostini con Fegatini di Pollo - Chicken Liver Crostini

Crostini Marinari - Seafood Crostini

Insalata di Cavolfiore (2) - Cauliflower Salad (2)

Mattonella Tricolore - Three-Colour Terrine

Passatina di Ceci con Gamberi - Purée of Garbanzo Beans with Shrimp

Pâté ai Fegatini - Chicken Liver Pâté

Soufflé di Cipolle - Onion Soufflé

Tartine al Burro di Gamberretti - Shrimp Butter Tartines

Tartine alla Campagnola - Rustic Tartines

Tartine al Caviale - Caviar Tartines

Terrina di Melanzane - Eggplant Terrine

Torta ai Broccoletti - Broccoli Pie

Torta di Porri - Leek Pie

Torta di Zucca - Pumpkin Pie

Tortino di Funghi e Patate - Mushroom and Potato Pie

Soups:

Crema di Carote - Cream of Carrot Soup

Crema di Finocchi al Salmone Affumicato - Cream of Fennel Soup with Smoked Salmon

Crema di Legumi - Cream of Dried Legumes Soup

Crema di Porri - Cream of Leek Soup

Crema Verde - Green Cream Soup

Pancotto - Bread Soup

Vellutata di Lenticchie - Velvety Lentil Soup

Zuppa di Cipolle al Latte - Milk and Onion Soup

Primi:

Bucatini Con Salsa ai Peperoni - Bucatini with Bell Pepper Sauce

Gnocchi di Patate - Potato Gnocchi (Basic Recipe)

Lasagne alla Bolognese - Lasagne Bolognese

Penne Gialle - Penne with Saffron

Maltagliati con La Zucca - Maltagliati with Pumpkin

Melanzane Arrosto - Broiled Eggplant

Pasta all'Uovo (Ricetta Base) - Fresh Pasta Dough (Basic Recipe)

Risotto alle Carote - Carrot Risotto

Tagliatelle al Salmone - Tagliatelle with Salmon

Tagliatelline alle Cipolle - Tagliatelline with Onions

Tortiglioni con Funghi e Melanzane - Tortiglioni with Mushroom and Eggplant

Insalate - Salads:

Caprese di Mozzarella di Bufala - Buffalo Milk Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Insalata con Melagrana - Mixed Salad with Pomegranate

Insalata di Bresaola e Songino - Bresaola with Corn Salad

Insalata Gialla al Mais - Yellow Salad

Verdure - Vegetables:

Asparagi Alla Parmigiana - Parmesan Asparagus

Bietole Gratinate - Swiss Chard au Gratin

Broccoletti alle Acciughe - Broccoli with Anchovies

Broccoli Fantasia - Fabulous Broccoli

Carciofi Aglio e Olio - Artichokes in Garlic and Olive Oil

Cavolini di Bruxelle alla Parmigiana - Parmesan Brussel Sprouts

Cavolini di Bruxelles con le Mandorle - Brussels Sprouts with Almonds

Ceci con il Tonno - Garbanzo Beans with Tuna

Fagiolini Glassati al Sesamo - Frosted Green Beans with Sesame

Finocchi al Vino Bianco - Fennel in White Wine

Patate Saltate alla Provenzale - Provençal Sautéed Potatoes

Piselli al Prezzemolo - Peas with Parsley

Piselli con Carote - Peas with Carrots

Pomodori Alle Zucchine - Tomatoes with Zucchini

Radicchio al Forno - Baked Radicchio

Tortino di Funghi e Patate - Mushroom and Potato Pie

Zucca alla Parmigiana - Pumpkin Parmesan

Zucchine Arrosto - Roast Zucchini

Zucchine Capricciose al Salmone e Porri - Zucchini Capricciose with Salmon and Leeks

Egg Dishes:

Uova Affogate con Verdure Miste - Poached Eggs with Mixed Vegetables

Meats & Fish:

Bistecche all'Aceto Balsamico - Steak in Balsamic Vinegar

Coniglio al Miele con Verdure - Rabbit with Honey and Vegetables

Coniglio Umido - Stewed Rabbit

Filetto di Rombo con Verdure - Halibut Fillets with Vegetables

Involtini di Pollo alla Salvia - Chicken Roulades with Sage

Petti Farciti al Mascarpone - Chicken Stuffed with Mascarpone

Lombate alla Salvia - Steak with Sage

Pollo alla Filippina - Phillipines Chicken

Polpette Saporite - Meatballs with a Tasty Onion Garnish

Spalla al Mirto - Shoulder of Lamb with Mirto

Desserts:

Biscotti Inglesi - English Cookies

Tirami Su - Tiramisu

Risotto Alle Carote - Carrot Risotto

2006-02-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

I don't cook carrots often. I'm not sure why, but it isn't one of the first vegetables I turn to. Greens or peppers or tomatoes are more common fare at our table. In the past two years, if I've ever bought carrots, it was to eat raw as a snack. Now, it's not that I don't enjoy cooked carrots. They are absolutely delicious when they are roasted and become caramelized! I just don't seem to have much of a repertoire when it comes to cooking carrots.

This recipe is certainly nothing that would have occurred to me on my own - and even after having made it, I still find it fascinating!

I began by purée-ing 4 young carrots with 3/4 cup of dry white wine. Young carrots are key here: they are more tender and are less likely to have that slightly woody taste that older carrots acquire.

Then I proceeded in typical risotto-preparing fashion: I melted 1/4 cup butter, added 1 small chopped onion and cooked that for about 5 minutes over low heat. Then I added the carrot purée, increased the heat to medium and cooked for a few second before stirring in 2 cups of risotto rice.

Now the risotto-parade begins: ladleful of hot vegetable stock then stir, stir, stir till it is absorbed. Another ladleful of stock and more stirring. And another. And another. And still another. This goes on till most of the 6 & 1/4 cups are used up. Then, the recipe says to wait until about 5 minutes before the rice is tender. Estimating time is not my forté, so I waited until I'd added all but the last ladleful of stock. At this time, I added salt and pepper, 2 ounces of grated Emmenthal* cheese and 2 tablespoons of light cream. Five more minutes of stirring and I removed the risotto and let it sit for two minutes.

I hadn't seen this last instruction any of the risotto recipes I typically use, but it makes perfect sense to me: It seems to me that towards the end of the cooking time, the broth isn't really being absorbed into the rice quite as well, and when that last bit is added alongside the cream and the cheese, I have a hard time believing the rice would absorb anything more! My fear is always that I'll be stuck with a big thick soupy mess. Letting it sit makes all the difference and by the time I came back to it, it was all ready to be served up!

The risotto was delicious - the carrot flavour was subtle but added a lovely almost caramel-like sweetness. I served it alongside the Parmesan Brussels Sprouts and the colour contrast was gorgeous!

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: B+ Modifications: None

* I had this absurd dream a few weeks back in which I presented Renée (my co-author for The Seasonal Kitchen) a rough draft for our cookbook proposal and she told me that the title didn't really work for her. She said that it was too similar to the name of a corner bodega in the Mission, called The Astrological Cookbook. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why she thought these two names had anything in common, but I tried to muster my calm and quite reasonably asked her what she thought we should call it instead. "The Effervescent Emmenthal," she said and at that moment I awoke in sputtering, confused indignation.

Index - Alphabetical

2006-02-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

Asparagi Alla Parmigiana - Parmesan Asparagus

Bietole Gratinate - Swiss Chard au Gratin
Biscotti Inglesi - English Cookies
Bistecche all'Aceto Balsamico - Steak in Balsamic Vinegar
Bocconcini di Gamberetti - Shrimp Bites
Broccoletti alle Acciughe - Broccoli with Anchovies
Broccoli Fantasia - Fabulous Broccoli
Bucatini Con Salsa ai Peperoni - Bucatini with Bell Pepper Sauce
Burro al Salmone Affumicato - Salmon Butter

Caprese di Mozzarella di Bufala - Buffalo Milk Mozzarella Caprese Salad
Carciofi alla Napoletana - Artichokes Napoletana
Carciofi Aglio e Olio - Artichokes in Garlic and Olive Oil
Cavolini di Bruxelle alla Parmigiana - Parmesan Brussel Sprouts
Cavolini di Bruxelles con le Mandorle - Brussels Sprouts with Almonds
Ceci con il Tonno - Garbanzo Beans with Tuna
Coniglio al Miele con Verdure - Rabbit with Honey and Vegetables
Coniglio Umido - Stewed Rabbit
Crema di Carote - Cream of Carrot Soup
Crema di Finocchi al Salmone Affumicato - Cream of Fennel Soup with Smoked Salmon
Crema di Legumi - Cream of Dried Legumes Soup
Crema di Porri - Cream of Leek Soup
Crema Verde - Green Cream Soup
Crostini con Fegatini di Pollo - Chicken Liver Crostini
Crostini Marinari - Seafood Crostini

Fagiolini Glassati al Sesamo - Frosted Green Beans with Sesame
Filetto di Rombo con Verdure - Halibut Fillets with Vegetables
Finocchi al Vino Bianco - Fennel in White Wine
Gnocchi di Patate - Potato Gnocchi (Basic Recipe)

Insalata con Melagrana - Mixed Salad with Pomegranate
Insalata di Bresaola e Songino - Bresaola with Corn Salad
Insalata di Cavolfiore (2) - Cauliflower Salad (2)
Insalata Gialla al Mais - Yellow Salad
Involtini di Pollo alla Salvia - Chicken Roulades with Sage

Lasagne alla Bolognese - Lasagne Bolognese

Maltagliati con La Zucca - Maltagliati with Pumpkin
Mattonella Tricolore - Three-Colour Terrine
Melanzane Arrosto - Broiled Eggplant

Pasta all'Uovo (Ricetta Base) - Fresh Pasta Dough (Basic Recipe)
Patate Saltate alla Provenzale - Provençal Sautéed Potatoes
Pâté ai Fegatini - Chicken Liver Pâté
Pancotto - Bread Soup
Penne Gialle - Penne with Saffron
Piselli al Prezzemolo - Peas with Parsley
Piselli con Carote - Peas with Carrots
Polpette Saporite - Meatballs with a Tasty Onion Garnish
Puré di Fave Fresche - Fresh Fava Bean Purée

Radicchio al Forno - Baked Radicchio
Risotto alle Carote - Carrot Risotto

Soufflé di Cipolle - Onion Soufflé
Spalla al Mirto - Shoulder of Lamb with Mirto
Sugo di Pomodoro - Tomato Sauce

Tagliatelle al Salmone - Tagliatelle with Salmon
Tagliatelline alle Cipolle - Tagliatelline with Onions
Tartine al Burro di Gamberretti - Shrimp Butter Tartines
Tartine alla Campagnola - Rustic Tartines
Tartine al Caviale - Caviar Tartines
Terrina di Melanzane - Eggplant Terrine
Tirami Su - Tiramisu
Torta ai Broccoletti - Broccoli Pie
Torta di Porri - Leek Pie
Torta di Zucca - Pumpkin Pie
Tortiglioni con Funghi e Melanzane - Tortiglioni with Mushroom and Eggplant
Tortino di Funghi e Patate - Mushroom and Potato Pie

Uova Affogate con Verdure Miste - Poached Eggs with Mixed Vegetables

Vellutata di Lenticchie - Velvety Lentil Soup

Zucca alla Parmigiana - Pumpkin Parmesan
Zucchine Arrosto - Roast Zucchini
Zucchine Capricciose al Salmone e Porri - Zucchini Capricciose with Salmon and Leeks
Zuppa di Cipolle al Latte - Milk and Onion Soup

Cavolini di Bruxelles Alla Parmigiana - Parmesan Brussel Sprouts

2006-02-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

What is it that makes so many people hate brussels sprouts? According to Wikipedia, a survey done in 2002 showed that the poor little fellas are Britain's most hated vegetable. Most Hated! Then when I googled the sprouts, the majority of the results that turned up were recipes all prefaced with some variation of "If you think you hate brussels sprouts, try them this way..."
Brussels sprouts seem to be the most despised vegetable in existence, apparently leaving other reviled contenders - such as parsnips, turnips & cabbage - in the dust!

I myself had never tried the offenders while growing up because my mother did not like them. Or maybe they weren't available in Tunisia, but I'm pretty sure my mother did not like them anyway. When I finally did try them, four years ago, having prepared them myself from a Gourmet magazine recipe, I was not quite prepared to love them as much as I did. They were lovely! Just crisp enough to provide a satisfying resilience to the bite, the flavour delicately nutty and green. And, to add to their appeal, they love to be complemented with butter. That's where this recipe brilliantly comes into play.

After gently boiling the brussels sprouts in salted water, I drained them and sautéed them for a few minutes in 2 tablespoons of melted & browned butter. After that, they are quite simply topped with a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg, several tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and salt & pepper.

Delicious! The brown butter enhanced the natural nuttiness of the vegetable and the touch of nutmeg added a lovely complexity. I kept going back for more again and again, popping another into my mouth whenever I'd walk through the kitchen, as though I were sneaking cookies or chocolates.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: None

Radicchio Al Forno - Baked Radicchio

2006-01-30T21:12:00.000-08:00

I apologize for my long delay in posting more!
The baked raddichio is a simple side dish that would be a perfect side for a variety of main dishes - and it is quick to prepare!

Simply preheat the oven to 350˚F, then pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into an oven-proof dish, add 1 1/2 pounds of fresh, trimmed radicchio and sprinkle with another two tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes.

Before serving, sprinkle with the juice of half a lemon. Nothing could be simpler. It was very tasty, although in the future, I'd probably use less olive oil. I was also surprised to find that the radicchio, which had been a lovely deep purple colour when it was fresh, turned greyish green. (I promise I'll have photos soon to illustrate this better!) Nonetheless, the dish was easy and tasty and I would make it again in a second.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: None. Really. Not one! (although I'm already plotting future changes.)

Now that that is out of the way, onto more important things!
I've been issued a challenge from the lovely Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice: the "Cooking Challenges of 2006" MEME! And while I'd have to find a way to have all the challenges come from The Silver Spoon, I've decided to accept.

So, dear readers, I present the five challenges that I am issuing to myself for 2006:

1) Desserts - My sweet boyfriend recently told me that desserts were not my forté. After huffing and puffing, a little bit of sputtering and some angry glares, it occurred to me that he had no way of knowing anything about my aptitude (or lack thereof) with sweets since I'd been focussing on everything savory for the past 10 years of my life. He had no way of knowing that I'd spent the first 15 years of my cooking life as the Official Household Dessert Specialist. And so, without further ado, I present challenge #1: I will not ignore dessert. Nay, I will embrace it and challenge myself to tackle the sweet sections of The Silver Spoon as whole-heartedly as I do the savory.

2) Pâte Brisée - So many tantalizing recipes, from appetizers to desserts, call for this. I've become so lazy, I generally avoid them or buy *gasp of horror* premade crusts. I know, I know. *bows head in shame* In 2006, I will not shy away from pâte brisée!

3) Artichokes - I love artichokes. Adore them! Ever since I was a kid, one of my favourite things was how my milk would taste sweeter after a bite of artichoke. Now I know that that's because of cynarin, but enough about that. This is a challenge because, despite living in California - the artichoke holy land - I hardly ever cook them. 2006 is now to be known as Year of the Artichoke!

4) Stuffed Pasta - Just writing those words evokes delicate little pillows filled with pumpkin purée or mushrooms & greens and my mouth starts to water. Tortelli, tortelloni, ravioli... The list is long but the filling possibilities are almost endless.

5) And last, but certainly not least...Timbale! Have you ever seen Big Night? It is one of my favourite films about food and it climaxes with a sumptuous feast scene: Tony Shalhoub, as the eccentric, talented chef, feeds his guests dish after tantalizing dish. But the pièce de résistence is a timbale - a puff pastry shell filled with cooked ingredients such as mushrooms or pasta. Ideally, my challenge would be to recreate that entire feast, but for now, I'll settle for mastering the timbale.

Challenges accepted!
If I understand correctly, I am to pass the challenge on. As I am new to the world of blogging, I don't really have the connections made, but I've selected the following five based on how beautiful and inspiring their blogs are to me:
Béa of La Tartine Gourmande,
A Perfect Pear, Gastrochick, Rachael of A Fresh Approach to Cooking and Faith of Without Garnish. Enjoy!

Broccoletti Alle Acciughe - Broccoli with Anchovies

2006-01-24T19:18:00.000-08:00

It is possible that I have a very closed-minded sense of what broccoli should taste and look like, but I was not pleased with this dish. And while many people I know might blame the anchovies, I am not sure that that was this dish's main flaw.

The recipe begins by boiling the broccoli in salted water for 15 minutes. Around minute 12, panicked, I couldn't contain myself any longer and quickly drained the rapidly greying broccoli. I thought I had saved it: the pretty bright fresh green colour was not yet completely dulled.

The next step consisted of making the sauce: some olive oil, two garlic cloves and a dried chili (the recipe asked for fresh, but I did not have any). I sautéed that for a minute, then added the salted anchovies (beautiful anchovies I'd bought at the Berkeley Bowl).

I cooked this combination for a while, mixing until the fish was more of a paste - the SS describes this stage as being completely disintegrated. After removing the garlic, I tasted the sauce and really enjoyed the little bit of a salty kick.

But the next step was, once again, almost traumatic. The broccoli was to be added to the sauce, mixed well and then cooked over low heat for another 15 minutes! I lasted all of 2 minutes before deeming the dish ready.

The general consensus was that the broccoli wasn't even worth saving. 6 out of 8 didn't like their broccoli tasting like fish even though most of them did usually like anchovies. I myself did not mind the flavour. However, across the board, nobody liked the mushy, drab broccoli.

Part of me wonders whether if I'd stuck it out and actually cooked it for the full thirty minutes, the broccoli would have miraculously transformed into something different, something delectable. Unfortunately, unless someone can convince me otherwise, I don't think I'll be giving this recipe another chance.

This was the first failure from The Silver Spoon.

Tasty Factor: F Ease of Preparation: B+ Modifications: Changed timing & used dried Chilis

Piselli Al Prezzemolo - Peas with Parsley

2006-01-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

I love peas. Love them! No matter where they turn up: salads, risotto, or as a side dish. The initial resistance of the skins followed by the little bursts of sweet, green, fresh flavour - what's not to love?

This recipe is very simple and satisfying and makes the perfect side dish for the lamb with Mirto in the previous post.

All you have to do is cook a chopped onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for about 5 minutes then add about 4 1/2 cups of peas and cook, covered, for another 10 minutes. Add a 1/2 cup of warm stock, a tablespoon or so of chopped parsley and a pinch of sugar. Simmer until the stock is gone then salt and pepper to taste.

I can't imagine how you could make this recipe any better. Some might argue that adding butter would help, but I definitely fall into the extra virgin olive oil crowd.

Perhaps the artistry of the recipe comes with the pinch of sugar. I tend not to add sugar to savoury dishes that I prepare. I often forget that a little bit of sugar really does ameliorate a tomato sauce, for instance. With the peas, I would have imagined that the natural sweetness of the vegetable percludes the need for any additional sweetness. I guess this is something I'll have to track throughout the preparation of these dishes and see if I can gain a better understanding.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.

Spalla Al Mirto - Shoulder of Lamb with Mirto

2006-01-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

While flipping through the Silver Spoon, I've noticed that there are many different types of alcohol used in the recipes. I myself am a huge fan of wine, sherry, madeira and marsala for cooking purposes, but I was less familiar with the idea of cooking with gin, for example, or Mirto (a liqueur made from myrtle).

This recipe was very easy: the shoulder of lamb is simply rubbed with some garlic cloves. The garlic cloves are then chopped in half, dipped in salt and then inserted into six fairly deep incisions in the meat. The meat is then brushed with some olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and placed in a roasting pan. Then in goes the alcohol: a few tablespoons of white wine and a quarter cup of Mirto or gin. (I used the gin since I didn't have any Mirto)

Roast 30 minutes on one side, then turn and baste and roast 30 minutes on the other side.

While it didn't specify anything about temperature, I decided to play it safe and use my nifty new digital thermometer to double check and make sure it was ready.

The meat was very tasty and the gin gave it an interesting flavour, but it wasn't anything exceptional. In fact, since the meat was from the Berkeley Bowl, it probably would have been equally delicious no matter how it was prepared.

Tasty Factor: B+ Ease of Preperation: A Modifications: No

Bucatini Con Salsa Ai Peperoni - Bucatini with Bell Pepper Sauce

2006-01-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

Ah, the pasta course! I knew I wanted to make one as part of the full Italian dinner experience, but had not really shopped for it properly. I figured that since I have a fully-stocked pantry to draw from, I could just search for a relatively simple recipe. And of course, I could always cut some corners: I selected this recipe because it called for 3 yellow (or red) bell peppers and I happened to have a jar of roasted yellow bell peppers in the pantry. I assumed the roasting would add a nice flavour to the peppers.

Also, I did not have bucatini. According to wikipedia, bucatini are a thick spaghetti-like pasta. Had I read this at the time, I would probably have chosen to make spaghetti as I did not have any bucatini in my pantry.
However, I did not read this and guessed that Rotini would be a great substitute.

Well, it worked out alright: After cooking the onions and garlic for ten minutes, I added the drained yellow peppers and cooked another 3 minutes (instead of the recommended 10 for the raw peppers). I puréed the mixture, added 1/2 cup of heavy cream and returned the sauce to the pan to keep it warm.

During this time, I cooked the rotini. Once they were al dente, I drained and added them to the sauce and cooked the lot for another minute. I decided not to add the marjarom because I didn't think the marjarom I had looked too healthy. Instead I added chopped Italian parsley, which made for a very pretty colourful plate of past, though I feel perhaps the flavour suffered a bit.

I was not too impressed with the results, but I think I am more to blame than the recipe. I'd like to attempt this one again and use fresh bell peppers. And I guess I should replace that sad dull marjarom as well!

Tasty Factor: B Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: Yes

Crema di Finocchi Al Salmone Affumicato - Cream of Fennel Soup with Smoked Salmon

2006-01-11T21:10:00.000-08:00

I love fennel, but it was the smoked salmon that drew me to this recipe. After reading through it though, I was so perplexed by the actual ingredients (or lack thereof) that I considered finding a different cream of fennel soup on epicurious and just top that with the chopped smoked salmon and the dill. I realized, however, that that would defeat the purpose of this experiment.
So I troopered on.

As I've mentioned, the perplexing part of the recipe was the lack of ingredients. I fall into the traditional school of soup makers: sautée some onions, add the veggie of choice and some broth - at the very least!

But this recipe doesn't call for any of that - simply butter, fennel and a few tablespoons of water. I melted the butter, added the fennel and water and cooked it all for about 20 minutes over low heat. That was it: the fennel was then puréed, with a few more tablespoons of water and a tablespoon of heavy cream. That's it. Basta.

Top that with your chopped smoked salmon and dill and you have a gorgeous, subtly flavoured, beautifully presented soup.

Tasty factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None. OK Fine. One. A really small one, I promise. I just added a splash of Marsala. I couldn't help it!