Experiencing Italy

This was our second trip to Italy, this time our trip included a return visit to Rome and a first time visit to Milan including a couple of day trips. We started with three perfect days in Rome and the beauty of second trips is that you don’t have a big agenda of site to see you have the opportunity to experience the city. There were a couple of things that we wanted to see that we somehow missed the last time we were in Rome; the Colosseum and Trevi fountain other than that we just wanted to wonder. Before leaving I consulted my friend, Brian Duncan from Bin 36, http://www.bin36.com/restaurant.php in Chicago for dinning recommendations and he came through with two recommendations in Rome; Gusto and dal Bolognese.

We had an on time arrival in Rome Friday morning, June 9th where we eased through customs and retrieved our luggage. Our trip was off to a great start, the last time we were in Italy my husband’s luggage never ever arrived. Our good friends traveling from Chicago were scheduled to arrive on Friday but their flight was canceled and they arrived Saturday morning leaving us on our own for our first day in Rome.

The Donatello hotel was our home base for our stay. The hotel was position in the heart of Rome, between the Colosseum and the cathedrals of San Giovanni in Laterano and Santa Maria Maggiore. The room was small and clean with marble floors with a balcony off the sleeping room; the bathroom was very nice and the shower was awesome. After checking into the hotel we took a shower and a nap before exploring the surrounding neighborhood - - we had no agenda!

Refreshed after our nap we hit the streets strolling down Via Di Porta Maggiore and stumbled across G. Fassi , Palazzo del Freddo boasting to be one of the (or possibly the) oldest gelateria in continuous operation in Rome. It was a hot day and we were on our way to nowhere so we stopped for a cone, I choose chocolate and pistachio. It took a little while in the gelateria before we figured out how to place our order. We saw the ice cream and an unorganized grown of people standing in front of the counter, after a few minutes we noticed across the room a line formed in front of a cash register. So the deal is you pay for the ice cream, you get a little piece of paper and you join the crowd in front of the ice cream counter. Finally, I got my gelato, it was great and all was right with the world.

After gelato we continued our walk and stumbled across a park where Euro Pride was headquartered for the week, we strolled through the park looking at the people and the booths and felt right at home. Leaving the park we walked until we found a nice little café to sit and watch the world go by across the street from the cathedral of San Giovanni. It was really hot so we ordered beer; Charles decided to order for the both of us, a small beer for me and a large one for him. I didn’t know what he was doing (we were after all still jet lagged) and I later learned that he didn’t know what he was doing either. We have been married for a lot of years and I have never seen him order a large anything. The waiter appeared at our table with what looked like a gallon of beer for Charles, the waiter smiled and the table of college girls across from us laughed when they saw the expression on his face when that gigantic glass was put before him. Needless to say he did not even attempt to finish the beer; we sat for a couple of hours enjoying the view.

We ended the day with dinner at a nearby restaurant recommended by the hotel, Il Tempio di Minerva where we ordered too much food, a salad to share, the fish and octopus entrée. The fish was outstanding and really enough for two, the salad was enough for a family of 5 but good and the octopus entrée was so so, not bad for a first night. We met a lovely Dutch couple sitting at the table next to us; we struck up a conversation about travel, food and music and had a wonderful first night in Rome. Meeting this lovely couple reinforces the joy of travel, meeting fellow travelers from around the world.

Day two, we woke up rested, had our “complimentary breakfast” consisting of coffee, bread and juice and anxious to see our friends. After breakfast we went exploring for a couple of hours in a different direction until we received a text that our friends had landed in Rome. We made our way back to the hotel to meet them; after we greeted them they checked into the hotel and took a couple of hours to refresh and to renew while we went out for another aimless walk.
We meet up with our friends after their respite and headed off on a “15 minute walk” to the Colosseum , according to the guy at the hotel. ( Side bar: we later learned that everything is Rome is a “15 minute walk”, ha ha) After a little over a half hour walk in the hot sun the Colosseum revealed itself in all of its grandness, a sight to behold and better enjoyed at a distance. The closer we got to the Coloseum you soon realized you were at a major tourist trap, the beggars and the hawkers were on us from every direction. The hawkers were aggressive, they would not take no for an answer (until my Chicago roots showed itself) and they were selling junk unrelated to the site. Although the hawkers were annoying they did not spoil the experience. We were like every other tourist, we took photo after photo. We had a light lunch of pizza across from the Coloseum before we started our “15 minute walk” back to our hotel.

Day two ended with a late dinner at Gusto, the restaurant recommended by our friend Brian. We ordered the Carpaccio di Salome, Ravioli di patate Con calamari and the gamberoni grigliati with a nice ottle of Rosso Di Montefalco Perticaia 2006 (recommended by the waiter). The food was outstanding, the highlight was the ravioli filled with pesto served under a delicate sauce of calamari. The calamari melted in your mouth like butter. After dinner we strolled through the streets of Rome near the restaurant until we found a taxi to take us back to our hotel.

Sunday, day three we decided to be a little more focused and purposeful since it was our last day in Rome and since we were all pretty rested and adjusted to the time and rhythm of Italy. We decided to head off to Trastevere by monorail, “one of Rome’s classis neighborhoods located on the other side of the Tiber with a stopover on Tiber Island. Our plan was to end the day with a special meal, see the Spanish Steps at night and end a Trevi Fountain. It was mission accomplished, we got a little lost, walked a lot, strayed off the path, made some new discoveries and some familiar ones and had a memorable last day in Rome.

We found our self in the square in Trastevere where we lunched at Ristoranti Sabatini; we soon realized that we were in that square and that very restaurant for dinner the last time we were in Rome. It was fun to stumble upon a place we had been before and to see it in the day light. We had a lovely lunch overlooking the square and the church. The food was really good and the perseco was oh so refreshing. After lunch we found our way to Tiber Island, walked and walked seeing ruin after ruin, we had no idea where we were so when it was time to go home we need to take a taxi. It is worth noting that getting a taxi in Rome is no small feat, there are taxi stands around town and you have to find one of them and stand there in hopes that a taxi will see you and stop.

Our last night in Rome was magical we had dinner at Imago Restaurant on the 6th floor of the Hassler Hotel, at the top of the Spanish Steps. From the restaurant there is a panoramic view of the eternal city. We decided on the restaurant because of the view and because the food was supposed to be sublime. We did not know the price thankfully because had we known we may have made a different decision and missed out on this magnificent artfully presented meal in this beautiful restaurant with very attentive staff. Jazz music played softly in the background (so Charles was happy), elegant marble floors with an antique-wooden inlay, and the romantic play of light reflecting on the mirrored tables, all conspire to create a magical atmosphere, a sense of being in another time and space.

After we were seated we were served a glass of perseco and a playful amuse bush that looked like dessert but it was savory fish perpetration. We share an appetizer of zucchini stuffed with tomato jam, quail, fish and more. We were to full to order dessert which was a good thing because we were served a piece of chocolate after our meal and given a small box of confections as a token after our meal. Sometime it pays to go blindly into an experience, our meal was expensive but worth every cent!

Leaving the Hasssler, we descended the Spanish Steps and made our way to Trevi Fountain, I am happy we saw it at night. We strolled the streets for a couple of hours it seemed before returning to our hotel to rest up for our train ride to Milan in the morning.

buona notte roma!


Stay toon for more Italy......

Inspiration

My husband and I are big public television fans, one of our favorite shows is Check Please. I even completed an application to appear on the show; so far I have not been selected. Recently we saw two shows on Check Please that was the inspiration for dinner Saturday night and a destination for lunch Saturday afternoon.

The destination for lunch Saturday was to Esperpento on 22nd and Valencia, http://www.esperpentorestaurant.com/. We were drawn to this restaurant because it is in our neighborhood and we didn’t know about it and because the small plates tapas style dinning is very appealing. The restaurant was bright and cheery with the colors of Spain, the wait staff was very friendly and we immediately felt welcomed. We ordered four small plates; Gambas A La Plancha grilled jumbo shrimp, Patatas Aioli homemade garlic mayonnaise, Alcachofas a la plancha thin sliced artichokes grilled with garlic & parsley, and Pollo Al Ajillo garlic chicken. Every dish was so tasty and I would order all of them again. Dishes were perfectly seasoned and the garlic in the chicken dish was not at all overpowering, that sauce was awesome! We plan to return to this restaurant with a larger group so we can sample more of the dishes. Can’t wait to share this experience with others, for a couple of hours this past Saturday afternoon I thought I was back in San Sebastian!

After our lunch on Saturday we decided on a light dinner. I went to my favorite grocery store, Bi-Rite on 18th Street, where I purchased; six scallops, black trumpet mushrooms, chicken and a few other ingredients for meals to come. The inspiration for dinner was a scallop appetizer I saw on an episode of Check Please at a restaurant in San Rafael. The only thing my dish had in common with the dish featured on Check Please was the scallops and the simplicity of the dish.

I sautéed the black trumpet mushrooms with white corn then added (already blanched) spring peas and fava beans. I seared the scallops in brown butter a couple of minutes on each side and voila dinner! This meal was so good particularly the black trump mushrooms, as Jacques Pepin would say this meal was “Fast Food My Way”; it really took no time at all to prepare. Charles pared a nice Alsace wine, I am not a fan of white wine but I enjoyed a glass with my meal, it complemented it nicely.

We finished the meal with a chocolate from Fran’s Chocolates; I bought a small three piece box of dark chocolate with gray sea salt. Fran’s is based in Seattle but you can purchase it at Bi-Rite. I try to buy only a few pieces at a time because this stuff is addictive!

Happy cooking and eating!

COMMONWEALTH

Commonwealth is a relatively new restaurant in the Mission, actually located on Mission Street (at 18th). The food created by Chef Jason Fox, is classified as “Progressive American”; I would classify it as damn good, inventive and comparable to Saision without the strain on the wallet! I would describe décor as austere, the focus is clearly on the food. The restaurant is also socially responsible and supports the community, check out the website to learn more about that and to make a reservation http://commonwealthsf.com/.

Last night we went to a basketball game at the Oracle Arena in Oakland; yes I went to the game with the husband and a dear friend - - the things we do for love! After the game we were in search of a light bite, our first thought was Flour + Water because we like it and it is across the street from our pad. We had forgotten that Flour + Water was closed for remodeling. My husband suggested Commonwealth and I was so happy he thought of it!

The first and last time we dined at Commonwealth was under similar circumstances; it was late night, we wanted someplace in our neighborhood (our neighborhood has no shortage of excellent eating establishments), we heard of the place and thought we would give it a try. We loved it then and we love it even more now.

We arrived at the restaurant without a reservation and after a short wait we were seated. The restaurant was lively and almost every table and seating at the bar was full at 10:00pm, this is rare for San Francisco. After studying the menu we decided on the duck breast, young turnips and onions, blood orange, cauliflower mousse and cocoa nib; and the beef sirloin, asparagus, maitake mushrooms, nettles, horseradish and bone marrow fritter. Our waiter suggested the wine, we took her suggestion and was pleased. After ordering our meal we were served an amuse bouche of sweet peas with a hint of mint and buttermilk foam, it was so lite and refreshing, the perfect little taste to tease our palate.

Every ingredient in each dish complemented the others to bring together the perfect harmony of taste, all I can say is the meal was simply outstanding and I can’t wait until the next time! The portions are small, just what we wanted for a late night meal. If it were earlier in the evening we most likely would have had something to start and we would have finished with a dessert. With wine, our tab was under $100, a true bargain for this most complete and excellent dining experience!

(p.s. the plates were more beautiful than displayed in these photos. I am a novice photographer with much to learn)

GUMBO

The inspiration for today’s blog if from the book I am currently reading, High on the Hog; A Culinary Journey From Africa To America, by Jessica B. Harris. High on the Hog takes the reader on a journey from Africa across the Atlantic to America, tracking the trials that the people and the food have undergone along the way. The author said that okra, watermelon, and black-eyed peas were Africa’s gifts to the new world cooking.

My dear mother loved watermelon, I could tell stories about tracing around the streets and stores of Chicago seeking the perfect watermelon but I will save them for another time. I have always liked black-eyed peas prepared properly, okra I despised as a child but I have come to love as an adult.

The American word okra comes from the Igo language of Nigeria, where the plant is referred to as okuru, according to Harris. “It is the French word for okra, gombo, that resonates with the emblematic dishes of southern Louisiana know as gumbo”. After all of this enlighten reading about the origins of okuru and gumbo I started craving a bowl of gumbo.

Gumbo is a stew or soup; the main ingredients are a strong stock, meat and/or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable of celery, bell peppers, and onion often referred to as the “holy trinity”. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used: the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé powder, or the French base made of flour and fat, roux.

My gumbo is made with a dark roux and with okra because I like the spiciness of the roux and the earthy taste and consistency of the okra. I didn’t use celery in this gumbo because I didn’t have any, I have made gumbo many times over the years and I have never made it the same way twice. I also, added a couple of cloves of minced garlic. Sausage or ham are mainstays for gumbo, I almost always use sausage. I chose a spicy Portuguese sausage Linguica, shrimp, cat fish and a few pieces of leftover chicken tenders. Growing up people made gumbo with whatever they had neck bones ham hocks whatever…

Making the roux is the first step; roux is a base of flour and fat heated slowly over a medium heat to cook off the raw taste of the flour until it is your desired color. My desired color is like a nice rich dark chocolate. The trick is to keep a careful eye on the roux stirring often so that the roux does not burn. After the base is prepared, vegetables are cooked down, and then meat is added. The dish boils for a minimum of a couple of hours or so then the seafood is added. Note: I only add enough seafood for two servings because there will definitely be leftovers. When I reheat the gumbo for the next meal I add more seafood, gumbo is always better (to me) the second go round because of the intensity of the flavor.

Find a recipe you like and make a pot of gumbo, if you have never attempted this dish and if you enjoy it you will surely make it again deviating from the recipe like a true cook!

I enjoyed my gumbo with a found appreciation of “Africa’s Gifts to New World Cooking”

CASSOULET

It’s been a cold and rainy week here is San Francisco, it’s Sunday and the perfect day and weather for a hearty meal. I thought about making one of two dishes, Cassoulet or Short Ribs of Beef for dinner tonight. After consulting with the husband we decided on Cassoulet because as he put it “you haven’t made it this winter”.

There are many recipes for Cassoulet and I probably followed one of those recipe’s when I first made this dish many years ago. Now that I have spent years in the kitchen I basically make the dish with the foundation ingredients; duck legs, sausage, beans, onions, garlic, diced tomatoes and aromatics. The thing to remember about Cassoulet is that it is a bean stew (usually cooked in earthenware) and you can do almost anything you want with a stew and historically no two households prepared stews in the same exact way.

So the first thing I had to do was consult the cupboard to see if I had any beans because if I were to carry of this dish for tonight’s dinner I had to get the beans soaking. In the cupboard I found red beans, lentils and black eyed peas so off I go immediately to the grocery store. When I returned home I immediately started the process of soaking my beans. Beans generally take 8 to 10 hours to soak and I had only about eight hours before I planned to serve dinner so I needed to speed up the soaking process. I put a pot of water on the stove top and heated it until it came to a boil then I added a cup of cannellini beans, put the lid on the pot and turned the pot off and let sit for about 5 hrs.

When the beans are ready strain in a colander. In a pot I sauté pancetta, onions celery and garlic with a little olive oil. While the vegetables are sautéing I boned the duck legs and cut into cubes. Sit the cube duck pieces aside and add the duck bones to the pot with the sautéed vegetables. Add the tomatoes, a cup of chicken stock, a cup of water and the herbs (tied together) to the beans cover and cook on a low heat for about 1 hr until beans are just tender.

In another pan on medium heat begin to sauté the duck pieces, skin side down, until brown. When the duck pieces are brown turn them add a little salt, pepper and more herbs if you like then place in a 325 degree oven for 25 min. Take the duck pieces out of the oven, with a slotted spoon remove the duck pieces, pour off some of the duck fat put the pan on the stove top on medium heat and brown the sausage. After the sausage is browned, add the duck pieces, chopped parsley and ladle the beans into the pan, top on and place in a 350 degrees oven for roughly one hour.

I transferred the Cassoulet to small individual size earthenware pots for multiple servings later in the week; it is impossible to make this dish in small portions and it is only two of us. I coated breadcrumbs with some of the rendered duck fat and sprinkled on top of the Cassoulet, place in a hot oven for a few minutes to brown. For the Cassoulet’s you are saving for a later day sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and put away until you are ready to heat and serve.

I served the Cassoulet with a green salad and a my husband served a lovely Chateauneuf du Pape. The wine pared nicely with the dish, it was so clear, crisp and bright and married well with the earthiness of the Cassoulet. It was the perfect meal for a cold Sunday!

Happy Birthday To Me

December 23rd is my birthday, and most of the country is focused on Christmas but my friends and family always take a little break in the holiday preparation to see to it that I have a very Happy Birthday. Days before my birthday I started receiving birthday greetings and they kept coming until the BIG day. Flowers arrived a couple of days before and the morning of my birthday my husband gave me a beautiful gift with my coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice with a splash of pom juice. My phone rang off the hook all day. My husband and I are the only members of our family in California but with the invention of Skype we are able to experience special occasions or any occasion with family and friends around the globe. I was very please to spend some time with my son, sister, nephew and family on Skype on my birthday.

The plan for the day was to chill out until time to go out for dinner. My birthday dinner destination was going to be a surprise, all I knew was that it was someplace that I have never been. My husband went to the gym and I hung around the house until he returned with a light lunch and a Red Devil Cake from Baked, I love that cake and that little bakery.

I read a book, napped, talked on the phone, Skyped and did nothing at all until time to get ready for dinner. About six o’clock I pulled myself together and we started out to dinner. In the car we started driving up Harrison St. turning on 21st St. crossing So. Van Ness making a left turn on Valencia, I couldn’t figure out where we were going. When he turned on 24th St. towards Noe Valley all I could think of was restaurant Incanto but I knew that couldn’t be it because we’ve dinned there before. I was totally confused when he made a left turn on Castro St., I saw a couple of restaurants and through the process of elimination I finally figured it out. We parked a couple of blocks away on Castro St. after driving around the block several times and walked to restaurant Contigo.

Contigo is a Spanish and Catalan restaurant where the menu features rustic dishes inspired by the flavors of Barcelona. The food is cooked from scratch using local organic ingredients. It’s a small restaurant with table seating in the dining room, the covered heated patio, the kitchen counter or Cava bar. We were escorted to the patio where there were several large parties with cute little children so we opted to sit in the very comfortable seats at the cava bar. The cava bar seats four so we sat beside a lovely couple, we became fast friends and they gave us tips on ordering our food. The restaurant was really busy, the staff were all decked out in San Francisco holiday outfits with a touch of the holidays and the whimsy. The waiter at the bar was moving really fast, he was decked out is a very decorative holiday vest. I made friends with the wait staff really quickly telling everyone it was my birthday, those of you that know me know why. Our waiter was from Barcelona and he was pleased to learn that we had been to Barcelona more than once.

We ordered several small plates starting with the cana de cabra goat cheese a la planxa with arugula, persimmons and toasted hazelnut vinagreta. Followed by the Bacalao – house cured salt cod with potato, garlic and toasts. Then, Hog Island clams “cal pep” style with Jamon (Spanish ham) garlic and manzanilla sherry. Last, Albondigas – pork and jamon meatballs in tomato sherry sauce. This meal was enjoyed with a nice crisp Rioja Alta, Hermanos pecina, reserve, 2001!

The cana de cabra was outstanding, the goat cheese was toasted and creamy on the inside, the persimmons sweet complimenting the peppery taste of the arugula. I was a being a little daring when I ordered the Bacalao. The last time I had Bacalao (someplace else) it was way too salty, this was just right with the smoky taste of the house cured cod and the creaminess of the garlic and potato, really good. The clams and jamon was so delicious, the sauce had all of the savory flavors of the ham, fennel, butter, sherry and clams. I sopped up that sauce with a nice piece of rustic bread. The meatballs were excellent, they were light with a little brightness from the cilantro and that sauce was simply awesome. The food was outstanding, we did not have a miss all of our dishes were hits. We didn’t have dessert because I had my Red Devil Cake at home and a couple of neighbor friends were coming by our place for a little wine and cheese. I will definitely go back to Contigo, my hubby did a great job with the suspense of the evening and in his restaurant selection; I think I will keep him!

December 23, 2010 will go down in history as being one of the best birthdays ever !! Thank You Friends and Family for making my day so very special - - I felt the love!