By Denise J. Dubé

Chicken cacciatore simmering "on the range."

Growing up chicken cacciatore – or hunter’s stew – was frequently served at our house. It was filling and held large chunks of chicken, Mom’s tomato sauce, green beans and potatoes. It was a satisfying meal that filled the tummies of a larger-than-average family.

It’s been decades, but I still remember the distinct flavor created from the simmering chicken as it melded with the tomatoes and spices.

At the time I remember being annoyed with the constant interruptions caused by bits of bone and joint cartilage. And, I could have done without the potatoes.

Its flavor was incredible though and as the years and my mother passed, I thought about how many dishes she created in her small Waltham kitchen.

Like sauce, everyone’s has a varied nuance, one that was never duplicated in my kitchen – well, not until last week.

I searched online for something that looked like Mom’s version.  There were four recipes and none resembled hers. She never used wine or peppers, which was an ingredient in all that was found.

Factoring in the time, my mother’s need to scrimp and use whatever was on hand, and her ingenuity with food, I started cooking.

Instead of boneless thighs, breasts and legs I bowed to Mom’s chicken pieces, bones and cartilage.

Admittedly, I veered off the path and removed the skin, something that wasn’t done in the 1960s.

I peeled, prodded, pulled and cut the skin from each piece. Reproducing her dish was key, but so is my cholesterol count. Admittedly, I left a ribbon of fat on each piece just for flavor.

The chicken pieces were lightly salted and peppered before hitting the sizzling olive oil that bubbled in my over-sized sauté pan. I watched them carefully for about 5-10 minutes.

While the chicken sautéed I took another pot and added chopped onions and extra virgin olive oil, one that came from my grandmother’s homeland.

Each piece of browned chicken was added to the larger pot.

The bottom of the chicken pan was browned and crusty and just what the stew needed for more flavor.

Instead of wine, I deglazed the pan with almost two cups of chicken broth and poured the bubbling beige elixir through a strainer and into the bigger pot with the chicken pieces and onion.

Lots of garlic slivers, one or two cups of marinara sauce, basil and just a little more salt and pepper were added.

When it burped hot bubbles of red sauce I turned down the heat and covered the pan, leaving a space to evaporate excess fluid.

The green beans and potatoes were left out – and in hindsight that was probably a mistake.

A few hours later, when the chicken was falling off the bone, and the house smelled like decades past, I tasted the cacciatore.

This was my mother’s stew – minus the veggies.

Rotini was boiled, oiled and placed in a bowl on the counter as the stew base and in place of the potatoes.

Smells and tastes bring back memories and as I ate my ambivalence over the cacciatore resurfaced.

The boned chicken is necessary for a hearty and flavorful stew; but it’s also a huge pain to stop eating the meal every few seconds to remove a piece of bone or cartilage.

I’m an adult now and have a little more patience, not a lot – but enough. As an adult I’m quite capable of stopping every few seconds to nibble the meat off a bone or discreetly remove a bit of cartilage – and make this dish again and again.

By Richard Frisbie

Ready to eat?

The image that comes to mind when I hear “Boot Camp” does not include kitchen skills, especially when it’s prefaced with CIA. I think of sweaty bodies and abusive drill sergeants constantly shouting orders to do more push-ups. Naturally then, it was with some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to attend a CIA Boot Camp, even though they told me it was about food. (And they didn’t mean KP!)

Exterior shot of the CIA (Photo by Richard Frisbie.)

That’s how I recently found myself at the Culinary Institute, in full chef regalia, standing on the 6 a.m. breakfast line with 2,000 other students. It is a cafeteria cattle-call with a blackboard menu. I filed in, gave my order and waited, watching the class whose job it was to actually cook breakfast until my name was called. That’s what is great about the CIA. Students get real hands-on cooking experience in the student cafeteria and in each of the four public campus restaurants the CIA operates.

At dinner in the American Bounty Restaurant the evening before, students who were graduating the next day served our meal. Every aspect of food service, chemistry, and business, is a class each student must complete to graduate. That includes being waiters, bus boys, short-order cooks, sous chefs and chefs. If the professionalism and expertise I experienced at dinner are any indication, and I believe they are, the young men and women in the restaurant were ready to carry the mantle of the CIA into the culinary world.

Learning to cook at the CIA.

Our Boot Camp experience was a Farm-to-Table event focusing on the fresh bounty of Dutchess County farms. (The CIA is located in Hyde Park, Dutchess County, NY.) The first day we visited the farms and picked, dug, harvested and shopped for the ingredients we’d be cooking the next day. From the potatoes to the brussel sprouts, and from the goat cheese to the locally milled cornmeal, everything on the next day’s menu was sourced locally.

The Culinary Institute of America’s promotional material reads, “At Boot Camp you’ll discover how to select the perfect ingredients, how to prepare a variety of dishes, and how to demonstrate more confidence in your own kitchen. Hands-on cooking, chef demonstrations, and exceptional food make CIA Boot Camp one of “America’s Top Ten Destinations.”

What they don’t tell you is that you’ll be one of a group of “boot campers” working as a team to put complex meals on the table. Our group was only seven people, but there was work (and food enough) for at least twelve. That meant four teams of three (an ideal plan) was out, and we all had to work well together to produce a meal. I think we did a pretty good job, considering.

Making pasta.

Our “Team Production Assignments” were:
Team One
Heirloom Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart
Coq au Vin
Fresh Buttered Egg Pasta

Team Two
Warm Hudson Valley Salad with Baby Greens and Apples
Sautéed Berkshire Pork Cutlets with a Wild Mushroom Ragout
Potato Gnocchi

Team Three
Roast Rack of Lamb Persillé
Creamy Polenta
Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lardons

Team Four
Skewered Beef Fillet with Chimichurri Sauce and Corn Relish
Corn Pudding
Braised Swiss Chard
Vanilla Ice Cream

I was Team Three, with some help with the brussel sprouts from the gnocci and swiss chard person. I helped with the chimichurri sauce, and took photos and a video when I wasn’t worried about burning the polenta!

In the classroom, beforehand, we reviewed the recipes and techniques we’d need to create this meal. When I asked how we’d be able to cook coq au vin in our 3 ½ hour cooking class, Chef Thomas said we’d use young hens instead of an old cock. He knew it would still be close, though.

I never cooked a rack of lamb before, and I had no idea what persillé meant. That’s why I volunteered to cook it. I learned that a persilladé is a bread and herb coating, and that lamb cooks very quickly! Also, that local farm-raised lamb is juicy and delicious even if it was medium rare instead of rare.

This next part is confusing to explain, but I’ll try. I was in a new kitchen surrounded by new people, cooking a recipe new to me, with descriptions in French that I didn’t understand. So, when the recipe called for me to make a mirepoix, I followed the instructions blindly, not knowing what I was doing, and not connecting. It all worked out all right, but it wasn’t until the next day that I realized that, had the recipe just said “make a sofrito,” I’d have known immediately what I was doing and been more comfortable. Next time I’ll ask what the unfamiliar terms mean before I start to cook.

For the rack of lamb I seasoned the Frenched ribs with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme – on all sides. That roasted at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then I sprinkled the mirepoix (chopped onions, carrots and celery) around the lamb in the roasting pan and cooked at 350 degrees until an internal temp of 130. (I had no idea how long that would take. Someone suggested 45 minutes. In 17 minutes the internal temp was 132 degrees!) I set the lamb aside and made a sauce with the pan juices. It was strained, degreased and thickened (with arrowroot), and left to sit in a warm water bath while I mixed the bread crumbs, garlic and parsley, with melted butter. I brushed the lamb with whole grain mustard, and pressed the breading onto the top of the rack of lamb. At quarter after twelve I popped the lamb into a 400 degree oven to brown the crumbs. There was just time to carve off the individual ribs before the 12:30 p.m. serving.

For the polenta, I sautéed an onion and 2 cloves of garlic in 3 tablespoons of oil in a tall saucepan. I added 2 ½ cups water and the some of milk. When that was boiling, I added 1 ¼ tsp salt, and slowly drizzled 1 1/3 cups corn meal into the boiling liquid, stirring constantly. I continued boiling and stirring until it began to thicken. Then I transferred it to a buttered baking dish, covered it, and baked it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. This method eliminates much of the stirring polenta usually gets, and freed me up for other things.

Other things included chef demonstrations of how to cut up a chicken, how to make pasta (wait until you see the photos!) and how to make mozzarella cheese. There was also time to help find strainers, measuring cups, the right pans – everything that is “lost” when you are in a strange kitchen. With all of this, we were on a tight schedule to produce everything at the same time, in time for lunch.

When I put the lamb in the oven for the browning, I removed the polenta, scraping it into a serving bowl, being careful not to disturb the bottom crust that developed on the pan. (That seemed like such a shame!) I stirred in ½ cup Parmesan and sprinkled another over the top. To dress it up some more, before putting it on the table I gathered the leftover herbed bread crumbs and sprinkled them on top.

The meal was almost a complete success. Our chef/instructor thought the corn pudding failed for reasons not related to the cook (it was grey!) and planned some test cooking with different utensils and techniques to determine what exactly went wrong. Everything else worked out perfectly, except that my camera batteries failed halfway through. Replacements were locked in my car and in a distant room, and there was no time to retrieve either. So bear with me in the photo dept while you enjoy the video on how to dismember a chicken.

Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lardons
6 oz bacon cut into little strips
2 lbs brussel sprouts, stemmed, cut in half
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Cook the bacon until it is crisp in a large oven-proof frying pan. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice water nearby. Blanch the Brussel Sprouts for one minute in the boiling water. Remove to the ice water until chilled. Drain. Let dry on paper towels. When completely dry, toss with salt and pepper in the bacon and fat in the frying pan. Place in the hot oven and roast, shaking the pan occasionally, until they are tender and lightly charred, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

The pasta was really good, as only fresh pasta can be, especially drenched with an herbed butter. The coq au vin was ready in time and delicious in a falling-off-the-bone kind of way. The braised red cabbage was an extra recipe we made because the cabbage looked so good. (Certainly, it was not because we needed more food, or had extra time!) It was similar to jarred red cabbage only waay better. I made that again as soon as I got home. The skewered beef was the wrong cut and too tough, but the relishes with it were very tasty, really complimented the good flavor of the beef. The pork and mushrooms were delicious, as good as the lamb, but so different. The braised swiss chard was perfect with this combination of foods. Finally, how can you go wrong with ice cream?

It was altogether too much food for the seven of us, plus the chef and two student helpers. We invited more people to join us, until we were 20 or so friends and colleagues celebrating our success cooking the bounty of local farms. We deserved to celebrate. We all worked together to put this meal on the table, and we all earned the passing grade – “Plays Well With Others!”

The Culinary Institute of America is a leader in the Farm-to-Fork movement. They believe in buying the freshest and best ingredients, and try to buy from local purveyors when possible. As proof of their commitment, the CIA hired a local farmer to coordinate local farm purchases. As an example, they buy 750,000 eggs locally every year. By next year they will all be free-range chicken eggs.

Sign up for the CIA Boot Camps online. They have all manner of classes from basic to advanced, and from baking to Asian cuisine, lasting from one day to 5 days. You’ll have a great time, you’ll learn new cooking techniques, and make a whole new bunch of foodie friends!

The Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY 12538
877-334-6464

A Traveler Attends the Istanbul Culinary Institute

By Emilie C. Harting

Were it not for the large letters “Istanbul Culinary Institute” above the front entrance, one would assume that the restaurant Enstitu was an elegant café in a row of buildings next to the Pera Museum southeast of Taksim Square.  On a clear day locals and tourists sit under umbrellas on either side of the front door, or wander inside to eat and shop for gourmet food.

Fehmi Samanci, Istanbul Culinary Institute teacher.

I’d been traveling in Turkey for several weeks, and near the end of the trip I arrived at the Institute to take an individual Amateur Cooking Class, one of an array of classes, tours, and other programs for travelers.

“As you probably know, not all Turkish cuisine is gyros and kabobs,” said head chef instructor Fehmi Samanci as we entered the long, sun-filled classroom with stoves and refrigerators on either side.

Appetizers, eggplant, salad on top.

“Would you like to watch me as I explain the steps, or do you want to cook with me?”    Fehmi began setting out a number of bowls, pots, stirrers and measurers out on the long metal table that ran down the middle of the room.

Eager to learn from such an accomplished chef, I said I’d like to participate.

When I asked him how he became a chef, Fehmi said that he’d grown up watching his mother cook, and  when he was thinking about a career he saw there was a real need for educated chefs.  “So I learned to teach them,” he said with a slight giggle.   “And to teach non chefs like yourself.  I also enjoy going to cities like New York and London to demonstrate Turkish cooking at culinary institutes and TV stations.”

“Let’s make three basic Turkish dishes: eggplant salad (patlican salatasi), braised fish (balik pilakisi), and zucchini fritters (mücver).  We’ll do the slicing and chopping for each as the others are cooking.”

By then I’d learned that the first course in many Turkish restaurants is the Meze, the appetizer.    Soon after the guests sit down, a waiter comes out with a huge tray of twelve to eighteen appetizers, each in a small bowl.  A diner picks out three or so.  Ironically, I’d avoided the eggplant salad because it looked like ochre colored paste without much texture. It also looked dull compared to dishes with tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and olives.

Students at work.

“Eggplant salad is one of the most popular appetizers in the country,” Fehmi told me.  “We can either bake the eggplants in the oven or cook them on our grill.”   I looked around for a portable grill and saw that he was placing the eggplants in a standing up position over burners on the gas stove.  “We’ll keep them here until the skins bubble.”

As the eggplants cooked, we went on to the braised fish.  Fehmi chose sea bream because it was in season in the late spring.     (I’d had it a few times at small fish restaurants, and it was delicious.  The soft white fish absorbs the flavor of the tomatoes and herbs!)    He said that orange roughy, snapper, or sea bass would be good substitutes in the United States. After slicing onions and frying them in olive oil, we chopped a few springs of  parsley, concussed  (rough chopped)  tomatoes which we’d peeled after dipping them in boiling water, and mixed in mashed garlic, salt and pepper.  We placed half of the mixture in the bottom of a baking pot and lay the filets in before putting the remaining sauce on top and covering the pot.

“It’s important to have a sauce that’s not too thick or it will draw down the flavor,” Fehmi said as he placed the covered pot in the middle of the hot oven. “Also, it should not be cooked too fast.”

While the fish baked, we started the zucchini fritters.  We washed and grated the zucchini, pressed batches of it between our hands with paper towels to make sure all the liquid was out, and put it aside while we chopped scallions and dill, crumbled up feta cheese,  beat eggs, and mixed all of the ingredients together.  We then added the flour, little by little, along with the pepper and salt.  Fehmi said there were two methods of cooking the fritters, either baking or frying.  Since frying is quicker, we poured spoonfuls of the mixture into a pan of olive oil, let the fritters get golden brown on each side, and then rested them on a paper towel to draw out the excess fat.

Farm at Saros.

“Bon Appetit,” said Fehmi and Hande Bozdogan, the owner/director of the Instiute who had come to join us at an eating table near the window.

When I told Hande how delicious and natural the food tasted, she said the aim of both their restaurant, Enstitu, and the Culinary Institute was to make the healthiest food possible.  “We don’t use much butter, and avoid other dairy products, except the modest cheeses that give flavor, such as in your zucchini fritters, and yogurt in some dishes”

As we sat, Hande told me about how she has been heavily influenced by Anatolian cuisine that is typical of the interior of Turkey.  She owns a farm in Saros, two hours north of Istanbul near the Greek border.  Each day a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs are transported from the farm to the restaurant and training kitchens.   The list was mouthwatering: tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, okra, artichokes, thyme, basil, and mint, as well as apples, pears, pomegranates, quince, and mulberries.    “It’s important to get the food from the farm to the table as soon as it is picked.  We have a steady clientele of local business people who come because they want healthy food that’s cooked without pretension.  I hope we don’t lose the simplicity of Turkish food with the current trend to make food look fancier than it actually is.  We have such a rich culinary history with Ottoman, Greek, and Arab dishes.”  Hande talked about the book she wrote on street food, which she said is fascinating.  You learn how basic Turkish food is cooked because the dishes are created before your eyes.

I asked Hande and Fehmi about their favorite spices.   Almost speaking together, they said many fresh herbs plus red pepper flakes, cumin, sumac powder, oregano, saffron, and lots of cinnamon and cloves.  “We often take students to the spice market and fish market first before we cook,”

I came away from the lesson with a better appreciation of the food I’d been loving in Western Turkey. I’d also picked up tips on how to hold knives, chop, braise, and, above all, to make simple ingredients more tasty.

Even more: Watch an interview with Hande Bozdogan on http://tinyurl.com/27mbcnt. Her book Flavors of the Street: Turkey won the Gourmand Award in 2005, and is available on Amazon.  Istanbul: Contemporary Cuisine also received awards and will also be available soon on Amazon.

For more of Emilie C. Harting’s work visit: www.emilieharting.com. She can be reached at echarting@gmail.com and her blog is: echarting@wordpress.com.

By Deston Nokes

Whether foraging for chanterelles, plucking huckleberries, quaffing expertly crafted ales or getting one’s teeth stuck on a candied apple, visitors to Oregon’s Mt. Hood Territory glorious autumn festival, Feast On! (www.mthoodterritory.com/feaston) can indulge in a cornucopia of incredible delights.

One lucky little boy enjoys a carmel apple. (Photo courtesty of Mt. Hood.)

The Feast On! campaign, which continues until Nov. 30, offers special events and menus urging locals (and lucky visitors) to try new wines, relax in lodges and resorts, enjoy local produce, order distinctive dinners in fine eateries and visit the region’s harvest festivals.

At the Feast On! website (www.mthoodterritory.com/feaston), users can surf specials in lodging, dining, festivals, wineries and brewery categories. One important reason to check out the website first is to sign up for one of the promotion’s three, $500 getaways to a delicious Mt. Hood Territory destination. Just view the three “Flavor Trip” videos, answer the related questions, and sign up.

Running through the corn fields. (Photo courtesy of Mt. Hood.)

The site will guide guests to the best places to sink their teeth into crisp apples, hand-crafted cheeses, roasted hazelnuts, small-batch chocolates, locally raised lamb, elk and beef, and wash it all down with award-winning wines.

A quick way to get into the harvest mood is to celebrate fall on a tulip farm at the Wooden Shoe Pumpkin Festival (http://www.woodenshoe.com/pumpkin-fest) in Woodburn.
Running until Halloween, the Wooden Shoe Pumpkin Festival features family-friendly events such as a five-acre corn maze, a cannon that shoots pumpkins through the air with a cannon, ducky races, horse swings, paintball gallery and a farmer’s market. It wouldn’t be a real festival without an impressive selection of Oregon wines, Oregon craft brews and succulent local treats at the food court.

What a view! (Courtesy of Mt. Hood.)

Not every Feast On! destination is a rustic adventure. Culinary aficionados will be sated by the upscale menus found in Allium (www.alliumoregon.com) in West Linn; or by dining at Scratch (www.scratchfoodsllc.com/) or Olive & Grape (www.theoliveandthegrape.net/) in tony Lake Oswego.

Part of the thrill of exploring the Mt. Hood Territory is to get up the mountain itself. Resort at the Mountain (www.theresort.com), located in the shadow of Mt. Hood in Welches, Ore., is the perfect getaway to play golf, enjoy the spa, and forage for mushrooms and berries. The property is gleaming after undergoing a total facelift in 2009. Its 160 rooms and bathrooms and are fully renovated, and the resort put in a full-service spa, refurbished golf courses, and upgraded public spaces. It also has 18,000 square feet of upgraded meetings space, and a new restaurant, Altitude. For those seeking adventure, there’s year-round skiing up the road at Timberline, fly fishing, tennis, croquet, bocce ball, and even a natural grass, 18-hole miniature golf course.

At the top of the mountain road, Timberline Lodge (www.timberlinelodge.com) provides incomparable views, fine dining and year-round skiing. With 1.9 million visitors a year, Timberline Lodge is second only to Multnomah Falls as Oregon’s most visited site. A recent survey also named the lodge as the state’s most romantic destination. This is a mountain cabin on a grand scale: decidedly rustic, warm and cozy beyond measure.

For those seeking a truly singular wine-and-dine experience should sign up for a Winemakers Dinner Series (www.timberlinelodge.com/winemakers-dinner-series/), located at the historic Silcox Hut at Timberline Lodge. Once a month, Executive Chef Jason Stoller Smith and visiting winemakers will provide new sips and six-course delectable dining in a very unique setting on the south slope of Mount Hood. Space is limited to 24 guests for each intimate evening. Price is $200 per guest. Call 503-272-3251 for reservations.

Upcoming 2010-11 monthly dinners will feature the region’s finest winemakers:

Nov. 18: Ponzi (Maria Ponzi)

Dec. 16: R. Stuart and Co. (Rob Stuart)

Jan. 20: Domaine Drouhin Oregon (Arron Bell)

Feb. 24: Bergstrom (Josh Bergstrom)

March 24: Lange (Jesse Lange)

April 21: Chehalem (Harry Peterson Nedry)

Many of the region’s lodging facilities offer special packages (http://www.mthoodterritory.com/deals/) that include accommodations, dining and attractions. They can be found on the Feast On! website, or call 800-424-3002 and request a lodging specials guide.

Deston Nokes wrote a new iPhone app: PORTLAND ESSENTIALS. It highlights the best things to see, do and eat in Portland. With 259 entries and more than 2,057photos, it’s a delicious resource for those who live here, and for those coming to visit. Entries are listed by category and each links to a Web site and phone number. It includes cost and operating-hour information. Best of all, each has its own GPS to guide you right to the door. This new application is for sale on iTunes for only $2.99.

Paradise Sale, a beautiful, yellowish/clear gelatin with red and green vegetables in it; quite tasty and beautiful to look at. I can see why gelatin salads will become popular again. Check out that recipe. (Photo by Richard Frisbie.)

The issue also contains an entire article on Greek food. I’m tentatively scheduled for a Greek press trip this fall, so any articles on the food and wine of Greece are research for me. Besides, I’m fascinated with Greek culture, I’ve always wanted to go to there. The author describes the experience of first encountering the dish, alevropita, at an inn. It was served as a meze, or small taste, but was such a transcendent culinary experience that he persuaded the innkeeper to give him the recipe. The whole article carefully documents how she made the complete dish for him, all the ingredients and times, so he’d know how to do it himself. The innkeeper used the Greek equivalent of grappa, incorporated some of the feta in the simple egg batter, and topped it with a
sprinkling of paprika. The result was a thin crispy tart. The photograph made it look fantastically delicious. When it finally came time to recreate the recipe, something happened to the authenticity after the editors got their hands on it. Instead of a round pan that was the correct size for the ingredients, an 18 inch rectangular pan was listed. Vodka replaced the grappa, but if you hadn’t read the article you wouldn’t know that. Water called for in the recipe wasn’t listed in the ingredients. All the feta was sprinkled on top of the mix in the pan, which was too big to keep the edges from being too thin and burning. There was no paprika suggested. It may sound as if I’m complaining. I’m not. I’m simply pointing out the differences between what the innkeeper made and what the editors wrote; the authentic dish versus the modern equivalent. Once you’ve read both you can decide which way you want to make it. I used the recipe (against my better judgment) because I believe in following the recipe the first time, then making the changes my tastebuds and my eyes tell me are necessary. Next time I’m definitely using a slightly smaller pan, some grappa instead of vodka, and I will incorporate some feta in the mix before sprinkling
the rest on top. We’ll see about the paprika.

(Photo by Richard Frisbie.)

This recipe looks could be the base for any number of delicious hors d’oeuvres. Substituting a seasoned feta and adding caramelized onions, chopped
chives, black olives, or garlic would add dimensions to please both the nose and the eye before beginning to saveur (sic;) the taste. Spreading an olivada or pesto on top would deliciously compound the flavors. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I can’t wait to play with it. Get the current issue of Saveur Magazine for these and other recipes you can have fun with.

(Photo by Richard Frisbie.)

Cookin’ with Cookbooks
By Sue Frause

I admit to Googling recipes when I’m in a rush and have no time to peruse my cookbook library. Granted, it’s not quite as extensive and impressive as the collection of my chef friend Marty Fernandez, who has more than 400 old and new titles. But the four open shelves in our kitchen, jammed with colorful books in all shapes and sizes, is somehow comforting. Plus, when that novel proves to be a no-reader, I can always grab a cookbook for some gastronomic relief.

According to the Joy of Baking website, http://www.joyofbaking.com/reviews/cookbookhistory.html, the first cookbooks were written by chefs for chefs (and recipes were once known as receipts). I have a number of chef’s titles: The Escoffier Cookbook; Cooking with Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey; John Sarich’s Food & Wine of the Pacific Northwest; Beard on Pasta; Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook; Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking; Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen; Jacques Pepin’s Complete Techniques; and Rover’s: Recipes from Seattle’s Chef in the Hat.

My husband, who is the main cook in our house, has mastered many of the recipes including Bourdain’s Les Halles Fries and Boeuf Bourguignon. One of my favorite recipes is John Sarich’s Beef Tenderloin with Cabernet Sauvignon and Juniper Berry Sauce.

It’s a growing trend for restaurants and inns to publish cookbooks. Two of my restaurant cookbooks hail from Washington state’s Long Beach Peninsula: Shoalwater Restaurant and The Ark. Sadly, both restaurants are now closed, but their cuisine lives on through their recipes. One of my favorite cookbooks is from a bakery in Washington’s San Juan Islands, With Love & Butter: Favorite Recipes from Holly B’s Bakery on Lopez Island. Both a cookbook and memoir, with linoleum-block prints throughout, it includes recipes from the bakery along with other tasty treats.

Three members of the Top Table Restaurant Group in British Columbia have come out with cookbooks: Vancouver’s Blue Water Cafe and West, along with Araxi in Whistler. Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant was nominated for a prestigious James Beard Foundation Award in the From a Professional Point of View category. Momofuku, by David Chang and Peter Meehan and The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts by The French Culinary Institute with Judith Choate were also nominated. The FCI took home the award.

Inns are also sharing their recipes with their guests and food lovers. Some 20 years ago I received one of the popular books in Karen Brown’s Country Inn Series from a friend: European Country Cuisine-Romantic Inns & Recipes. Although I’ve never made anything from it, I use it for a resource of places to stay across the pond. One of the most spattered and stained books in my collection is the Alice Bay Cookbook,  from Alice Bay Bed & Breakfast, located on Samish Island in Washington’s Skagit Valley (www.alicebay.com). With blackberries coming on strong on our Whidbey Island mini-farm, I’ll soon be making Julie Wilkinson Rousseau’s Blackberry Cobbler. I also enjoy her breakfast treats, soups and cookies (many with a Scandinavian flair).

Donna Leahy, an accomplished chef and friend, authored Recipe for a Country Inn: Fine Food from the Inn at Twin Linden. Donna and her husband Bob are the former owners and innkeepers of the luxurious Lancaster County, Pennsylvania B&B. And yet another friend, Sylvia Main of Victoria, BC’s, Fairholme Manor on Vancouver Island, enlisted me to edit her cookbook (www.fairholmemanor.com). Now in its second printing, Fabulous Fairholme: Breakfasts & Brunches is my go-to breaky and brunch cookbook. The Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and Fairholme’s Berry Muffins are two of my favorites.

So, no surprise that the cookbook bug has recently bitten me. Each Sunday in my Whidbey Island Life blog,http://blog.seattlepi.com/whidbey, I post a recipe in a series titled Cookin’ With Farmer Bob.  One of these years I’ll compile them and put them into a book.

Bon Appetit

By Peter Francis Battaglia

Here is my argument to all those people — take a good look at yourselves, you know who you are — who think they need to spend hours in the kitchen for a decent home-cooked meal.  You couldn’t be further from the truth.

Don’t be scared. Go for take-out or fast food when you feel like it; but really, you could make something on the fly and be shocked at how easy it is.

Pasta comes in all its shapes, sizes, varieties and is probably my most favorite food to cook and eat.  My grandfather, Innocenzo Scaramuzzi, who I take after in many ways, probably ate it everyday. Innocenzo, a New York city Italian immigrant from Grassano, Provincia di Matera, Basilicata, Italy (now that’s a mouthful), was a genius in the kitchen.  I would watch him and my grandmother cook for hours.  Couldn’t get enough of it.  And, everything they cooked was awesome, except maybe some of the more hard core old world dishes which included items that would make a voracious carnivore go ultra vegan.

This brings me to one of the simplest of all Italian dishes ever: pasta with garlic and oil, or Pasta con Aglio e Olio. Basically, it’s pasta, cooked al dente, drained and then sauteed in a big pan with three cloves of sliced garlic and good (I mean good) olive oil. Season with hot pepper flakes or black pepper (never both) and some salt.  After several trips to Italy I learned a pasta-serving style I prefer and I’m going to pass it on. Pasta should never be swimming in a sauce, especially one that’s oil-based.  How many times have you had pasta with garlic and oil and the macaroni hydroplanes on the plate because there is too much oil?

The pasta should have a nice coating of oil, but not an inch of oil in the dish.  In fact, in Italy from Venice to Palermo the oil based sauces almost appeared dry; but they were not and they were full of flavor.  For one-half pound of cooked angel hair use less than 1/8  an inch of olive oil in the bottom of the pan.  Heat the oil and add the garlic.  Don’t let it get to that brown stage. If it does you’ve gone too far. About one minute in the sizzling pan will allow the garlic to release its heady perfume into the oil.

Add the drained pasta, carefully and incorporate the oil and pasta. Add salt and pepper and then taste it. If it’s too dry for your liking add a little of the pasta water (I said “a little).

Sprinkle some grated parmigiano or pecorino, up to you, and you are done.  Not rocket science or a 12-hour ordeal.  Serve with a green vegetable or salad.  Garnish the pasta with chopped parsley — or not, again, not a deal breaker here.

Tonight I opened a can of no salt organic green beans, and drained it. I sauteed one minced shallot, then added that to the beans. A little kosher salt, one teaspoon of fig balsamic and I let that cook for five minutes. Then I drizzled extra virgin olive oil, infused with Meyer lemon (a Christmas gift). Gave it a quick stir and added a little fresh orange juice. Dash of black pepper and it as done.
The bright sour sweet and citrus flavors combined with the other ingredients perked up that dreary can of green beans, and brought a little sunshine into our kitchen on a dark, cold night.  It played off nicely with the Agli’Ugli (southern Italian dialect, I’m channeling the grandparents again).

So bundle up, it’s a cold one here at the Jersey Shore (no Snooki or The Situation in sight) and stop whining that you can’t cook a quick meal during the week.  It’s good for you.

And by the way, you can add capers, anchovies, small shrimp, cherry tomatoes — whatever you love — into the oil and garlic.

Read more of Peter’s work at: www.blog.afoodobsession.com/2009/12/29/italian-classic.aspx.

Review by Rosemary Minati

Mombo, 66 Marcy Street, Portsmouth, NH  03801. Telephone:  603-433-2340.

Kitchen opens to restaurant. (Photos courtesy of Mombo.)

Mombo isn’t just a culinary experience. No, this new eatery serves enticing visual fare too. My husband and I fell in love with this restaurant the moment we walked through the door. Located in a charming old  building, it has high-beamed ceilings, cozy seating areas, and a friendly crew,  giving it a warm and inviting feel.

Mombo’s granite bar extends into counter seating, an alternative to traditional table seating, offering guests an up-close-and-personal look into its open kitchen. Steve and I sat there and for our  evening “entertainment” we watched as Lawrence artistically created magnificent appetizers and desserts. He made and then served our cheese platter, offering an explanation of each cheese and its origin.

Mombo cooking. (Photo courtesy of Mombo.)

This restaurant is good for foodies who appreciate interesting spices, flavors and artistic presentation. Steve and I shared each course because everything looked so unique, fresh and tempting. The lobster bisque was creamy and rich. For entrees we chose fresh scallops that were cooked to perfection and a tender Kobe beef filet that was tender and juicy.

Dessert was a rich, dense chocolate torte with raspberries and cream. Chocolate is one of my guilty pleasures and I consider myself a bit of an expert. This did not disappoint and was “to die for.” As coffee lovers, we truly appreciated the individual French press pots of steaming rich coffee that came with dessert.

Chocolate torte. (Photo by Rosemary Minati.)

During our meal, as we enjoyed every morsel we watched as the chefs tested sauces and added ingredients to enhance each dish.  Our server was friendly and did a magnificent job. We will fondly remember this restaurant and will definitely return.

For more information visit: www.momborestaurant.com

Welcome to globalfoodie.com!

August 19, 2010

Yesterday, I made one of my favorite sandwiches. Egg salad with whole grain bread. Then I read about the egg recall. My eggs were not on the recall list, but I threw them away anyway and bought a new dozen. Better safe than salmonella.

Make sure your eggs are not on the list:  www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/08/19/US-recall-of-suspect-eggs-widened/UPI-95351282241439/

August 13, 2010

My ricotta and mozzarella cheese-making kit arrived yesterday and I’ve already devoured the instructions, watched videos (thank you Barb Freda) and purchased supplies. My reward, if I finish two stories that have been sitting on the proverbial back burner, is cheese. Maybe I’ll make marinara too. With more time and a little semolina  I’d make pasta. Unfortunately, as we all know, you can have it all — just not at the same time. So,  I’ll report back on Monday and let you know if (and how) the cheese making went … and how well I wrote those stories.

My best to you, –Denise (Globalfoodiegal)

July 30, 2010

The summer is moving too fast for me. How about you? It’s almost August and I’m still in an April/May mode. The blooms are off the perennials and the garden is starting to produce.

July 2010

Yes, it’s been awhile since I posted here. It is becoming easier as I learn to navigate this site. This month Vivienne wrote about Marula trees, Peter Francis Battaglia shared his cooking expertise, Susan McKee served cognac and Rosemary reviewed New Hampshire eatery.

I’ve been traveling, cooking and reading. Quebec City restaurants were memorable — and were matched by Montreal’s exclusive offerings. I must admit Jardin Nelson in Saint Jacques Cartier was probably one of the most impressive dining experiences in the last year. The award-winning gardens, a kitchen that has won awards for its cleanliness and spectacular food made even the hottest day in Montreal more than bearable. I’ll be writing more about Quebec, Montreal and France in the coming months.

My next foray is to Geneva for a new travel show. I’m just the writer behind the camera, but it is fun — and I get to sample food, which gives me fodder for more magazine (and globalfoodie) stories.

Off to finish a deadline. Talk to you soon.

–Denise AKA Globalfoodiegal

August, 2009

Greetings! Our site keeps gettting better and better, so bear with us as we work through the small web-world glitches. We’re writers, so only one side of our brain works. The other side — the one that figures out the cyber universe– is missing a few beats. Even so, we’re moving in the right direction; just a little slowly.

Take a look at a few of our stories. Shannon Hurst Lane’s story, “Grits” is funny and educational. Keith Kellett always keeps me entertained with his UK stories.  His “Aussie Pies” and a visit up Snowdonian’s peak are great, so take a look.  Deston Nokes explains why North Carolina biscuits are so popular in Oregon and Richard Frisbie takes us to the French country side.

There’s more to come. Susan McKee has two stories on deck and Deston promises to tell a few more tales. Rosemary has another book review and is writing about Pamela’s gluten-free products.

There are two winners in our now bi-monthly cookbook contest. Congratulations to Roberta Beach Jacobson, from Greece, and Tera Crain, from Austin, Texas. We’ll get those out as soon as possible.

We are still collecting recipes, so send in whatever you have. Include its history and family ties. Eventually we’ll have our “Recipe Center” up and running.

We’re almost into September and we foodies know that means it’s time to enjoy your local bounty. Peaches, tomatoes, corn-on-the-cob, herbs, lettuce, you name it, your local farmer has it all and more.  Although supermarket offerings are fine, the local farmer’s market or farm stand is the only way to go this time of year.

Talk to you soon,

Globalfoodiegal, Denise