Culinary Trip to Italy, March 2011: Part 1

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Reggio Emilia, Italy a sister city of Fort Worth, Texas, with the Culinary School of Fort Worth.  Reggio Emilia is located in northern Italy, in the Romanga Region, southeast of Parma.  The Fort Worth Sister City International Program of Fort Worth and the Culinary School of Fort Worth had been planning this trip for a couple years and I first heard about it when I was attending Culinary School from 2008-2009.  Chef Heather Kurima, Director of the Culinary School, visited Reggio Emilia with the Sister City group and told us about her adventures. We also had a couple visits by the culinary students of Reggio Emilia and sampled the local balsamic vinegar and some of their food.

Chef Kurima and Beth Weibel, a Fort Worth Sister City International Program Manager, met with the twelve travelers several times in anticipation of the trip.  Beth told us all about the travel details, brought in TCU students to teach us some Italian, (which was really, really helpful) and was overall a terrific source of information and support.  Chef Kurima developed a detailed and exhaustive itinerary by seeking input from all of us.  We knew exactly where we would be during the entire trip and it sounded fantastic.  In  a nutshell--twelve people (9 chefs and 3 significant others) representing the Culinary School of Fort Worth, traveled to Reggio Emilia, Italy, stopping at JFK in New York, then to Milan.  We spent several hours in Milan, boarded a bus to Reggio Emilia, approximately two and a half hours away.  During our stay at the B & B del Vescovado in Reggio Emilia we visited other cities by train, including Parma, Florence, Bologna, and Verona.

I don’t want to give the impression that all we did on our trip to Italy was eat—but really, it is true to some extent since it was a culinary trip, although we spent time doing many other things besides studying food and eating, such as taking a walking tour of Reggio Emilia, visiting beautiful churches, seeing the Uffizi Museum in Florence, and touring wineries in Verona.

 
Il  SalottoRistorante, Milan

After a long day and night of traveling we were bleary eyed and exhausted. A few of us toured the beautiful Piazza Del Duoma, including going into the beautiful duomo.  We found a little restaurant in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Not wanting a multi-course meal we looked around and saw most people were eating pizza. We had pizza with salami and pizza with ham and mushrooms.


Both were hot, crispy, and delicious. Later we enjoyed a cup of seriously rich hot chocolate as we tried to stay out of the rain for a few minutes. Cioccolata Calda, or hot chocolate in Italy is like drinking a melted chocolate bar—really it has to be eaten with a spoon, it is so thick. With panna (whipped cream) and some biscotti, it's divine.

Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilio street with flags for Tricolore celebration of 150 years



Bruschetta at La Casseroula



Penne Dorate

We arrived at the B & B del Vescovado in Reggio Emilia after a long bus ride. After getting situated in our rooms we set out to find a recommended restaurant. With a little help we found La Casseruola, one of a few restaurants open on Sunday night.  Steve, Sharon Cofer, a wonderful lady and new friend I met on this trip, opened our menus and saw they were all in Italian.  Fortunately we had a handy restaurant translation guide so we could figure out the menu. It took some effort to figure out all the dishes and we finally ended up ordering a variety of dishes. We had antipasti of bruschetta with salsa rosa, prosciutto, and grana. This was bread with red sauce, prosciutto and cheese—OK but nothing special. We tried the penne dorate with allo speck (ham) and pepeverde (green peppers). The pasta was excellent and the best dish of the night. We ordered braciola di maiale (pork steak) which was tough and dry and spiedino di carne (skewer of beef with onions and peppers). It was also dry and lacked flavor. As I looked around I noticed that just about everyone else in the restaurant, who came in after us even though it was 9:00 PM, was ordering pizza!

After a morning of walking around Reggio Emilia and having an official welcome at City Hall, we stopped in a little restaurant called, Sotto Broletto. This was an unassuming little place but one of my favorites during our stay. I had Tortelli Verdi in Salsa Bianco with Salsiccia (chard tortellini in white sauce with sausage). This is at the top of the tastiest dishes I enjoyed during our stay. It is also one of the local specialties and on every menu (and we would be served it time and time again!) Steve ordered a pizza, Quattro Stagione, with prosciutto, cotto, funghi, salsiccia, and carcioti (prosciutto, salami, mushrooms, sausage, and artichokes). I loved the toppings but the crust was bit soggy.

Sotto Broletto near our B & B, a favorite spot

Friends in Fort Worth group

Tortelli Verdi with Salsa Bianca and Salciccia (I have to make this when I get back!)

Off to Parma where we had some time to wander around by ourselves. It started raining so we slipped into a covered patio and ordered some ciocolattacalda, hoping to have a great cup of hot chocolate like the one we had in Milan. I ordered dark and Steve ordered milk. We got very thick cups of chocolate, like the melted chocolate bar but even thicker than Milan’s. We ate it with a spoon.

I have since looked up a recipe for Italian hot chocolate, Ciocolatta Calda and here it is:

1 cup milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 T unsweetened cocoa powder

2-3 T sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

Measure the milk, cream, and cocoa powder into a saucepan and set it over medium heat.  Begin whisking to incorporate the ingredients, and reduce heat to medium-low to prevent it from boiling.  When milk is warm, gently whisk in 2 T of the sugar.  Continue cooking over low flame until dissolved and steaming hot. 

Measure cornstarch into a small bowl.  Spoon a little of the hot chocolate mixture into the bowl and stir it into the cornstarch.  Pour this mixture into the hot chocolate and continue to whisk over low heat for another couple minutes, until thick and smooth, but still drinkable.  Serve with a cookie for dipping, eat it with a spoon, but take the time to relax and savor it, a little at a time.

We walked around Reggio Emilia Monday evening and found a restaurant called A Mangiere, a very pretty restaurant. Had we known what was in store for us later in the week we would not have ordered what we did (and you will see why when you read all the posts on Italy) We ordered gnoccofritto (fried pasta) and prosciutto along with some other local hams.

Gnocco Fritto (fried pasta) served with local meats is a local antipasti

Local meats, 2nd time

Husband Steve enjoying his lambrusco

Tortelli Verdi (2nd time)

We also ordered a bottle of Salamino De S. Croce Lambrusco. Lambrusco is a sparkling wine and we would have many more glasses of it during our stay as it’s also the local popular wine. Steve ordered Tortelli Verdi and I had the Risotto with Raddichio, cheese, nuts and bacon. We did not order a meat course after our experience the first night, and also because we had a pretty big eating day already!

Cheese Factory

Lateria Sociale Villa Sesso

The visit to the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese factory was fascinating.  I had no idea what went into making this cheese but I developed an appreciation of the process after the morning we spent viewing all the hands-on labor that goes into making one wheel of perfect cheese.  There is only one authentic Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and it comes only from this area of Italy.  The process is high regulated from the type of milk (only raw milk from certain cows who have a grass fed diet on local farms in the area), to the long aging process.  The cheese is sold only after it is aged for a minimum of two years and some at 30 months.  Younger cheese that doesn't earn the seal of Parmigiano Reggiano is sold as parmesan.  We sampled their cheese, both the two year and the 30 month and the taste was nutty, salty, smooth, and hard to describe.
We bought 2 kilos of both types to bring back and we still have a kilo of the 30 month cheese vacuum packed in our refrigerator.  We will bring it out when we have our Italian feast for friends and family.  So all that "parmesan" cheese you are used to eating is bland compared to the real thing and if you see that a pound of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is nearly $20.00 a pound in Central Market there is a good reason for it.

The Motti School


Steve ready to cook!

 We discovered a unique educational method in Italy.  Students at the Motti School were part of a high school program.  In fact the school itself was a regular high school with a section for the culinary program.  Students who are interested in the culinary field, to include cooking and serving, go to the culinary program instead of a regular school program.  When they graduate from high school they are certified to work as culinarians.  We may have some similar programs in the states but I'm not too familiar with them.
We were introduced the the staff and students, some of whom had been to Fort Worth and visited the Culinary School of Fort Worth previously.  We changed from our street clothes into chef uniforms.
Even the non-chef members of our group were required to wear the full chef uniform from the Culinary School of Fort Worth.  My husband, Steve, who does not cook much at all, was a good sport and wore the uniform without complaint.  We were assigned to various students to prepare the meal we would eat later.
I was assigned to make pork tenderloin stuffed with ham and parmesan cheese with a lambrusco sauce.


Samuel pouring wine on the pork

 Steve observed this time (but later in the trip he won't be so lucky!)  My student, Samuel Carpi, was really sweet.  He asked me to help brown the tenderloins which had been tied with string.  The strange thing was there were no utensils to turn the hot pork.  He was merely using his fingers to turn the meat and had one spatula which was not very useful on round objects.  I did my best to brown the meat and turn it "by hand" but it was crazy.  We poured white Marsala and lambrusco wine all over the pork along with some fresh rosemary, sage, and garlic, and placed it in the oven.  The sauce was made from drippings in the pan, more wine and cream. Although it was a weird pink color it was delicious.  The stuffed pork with wine sauce was one of the best things I had during the trip and I already made a version of it at home.  I made an unstuffed pork tenderloin with rosemary, sage, and garlic with a red wine sauce.  The sauce stayed dark red because I used butter instead of cream.  It was wonderful.

All the members of our group were busy in the large kitchen cooking the various components of our lunch.
I wondered if high school students in America would have access to all these bottles of wine for cooking?
Finally it was time to eat!

Time to eat!

Menu
Antipasti Course
Rustici Di Sfoglia (rustic pastry) stuffed with frankfurters and anchovies
Pizette Di Sfoglia (like a mini pizza with cheese)
Erbazzone (the local savory pastry with spinach, ricotta, and onions)
Brocolli Flan with Gorgonzola



Pork with Lambrusco Sauce



Primi Course

Lasagne Alla Bolognese

Secondi Course

Pork Fillet Stuffed with Raw Ham and Parmesan Cheese with Lambrusco Sauce

Contorni (side dish)
Roasted Potatoes with Rosemany, Sage, and Garlic

Dolci (dessert)

Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce

Tiramisu

Did I say that this was just lunch?  We had lots of wine, course after course, and the school officials and staff were so warm and friendly.  The students were so sincere and hard working as they waited on our tables and poured the wine.  What a lovely place and great experience.  The food was outstanding.  My panna cotta never turned out so light and smooth.  My favorite dish was the pork and roasted potatoes.  Even the humble potatoes were special--perfectly cooked and creamy.  I am looking forward to seeing the Motti students on their next visit to Fort Worth so I can thank them again!



The Motti students



After our busy day we still had one more event, a visit to the Reggio Emilia Chamber of Commerce.

Their brand new meeting room was set up with a u shaped table where we sat and were treated to a variety of local products delightfully described by our host, Romeo Catallani.  Romeo was charming, funny, and entertaining as he described the traditional balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and the lambrusco wine.  He also emphasized that Lambrusco wine is good with pork and pork is plentiful in the area.  The whey from cheese production is fed to the pigs which makes for really good pork in this region. 



Romeo is on Facebook!



Traditional Balsamic, the good stuff on Parmigiano Reggianno--oh my



Look familiar--the meats, grissini, cheese

A

Lambrusco!

Later in the evening we headed out to Sotto Broletto for a light (ha ha) dinner.  I had yummy spaghetti carbonara  and Steve tried the Tagliatella with ham and peas.  Both were hot, perfectly cooked, and delicious.



Spaghetti Carbonara



The next morning we left bright and early for Florence by train.  First on the agenda was a City Gastronomic Walking Tour.  It started at the Apicus International School of Hospitality.  The tour guide took us to the Mercato centrale, open since 1874.  She pointed out Nerbone, a popular place where a boiled beef sandwich is served.  We didn't have time to try anythiing during the tour but Steve and I went back later in the week and actually tried a beef sandwich at Nerbone.  We didn't remember that we were supposed to order it "bagnato" (dipped in juices) so our sandwich was very rare, very tough beef and barely edible.

in the Mercato centrale

Next was the Coltelleria Galli, a knife store, then the Procacci, a Florence style delicatessen known for a glass of prosecco and a finger sandwich with truffle cream.  We got to try the truffle sandwich and it did have a truffly taste, but truthfully, I don't like the taste of truffles.  On to the Uscio e Bottega, a tiny place where excellent wines are served with traditional Italian cold cuts, breads and cheeses (here it comes again!)

After sampling a variety of excellent wines, some fantastic eggplant, pictured above, we finished our walking tour at the Ribiglio, a  cafe and pastry shop.  I purchased some chocolates which we enjoyed the rest of the trip and brought home the rest.  During the tour the guide told us about the local foods.  I learned that people in Florence eat lighter foods than the Reggio Emilia area.  They tend to eat a lot of fresh vegetables, including minestra soup.  Minestra is turned into ribolitta, a vegetable soup with pieces of stale bread.  The bread is also used in panzanella, a mixture of soaked bread, cucumbers, basil, tomatoes, salt, and olive oil.  I tried the ribolitta later in the evening and it was rich and flavorful.  I have since made it at home and loved it.

Our tour guide



a steet in Florence

great shopping near the Mercato centrale



This was a great place to shop for food and gifts to take back.



View of Pontececchio from a  window in the Uffizi Museum



B Gallo Restaurant next to the Duomo--what an amazing place to have a bowl of ribolitta and a pizza.

a delicious bowl of ribolitta



We all liked this wine rack.

to be continued

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Private Cooking Class with Linda Johnson

 Menu

Pesto Pasta Salad with Salmon

Tomato Basil Soup

Compost Cookies

We had a great time yesterday both cooking and visiting.  I have to watch Linda, though, or she will get distracted talking and put 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of flour in the recipe instead of 2 cups - 2 tablespoons of flour!  She is a lot of fun and always has the best attitude about trying new things.  She had never recalled having pesto before and had no idea what went into it.  Classic pesto has basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and salt and pepper, however there are many variations made with cilantro, spinach, parsley, hot chili peppers, and various herbs.  I liked the idea of a spinach and basil pesto so that's what we made.  We added some toasted pine nuts, garlic, and Parm in the pesto and Linda's little food processor worked just fine.  The end result was a flavorful, fresh and beautiful green puree.  We added the pesto to some cooked and cooled bowtie pasta along with diced sundried tomatoes, grated Parmesan cheese, and thinly sliced scallions.  A little Caesar dressing was added to give it more moisture.  We served the pasta with a beautifully seared piece of salmon.  I tasted the pasta and decided I would make the exact same dish for my family the very next day!  (I had never made this recipe before so I was happy it turned out so well, but had no idea I would fall in love with it.) Linda, it turns out, loves pesto and is excited to have something she can make with her herb garden this summer.  I told her she could use pesto in her frittatas, on her seared chicken breasts, as a pizza topping, mixed with goat cheese for a spread, on grilled cheese sandwiches, and many more ways, and that it freezes very well.

Pesto Pasta Salad with Salmon



Linda tasted the salmon and said she really liked it.  It was perfectly cooked, crusty on the outside, moist on the inside and seasoned well.  She has never prepared fresh fish and she and her husband don't usually eat seafood, unless you count fried catfish.  This is another example of how willing she is to try new things and she was pleasantly surprised to find that the salmon tasted good to her.  Her husband, Baker, also liked it.

When she paired a piece of salmon with a bite of the pesto pasta salad the combination of flavors was perfect together.

Recipe for Pesto Pasta Salad


Pesto
4 cups washed spinach leaves
3 garlic cloves
3 T pine nuts
handful fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup (or more if needed) olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt, fresh ground pepper
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Pasta Salad
8 ounces bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled
4 T pesto
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (in oil) diced
1 T Parmesan cheese, grated
2 T Caesar dressing
2 thinly sliced scallions
Combine all ingredients.  Garnish with more sliced scallions.

Salmon
1 lb salmon fillets with skin
1 T olive oil
Salt and pepper
Heat a skillet over moderate heat for 3-4 minutes.  In the meantime put the salmon fillets on a plate and coat with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper. Add fillets to pan, flesh side down. Cook over high heat until browned, about 3 minutes.  Turn over and cook until skin is deeply browned, about 5 minutes longer.  Transfer to plate and serve with pasta.

Tomato Basil Soup

We made tomato basil soup similar to the famous Le Madeleine soup.  Linda loved the flavors of the fresh tomatoes and basil.  She is a tomato lover and plans to have lots of tomatoes in her garden this summer.

We used both canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes for the soup.  I showed Linda how to "concasse" the tomatoes by dropping them in boiling water to loosen the skins, then removing the seeds before chopping them for the soup.  We used low sodium chicken stock, some unsalted butter, and a little cream.



Tomato Basil Soup

 The soup was heavenly.

Tomato Basil Soup
1 28 ounce can chopped tomatoes plus 1 lb fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
3 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (plus additional for garnish)
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
Combine tomatoes and stock in saucepan.  Simmer for 30 minutes over medium low heat.  Using immersion blender, puree carefully.  Add basil and puree again.  Add cream and butter.  Stir over low heat until heated through. Add salt and pepper.  Garnish with fresh basil and serve.

I have another version of this soup that I plan to make this evening.  The 5 pounds of tomatoes are all fresh, roasted with  6 garlic cloves and 1/4 cup olive oil in the oven at 450 degrees for 40 minutes.
Saute a cup of chopped onions in 2 T oil, stir in 2 cups water, 2 t sugar, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and simmer for 10 minutes.  Puree with blender, add 1/2 cup heavy cream at the end.

Compost Cookies

I mentioned the compost cookies to Linda last time we had a lesson and she wanted to make them for her husband, for whom she routinely buys fancy gourmet (expensive) cookies.  I know that "compost" is a strange name for a cookie but it refers to scraps you might have around your kitchen such as various bits of candy, chips, cereal, cookies, nuts, etc. in any combination.  A version of compost cookies is a popular item at Momofuku, a trendy restaurant in New York City, and their compost cookies cost $20.00 a dozen.  Linda, did you read that?  Your 4 dozen cookies would cost $80.00!!  When Steve and I were in Ouray, Colorado last year we had a cookie called, "scrap cookie" in Mouse's chocolate shop.  They took various candy "scraps" such as truffles, caramels, toffee, and nuts and made unique cookies, different every time.  There were awesome.

My recipe for compost cookies is not the same as Momofuku's.  After reading various comments made on sites where people had used the "real" Momofuku recipe from Christina Tosi (who demonstrated it on Good Morning America a while back), I kept seeing disappointing end results.  Chocolate chip cookies tend to flatten out when baked but I corrected that problem so my cookies turned out chewy, crunchy, and shaped just right.  Both Linda and her husband were happy with the results and I have a feeling she will make more of these cookies some day.  I am not posting that recipe (have to keep some things secret) but I will say we added Callebaut chocolate chips, Lindt white coconut chocolate, Kettle sea salt potato chips, pretzels, and pecans a a sprinkle of sea salt.  Yum, yum, yum.



Compost Cookies



Linda is anxious for me to leave so she can eat!



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Burgundy Pasture Farms Bone-In Ribeye with mushroom sauce, smashed potatoes, and glazed carrots

We bought some grass-fed beef from Burgundy Pastures Farm in Grandview and I finally had a chance to use one of the steaks.  At $25.00 a steak, this bone-in rib-eye was a bit pricey so I wanted to make something tasty.  I've had it with expensive restaurant steaks that have no flavor, no texture, and no juiciness but cost a small fortune.  I was pleased with the end result,  a very nicely seasoned, juicy, tender steak.  You can't see the smashed red potatoes underneath but they were carmelized, seasoned with a little butter, salt and pepper.  The baby carrots were tender and sweet with a nice bite.
Here's what I did:
Rub the steak with 1 tsp kosher salt, a tsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper.
Heat a cast iron skillet until very hot.  Add 1 T olive oil and sear steak for 4 minutes, each side. At this point it will probably be medium rare, depending on the thickness. To cook a little more, put steak, pan and all, in 350 degree oven and cook until desired doneness, 6 minutes or more depending on thickness of steak.  Allow steak to rest tented by foil for 5 minutes before serving.

After removing steak from pan and 2 T chopped shallots, 3-4 sliced cremini mushrooms, salt, 2 T red wine, and 1 cup beef stock.  Simmer until reduced by almost half.  Add 2 tsp butter.

For the carrots, peel and trim a pound of baby carrots, leaving a bit of the green top on.  Place in saute pan and cover with low sodium chicken stock, add 1 T brown sugar, dash of cinnamon, dash of cayenne, squeeze of lemon and simmer until sauce is reduced to a thick glaze.  Carrots will be done by then.

For the potatoes, cut red potatoes into 2 inch pieces and simmer until fork tender.  Drain.  Heat saute pan, add olive oil and saute potatoes until brown.  Season with salt and pepper.  Smash down with a large spoon.

To plate, cut bone off rib-eye and set the bone aside.  Slice steak into several pieces.  Place mound of potatoes on plate, place pieces of steak and bone on top of potatoes.  Add a few carrots on the side.  Spoon sauce over steak.
Enjoy with a glass of Blackbart Syrah from Stagecoach Vineyards, Napa Valley.

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Minnesota Food

I went on a trip this week for my social work job.  I visited a prison in Waseca, Minnesota.  Waseca is about an hour and a half south of Minneapolis.  Going there in February was a bit of a a challenge with the weather being very cold with a high chance of snow and ice so I was a little anxious.  Fortunately the weather was not so bad and the roads were clear.

My hotel, Crossings by Grandstay, was situated at the edge of town with a direct view of Walmart.

I am not a lover of Walmart, by the way, but in case I needed some winter supplies I guess it would come in handy.  Turns out I needed a window scraper when there was a coating of ice on my rental car the next morning.

Where to eat dinner?  Not too many restaurants in the town of Waseca, population under 28,000, but there were 3 or 4 not-chain restaurants.  I ended up at the Boat House, a pleasant looking rustic place situated on a frozen lake, but open in the winter.  There were several soups of the day:  beer cheese, wild rice and chicken, chili, etc.  I knew from prior discussions and teasing a woman a work from Minnesota about the "cuisine" of Minnesota that their wild rice soup is quite popular so that's what I had, along with a "paddle burger" (like a patty melt). 

the "paddle melt"


 The soup was delicious.  I was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful and fresh it tasted.  The waitress told me she made the soup that day and she was proud of it.  The burger was fine, but just meat, cheese, and bread with not a vegetable in sight. 


The Boat House

The next day I visited the women's prison, Federal Correctional Institute, and met with the social worker, the big wigs, and various staff.  They were a friendly and welcoming bunch and I had a great time.  For lunch we went to the food services at the prison and had the staff lunch.  It was predictably all "brown food", like the movie Fargo when they eat at a buffet and everyone piles their plates with potatoes, meat, gravy, bread.

There were vats of steak in gravy, chicken baked to death, gray green beans, and unidentifiable meat and starchy foods.  I had a plate of baked chicken, rice and green beans and it was not too bad.

I had asked about restaurants recommendations early in the day and later in the afternoon the social worker, Barb, and psychology secretary, Nancy, said they would join me at the Starfire Grill.  This was the nicest restaurant in town and supposed to be very good.  I was very pleased that they wanted to hang out with me. Typically on these business trips to prisons I've found the staff disappear at night to their own routines and don't really want to entertain the visiting person, but I think the Minnesotans are just friendly, nice people.

The Starfire Grill (Restaurant) was pretty, new, and nicely decorated.  A nice glass of cabernet, and good company was just the thing on a cold winter night.  Nancy raved about the lamb chops and loved hers.  I ordered the filet mignon with bearnaise sauce.  The first steak they brought was well done so I sent it back.  The second one was very medium rare but I ate most of it.  It lacked flavor and was not helped by the little plastic cup of watery bearnaise sauce.  Steak is not the thing to order there and I should have had the famous fish of the area, "walleye", something I saw on every menu.  Since my dinner was disappointing I decided to treat myself to dessert.  Barb and Nancy shared chocolate silk pie and I had chocolate peanut butter pie.

Both pies were fanstastic.  Their pie had the melt in your mouth rich chocolate goodness and the crust had some crunchy bits of sugar.  Mine was a light peanut butter mousse with layers of melted chocolate.  I ate part of it and took the rest with me, glad that my hotel room had a refrigerator.  My plan earlier in the week, to eat "healthy" during this trip, was rapidly falling by the wayside in this rich and hearty food land.  I put  the piece of pie next to my containers of Greek yogurt and smiled.  A few hours later it was my midnight snack.

On Thursday I made an unexpected trip to Rochester, an hour east of Waseca, to see my social work friends there.  We visited for a while and went to lunch at Brothers Grill, a local place.  The original plan that day had been to go to a Waseca cafe and have the famous, "roast beef commercial" sandwich.  Don't ask me why they call it that, but Nancy described it as a hot roast beef sandwich with gravy and hashbrowns.

Since I was not able to go to that place when I saw, "hot roast beef sandwich" on the Brothers menu I ordered it.  It was seriously good with tender roast beef, silky mashed potatoes, thick bread, and a light and tasty gravy.  It was a plate of brown food, again.  I tried to leave most of the bread but I ate way too much of the gravy covered beef and potatoes.  This is not the type of food I usually eat and I was feeling very overstuffed.  A green salad was starting to sound better and better.

I made my last trip to the prison Friday morning and got ready for my return to the airport.  I decided to stop at the Pheasant Cafe for breakfast.  This place was what you would find in so many small towns in America and a step back in time.  Counter stools, booths, a group of retired men meeting for their daily coffee, and a simple menu. 

I had been eating the "continental" breakfast at the hotel the last couple days so a hot breakfast sounded great.  I ordered bacon and eggs and my plate arrived with perfectly cooked eggs, crispy bacon and a huge pile of crispy hashbrowns.  The wheat toast was soaked with butter.  For something so simple, the breakfast was delicious, classic, and satisfying.  I really liked this place!



Inside the Pheasant Cafe



Time to head back to the airport.  I was a little nervous about taking all the right roads back to the airport but I had a map and GPS so it wasn't so bad.  I had some time to kill before my flight and had to have lunch.

Airport restaurants are usually not so good but I spotted one called, French Meadow, known for fresh, organic food.  I ordered a salad!  Finally, green food.  The salad was crispy letttuce, roasted tomatoes, Kalamata olives, cucumbers, peppers, red onions, and lemon vinaigrette.  Wow, I didn't realize how much I missed vegetables.  The Thai vegetable soup was fair but not as good as the wild rice chicken soup earlier in the week.  I was ready to get on the plane and head back to Texas.

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Private Cooking Lesson with Linda Johnson

Linda with the dishes we made


Flourless Fudge Cookies with pecans and chocolate chips

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Asian Noodle Salad with Chicken

Linda wants to learn more about salads and soups so for today's menu we made:

Asian Noodle Salad with Chicken

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Flourless Fudge Cookies

I tried to choose a lower calorie cookie recipe that still tasted really good and the flourless fudge cookies are really great. Baker, Linda's husband, is the cookie lover so Linda is interested in making different cookies for him. I told her about my experiment with some compost cookies using salty, crunchy add-ins and various chocolate and nut add-ins. She wants to make those next time. I feel kind of guilty about it because those cookies are not remotely healthy, however whether I teach her that recipe or not she will still buy her husband cookies from the Central Market bakery that are just as rich, so I will show her how to make the compost cookies.

We started with the Asian Noodle Salad. Linda purchased fettucine instead of linguine but you sometimes just use what you have. I think it turned out pretty good. We started by searing some chicken breasts and glazing them with:

1 tsp sesame oil

2 T honey

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 T toasted sesame seeds

We took the 8 oz of cooked noodles and tossed them with:

1 cup chopped baby spinach

1/2 cup red bell pepper, sliced thin

1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, sliced thin

1 small carrot, shredded

1/2 cup bean sprouts

2 sliced scallions

1/2 cup peeled, sliced cucumber

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup crushed roasted peanuts

and dressed it with:

juice of 1 lime

4 T olive oil

4 T low sodium soy sauce

2 T brown sugar

1 t fresh ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

finely chopped cilantro

and placed the mixed salad on a bed of red leaf lettuce which had been shredded. We topped with the sliced glazed chicken. This dish is great without chicken as well.

I was excited to show Linda how to make the spicy butternut squash soup. I love this soup!

I love the fact that you can take any winter squash and roast it, saute some onions and garlic, add the squash, some seasonings, broth and cook it for half and hour, puree it with an immersion blender and add a little cream. The soup tastes even better the next day and it's so fragrant and satisfying. You can take any winter vegetable combination such as squash, carrrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, or white potatoes, roast them at 375 degrees for 34-40 minutes with a little bit of olive oil and do the same thing. If I have odds and ends left from my organic produce share this coming week I plan to make roasted vegetable soup.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

1 cup onion, diced

1 T minced garlic

2 tsp minced fresh sage

1 tsp sugar

1/2 t red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

2 T olive oil

1/4 cup brandy

1 cup dry white wine

8 cups roasted butternut squash*

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/4 cup cream

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, sage, sugar, pepper and cinnamon in a large pot over medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes. Stir in brandy and cook for 1 minute. Add stock, wine and squash. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for about 20 mintues. Puree in small batches in blender or use immersion blender directly in soup pot. Add cream at the end. Season with salt and pepper.

*Roast squash by cutting in into pieces, placing flesh side down in oiled sheet pan, 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Turn 2 times during cooking. After it cools, scoop it out of the skin and cut into smaller pieces. Discard skin.

We didn't get to make the chile cheddar croutons, but some crisply toasted baguette, spread with a little butter, sprinkled with cheese, chile powder and cayenne, broiled for a minute, would go really well with this soup.

Linda said she liked the soup and I encouraged her to eat a variety of dark yellow and orange vegetables, so I'm hoping she makes it again sometime.

And for the final dish, the rich and delicious cookies!

Flourless Fudge Cookies

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp espresso powder

6 T cocoa powder (Sharffen Berger is the best!)

3 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of kosher salt

2 cups pecans, toasted for 7-9 minutes at 350 degrees, chopped

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (Callebaut, my favorite)

1 cup dried cherries (optional)

1 cup sweetened coconut (optional)

or any add-in you like

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper and grease the parchment. Stir together all ingredients til smooth. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl and stir til smooth. Drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets in balls about the size of a ping pong ball, about 1 1/2 inches. Bake 8-10 minutes. They will spread and become shiny and develop crackly tops. Remove from oven and cool right on the pan. Makes 16, 3 inch cookies.

Please make these cookies when you crave chocolate. You wont miss the butter and flour, I promise.

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Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Fresh Blueberries

I make birthday cakes for each person in my Social Work Department at the federal prison where I work. I’ve been doing this for many years and each person requests the cake of their choice or tells me a flavor and I create the cake. One of the social workers just joined Weight Watchers and requested a simple cake with fruit. I decided to make the lemon cornmeal cake with blueberry sauce for him. He usually requests an Italian cream cake consisting of 3 layers of white coconut pecan cake with layers of rich cream cheese frosting. One piece has about 800 calories. In contrast, the cornmeal cake is just one layer, has only one layer of glaze made from just lemon juice and sugar (rather than a pound of cream cheese and stick of butter!). The blueberries are cooked with some brown sugar and a little goes a long way. One piece has about 300 calories or according to Dave, 8 points. It’s not the cheapest cake to make with blueberries costing $4.99 a pint but the end result is well worth it. I also like the fact that this cake could be made with a variety of different fruits in season. I have raspberry bushes in my yard and plan to make it with raspberry sauce (will have to modify the recipe some) or strawberries from my strawberry patch. The lemon cake is intensely lemon thanks to the large amount of zest and the glaze is tangy as well. I made two cakes, one for the office and one for home so we could try it. My husband took the cake to work and received rave reviews. One woman asked if she could buy a whole cake for herself she liked it so much. Dave was happy with it, satisfied with a small piece, and took a piece home for his wife so I consider it a big success. The recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit:

Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Blueberry Sauce

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal

¾ cup sugar

3 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

1 T finely grated lemon peel

¾ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup melted unsalted butter, cooled

Glaze

1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 T fresh lemon juice

Stir together with spoon until smooth and paste-like, adding more lemon juice if needed.

Blueberry Sauce

3 cups fresh blueberries

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

½ tsp grated lemon peel

Pinch of salt

Combine 1 ½ cups blueberries and all ingredients in medium saucepan. Simmer 7 minutes. Reduce to low and simmer until berries are soft and liquid is syrupy, 7 more minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining blueberries. Cover and chill.

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9 inch cake pan with 2 inch high sides and line bottom with parchment. Combine dry ingredients, whisk to blend. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, lemon peel, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Pour wet mixture into dry and fold until just blended. Do not overmix.Bake approximately 30 minutes or until cake pulls aways from sides of pan and toothpick comes out clean.Immediately run knife around edges of pan. Place rack on top, invert on rack and remove pan. Place another rack on bottom of cake and invert again so top of cake is up. While cake is hot drop glaze by tablespoons onto cake and spread to within ½ inch of edge. (To cut back on sugar feel free to use less glaze.) Cool completely. Serve with sauce.

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