I can’t believe I haven’t written about this yet! I’ve got a real treat for anyone who ever wanted to do a food & wine tour of the Italian Alps, because I am running one this coming October, along with Asheville chef Mark Rosenstein! I’ve been enamored with my new home of Aosta, Italy since […]
The Hunt for Edible Things in the Cowfield
The field around my house Yesterday, I was de-rooting some barbaboch (an Italian grass-like herb that I have recently become addicted to) in the back yard when my upstairs neighbor Betti starts asking me what I am doing. She is a spunky lady who is probably in her early sixties, and as of this week […]
Operation Cheese Making Part Something: I AM A CHEESE MAKING APPRENTINCE!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about my cheese adventures. Ricotta salata, ricotta, queso blanco, panir, and cottage cheese have become a nearly daily operation, so that’s quite good. However, it all changed today. As of today, I am a cheese apprentice, at La Chevre Heureuse. It is a young couple who owns a […]
Wine, Music, and Cheese IN A CAVE
This is my Italy. Music & wine in strange locations. There is a fabulous thing in Italy, really and truly magnificent. It’s called ‘Cantine Aperte.’ It translates into English as ‘open cantine.’ Generally, you pay a small amount as entrance (5-8 euros, depending on the event), they give you a glass, and you get […]
Battle of the Queens
It seems that most things in this lovely valley I live in revolve around cows. The beloved Fontina that is eaten at every meal, the cows standing the the middle of the road blocking the traffic on the way to work, regional competitions for leather workers who make very fine cow bell collars, metal workers […]
Homemade Veggie Burgers! mmm….
There are a good few things I want to write about, but since a number of people have been asking me about this particular topic lately, I’ll go with it! A bit of background: I’ve been a vegetarian for 18 or 19 years now, and I take care to make sure that I have […]
Operation: Cheese Making Part III
In addition to making those other tasty cheeses in previous posts (especially queso fresco…mmmm!), I’ve been working on two new cheeses! Cheese #7: Molded Cheese Rounds This is basically a farmer-style cheese, made into to little rounds. Before trying them, I thought ‘TOMINI!’, but alas they were only tomini in form, although they were still […]
No-Knead Bread
I know that this is so 2006, and it’s been written about probably ten thousand times, but it’s so good and simple that I must also contribute to the plethora of blog posts about this magnificent bread. No-knead bread hit the mainstream audience in November 2006 with this article in the NY Times. It was […]
Pie, the mysterious food art
Pie making is truly an art. A ‘good’ pie tastes good and looks good. An utterly fantastic pie that makes your toes curl and moans escape your throat has so much more. Not only are the innards tasty and cooked/prepared to perfection, but they use fresh, seasonal ingredients, and are a combination of simplicity and […]
Operation: Cheese Making Part II… Mozzerella, Ricotta, & Seras
And the cheese making adventures continue! On to ‘real’ cheeses… that is to say, those that involve more than separating curds from whey and squishing the curds together. Only slightly more involved, and way more fun. Cheese #4: Mozzerella Now, there are 2 different main ways to making mozzerella; one way takes two days, and […]
