Potato Soup

I almost did not end up doing this recipe, the directions had me so baffled.  First, I need to boil diced potatoes...okay, got that part.  Then, next sentence, I am told to put them through a sieve.  Okay, so what you want me to do is drain the potatoes...got it.  Next sentence - add back to water the potatoes were cooked in.  What?!  In my head I had the image of me straining my potatoes in a colander.  This is by no means odd, we strain things all the time.  We do not, however, immediately re-add back to the cooking water.  What's the point of straining it in the first place?  I feel like there are a set of instructions that never quite made it to the page.

After I stared at the recipe long enough to make my brain hurt I flipped past it in disgust.  But then the desire to make a potato soup kept nagging at me.  I kept rereading that recipe over and over, stymied at those instructions.  Then I went searching around for other potato soup recipes on the great interweb and I found the word that made it all make sense - mashed.  Maria Luisa, you do not want me to sieve, you want me to rice!  I, however, did none of it.  Maria Luisa has not been privy to our conversations regarding my preference for chunky soup.  On this, and only this, will she be forgiven.  Therefore, I skipped the sieving.  However, if you would like something creamier, then by all means mash, sieve, or rice away.

I would also like to note that Maria Luisa does not add any suggestion regarding the fat content of the milk to be used.  Of course she also makes the usage of milk optional so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  For this recipe you boil the potatoes, bacon, and onions in just a bit of water. Once the core of your soup is cooked you then increase the liquid content with either more water, milk, or broth.  She also tells you to add the liquid preheated.  Maria Maria Maria, Mamma Mia Maria...you are killing me.  How am I supposed to hold my head high and declare Italians to be the best cooks when you have somehow managed to publish your nonsense with a major publishing house?  My head hangs in shame as I type up my version of your wackiness.

Oh wait....I should actually get back to my commentary on the milk before moving on.  The milk selection really depends on what consistency you wish the "broth" to be.  Milk with a lower fat content (skim, 1%, or 2%) will be more watery.  If you want something a bit thicker choose whole milk.  Or, the other option is to split between whole milk and cream.  You need 2 1/2 cups of milk, so if you want something creamy but not heavy, I suggest 3/4 cup cream and the rest whole milk.

Now for the recipe...

Potato Soup

Zuppa di Patate

Ingredients:

3 slices of bacon - finely chopped

2 lbs. potatoes - peeled and diced

1 lg onion - finely sliced

2 c. water

2 1/2 c. broth or milk - warmed [I went with 1% milk]

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large sauce pot, place bacon, onion, potatoes, and water.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  

Add in the hot milk and salt and pepper to taste.  Over a low heat, bring back up to a boil.  This will likely take at least 30 minutes.

This soup is about as basic as it gets, but it is great on a cold day when all you want is something simple and hot.  Cooking time could take over an hour, depending on how long it takes for the soup to get back up to its second boil.  Honestly though, if you are hungry and you just want this soup to be done, turn the heat up on the stovetop and it will cook faster.  Every bit of the recipe, at that point, is already cooked.  The only reason you do a slow boil is to increase the flavor meld.  Just turn the heat to high and be done with it.

Old Fashioned Neapolitan Lasagna

Why is this an old fashioned lasagna?  Well, no idea.  That is simply the title Maria Luisa has chosen to provide so we're sticking with it.  Old fashioned or not, it proved to be a tasty lasagna, an opinion seconded by the friend I had over for dinner that night.  Since it was more meat and less veggie, I chose to serve it with a side of Brussels Sprouts Parmigiana.  Also tasty.  My only complaint is with the Brussels sprouts...yet again it's a 2 inch long recipe taking up space for no real reason.  I realize I sound like a cranky old lady, but I truly believe that recipes in a cookbook should involve more than boil sprouts, put in dish, add melted butter, sprinkle on cheese, bake.  I probably would have done that anyway.  I put cheese on everything.  I might not have baked it since baking the sprouts added I'm not even sure what.  Oh, whatever.  I'm over it.  At least the lasagna took some effort.

Maria Luisa did not get very specific with the type of beef she wanted me to use, just that it needed to be chopped.  I chose to go with stew beef that I then cut into even smaller pieces.  I have to say, it was really nice biting down into a hunk of meat as I was eating the lasagna.  Mixed in with the beef was some spicy Italian sausage, so there were pieces to sink your teeth into and a little heat as well.  This was definitely a meat lovers lasagna.  The Debbie Downer aspect was that, once again, we were expected to use tomato paste diluted in water....yuck.  I had a jar of marinara in the fridge so I substituted that for the diluted paste.  This also aided in the flavoring of the sauce and helped to keep the acidity down.  The additional flavors were essential.  Maria Luisa did get a little crazy this time around, we put a whole 1/4 teaspoon of marjoram in with the meat.  However, that and the single garlic clove that was removed halfway through is not enough to flavor lasagna sauce.  I highly suggest following my lead and using a basic jarred pasta sauce....no one will ever know.

Old Fashioned Neapolitan Lasagna

Lasagne Napoletane all'Antica

Ingredients:

8 no boil lasagna noodles

2 slices bacon - finely chopped

4 Tbsp butter

1 clove garlic - leave whole

1/2 a medium onion - finely chopped

2 Tbsp carrot - finely chopped

1 Tbsp celery - finely chopped

1 tsp. parsley - chopped

1/2 lb beef - chopped

2 spicy Italian sausage links - casings removed

1/4 tsp. marjoram

1 large can diced tomatoes

2 c. marinara sauce

1/2 c. dry white wine (I went with Villa Marchesi Pinot Grigio)

1/2 lb. ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg - beaten

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

1/2 small mozzarella cheese - diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large saute pan, melt butter then saute bacon, garlic, onion, carrot and celery for 5 minutes.  

Discard the garlic and add the beef, sausage, marjoram, and parsley,  Simmer until the meat has browned, approximately 5 minutes.

Drain off some of the excess juice then add the wine.  Cook until the wine has evaporated, about 10 minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  Season to taste and then continue cooking until sauce is thick, about another 10 minutes.

Mix the ricotta, egg, Parmesan cheese, and a bit of salt and pepper together.  Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with sauce.  Make a layer of lasagna noodles then one of cheese.  Dot with some of the mozzarella then repeat.  Cover with sauce and a few mozzarella pieces.  Bake in an oven preheated to 375F for 30 minutes.

Brussels Sprouts Parmigiana

Cavoletti alla Parmigiana

Ingredients:

2 boxes frozen Brussels sprouts

4 Tbsp butter - melted

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cook Brussels sprouts in salted boiling water for 5 minutes  Place in a buttered baking dish, pour butter over them, sprinkle on cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Yea, that's an actual recipe in Maria Lusia's cookbook.  She's lucky it tasted good, otherwise I'd scream.

And there are my two Italian dishes on my Hungarian map table runner.  I was feeling very international that evening.

Torino Pudding

Where do I begin.  First, I should probably tell you what a Torino Pudding actually is: chestnuts and chocolate.  Sounds simple right?  Nope, not when it's prepared the Maria Luisa way.  If you are going to start your directions with "peel chestnuts," you might want to consider telling us how.  Maybe chestnuts of the 1950s were not the hard shelled, impossible to peel items they are in the 2010s?  My guess is that they were, but for some reason Maria Luisa didn't see chestnut peeling tips and tricks as an essential element to her directions.  Even though an essential ingredient is chestnuts, but whatever.  I'm a resourceful girl, I figured it out.  Thankfully, the chestnut is not a foreign object in my world.

My fondest memory of chestnuts is from my day spent walking around Cluj-Napoca, Romania.  I was there visiting my host brother and his roommate, a stop-over on my way to Budapest.  It was the beginning of November and the air had that perfect crisp fall feel.  The downtown area of Cluj is quite typical of a city center.  There are shops, restaurants, cultural attractions, and street vendors.  I experienced my very first roasted chestnut vendor that day and I will always remember walking around Cluj while snacking on chestnuts.  Sorry, but I will take Cluj and chestnuts over Times Square and a pretzel any day.

Okay, back to the recipe at hand.  By the time I was finished peeling the chestnuts and turning them into paste, my fingers looked like Freddy Kreuger had taken his best shot at them.  And I still had to grate the chocolate.  This recipe is a bit insane.  It is simple in the fact that it does not require many ingredients and the act of combining them is basic - mix and chill.  It's the prep work to get to that stage that is a complete ____ .  I actually brought the pudding to Thanksgiving dinner and, no lie, told everyone that if they did not like it I did not want to know.  After all the stress of making the thing I probably would have cried if even a single person had told me they were not a fan.  Thankfully, that did not come to pass and everyone said they really enjoyed it. So hopefully, if you are brave enough to attempt it as well, you and those you share it with will agree,

Torino Pudding

Budino Torinese

Ingredients:

1 lb chestnuts

6 Tbsp butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

3 oz. sweet chocolate - grated

Directions:

Peel chestnuts and cook in salted water for 10 minutes.  Drain and remove second skin rapidly so that they do not become cold.  Place peeled chestnuts in boiling salted water and cook for 30 minutes or until they are very soft.  

I'm not kidding, she started with "peel chestnuts."  There are several steps that should happen before you even get to the first level peel stage.  Fresh chestnuts cannot just be peeled; the shell is literally stuck to the meat of the chestnut.  If you are able to peel off the outer shell then you need to throw it out because it is most likely starting to rot from the inside out.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to tell you what worked for me.  There are plenty of instructions online, with and without video accompaniment, to aide this effort.  You can pick whatever works for you.  I cut an X into the flattest part of the chestnut and then boiled them for 20 minutes.  I started peeling them, keeping the water on a simmer.  If I was having trouble peeling both the outer shell and second skin, I peeled what I could and then back into the water it went.  Now, this is not the easiest way to go.  The softer the chestnut gets, the more likely it is that the meat will break apart as you peel.  That's great when you consider that you will have to sieve them next, not so great when you are trying to peel off the second skin.  The last thing that skin wants is to be peeled.  It will fight you the entire time.  Good luck.

Eventually you will be left with the chestnut meat and that bad boy needs to be turned to paste.  Yay!  A fine mesh strainer and the back of a spoon will be tedious but effective.  On the plus side, you'll have forearms of steel.

Once you've survived phase one, my suggestion is to forge ahead with grating your chocolate. If you interrupt the tedious bits with the easier bits, you'll lose steam and risk giving up on the whole endeavor.  You've made it this far, do not give in!

I used Baker's German Sweet Chocolate.  It comes in a nice 4 ounce bar, you just need to break off the last 4 pieces and you will have exactly 3 ounces ready to be grated.  I used my cheese grater for this job and it works find.  I also froze the chocolate beforehand to try and prevent it from melting in my hand.  It was effective, but that meant it felt like I was trying to grate concrete.  But let me repeat - it worked.

Now, we get to the easy stuff.  Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until completely blended.  Add the chestnut paste, grated chocolate, and vanilla.  Blend well.  

Line a mold (I used my bundt pan) with foil and fill with the chestnut mixture.

Even the top with the back of a spoon and cover.  Place in the refrigerator for at least four hours.  Full disclosure: I made this on the Monday evening before Thanksgiving.  It sat in the mold until Thursday morning.  This recipe will keep, if well covered, for up to a week.

When you are ready to serve, turn out onto your serving dish and remove foil.

Not the most appetizing looking food but it tastes like chocolate and chestnuts, which is really all that matters.  This is a actually a fairly rich dessert.  If it's been well blended it will be nice and smooth.  Using the German chocolate keeps it from being too sweet and overpowering the chestnut.  

Mushroom Soup

Yea, there is just not much to say on this one - it's mushroom soup.  It looks like mushrooms.  It tastes like mushrooms.  I like mushrooms, so for me, this was a good choice.  But that's all I've really got...no I'm lying, I always have something else to add.

I was a bit disappointed that Maria Luisa didn't give me a suggestion on the type of mushroom I should use.  Under ingredients she simply says "1 pound mushrooms, sliced thin."  Even in the most basic of grocery stores there is still, usually, a set of options for mushrooms in the produce section.  You have the basic white mushroom, the baby bella mushrooms, and portabellas.  I thought portabellas would be a bit much for a soup, so that left me with white v. bella.  They have a similar taste, but bellas have a better look.  When cooked, the white mushrooms get a bit grey.  For the bellas, their brownish, rustic hue holds well even throughout the cooking process.  Baby bellas for the win!

Mushroom Soup

Zuppa di Funghi

Ingredients:

1 lb. baby bella mushrooms - sliced thin

2 slices bacon - finely chopped

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 egg - beaten

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

6 c. chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large saute pan, melt butter then saute bacon and parsley until bacon is slightly crisp.  

If you can't tell from this picture, I went the semi-healthy route and used turkey bacon.  With turkey bacon, in this particular situation, you face the issue of not really being able to see it become crisp.  It is a much more pronounced change with regular bacon. So, here, what you need to watch for is the foaming that occurs as the fat in the bacon cooks out and heats along with the butter in the pan.  When you have a full froth you have cooked the bacon enough to move on.

Add mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes.

Place  broth in a large sauce pot and bring to a boil.  Add the mushrooms, season to taste, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Okay, so at this point your next step in Maria Luisa's world is to mix together the beaten egg and Parmesan cheese in a soup tureen then pour in the soup and serve.  In Brianne's world you mix the beaten egg and Parmesan cheese together and pour that into the pot of soup.  In whichever direction you choose to pour your ingredients, the same thing happens - scrambled eggs.

I honestly do not know if Maria Luisa meant for this to happen or if I did something wrong but it totally looks like I attempted some weird egg drop/mushroom soup mash-up.

On the upside, I kind of love how this soup tastes.  The baby bellas held up well and just give the broth a more robust look.  Because they held onto their texture you feel like you are having an actual meal.  Soups that do not have much in them always make me nervous because I think "will I be starving in an hour?" But, this soup tides me over.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Roman Cheese Pudding

Okay, I get it.  Nothing about the name "Roman Cheese Pudding" sounds even slightly appetizing.  I promise though, if you give it a chance you will be glad you did.  Think baked lemony cannoli filling and you'd be on the right track.  It is a bit strange to think about and the fact that I had to sieve the ricotta sent me into fits, but this is good stuff.  I shared my finished product with colleagues at work and no one was disappointed.

I made a couple adjustments, one being the direct result of the other, and both being a product of my laziness.  The directions call for using a mold and when I think of mold I think of jello salads I used to eat as a child.  I'm pretty sure that type of mold is what Maria Luisa was getting at.  However, I only have a bundt pan that is about 3 times the size I actually needed.  I could have gone to the store and found myself a mold, but I was not really up for the hunt.  Instead, I used my bundt pan and doubled the recipe so that it wouldn't look dwarfed inside the thing.  Below is the regular recipe, not the doubled version I made.

Roman Cheese Pudding

Budino di Ricotta alla Romana

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ricotta cheese

1/2 c. sugar

2 egg yolks

3 whole eggs

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

grated peel of 1 small lemon

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F and grease mold.  Sprinkle mold lightly with bread crumbs.  Be careful with your bread crumb selection.  I only had Italian style bread crumbs in the pantry and didn't really think about it when I used them to prep the pan.  Italian style bread crumbs have parsley flakes.  Those parsley flakes will adhere to your pudding.  It doesn't change the flavor but it will make your guests look twice at the edges when they cut a slice.

Using a wire mesh strainer and the back of a spoon or spatula, sieve the ricotta into a bowl.

Still not sure what that really added to the overall recipe but that is what sieved ricotta will look like.

Now, add the sugar and mix well.  Blend in yolks and, one at a time, add the whole eggs.  Beat constantly throughout this part.  I used a stand mixer since I didn't think I would have enough hands to crack, add, and beat all at the same time.  Blend in the remaining ingredients.  Pour mixture into the prepared mold.

Place mold in a pan of water.  You will, essentially, be cooking this pudding in a bain marie - a fancy term for hot water bath.  This creates a more uniform level of heat around the mold and the steam will keep the pudding from drying out.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out dry.  With my doubled version I had to bake it for 1 hour 10 minutes.

There were some obvious removal issues.  For the most part it plopped out nicely, but there were some spots that stuck to the mold.  Now, this could very well be my fault.  Maria Luisa did not provide any instruction regarding removing the pudding from the mold.  Part of me said that if I let it cool in the pan too much it might end up sticking to the sides and never come out.  The other part of me said I needed to wait until it cooled at least a bit so that I was sure it was properly set.  

 

I ended up waiting a whole 5 minutes then turned the mold upside down.  Therefore, the case could be made that had I waited until it cooled, this would not have happened.  But, those could have simply been trouble spots on the mold where there wasn't enough butter and breadcrumbs so it would have stuck regardless of when I tried to remove it.  Maybe next time around I wait until it cools before removing it.  Maybe next time I use a pan that is more appropriately sized.  Honestly, who knows.

What I do know though, is that this pudding tastes pretty great.  It has a nice smooth texture with a light hint of lemon.  The extreme number of eggs makes the dessert rich and creamy.  It's worth trying for your next dinner party.

Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

This casserole goes down in the win column and my friends who partook of it at Friendsgiving agreed.  I always get a little nervous though when I serve food to others.  It's an irrational nervousness, I do realize that.  I've been cooking long enough and have a good sense of things that go well together, but there is always that chance that something comes out wrong.  And, if you have read my post about cooking with my father, you already know that me, cooking with orange juice, is a bit of a mixed bag, and this recipe called for juice of an orange.  I'm already feeling the cold sweats of fear as I imagine all the ways that OJ in the oven could cause a sticky smelly disaster.  But, as we have all figured out by now, I survived to tell the tale and bested yet another one of Maria Luisa's recipes.

What I like most about this recipe is its simplicity...sweet potatoes, apples, and orange juice.  That is really all you need.  There is a sweetener and spice thrown into the recipe as well, but those are not essential.  The standout flavor comes from the three ingredients I just listed and it's wonderful.  Maria Luisa did suggest adding liquor, but I decided that was unnecessary.  She also put this recipe in the Dessert and Candy chapter of her cookbook, which I decided was stupid.  Therefore, ignoring the alcohol addition was easy.  I might have considered it IF, IF, she had added it before baking.  She suggested sprinkling on Jamaica rum or kirsch before serving.  A) That's gross and adds nothing.  B) I was taking this to a pot luck where children would be dining with us, so no. C) Kirsch?! I'm not really sure why she wants us growing hair in unnecessary places.  Feel like getting crazy and throwing in an ounce of rum with the orange juice and then baking?  Go for it.  That would probably taste good...but after? No.

Setting aside Maria Luisa's general level of ridiculousness, this is a great recipe.  It's also a good beginner level recipe.  The ability to slice and peel is as skilled as you need to be.  Though, as I am writing this I am remembering a day when a dear dear friend of mine proved that peeling a potato does indeed require skill.  I stood, in abject horror, watching her massacre a normally hearty russet potato.  Before she could demoralize Mr. Russet any further, I yanked him from her grasp and told her that if she wanted to help, she could pour the wine.  Things worked much better in the kitchen after that.  As long as you are not her, you can make this recipe easy peasy.

Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Dolce di Patate e Mele

Ingredients:

2 lbs. sweet potatoes

3 apples - peeled, cored, and sliced fairly thin

Sugar and nutmeg - enough to sprinkle on as directed

Juice of 1 1/2 oranges

2 Tbsp butter - melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F.  Boil the sweet potatoes in water until tender, about 20 minutes.  When they are done, drain, let them cool for a bit, and then peel.  Peeling sweet potatoes is super easy and should not even require a peeler.  The skins will come off right in your hands.

Cut the sweet potatoes into slices, approximately 1/2 inch thick.  You will create the casserole in layers, in a buttered baking dish, starting with the sweet potatoes,

then adding the apples,

and then sprinkling on some sugar and nutmeg.

In total, I probably used about 1/4 cup of sugar and a single teaspoon of nutmeg.  Keep repeating until you have used all of the sweet potatoes and apples.  I ended up with three layers of each.  Finish with a sprinkling of sugar and nutmeg.

Then, pour the juice and melted butter over the top.

Place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

Yea, I had this vision of a dark brown and bubbly something but that's not what you get here.  The time in the oven is really just meant to soften the apple slices.  It tastes phenomenal and smells even better as it cooks, that I promise you.  If autumn could be captured in a pan, it would be this.

Cod Mistral

First, let's discuss the title Cod Mistral.  I have no idea what mistral is so I looked it up with the handy dandy Google Tranlate.  It detected mistral to be English.  Since both the English and the Italian translation of this dish contain the word mistral - unhelpful.  The definition I was given for the English version of mistral was "a strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter."  Soooooo, I made Cod Northwesterly Wind?  This are one of those moments where I just throw up my hands and give up.  Maria Lusia, why do you insist on making me nuts?!

Stupid nonsensical translations aside, this was a tasty dish, except for one thing.  There is always a but isn't there.  Maria Luisa made me double cook my cod again.  I do not enjoy double cooking cod because I run the risk of the rubbery texture.  And two of my fillets, the thicker ones, were rubbery...no buono Maria Luisa, no buono.   Now, for anyone saying "you could have just ignored the instructions to both sauté and bake," yes, I could have.  However, I feel a bit more justified in my ranting if I follow her instructions.  Had I intended to serve Cod Northwesterly Wind to anyone other than myself, I most certainly would have chosen to only bake the fish.

I should also admit a faux pas of my own...I used a French wine.  I know, total sacrilege but, it said dry right on the label, I had to pick it - Monsieur Touton Sauvignon.

Final rant...what the heck is a moderate oven!  Maria Luisa, why do you give me ridiculous directions?!  I'm not kidding.  The last sentence for the directions of this recipe are, and I quote "Bake in a moderate oven for 15 to 25 minutes" (pg 106).  ARGH

Cod Mistral

Merluzzo alla Mistral

Ingredients:

8 cod fillets - dipped in flour

1 c. olive oil

1 lb. tomatoes - peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 lb. mushrooms - sliced

6 Tbsp bread crumbs

4 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Lightly sauté cod in oil until both sides are golden.  In a 13 x 9 baking dish, sprinkle half of the bread crumbs then place the cod on top.  In the saute pan, add tomatoes to remaining oil along with the garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.  

Simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the garlic and add wine and mushrooms.  Simmer until half of the wine has evaporated, approximately 10 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the cod.  Sprinkle the rest of the bread crumbs on top and bake for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F.

Doesn't look like much does it?  Don't worry, it tastes way better than it looks.  The mushrooms held up really well even after being both sauteed and baked.  They were nice and firm...I greatly dislike mushy mushrooms.


 

And here it is, my first entirely The Italian Cookbook Challenge meal - a protein, carb, and veggie all on the same plate.  And I'm still alive...darn you Maria Luisa, thwarting my best efforts to give poor marks on your ridiculous cookbook.  There is always next week!  Buon appetito!

Green Bean Souffle

I've always thought of the soufflé as this really scary concoction that requires ultimate precision otherwise it comes out a mess. I haven't changed my mind.  However, now that I have tackled the ominous first soufflé, the idea of doing it again does not necessarily make me quake in my booties.  Check back with me when I decide I've lost my mind enough to try a dessert soufflé and we'll see if I've maintained a façade of cool.

It's really the whole idea of folding in ingredients.  And the egg whites.  Yea, definitely the folding and the egg whites.

I did manage to get the egg whites nice and stiff..... so stiff that the egg white was this giant fluffy puffy ball inside of the whisk attachment to my Kitchen Aid. 

Then the whole folding thing needed to take place.  The entire time I'm very slowly and very carefully placing my wooden spoon in the bowl at the end farthest from me and sliding it down to the bottom, bringing the spoon along the bottom over to me, and then slowly back up again and over the top of the mixture, thinking to myself that this is insanity.  I'm looking around at an empty apartment desperately trying to use the powers of my mind to make someone else magically appear so I have can ask, "is this right?". There are just globs of egg white and cream sauce mixture semi sort of floating together in this bowl.  Folding is madness.  All I wanted to do was take my spoon and whip it together with all the power my muscle-lacking arms could muster. But no, its a friggin soufflé, which means I have to carefully fold so as not to lose air.  Losing air means no rise when it cooks.  No rise means that I don't know what I've cooked but I do know it isn't a soufflé.  Not having a soufflé at the end of this madness would defeat the purpose of my making a green bean soufflé.  Stupid green bean soufflé.

But I did it and I even got a little rise.  I know I got a rise out of my soufflé because there was obvious sinkage an hour later.  I'll count it as a win and one more challenge tackled.

Green Bean Soufflé

Soufflé di Fagiolini

Ingredients:

1 box frozen cut string beans

5 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

1 c. whole milk

3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese - grated

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg yolk

2 egg whites  - beat stiff with 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Fill a sauce pot with two quarts water and 1 Tbsp salt.  Bring to a boil then add string beans.  Cook for 20 minutes or until tender.

In a small sauce pot, melt half of the butter then add flour.  Mix into a paste then add the milk.  Put heat on low and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stir constantly.  Sauce should thicken to the consistency of cream.  Stir in salt.

Remove from heat and rapidly stir in egg yolk and cheese. Set aside.

Drain the green beans.  Melt the rest of the butter in a sauté pan then add the green beans.  Sauté for approximately three minutes.  Put the beans through a sieve then mix with the cream sauce.

Fold in the egg whites.

Place mixture in a buttered baking dish.  Even the top with the back of your spoon.

Currently not looking very appealing...man I hope this works.

Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 30 to 35 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Heartache from the stress of baking this dish aside, it tasted pretty great.  It had a light creamy texture with a weird bit of sweetness to it.  This recipe is a keeper...I just need to practice my folding technique.



Cauliflower Soup

It's been a weird fall, almost seems like we missed it somehow.  The weather has been warm except for a few cold days here and there.  However, it is currently mid-November and we are finally looking down the barrel of what should prove to be the longest cold stretch we've had since the season officially started.  What does this all really mean you ask?  It means that I am currently heating my apartment with an oven producing delicious food.  Now, I'm not advocating for using your stove as a primary heating device, that would be dangerous, but Sunday saw the production of 3 quarts of cauliflower soup, 8 baked and Cajun seasoned pork chops, 1 lb of boiled potatoes, and a serving of steamed carrots.  Not a bad day!  And made even better when you realize that most of those items (including the meat) were farm fresh.

The carrots and potatoes were picked up at my local farmer's market.  The pork chops and the bacon that was in the soup, however, now those were from Cugno's Farm in Colchester, Connecticut.  This farm raises a small number of pigs each year that people can buy into.  If you've never done this before you are missing out.  Buy into half a pig and you will end up with a freezer packed with delicious meat you know was raised humanely.  I will recommend against naming your pig though.  Many people seem to have an issue with eating things with names.  I do not suffer from this particular affliction...Loralai Pigginstein made quite the delectable pork chop.  Too far?  Do you want me to go back to the soup?

Cauliflower Soup

Minestra di  Cavolfiore

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower

1/4 c. bacon

1/4 c. olive oil

2 shallots

3 qts. chicken broth

1 Tbsp tomato paste - dissolved in a 1/3 c. of the broth

1 c. ditalini 

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Remove leaves of cauliflower and cut off any bruised spots.  Place it upside down in a large bowl of cold salted water for half an hour.  I am completely baffled as to why Maria Luisa wants me to do this, but I did it anyway.  Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, it did  nothing for the process except waste 30 minutes of my time.

Drain and break cauliflower into flowerets.  I left mine fairly large because I knew that in the end I would be taking a potato masher to it.  Set aside for the time being.

Pour oil into a large sauce pot and over medium heat, saute shallots and bacon.  

FARM FRESH BACON!

Add the tomato paste mixture and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the cauliflower and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Add broth, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.  Using a potato masher, crush the cauliflower into tiny bits. Season to taste.  Add the ditalini and cook until tender, approximately 10 more minutes.

Now, if you are not a cauliflower fan you will not be a fan of this soup.  Once again, this is not an affliction which I suffer from.  I think this soup is great.  It has a savory flavor and hits the spot at lunchtime. 

Minestrone Milanese

Soup, soup, soup, soup.  I really cannot find the right words to describe why soup makes me so happy, but it does.  It's comfort food at its finest, only made better when using fresh produce from the farmer's market.  Today's offering is Minestrone Milanese and this recipe will have you swimming in soup for the rest of the week.  Now that's an image!

The only hiccup in this, in all other ways wonderful, recipe was the need for salt pork.  What in the h-e-double hockey sticks is salt pork?!  Well, the what is not quite as difficult as the where.  Salt pork is salt-cured pork belly, basically.  The where is the difficult piece to answer since I do not believe it's been in a grocery store since Maria Luisa was compiling these recipes.  I hit up the World Wide Web to see if salt pork is something that can be made at home and, SURPRISE, you can.  Of course, my decision to make salt pork could not possibly go without its own hiccup.  I didn't really have the necessary ingredients for proper salt pork....seriously who sells juniper berries! And, what the hell is quatre épices?

My head was already beginning to explode so I just decided I was going to fake it.  My local grocer sells pork trimmings, which I decided was good enough.  I also decided that I could get away with a salt-ish pork concoction that involved sea salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, and a bay leaf.  I let that sit in the fridge overnight and decided that since I only need 1/3 of a cup for the soup that whatever I pulled out of the zip lock in the morning would suffice.  I have no idea what my "salt pork" did or didn't add to my minestrone, but since I decided my minestrone tastes pretty darn amazing I am a happy woman.

Once I got the whole salt pork situation sorted, I was able to get down to business...

Minestrone Milanese

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter

1/3 c. salt pork - diced

1 medium onion - chopped

2 medium potatoes - diced

1 lg carrot - diced

1 medium stalk celery - chopped

2 small zucchinis - chopped

1/2 head small cabbage - shredded (I used red, but that was because that was all the vendor at the farmer's market had.)

1 15 oz can red kidney beans - rinsed and drained

3 qts. beef broth

1 c. uncooked rice

1 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 clove garlic - minced

1/8 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

Directions:

Melt butter in a large sauce pot.  Saute the onions in the butter, along with the salt pork, making sure not to brown the onion.  Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, cabbage, and beans.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stir occasionally.  

Add broth and potatoes.  Bring up to a boil then simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Increase heat to high, add the rice, and cook for 10 minutes.  Add the parsley, garlic, basil, and thyme, cook an additional 8 minutes.  Remove from stove and stir in Parmesan cheese and serve.

Just thinking about this soup makes me hungry.  I love chunky soups and this dish just hits the spot.  I do want to note that Maria Luisa actually took this recipe from a restaurant in Milan, Caffe Ristorante Savini.  Apparently it is still there.  Guess I'm adding Milan and Caffe Savini to my ever growing list of places to go.

Loin of Pork Bologna Style

This cookbook never ceases to confuse.  I honestly do not believe that I would be exaggerating when I write that when everyone hears or sees the words "Bolognese sauce," they think hearty meat sauce with chunks of tomato.  Bolognese sauce, in my opinion, is a stick-to-your-ribs, perfect for a winter day, sauce that is meant to top any broad flat pasta.  No one thinks, "oh, milk." I'm face palming right now.  I'm face palming so much there is a bruise on my forehead.

But, BUT, I decided to give Maria Luisa the benefit of the doubt and I took to Google the way I always do in such confusing situations.  First, I googled the English title to her recipe.  I received some disheartening results all related to pork bologna... that overly processed pressed meat poser.  I immediately pictured a slice of bologna and a slice of a Kraft single between two slices of Wonder Bread, felt dirty, and had to shower.  Once I cleansed, I returned to the internet.  Maria Luisa's Italian translation only gave me the results I expected when I typed "Bolognese."  Every result was a different website and their version of a hearty meaty red sauce, the Bolognese we all recognize. 

I did not despair, however.  Even if Maria Luisa's names failed, there was still one more option - the literal description of what I was cooking.  I searched "pork loin in milk sauce" and finally found what I was looking for - confirmation that this recipe is actually a thing.  According to the Italian Kitchen Secrets, pork in milk sauce is a thing.  She writes that this was something she ate regularly growing up.  There are several other recipes for pork in milk sauce.  The themes running through those, which are sadly lacking in the version I now possess, would be herbs and fat.  The other recipes include garlic and rosemary.  One adds sage as well.  They all, also, require the use of whole milk.  Maria Luisa does not explicitly state what type of milk to use.  Maybe in 1955 there were no other options, but I could have benefited from some spelling out of the fat content.  So, once again, I have a good tasting meat with a sadly lacking sauce.  And, lest we forget, the idea that this recipe should be considered Bologna style is debatable.

Loin of Pork Bologna Style

Maiale al Latte alla Bolognese

Ingredients:

4 lbs lean pork loin

6 Tbsp butter

1 qt milk (use whole milk)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Rub salt and pepper into the pork and let sit in the refrigerator for about 8 hours.  When ready to cook, melt butter in a large saucepan.  Brown the meat on all sides.

Add the milk and simmer, covered, for about an hour and a half.  Before you take it off the heat, check that its internal temperature is at least 145F. 

The sauce left in the pan should be a creamy consistency and Maria Luisa suggests adding white canned truffle to it then serving with the pork. The other recipes I found suggest cooking this a day ahead of time and serving cold.

I ate this the same night I cooked it (i.e. it was warm) and did not add the truffles.  The meat was nice and tender and did have a slight creamy taste from having been cooked in milk for over an hour.

I will say this for Maria Luisa, so far the majority of her recipes do not take much effort and include things most of us already have in the pantry or refrigerator.  If we do not already have the ingredients, it is just a quick trip to the store.  For anyone who prefers to keep things simple in the kitchen, these recipes should be very appealing.



Eggs Florentine

I learned a new skill over the weekend - how to poach an egg.  Poaching an egg is no easy task; it is  incredibly fussy.  Of course that means I did not bother to practice awhile and get my technique down before taking on a recipe that required me to poach six eggs.  "Who practices?" She asks while she rolls her eyes at herself knowing full well that smart people practice.  Nope, you will be witnessing my first ever poaching attempt.  I warn you now, they were tasty but a few look pretty darn ugly. On the bright side, I officially knocked out two more of Maria Luisa's recipes and none of the yolks broke prematurely.

However, no Italian Cookbook Challenge posting would be complete without some sort of complaint.  Don't roll your eyes at me, you know you find my unnecessary anger hilarious.  There are 420 recipes in The Italian Cookbook.  I'm fine with that because I wholeheartedly believe that not only are there 420 Italian recipes worthy of being in a cookbook, there are likely a half dozen other recipes not included for every one that makes it in.  Therefore, I find it more than a little annoying that she gave space to a recipe entitled "Spinach in Butter."  Why?  Why must "Spinach in Butter" take up page space in this book?  Why couldn't she just include "saute spinach in butter" as part of the directions for all the recipes that required buttered spinach?  I love spinach, but this recipe does not deserve the two inches of real estate it took up on a 7 1/2 inch page. [Yes, I measured.]  That being said, you will still find the recipe below.  At this point, it would be plain unfair to not include it after ranting about it.

Spinach in Butter

Spinaci al Burro

[Disclaimer first...I am only giving you the Spinach in Butter recipe first because it is required as part of the first sentence in the Eggs Florentine directions.  These recipes are listed in order of necessity not importance.]

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs spinach

6 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Fill a large sauce pot with about an inch or two of water and add some salt.  Bring to a boil and then add the spinach.  Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.  Drain well.  Melt butter in a large saute pan and add cooked spinach.  Sprinkle on some salt and pepper.  Stirring occasionally, cook for about 5 minutes.  You want some of the excessive moisture to evaporate off.

Eggs Florentine

Uova alla Fiorentina

Ingredients:

6 lightly poached eggs

1 recipe Spinach in Butter

1/2 recipe Mornay Sauce

3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese - grated

pepper to taste

Directions:

Take the previously prepared spinach and place in a 9 x 9 baking dish.  Level the top with the back of a spoon and place the poached eggs on top.  I poached my eggs for 3 minutes each in simmering water.

Pour the Mornay Sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese.  At no point in these directions does she ever mention the "pepper to taste" ingredient.  I'm going to tell you to add some pepper here or maybe add it prior to the addition of the cheese and sauce.  You could also wait and crack some pepper on top after it's baked...whatever rocks you culinary world.

Bake for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F.

I was a little worried that baking the eggs would cook the yolk completely, but they were still wonderfully runny when I finally pierced them with my fork.  While the poaching process was a little stressful, it was worth it in the end.  The next time I make breakfast for friends they might just find themselves feasting on this recipe.

R.I.P Tablespoon

It is with a heavy heart that today we say goodbye to Tablespoon.  You have served us well and, on occasion, served us.  You have scooped many an ingredient but, sadly, rice croquettes were literally the death of you.  You will be missed.

I'm not going to lie.  I was just a bit more than devastated to hear and feel the cracking of my tablespoon as I pulled up some rice mixture.  Making these little nuggets was already a test of my patience.  They did not want to stick together on their own and the stickier my hands became, the harder it was to form the balls.  Then the tablespoon snaps in half...a truly sad moment.  I've had that tablespoon for YEARS.  What made it even worse was that I thought back to my very first tablespoon, a tablespoon that is still living comfortably in my mother's kitchen.  It's part of a multicolored set of measuring spoons that came with my very first cookbook Kids Cooking: A very slightly messy manual.  How can a set of measuring spoons that must be at least 20 years old by now have lasted longer than the tablespoon of only 8 years?  Probably because I would never dare use that precious set to scoop rice balls.  Whenever I cook at my mother's I go for those measuring spoons immediately. I love those tablespoons...they may go "mysteriously" missing the next time I visit. I'm going to have to move on now, I'm getting way too nostalgic over baking utensils.

Rice croquettes!

Let's just say there is a reason I do not fry anything...and it's not for health reasons.  My fry skills are less than stellar.  Maybe it was the tightness of my rice balls, maybe it was the temp of the oil, or maybe it was the amount of time the rice balls spent in the oil.  Whatever it was, it produced a comedic show of me desperately trying to rescue disintegrating food from a vat of bubbling oil.  I did manage to rescue several that could sort of be considered croquettes.  Thankfully, as happens in these situations, they tasted better than they looked.

Rice Croquettes Roman Style

Crochette di Riso alla Romana

Ingredients:

2 c. rice

3 Tbsp tomato sauce

4 Tbsp butter - melted

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

2 eggs - beaten

1 c. mozzarella cheese - diced

1 c. bread crumbs

2 c. vegetable oil

Directions:

Cook the rice in salted boiling water until they are tender but still firm, about 15 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool.  Once it's cool enough to work with, mix in tomato sauce, butter, Parmesan cheese, and eggs.

Shape into an oblong croquette by spreading 1 tablespoon of rice in the palm of your hand,

place a piece of mozzarella in the center,

top with another tablespoon of rice, and firmly press it all together.

Roll in the bread crumbs.

Repeat until all the rice is used.  I was able to make 34 croquettes.  Fry a few at a time in hot oil until golden on all sides.

As you can see, I was not lying.  These guys came out looking less than amazing.  Thankfully, they tasted great.  The ones that did manage to stay together held up well.  They were firm but soft inside with a nice surprise of mozzarella cheese in the middle.  

If you choose to make these or anything similar, ever, I wish you well!  I think it will be a long time before I tackle croquettes again.