It’s show time and this time it is BIG!

Almost 2 months ago, 800km/500miles from home, 30+ guests to satisfy, 10 courses to prepare, 30+ hours of cooking for a 6h dining experience; these are the ingredients to keep in mind reading what will follow.
Almost two months ago a very close friend of mine, Daniela, asked me to cater for her boyfriend’s, Giacomo, birthday dinner to be held near Bologna, in Italy. 

I was expressly requested to provide more of a feast (not that I ever put on the table mozzarella and ham with stale breads at my dinners) than a simple "spaghettata" Italian style. The challenge grew bigger when the number of guests started inflating like proper sourdough bread. Bubbly bubbly they raised to 30+ people. I had never cooked for more than 6 people so this was starting to take the shape of a very interesting adventure. To fix the menu proved to be quite challenging. Many cups of coffee, gazes in the air, and sketches of the possible platings brought to life a 10 courses menu divided in 4 appetizers and 6 courses from starch to meat to fish, passing by a fragrant broth and ending with a fresh panna cotta grazed by some local fresh white truffle. 

A rapid email chain with all my professional Chefs and foodies friends supported me on the choices I made.

The pistachios post

We in Sicily are quite blessed by the production of yummy almonds and pistachios. The city of Agrigento has a festival for the blossoming of the almonds tree that grow in its countryside and in the Noto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noto valley. Pistachios are instead grown on the sides of the Etna volcano in the city of Bronte. We use both nuts quite a lot both in savory and sweet recipes but while almonds are more assertive, pistachios are quite subtle in taste (and more expensive too).
Almonds are omnipresent in my pesto sauces but I have not worked extensively with pistachios before; I have then decided that it was due time to face the nut.
In this post, you will find a series of experiments I made with them, mostly savory with a great classic as sweet. Let me know what you think of them.

Double potato salad with green onions and pistachios

Poached Salmon salad

Unlike most of my recipes posted so far, this is quite light and refreshing. Perfect for a summer evening!

Ingredients (enough for 2 servings):

• Ca 20 parsley branches;
• 1/2 red onions, sliced;
• 1 l of water;
• 1 lime, juiced;
• Few black peppercorns;
• 1 shallot, sliced;
• Half of a small leek, chopped;
• 250 g salmon fillet;
• 1 big eggplant, sliced and grilled;
• 1 tbsp of capers;
• Olive oil;
• Salt and Pepper.

Procedure:

Wash the red onions, place them in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Set them aside. Wash the parsley and pick the leaves from the stems. Poor the water in a pan wide enough to contain the salmon fillet but not too much, so it will be well covered by the water. Add to the pan the parsley stems, the shallot, the leek and half of the lime. Bring this broth to a boil. Lower the flame and when it will reach a bare simmer throw in the peppercorns and the salmon.
Poach the fish for roughly 5 min or till when it will be properly cooked (when pressed on the sides using your thumb and second finger it should result slightly springy). Fish it out and set aside to cool down.

Wash off the capers the brine or the vinegar and place them in the salad bowl with the parsley leaves roughly chopped and the shredded grilled eggplant.
Rinse the onions and squeeze them well before adding them to the salad.
Coarsely crumble the salmon with your fingers and add it to the salad bowl
Dress the salad with the lime juice and a splash of olive oil and enjoy!

As a variation you can try adding to the salad some cottage cheese.

What's for dinner? Same old, same old??

Have you always been looking for a good source to improve your Culinary Art know-how? Then stop your search! Chef Jacob is developing just what we need:
The Free Culinary School Podcast .

In his periodical podcast episodes, Chef Jacob Burton shares with us his knowledge about culinary arts. In his clear, concise, friendly and honest style he gives us a way to feel more secure of ourselves when concocting our creations and brings our cooking style to the next level. Added to this, the bits of food science he throws in are like gilding the lily.
From Knives Skills (Ep1) to Stocks (Ep2), from how to treat the main staple grains (Ep4) to the main techniques for cooking proteins (Ep5, Ep6, Ep7) he brings us through the basic part of the course that will allow us to level our knowledge preparing ourselves for the more advanced part of the course.
Particularly worthy are the episodes on the five mother sauces (Hollandaise, Velouté, Béchamel, Tomate and Espagnole ) where he explains us the how and whys of these foundations of classical French cuisine, indispensable to every cook repertoire.

The advanced part of the course opens with a four episodes on Garde Manger or Cold Cuisine where we learn how to deal with salad greens and vinaigrettes, the basic of the classical salads and of creamy dressings and the main constituents of composed salads and canapés. Every now and then we can even find him in his kitchen explaining us how to plate with sauces and set up salads.

Moreover the interaction among the members of the community is quite intense and valuable. The forum connected to the website is quite active and Chef Jacob himself answers the questions and problems of the different members (each podcast has also a questions segment).

So what are you waiting for?? Wear your apron, the lesson is starting!