I haven't posted anything new since I returned from my trip. Here are some pictures of what has been going on in my kitchen. Enjoy.  

PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA PIZZA

TRADITIONAL 

EATALY'S FRESH MOZZARELLA, PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA 24 MONTHS,  ITALIAN PESTO

BALSAMIC VINEGAR PEARLS

ESPRESSO CAVIAR IN ACTION

 ESPRESSO CAVIAR

 CIPPOLINI ONIONS, SOPRESSATA, BALSAMIC GLAZE & BASIL  

 CIPPOLINI ONIONS, SOPRESSATA, BALSAMIC GLAZE & BASIL

Winter Fancy Food Show 2011

I was just out in San Fransisco for the Winter Fancy Food Show 2011. My company is known for importing specialty cheeses, meats and grocery items around the world. Below are some pictures of our booth.

Left side of the booth

"Master Slicer"- Serrano Ham from Spain

Specialty Italian 

More Specialty Italian

Grana Padano half wheel chunked out.

PIAVE and some other specialty Italian 

2011 Kick-Off

Molecular Gastromony is difficult to execute if you are not familiar with the science part of it. It is a combination of cooking and science which takes time and skill to get correct, I have learned the hard way. 

Below I did a tomato bruschetta foam served with some Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.  This was probably one of the easier experiments I have done so far. 

I was shocked how good it was. To do this you make your bruschetta as normal and puree it till you have only pulp and liquid. I put this through cheese cloth and a fine strainer to make sure only the juice was left in my bowl.

I added soy lecithin and used my emulsion blender which resulted to this foamy appetizer. 

 I had dinner with two of my friends last Friday evening, I was craving chicken parmigiano. Beside it is rigatoni with mixed mushrooms, red onion, yellow squash, asparagus and a light coating of pesto.

As usual I can't finish a weekend without a pizza. This one is chicken parmigiano and sopressata

A closer look below...

Chicken Parmigiano Pizza 

My roommate Jason finally got back from his vacation. We wanted to keep it simple for dinner so we did a marinated skirt steak with a tomatillo foam, sauteed broccoli, grilled balsamic portabello mushroom and some baked cottage fries. 

 I wanted to explore with some ingredients outside of my comfort level. Below is my tomatillo foam. I used the same process as the bruschetta above. This was a really nice finish to the skirt steak.

Tomatillo Foam 

Best of 2010

I wish everyone a happy and a healthy new year. I decided to post some of my favorite pizzas from 2010. Enjoy.

Top Dishes of 2010

To finish off 2010 on a great note, I decided to post some of the top dinners I cooked based on my guests' feedback. Here it is:

Spaghetti carbonara with grilled chili shrimp 

Marinated veal sliders with a brussell sprout anglaise
(This was for the LOST Series Finale)

Scallop ceviche with orange bell peppers and mango

Seared scallop with sauteed baby bello mushrooms,  orange bell peppers, cippolini onions, rosemary and white wine

Homemade linguine with broccoli rabe and sweet Italian sausage. Pan seared sole in a white wine butter sauce. 

Scallop ceviche atop a parmigiano crisp with orange bell peppers, jalapeno and  heirloom tomato

 Homemade linguine with clams, cherry tomatoes and Cacio di Bosco Truffle Cheese

First night of Hanukkah: roasted chicken, string beans, potato jalapeno latkas 

Homemade linguine with oven roasted tomatoes, broccoli and parmigiano cheese;

Sliced skirt steak with Gorgonzola Piccante

Last Dinner of 2010

Before the new year, I wanted to cook something my roommate Jason and I would enjoy.  He was a big fan of my grilled Swordfish with a tomato bruschetta. Because I was down by Union Square, I decided to do my shopping at Whole Foods on 14th Street and Union Square.

 Above is the grilled swordfish, the tomato bruschetta, farro risotto with baby bello mushrooms, saffron, sage and parmigiano cheese. 

I cored my tomatoes and boiled them, which makes it easier to remove the skin. I quartered each tomato and removed the seeds so I was left with just the"meat" of the tomatoes. Once I diced up the tomatoes, I added chopped kalamata and picholine olives with some salt, pepper, sage and some good Italian olive oil. I let this mixture sit in the refrigerator until I was ready to plate it. 

This was my first time attempting a farro risotto. I learned in my Essentials of Italian Class that you can keep cooking farro without it ever becoming overdone and mushy. I started the risotto earlier in my preparation knowing I would not have a problem getting to the desired al dente texture. I eventually added in saffron, chopped sage and parmigiano. I finished the plate with some Italian pesto, which was a nice flavor combination with the swordfish, tomatoes and olive salsa. 

   

Pizza

If you do not know me well, I am a huge "Pizzahead." My favorite food item to cook and experiment with is pizza. Above is a pie we made after dinner. My friend Evan never eats before coming over knowing that we will be making some pizza at some point.

We made a traditional pie with baby bellos, balsamic cippolini onions and a mustard seed salami. The flavors really meshed well when the pizza was finished. I would have liked more color on the outer crust, but as usual, it was still amazing.  

Late Night Session

Last night I did some experimenting on my first pie. I used fresh pesto as my sauce and topped it with fresh mozzarella, dry mozzarella, hot sopressata and balsamic cippolini onions.  

 
I topped the second pie with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, hot sopressata and balsamic cippolini onions. 

Weekend

I was able to cook Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. On Saturday I prepared a salad with Salty Pecans, Gorgonzola Piccante and Craisins dressed with Balsamic Vinaigrette for a starting course. 

 During my Essentials Of Italian Class we made some amazing soups. I froze a Zuppa Di Farro from the class and decided to defrost it. Farro is a debatable species of grain or rice. This soup consist of onion, celery, carrots, garlic, fresh herbs, Pancetta, potatoes and a soffrito (pancetta, onion, celery, carrots, leeks, garlic, herbs, olive oil, tomato paste, and Farro). I finished off the soup with some Cacio Di Bosco, a blended sheep's and cows milk cheese studded with white truffles. 

Because I took the pizza class earlier that day, I decided I wanted to keep the dinner simple.  I decided to make Linguine with Meatballs. I seasoned the meat with various spices before baking them in the oven. I sautéed garlic and red onion with some olive oil and added some pomodoro sauce to spice things up.

Once the meatballs were done, I added them to the sauce and let that simmer to reduce down. 

Once the sauce was finished I tossed it with the pasta and topped it with the meatballs. I always have to top it off with some cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano. 

Sunday Night

Sunday night I made chicken with a white wine and oven roasted tomato sauce, mushroom rice pilaf and some roasted yellow and green squash. 

I seasoned the chicken with some salt, pepper and herbs before searing it. I did this with some oil and butter to get some color and texture on the outside of the breast. I removed the chicken and deglazed the pan with some white wine, oven roasted tomatoes and herbs. I then took the chicken and added it to the soon to be sauce.

I removed the chicken after being thoroughly cooked. I took some water and corn starch and brought the sauce to a boil. Once the sauce was at the perfect viscosity, I brought the heat down to simmer. I sliced the chicken on a bias and placed it over the rice. The roasted squash was a nice compliment to the dish.