brunosdream

I made this tart a couple of weeks ago when I had some friends over for dinner. I wanted to make something using the fresh asparagus from my garden.  The tart accompanied a roasted chicken that was flattened by removing the backbone for quicker cooking. I tucked some garlic and pepper flake sauteed arugula under the skin to boost the chicken’s flavor. The juices from the chicken made the butternut squash w/ sage in the roasting pan taste extra good! For dessert we had “floating islands” (merengue floating in a pool of creme anglaise) made by one of the guests who is an aspiring pastry chef.  This meal was totally delicious!! 

Santa delivered us a beautiful snow for Christmas! These are pictures of my garden taken from my kitchen window this morning. Looking forward to greener days in the garden next year, but at the moment I’m enjoying this beautiful, relaxing and lazy day!

Happy Christmas and may 2011 bring you health, joy and great meals enjoyed w/ your friends and family!

Bruno

Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a lamb leg roast with mushroom/wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. Dessert was individual chocolate lava cakes w/ the pear gelato (recipe below).

Fortunately I was able to snap these few photos before my camera battery died!

Pear Gelato

Ingredients:

3 pears (of your choice)

6 egg yolks

6 whole cloves

1 quart half & half

1 cup sugar

1 bottle sparkling apple cider (750 ml)

Procedure:

1) Peel, core and slice pears, then poach for 20 minutes in cider w/ cloves; let cool, strain, then puree in food processor

2) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

3) Place half & half in a heavy pot and heat until scalded  

4) Very slowly whisk warm half & half into egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

5) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously w/ a heat resistant spatula until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling

6) Once cool, stir in pureed pears and refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight

7) Churn mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions

8) Pour gelato into a 2 quart plastic container then place a piece of parchment paper cut to size on the surface of gelato (this will reduce air exposure and prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface of the gelato), seal container and freeze until firm 

Yield: Approx. 1 1/2 quarts 

Cooking notes: This gelato has a very mild pear flavor. I need to figure out how to concentrate the flavor next time I churn up a batch.

Happy Holidays!

Bruno

Here are a few photos from the brisket dinner I talked about in my previous fennel gelato post.

A votre sante’!

Bruno

Last weekend I had a bunch of friends over for a fall feast that was 3 days in the making. We had a great time filling our bellies! On the menu was a 6 1/2 pound grass fed beef brisket from Missouri. The brisket was braised in the oven at a low temperature for 6 hours with a potpourri of veggies and mushrooms which created a delicious broth.  Two sauces were made that are traditionally serve w/ braised meats at the fair of the fatted ox in Piedmont, Italy (one is a tomato based sauce, the other is a horseradish based sauce). I made a pizza for my vegetarian friend and used the remaining dough to make bread to go with the brisket. For dessert I churned up a fennel gelato and served it w/ a bottle of nice cognac and fortune cookies.  The consensus from my friends was the fennel gelato is one of the best flavors I’ve created so far. It was a beautiful crisp fall evening so we all went outside after dessert to light a fire in the chimenea and sip our cognac. We were having such a good time that we hung out for a few hours by the fire and nearly finished off the entire bottle of cognac!

Fennel Gelato w/ Fennel Fronds

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fennel fronds – minced

6 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 quart half & half

Procedure:

1) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

2) Place half & half and fennel  in a heavy pot and heat until scalded 

3) Pulse half & half  mixture in a food processor then strain out fennel

4) Very slowly whisk warm half & half into egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

5) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously w/ a heat resistant spatula until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling

6) Once cool, refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight

A collaborative effort among friends for Sunday dinner…

Rack of lamb encrusted w/ rosemary, garlic and dijon mustard bread crumbs; roasted butternut squash w/ sage and red onion; mushroom risotto

Not only was this a great collaborative effort, it was an amazing combination of flavors and textures as well! I made the lamb, Kristin made the butternut squash and Bob made the risotto.

Here are some links to the recipes:

Lamb

Risotto (when finished w/ the basic recipe, fold in sautéed mushrooms and some of the leftover bread crumb mixture used to encrust the lamb)

 Butternut squash (this is a link to a previous post in which I made roasted squash – just add some crumbled dried sage leaves)

This menu is delicious and comes together pretty quick when you have a couple of friends doing some of the prep and cooking.

Bon Appetit!

Bruno

Armando Pasetti, the former owner of Volpi, was friends w/ my parents. He still works at Volpi almost every day, but in 2002, Armando’s daughter, Lorenza, took over ownership and running the company. The retail store is still located in the same spot on “The Hill” (the Italian neighborhood in St. Louis), even though you can now find Volpi products in most St. Louis grocery stores and in many food stores across the country. My parents would go to Volpi almost every Saturday to buy their meat products and other Italian food that was, and still is, available in the store. Me, my brother and sister would go along w/ them because we were too young to stay at home alone. Armando would often invite us into the back so he could chat w/ my parents. He would sometimes fix us kids a sandwich made w/ Volpi salumi and Italian bread from the neighboring bakery. I have fond memories of those delicious sandwiches!

I hadn’t been to Volpi in over 20 years, so I decided to take a trip there to say hello to Armando and get a tour of one of the manufacturing facilities that is adjacent to the store. I was also hoping to get invited to the back for a sandwich just like old times! As we were touring the factory, Armando told me they now have 3 manufacturing facilities in St. Louis and about a year ago they launched a new product line called Un Mondo, which offers salamis from around the world. They also use heritage pork, such as Berkshire, from local farms in their products.

Well, after the tour, my sandwich wish was granted!! I also took home some Fontina cheese and some of the Un Mondo salamis to sample (I bought one that is laced w/ herbes des Provence and another laced w/ porcini mushrooms, and Armando gave me the Un Mondo fuet, which is a Catalan style salami). Thanks Armando… it was great seeing you after all these years and it was a pleasure to meet Lorenza too!

Here are a few pictures from my visit:

 Store front

 Inside

 The finished product

 The meat counter

 Some choices

 Armando Pasetti

 Inside the factory

 Filling the casings

 Drying room

 Another drying room

 Yet another drying room

 Mortadella being finished

 Sorting the casings

 Shipping room

  John Volpi & Gino Pasetti

  Armando Pasetti in the dark shirt – pre World War Two

  Old photo of the factory

If you like charcuterie, you’ll love Volpi Salumeria!

Bruno

Hello! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and mostly stress-free holiday season. I did, because I’ve learned to pace myself and not feel obliged to attend every holiday gathering if I’m not feeling up to it. This philosophy has helped tremendously in allowing me to enjoy the holidays and significantly reducing my stress level.

I prepared this pate’ for the Christmas festivities I attended. I had the lamb liver from the whole lamb I purchased from a foodie farmer and fellow food blogger who lives here in Missouri. (Thanks for sharing your delicious lamb w/ me Susan!) Instead of sauteeing the liver w/ some onions I decided to try my hand at making a pate’ en croute (i.e., in pastry dough) to share w/ my friends. The end result was good, but if you don’t like the flavor of lamb, this pate’ is not going to be to your liking. For those of you who do like lamb, here’s the recipe.

Lamb Liver Pate’ En Croute w/ Apricots, Chestnuts, & Porcini Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 bottle champagne or sparkling wine

14 ounces lamb liver

10 ounces chicken liver

1/3 cup fresh chestnuts (boiled, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)

1/3 cup cognac soaked dried apricots (soaked for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, then cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

1/3 cup dried porcini mushrooms (rehydrated and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)

2 large shallots (peeled w/ a whole clove inserted in each)

5 sprigs dried thyme

2 sprigs dried tarragon

2 ounces unsalted butter (1/2 stick) at room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

salt and pepper

1 egg (to brush top of  pastry dough before baking)

** for pastry dough I used the following recipe  (doubled)

*** prepare dough and liver the day before assembling and baking

Procedure:

1) In a large pot, pour champagne and add liver; poach over medium/low heat for 1/2 hour

2) Strain liver from poaching liquid, remove shallots and herbs, let cool, then cut into small pieces

3) Place liver in food processor, add butter, sprinkle w/ 1/2 teaspoon salt and 15 grinds of pepper, then pulse until smooth; taste mixture and add more salt and pepper if needed

4) Place liver mixture in a large non-metallic bowl, then mix in apricots and mushrooms (both drained) and chestnuts by hand to distribute evenly; cover bowl and place in fridge overnight (unless you are making the pate’ on the same day)

5) Remove liver mixture and dough from fridge

6) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

7) Roll first disk of dough to 1/4 inch thick and to the size of your mold (to get approximate dimensions, put mold on rolled out dough, then cut to size – remember that you will need enough to line bottom of mold plus about 1/2 inch extra dough over the sides); set aside for assembly

8) Roll out second disk of dough to 1/4 inch thick large enough to cover the top of your mold with about 1/4 inch extra on all sides

9) Spray mold w/ cooking spray for easier unmolding (I used one w/ canola oil)

10) Line bottom of mold w/ dough, gently pressing dough to the shape of the mold

11) Fill mold w/ liver mixture, gently spreading to fill evenly

12) Place top layer of dough on and pinch edges all around to seal

13) Cut vent holes using a small dough cutter, then decorate top as you wish w/ leftover dough (I decorated mine w/ a holly leaf and berries)

14) Brush top w/ egg wash and bake on center rack of oven  for 40 minutes, rotating pate’ after 20 minutes for even browning

15) Remove from oven and let cool completely before unmolding and serving (I loosely covered mine and placed it in the fridge overnight, then sliced it in half the next day so I could take half to each friends’ home)

16) Serve w/ thinly sliced whole grain cocktail bread or by itself

May you all have a wonderful, healthy, happy and prosperous 2010!!

Bon Appetit…

Bruno

I made this dinner for a friend and he snapped a few photos w/ his phone. The picture doesn’t do this meal justice due to being taken w/ a phone camera (I have yet to see a high resolution photo taken w/ a cell phone!), but it was so tasty I decided to post the recipe anyway.

Appetizer:  Missouri goat cheese from Baetje Farms w/ crackers

Entree:  Asian marinated grilled halibut, Israeli couscous blended w/ roasted butternut squash and red onion, Chinese broccoli

Dessert:  Baked apples filled w/  rolled oats, pecans, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and raisins (baked at 425 degrees F for approx. 45 minutes)

For Entree:

Ingredients:

2  8 ounce halibut filets (1 1/4 inches thick)

1 medium sized butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

1/4 red onion roughly chopped

olive oil

1 1/2  cups Israeli couscous

1 bunch Chinese broccoli

3 cups veggie stock

For marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

4 scallions (green part only) –  finely chopped

3 cloves garlic  – minced

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 1/2  tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 limes – juiced and peel grated 

 Procedure:

1) Whisk together marinade ingredients

2) Place halibut filets in a deep dish then pour marinade over the fish; cover dish and refrigerate for 2 hours (after one hour turn fish over and spoon marinade onto the top of the filets); remove from fridge 1/2 hour before cooking

3) In a large bowl, toss butternut squash and red onion w/ 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then place on a parchment lined sheet pan and season w/ salt and pepper;  preheat oven to 400 degrees F, place pan in oven and roast for 30-40 minutes or until tender (check after 20 minutes, rotate pan and return to oven)

4) Place veggie stock into a medium size pot and bring to a boil

5) Add couscous to veggie stock, stir and return to a boil while occasionally stirring; lower heat to medium, continue to stir, then when most of stock is absorbed cover and remove from heat

6) Cut broccoli into 1 1/4 inch pieces; bring a pot of water to a boil, generously salt the water, then add thickest pieces of broccoli to the water and cook for 2 minutes, add the thinner broccoli pieces and cook for another minute then add the broccoli leaves and cook for one more minute; when done cooking, strain in colander

7) Preheat grill, set flame to medium heat, remove halibut filets from marinade and grill for 4 to 5 minutes on each side

8) 4 minutes before fish is done, return couscous to a medium heat, gently stir in roasted squash/onions and cook until warmed throughout

9) Broccoli can be served at room temperature or warmed before plating

10) To plate, place couscous in center of plate, lean halibut filet on couscous then place Chinese broccoli around one side of plate

11) Pour wine and dig in!!

This is a good meal to re-energize yourself during all the holiday hustling and bustling!

Happy Holidays…

Bruno

From market to table…

I bought this squash at one of the farmers markets here in St. Louis. The farmer said it’s great for a soup, but I had other plans for this beauty! The squash tasted like a cross between butternut squash and pumpkin, but a bit sweeter.

The red, green and orange of this gelato reflect the festive colors of the Fall holidays.

I brought this and the oatmeat wheat bread in the previous post to my friends’ Thankgiving feast.

Roasted Curry Squash Gelato w/ Pistachios and Candied Red Bell Pepper

Ingredients:

1  6 pound curry squash

1/2 cup candied red bell pepper

1 cup unsalted dry roasted pistachios

2 cups roasted curry squash pulp (follow same procedure as roasted pumpkin)

1/2 cup sugar

6 large egg yolks

1 quart half & half

Procedure:

 **For candied red bell pepper, use 1 pepper and half the amount of sugar, cider vinegar and water. Follow the same procedure as in the candied jalapeno post 

***Stir pistachios into candied red bell pepper before adding to gelato

1) Puree squash in food processor w/ a small amount of half & half

2) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

3) Place half & half in a heavy pot and heat until scalded 

4) Very slowly add warm half & half to egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

5) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling

6) Whisk squash puree into cooling mixture

7) Once cool, refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight