Inspired in Bologna!

La Salumeria di Bruno e Franco
Via Oberdon, 16
Bologna

When in Bologna, one is in the land where pork is King!



On our day trip yesterday to meet with friends and do a little market filming, the selection preserved pork products was incredible.

Emilia Romagna is famous for it's pasta as well as it's pork, recipes change with every household and village.Very few recipes travel far in Italy,so the variety is incredible. Each area has it's own ways to prepare preserved pork. Salami's, sausages and prosciutto's. I was amazed at the wonderful variations on one of my favorite winter pork products, ciccioli, crispy little pieces of pork left over after rendering the fat. Here where was a moister, pressed version, made more like a soprasatta as well as the little crispy bits I amused to seeing.

But what I really want to try ( next time) is the pressed lard!
It looks very much like marble.



Doesn't that look fabulous???

Not having had enough pork- lunch today was a Spaghetti all'Amatriciana my way.

It is the first recipe I cooked for my now husband. When I served it, he walked out of the room without eating it at all. I had made it wrong!
He is my Italian life coach as well as culinary coach and I NEVER let that happen again!

Today he ate it all- I have had 25 years of practice!



My Amatriciana for two

200 gr spaghetti ( tradition is bucatini, a thick hollow spaghetti)
100 gr ( 3 ounces) smoked pancetta ( or thick sliced bacon)
1 small red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic
2 tiny birds eye chili's
olive oil
1 cup tomato sauce


Slice the pancetta into thin strips.
Saute' in pan until crispy.
Remove and saute the onion in the fat left from the pancetta, adding a little extra olive oil if needed.
Add the sliced garlic and break in the chili peppers. ( do not touch your eyes!)

Once the onion is cooked, add the tomato sauce and salt to taste.

Drain the spaghetti ( save some of the pasta water).

Place the spaghetti into the pan with the tomato sauce and saute.
the spaghetti will finish cooking by soaking up the tomato sauce.
Add some of the saved water if it gets too dry.

Add the crispy pancetta bits now and saute' again and serve immediately.

NO cheese!




I am leaving on Sunday for a month of teaching on the West Coast so I am building up my brownie points by cooking my heart out!

Dinner tonight was roast pork shins, stinche di maiale, one of the first dishes I had in Bologna about 20 years ago. Oven-roasted with simple rosemary, garlic, olive oil and sea salt.

Bake in parchment for 2 hours at 375 (or until the meat is ready to fall off the bones).
The last hour I threw tiny new yukon gold potatoes in the pan with sea salt, rosemary and olive oil. They melted in our mouths!



The secrets of the Italian kitchen.... great ingredients- prepared simply!

Fall is for Pigging out

nothing is wasted in Florence's Central Market!

fabulous selection of salami's

As fall comes in, our palates goes to the "P" words

Porcini


Pumpkin

pumpkins and fall squash



Polenta

baked polenta with kale and tuscan white beans, " farinata"


and of course
PORK!

suckling pig is always fabulous for a party

Kate and I both agree pork and beans is fall's comfort food.
Rib-sticking, heart-warming, belly filling

We thought it would be a great idea to warm up the fall
with a virtual gathering of recipes
inspired by this classic combination.

Kate, the Queen of Cassoulet, offers week-end workshops
and also provides cassoles by mail for your own
weekend Camp Cassoulet at home.


In my hood, Tuscans are called "Mangiafagioli"- bean eaters
and have a special way with pork

and beans both!

It is comforting that yearly seasons repeat themselves
rewarding us with meals to remember!

Soups or stews
what is your favorite?


freshly shelled cannellini beans are so Tuscan

Join us in celebrating by sending in your personal favorite.
Hit the market, grab a pot and start cooking!

Need beans?
Contact Steve, our personal bean guru at Rancho Gordo.
Check out his new book on beans
Wonderful gift for xmas with a selection of Rancho Gordo beans!

Thank you in advance for sharing any secrets from your kitchens!

A nice way to start the holiday celebrations!

Send us a link to your recipe on your blog or site and we will collect the links here!

Join us in pigging out!


Bourbon BBQ beans from Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn

Kate's very faux but yummy NOT cassoulet

Jonathans Table in Queens, NY a cassoulet

Diva's oven-roasted garlic'd beans with ribs

Diva's Tuscan Chili

Boudin Balls!

When we were in New Orleans for IACP last April,
I organized a first night dinner to introduce friends.

It had to be Cochon!
We filled our table with incredible pork bits one of our favorites
were the Boudin Balls.

That is really pigging out,



Fried anything is lovely of course,
but these were great.



Immagine my joy when I got an email from the Rice Board
with the Recipe

as soon as it cools down here I am making some!

Let the good times roll!

It's done!

Here is the final product, my first homecured meat!

Capocollo


I can't wait to have my maestro's feedback, I will take it to those that helped from my neighbors
the Tinti's, to Dario and Orlando and to the market in Florence!

This foto was taken a week ago when I returned from New Orleans.
I thought it was still a little pink,
so I rewrapped it and stuck it in the aging room ( under the stairs to the attic)
and am going to reopen it today for snack.

Will reshoot a foto and weigh it again.
I weighed it when I opened it last week and it was about 1,600kg
so not quite half it's original weight.

The Maestro of my Maestro

Orlando, the Maestro's Maestro

now mine too!

no man works alone, Dario's team

Since Renaissance times, apprentices have worked with masters to learn.

In many ways, nothing has changed.

Although downtown Florence may look like any other town with 

Footlocker, Disney Store, and McDonalds,

if you look hard enough, 

you will still find artisans producing products as their fathers did 

and their father's fathers did.

I feel honored to be a friend of Dario Cecchini's, my meat master.

His butcher shop is like an artisans workshop.

Faith Willinger called him the " Michelangelo" of butchers.

His shop is the Uffizi of beef!

I went to hang out the other day in the Bottega, which is always the best way to learn.

While he works, he holds court more than just selling meat.

Food and wine are flowing,

 old friends and new friends,

 passer-bys and those that go out of their way to find Dario.

As friend enter, Dario stops work to catch up on news.

This is the Italy I moved here for.

Friend are more important than work to Dario, here with Loys

Dario Cecchini with Vincenzo Chini, artisan butchers.

Vincenzo is in Gaiole and raises Cinta Senese pigs

Their fathers and grandfathers grew up together.

Dante From Udine, closed his restaurant and now teams up with Dario

He is  a Maestro at the art of hand-cutting prosciutto.

Hanging on the wall are Dario's guanciale, cured pig cheeks.

It is mostly used in Rome for making Amatriciana sauce, instead of pancetta.

I had a chance to ask Dario's Maestro, Orlando, who has known Dario since he was child, when Dario's father would go to buy their meats from the company that Orlando worked for.

Passing on tradition and also maestro's!

I took advantage of my luck and got more tips on my Capocolla.

Orlando's advice for final curing.

Wash the salt off the meat and let sit at room temp until dry.

Make a rub with garlic and black pepper.

( no more salt!)

I also added chili, a southern touch.

I then re-wrapped the coppa and have hung it to dry in a cool room.

I was inspired by the Coppa I had in Calabria

from the chili festival in Diamante, Calabria

Love the way they form them with the bamboo sides.

Spicy capocollo.

Here is my version, thanks to Maestro Orlando.


ready to be tied and hung for aging.

Here are Dario's Guanciale, made from the hog jowls, or pig cheeks, aging hanging from the rafters

Now the most  important ingredient:

TIME

See you April 21!

it should lose about 50% of it's present weight.

It is important to tie it tightly as it will get smaller as it dries too.

Phase Two

I am not so sure how this is all going to work out.

The weather as been so bizarre, clear crisp sunny days.
We did hit freezing here the other day, but it is not the usual winter.

I salted and resalted the pork and for fear of the wam weather left it in the fridge.

At the end of the salting period, I rinsed off the pork and let it sit out for the day to dry.

I then made the final rub with rosemary, garlic, black pepper, chili powder and salt.

Gave it all a nice rub and with the butcher paper Gabrielle gave me
I am going to tie it up to hang and age later today.

The meat weighed 2,400kg when I started and now weighs 2,100 kg.

In my reading, I think it says it should lose 60% of it's weight.

Dario is back from vacation so will go to my local Master of meat and get more info!

New year - new recipe- join me!

Gabriel Tarchi, mercato San Lorenzo

Winter is here, but the weather has been to warm to prepare pork!

My friend with pigs have not yet slaughtered as it has to be colder to make prosciutto.

Global warming at it's worst!

Last year my neighbor, Signor Tinti,

lost all but one of his prosciutto's due to the heat.

No fridges here.

He hung his hams in the guest room, windows opened for fresh air.

But it was unusually warm and they got the MOSCA!

the guests in their "aging" room

When you prepare aged meats as it as been done for generations after generation,

but the weather changes, traditions will also have to adapt.

I hope that doesn't mean that all food will be exactly the same,

made under the exact same conditions.

The beauty of Italy has been it's artisans.

This year I am joining in with my fellow shoppers at the COOP grocery store

and following the book which was given out to customers,

am making a CAPOCOLLA.

This is a whole 5 pound piece of well marbled pork.

Follow me and keep your fingers crossed!

I bought ordered my meat several weeks ago
and picked up my capocolla February 3.

The instructions in the book on salting your own meat, which was given out by the shop,

gave very detailed instructions on preparing a ham, to be a prosciutto.

For the capocolla,

very simply stated,

massage the meat with salt,

as for prosciutto.

Let sit for 3 days, resalt.

After 12 days, rinse off salt, season, and tie and hang.

Ok, I needed a little more direction.

I went to my source at the Central Market, Gabriele Tarchi.

His dad was my January pin-up boy last year, holding a fresh ham.

For years he was worked with those who raise the animals his father sells,

but now that dad has retired Gabriele has taken over the stand.

HE KNOWS.

So following his guidance,

I tweeked the instructions.

Along with the salt, which I had added chili powder

to create a more southern version for the rub,

Gabriele suggested adding garlic paste.

Instead of just massaging in the salt, he suggested to create more of a crust, covering it more.

Also, to let it sit on a cutting board, tilted to let the blood flow off of the meat,

instead of sitting in the liquid.

I began on Sunday and will re-salt and Wednesday.

Wish me luck!

Never one to waste, when I trimmed the pork to even off the edges,
Here is what I made.


A riff on Dario Cecchini's Carne in Galera
a recipe where meat was cooked in vinegar
and herbs
to help maintain it while on long voyages.

I also think that vinegar takes away any bad flavors
old or wild game may have.



Pork in vinegar
serves 2

8 ounces pork ,cubed
6 shallots, peeled and halved
olive oil
1 cup or more red wine vinegar
rosemary
lots of sage
salt.


Brown the pork and the shallots in olive oil.
Season lightly with salt.
Add chopped rosemary and sage.

Add 1/2 cup of vinegar, cover and cook.

If needed while cooking add more vinegar.

When the meat is tender, adjust seasonings.
If too tart from vinegar, add some water.
I added more vinegar and more salt.

FAVOLOSO!

Before serving I had some left over roasted veggies I threw in.

cooking time, about 40 minutes