i’m in nyc slowly eating my way through the entire town.  just know that i do this for you, dear readers and i will report back in detail very soon.  in the meantime, on this auspicious day i wanted to leave you with my 15 minutes of true nashville fame. 

if you are drinking coffee – put it down now or it will shoot through your nose and ruin your computer forever…

the nashville scene 2008 lust list
(scroll until you find the older looking woman in reading glasses)

thank you and good night

(once again, this piece was also originally written for a more general audience, but i thought i d share it with you lest it too die a senseless death.) there are so many classic american food combinations that we ve grown up on. peanut butter and jelly and macaroni and cheese could easily top the list along with ketchup on french fries and mustard on hot dogs. these pairings seem to go hand in hand, with no questions asked. i ve not researched their origins; i m just happy to accept that they exist, partake in them on occasion and go on. i consider myself an adventurous eater, always looking for the next big WOW. always waiting to bite into something that makes my toes curl ever so slightly at about the same time my eyes do the full one second open and close. but this sensual reflex-like reaction to a singular taste sensation is mostly brought forth not from what s happening within your mouth, but from what s happening inside your nose. in 2004 a Nobel Prize was won based upon the discovery of combined responses from smell receptors. how this pertains to the eater is if two foods contain many of the same volatile molecules, then they will blend well. who knew? so for the experimental cook, this becomes the never ending challenge – to veer from the known and embrace molecular gastronomy which as described by harold mcgee, is the scientific study of deliciousness. and for the eater, if we allow ourselves some freedom from all of our preconceptions of what we will or won t like, we get to delight in a number of strange bedfellows that may otherwise have passed us by. a few documented examples that you could try in their very basic incarnations would be sliced strawberry with cilantro leaves, sliced banana with flat parsley leaves, pineapple with blue cheese and perhaps a more unusual and labor intensive pairing of caramelized cauliflower with a chocolate jelly, possibly served beside a roast chicken, which based on its own flavor components would complement that side dish wonderfully.

but away from the tables of the well trained chef, when it s just me in my kitchen feeling inventive and clueless of any molecular anything, i ve discovered the excellence of soft caramels with fleur de sel and wild fennel pollen. a smattering of cracked pink peppercorns pressed lightly into some very good slightly warmed 70% chocolate bar is beyond deep and earthy. a croissant with shavings of parmigiano reggiano, then drizzled with honey, preferably truffled is really quite the mind blower – as is a scoop of H agen Dazs spotted with a well aged balsamic vinegar.

but if you re feeling both festive and curious, i urge you to try this one from world renowned and highly innovative chef heston blumenthal of the three michelin starred restaurant, The Fat Duck. it s quite simply some black caviar resting on a thin wafer of white chocolate. heston suggests that the sensation of this pairing is heightened if you place the chocolate and caviar disc on the tongue, close your mouth and leave it to melt. the caviar flavor comes through gradually and you will be amazed by the pleasure of the changing flavors and sensations .

lately the very idea of these weird and wonderful pairings has me deconstructing even the most innocent of ingredients. but a week or so ago I came across this one, and I think I m going to have to make it soon. beer battered fried anchovies served with a cherry conserve. i can t stop thinking about it…

******************************************************

caviar and white chocolate discs
adapted from heston blumenthal of The Fat Duck

heston writes: "unfortunately, you do need to use real caviar for this recipe – fish roe substitutes simply are not the same. A 30g pot is the smallest that you can buy, but your investment will reap rich rewards" 30g pot of Sevruga caviar 125g best quality white chocolate melt the chocolate gently in the microwave by giving it short bursts of power, stirring between blasts until the chocolate is liquid and completely smooth. alternatively, melt in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. spread the white chocolate thinly on a sheet of parchment paper using a pallet knife, place on a flat surface in the fridge and allow to harden. cut into whatever shapes you want, using a knife or a circular cutter dipped in hot water (3cm across is the optimum size). to serve, spoon some caviar (about half a coffee spoon) on top of the disc, and eat. you can experiment with the quantity of caviar, depending on your taste. for the record – i did not use sevruga for this experiment but instead, domestic paddlefish roe. paddlefish swim in southern rivers and they’re relatives of sturgeons, the fish that produce the world’s most expensive and exquisite caviars. paddlefish roe is very similar to sevruga caviar, only it’s cheaper. since caspian sea sturgeon are rapidly becoming depleted from over-fishing, many people are turning to paddlefish roe as a substitute for caviar.

*******************************************************

caramelized cauliflower and chocolate jelly
adapted from martin lersch of khymos.org

cauliflower olive oil salt cocoa powder sugar agar agar

cut cauliflower in about 1/3 inch slices. spread them on a baking sheet sprinkle with olive oil and salt bake in oven at 400 for approx. 30 min (turning the slices after 15 min) for the jelly, bring cup of water to the boiling point add 2 t of agar-agar, 2 t of sugar and 2 T of cocoa powder. mix well, pour into a suitably sized container and leave to set. cut jelly into pieces and serve together with caramelized cauliflower

so at about 4 am one day last week i get up from bed to get a glass of water and decide to check my email.  i see the name ‘michael ruhlman‘ in my inbox and just assume it’s an automated message from some foodie type list i’ve managed to get myself on.  but when i open it, i see it’s from michael.  and he’s coming to town in the wake of his new book.  and i gently nudge my boyfriend and say, “baby, i just got an email from michael ruhlman” and in the sweetest way, the way that makes me just love this man, he semi-consciously pretended to care while pretending to know who he was and went right back to sleep.  and i just sat there for a moment and smiled.  because i like michael ruhlman.

i like michael ruhlman for a lot of reasons.  he’s a wonderful writer and a true renaissance man.  and he has a great passion for both food and cooking with a very unpretentious style.  but i really like him because he is just what he appears to be.  a good guy.  and even more than that he’s a fine man who so obviously lives according to his ethics.  someone who will honestly tell you what he thinks with a well laid out thought process to back it up.  as someone recently said to me, he’s the one when you were growing up and your brother had a best friend… that’s michael.  but even better looking.

michael ruhlman has a new book, ‘the elements of cooking‘.  it’s been written up pretty consistently this past week.  here are some links:

the amateur gourmet
101 cookbooks
obsession with food
simply recipes

if you cook, and if you’re here you probably do, buy it.

sometimes on the weekend cary and i might hit the grocery store and he’ll faithfully stand by while i agonize over package labels and ingredients.  one particular saturday we were at our neighborhood supermarket and as i was pouting in the pasta aisle, lamenting the very sad fact that there was no orecchiette to be had, he reached for the ‘alphabets’ and said ”hey, i want these so i can spell out ‘i wanna kiss my girlfriend’” (which actually is close to, but not quite what he said – but for our purposes will do nicely).  naturally, i found that rather endearing and grabbed the bag and threw it into our cart.

so on a night when my guy is working late, i’m fighting a cold and it poured down rain for most of the day this was my ambitious kitchen project:

obviously ‘world finer foods‘ who manufacture davinci pasta is struggling with the precarious balancing act of the letter I and hasn’t quite ironed out the kinks in this particular mold.  i felt like a contestant on ‘the wheel of fortune’ desperately needing to buy a vowel.  or perhaps it’s a more freudian explanation, removing the “I” from the conscious mind, disabling the ego which would in turn enable me to even buy davinci pasta as opposed to its shelf-mate barilla pasta, a far superior product - but alas not a maker of the ‘alphabets’.

and now, i just keep looking at the innocence of the simple statement ’i wanna kiss my girlfriend’ thinking it reads more like the question “u wanna kuss my gurlfruend?”

i suppose if i’d stuck to the actual words that cary had uttered that day perhaps a tad too loud amidst the aisles of publix, this whole linguistic exercise would have taken a much different path.

this post has been brought to you by NaBloPoMoShmoFauxHoHo

i realize this isn’t the usual picture you might expect to see on a pasta post here at ceF,  but what happened was this.  earlier this week angela came over and well, she’s a close friend and it’s rare these days that we get an evening together alone. we live three minutes from each other but still communicate mostly via email and phone calls.  so to get a little face to face time – well, it’s a sacred evening. i hold her in the highest esteem for many reasons and i’ve always felt that my status in life was elevated because she loved me…

we gathered at my home and i proceeded to prepare some dinner while we drank an excellent bottle of sancerre. i had hit whole foods for a loaf of ciabatta and some taleggio and picked up another cheese that was new to me – caciotta al tartufo – it’s made from cows milk and flecked with black truffles. so we ate cheese and drank wine, talking in between the laughing while polishing off the sancerre pretty quickly. isn’t sancerre just about the sexiest name of a wine that could ever exist? anyway, then i opened an argentenian white, a torrontes and got to making our pasta.

this dish is one of my favorite things to eat of all time and i vary it depending on my mood or what’s in the pantry/freezer.  the last time i made it i used spaghetti and shrimp.  this time around i used the fettuccini from tom at lazzaroli pasta that i found tucked away in my freezer - and then i proceeded to kept it even simpler than ever.  i salted the boiling water well, cooked the pasta and quickly portioned it into bowls and tossed with: creme fraiche white truffle olive oil chopped fresh chives fresh cracked black pepper  that’s it.  i mean this is not even really cooking.  this dish is so easily prepared - with what are to me, perfect ingredients.  and i loved the fresh pasta twist this time. it was just plain decadent. 

angela and i swoon over this pasta. (that and scallop with spicy mayo sushi which angela fondly refers to as orgasm rolls.) anyway 1+ bottles of wine into the evening, and snapping a picture was the farthest thing from my mind.

and so that you know, angela kaset  is a singer/songwriter of the very best kind.  sometimes we’ll be shopping at costco (my san pelligrino connection) or we might be at a movie, or the mall or home depot - and she’s just my bff, out for the afternoon. then i’ll go and see her play a gig at for instance ’the bluebird cafe‘ and i once again remember…

"oh that’s right, she’s a brilliant goddess"…

(summer ’05, sporting my post divorce suntan…)

tonight
amongst many true culinary crowd pleasing delights
i ate
pig
testicles

and they were kinda really ok
seriously…

fyi: nothing like chicken…

enough said.

hellooooo lovahhh…

not much to say here except that this unique specimen was just recently harvested by my dear friend and brilliant songwriter richard leigh - direct from his garden about an hour south of town.

i live in nashville, tn. 

and i’m here to tell ya, it’s a long damn way from nyc. 

what brought me here was the music business (ok, and a man) but what has kept me here (besides another man) is the level of true brilliance that surrounds me.  this town is mecca for songwriters and a fair few of the best are the closest friends i could have ever wished for.

among the many heart stopping songs that richard has written, you might most be familiar with “don’t it make my brown eye’s blue”.  but truly, for all the times it’s been recorded, no one on earth will ever sing it as beautifully as he does…

and that’s a fact.

no one to cook for…

my dinner tonight was as follows: one entire pound of big fat absolutely perfect blackberries mascerated in balsamic vinegar with a little honey, domori 75% dark chocolate and very thinly sliced almond biscotti.

it was prepared on the fly with zero presentation, eaten with my fingers in no particular order and i’d have to say it wasn’t a pretty display – although i suppose it’d depend on who you were asking…

i forgot to take a picture. it would have been very telling…

we’re a type.

this past weekend was our annual reunion which by any standards is quite the gathering. we all actually get along and we truly care about what’s going on in everyone’s lives. it’s a loving and most definitely outspoken family. our collective volume is definitely louder than most. the friday night dinner was actually held at Ruby Tuesday’s and with all respect to one of america’s favorites… the self professed ‘steamed chicken dumplings’ were crispy and pan fried and the veggie burger was somehow fried on the outside but slimy on the inside. my brother’s quesadilla and artichoke dip were pretty tasty if you have no problem with 100 grams of fat in one meal. for more reasons then i care to mention, i am not RT’s target audience – not even a little. and there wasn’t anything special in the quality of the food served for the remander of the weekend. but that wasn’t the point. the host family was feeding 78 people and 22 of them were kids.

but still, we came to talk and to eat. and we joke about the eating. it’s all pretty funny until you look further and see the addiction – the out of control waistlines along with the health issues. but that’s another story altogether.so by saturday, my usual semi-sharp and healthy edge was rendered dull as a teaspoon by large quantities of your everyday tuna salad, potato salad, hotdogs and burgers. and i ate it all and then had seconds. it’s just what we do… we want to know what’s for dinner while pigging out on lunch. good humor ice cream bars were thrown in as a post lunch treat and we all descended upon the ice cream in a way one might not expect from people who had just finished a large meal just 30 minutes before -  that had included dessert. but to my dismay, somehow they tasted far more chemically than i remember back in 1969. i think it’s because – quite simply – they used to have far less chemicals. i’m not sure if anyone else noticed and it didn’t stop me from eating the entire strawberryesque confection.

unfortunately i do not escape unscathed from such gluttony and i am having to pay for the price of my sins. the scale is up. my feet are swollen. and i think i need to stay out of the kitchen for a day or two…