I’ve been doing a bit of bread baking recently and always end up with 2 loaves. One of the loaves is usually eaten quickly while the second languishes a bit and gets stale. It’s not surprising. Fresh bread is fantastic, two day old bread is meh. What do you do with the re-meh-ning bread? Probably the oldest method of not letting your stale bread go to waste is to use it in soup. I found a good recipe for leftover bread in Carol Field’s Italian Baker; Florentine onion and pea soup. Of course, I made a few changes. (more…)
Month: February 2014
How to Deal With a Canceled Vacation: Make Chocolate Truffles
We weren’t supposed to be in town for Valentine’s Day. We were supposed to be far away from snowy cold Chicago on a Caribbean island. However, Old Man Winter had other plans and ended up blasting the east coast thereby canceling our trip (for now). I had to scramble for Valentine’s Day and whip up something nice without going too crazy. Yes, I know I’ve recommended making apple tarts for a change of pace but having the beachblanket pulled out from under you requires chocolate, so I ended up making some pretty good chocolate truffles: hazelnut, sea salt (one of Cheryl’s favorite combinations), and cocoa coated. (more…)
Saffron Stewed White Beans: Updating a Classic
Last Sunday I was flipping through my newest cookbook, Classico e Moderno, looking for some inspiration. We were having roast lamb for dinner and I was searching for something new to serve alongside it. I found a classic dish for stewed beans which supposedly is a common Tuscan side for roasts and braises and it looked to be a nice change of pace from what we’ve been having. However, I didn’t have all of the ingredients and I wasn’t about to run out to the store on a Sunday for a few items. No problem. Like any cook worth his weight in butter, I improvised and turned the dish into saffron stewed beans. I guess you could say I turned a classico into a moderno! (more…)
Tarte Tatin: A Perfect Treat for Valentine’s Day
Way back in the beginning when I started this blog I wrote about how the apple is a more fitting fruit for Valentine’s Day and I’m still of that mindset. If you’re going to cook a special dinner at home for your Valentine, a tarte tatin is an impressive dessert, as well as firmly outside the heart-shaped box of standard Valentine’s Day chocolate desserts. (more…)
