Archive for Italian Recipes
Tuscan Comfort, Chef Jody Adam’s Acquacotta Recipe
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Buttero, painting by Giovanni Fattori, public domain image
Acquacotta or Acqua Cotta in Italian literally translates to “cooked water”. From Italy, it is a soup with origins from the rural area of southwestern Tuscany and morthern Lazio known as Maremma. It began as a peasant soup for cattle and sheep herders known as “buttero”, who threw whichever fresh seasonal vegetables they had into hot water. As such, this one pot meal has many variations, many of which include a poached egg and a side of crusty rustic bread.
Our version of Acquacotta today comes to us via our friends at Great Chefs, and is demonstrated by chef Jody Adams. Jody won a James Beard “Best Chef” award in 1997, and previously was named one of Food & Wine’s “Best New Chefs” in 1993. Currently, Jody’s delicious edibles are being consumed by the lucky patrons of Rialto restaurant in Cambridge, MA.
Chef Jody’s comforting Acquacotta consists of a porcini mushroom Marsala broth served over polenta and Pecorino Romano cheese, and topped with a poached egg and truffle oil. If you love this dish as much as we did, please consider purchasing Chef Jody’s cooking videos on DVD at Great Chefs.
Read on for the recipe Read More→
Delizioso! Italian Salmon Carpaccio
Posted by: | CommentsItalians seem to possess an amazingly strong passion for food, much more so than the rest of the world.
There is a really great site, Italian Food Net, which serves up delicious authentic Italian recipe videos. Their chefs speak Italian in the clips, but they have done such a wonderful job with the subtitles and ingredient conversions that the recipes are simple to follow.
Some recipes are incredibly simple to make but somehow give the impression that you’ve spent hours slaving over them. This would be one of those! In the video, chef Alessandro prepares an Italian salmon carpaccio with oranges served over arugula. Head over to their site to view the written recipe, browse around a bit and pretend you’re a student in an Italian culinary school!
Tiny bites of ingredient education:
- Carpaccio is defined as an appetizer using thinly sliced raw fish or meat.
- The peppercorns used in the recipe are brined, Whole Foods should have them, you may need to look in the area where jarred pickles are.
- The recipe calls for the greens “rocket”, and rocket = arugula!
Affordable Easter with Colorado Chef Lachlan Patterson
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An Easter dinner for less than $40 for 4 people? It’s possible! Chef/Owner of Lachlan McKinnon Patterson of Frasca restaurant has upped the ante for the world of dining in Boulder, Colorado. Nominated as a “Rising Star Chef” by the James Beard Foundation and named a “Best New Chef” by Food and Wine Magazine, Lachlan and his Frasca team create Northern Italian fare receiving numerous glowing reviews. We love the fact that they strongly support local farmers with their seasonal menus and are active Slow Food members. Boasting the title of the “Best Wine List” in Denver’s Westword, they also have two master sommeliers in the house to ensure a perfect tasting experience.
And Top Chef Lovers unite! Bravo will premier a new show, Top Chef Masters in June! And guess who our favorite Colorado competing chef will be? None other than Lachlan himself!
In this video, Chef Lachlan prepares a boneless leg of lamb with glazed radishes, and an arugula salad with a pesto and pickled shallot vinaigrette. He completes the meal with his recipe for Gubana, a traditional Italian strudel-like Easter bread with raisins, walnuts, almonds, and pine nuts.
The written recipe may be found here. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
