Please Help Me!

Hi Everyone!

I'm not sure who has followed this blog, but I've been neglecting it myself with the whole move to New York project....

I'm a semi-finalist in a contest, and I really need your help to win. It could be the beginning of an exciting career here for me, and it only takes a minute, especially if you're on Facebook (the contest works through an FB external application).

Basically, you go to this link: http://www.trazzler.com

1) Sign up. If you're on Facebook it practically does it for you.

2) Once you're signed up, go to the homepage and click on the lower right corner, the NYCGO contest. Here's that link: http://www.trazzler.com/contests/nyc/semifinals

3) Find my entry, currently around 26th place: SIPPING MINT TEA AT THE GRANDE MOSQUEE'S SECRET GARDEN IN PARIS

Here's the direct link:

http://www.trazzler.com/trips/mosqu-e-de-paris-in-paris-le-de-france-75005-fr

4) Click on my entry. Under the photo of the two teaucups is a green button that says ADD TO MY WISHLIST.

Click that and you have just voted for me!


Thank you so much! I promise I'll be back soon to tell you how I'm getting my Italian fix Stateside.

Love,
Annie

Get a Piece….of Flourless Chocolate Cake.

It all began three years ago when I was researching aphrodisiacs for an article on Saint Valentine’s Day recipes. I’ve always loved flourless chocolate cake, and so I decided to try my hand at an extra special version, with ginger, cayenne, and vanilla to stimulate the appetite...

The cake was a hit with my friends, and the requests came, so to speak, pouring in.

The first trial occurred after a friend of mine went out with a considerably older man. The night began extraordinarily, but when they returned to his place, well, everything sort of fell (fell!) into place.

She was crazy about him, and hoped it was simply a case of stage fright or nerves. But just to be safe, she asked me to bake them a cake for their second date, a dinner at hers.

In short (and as it happened, quite long), it worked like a charm! They spent a rapturous evening together. It worked so well that she left him soon after, when she caught him making more than eyes at a curvy friend of hers.

The recipe is variable, and can also be prepared as a simple dessert, and topped with fresh berries or a bourbon sauce.

I can’t bring myself to reveal the exact proportions, but the following should yield a moist and deluxe chocolate confection for any occasion!

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 sticks of butter
1 and 1/2 bars of dark chocolate
1/2-2/3 cups of brown or white sugar; Honey is also nice.
3 eggs
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pinch of salt
1 Tsp vanilla

Optional Additions:
1/4 Tsp of cinnamon
1/4 Tsp powdered cayenne pepper
1/2 Tsp of grated ginger

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate bar. Add the desired spices, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Remove from heat and blend in the eggs and cocoa powder. Pour into a 9 x 11 inch cake pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a fork comes out clean. Serve with your choice of topping. I like a cherry reduction sauce or whipped cream and berries. Enjoy!

The Six-Hour Stick: Better Bolognese!

On a recent assignment for The American Magazine I tried my hand at that thick and meaty crowd pleaser, Bolognese, or more generally, ragù.

I won't give too much away, so check out the April issue of the magazine (in print if you live in Italy, otherwise online).

Whether it tops gnocchi, spaghetti, pappardelle (my favorite), shells, or lines a lasagna, a solid Bolognese sauce makes or breaks a meal.

What I want to talk about is timing. Ragù is one of few Italian dishes that simply cannot be made in a rush. Unlike most recipes, which are actually quite fast, ragù requires time, tasting, and stirring. I also believe in the magic of cooking in company with a glass of wine, so get together with good friends and open a good bottle. A steaming pot of Bolognese sauce is the best excuse to catch up, and you're going to have a lot of time.

Six hours to be precise. You can get away with four, but come on.

I asked great chefs, friends, and friends who are great chefs, flipped through scores of magazines, scoured the Internet, and finally made my own. There's really no getting around it. The sauce just kept getting better and better as it stewed away. And I wasn't drinking wine or anything else!

For starters, the soffritto (minced onion, carrot, celery, and your choice of pancetta, lardo or not) should cook slowly with plenty of olive oil for at least a half an hour. This happens at the beginning, so you shouldn't even be tipsy yet, because you absolutely must not burn it!

The next steps:
- the addition of the meat (ground beef or a combination of beef, veal, and pork)
- the herbs (sage, rosemary, juniper, cinnamon, nutmeg...mix and match until you find your favorite)
-the addition of milk, red wine, white wine, or a combination
- addition of tomato paste and tomato sauce

Stirring, reducing, evaporation, and a series of chemical changes are integral to creating a masterful ragù as you procede.

I made two different varieties- one with red wine and one with milk. I'm happy to report that both of them improved by the hour, and after six, they clung to the wooden spoon in sumptuous little clumps. You can only imagine how they clung to the pappardelle!

For my recipes, check out the American Magazine in April, or check back with me when I update this post!

Buon Appetito!

Cheeseburger Paradise in Rome!

The Perfect Bun
Largo del Teatro Valle, 4
Tel 0645476337

Even the Americans whose bodies and minds have adapted to Italian-style eating (garlic and onions that you can’t taste, healthy portions, wine at every meal) still get a hankering every now and then for the good old flavors of home. Whether you just want to sink your teeth into a thick (cheddar) cheeseburger, or wipe the chicken wing drippings from your chin, when the cravings get fierce there’s always been little you could do quench them...

until now.

Brand new American restaurant The Perfect Bun opened two weeks, ago smack in the middle of the historic center. It took the place of sleek Italian bistro CO2, and has been packed every night since.

The menu includes everything including jumbo and humble-sized burgers and cheeseburgers (with grilled onions and pickles!), Tex-Mex specialties like grilled chicken quesadillas, nachos, and homemade guacamole, and all the fried appetizers, from onion rings and fries to chicken fingers and wings (served with homemade honey mustard and blue cheese sauce much to my delight). Everything is made fresh on site—so none of those stiff, frozen, identical onion rings.

Portions are almost American size for everything but the desserts (cheesecake, cupcakes, carrot cake, cookies) but they're plenty rich. Sunday brunch starts this week and will include the egg and omelet station, pancakes, waffles and bacon. Apparently macaroni and cheese, which wasn’t a hit with weekday customers, will make a comeback on the brunch buffet.

Happy hour with two-for-one appetizers is also in the works, and cocktails are magnificent! I didn’t even realize how much I missed Ginger Ale until I sipped on the American Fizz, a peppy blend of Campari, Ginger Ale and a citrus twist.

It’s a little pricier than your hometown diner, but considering the freshness and authenticity, and what American Italian restaurants charge for al dente pasta, €40 a head is perfectly reasonable.

Farro Soup on a Chilly Night

Farro or Emmer tastes like a heartier barley to me. Maybe because it's brown.

Anyway, I was cleaning out my kitchen the other day and a glorious soup was born. It’s a savory soup you can really get your teeth around, and pairs delightfully with a serious Chardonnay or otherwise punchy white wine. Steer clean of oaky stuff as it could overtake the flavor. I also like a Liguria Vermentino or Cinque Terre. Balanced, but with a healthy acidity. You’re going to need it to counter the slick pancetta (bacon) fat.

Farro Soup
Yields 4 large portions

1 1/2 cups soaked farro
1-1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped
3 strips of pancetta or un-smoked bacon
1 large carrot, grated
fresh sage leaves
1 garlic clove (optional)
olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste


Procedure

In a soup pot heat warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add grated carrot, sage, pancetta (or bacon) and some pepper. When carrots are tender add the drained Farro. Stir over very low heat for five minutes. Add tomatoes, a teaspoon of salt and enough water to cover the mixture. Cover for five minutes. Stir continuously, adding water as needed until the faro is puffy and tomatoes have broken apart. Cover for another 10-15 minutes, stirring every so often.

Salt to taste and remove from heat. Remove the pancetta and allow soup to thicken (about 10 minutes). Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

A Cozy Osteria on Lake Como

Osteria Quatro Pass

Via XX Settembre, 20
Tel 0341815091
Varenna

After nearly three years we finally got lucky with the weather.

I visit my friend Elena in her hometown on Lake Como several times a year and it always rains. Clouds descend on the lake and a thick white mist encapsulates the mountaintops surrounding it. This time, despite bitter cold, the sun blared straight through the sky sending drizzly gold everywhere, and Elena announced that we were going to Varenna. Finally.


A tiny village with 12th-century pebbled streets and colorful lakefront houses, Varenna is a splendid way to pass a sunny afternoon. For lunch we asked around and a local artisan jeweler sent us to Osteria Quatro Pass.


We must have walked by it three times before we realized it was a restaurant and not someone’s cozy living room. The restaurant is a former cellar set just below street level, and you enter down a few steps. A credenza packed with china and wine glasses feels like family, and the exposed, weathered brick and low vaulted ceilings add intimacy and warmth.

Elena I may have been the only couple not kissing (the place lends itself to long romantic meals), but when they brought us a complimentary aperitif of Prosecco we toasted to our friendship, and laughed in the face of past romances gone bad. Our Prosecco came accompanied by a pat of polenta with Parmesan, a swirl of thick balsamic vinegar and a cherry tomato—simple yet artfully presented.

We ordered from the seasonal menu, which included succulent, braseola di cervo, locally cured and thinly sliced venison; ragu di asino, a homemade meaty ragu made with none other than donkey meat (Don’t laugh. It was delicious!), and a flour-less chocolate cake that somehow defied the laws of flour-less cake with its lightness.

The bresaola was melt-in-your-mouth smooth with the characteristic black pepper that lingered never masking the flavor of the meat. The ragu was thick and clustered to the fresh pappardelle pasta exactly as it should.

We drank a 2005 Barbera with the meal, a general crowd pleaser of a wine and the best vintage in years. Friends joined us at dessert for a round of grappa and a lakeside walk.
Outside a cruel wind was blowing, but the sun wouldn’t quit.

It may be another three years before I see sun on Lake Como, but I know exactly where to book lunch.