sogni d'oro: cooking

Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

This week in things-I-love-on-the-internet (okay, actually, I've had an email languishing in my inbox that I sent to myself in August with a link to the above, so I've really been meaning to post about this since then, that thing they say about good intentions, now onto the point of the thing)—EATALY! has several cooking classes available on Skillshare! Skillshare is one of those amazing tools of the internet (you can create an account and access dozens of classes for free; many others are available at a moderate cost), which I've yet to fully explore, but with things like "Make Fresh Pasta the Real Italian Way: Learn with Eataly" at my disposal, I'm honestly not sure why it has taken me so long.

On a similar (Italophile) note (as I write that, Italophile strikes me as rather a French word, which is highly ironic, and makes me believe that somewhere, a truer-to-Italia version exists—a quick Google search has yielded positive results; la gente italiana dice <<italofilia>> dunque io sia giustificata nel cerco di una parola più precisa! Debbo ringraziare la divina Wikipedia-punto-it), Google Maps probably debuted this beautiful tour of Venezia's street (canal) view long ago, but I have only just thought to look for it. Do enjoy—indeed, the best way to enjoy Venezia is by boat. Should you wish to avoid the tourist-trap-priciest-gondola-rides on a someday trip to the stilted city (literally, everything is built on stilts, it is truly one of the most incredible feats), a ride on a vaporetto provides a more exhilarating and affordable experience—I highly recommend.

Hopefully it's no secret that I love food, the making and the eating of it.

Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food" is one of my favorite cookbooks. It begins with her philosophies about food (here's a list of them) and contains beautiful illustrations throughout of ingredients in their natural (freshly picked) state with information about using those ingredients and recipes of all sorts for each.

One idea she writes about is that of allowing our ingredients determine what we make, rather than the other way around (i.e., picking a recipe then selecting ingredients based on what is called for in that recipe). I love this idea, especially when considering seasonality. I always have and always will love browsing through recipes and keeping tabs on those I want to try, but I've been trying to branch out with this more intuitive style of cooking, letting my ingredients and personal creativity combined determine what shows up on my plate.

I bought peas and cherries from a farm stand while running errands on my day off last week, with no specific plans for them. I got home and with my leisurely afternoon flipped through a couple cookbooks for ideas. Then one hit—pesto! I love pesto, and it has many common ingredients that I usually have stocked in my cupboards/windowsill herb garden—substitute the pine nuts with peas, et voilà! Alas I do not own a mortar and pestle as recommended, but I made do with an ice cream scoop and bowl—the lack of proper tools made the successful outcome even more satisfying.

It has been so hot lately, but I just keep reminding myself about all the great food that is coming with the hot weather... namely tomatoes, berries, watermelon, PEACHES, and lots of other delicious things. Here's to a summer of good food, and if you have any recent or favorite recipes or ingredients of note, please share!

One of my inconsequential life goals (as opposed to ones of real importance) is to be able to crack an egg with one hand, in one quick motion à la the cooking class lessons in "Sabrina." (All of the students are required to practice: "Crack! New egg.")

Tonight I succeeded in this endeavor and thankfully my roommate Liz was there to witness and appreciate the moment, as "Sabrina" is also a favorite of hers. We were making cookie dough (as opposed to cookies) and I got an egg out of the fridge, cracked it once on the counter, and with a quick gesture deposited the contents into the bowl. All without spilling a single drop of egg on the counter. Miraculous, I tell you.

I have always enjoyed cooking, but lately have been so thrilled the unexpected combinations I've discovered—strawberries & balsamic vinegar, avocado on toast, shaved asparagus and parmigiano with spaghetti—so fantastic!

I'm excited for the prospects of a summer out west, but I can't help but feel a little sad that I will miss the farm stands galore (and farm) and Jersey sweet corn.

Remember this windowsill herb garden? I'd like to try my hand at a balcony iteration this summer. The summer I grew basil was wonderful in a gastronomic sense and just thinking about the possibilities makes me very excited. I want to try and get my hands on some lemon basil and maybe some cinnamon basil... but I'll definitely (read: ideally) be going with some of the standards: sweet basil, cilantro, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme.

I just came across the most wonderful food blog called stonesoup. The author of the blog wrote that she believes "the ability to cook simple, delicious, healthy meals is a basic skill, like reading, that everyone should and can have." I love this idea of cooking literacy and the fact that most of her recipes call for only 5 ingredients.

On a similar note, my friend Mary has a cooking blog comprised of surprisingly simple recipes that I highly recommend.

I think that this little windowsill herb garden is absolutely perfect.

Dinner is one of our favorite times of day, as nonna's cooking is delicious in every sense of the word. We just wish it was earlier—8:00 pm is usually when we sit down to eat. Below is a sampling of some of my favorite things that we've eaten.

tomatoes and mozzarella, carrots with olive oil, vegetable soup

I think it's safe to say that nonna puts olive oil in everything, besides the fruit (which we often eat for dessert).

salad with balsamic vinegar and fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, and fried sage (the fried sage, at the bottom right, is my favorite of these)

penne a quattro formaggio! (thank you, Ashley, for the photo)

Nonna said for this dish, she uses four or five types of cheeses. One she uses frequently in lots of dishes is pecorino, and it has become one of my new favorites.

salsa verde! served with hard-boiled eggs

I could eat this by the spoonful.

These last two are tied for my favorite. Don't worry, I'll be asking for the recipes.

Or rather, think of how delicious this would be...

This quiche (or any quiche for that matter)....

with the gruyère pie crust for its crust!

I've been thinking about this idea ever since Melissa and I made that pie. And ate lots of the extra pieces of crust. Because the crust was by far the best part. I think I'm going to try it.

p.s. The above quiche is actually the same kind as this kind, but I made it over the summer when I grew basil and had lots of fresh Jersey tomatoes on my hands. (they're great.)

My apartment has been filled with delightful smells for the entire weekend, as my roommate Rachel has been baking almost constantly, and I joined suit tonight [and made the above chocolate & peppermint oreos].

Sometimes I feel that it is convenient that finals week is right before Christmas, as finals stress can be channeled into stress-baking which can yield lots of Christmas deliciousness. As it clearly has.

working on a farm everyday has motivated me to try and grow various things on my own. so i'm attempting to grow some strawberries and basil. my father the horticulturist warned me that it is especially difficult to grow strawberries from seed (usually one would buy plants instead) but i'm still going to try. i also bought some basil plants!! (to use in cooking) (p.s. on my farm--note: it's not actually mine, thank goodness--in a couple weeks, i will have to transplant 35 varieties of basil. YES. 35 kinds. who knew there were that many?!)

(top: basil; bottom: strawberry...it's little still)

speaking of using basil for cooking...

i tried making ratatouille the other night! with this recipe. as a side note, this article is interesting, if you love Pixar like i do.

it was really good! though i wish i'd had fresh thyme to use for it. maybe i should grow some of that too.

i made some quiche tonight for dinner... tomato basil quiche.

(recipe from the Cooking Light Vegetarian cookbook.) mmm.

you can see more details in the first picture and get a better idea of what it tasted like, but i like the second picture better.. because the circular shape of the pyrex pie dish is echoed in the tomatoes and the burners on the stove. i really love that repetition of those simple shapes.

and so how exactly does this relate to goal-setting??

oh it does.

i have set a couple unofficial goals for myself [unofficial, in this case meaning just for kicks, not for an assignment of any sort, etc.]

il mio oggettivo numero uno: cook dinner with new recipes! i am trying to greatly broaden slash improve my cooking abilities.

il mio oggettivo numero due: read more books! i have always been a reader, but have been such a SLACKER in the past year-ish. my roommate brianon has really inspired me to jump back into reading..because it's definitely possible to read and tackle a homework load. i did it all through high school, not really sure why i stopped trying in college.

e il mio oggettivo numero tre: practice italiano! i am taking Italian 101. and i really love it. and i would really love to get better with it. goal updates to come soon :] xo.