Let’s make this simple: Today I finally gave in and decided I ought to give domestic prosciutto a second chance. This was my first mistake.

My second mistake was buying into the blerb on the back of the pre-cut (but very fresh, moist looking) proscuitto container at my high quality local butcher: it talked about how it was from a small farm in Iowa, blah blah, the land, blah blah. Unfortunately, Iowa is NOT Parma.

And so, $6.50, a pecorino & “proscuitto” sandwich later, I sat, angry at myself. Actually, I was working. But I was angry at myself for being so lazy, for getting the domestic because the imported wasn’t available where I was at the time.

The domestic stuff was gamey (in a bad way), oily (too oily), and not sweet at all like Parma’s prosciutto. I’ve tried a couple other domestic prosciuttos in my life and none of them really lived up to the name prosciutto. They all made me want to say I ate a ham & cheese sandwich–not pecorino and prosciutto.

I’m sorry that the imported prosciutto is so much more expensive than the domestic, but people, keep it real, don’t give in, it’s ‘just not worth it.

One of my favorite summertime ingrediants is zucchini flowers–they are relatively difficult to find in the US, but common in many parts of Italy. If you are lucky enough to be in the SF bay area, you may find them at farmer’s markets, and often Berkeley Bowl has them but admittedly they are never as large and fresh as overseas.

At any rate, there are a few ways to prepare them, but before doing so you should always wash them in cool water (the easiest is to fill a small bowl and plunge them in and shake them around), and check the inside for worms (less of a problem in the US because they are often grown inside). Then, you can slice them and add to a simple broth-based pasta, or even a quesedilla with matsuke mushrooms, truffle oil, something like that–but not too much cheese or it will overwhelm their delicate flavor.

For fried blossoms it’s important to wash them and dry them COMPLETELY before frying. The best thing to do is wash them a few hours before you need them, and let them sit out on towels in a cool, darker place so that they don’t wilt.

You will need:

zucchini blossoms (4-6 for appetizer for two people)
pine nut oil, safflower oil, or other high temperature oil for frying
flour
salt
spumante (Italian sparkling wine or other sparkling wine/champagne) or a full-flavored beer

Start with about half a cup of flour in a medium or large bowl. Give it a heafty pinch of salt, and whisk it to combine. Pour in some beer/spumante/whatever. If you have to, use carbonated water, but the alcohol is best. Keep adding fluid and flour until the mixture is like pancake dough–somewhat thick but smooth and able to run.

Heat your oil to medium high. make sure it’s hot enough before you start–you can test with a small amount of the batter, it should sizzle around the edges. You should use a sautee pan with high, squared off sides, we are not deep frying but are pan frying. The oil shouldn’t come up more than half-way. I like to wear long sleeves when I do this. Keep some tongs handy. Also, don’t be afraid to adjust the temperature as you fry. The cold batter WILL change the temperature of the oil and several minor adjustments up or down are probably necessary as you fry. You want to achieve an even color on all sides, but allow the batter that gets in the middle of the blossoms to cook.

Allow the blossoms to cook mostly on one side, and then turn them over–similar to pancakes. They will take less time on the second side. Place them on paper towels when they are done frying, and be sure to SALT them. I like to serve them with a pepperoncini aeoli, or other mayo-based sauce. They are also good with pepperoncini jam or jelly.

This is a Sardengna style recipe for the classic Italian dish of “zuppetta di mollusca,” or, mussels in a light stew. This is relatively inexpensive to make and very fast to cook, though I don’t recommend eating bottom-feeders like mussels and clams often. You can also add clams to this dish though I’ve found its difficult to find delicate and tasty clams in the US–they are always quite large and rubbery no matter how you cook them.

For four, medium small portions:

1 large shallot, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed & chopped
chicken stock (your own, about 2-3 cups, or the kind in a box; or vegetable stock)
ciabatta or other non-sourdough bread
1-2 lb mussels, I prefer mediterranean mussels
dried chili flakes
saffron
parsley (fresh)
chives or garlic chives
olive oil
white wine (optional, but good: vermintino or falanghina)
salt & pepper

Clean the mussels. Some mussels come mostly cleaned: there is little debris or gunk on the outside of the shells and the beards have been removed. If this is not the case, pull the beard with your fingers (it ends on the FLAT side of the mussel) and yank it out. Soak the mussels in fresh room temperature or slightly cool water (unless they are green-lipped, and then you should ask your distributor), for about 10-25 minutes so they can expell sand and debris.

If they are pretty gunky on the outside, scrub them with a brush. Make sure they are all alive: if they are closed, they are alive. If the shell is broken, throw it out (unless tightly sealed despite this), if they are open and do not close when you knock them on the counter top, throw them out. If you eat a previously dead mussel, you will likely get sick.

Start by warming olive oil (a few tablespoons) to medium high heat. I like to use a wide, somewhat shallow non-stick pan, but a pan for duck confit or other wide, low sided pan will work. It is good if you have a lid that fits it, or at least one that fits over most of the surface.

Once the oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic, and salt & pepper, reducing the heat to low-medium. If you like it spicy, add the pepper flakes now. Cook until mostly translucent. Add half the chicken broth and a quarter cup to half cup of white wine, turn heat to high. When bubbling (obviously has gotten hotter), add mussels and put lid on or cover as best you can with a lid. Leave it alone for three minutes. Check on the mussels. They are done when the shells open and the mussels have plumped up and pulled mostly away from their shells. If there are still some closed, put the lid back on and wait some more.

When the mussels are cooked, reduce heat to medium and add more chicken stock, as well as the saffron (a heavy pinch, crushed between your fingers). If you didn’t before, add the chili flakes. Drink some Vermentino or Falanghina while you wait. (My favorite falanghina available in the US is “Falanghina dei feudi di san gregorio.” 2005 is the current vintage. My favorite Vermintino is any from Sardegna; Tuscany also produces it but I prefer the Sardengnian).

Let the fluid reduce a little. Add the chopped chives & parsley. The goal is to be able to place two or three slices of toasted, sliced ciabatta in a bowl and pour the mussels & some broth to soak up into the bread. When you think the right amount of broth for however many people you are serving is ready, serve it up.

I’m seeing a lot of repeat visitors from the bay area, and sometimes I wonder who they are that aren’t leaving any comments. I think I know some of you, and don’t want to know some of you, and wish I knew others who I haven’t met. It’s a little disturbing when someone takes a link from yahoo searching for my real name, ends up here, and I have no idea who they are. But on with business..

So one of my very favorite simple things to make as a snack of meal is crostini. There are many, many variations of this, some more traditional than others, but the jist is this: Bruschetta (Bru-SKET-tah) is a piece of bread with stuff on it (simple; not overloaded, generally) that is fairly large, like an open-face sandwich. In America, it is used to encompass only one thing: bread with olive oil and tomatoes or some variation of this. In Italy, it refers only to the idea that it’s toasted bread with a topping and the bread is generally a particular size. Crostini, on the other hand, are smaller, usually the size of a diagnoally sliced baguette, often also thinner sliced than bruschetta. Crostini has similar toppings, often the same toppings, as bruschetta in Italy, but in the US a trendy restaurant that has crostini is probably serving you an assortment of different breads with toppings or tapanades.

A few weeks ago I made two simple crostinis:

sliced sweet Italian baguette with gorgonzola, slices of pear, and honey drizzled on top

(these are put under the broiler for a few minutes until browned and gorgonzola warmed and slightly melted: be sure to use D.O.P. Mountain Gorgonzola from Piedmonte, expect to pay about $20/lb for this in the US), the honey can be put on after the broiler if you like. I also use chestnut honey from Italy or France as it has a VERY particular flavor. I’m not a fan of the fancy honey trend that’s been going on in the US, and find many of htem taste about the same, but CHESTNUT honey is something entirely different that you should definately give a try. Some people don’t like it, but if you do, it’s wonderful. Try it also drizzled on young pecorino cheese.

the other crostini I made was Prosciutto di Parma with fresh Pecorino sliced thin and a bit of pear to brighten it up (and to get my serving of fruit). This was also put under the broiler until the prosciutto crisped up and the fat melted a bit. I drizzled olive oil on the bread of this one before putting the other toppings on, but did not on the other crostini because of the cheese.

Also, Sicilian chocolate is becoming trendy and available in the Bay Area. A readily available one is “casa don Puglisi” which you can find in several infused flavors: bergamont, ginger, cinnamon, peperoncino, and more. Sicilian chocolate is kind of like Ibarra or mexican chocolates, where it is grainy and less refined, the cocoa and the chocolate smushed together and when you open it it may look like it underwent a temperature change, but it’s normal for the cold process they use to make it. It’s delicious and the infused flavors are always subtle and not overwhelming, and only add complexity. It’s also great made into a drink with milk or water or both. So satisfying.

A few nights ago, as a gift to my good friend Eugene, I cooked the leg of lamb he had bought (Eugene can cook himself, but having someone prepare the meal & clean up is something else).

Traditionally, Abbacchio alla Romana is parts of a baby lamb that has only had mother’s milk cooked in a particular way; since this is difficult or impossible to get in the US short of having your own farm, I substituted a butterflied leg of lamb (Normally the leg, cage, and shoulder including the bones would be used). I love this recipe because the anchovies and vinegar take away the heavy, overwhelming flavor of the lamb and make it really delightful. This recipe is from Lazio, specifically, the Rome area.

I started by trimming the pearlescent membrane like stuff off the lamb as well as the excess fat, and made sure the lamb was evenly cut; I then folded it into a round and ideally would have tied it but didn’t have any butchers’ twine.

You will need:

Leg of lamb (butterflied, about 3 1/2 to 4 lbs)
garlic
olive oil
chili flakes
anchovies in oil
sherry or red wine vinegar
fresh rosemary

Olive oil, into a hot pan. Use pleanty as you don’t want it to stick. Ideally, use a cast-iron skillet, with high sides, or anything other than a non stick, with enough surface space and some squared off sides. I used about half a cup for a 3 1/2 pound leg. Crush three to six large garlic cloves to remove the skins; do not chop, just throw into the hot olive oil (medium high heat). Add chili flakes, about a teaspoon or more or less depending on your taste. Lower the heat to medium low. Let the garlic cook for a few minutes, careful not to burn it. Preheat your oven to 380 degrees.
Raise the heat again to medium high or a little higher than that. Once it heats a little more (a minute or a little less), put the meat into the pan, a nice side down to brown it. It should cook this way a few minutes. Move the garlic around a bit so that it doesn’t burn at this higher heat. Chop the rosemary and the anchovies (use about eight filets). Turn the meat once one side is brown; keep doing this until all sides are brown (pretty much). When you’re on the last side, add about 1 cup of the sherry or red wine vinegar to the pan, as well ast he rosemary and anchovies. Try to put it all over the meat evenly and some into the pan. Cook until the very strong vinegar smell is gone, and then put the pan into the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes–check either with a meat thermometer or with your gut (I just push with a spoon against the meat to see how it responds; it should move a bit like when its raw but more firm for medium rare); remember it will keep cooking quite a bit once it’s out for about ten minutes. Let it rest ten or fifteen minutes before carving.

If you desire, you can remove the meat from the pan, put it back on a burner and add a quarter cup to a half cup of good red wine, let it reduce on medium high heat, and then turn the heat off, add a few tablespoons of very cold butter, and fresh herbs (rosemary, chopped finely), and make the “gravy” into an actual sauce; I did not do this, instead we just spooned the gravy left in the pan over the meat and onto our mashed potatoes (where we also put the garlic). I served it with butter sauteed asparagus.

About a week ago I bought a black truffle from Alba (.85 oz) and cooked two dishes with it. I first had a dinner party for three friends where I made

seared scallops with champagne-vanilla sauce on a bed of bitter greens (baby kale, frisee, arugula) with ginger-yuzu dressing

and then we had

black truffle risotto with crimini & shitake mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and baby artichoke hearts (freshly prepared!)

and finally

intense hot chocolates made with cinnamon, half & half, cocopowder, dark chocolate bar, and hand-whipped whipped cream served in espresso cups with xox caramel & cognac truffles.

Then a few days later I used the rest of the truffle to make ravioli. I sauteed it (minced) with the same mushroom mixture, and a few grape tomatoes, and made a filling with a touch of thyme & basil, filet mignon (already cooked), bread crumbs, olive oil, red wine (Vina Alba–you wine nerds will know about this great $9/90 point wine), and put that into a food processor and into my gorgeous ravioli. I served that with a simple, lighter parmesean cream sauce–and voila,

Black truffle & beef tenderloin mushroom ravioli with a light cream sauce.

If anyone would like recipes/techniques/tips/or anything else please post!

All the truffling made me wish I were back in Italy; I can’t believe I missed truffle season, and god I miss walking everywhere. I saw someone post pictures of Florence during christmastime this year and the decorations were tasteful and amazing. My soul screams about needing out of here sometimes, and coos at the view coming into SF at others.

How to make fresh pasta for two: start with 100 to 120 grams of semola flour (in the US, called Semolina–high protein, less gluten than all-purpose, totally different actually), one fresh egg, some fine salt, a fork, and a wooden board (ideally).

Pour your flour into a heap on the board, then plunge your fingers into the center and move in a circular motion to create a pastry “well.” If you don’t have a scale, you should have about this much flour for two people:

Next, you should add salt–a heaping pinch–to the flour, just sprinkle it all on top of the flour. I forgot, so I added mine after the egg. Next, add the egg to the “well,” and whisk gently with a fork at first, until you become fortable, slowly incorporating the flour surrounding it. Be careful not to grab too much flour from any one place or your egg will run amuck! Wait til the egg part is thick enough to not go running away to be rough with the fork/flour situation.

Once the egg is pretty incorporated, start tossing flour over the wet parts and moving it with your hands, kneading in the rest of the flour (or as much as it will take until its no longer distractingly/annoyingly sticky). You’ll want to start doing that a little after the soupy consistency shown above–it should be getting crumbly almost.

Then continue to knead the dough until its got a nice texture and seems fully incorporated, not dry, but not able to easily sop up more flour. Then wrap it in plastic, and let it sit on the counter for at least half an hour. If you want to roll it out the next day or in the next few days, put it in the frige and take it out an hour before you want to roll it as cold dough is harder to make thin.

Flour a flat surface like a clean kitchen counter lightly with semolina or all-purpose flour. Pat your room temperature, rested egg dough with flour lightly, and shape it into a flat disk with your hands to get started. Take a rolling pin to it (or if you’re lazy and have one, use your pasta machine, but I disapprove of this in general). Get it fairly thin (look at finished noodle thickness) and even. Flour one side generously, and fold loosely (do not crease) to make a log of sorts. Take a knife and cut your noodles however thick you like them–you will need a very sharp knife or you will be miserable.

Alternatively, you can cut your raviolis out and attach the two sides with a bit of water, being sure to push the air out from next to the filling before sealing (or they’ll be likely to burst).

Boil pleanty of water, salt it generously when it comes to a boil. Cook your pasta for two to five minutes depending how thick it is and how narrow your noodles are; for ravioli expect four to six minutes, depending on the filling and how thick the dough is

I coated mine in a roasted roma tomato, garlic, parsley, chili pepper “salsa” that I had made a day earlier for a roast beef dish, a sort of super-fresh arrabiata sauce, this time.

Last night I took my time and made myself an appertifo of sorts: Yellow Fin Tuna Carpaccio (raw, thinly sliced) with a Yuzu-Tarragon sauce. I let the sauce sit on the tuna for about 20 minutes before I ate it so it would all come to room tempreature and the tuna would cook a little like ceviche. Here’s what you need for two people:

1/2 pound or quarter kilo Yellow Fin Sashimi Tuna
Fresh Tarragon (about 10-12 leaves or one stick: do not subsitute dry; choose another herb)
1 Yuzu (A Japanese citrus similar in appearance to a lumpy lemon or a yellow manderin orange)
1 lime
Salt & Pepper

Rinse & pat dry your block of tuna. Tell your fish market you intend to cut it carpaccio so that they give you the easiest peice to cut. You want to use your sharpest knife and “shave” off the peices. Lay the peices on 1-2 plates, barely overlapping.

Mince the tarragon, add to a small mixing bowl. Juice one yuzu, zest one half and add to bowl. Use the juice of half one fresh lime, into the bowl. With a whisk, stir briskly while adding olive oil: about half the amount as there is juice in the bowl (2 parts juice to one part oil). Add a generous pinch of salt (I like to use Pink Atlantic salt) and a couple turns of a pepper mill. When mixed well, pour over the tuna. Let set for 20 minutes until some parts of the tuna have turned white, and it is pretty much room temperature. Do not sit it somewhere warm while this is happening.

Then I made Ricotta & Beet raviolis with Poppy-Butter sauce, like I did this summer in Italy, but I’ll post that another day sine I don’t have a picture.

So I had a couple friends over and got all three of my roomates in on dinner tonight, just randomly. I decided during my 2:30-5pm class that I wanted to cook tonight and have people around, so called a few friends who didn’t answer and got a hold of a few others and ended up with a dinner party list of Danica, Tessa, and all three roomates. I made mussels in a spicy tomato saffron broth over crostini (zupetta di moluska) with a nice vermentino, then I was going to make ricotta & beet ravioli with a poppy butter sauce but instead only a few people were still hungry so I made (reheated) the bolognese and made more fresh pasta to go with it… and then super-rich hot chocolates made with anise, cinnamon, half & half, sugar & cocoa powder with fresh whipped cream on top (small portions). Everyone was quite happy with the whole thing, and danica showed up with a bottle of wine as did Alison sharing a bottle she already had. All in all it was good and I wish we’d been able to extend it to a party in the city, a night out and about.

I made some Bologna style ragu sauce a couple nights ago (it’s one of my staples) and had leftovers, so for lunch I whipped up some fresh pasta (hand rolled, hand cut, as the people of Emilia-Romagna would have it) and called it a date.

Here’s the recipe for pasta bolognese.