The Passion of WEF in Davos

The Passion of WEF in Davos.

Tortelloni Montegrappa, My Version

Bologna is a food city, well there are many other things to do and see, but it is known for its wonderful small restaurants, markets and some of the best food in Italy. While every region in Italy boast the best food, Bologna is a serious leader. There’s a special touch, a feeling, an inner sense and understanding of cuisine that is hard to describe. They expect the best quality and they can find it in Il Mercato de Mezzo everyday of the week. Bologna is not a fish town, meat and game are their specialty.

Alimentari Tamburini in the region of IL Mercato di Mezzo is one of Italy’s most celebrated food shops. They also have a cafeteria-style lunch packed with people everyday enjoying a large array of hot freshly made dishes continuously coming out of the kitchen and a large wood burning rotisserie producing juicy flavorful meats. This is no ordinary cafeteria, it is famous and I got to eat there every afternoon when I was studying Italian just down the street. I just couldn’t wait to be part of the atmosphere at Alilmentari Tamburini. Cafeteria-style restaurants are very common in Italy and serve good local specialties at very reasonable prices. But this combination of market and cafeteria is special as you can lunch there and walk out with an arm full of cheeses, freshly made pasta, vegetables, and a large variety of salumi for later.

On of my favorite little trattoria is da Nello al Montegrappa (via Montegrappa 2). Their signature dish is Torelllone or Tortellini Montegrappa. This pasta is served in cream-and-walnut (or meat) sauce with white truffle shavings on top. The restaurant is also known for its grilled Porcini mushrooms and one of our favorites stuffed zucchini flowers (zucca fritti) that are light and crispy yet moist, absolutely delectable. The restaurant is small with a room crowded with tables on the ground level, a down stairs dinning room and a very small outdoor dining area. You feel a little packed in at times and this might be very uncomfortable to some tourists who are not use to Italian restaurants at lunch time. Italians eat out and crowded restaurant are not at all unusual. Even though the restaurant is in the center of town where there are many tourists, locals swam da Nello. Some may consider it touristy but I’ve been going there for many years and have never been disappointed. The fried zucchini flowers are among the best I’ve had in Italy and their grilled Porcini mushrooms are succulent.

As you can see in the photo below, my granddaughter is in her glory with a dish of their fried zucchini flowers.

I have tried to recreate Tortelloni Montegrappa and came up with my own version. Of course I don’t have white truffles to my dismay.

Tortelloni With Ricotta And Walnuts

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 Servings as a first dish

Pasta Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
Tepid water
Pinch of salt

Filling
12 oz. ricotta
1/2 cup walnuts, crushed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs

Pasta
Place the flour and salt on your counter or cutting board and make a well in the middle. Place the eggs in the middle and with a fork begin to combine the flour into the egg. The dough will be a little dry, but if you are using a pasta machine, it must be dry in order to roll the dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and set it aside in a kitchen towel for 1 hour to rest.

Cut a piece of the dough and roll it through the pasta machine beginning at the widest section. Roll the dough through each section until you have rolled it through the second to the last slot. If the dough is too moist, rub a little flour into it with your hands. The dough should be somewhat dry. Lay it out on the countertop and cut 2 1/2” x 2 1/2” squares.

Filling
Mix the ingredients until it is well blended and smooth. Taste for salt, it should be a little salty.

Assembly
Place a full teaspoon of the ricotta mixture in the middle of each square and dot the edges with water then fold them over into a triangle. Dot the two ends of the back of the triangle with water and fold them to the back overlapping the ends. Fold down the top of the tortelloni slightly. The water acts as a glue and seals the pasta. But do not use too much or it will become slimy.

Note: The tortelloni can be frozen for up to a month; they take about 5 minutes cooking time if frozen. Do not place them on top of each other when putting them in the freezer. Once they are frozen you can remove them and put them in a plastic freezer bag lying them flat.

Walnut and Mascarpone Sauce

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 container Mascarpone cheese
1/3 to 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 small clove garlic, whole
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
3 tablespoons walnut oil

Slightly cook the walnuts in the walnut oil with the garlic. Remove the garlic when the walnuts have released their oils and are slightly toasted.

Place all the rest of the ingredients in a blender and pulsate just enough to blend well. Add the chopped toasted walnuts and place the sauce back into the pan and heat slightly.

Cook the pasta in a large pan of hot salted boiling water for about 5 minutes. Taste for doness.

Pour the sauce over the hot pasta and put a handful of whole walnuts over the top for decoration.

Super Bowl Sunday Ham and Beans

There is nothing like a hardy soup or stew to watch a football game especially if you are in a cold snowy part of the country. The best part is that you can prepare it in advance and then let everyone help themselves during the game without any additional effort from you. You can actually enjoy the game along with your guests. The casual atmosphere keeps things light and fun for everyone.

White Navy Beans with Ham is a Southern recipe given to me many years ago by a friend from Arkansas, and I have been making it ever since. It is filling, very flavorful and feeds a large number of people. You can make it ahead of time, even the day before.

I make a cheese bread to serve with it that compliments the stew. When I made this for my friend she couldn’t believe that she had been eating this for many years without the cheese bread. The bread is very easy to make especially if you can buy the bread dough from your local market. Stuffed with an assortment of cheese of your choice, it is oozing with melted cheese when you cut it and adds warmth and flavor to the beans and ham.

White Navy Beans with Ham

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hr. 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 lb. dried white beans
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 onion, medium, chopped
2 celery small stocks, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 3/4 Pork Shoulder Daisy Ham (precooked)
3 cups water

PREPARATION
In a large bowl put the beans and cover them with water and let them to stand overnight in the water.

In a large saucepan sauté the onions and celery and green pepper in olive oil until they are translucent.

Drained beans and put them in the pan cover them with about 2 1/2 cups water (you may have to add more water as the beans cook and increase in size).

COOKING
Drained beans and put them in the pan cover them with about 2 1/2 cups water (you may have to add more water as the beans cook and increase in size).

Put in 2-3 bay leaves, add freshly ground pepper and let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let it cook for about 1hour. Remove the cover from the pan and cook for another 30 minutes, the beans should not be mushy but hold their shape; the final dish should have a little juice. Remove the bay leaves and taste for seasoning. Be careful in salting the beans as the ham will most likely be already salted. Allow the beans to cool down and remove any fat from the top.

Reheat the beans and ham. Remove the ham and slice it-serve the slices with the beans.

Cheese Bread

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes @ 450ºF
Yield: 6 –8 Slices

Preheat
Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

DOUGH
2 lbs bread dough bought from you local market bakery department.

Note: Gruyère, Roquefort, Chève, etc. are excellent strong flavorful cheese that I like to use in this bread.

FILLING

Note: A cheese selection of your choice (Gruyère, Roquefort, Chève, etc. are excellent strong flavorful cheese).

Take a selection of cheese, cut them into pieces. Oil the bottom of a pizza pan and spread the dough out into the pan. Fill the center of the dough with the cheeses of your choice. Take one length edge and fold it over the top. Do the same with the other. You can brush the loaf with olive oil, but this is not necessary. Be sure that the end edges are folded in or crimped.

Cooking the bread on a pizza stone would give it a nice crusty bottom. In this case, rub down the your surface lightly with flour. Begin to spread the dough out stretching it in a circle. Once it has started to stretch you can hold it with your hands and begin stretching it with your knuckles. Keep stretching it by pulling it around in a circular motion. Rub your wood pallet with flour, corn meal or semolina and place your dough on the board. Make sure that it moves on the board easily. Follow the directions as above and shake it off the palette onto the stone.

Cook in a 450º F oven for about 25 minutes. After about 20 minutes check the bread to see if the bottom and top are turning brown. If done, remove from the oven and allow it to stand for about 10 minutes letting the cheese to settle before cutting. If not the cheese will flow out of the bread when you cut it.

NOTE: Any selection of cheese can be chosen for this bread. I always use all the small pieces of leftover cheese in my refrigerator. Everything from goat cheese, blue cheeses, cheddar etc. will make wonderful bread.

The following is a previous post for Super Bowl Sunday Soup.

Super Bowl Sunday Soup – Sausage with Rosemary & Ditalini

http://turosdolci.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/super-bowl-sunday-soup-sausage-soup-with-rosemary-ditalini/

Cape Cod Revisited and Steamers

As my 2 month visit to Cape Cod comes to an end, I can’t help feeling sorry that it is over. I have spent most of my summers here as a child and even had lived here on and off over the years. But coming back just to visit has made me see the Cape not at as part-time resident but with new eyes as a visitor. I will always love it here and consider it as a place I call home.

Since becoming interested in photography, I’ve seen the Cape through the eyes of a camera and have seen sights I took for granted and never really saw although they had always been there. I would like to share with you some of the wonderful sites of the Cape from Falmouth to Providence Town and one of its specialties.

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I don’t know of anywhere else in the world where you can find steamers. Steamers are a soft shell clam particular to New England. They grow in mucky sand and we used a plunger, pumping it against the sand to bring them to the surface. Because of this it is very important to make sure that they are thoroughly cleaned or you will be eating sand along with the clams.

When buying steamers or any clam, be sure that they are closed. If not, do not accept them, usually the fishmonger will remove them. If you plan to keep them for a day, soak paper towels with water and cover the clams with the towels storing them in the refrigerator.

Steam Clams cooked in beer

5 lbs New England steamers
1 bottle beer
1 bay leaf
1 stick sweet butter
Water
Sea salt to taste

Steam clams

Cleaning them requires that you put them into cold water along with some cornmeal and change it several times. As the clams circulate the water into the shell, the cornmeal helps to remove the sand.

Cleaning Steam Clams

When steaming the clams use one bottle of beer and about a cup of water in a deep pot. For 2 servings as a main course I buy about 5 lbs. of clams. Cover the pot and cook on medium heat until the clams completely open. Any clams that remain closed discard.

Clams steaming in pan

Remove the clams from the beer and put them into a dish. The remaining liquid pour into cups for each person. This liquid is used to dunk the clams after removing them from the shell again cleaning off any remaining sand. Give each person a cup of melted butter, which is used to dunk the clams before eating.

Cleaning steam clams

There is a black skin on the neck of the clam that must be removed before eating them. The skin is easily removed by using your thumb to scrap it off the neck.

Removing the skin, steam clams

We once saw a woman eating the clams with this skin on and she was finding the clams very difficult to eat or enjoy. I believe restaurants should inform their guests who might not be familiar with eating steamers.

Steamers are the same clam used to make fried clams.

Cooks fried clams