Piecing Italian Memories together -- with Pici

Last June, most of my family (minus a sister) ventured to Italy for a three week vacation. Most of the time, we were in Tuscany, specifically in the Val D'Orcia, near La Foce, a beautiful garden/estate.

The Italians know how to live life: good wine, a beautiful landscape, wonderful accomodations (and delightful sleep!), and amazing food.

One of the dishes we all loved -- and were determined to replicate once we got home to the US -- was pici.

So, last Wednesday, the second evening my grandfather was home, the temperatures had dropped to a high of 50 degrees F, and grilling burgers outside on the grill was no longer appealing to us. We had invited my cousins, who lived in the next town over, to dinner, too. Burgers for 10 on the grill in the cold? Yeah, not happening. So, my mom and I re-thought the menu. What about using our grass-fed ground beef to make a bolognese sauce, complete with raw milk from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm? Brilliant, if you ask me. If you haven't tried this milk yet, you must. I'm a convert and used to only drink skim milk, which is really not good for you. This changed my life, and my dry skin! Inspired by our trip to Italy, we decided to make homemade pasta, too. Except our rollers were in storage. Pici, however, would be perfect as we rolled it by hand. Yes, time consuming. But, grab some friends, pour yourselves a cocktail, and have fun.

We followed a recipe by a dear woman named Dania who we met at her restaurant La Chiusa in Montefallonico. If you're ever in Tuscany, the food there is outstanding!

Dania's Pasta Dough:
1 cup flour
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
Large pinch of salt

Combine the salt and flour in a bowl and mix well. Add the egg and oil and mix until well combined. Turn the dough out on a smooth floured surface and knead until shiny. I let it rest for 30 minutes under a damp towel before breaking off small pieces and rolling it on a wooden surface to make pici (like fat hand-rolled spaghetti), about 1/8" or so thick (it was very elastic, so it's okay if it's thicker...it will just need to cook longer).

We let the pici dry out a bit before cooking it in an abundant amount of salty (like the ocean!) water. We served it with sauteed zucchini "spaghetti", a puree of butternut squash, the bolognese, fresh ricotta and parmigiano cheeses, and a loaf of Wave Hill Bread. And, for dessert? My mom's specialty: Passion Fruit Panna Cottas.*

* Many of these recipes I have yet to try, including Bolognese and Panna Cotta, on my own. As soon as I do, I will share the tale and images with you!

Funky Fillings for a Breakfast Favorite

Growing up, Sunday breakfasts sometimes meant dad cooking pancakes or our favorite waffles (we have four different waffle makers, but the belgian Barnyard waffle maker got the most use - go figure) on Sunday mornings, mom's fruit salad, and yummy bacon or chicken apple sausages.

Now that we're all older, currently living all over the place, and with different breakfast preferences, those family breakfasts are few and far between (Christmas and Easter mornings, however, it's nearly almost always my coffee cake and mom's scrambled eggs, with dad's bacon and my sisters' fruit salad). After eating bacon and french toast last weekend, however, I was left with oh-I-want-some-more cravings.

Back in college, I skiied in the Stowe Derby one winter. The morning of the race, my dad, his best buddy Billy, Billy's son Willy, and I all met at a favorite family breakfast spot in Stowe: The Gables Inn. I knew I needed some serious carbs that would last the morning. I ordered a french toast dish there -- where the pieces of cinnamon raisin bread were stuffed with a cinnamon raisin cream cheese before being dipped in egg. Oh, it was so good -- but then again, I haven't met a cinnamon raisin anything that I haven't not liked yet!

After a rough night last night, I woke up famished this morning, and in serious need of a proper Sunday breakfast. With last weekend's french toast in mind, and both goat and cream cheese in the fridge, I decided to experiment a bit.

Bread: of course, my favorite Wave Hill Pain de Campagne

Filling #1: Goat cheese with cinnamon, maple syrup, chopped dried plums (I didn't have raisins!). 

Filling #2: Cream cheese with salted caramel (I still have tons of this on hand) and chopped calimyrna figs

These fillings are super easy to make. I mixed the ingredients, after warming up the cheeses for 15 seconds in the microwave, easily in little ramekins. I sliced the bread about 1.5" thick, and cut a slit partway through the center in each to stuff the slices. One was filled with filling #1, the other with filling #2. I pressed each slice together well to ensure they would stick shut.

I then dipped each slice into my french toast batter (below). I let each slice soak up the egg (especially the crusts) while I heated my griddle. When the griddle was ready, I added a bit of butter so that the slices wouldn't stick, and then cooked the eggy slices. While the first side was cooking, I poured a little excess batter over the other uncooked side, in case it wanted to soak up more egg (you can also make scrambled eggs with the leftover batter -- actually kind of good -- just pour the egg on the griddle, and be careful it doesn't burn!).

When each side was golden brown and the egg cooked, I served these with a bit of warm maple syrup and a dusting of confectioner's sugar. Which filling came out ahead? I did like the cinnamon goat cheese, but there was something just so creamy and salty-sweet perfect about the caramel fig cream cheese. It was the winner in my mind. 

French Toast Batter:

2 eggs

1/4 c whole milk

1/4 c heavy cream

pinch salt

large pinch superfine sugar

cinnamon and/or nutmeg to taste

optional: vanilla or almond extract

Perfect Winter Meal: Braised Lamb Shanks

Ha. Ha ha ha. I find myself giggling as I write this post. Friday, planning out my weekend meals on the train home in 45 degree weather, I decided to make braised lamb shanks, as I have some red wine to use, and all the mirepoix ingredients on hand. Fast forward to Sunday, lamb-shank-cooking-day, and it's 70 degrees out.

Okay, so maybe it's not wintery outside, but I'm craving meat and a warm dish and this is so going to hit the spot! It reminds me a lot of one of my all time favorite dishes -- you can find it at Pietra at The Stone House in Little Compton, RI. I'm a low and slow kind of girl. I love short ribs and lamb shanks, stews and navarins. I'm not one to rush things, and when it comes to running, I like the longer distances, but at a slower pace!

Braising is a very straightforward cooking technique. In classic French cuisine, it is a "Mixte" technique, as you are browning meat (concentration method, sealing in juices) and then cooking it in liquid (extraction method - the meat releases juices into the liquid, deepening the flavor). You take meat (beef, lamb, etc) and brown it in a bit of oil on high heat (this I think is the scary part - but put the meat down, and let it sizzle. Don't touch! It will unstick if the pan is hot! After about 2-4 min, depending on the size of meat, flip it and brown another side). You take the meat out, brown some mirepoix - typically onion, carrot, celery, garlic - and then sprinkle in some flour, which will help thicken your sauce (singer en francais!) and moisten with a liquid of your choice -- water, red wine, white wine, stock. Then, add that meat back in, plop a lid on the pot and braise either in the oven (I like this -- at 325) or on the stove.

This recipe was slightly inspired by a recipe in Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe (one of my favorite restos in NYC) cookbook, and a lot of my own addition/deletion. As I write this, my shanks have been cooking for a bit over an hour in the oven, and I'm salivating smelling the lovely rosemary aroma coming from the oven. Yum, I can not wait to eat this with some crusty Wave Hill Bread!

Earthly Epicurean Red Wine Braised Lamb Shank

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or you can use extra-virgin olive oil)

Four 3/4-1 lb lamb shanks

Salt and freshly ground pepper

5 garlic cloves, peeled

4 medium carrots, sliced 1/4 thick

4 medium celery ribs, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2-3 tbsp flour

One 750-milliliter bottle dry red wine (I used a bottle of Meritage I had open that I didn't really want to drink)

1 cup chicken stock or water * (if you don't have stock, use water)

2 sprigs rosemary, chopped

Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the oil. Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper and brown them on 3 sides over moderately high heat. Set shanks aside. Add the garlic, carrots, celery and onion to the casserole and saute until golden (if the oil from the lamb is at all smoky, drain and use fresh oil to brown the vegs). Add the flour, stir and cook for a minute or so until the raw flour is gone. Add the red wine and bring to a boil, while stirring up the bottom to loosen the golden bits (tasty things!). Add the stock or water and bring to a simmer. Add the lamb shanks and rosemary. Cover the casserole tightly and transfer to the oven. Braise the lamb shanks, turning every 30 minutes, for about 1 1/2 hours, or until very tender.

Transfer the lamb shanks to an ovenproof plate. Strain the braising liquid (you can save the veg if you want -- I kind of like the braised celery!), pressing on the solids. Bring the liquid to a boil in a saucepan until thick and reduced, covering the back of a spoon. Season the sauce to taste. Pour sauce over the shanks and reheat, covered with foil, if necessary prior to serving.

I like serving these with sauteed kale or swiss chard and polenta!

Toasty Treat

This week brought on the winter-ish feeling weather. Those early mornings, though it is now light, are freezing cold -- I need a little more assistance - or substance - than just my coffee to help wake me up!

Typically, I grab some fruit and yogurt to eat on the train. Favorites? I love Brown Cow, especially their maple, vanilla, or coffee. Even better are Liberte's Mediteranee varieties. I tried the plum walnut many years ago - oh so good. My family discovered coconut over the summer, and I'm HOOKED. Their lemon is lemony - like the filling of a lemon tart. YUM! Caution, however -- they are rich, so if you're watching your waisting, please note. I like them since they don't leave my tummy growling by 9am. Very important when lunch isn't until 2 and you're running around a kitchen for the next 5 hours.

I also like a morning yogurt fix because of all the healthy cultures in yogurt. Sometimes, the rich food at school can upset my tummy, so yogurt is a nice way to give back to my inner furnace. But, it's cold! So, when the temperature gets cold outside, I need to turn to something warmer than cold yogurt!

One of my favorite quick breakfasts, other than yogurt, is peanut butter and jelly -- my own raspberry jam, of course -- on toast. This past week, I had my favorite bread on hand, too - Wave Hill Bakery's Pain de Campagne. The crusty crust, and soft, tender, moist inside isn't just a white bread, but is flecked with little spelt and rye grains. It's wonderful with PB & J in the morning...and also spread with butter or pesto with a salad, or a big hunk to mop up extra sauce with lamb shanks (that's what I'm going to do tomorrow night at dinner!) There really isn't any way you can't not like this loaf!

When I'm craving Wave Hill, I can swing by their bakery on Route 7 in Wilton, right near Wolfpit Road. I hear it is also available at Whole Foods, Walter Stewarts, and Palmer's Markets. Of course, I gobble the bread up whenever I'm at Pasta Nostra...and Napa & Company.

Get some yourself for dinner tomorrow!