Today I ate both the perfect pastry – an almond croissant at Bouchon in Yountville (Napa Valley) – and the perfect pizza – a margherita at Bistro Don Giovanni between Napa and Yountville. Scary. Never thought this day would come.  Now what should I search for?

The perfect almond croissant. Truly.

So perfect I had to share. So perfect even the birds froze with pleasure.

So thin, so crispy, so dreamy. It ended too soon.

I’m also totally enjoying all of the creative salads out here. Each restaurant has multiple intriguing combinations. This one included butter lettuce, goat cheese, peaches and almonds. My.

A creative twist.

Another dinner party favorite from days gone by: mushroom tart. We decided to make this as an antipasto instead of bruschette. Smelling it baking brought back lots of happy memories. We made a version of the tart with a wine crust, but my favorite version for mushroom uses a lemon zested pate brisee. 

Wine crust:

1 stick plus several tablespoons of cold butter, cut into pieces. 

2 cups flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup white wine

In a food processor, pulse the butter, flour and salt until crumbly, resembling coursemeal. Add the wine and run the processor until it forms a ball. No food processor? Shame on you. Put the butter, flour and salt in a large bowl and use a pastry blender to break up the butter. No pastry blender? Sigh. Use two knives, or better yet, your own hands: working very quickly to crumble the butter into the flour. Add the white wine and form a ball.

Whatever method you use, the trick is not to work the dough too long. Press the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic and put it in the fridge for an hour or so. You can make the dough ahead, or freeze it for a month or two. 

My description not vivid enough? Watch this video with Cat Cora, a professional:

When the dough is firm, roll it into the desired shape and place it in a buttered tart pan. Cover in tin foil and place some dried beans on it before precooking for 10 minutes or so at 375. 

The filling we used was mushroom, but you can use any vegetable you like. Eggplant works really well.

Filling

Saute assorted mushrooms, lightly salted, in garlic and oil. Let cool. (Note: if you use dried porcini mushrooms, reconstitute them in warm water and you’ll get a strong earthy flavor.)

Beat 3-4 eggs in a large bowl. Add in desired amount of cream – until the mixture is a lighter yellow. More cream = milder egg flavor. Less = eggy, quiche-like flavor.

Add the mushrooms and a generous amount of grated parmigiano.

Pour the mixture into the tart shell and bake for 20 minutes or so, until the top begins to brown. 

This torta salata is fairly simply to make, and always leaves a lasting impression. My friend Veronica – fellow granddaughter of Italian immigrants, but from Buenos Aires – first taught me how to make these while we were in grad school. I still consider torte salate to be the perfect party food. Let me know if you make them, or have any ideas for fillings. Have fun!

A picture I took on my last trip to Lebanon in 2004

If I had been living a couple thousand years ago, I might have celebrated the winter solstice with wine and merriment, perhaps in the Temple of Bacchus, in Baalbek, Lebanon. The Romans colonized what both the Phoenicians and the Greeks called the City of the Sun. The day I visited, it was sunny and very hot, with only a handful of others there; we had a private tour. Literally. 

Today, instead, I celebrated by baking cookies. Lots of them. Did the pizzelles and limoncello cookies, and the classic little butter balls every culture claims as its own: Russian teacakes, Mexican wedding cakes, Italian wedding cookies, Spanish polvorones. 

Followed the recipe on Epicurious:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pecans, toasted, coarsely ground

Cream the butter. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and vanilla. Cream some more. Then fold in the flour. Then the nuts. Chill the dough, then roll it into teaspoon sized balls and bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Roll them in powdered sugar right when they come out, then let them cool and immediately delivery them to your neighbor(s). Ignore the mess in your kitchen.

Feel grateful that the days will be getting longer, and grateful to hear the powerful and beautiful voice of Fiorella Mannoia in my living room. Check out Quello che non dicono le donne, or browse others on You Tube.

Rode home tonight thinking I’d make a vegetable lasagna, but arrived to find a beautiful big box from Amazon: my Villaware pizzelle maker had arrived! And to think that I had a hard time identifying in my leadership seminar what really ‘engaged’ me outside of work. 

Using both the recipe that came with the iron (below) and a variation (click here) on the ‘recipe’ that Angela gave me earlier in the summer, I set out to make two batches: anise and almond. The big difference between the recipes is that one used butter and the other vegetable oil. No surprise which pizzelle are more pleasing! Here’s the recipe I think worked better. 

Villaware’s Recipe for Traditional Italian Pizzelles

3 eggs, room temp

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. anise

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Add the cooled butter or margarine, vanilla and anise. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the egg mixture. The batter should be stiff enough to be dropped by spoon. The batter can also be refrigerated to be used later.

Lots of questions arose while making these. Why and how did the pizzelles “sing” during several presses? I guess it has something to do with the release of steam, like a tea kettle, but I’d have liked to turn to a resident kitchen scientist and gotten a thorough answer. Another question is this: where exactly do I place the spoonful of batter so that I end up with a complete pattern? (And why on earth would I even care?) While I ended up pressed most cookies for about one minute, I frequently lost track of the time. Short of staring at the second hand, what’s a gal to do? I’d have liked to have a scientific partner to help me with timing. 

Speaking of science, I realized I need MUCH more experimentation with the pizzelles. As elusive as it may be, does there exist a perfect pizzelle recipe? I couldn’t help but wonder whether people have made savory pizzelles … I was thinking to make some with olive oil and thyme, for example, or simply sprinkled with lavender. Should I manage to keep butter and eggs in my refrigerator, I imagine I’ll have some interesting results as I move forward with my explorations. I welcome any ideas!

Lots of clouds this morning sent me to the Spin studio instead of the park; but only after lingering in bed a while. Gotta love lazy mornings every now and then. Ate an easy pasta dish with oil and parmigiano for lunch, finishing up the bucatini freschi from Carlino’s. Nothing to photograph, but enjoyed its simple flavors. 

Was talking with Chicco, Joyce’s Italian husband, at Lori’s party tonight, and got all excited about the fall cooking season. Chicco’s been on a kick to make the the classics: vitello tonnato, osso bucco … and rabbit and polenta! Finally! Years after posting a personals ad with the same title, I’ve met a match. (I’d long ago given up on the idea that such a man would actually be available for dating, so the find still excites me.) I invited myself over to dinner, promising to bring the tiramisu, which their two lovely daughters would definitely enjoy. Poor Joyce has no idea that I will be following up on this week after week until it happens. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while working years at one of the most bureaucratic institutions on the planet, it’s tenacity. 

We chatted about other Italian restaurants in the city: L’Angolo, Radicchio and Tre Scalini. Chicco thought they were all good, for different reasons. L’Angolo, for example, took care of his cantankerous father when he was visiting from Italy recently. Ha ha. Curiously absent from all the discussions were any passionate reviews of the food, so I shared my enthusiasm for the newly-”discovered” L’Oca and Le Virtu. Would love to go out for dinner with them, but booking married couples with young children is harder than finding fresh rabbit at the supermarket! More pazienza is what I need…. or some faith that it’ll happen in due time. I mean, I first posted that rabbit and polenta ad 4 years ago.

Also chatted with Joyce and Chicco about the Paola Navone bed I found, and learned that Chicco too is a maximizer…AND he’s in the furniture business! Lucky for him, he’s got a lovely wife who makes the decisions when he becomes paralyzed in the paradox of choice. Though they report that their new place is scantily furnished, to the outsider, it’s filled with something much more important than a few beautifully designed artifacts of someone else’s creative process. 

Thank you, Lori, for gathering your friends and family in the hurricane! Sorry I contributed to leaving you with a house full of food! Aside from the disappointing taste test of my flattened “puff” pastry tart, I only ate brownies. Loved the Italian lemon soda though! Sometimes all we need to get us back on track is a return to the simplest pleasures. 

I must make saffron pasta tomorrow … and stock my pantry with what I need for a happier week.

OK, I admit that my very small mind has made three gigantic mistakes:

• I dismissed Nadia’s glowing review of L’Oca last year as delusional.
• I doubted that Luca Garutti, the talented chef, could make food that pleased me … and told him so on several occasions. 
• I forgot to take my camera to L’Oca tonight.

Looking at the menu a few weeks ago intrigued me, that’s true. Speaking with Luca about food led me to believe he could talk the talk, but could he perform? I just had to find out. 

Famed Philly restaurant critic Craig LaBan, who used to be Barbara’s neighbor, wrote that Luca had some work to do, giving the place a one and then two-bell review (meaning interesting, above average food). He also gave Le Virtu, the city’s other authentic Italian place, the same ranking. Either he needs to go back again and get it right (third time’s a charm), or he needs a few tutoring sessions on how to appreciate la cucina italiana (and I say this with the highest respect for his fabulous writing). Anyone who knows what Italian food is supposed to taste like will undoubtedly enjoy L’Oca.

Here’s what we ate:

VALERIANA: Mache Salad, radicchio, tomato, red onions, shredded carrot, fennel, cucumber, olive oil & lemon juice.

CAROTE E AVOCADO: Grated carrots tossed with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil and sliced avocado. This is one of my all-time favorite salads. While travelling in Italy last June, I literally had dreams about eating grated carrots, served exactly as Luca made them tonight. The brilliance of such a simple dish on the menu is in its perfect execution: 4 ingredients, in harmonious balance. Only a seasoned hand can pull this off with the right proportions. (I frequently squirt in too much lemon, then try to recover with oil and end up with something too ‘heavy’. Che scema.)

ACCIUGHE MARINATE: Fresh anchovies, house cured in lemon juice, served with black olives and a salad of cucumbers, fennel & cherry tomatoes. Uh, where am I? Did I just fall in love? Ha ha. I’ll take anchovies over chocolate any day.

SPAGHETTI ALLE CAPESANTE: Fresh saffron spaghetti with prosciutto, scallops & wild mushrooms. Intriguing blend of flavors, with a beautiful presentation. The light saffron scent resonated only after swallowing. I really loved this dish, but now crave a deeper saffron flavor – am inspired to try and make saffron pasta at home, perhaps served with fresh tomatoes and shaved fennel?

RAVIOLI: Fresh ricotta cheese ravioli topped with parmesan, noisette butter and sage. I lost my ability to articulate at first bite. Lori gets to write this one.

CONIGLIO RIPIENO: Rabbit loin stuffed with prosciutto e spinaci — This is NOT the menu’s description, and Lori, like my mom, made a comment about the cute little bunny it once was. I made a comment about how brilliantly it was cooked … or should I say, “NOT overcooked”. Served with perfectly seasoned fried potatoes, this dish altered my consciousness … which says a lot.

TIRAMISU: Classic ladyfinger dessert – which is keeping me up late at night. Damned caffeine. Lori promises to review the tiramisu, so click on the comments. While I admit to certain failure at trying to reproduce any of Luca’s artistic creations, my very small mind believes my tiramisu is far superior. Perhaps I will make it for him one day and let him tease me about delusions of grandeur. LOL.

To be honest, I’m still in a bit of shock. Spending the evening at L’Oca drew me into an intimate space, reconnecting my deep love of Italian food with a spirit of discovery. I guess my biggest concern about returning regards how intently I’ll be able to focus on the dinner conversations when there’s so much pleasure in the food. The open kitchen doesn’t help matters any, especially now that I’m certain something special is going on in there, and that I can catch a glimpse of the handsome chef working his magic.  ;-)

Other than lightening the tiramisu, I’m not sure what they could be doing better: atmosphere, service, and food are outstanding. Casual contemporary corner space with open windows and outdoor seating. Friendly, multilingual waiters. Luca’s friend Carlo, also an Italian instructor and city planner, extends the gracious hospitality and sociability of a traditional trattoria, introducing us, as we were leaving, to an Italian family sitting outside celebrating a birthday. I’d like to invite my own Italian family to swing by for dinner … maybe to celebrate Chicca and Matteo’s arrival verso natale!?

Mille grazie, Luca.  Abbiamo mangiato benissimo stasera. Sure wish you were in my neighborhood!

Went to Le Bec Fin for a dessert dinner tonight.  Have wanted to check out that restaurant since landing in Philly, so was glad the opportunity came up. They come around with this fabulous dessert cart, and give you as much as you want! Click on the link and check out the pictures.

We literally got a sampler of everything on it. The lemon tart was my ‘favorite’ … and so was one of the flourless chocolate tarts … and the coconut mousse  something or other … and the simple fruit tart with almond cream … and the chocolate mousse thing with the hazelnuts. The pineapple chunks in lemongrass syrup were tasty as well. Reminded me of the rosemary pineapple crepes I had at the foodie picnic in DC last year. 

 Sugar has no lasting value to the mind or body, even if it’s dressed up in fancy clothes. The sugar buzz, as you can imagine, was pretty intense.  I was overwhelmed. Still am. Can’t even frame my experience into something coherent here. 

Do know this, however: the strawberries didn’t move me as much as those I ate with Dave a few weeks ago while sitting barefoot on beach chairs in a park. Context is everything, I suppose.

I skimmed a few recipes on the internet, but was not at all ready to do anything complicated and ended up with a simple solution. I almost feel guilty about how easy it was. With no dairy, I’m not sure I can actually call this a gelato, but what the heck? This past week has been all about taking liberties. 

Coconut-pineapple gelato 

Blend a can of crushed pineapple and a can of coconut milk in a blender. Add desired amount of a simple syrup (made with equal parts of sugar and water brought to boil in the microwave) and chill.

Churn it in your ice cream maker and call it a light and delicious tropical treat. 

The filling for the profiteroles was a perfect ending to the delicious meal that Ann made: tropical broiled shrimp (with mango, lime, cilantro and pineapple) and her signature salad. Another blog entry on food that isn’t Italian. Maybe I’m turning into an American after all?

Though I recently ate classic profiteroles at Parc, I first ate them in Italy, so have license to connect them to the spirit of the blog, right?  Otherwise I’d be hard pressed to argue that making a pate a choux has anything to do with Italian techniques. 

This is the easiest dough you will ever make. I was dumbfounded by how simple it was, and how beautiful the results. You can google ‘cream puff’ recipes, use Bittman’s recipe or remember the ratios (below). 

Pate a choux

Bring to a boil equal parts butter and water in a saucepan with a pinch of salt. 

Add twice as much flour as the butter you used (e.g. 1/2 cup of butter = 1 cup of flour) to the boiling liquid and stir furiously until it forms a ball. 

Remove the ball from the heat and add eggs, one at a time, continuing to beat. If you make a recipe with one cup of flour, use 4 eggs. If you make a batch with 1/2 cup flour, use 2. I wouldn’t go much smaller batch than that, as you need the eggs to help create the airy pockets. 

Spoon out balls of dough, arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees, until golden. 

Prick them with a toothpick when you take them out of the oven, to let the steam escape.

Marvel at their beauty, and call your neighbors over to witness:

While thinking I could Italianize the profiteroles with some zabaglione gelato, I’ve since learned that our menu tonight is light and tropical, so they’ll be filled with coconut gelato instead. Hope to remember to snap a pic at the finished product. (I did, and here it is, sans the chocolate sauce that we burned in the microwave.)

I wanted to believe that this dish would wrap up my recent focus on desserts, but Ann brought over a bowl of Jersey peaches this morning so I think I should try to make a sorbetto. Have a mango in my fridge; maybe I can add it?

Italians aren’t big breakfast eaters. A typical ‘colazione’ includes several cookies you can dip into hot tea or coffee.  When I lived in Italy, I got to know many of the Mulino Bianco varieties, but my all-time favorite are macine. I found them at Carlino’s last weekend!

Made with panna (cream), these cookies are recognizable by their circular form and mild flavor, perfect for soaking up your liquid of choice. I ate a few this morning in place of my typical sprouted grain bread with nut butter. While pleasant, they did nothing to fuel my bicycle commute or knowledge work. Think I’ll have to Americanize them into a new category: snack with low nutritional value. Who says you have to keep all the Italian traditions?

Last year at Chelsea Market’s Buon Italia, where you can buy Mulino Bianco products online, I snapped a picture of their “display”:

The Mulino Bianco website has the recipe for how to make these at home! How interesting. I can’t imagine Nabisco revealing the recipe for Oreos, can you? 

Here it is, in Italian, with a general translation, in case anyone is at all interested:

INGREDIENTI: 500g di farina 00 (flour); 50g di fecola (potato flour); 150g di zucchero a velo (powdered sugar); 100g di burro (butter); 100g di margarina (c’mon, this is obviously margarine); 1 uovo (egg); 5 cucchiai di panna (tablespoons of cream); una bustina di zucchero vanigliato (a packet of vanilla sugar); una bustina di lievito (a packet of yeast); un pizzico di sale (pinch of salt).

Lavorare insieme gli ingredienti, stendere una sfoglia alta 7 mm circa e con un bicchiere infarinato sull’orlo, tagliare i biscotti. Cuocere in forno a 180° C per 10-15 minuti, su una teglia imburrata.

Work the ingredients together and roll out the dough into a 7mm thick sheet. Cut circular forms with a glass whose rim is dipped in flour, and cook in a 350 degree oven on a nonstick pan for 10-15 minutes. 

Where the heck would one buy potato flour? While I’d like to investigate this further, I’m beginning to notice a disturbing pattern in my blog posts over the past few weeks: seems the sweets are seducing me once again! Time to channel my creative energies back into vegetables … maybe next week. I’ve got sorbetto and profiteroles to test out.