Ok my dears. Here we are more than 2 months into Covid and I can tell you that the few times I have picked up food, the portions have been smaller and the prices higher. I don’t blame them. They have to earn a living. But that’s why I’m doing Italian Night IN tonight!
I have been watching cooking shows and quite frankly, haven’t been able to get through a show for years. I found, much to my surprise, in a very short time of doing cooking videos in front of an audience I created in my gourmet kitchen, there wasn’t much more to learn from our Food Channel experts. Once they started incorporating home cooks, I found myself watching Jacques Pepin on PBS for inspiration, not any of the Cooking Channels. And that sustained me, for a short while.
And I’ve met most of the people on TV….. Wolfgang Puck, Gordon Ramsey, Bobby Flay (….really nice. I was a Chef up from San Diego and the gave me free seats to watch him at an event), Giada and some of the other “superstars”…. Can you believe that of all of them Gordon Ramsey comes in first in terms of being a decent human being and Wolfgang Puck comes in last? Although he did say he would recommend me to The Food Channel …. Maybe he was having a bad day.
Once you traveled the world and cooked in Michelin Star Kitchens (and shared ‘grandma’s recipes’ with locals in France and Italy) and you’ve eaten food cooked by Paul Bocuse, Alain Ducasse, Joël Robuchon and more, everything else is just less. And I started feeling disappointed in restaurants here in San Diego and started making trips back to Los Angeles where gave birth to my two kids, to visit Ludo Lefevre and his wife’s pop up restaurants.
But this time around during Covid I actually have found some new heroes. I’m so grateful for that. Watching Guy Fieri’s Ranch Kitchen Show, I fell in love with cooking again because of Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy and Jonathan Waxman who have educated me more than I could possibly imagine. I mean, creating a sauce or dressing can make a big difference. They helped take me to the next level of cooking.
And Rachel Ray, of all people, who for years I could not relate to, I finally like and see her value with husband John, on Rachel Ray at Home. I learned a lot from her cause I was finally open to actually hearing her. Yes. Maybe it’s me….
And guess who really blew me away? Valerie Bertinelli. Amazing!
My thanks to all the Chefs who have brought my understanding of food and sauces to the next level.
So let’s started with tonight’s meal:
Roasted Cauliflower
This recipe is actually from Padma Lakshmi on Top Chef. Add to your roasted Cauliflower, roasted pine nuts, golden raisins.
To roast: Cut the cauliflower into florets. Use hot water on the stovetop to hydrate saffron. Add chopped Cauliflower.
Dressing: Give it some white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. 450° for 15 minutes in the oven for roasting.
Add fresh dill and parsley at the end.
Eggplant A la Norma
It’s a Rachel Ray recommendation. If you want to serve it as a summer salad, chill then add the mozzarella.
Cube eggplant salted let it drain dry it sauté it. Add cherry tomatoes and grate in garlic add capers and red wine vinegar. Add small mozzarella balls and basil at the end. Dot it with sausage and fennel (that’s my addition to her recipe). It’s a nice touch for the meat eaters in the house!
Tomato Chutney
Grape tomatoes basil mint parsley food processed with slivered almonds or pinenuts. Pulse pulse then add olive oil and after mixing add Parmesan cheese third of a cup. Take a sliced baguette, heat it and rub garlic on the hot sliced bread. Serve with the Tomato Chutney. Might have been Alex’s recipe…
I was too stuffed to serve a salad, but instead made this nice drink, an Italian Spritzer I learned from John (Rachel Ray’s husband):
For TWO: 2/3 Cup Campari, 2/3 Cup Dry Vermouth, 1 Cup Gin, 1 Cup orange juice – shake with ice, strain into a pitcher and refrigerate. When you go to serve, pour into glasses, add ice if you like and top off with Prosecco. That’s his recommendation. Mine is to do equal amounts of Gin and Prosecco, and ‘dot’ it with Campari and Dry Vermouth.
That tastes best to me!
Healthy Happy Eating,
