There are not many places in the world that I’ve seen like Toscana (Tuscany to us North Americans).  Especially in the summertime, when man, that Tuscan sun is intense – the movie didn’t lie about that one.

So after an amazing few days down on the Amalfi Coast, Aimee and I made our way via rental car (a little go-cart-esque Fiat) from Sorrento up the A1 highway to the hills of Tuscany.  Along the way, we stopped in Montepulciano quickly, took some pics and (not surprisingly) bought a bottle of Brunello wine – really great stuff.

Tuscany is the home of wine in Italy for the most part – the place where Chianti comes from, the pinnacle of the ancient Sangiovese grape, which is responsible for the makeup of the region’s most popular wine, Chianti Classico.  Chianti, as we learned at the Castello Fonterutolli outside of Castellina, MUST contain no less than 80% of Sangiovese grape – other than that it’s up to the vintner, many use Cabernet Sauvignon to complement.

We spent out time between the town of Siena – an awesomely ancient city (like going back to the middle ages in terms of the architecture, art and just the feel of the city).  In terms of food, we really enjoyed Siena as well, tasting probably what was the second best meal of our time in Italy, on Aimee’s birthday at the Antica Osteria da Divo, a fantastic little restaurant that we literally stumbled upon after a rather embarrassing incident driving through the mainly pedestrian streets of the Siena town center.  The restaurant was perfectly suited for Siena, with terra cotta floors and high, wood beamed ceilings.  The only light came from candles on the tables and around the room.

It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get some pictures of this food, as it really was delicious.  We started with Crispy Herb Scented Anchovies with Eggplant Cake and Basil Sauce, then sampled some of the regional specialties.  In Tuscany, they’re famous for their use of wild boar, which we sampled in the Pici with Wild Boar Ragu.  Pici is a hand rolled, or “pinched”, pasta that is shorter and much thicker than spaghetti.  We also ordered a risotto dish with zucchini and zucchini flowers served in a hollow wheel of pecorino cheese.  When they scooped the risotto out of the cheese, the dish was delightfully rich and creamy – a nice touch!   Since we had just been in Montepulciano, and we were planning to head to Chianti in the next couple of days, we decided to order a Brunello to sip throughout the meal.  Delicious all around for sure.

In Tuscany, Aimee and I also fell head over heels in love with perhaps our favorite ingredient in all of Italy this time of year – the tomato.  Bruschetta you see was in full bloom there, and we took full advantage in Tuscany.  Perhaps the second best Bruschetta we sampled in Italy was at a cafe right on the Siena’s main square the Piazza di Campo.  So simple and delicious – something that we’ve already re-created here at home for dinner.  Just toast up some crusty bread, rub the surface with a garlic clove, and top it with tomatoes tossed in a little olive oil, salt, and dried oregano.  That’s it.  But believe me, that is enough.  In the heat of July, bruschetta is a perfect snack.

Other highlights of Tuscany besides the wine and the food was the coffee – especially at the famous Siena roaster Nannini, which roasts their own coffee and offers homemade gelato and around 1,000 different types of pastries and biscotti.  It offers very few tables, but there is a long espresso bar at which you can stand and sip your cappuccino or espresso and nibble on your pastry.

We also sampled some of the traditional dishes of Italy in Tuscany, such as Pesto Genovese, Fagiuoli all‘Uccelletto – the traditional Tuscan white beans in a simple tomato sauce.  Panzanella, a salad made with bread, cucumbers, and tomatoes, is also a regional specialty during the summertime, but the authentic version unfortunately falls a little short of the american adaptation.

Rather than making the dish with fresh baked crusty croutons, as we often see Giada prepare it on the Food Network, the serve it with mushed up day old bread, sparingly incorporate peeled and chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, and dress it with little more than olive oil.  It is served chilled and lacks much acidity.  This is one dish we tried that we definitely prefer to eat at home.

All in all, Toscana’s stunning scenery and rich history make for a memorable experience.  We’ll certainly be back.  For now, off to Bologna, Modena and Emilia-Romagna!!

So with a few days of married life under our belts, Aimee and I set off to Italia – a place we’ve long looked forward to traveling together for the sights, architecture, art, bot mostly the food and wine.  Our first stop on the trip was the Amalfi coast, where after loads of recommendations, we decided to stay in Positano, a town literally built into a 3-4K foot mountain with views right down to the Mediterranean and cool shops and restaurants throughout.

In terms of the food, we figured two things: first, we’re on the water, so the seafood must be delicious.  Second, we’re near Napoli (Naples), the home and origin of pizza, so we thought that sampling a few of these local delicacies was a good idea.  We really had no idea about which restaurants were which, but we tried to stick by our guns and find places that were more like holes in the wall instead of fancy places looking for Michelin stars.

Our first night in Italy, quite tired from a red eye flight and the day of traveling that followed, we struck out and found a restaurant called ‘Ristorante Il Capitano’, situated on a corner of a steep Positano street, just overlooking the harbor and water. Quite a setting, and they complimented it with a duo Lute and Guitar player for a small charge (something that every restaurant in Italy does I’ve learned).

Our meal started with perhaps my favorite dish of the trip so far: Thinly sliced fried Zucchini, dressed with salt, vinegar and olive oil.  Imagine something like a plate of small potato chips, but instead of potatoes, they’re zucchini instead.  Delicious, and something that I’ll try to reproduce for sure.  We then ate a pasta dish made from homemade squid ink pasta served with small fishes and tomatoes.  Delicious, and the pasta, albeit not the best made pasta I’ve ever had, was flavored with the quid ink and insanely good.  We then shared a pizzetta with some salumi and simple fresh tomatoes from San Marzano, which I later learned are grown in the area on the southern slope of Mount Vesuvius, just outside of Napoli.

This pizza really changed my idea of pizza totally around, and not just on the pizza front – on all food in general.  The food here in Italy is SO SIMPLE.  These people who cook here (basically everyone) don’t try to do too much.  It’s a lesson I needed to come here to learn – less is more.  For example, the tomato sauce they use for the pizzas in Napoli: it’s literally just pureed tomatoes – possibly a touch of garlic, but that’s basically it, and that’s all it needs to be.

Our eating experiences in Positano continued at the Saraceno D’Oro, right down the street from our hotel.  We ate simple things here as well, such as simple spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, bruschetta con tomate (best bruschetta I’ve had BY FAR) and the best thing (again) was the pizza – this time with Fungi Porcini, fresh porcini – tasting almost as delicious as if there were actual truffles on the pizza.  The bruschetta was made by the way the restaurant prepared the bread – it was baked fresh, then simply toasted to perfection (not just thrown in the toaster – it was golden brown throughout) then rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil, before the tomatoes went on.

In terms of drinks, the Amalfi coast is known for it’s citrus groves, mostly lemons – so you can imagine it’s the home of limoncello.  What I was surprised by is that every little gift shop and bar in Positano and Amalfi makes their own version of the stuff.  We tried a couple different samples, and liked them all, especially at the Saraceno D’Oro where they gave us free samples after our meal.

As we drove out of the south of Italy, through Sorrento, Napoli and the surrounding coast, we were more than content and happy we had gone there and experienced the culture, views and of course of the food of the Amalfi coast – it’s qite a place.  Oh, and if you’re considering coming here and also potentially Cinque Terre, take it from me (I’ve been to both places) go to the Amalfi Coast, it’s much bigger and more dramatic.  Don’t forget you’re in the home of pizza!

Next Stop: Tuscany: Siena and Chianti!

Sorry for not posting more lately.  Aimee and I are getting married very soon, and that means that our lives are literally consumed by planning and work with little time to do other things we love….like cook and write here on TFD.  In any case, tonight was one night that I did find some time to get some cooking done, and after our dear friends Katie and Tyson hooked up the Momofuku cookbook for a wedding gift, I’ve hardly been able to put it down.  Seriously, if you’re into Asian-influenced, just plain old downright dirty awesome grub, get the Momofuku cookbook.  It’s righteous and one fo the best books on cooking I’ve seen in quite a while.

One thing I dig about it is how quirky the chef David Chang is in his recipes – his constant use of Grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil), the funky stories that you can tell have come out of his totally organic growth and rise to popularity.  He’s humble and a bit overwhelmed at the recognition he’s received, and from his book alone it’s partly because his food appears honest.

Honest, simple food is something that I typically look for in a chef and in a cookbook.  With Chang and Momofuku, even when they get a little nuts and use transglutaminate (AKA meat glue) it’s accompanied by a cool story from his own experiences, which makes it seem more approachable as an ingredient.

This recipe was the first I’ve tried from the book and comes from the ‘Noodle Bar’ section of the book – which is sectioned off between the different Momofuku restaurants all in NYC (Ssam Bar and Ko are the others, and both considered more high end I believe).  This is the fried chicken recipe, which jumped out to me as I read the book, because of the uniqueness of the recipe.  No breading, and tossed in a vinaigrette, but brined and steamed first, instead of pre-baked or just fried from raw. Here’s how we did it.  First the brine:

• 4-5 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup salt

Now the Chicken itself:

• Sections of chicken, mostly dark meat – we used 6-8 thighs here, but you can use breasts too
• Garlic-ginger vinaigrette (recipe follows)
• Peanut oil for frying

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
• 1/4 cup light sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 4-5 slices of pickled jalapenos (or other picked peppers) – diced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• Fresh ground black pepper

Making this recipe is somewhat simple, though the cooking process is rather unique.  The basic process is 1) brine 2) steam and 3) fry.

For the brining step, simply combine all of the brine ingredients in a large bowl and stir until all of the salt and sugar are disolved.  Add the chicken, cover and let brine for between 1-3 hours in the fridge.

Once it’s done, pull the chicken out of the brine and pat dry with some paper towels.  Prepare a steamer on your stovetop and when the water begins to boil, add the chicken and cover with a lid that’s barely ajar.  Let the chicken steam for around 20-30 minutes or until it’s fully cooked through.

Meanwhile, you can whip up the vinaigrette by combining all ingredients besides the oil, then whisk in the oil at the end to emulsify.

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the steamer and let it rest.  Chef Chang in the book says to let it rest for up to a day or two, but as I didn’t really have time for this, I let it rest for around an hour before frying, but I think the longer you can let this go, the better it will end up.

When you’re ready to fry the chicken, prepare a wok or pot with peanut oil and heat to 375 F.  Add the chicken and fry for around 7 minutes or until the chicken gets a nice golden brown color.  Once it’s done, remove to paper towel lined plate, then toss with some if the vinaigrette and serve.  Enjoy!

Let’s face it, we all probably know and love Pad Thai in some respect. It’s perhaps the most popular Thai dish in America today, something that you’ll likely try before anything else if you’re not a seasoned Thai food connoisseur. We’ve tinkered with other Thai dishes in the past, such as this Pad Kee Mao recipe and this green curry with tofu recipe, but this Pad Thai may be the best one yet.

Pad Thai’s flavors are part salty (fish sauce), part sweet (brown sugar), part spicy (sriracha) and part sour (tamarind) – all of which combine with the peanuts, noodles and vegetables and are awesome on the palette. This recipe comes from the excellent blog of Chez Pim, who’s post seemed the most traditional and authentic to me, and really was excellent (Thanks Pim!!)

This video should explain most of it – this is @taylorbarstow making the same dish a few months back:

Here’s the recipe: The Sauce first!  This amount of sauce will make around 5-6 servings of Pad Thai

• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. paprika
• 2 Tbsp. Sriracha hot sauce (less or more depending on your level of spice needs)
• 2 Tbsp. tamarind concentrate (or 1/2 cup tamarind extract) – (likely you’ll need an Asian market to find this, but potentially you can get it at a standard super market)
• Water to thin out the sauce (see the consistency in the video)

Simply combine all of the ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Then kill the heat and let the sauce rest while you do the rest:  PLEASE NOTE, these quantities are PER SERVING, which you make separately!!!

• 1 medium package or thin rice noodles – soak them in warm water until pliable but not mushy
• Eggs – 1 per serving
• Tofu – around 5-6 thin slices per serving, so 1 standard block is sufficient
• 5-6 medium sized shrimps per serving – peeled and de-veined
• 1 generous handful beansprouts per serving
• 1-2 Tbsp Thai basil per serving
• Small handful coarsely ground peanuts per serving
• 1 handful Chinese garlic chives, green onion tops or regular chives – roughly chopped
• 2 baby bok choy heads – halved (optional) – Yes, you can use broccoli instead if you want!
• Peanut or canola oil
• 1/4 lime for finishing

See video for prep instructions!

Start with the oil in a hot wok until it’s basically smoking, then add the tofu (being careful not to splatter yourself with the hot oil).  Once the tofu starts to brown slowly, add the bokchoy (if using) and then the noodles and a small ladleful of sauce on top.  Keep things moving while you go, and cook the noodles until rather soft.

You’re then going to want to add the egg on one side of the wok, stir to incorporate, then add the rest of the vegetables and the shrimp and cook until the noodles reach the desired texture.  You then want to make sure it’s got the right amount of sauce and seasoning (add more sriracha if you want) and serve with lime juice squeezed on top.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Totally simple recipe here, nothing too fancy, but some great flavors and easy to prepare.  These are the sorts of recipes that I love to make when I don’t have a lot of time on my hands, because I can literally have them ready in 10 minutes, and it’s a wholesome, satisfying meal.  I add the egg for some protein, and you could certainly add in some bacon or other protein as well, but I decided to keep it simple.

The key to sauteing broccoli I’ve found is to cook it properly.  You want to start it off over high heat to give it a good sear, then lower the heat and cook it slowly to tenderize it, sometimes with some liquid like wine or stock.  I also love to cook the stems, and can’t stand to see people throwing them out.  I think they have a fantastic consistency and merit using…so next time, try cooking them in your dish and don’t throw them away!  Here’s an idea for your next couple stalks of broccoli:

• 2 medium sized stalks of broccoli – florets chopped and stems roughly chopped
• 1 medium white onion – thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 egg

• 2 cloves of garlic – smashed and diced
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup of dry white wine – something you would drink
• 1-2 Tbsp. white wine or champagne vinegar
• 2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• (optional) Crushed red pepper flakes
• (optional) A few lardons (thin slices of bacon)

Pretty easy assembly here – start with prepping the broccoli, making sure it’s chopped along with the onions and garlic.  Start with a saute pan over medium/high heat and add a good glug of olive oil – enough to coat HALF of the bottom of the pan.  Add in the onions and broccoli and season with some salt.  Cook over the higher heat for a 2-3 minutes and then add in the garlic.

Stir frequently to make sure the veg doesn’t burn.  Once the vegetables become rather tender, lower the heat a little bit and add in the wine.  You can estimate all of the above measurements by the way – you’re looking to add around a small glass of wine into the pan.

Once the wine has evaporated, likely 4-5 minutes, kick the heat back up a bit and then crack the egg into the pan.  Season with a little more salt and pepper and then stir the egg vigorously into the rest of the dish.  Finish the dish with the vinegar and a little bit more olive oil and adjust the seasoning to taste.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

The first time I ever heard of Zucchini bread, I thought is was rather gross sounding, but that was before I tasted it.  You see I’ve never been a huge fan of zucchini, besides in certain French applications like ratatouille.  This recipe was adapted from an old friend who swore by it (and by this, I mean typically made it like once a week).  So I’ve finally decided to try it for myself.  I couldn’t find Christina’s recipe, so I took the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and adapted it a bit to our tastes.

What I found through the process of making zucchini bread, is that it’s a lot like banana bread or other sweet breads like this blueberry bread recipe.  In all honestly, I messed up in making this a bit and actually added a little bit too much sugar, which made the bread a bit sweeter that I was looking for, but I’ve adjusted that in the recipe, so that should be good to go.

This is also one of those recipes that you can use with some of the larger zucchinis too, you know, the ones that are supposedly bad to eat.  Use this recipe for them.  Also, my zucchini bread always comes out a little darker – a direct result of using brown sugar instead of white.  The molasses gives it a good taste and texture.

Wet Stuff

• 2 medium zucchinis – around 1 1/4 cups – grated on the medium holes of a box grater
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2  cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Dry Stuff

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 2 pinches of salt
• Heaping 3/4 cup raisins (more or less depending on your taste)

This recipe is actually really easy.  Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Grab your trusty (non-stick if you have it) loaf pan (see the pick for what I’m talking about…) and lightly oil it with some vegetable or canola oil.

In a mixer with a whisk attachment or simply with a whisk and a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the oil and sugar until there are some streaks left by your whisk.  Add the zucchini and vanilla and continue mixing until the mixture is well combined.

Separately, add the raisins to a large mixing bowl and then sift in the rest of the dry ingredients listed above on top of the raisins – make sure there are no lumps left.  While stirring the wet stuff, add the dry ingredients in three parts, waiting until the last part is combined well before adding the next part.  Once all of the dry ingredients have been mixed in, pour the mixture into your loaf pan and cut a small line down the center of your batter to create a nice ‘crack’ in the finished cake.

Bake in the oven for about an hour, but check after 50 minutes – you want a small skewer stuck in the middle of the cake to come out just clean, with potentially a few crumbs still sticking to it.  Let your cake cool, cut and serve!  It’s delicious with some peanut butter btw…Enjoy!

This post was co-authored (really the recipe was co-cooked) by @taylorbarstow

At some point during the winter, I inevitably will get a serious craving for some delicious and wholesome braised beef short ribs. With winter waning, a few of us on a ‘dudes night’ decided to do something we rarely all do together: cook. It was really rainy out, and all of us were thinking about drinking some dark beer, so Guinness was the answer for both the glasses and the dish. After shopping around a bit with Taylor and Kippy, we found ourselves in the North End, at Sulmona Meat Market on Parmenter Street – classic, old school Italian butcher and had some beautiful short ribs that we decided to have the butcher leave whole and not chop in half like usual short rib cuts.

The cuts of beef will look rather large as you can see in the pictures, but this was cool with us all around.  We decided to use a combination of braising liquids, all brought together with the classic French mirepoix of onions, carrots and celery.  Braising liquids included Gunniess, chicken stock (you can use beef too of course) and a touch of coffee.  We decided to pair the dish with some creamy Parmesan polenta and some of the braising liquid on the plate.  I’d also consider serving some blanched and sauteed bitter dark greens – or really whatever you like.  The beauty of short ribs is that they’re so damn tender “falling off the bone” that you tend to forget whatever else is on the plate.  Here’s what to do:

Before starting, remember that these short ribs can take up to 3 hours to cook!!!  So start early with them!

• 4-6 Whole (or 8-12 halved) short ribs – the freshest you can find – Grass-fed beef preferred!
• 1 large (or 2 medium) carrots – roughly chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery – washed and cubed
• 1 large white onion – diced
• 3 cloves of garlic – smashed
• 2 bay leaves
• A few stalks of parsley
• 2 pint cans of Guinness stout
• 2 cups chicken or beef stock
• 1/2 cup coffee (optional)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

First thing you want to do is locate a good heavy bottomed pot to use for the braise.  I’ll sometimes use a large roasting pan that I cover with tinfoil if I have too many ribs to fit in my Le Creuset dutch oven.  Once you’ve got your equipment, preheat your oven to 350 F.

Season the short ribs thoroughly with salt and a small amount of pepper and set aside.  Heat your pot over medium/high heat and add a few glugs of olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot.  When the oil is just about smoking hot, add the ribs and brown on all sides, then remove the ribs and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium/low and add all of the vegetables, including the parsley and bay leaves and mix to combine and cook until softened – around 5-7 minutes.  Add the braising liquid and bring to a simmer, then add the short ribs back into the pot, cover with a heavy lid and place into the preheated oven.

The time you want to cook your short ribs is really up to you, but I would advise AT LEAST 2 hours.  My rule of thumb I learned from Taylor Barstow and it basically goes like this: cook the short ribs until they are basically completely falling apart and the bone comes out easily.

The last part really pulls the dish together: Start a saute pan over medium high heat and a just a tiny bit of olive oil.  When the pan is really hot, add the short ribs and sear them on each side to add a little bit if texture back to the short ribs (a little crust for your meat).  Once they’re done, serve along side polenta or whatever you’d like and enjoy immediately!

Grapefruit is the last citrus fruit that I usually think of – it sort of gets lot in the fuzz among the stars: lemons, oranges and limes.  This is unfortunate though, as I absolutely love the flavor of grapefruit, especially when the bitter flavor is mixed with sugar and sweet ingredients.  This cake was a rather odd recipe that really stuck out in the Ad Hoc cookbook from Thomas Keller’s restaurant in Napa Valley.

Part of the draw of this cake for me was the way that you were supposed to bake the cake first, then poke holes all over it and brush it with a grapefruit syrup (a good amount too).  Doing this reminded me of a Tres Leches cake – trust me, every cake should be infused somehow with liquid – you just can’t deny the moisture it adds. I thought when I was adding the liquid that it was going to turn the cake into mush, but trust me, keep going and add all of the syrup the recipe calls for, you’ll like the results.

I topped the cake with some simple powdered frosting, packed it with grapefruit zest and served it up and it was a hit.  If grapefruit isn’t your think, try using another citrus fruit like lemon or lime.  The other benefit of this cake? It’s totally simple to create.  Here’s what to do:

Wet Ingredients:

• Zest of 1 whole grapefruit – around 2 Tbsp. diced up
• 1 cup of grapefruit juice (fresh squeezed – you’ll need around 2-3 grapefruits total here)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup + 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla paste if you can find it

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 and 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt

Grapefruit Frosting Ingredients

• 3/4 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar
• 2 Tbsp. fresh grapefruit juice

Method

Again, the cake is fairly easy to produce.  Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Start by bringing together all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – sift them together.

In a separate bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the 2/3 cup of sugar and eggs and mix together with the whisk attachment (or your whisk) for a few minutes until well combined.  Whisk in the milk, then the oil and finally the vanilla and grapefruit zest.  Whisk all together until well combined, then lower the speed of your mixer and add the dry ingredients in three parts, one at a time, until well incorporated.  The cake batter will be fairly wet, this is to be expected.

Lightly oil a loaf pan or other cake pan (7 cup capacity) and pour in the batter.  Cut a small length-wise slit down the cake with a paring knife before placing in the oven – this will create a nice crack in the cake once it’s done.  Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Then turn the cake 180 so it browns evenly, then bake for another 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.

While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup and the frosting.  For the syrup, simply add the cup of granulated sugar and grapefruit juice to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Let simmer until the sugar dissolves, then kill the heat and set aside for the cake to finish.  For the frosting, simply whisk or stir together the powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp. grapefruit juice.  Add some more sugar if you aren’t happy with the consistency.

Once the cake is finished, remove it from the oven and poke holes all over the cake with a small skewer (every 1/2″ or so).  Then proceed to brush all of the syrup into the cake, you may need to let it soak in for a minute before proceeding, but make sure you put all of the syrup into the cake.  Finally, remove it from the baking dish and top with the frosting before serving.  Enjoy!

Go ahead, say it: “Vichyssoise” – sounds fancy and French, I know – but for a fancy sounding soup, this one is perhaps the simplest recipe we’ve posted yet. When making Vichyssoise, there are basically 4 ingredients – if you don’t count the salt and pepper (white pepper in this case), plus the cooking process is really easy too.

The soup is best served chilled in my opinion, but you can also serve it hot, but I’d omit the cream/milk in that case.  Another note on the soup is to puree it in your blender for a few minutes to ensure that you make it really smooth, giving it a really silky texture.  The starch in the potatoes will aid this process, but you’ll like the results for sure.  It’s one of those soups that you can make restaurant quality texture wise without much work at all.

Another great aspect of this soup is that it’s perfect for spring.  I like to make it with the first local new potatoes that you get at the market.  Leeks are also a good spring vegetable, and the combination is best served by this soup in my opinion.  Of course, I’d also highly recommend a homemade chicken broth if you have one available, but store bought is ok too, just make sure that it’s a low sodium broth.  Here’s how simple it can be:

• Around 6-8 medium sized new potatoes (the ones with the red skin) – Peeled and quartered
• 2 large or 3 medium leeks – white and light green parts only – trimmed, washed and cut into half/quarter moon shapes
• 1 quart (~2.5 cups) chicken stock
• 1/4 cup light cream or 1/2 cup whole milk (optional and I recommend NOT using if you’re serving the soup hot)
• 1 clove garlic – lightly crushed and peeled (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Small dash of white pepper (1/2 tsp. but you can approximate)
• Croutons – Crouton recipe here or here with Aimee’s Caesar Salad Recipe (optional)

Again, a totally easy preparation.  Start with peeling and chopping the potatoes. Heat the stock in a heavy bottomed pot until almost boiling, then add a few pinches of salt.  Add the potatoes and chopped leeks to the stock.  Add the garlic clove as well and let the mixture come to a boil.  Cook over medium/low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender but not complete mush.

While the soup ingredients are cooking, prepare the croutons at this point to serve with the finished soup (see the other posts liked to above!!!).

Remove the garlic clove (or leave it if you want your soup garlicky).  Transfer the mixture to your blender and puree for 3-5 minutes, or until very smooth (taste it, you’ll know what I mean).  Add the white pepper and adjust the seasoning as necessary.  If you’re serving the soup hot, go ahead and plate it now and top with a few croutons.  If you’re serving it chilled (I recommend it!!), place the soup in the freezer or fridge until cold, then serve.  Top with croutons and enjoy!

My introduction to Harissa was with the super spicy version that’s served in falafel and shawarma restaurants like the famous Falafel in Central Square Cambridge. That version is pretty intense, and will really kick you in the ass if you’re not careful. This version is a bit milder, with more of a slow heat the builds over the course of your meal that you use it in. Some applications that have really worked have been mixing it in with mashed potatoes, putting some on scrambled eggs and even on pizza. My version uses sun dried tomatoes for the base of the sauce, instead of peppers, as was inspired by Ana Sourtun’s cookbook Spice.

We also benefit from a fantastic spice store here in Inman Square Cambridge called Christina’s (they also do ice cream…great combination, I know).  This place is really a dream for any culinarily minded people who can’t find certain more exotic spices elsewhere.  I recommend the smoked paprika, urfa chilies and aleppo as well – all really great spices that you’ll struggle to find elsewhere.  The urfa chilies are used in this recipe, and I recommend you get some (they’re fantastic!!).  If you can’t find them around your area, order them here.  Here’s the recipe that I’ve been using:

• 1 Cup Urfa chilies – try to use them, they’re great! But you can use another pepper of your choice as well.
• 3 cloves garlic – roughly chopped
• 5-6 sun dried tomatoes – poached in some boiling water until tender
• 1 cup water
• Salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp. spice combination (listed below)

Spice combination – add these prepped spices into your mortar and pestle:

• 1 tsp. cumin seeds – toasted
• A few saffron threads
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 1/4 cup smoked paprika
• A few turns of your black pepper mill
• 1 tsp. dried ginger
• 1 tsp. mustard powder
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Pinch of sugar

Prepare the spices and crush them to combine in your mortar and pestle.  Once you have this done, make sure you have your sun dried tomatoes prepped, then literally combine all of the ingredients into your food processor. Combine until smooth, then adjust the seasonings as desired.

Use your harissa on eggs, potatoes, pizza, in soup, etc…it’s great stuff with almost anything!  Enjoy -