what i had wanted to do to mark the opening of this movie was make bouef bourguignon alla julia child – or at the very least whip up a quiche lorraine, the 4th dish that julie powell, the julie of ‘julia & julie‘ tackled on the third day of "the project" those 7 years ago…

but instead i drove 500+ miles due north while listening to the unabridged audio book of ‘my life in france‘, and now it’s somehow past 3 am and i’m back in my pricelined hilton hotel room in the midst of suburbia where tonight alone there were no less than: 2 family reunions, 2 weddings and a bat mitzvah – all happening simultaneously, thereby cementing the fact that cleveland is clearly a happening place.

and already i’ve eaten well. tonight, dinner began with a jumbo shrimp cocktail on ice and then out came a beautifully composed plate – a simply summer salad of sugary corn, crisp green beans, new potatoes, roasted red peppers all placed over some various lettuces. and as if that wasn’t splendid enough, it was daintily topped with strips of crunchy pig ears. the salad was lightly dressed with shallots, olive oil and homemade red wine vinegar accompanied by a thick slice of homebaked bread that had been brushed with olive oil and perfectly grilled. all that, dining al fresco on a not-too-hot summer night in the backyard of people that i truly adore. i’m quite sure julia would have heartily approved – if only for the entire bottle of wine that i managed to consume…

and now, as much as i want to crash, i can’t. because i made a commitment to talk about this movie tonight, and here’s what i want to say…

go see it.

i’ve made it a point to not formally review anything on ceF. it’s a strict policy. but i did want to point you to a few articles that i thought were really well written regarding j & j.

newsweek

ny times

nashville scene/village voice

the atlantic

we all deeply love and admire julia child, and for all the right reasons. admittedly, i’m old enough to remember watching her show with my mom. i own ‘mastering the art of french cooking’ although i rarely if ever crack it. as you may know, ceF leans heavily towards the italian. yet julia child’s ‘the way to cook‘ is a book i go back to often and i have learned more about cooking from that book alone than perhaps any other.

julia did for cooking in america what garth brooks did for country music. they both brought what they were destined to do, to the masses – and in turn the people embraced them. and if you think that an odd analogy, remember that i’m living in music city, usa…

and julie powell? i love julie powell. i devoured her book 2 years ago. i received it as a gift back when i was brand new to blogging and i found it to be not only thoroughly entertaining but nicely written. she’s got a new book coming out in early december about her apprenticeship at a butcher shop. i’m looking forward to it.

i will tell you that my mom loved this movie. LOVED it. and she’s the toughest critic i know… that’s all i’m saying.

well that, and i really need to go to bed right now.

so – buon appetit!

<— i don’t know how to load this onto my sidebar because i am a techno-loser.

(thanks to sony and the powers that be for making ceF the food blog of the day on the official ‘julia and julie’ site. love you. mean it.)

this past week, ceF was 2 years old.

and somehow it’s been nearly 2 weeks since i’ve posted but… PEOPLE, I’VE BEEN BUSY. you see it’s been SPRING – and i’ve officially gone riding. so if you need me, you can find me in the mornings at edwin warner park worshiping at the altar of mother earth and heaving myself up some pretty decent sized tennessee hills..

but not only that – i was actually doing the W word…

i know, i know. working… it’s crazy – but it was just a short, intense job. this particular gig was feeding 16 people for 3 days. and since you’ve probably stopped by to hear about some food, i thought i’d share the menu with you so you can see that i’ve not been slacking – not in the least…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

thursday dinner

bruschetta:
tomato, basil, garlic
spring pea, garden mint, lemon zest, pecorino
cannellini beans, red wine vinegar, rosemary oil

orecchiette with broccoli rabe, toasted garlic, toasted bread crumbs, pecorino

roast pork shoulder with roasted vegetable sauce
grilled zucchini and red peppers

tiramisu

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

friday lunch

pizza:
caramelized fennel, pancetta
roasted mushrooms and venison prosciutto
tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, and fontina
san marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil

caesar salad

lemon pistachio biscotti

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

friday dinner

percatelli all’amatriciana

grilled tuna steaks with dill pollen
grilled chicken – lemon, oregano, garlic
panelle
asparagus with walnut crema and shaved pecorino

lemon ricotta cheesecake (pictured above)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

saturday lunch

pasta ceci
mixed greens and tomatoes – olive oil/balsamic
rosemary, garlic, black pepper flat bread

jacques torres chocolate chip cookies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

saturday dinner

cannellini beans with arugula, grape tomatoes, oregano, garlic, lemon, anchovy

roast chickens on a bed of rainbow chard with shallots
a gremolata of toasted pine nuts, garlic, lemon zest and flat leaf parsley

polenta terrine w/ italian sausage, mozzarella and peppers

olive oil and rosemary cake with crème fraiche ice cream and fresh lemon syrup

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

sunday lunch

spaghetti, guanciale with caramelized onion and garlic

pork scallopine with a salad of shaved fennel, red onion, romaine, basil, capers, lemon zest and juice

honey glazed nectarines with balsamic zabaglione

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so, 72 hours and 4 litres of olive oil later, it’s all behind me now. overall, i’d say it was a huge success thanks to the incredibly competent and graceful maggie spicer, whose palate and integrity i trust implicitly, along with my foodie buddy chris widick who cooked his ever-loving ass off and put up with my requests and demands respectfully and kindly because well, he had to – plus he’s a prince of a guy. together we all made beautiful food and fed a bunch of hungry and grateful songwriters.

and a very special thanks to mario batali, andrew carmellini, lidia bastianich, paul bertolli, the women from the river cafe in london, nate appleman, gina depalma, heidi’s tiramisu, vincent from taste catering in dallas and a huge shout out to judy rogers’ and her zuni café’s roasted chicken because it’s just THE BEST. these cooks were all there on my shoulder making it the consummate group effort, to say the very least… 

but really, aren’t those almost always the very best?

so i was recently in nyc for a week. and then i came home to my daughter’s college graduation party. at my house. and i’m happy to report that i’m back on the bike, taking full advantage of springtime and all of its rain induced lushness. the honeysuckle is intoxicating… plus, there’s a 3 day cooking gig coming up next month that i’m preparing for. all this to say that i’ve been preoccupied. but i wanted to catch up and say hello and mostly – before i forget, fill you in on ”THE FOOD”, because there sure has been quite a lot of that. <— understatement.

i barely took any photos of anything. but i thought i’d list my itinerary – just so you could see what i’ve been up to – and the magnitude of food. because really, in retrospect? it’s amazing i didn’t keel over and die from caloric excess. well, i almost did once, but then i somehow made a splendid recovery at dinner the next night.

this was something along the lines of braised rabbit over farro risotto. scott conant – scarpetta.

but first and foremost, my beautiful and amazing daughter graduated on saturday from middle tennessee state university with a 3.94 – suma cum laude. and in case you need the translation, that’s latin for "with highest honors" and we are all beyond proud. lauren, you are awesome and i love you. (she reads my blog, unlike the rest of my family… not that i’m bitter.)

and at some point, i somehow managed to convince the talented, wonderful and sexy heidi robb (she’s one of those yoga chicks and it shows) to fly in and cook for us, and then chris was kind enough to come over and be heidi’s sous chef. without them i could never have pulled off this kind of dinner and be at the graduation and then come home and still get to wear a pretty blouse. so before i launch into the nyc trip, here was the menu for lauren’s graduation party:

small nibbles
rosemary marcona almonds – trader joe’s
some kind of buttery swirled puffed cheese sticks – whole foods
botija dried olives – raw guru
————–
2 pizzas
caramelized fennel with chris’s homemade pancetta
mozzarella, fontina, tomato sauce and fresh basil
———————–
pasta
penne w/ red onion, garlic and guanciale – batali recipe from molto italiano – page 186
——————————–
main dish and sides
chicken and italian sausage with sweet peppers, garlic and lemon
grilled asparagus with walnut crema – A16′s recipe
roasted little yukon potatoes with chives and lemon
sliced heirloom tomato salad
————————————————-
dessert
tiramisu – heidi’s recipe – authentic and perfect
and…the now very famous chocolate chip cookies adapted from the one, the only – jaqcues torres by david leite

as you might expect, the food was just excellent and lauren could not have been happier with the day. she starts teaching 7th grade language arts this august.

ok – on to new york…

also from scarpetta – the most beautiful bread – a stromboli filled with fresh and smoked mozzarella, mild sopressata, tomato and basil

and to go with it – olive oil, caponata and mascarpone butter…

thursday – dinner with mom at ouest. tom valenti is a fine chef and a very lovely guy. it is said that he single handedly brought short ribs to the party. and that right there is a reason to worship him.

friday – hair appointment at warren tricomi at the plaza. dinner at del posto with amy, stephane and claire.

saturday – ‘reasons to be pretty‘, chelsea market with a serious shop through buon italia, dinner at scarpetta. thanks for a wonderful day, momma!

sunday, brunch at aquavit with nick. dinner at convivio* with michael.

monday – laid in bed until 2pm in a semi-food coma, then shopping with a purpose in soho. dinner at esca (amazing food) with robin and jim, marc, maggie and amy and jonny

tuesday – great exhibit at the met, and then dinner at otto with cooper

wednesday – a stroll through the guggenheim, lunch at centolire and a black and white cupcake from dean & deluca to cap it all off. which sucked. which was a crying shame…

and now, as peter would say, my linking finger is very broken.

but i’ll be back with more cooking of my own – and soon.

*convivio was incredible. hands down my favorite dinner of the trip. you must go… a huge thank you to chef michael white.

while the economy seemingly tanks before our very eyes, it’s easy to forgot how incredibly lucky we are compared to so many who are so much less fortunate. at this time each year the food blogging community comes together to participate in raising money to feed the hungry via chez pim’s annual fundraising campaign, that raises money for the UN World Food Programme.

i knew i wanted to help, if only in some small way but i was unsure of what i could offer. my baking skills are rudimentary and it’s tough to ship a big bowl of pasta or a plate of short ribs… but then i thought of my wonderful friend RK in florida, the master of the smoked mullet – and how he has shared this insane delicacy with me. and because of the kind of man that he is, he agreed to make this possible by donating some of his product, just for this event. and to make matters even more interesting, this smoked mullet roe is commercially unavailable. so think of a rich smoky yolky caviar – and then think of something way better. and then you’re getting close…

in the words of RK:

Freshly smoked Silver Mullet roe, a rare Florida west coast delicacy, brought to you from Black Hammock Smokehouse. It has been salt cured and carefully warm smoked over Red Bay and Mangrove wood to retain the caviar essence of the eggs. This item includes 2 complete roe sacs individually vacuum sealed and delivered right to your door. Make no mistake, this is fresh, the fish are currently swimming nearshore, waiting for you to bid and then we will go select the donors. Nowhere else will you find this outstanding product.

UE10 is the code for this incredible smoked mullet roe

now while i realize these aren’t classically beautiful photographs, you must trust me that the taste is over the top delicious. sliced into coins and hit with some lemon, it will need nothing else, although feel free to get experimental. it’s pretty much like my beloved bottarga that has been smoked as opposed to just the sun and salt cured. and it is wonderful. no actually, it is a bona fide mind blower. if you love caviar and bottarga then this is directly up your ally.

and for $10 you can get a chance to own 2 of these which would be totally PERFECT for starting off the new year, no? imagine the dinner party…

again, this product is not available for purchase anywhere. it’s a highly rare and specialized item. please note that it can only be shipped within the continental usa and canada.

last year, donations went to support a school lunch program in Lesotho, and this years auction will once again support the same program. bidding on prizes is a small way for all of us to make a big difference.

please go to the First Giving site and bid on prize UE10.

to see other prizes from the east coast region, please check out steamy kitchen where jaden has been kind enough to host the greater east coast area.

Donation Instructions…

1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at chezpim.com

2. Go to the donation site at "firstgiving.com menu for hope 5" and make a donation.

3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win.  Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

i rarely get too personal on ceF. i pretty much keep it to food. but i felt the need to share this with you and if at all possible to even ask you for a small favor…

together, just this past week, we all watched in horror as mumbai became a war zone. we saw the death and destruction – and the innocent people who were being terrorized. as a nation we felt shocked, angry, even helpless. and we also felt thankful that we were home and that our loved ones were safe. we sat around our thanksgiving tables and spoke of what was happening in india, saying "can you believe this?" and  "how incredibly insane the world is"…

late wednesday night when i got home from a decadent pre-thanksgiving dinner with friends, and i finally got around to checking my voice mail, all i can remember was a message from my dear friend santos. he said he had bad news and went on about something to do with his wife "the beloved" and that she had been shot in mumbai and that he’d almost lost her but after emergency surgery it seemed that she would be ok… i didn’t even play the whole message. i was confused. i’d been busy all day and had seen something on the news that afternoon, but in the midst of my life, i had turned it off – never so much as thinking… so i immediately called his number and his sister answered. santos had been sedated but she patiently filled me in while i broke down and cried. she told me that rudrani was stable, and that santos was leaving in the middle of the night to get to an airport to fly to baltimore to go to the embassy to get his papers in order, so that he could immediately fly to mumbai and be by her side…

rudrani had been at my house for a dinner exactly 2 weeks before – just 2 days before she left for india.

but let me start at the very beginning…

i met santos about a year ago on the nashville scene’s food blog called ‘bites‘. there was no denying that this guy knew his food, but he could also make you laugh out loud with his witty repartee and seemingly endless trivial knowledge on virtually everything. on occasion, the ‘bites’ contributors and commenters would get together for lunch and so, santos and i finally met for the first time at prince’s – a nashville institution, and immediately became fast and furious friends. santos is a 110% latin american man from venezuela, and well, santos loves women. so being a woman around santos is delightful. he pays attention to detail. but make no mistake about it, at the end of the day there is only one woman for him. the beloved. his beautiful wife, rudrani about whom he can’t stop talking - and with the kind of adoration and devotion that you rarely see. and he never calls her by name. it’s always "the beloved".

and then i finally met her. and ok – so she’s gorgeous. but she’s also majorly fun and well, just lovely. and smart. and caring – to all creatures (she has bonded with my cat, merle) and she LOVES to eat. let me tell you, this woman is a serious carnivore. and so there were gatherings and dinners – and well, then i had two friends…

rudrani devi is a very spiritual woman, a true shaman who was fulfilling a deep desire to journey to india in the wake of her teacher, master charles cannon, joining him and about 20 other people on a meditation retreat. one week ago while having dinner in mumbai she was shot execution style while under a table at the oberoi hotel. the man next to her was shot in the head and died in her lap. alan scherr and his 13 year old daughter, both from the meditation group were killed.

santos lopez holding his beloved, rudrani devi at the hospital in mumbai.

santos has called me a few times from mumbai. one of the things he has mentioned is his desire to make a wonderful thankgiving dinner for his wife and their families. a thanksgiving dinner like no other. a day of food and celebration, a way to rejoice in the gratefulness of rudrani’s return to him, their home, their life together… and he asked me to help make it happen.

so in turn, dear readers, i come to you. because this year i traveled to nyc to be with family and i didn’t cook a lick. and so i need recipes. and i know they will be tried and true and fresh, not only in your mind but on your palate.

if i may ask you to leave in the ‘comments section’ some recommendations, or perhaps even a link to a post of a dish that was an absolute winner… that would be so nice. and if you would, please be specific. and i’d like it to be something traditional, something that really wowed you – the dish that you’ll be sure to make next year. we need it all – from the perfect turkey, a classic but out-of-this-world stuffing, a wonderful cranberry dish - to a few sides and of course desserts. oh, and there’s only one stipulation. no pork. at all. i know, i know. but we can do this….

and with your help, from these recipes we will comprise our menu. and i will be sure to report back to you with pictures and huge thanks in making rudrani’s december thanksgiving even more memorable…

i know that i can count on you…

i mean if not you, who?

i recently guest posted on one of my very favorite blogs, thursday night smackdown.

please click on over and check it out…
(it tastes just like chicken)

claudia

a few weeks ago i received an email:

Dear Claudia,

We are co-hosting a dinner with Joe Bastianich Thursday, at 6:30 on Thursday, June 4, at ‘City House Restaurant‘ on 4th Avenue North. The dinner will feature City House’s exceptional cuisine paired with Joe’s wonderful wines. Seating is very limited, so let us know as soon as possible if you would like to attend.

i immediately rsvp’d, yes + 1.

as you most likely know, joe bastianich’s mom is lidia of famed ‘felidia‘, and the writer of no less than 5 of some of the best italian cookbooks around.  it was lidia bastianich who was requested to cook for the pope when he was recently in nyc.  she prepared his lunch and dinner each day, some of what would have been typical dishes from his childhood in germany.  joe was his server – which he described as somewhat of an out-of-body experience… a greater honor could not have been bestowed on this italian (via croatia) – american family.

but before any of this, back in 1971, lidia and her husband opened their first restaurant, ‘buonavia’, on queens boulevard in forest hills where i grew up, about 6 blocks from our apartment on yellowstone blvd.  joe used to work there when he was a little boy and my family used to eat there as it was by far the best italian in town, kicking the competion ‘la stella’s’ culinary ass.  i remember the limos parked out front… these are kind of memories that stay with a kid.

then came ‘felidia‘ in ’81, right around the corner from my dad’s art gallery on 58th and 3rd.  and again, we ate there often.  i grew up on lidia bastianich’s cooking, so it’s no wonder that i know and love great italian food.

joe grew up to become a rock star restaurateur, opening his first restaurant, ‘becco‘ at just 23 – a menu scattered with page references to recipes in lydia’s cookbooks.  he and mario batali have been partners for 10 years now in about a dozen restaurants all over the country.  and in 2005 joe won the james beard foundation’s ‘outstanding wine and spirits professional’ award as well as bon appetit’s ‘wine and spirits professional’ at their annual american food and entertaining awards.  and just THIS month he and batali won the ’2008 outstanding restaurateur award’ for babbo.  another huge recognition of undeniable greatness.

photo from the ulterior epicure 2007

but the best news of all is that he’s a really fine man, who speaks softly and seriously with a sense of true humbleness.  his love of wine is undeniable.  and so when he spoke of his vineyards, describing both the history and terroir of the region with an undeniable depth of knowledge and passion, i was mesmerized. 

photo from the ulterior epicure 2007

"bastianich wine dinner"

june 4. 2008

bastianich rosato 2007

***
antipasti
house cured ham
farro, radish, english peas, local greens, almond, lemon, pecorino
georgia shrimp, lemon, chilies, mint, marjoram

bastianich tocai friuliano 2006
bastianich tocai plus 2005
***
pizza
prosciutto cotto, mozzarella, oregano, chilies, egg

bastianich vespa bianco 2006
***
pasta
rigatoni, tomato, meatballs, montasio

la mozza aragone 2005
***
secondo
oven roasted goat, salsa verde

la mozza i perazzi 2006
***
cheese
hopeville tomme, blood orange marmelade
***
dolce
cookie plate – selection of southern cookies
***

so keeping an impartial palate after now meeting joe – and already wanting to love his wine, well, it was going to be tough.  but dear readers, i truly thought that what was presented that evening was outstanding and the next day i ordered a mixed case of his wine.

i sat next to joe for the first half of the dinner and we talked of food and food blogging, and songwriters and songwriting, and bourdain and batali…  and then i had to release him to the other 30 or so diners so he could work the room.

joe handed me his card and told me i could call him if i ever needed anything.  i looked at him and said, "well, what i was really hoping for was ‘babbo’ on my birthday".  and now - it is done.  the first and last time i ate there was 1999 and it was one of the better dinners i can recall.  bur it’s a tough reservation. and believe me, i have put in the phone time – trying to get in.  the week before i had even emailed the general manager, to no avail.  (by the way, babbo does have a show-up and wait to be seated policy, and i think you can eat at the bar… but it’s not a guarantee.)

and now i’m in los angeles, adhering to this painfully plain raw diet for a 3 week spell.  i wasn’t going to do any real dining out, but i am weak in the face of a batali/bastianich driven restaurant.  and so now i’ll be checking out ‘osteria mozza’ on melrose, my last night here. 

i can’t wait. 

thank you, joe…