Old Isn't Always Good

Fig.1. Baked pasta.  Disclaimer: It looks better than it tastes.

It’s generally believed that old, traditional recipes will result in great tasting meals.  That isn’t always the case as I discovered just last week.  Sometimes tasty ingredients, such as cheese or cured meats, are just the type of elements a recipe needs to propel it from a good meal to an unforgettable one.  The reason many old, Italian recipes don’t call for these tasty ingredients vary. From a geographical reason, to an economic one, ingredients such as salt, spices and cheese were unattainable for many Italians fifty years ago, and so, they made the best with what they had. 

If you’ve read my posts before, you’ll know my position that Italian ingenuity, with regard to food and cuisine, has no rival (except possibly China).  And that when it comes to making the sparsest and simplest of ingredients taste good, Italy will win wooden spoon down. So imagine my surprise when I made a recipe from a Slow Food book and it tasted, well, tasteless.

The recipe in question is Pasta al Forno Con Prociutto Cotto, Fontina e Bechamel. The idea seems great: cheese, pasta, butter, flour, cream, more cheese, and did I mention pasta.  All cooked in the oven until golden and gooey.  The end result was a dish that tasted bland and starchy; a dish that needs to be tweaked for sure.  I’m all for recording old recipes for posterity and tradition, but dishes such as these should come with a disclaimer that reads: I don’t taste as good as I look. 

When in doubt, always side on the air of umami. Some parmesan cheese and less pasta (I can’t believe I just wrote that) are all this recipe needs to make it unforgettable. My additions and suggestions to the original recipe are indicated in parenthesis. 

Pasta al Forno Con Prociutto Cotto, Fontina e Bechamel

Makes 4

Ingredients:

12 pasta circles 1/4" thick-(or 20 thin pasta circles. Make pasta and cut into circles the size of your oven dish.  If making pasta isn`t your thing, simply buy fresh lasagna sheets and cut into circles.  I prefer the thin ones as I find the thicker pasta the original recipe calls for make the dish too starchy.)

3 cups of bechamel

2 1/2 cups grated fontina cheese

12 prociutto cotto circles, 1/4" thick (If you can't find prociutto cotto, use ham)

(1 cup parmesan cheese, not in the original recipe but it's all this recipe needs to make it taste as good as it looks.)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

Prepare your pasta by cutting it, boiling it in salted water, and draining.  Make your bechamel sauce and set aside. 

In a non-stick pan, fry procuitto cotto on both sides until golden.

Once you have all the ingredients in front of you, you're ready to assemble.  Begin by coating the bottom of the oven dish or ramekin with bechamel, followed by some grated fontina, pasta circle, and grated parmesan. Keep adding in the same order until you reach the top.  Finish the pasta by topping it with bechamel and fontina. Place the dishes or ramekins on a cookie sheet (there will be spillage) and cook for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Let it cool for 15 minutes before tucking in.

Fig.2. Bechamel first, followed by fried ham.

Fig.3. More ham and more cheese.

Fig.4. A circle of pasta

Fig.5.Make sure you end with a generous amount of bechamel and fontina and parmesan cheese.

Wild For Fungus

Fig.1. Les Jardin Sauvage at The Jean Talon Market.

Fig.2. A large variety of mushrooms and a few other surprise

Some foragers I’m acquainted with have informed me that this is a great year for wild mushrooms, especially with the cool damp mornings of late. 

Mushrooms are fungus, which is a word that carries a somewhat bad connotation, especially when one thinks of feet.  People who love fungus, and like foraging for them, are called, Mycophagists, which is also a funny word if only because it sounds like it has nothing to do with mushrooms.

For the best selection of wild mushrooms in Montreal, I go to Les Jardin Sauvages in the Jean Talon Market.  I’m always amazed at the selection, and owner Francois Brouillard will be more than happy to regale stories of his farm and discuss fungus with anyone who will listen.  Les Jardin’s porcinis are fat fungus this year, and very flavorful.  The most interesting specimen however, is hands down a mushroom called Vesse du loup.  It resembles a football size marshmallow, white on the inside and light as a feather.  I was told that this mushroom need simply be pan fried on both sides, and drizzled with a little olive oil and vinegar. 

Mushrooms are a lot like women in the morning, scary in appearance, but once you clean them and dress them up a little, they become things of beauty.  Of course, it also depends on the woman, and the mushroom.  All that to say, don’t be scared of how they look.

 Fig.3. Porcini, chanterelle, and vesse du loup, ready to go into an omelet.

Wild Mushroom Frittata

Serves 3 to 4

 Fig.4. Wild mushroom frittata.

This omelet is on the plain side purposely so you can properly taste the mushrooms.  Adding Parmesan or olives will take away from the fungal flavor.  Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel and never under running water; and those small worms sometimes found in fresh porcinis will not harm you, look at them as protein. 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup porcini mushrooms, cleaned and halved

1 cup chanterelle (or any mushroom or your choice)

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

5 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large, non-stick pan set over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook until wilted, about 8 minutes.  In a medium bowl, whip all of the eggs together until combined and just frothy.  Pour the egg mixture evenly to the pan (make sure the pan is not dry, if it is, add a bit more olive oil.)  Lower the heat to medium low, sprinkle with parsley, and cook until the frittata sets.  Flip the frittata around and cook the other side, unless you like your omelets slightly runny like I do, then don’t flip it.

Fig.5. Biggest mushroom I've ever seen, vesse du loup. 

Tomatillos-Just Another Tomato

Peeling Tomatillos 

Fig.1. Tomatillos with thier husks on at the Birri Kiosk in The Jean Talon Market.

Tomatillos are fruits associated with tomatoes, and like tomatoes, are part of the nightshade family.  They can be eaten both raw and cooked.  The fruit is surrounded by a thin husk that begins to split open as the green fruit ripens.  The taste of a tomatillo is acidic, tart and full flavored; a mouthful can leave you with puckered lips. 

Tomatillos are an integral part of Mexican and Indian cuisine.  In Mexico (as well as most of Central America) tomatillos are used in most green sauces and are poured over tacos, fish, and all types of meat.  In India, tomatillos are used in chutneys. 

I like to make sauce with tomatillos, which I then preserve.  There’s a lot of natural pectin in tomatillos, which helps the sauce thicken.  Birri sells tomatillos in small bushels.  Look for fat ones, the husks should look like they’re two sizes too small for the fruit.  I look for the ones that remind me of Danny Devito. 

Tomatillo Sauce

Fills about 6 small mason jars

This sauce can be used on everything from beef to fish.  It can also be added to guacamole.  When you remove the husk, you’ll notice that the tomatillo has a slight, slimy texture to it, this is normal and does not need to be washed or scrubbed off.  They are also good raw.

Ingredients:

1 small bushel of tomatillos, halved

3 jalapeño peppers, seeds removed and chopped

5 medium plum tomatoes, halved

Salt

Directions:

Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper and bake the tomatillos, peppers and tomatoes in a preheated 375 degree oven.  Bake until outer part of the fruit begins to brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Add all of the fruit (in batches) to a blender and puree until just broken up. (If you like your sauce finer, puree longer.)  Pour all of the pureed sauce into a large pot and bring to a boil.  Let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes and then fill your hot mason jars (I like to put my Mason Jars into the oven until they’re just hot but not too hot.) Seal the jars immediately and cover jars with a kitchen towel.  After a few hours, verify the jars to make certain they all sealed.  If some of the jars have not “pop”, submerge them into a water bath, and, using the canning method, boil water until jar seals 

Nothing Sooths a Midnight Craving Like Nutella

Fig.1. Eat the top and drink the bottom.

I love getting surprises, especially when it has to do with food, well, in this case a drink.

Many a cold coffee has been consumed this summer, (and not one from Tim Hortons I’m proud to say.)  Vietnamese coffee is my all-time favorite, with a proper cold espresso a close second, but, as I sat thirsty, hot and sluggish one day last week at La Cornetteria craving something cold and laced with caffeine, a friend asked whether I had ever sampled La Cornetteria’s edible espresso. 

“Never heard of it” I said sleepy, “bring me two of them”

What I got was a very refreshing, cold, deep flavored coffee, topped with a coffee flavored whipped cream concoction that was what can only be described as yummy. Served with a straw and a spoon, it’s coffee that you both eat and drink.

Fig.2. An example of what to expect at La Cornetteria this Saturday at midnight during Italin week.
photo by: ©Adriano Ciampoli 2011 http://www.ciampoli.ca/

Let’s not forget that this week is Italian week.  After having ranted a couple of years ago about the lack of effort and will on the part of many of the stores and eateries on St Laurent, I figure it’s time to stop complaining, and time to start encouraging.  La Cornetteria is having a Midnight Nutella Cornetti event this Saturday night from midnight (that’s 12am) to 3am.  Nothing warms the heart like Nutella, so before falling asleep in front of the television, come and take a walk on St Laurent and have that midnight snack.  Alex from La Cornetteria assures me the cornetti will be warm and oozing with Nutella.  Nutella can either be eaten, or rubbed all over you face, both are good and socially accepted means of behavior in Italy.

La Cornetteria, 6528 St.Laurent

514-277-8030

www.lacornetteria.com

What's Yellow, Oily and Grown in Quebec?

Fig.1. Rows upon rows of yellow. They're taller than they look.

For the last two years a friend of mine has been urging me to come and visit his hometown of Upton, situated in the Eastern Townships. Of the many points of interest his small town of Upton has to offer, the one that caught my attention the most was Upton’s sunflower farm.

Fig.1. It's not the flower itself that faces the sun, it's the pedals. Sunflowers need lots of busy bees to polinate.

Imagine acres upon acres of sunflowers. Yellow pedals sprawled out as far as the eye can see, all swaying in unison to the summer breeze as they face fixated to the East, as if every morning’s sunrise is the only thing that matters to them.

Champy farms (which is certified organic) is owned and operated by Christian Champigny. Champigny was inspired to plant sunflowers, and press sunflower oil, after a trip to Spain in 1999. The sunflower seeds are pressed on the farm, and hit store shelves no less than two weeks after they are pressed. It takes 4 kilograms of sunflower seeds to make 1 liter of oil. Last year, Champy farms pressed 10000 liters of sunflower oil.

Fig.3. The oil press. The dried sunflower seeds can keep for months, so the oil is pressed as it's needed.

There are tours being offered during the next two weekends at the farm. Champigny will gladly give you a tour of the sunflower fields and show you exactly how the sunflower seeds are pressed, and how the oil is extracted.

Fig.4. The oil during the various staged of sitting. Time is all that's needed for the oil to clarify.

While, as a food lover, the idea of fresh, mono-unsaturated oil being cultivated and produced right in our backyards passionately sparks my curiosity, what affected me the most from my visit to Champy Farms was how it felt to stand amidst all of those tall, proud sunflowers. I felt how important it is to share our human existence with other forms of life; and, if you listen hard enough, I swear you could hear the sunflowers singing to the winds.

Fig.5. Owner, Christian Champigny bottles the oil in a machine that removes air and seals the bottle at the same time.

Champy Farms. 205, rue Principale, Upton (Eastern Townships) J0H 2E0 450-549-4510

For a complete list of where you can purchase Champy sunflower oil here in Montreal, and for more information on their farm, visit their web site. www.champy.ca

Fig.6. As the pedals fall, the seeds grow and begin to take over the flowers. The weight of the seeds will eventually cause the flowers to hunch over.

Fresh Peas and Fava Beans, Let The Shucking Begin

Fig.1. Bushels of fresh peas and fava beans at Birri. Buy a bushel, get together with some family and friends, and shuck them. Peas and favas freeze very well.

The sense of touch is not something we usually attribute to the food experience: Nose and mouth, we smell our food and taste our food. Our utensils create a barrier between our fingers and our food, therefore denying a tactile, sensory experience; luckily, there are foods that can only be accessed with our hands. I believe these foods can help us to reconnect with what keeps us alive and counteract the disconnect created by many of the processed and prepared foods that are killing us.

Quebec pods are now available at the Jean Talon Market and a perfect way for you to get ‘in touch’ with your food. Fresh peas and fava beans require only hands and fingers to be enjoyed.

The general belief that peas grow already frozen in a plastic bag and delivered to grocery stores by the Jolly Green Giant is not accurate. Peas grow in pods. Peel away the pod and the small, beautiful peas hang on to the outer shell by a green umbilical vine.

There’s something so rewarding about eating fresh peas. Maybe it’s the little bit of effort required or the fact that they taste so good, whatever the appeal, it’s the perfect example of how nature provides us with everything we need. It’s hard not to look at fresh peas and fava beans and think that they just might be one of those small miracles that are often overlooked.

It will always taste better when you can touch it first. Be gone with forks and spoons; grab with your hands and pick with your fingers. The next time you have friends over for a Barbeque, put some peas in front of them, give them a piece of bread, and tell them they’re looking at their appetizers.

All This Inspiration is Making me Hungry, For Onions


Fig.1. Colander of Spring goodies: Cucumbers, asparagus, radishes, and of course, green onions (or scallions). All local, all fresh.


I just can't write or say enough about how the Jean Talon Market makes me feel. Each visit makes me anticipate the next: from the visuals to the scents, it's truly an experience that transcends simply "going food shopping for the week". (It shouldn't be a chore people, food is both a part and way of life, and, as such, life itself.)
Quebec strawberries, rhubarb, lettuce (the lettuce alone will change how you approach salads, Homer Simpson was wrong: you can make friends with salad, as long as you buy it from Birri.) Walking through Birri yesterday, I noticed that fresh, local zucchini and flat beans are now available; as well as those bright, beautiful orange zucchini flowers just begging to be eaten.
One could very well walk through a market on a sun soaked day and realize that a life spent absorbing such a phenomenon would not result in a life wasted. Outdoor farmer's markets have the energy and capacity to flourish epiphanies in some; if you haven't been to a farmer's market yet this year, go now and see whether there's a soft spark somewhere inside of you that can ignite an approach toward what and how you eat that you didn't know exisited. (I'm preaching, I know.)

Moving on to onions. Green onions--or scallion--are available both fresh and local as of now at Birri (as well as other vegetable purveyors.) The red and the green variety taste the same. Great grilled, raw in salads, or cooked down and caramelized until sweet. Also awesome of course, in pasta. There's a big surprise coming from me.

Rigatoni With Sausage, Scallions and Olives
Serves 6, (or 1 for 3 to 4 days, taking into account lunch, supper, and snacks)


Fig.2. Yes, it is as good as it looks.


Ingredients:

5 to 6 tbsp of olive oil
1-450g- pack rigatoni or penne
2 cups scallions or green onions, chopped (They are not shallots, as most people refer to them as.)
4 sausages or 4 cups of sausage meat removed from their casings
1 cup pitted olives (please don't use those sad canned varieties--too much salt)
1 cup white wine
chili flakes or fresh chopped chillies (optional)
1 cup reserved pasta water

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Add the olive oil to a large pan set over medium high heat. Add the scallions and the sausage and cook until meat is cooked through, about 12 to15 minutes. Add the olives and cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until the meat and onions begin to caramelize the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat to high and add the wine, deglaze and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Once the wine has reduced by half, turn the heat down to low. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce, stir well, and let it come together for a couple of minutes. If the pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta water (Some have asked what I mean by 'pasta water'. I'm referring to the water used to boil the pasta.) Top with some chili flakes or fresh chillies and serve hot.