Posted in chicken, Coco Lezzone, egg, Florence, Genoa, ham, herbs, holiday, Italian, Italy, Liguria, Meat, Olive Oil, pancetta, prosciutto, rabbit, travel, Tuscan, tuscany on Oct 3rd, 2010
In the very infancy of this blog, back when we had no appreciation for plating, lighting or anything else remotely aesthetic, my wife wrote about the first course of a truly memorable dinner we shared in the famous Florentine trattoria, Coco Lezzone. What she didn’t mention was that even though we were getting towards the end [...]
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Posted in Arezzo, beans, braised, fabada, Florence, hearty, herbs, Italian, pork, pressure-cooker, Tuscan, tuscany on Apr 28th, 2010
“I eat my candy with pork and beans. Excuse my manners if I make a scene.” -Pork and Beans, by Weezer I could begin this post with a rose-tinted anecdote about how, during the run-up to our wedding in Italy, as Amy and I were lingering romantically over a typically rustic Tuscan dinner one warm [...]
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Posted in brandy, castille, chicken, cognac, crispy, fried, Garlic, herbs, Olive Oil, Potato, sauce, Spain, tapas on Mar 13th, 2010
“Eat no garlic nor onions, lest they find out thy boorish origin by the smell…” -Don Quixote to Sancho Panza, Chapter XLIII, Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Sitting around the table last night with gusts of strong breath coloring our domestic atmosphere, Amy and I were considering the profound effect [...]
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Posted in chicken, France, French, fried, Garlic, herbs, Meat, offal, poultry, shallots, thyme, tradition, travel on Feb 20th, 2010
Do you ever wish you had a secret power? I don’t mean like some stupid superhero who can fly, make it rain, or look great in a unitard. I mean like a gerbil’s ability to store tasty bits in its cheeks for later, or a tiger’s ability to eat 30lbs of wild boar at a [...]
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Posted in Arezzo, bolognese, carrots, celery, chicken stock, duck, Florence, flour, game, Garlic, guanciale, hearty, herbs, indulgent meal, Italian, Italy, Meat, Montalcino, Montepulciano, mushroom, mushrooms, noodles, Olive Oil, Pasta, philosophy, porcini, Recipes, sauce, tomato, tradition, travel, Tuscan, tuscany, wine on Jan 23rd, 2010
It might be generational, or, perhaps, philosophical, but there are, on the one hand, those who enjoy and appreciate handmade things, and the art and craft they require to make, and, on the other, those who prefer their things machine-made, reliable, and standard. The ‘things’ here could be quite literally anything. My father, who, to [...]
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Posted in butter, cream, Garlic, herbs, Italian, Italy, liver, Meat, offal, Recipe, sage, shallots, tourism, travel, veal on Jul 14th, 2009
“Two households, both alike in dignity In fair Verona, where we lay our scene” – William Shakespeare, Prologue to Romeo and Juliet On our honeymoon, almost exactly two years ago today, we arrived in the fair city of Verona thoroughly pissed off. And then things got worse. It wasn’t as if the day had started [...]
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Posted in Argentina, bread, Buenos Aires, Chorizo, Colombian, grilled, grilling, herbs, Mexican, morcilla, pork, Recipe, sandwiches, sausage, South America, street food, tourism, travel on Jun 24th, 2009
Virtually everywhere they make sausages, and in a lot of places they don’t, some form of sausage in bread combination is sold by street vendors, often to the inebriated, and, in many cases, the consumer is best advised to be under the influence before taking their life in their hands with one of these mystery bag [...]
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Posted in butter, fava beans, gnocchi, herbs, mint, parmigiano reggiano, Pasta, Potato, Recipe, vegetables on Jun 20th, 2009
As you may be able to tell, if you are a regular reader of this blog, we love mint. We use it often in the summer because it grows like a freaking weed. Because we live in Brooklyn, we barely have any outdoor space (but are very fortunate to have any). Yet, in that small [...]
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Posted in herbs, top five on Mar 26th, 2009
Asking you, dear readers, for your Top 5 fresh herbs was a way to help us think spring. This winter has honestly killed me. It has been one of the longest and, even today, only five days before the beginning of April, I’m about to put on my ugly, annoying, tired heavy coat on my [...]
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Posted in basil, chives, cilantro, herbs, lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, sorrel, tarragon, thyme, watercress on Mar 15th, 2009
The contest has ended for this month. Come on back next month for a new “Top 5″! Check out Top 5 Herbs winner here. Spring hasn’t exactly sprung yet here in Brooklyn. The trees are still bare and are showing no signs of sprouting anything. Even the crocuses, let alone the daffodils, remain mostly tuberly [...]
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Posted in braised, celeriac, celery, cranberries, dining, duck, fruit, herbs, pear, poultry, savory, sformata, sweet on Mar 11th, 2009
Ever have one of those weekend nights that you just cannot figure out what to eat? It’s not because you’re not hungry or that you don’t really feel like cooking, but more because you’ve been lucky to have eaten so many diverse flavors throughout the week and just can’t get your tastebuds to want anything? [...]
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Posted in beef tallow, British, carrots, chicken, chicken stock, England, flavor, flavour, flour, Garlic, herbs, lard, leek, London, Manchester, onions, parsley, parsnips, Potato, Recipe, stew, suet, thyme, vegetables, weather, winter on Jan 16th, 2009
File this one under “utter fabrications told to you by older sibling and believed for too long”. I must have been very young when my sister (15 months my senior) informed me that I should be wary of eating my grandmother’s suet dumplings because suet was the gooey material supporting bovine eye-balls. Quite where she got this [...]
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