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. Continue reading “Florentine Onion and Pea Soup – what to do with leftover bread”
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. Continue reading “How to Deal With a Canceled Vacation: Make Chocolate Truffles”
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!Continue reading “Saffron Stewed White Beans: Updating a Classic”
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. Continue reading “Tarte Tatin: A Perfect Treat for Valentine’s Day”
Truffled Saucisson Sec: Taking the Next Step on My Charcuterie Adventure
I don’t think I’ve arrived at the peak of home curing but I’ve definitely leveled up with this air cured sausage: truffled saucisson sec. Who’d have thunk when I started making my own bacon a couple of years ago I’d end up turning a refrigerator in my basement into a curing fridge and making dried sausages. I think there’s some fine tuning to do but I’m pretty happy with the way this air cured sausages turned out (and so is Cheryl). Continue reading “Truffled Saucisson Sec: Taking the Next Step on My Charcuterie Adventure”
Blue Moon Braised Pork Cheeks Basquaise
A few weeks back I was at the butcher shop and picked up some various pork parts, 2 pounds of cheeks being part of the haul. They were really inexpensive at $2.49 per pound and I had intended on curing them but ended up putting the pork cheeks in the freezer to save for another day. Last week that day came and the pork cheeks turned out to be Thursday night dinner. Originally I wanted to make them for Wednesday Date Night dinner but we ended up going out instead. With pork cheeks thawed and my creative juices flowing, I decided to make a kind of Basque style beer braised pork cheek. Continue reading “Blue Moon Braised Pork Cheeks Basquaise”
Pollo alla Milanese Vestito (Breaded Chicken Cutlets)
Sorry for more Italian but I’ve been on a roll lately and couldn’t resist making Pollo alla Milanese this week. Cheryl’s been swamped at work and this is one of her favorites. It’s also her birthday week so I thought this would be a nice weeknight dinner to prepare for her. That and pollo alla Milanese is simple, simple, simple to make. And what do we know about simple things in life? They’re usually pretty damn tasty and this is no exception.Continue reading “Pollo alla Milanese Vestito (Breaded Chicken Cutlets)”
Cavatelli with Duck Sausage and Brussels Sprouts
I’ve been trying out a Christmas present this week; Classico e Moderno, a new Italian food cookbook from Michael White. It’s a great cookbook which is split into two parts, half contains classic Italian preparations and the other half contains his modern takes on them. For Sunday dinner this week I handed the book to Cheryl and she picked out a pasta dish from the modern side containing duck sausage and Brussels sprouts.Continue reading “Cavatelli with Duck Sausage and Brussels Sprouts”
Lucky Lentil Soup with Garlic Sausage for New Year’s
Happy New Year! Around the world you can find people eating lots of different foods in order to bring good luck and fortune. In Italy the good luck dish is lentils and cotechino (a sausage). No cotechino laying around la mia casa, but I did have some lentils and some of my garlic sausage so perhaps some lentil soup with sausage will bring us a great 2014. Continue reading “Lucky Lentil Soup with Garlic Sausage for New Year’s”
Panettone Bread Pudding: Using the Custard Ratio
One last post for 2013. Here’s a dessert which has become kind of a tradition for our Christmas Eve dinner: panettone bread pudding. This Italian Christmas loaf makes a superb bread pudding since it’s already sweetened and is chock full of raisins and other fruit. It’s usually the last bit of holiday baking I do and the custard ratio makes this quick dessert a snap.Continue reading “Panettone Bread Pudding: Using the Custard Ratio”
The Roaming GastroGnome 