Half way, already???

Today

Blogger is back! (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/blogger-is-back.html)

Class (just me today!): Gnocchi

-gnocchi means "dumplings" --little balls of "something" that can be boiled, fried, or sometimes baked

-learned the basic recipe for gnocchi (potato, flour and egg) and then did 2 variations, in addition to two other dishes that are gnocchi-esque because of their shape

• Gnudi (Spinach Dumplings)
  • Spinach mixed with ricotta and some other cheeses, rolled in flour and boiled
  
  Gnudi
  
  
• Parigini Crema di Pistacchi e Tartufo Nero (Parisians with Pistachio Cream and Black Truffle)
  • Fun to make the puff-pastry and they smelled incredible when they came out of the oven (just like popovers!)
    
    
    
    Piping the parigini
    
    
  • Can be used in either sweet or savory dishes, this one was more savory.
  • Tartufo is incredible.

Parigini Crema di Pistacchi e Tartufo Nero

• Gnocchi di Patate alla Piemontese (Potato Gnocchi, Piedmont Style)
  
  
  Boring
  
  
• Gnocchi Fuscia allo Zafferano (Fuchsia Gnocchi with Saffron)
  • Gave gnocchi a fuchsia color using pureed beet root in addition to the standard ingredients
    
    
    
    Beet root gnocchi with saffron sauce
• Gnocchi di Catagne (Chestnut Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce)
• Used chestnut flour instead of regular flour
• This was my favorite of the 3 gnocchi dishes; chestnut has a very smoky flavor though which I don't really like.
  
  
  
  Chestnut Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce

Afternoon

• Uffizi Gallery
  • pretty huge, lots of paintings, lots of Jesus.
  • Favorite was probably the Botticelli room: including The Birth of Venus and Primavera (Allegory of Spring)
  • No photos are allowed inside The Uffizi. I snapped this one and got yelled at
    
    Inside the Uffizi
    
    
    
    Palazzo Vecchio from The Uffizi courtyard
• Museo Galileo
  • Math and science museum
  • Lots of scientific tools and artifacts
  • Well-done museum
  • Saw 2 of Galileo's fingers, his thumb and a tooth, preserved in a bell jar on display...awesome
• Had a date on the Ponte Santa Trinita
• my feet were exhausted and I needed a snack :)
  
Punny

Evening

• Just had dinner at home with the family.
• Galileo eats my leftovers from class every day for lunch and whatever he doesn't finished gets served again at dinner--I love it (and apparently so do they!)

Lesson of the Day

I don't really like gnocchi.

Photo of the Day

Manuela showed me this place on our walk home last night. I took a photo on my phone at the time, but went back today to take some more photogs and walk around. Up until 20 years ago, it was the Florence male prison. Today, it is a bunch of flats, shops and cafes.

From prison cells to flats

Not quite sure how I just noticed these flowers. I walk by this garden at least 3 times a day.

Pretty flowers

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 31

Pasta dishes eaten: 23

Days gone without gelato: 3

Photos taken: 1305

Tomorrow

Spending the day in Fiesole (nearby Tuscan town)

PS- How is it that I've already been here two weeks? These past few days have flown by!

Basta pasta

Today

EXPLOSION.

I got home from class, crawled into bed and couldn't move for 2 hours.

Class: colored pasta!

• There was a couple from Washington (state) that joined me for class yesterday
• They had never made pasta before so we reviewed a lot of the basics I had learned the first day, and I didn't get to be as hands on as usual because there were more people

Dishes

• Tagliolini Neri alla Seppia Bianca (Black Narrow Noodles with White Cuttle Fish)
  • Inspired by the traditional dish: pasta with black ink sauce, made from squid ink, this dish instead incorporates the black squid ink into the pasta itself
  • The tagliolini were awesome--texture and flavor were unreal

Black ink pasta

• Fazzoletti Verdi con Asparagi e Gamberetto (Green Handkerchieves stuffed with Asparagus and Shrimp)
• • We made the pasta green using spinach
  • I was disappointed that the spinach flavor wasn't stronger and I don't really like shrimp or asparagus
  • I didn't get asparagus pee though, so that was a plus!

Spinach ravioli

• Tagliatelle al Caffe' con Carciofi (Coffe Tagliatelle with Artichokes)
• Who would've thought that coffee and artichoke go together? INCREDIBLE.

Coffee tagliatelle with artichoke

• Tagliolini Rossi con Zuicchini e Scamorza Affemicata (Red Tagliolini with Zucchini and Smoked Cheese)
• We made the pasta red by adding pureed roasted red pepper to the traditional pasta dough
  
• Baked in a parchment paper sleeve covered in sauteed zucchini and smoked cheese...om nom

Red pepper tagliolini

• Pasta all Lecitina di Soia (Basic Pasta with Soy Lecithin)
• Soy lecithin is a cholesterol-lowering alternative to eggs that gave the final product a more grainy texture
• It was different, but I enjoyed it

Soy lecithin pasta

Then, for dessert, we had a strawberry-lemon shortcake leftover from a previous class...EXPLOSION.

Like I said, I spent the afternoon in bed unable to move. I had planned on going to the Bottanical Gardens but that will have to wait for another day. In the evening, the whole family went to a reception for Alyssa's school showcasing the artwork some students had been working on for the semester. Sarah Lawrence is a whole bunch of granolas. We drove to the reception which was weird--I hadn't been in a car in two weeks...and I was enjoying it. Manuela and I walked home, though, which was really nice. Language barriers are fun(ny), but she has much better English than she gives herself credit for.

Lesson of the Day

5 plates of pasta + dessert = WAY TOO MUCH FOOD.

Photo of the Day

Eye of the squid

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 30

Pasta dishes eaten: 22

Photos taken: 1263

Ghiottoni a Firenze

Class

Fish, Day 2 and Finger Foods!

-Lesson: Preserved Cod Fish

• Baccala'--dehydrated with salt, method used in the summer due to high temperatures and need for immediate preservation
• Stoccafisso--left out to dry, method used in the winter due to cold, dry temperatures

-Dishes

• Acciughe Indorate e Fritte (Golden Fried Anchovies)
  • Making this was really fun! We started with whole anchovies and had to rip off their heads, gut them, then tear out their spines and dorsal fin!
    
    
    
    Fried Anchovies
• Baccala' alla Vicentina (Dried Codfish Vicenza Style)
  • Very tasty. We served it with polenta which contrasted the salty baccala' nicely.
  • For those who don't know, polenta is essentially a corn patty, made from corn flour. You boil water, add the corn flour and stir consistently, then put it in a mold (loaf pan or bowl of sorts), and let it set. Then you take it out, let it cool for a bit and slice it. The slices can be eaten as is or grilled, fried or baked. For this recipe, we cut out heart shapes and baked them.
  • This was my favorite dish today.
    
    
    
    Polenta hearts
    
    Baccala' Matecato alla Veneziana
• Baccala' Matecato alla Veneziana (Salted Codfish Mantecato Venetian Style)
  • Even though this has "baccala'" in the title, it is actually made with stoccafisso.
  • Cooked like a sandwich in milk and cheese with parsley, garlic and sauteed onions inside. The fish itself was more bland than the baccala' in the first recipe, but the onions and herbs were delicious.
  • Also served with polenta, this time just sliced in triangles and served without baking/cooking further.
    

preparing the stoccafisso and onions

Baccala' alla Vicentina

• Zupetta di Molluschi (Shellfish Soup)
  • Mussels and clams with a tomato sauce served over bread.
  • This was my first mussel and clam experience and I don't think I really like them. The texture throws me off, and they taste like the sea.
  • They tasted very similar to the shrimp, calamari and swordfish, which is interesting because those are all the non-kosher sea creatures I've tried so far. I'm not quite sure if that's the reason they all taste the same to me.
  • I would be curious to try them all side by side and see how truly similar they take; I am also excited to try lobster and compare that flavor.
    
    
    
    Zupetta di Molluschi
• Vitello Tonnato-Vitel Tonne' (Veal in Tuna Sauce)
• Yum. The veal was really nice.
• We made mayonnaise (which sounds so much nicer when you say it with an Italian accent)--just eggs, olive oil, lemon and a bit of salt, then added tuna and capers.
• Served with olives on top, it was a nice combination of salty and sweet
• This was my second favorite dish today
  

Vitello Tonnato - Vitel Tonne'

Afternoon

-I wore a Michigan shirt today and looked super American but loved hearing "Go Blue!"

• Palazzo Vecchio
• It was open!
• Former palace of the Medici family, currently is a museum as well as office space for the mayor of Florence, among others
• The ceilings of every room were the most impressive--from murals to gold designs, they were all very detailed and ornate
  
  
  
  
  Ceilings, Palazzo Vecchio
  
  
  
• My favorite part of the museum was actually unrelated to The Medici (as far as I know). Damien Hirst, an english artist, studded a human skull with diamonds. The skull is lit in a glass case in the middle of a pitch-black room...pretty incredible. For more information about the skull visit http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanyarts/damien-hirst-diamond-skull-palazzo-vecchio/ Unfortunately, no photos were allowed.
• Compared to the Bargello yesterday, I definitely liked the Bargello more. This museum was more about the place itself, versus yesterday it was about the place and the art; I enjoyed the diversity.
• Bought a ticket for the Uffizi Gallery on Friday!
• Ponte Santa Trinita
• The bridge just past the Ponte Vecchio.
• I hopped over the edge and read on a landing overlooking the Arno.
• So sunny, relaxing and pleasant :)

Bridges, views, sunshine and shoes!

Lesson of the day: The most entertaining English word to listen non-English speakers say? "Massachusetts"

Photo of the day

Anchovies

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 26

Palaces visited: 2

"Go Blue!!"s heard: 3

Photos taken: 1221

Tomorrow: More pasta? Oy!

A day without pasta?!

I don't like having class in the evening.
It was nice to go to the city center first thing and not be exhausted from cooking, but it meant that by the time I went to class, I was pretty exhausted.

This morning I went to the Museo di Bargello. The Bargello was previously a jail, but now houses numerous sculptures and works of art. My favorite was the ivory collection and the various sculptures by Donatello, Cellini and Michelangelo. Having visited so many museums lately, I have truly started to appreciate the art of the museum itself--how everything is arranged, displayed, etc. is crucial. Overall, this museum was very well done.

After a few hours I grabbed lunch and gelato (cinnamon and rosa), and then walked to Piazza della Signoria to visit Palazzo Vecchio. I arrived at around 2:00 and just my luck...the museum was closed today from 2-7pm because of a European Union Conference taking place in Florence this week. I did get to walk around the main floor (and gift shop!) and I am excited to go back tomorrow.

courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio

So I ventured to the next stop on my list and walked through the Orsanmichele--a gothic church with a huge tabernacle in the middle. The church is still used as a place of prayer so no photographs were allowed.

I didn't have enough time before class to do any more stops, so I had a leisurely walk back to the kitchen. I recently found the Florence Bottanical Gardens, which I added to my list of places to visit. Had I known that Palazzo Vecchio was closed in the afternoon and how close I was to the gardens, I would've done that instead, but alas...good things I'm here all month!

Both Marcella and I were tired during class today which was unfortunate. The lesson was vegetables.

1. We made two soups: Minestra di Lenticchie Delicata (Delicate lentil soup) and Minestrone

-both easy, hearty and yummy :)

Lentil soup

Minestrone

2. Timballo di Parmigiana di Melanzane (eggplant parmesan timbale)

-This was a nice presentation of eggplant parmesan, using ramekins and blanched eggplant skin as a casing

ramekins lined with eggplant skin

out of the oven

the final product

3. Bomba di cioccolato alla mousse di melanzana, quenelle di ricotta alla menta (eggplant mousse in chocolate bomb, quenelles of ricotta and mint)

-Interesting: you couldn't tell it was eggplant at all--both the flavor and texture were lost in the cream and sugar.

-it was also very rich--yummy, but I just wasn't read for it

Eggplant Mousse in Chocolate Bomb

Photo of the day

the original Playmobil, Museo di Bargello

Lesson(s) of the Day

1. Don't sleep with the window open--you will wake up with a mosquito bite on your cheek...and ankle...and arms
2. Visit The Duomo at lunch time--there is no line! I was on my way to Palazzo Vecchio so I didn't stop to go in, and by the time I had come back that way after realizing Palazza Vecchio was closed, the lines were enormous again.

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 24

Gelatos eaten: 5

-->Flavors tried: 15

Churches toured: 4 + 1 synagogue

Photos taken: 1087

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta!

Today

Pasta, Day 3!

Wow--so much pasta! It was nice today though because while some of the pastas themselves were heavier than others, the sauces were simple and light(er than last week) so I don't feel like I am going to explode...entirely.

So now that I've learned the basic technique of making pasta: flour and egg, we learned some variations.

1. Tagiatelle di Kamut, vaolo croccante, oli al pistacchio (Tagiatelle of Kamut, Crunchy cabbage and pistachio oil)
   - pasta made with kamut--a finer wheat that is higher in protein--topped with cabbage, potatoes, pine nuts and pistachio oil. My favorite part of this dish was the crispy cabbage leaf we served it with. We peeled off a few layers of cabbage leaves, blanched them, and then baked them in the oven. They became crispy and chip-like...without the frying! Yum :)
2. Marcella's Pasta e fagioli
   - inspired by Minestra di Fagioli Bortolli (red bean soup), this pasta is made with both flour and pureed beans. The dough is a bit more crumbly than regular pasta dough because when using beans, gluten does not form as easily (less sticky and elastic dough). For this dish, we split the pasta into two batches--one we cooked the in boiling water, and the other half we fried in peanut oil to add as a contrasting crunch to the mushiness of the boiled pasta. We tossed the boiled pasta in olive oil, garlic and sage, then topped with the crunchy pasta
3. Orecchiette pugliesi with broccoli
   -regular, light pasta (wheat and water) cooked with brocolli, olive oil, shallot and various spices. Orecchiette is the name of the shape of pasta. It is a pasta typical of Southerin Italy (Puglia), which comes from the word "orecchio" (ear) and "etto" (small).
4. Taggiatelle alle Nocciole in Salsa di Funghi (Hazlenut tagiatelle in Mushroom sauce)
   -This pasta is made with a lesser amount of flour than the usual proportion of flour to water, and the leftover is made up of ground hazelnut. I was really excited about this pasta because I love nutella and subsequently hazelnut, but the sauce was very strong (full of herbs), and overpowered the hazelnut flavor. It was delicious, but I will definitely experiment with milder sauces that allow the flavor of the pasta to shine through. I also want to try this as a pasta stuffed with chocolate, or with a chocolate sauce.
5. Pizzoccheri della Valtellina (short buckwheat noodles from Valtellina)
   -this pasta used half semolina (hard flour) and half buckwheat (a gluten-free flour). The dough is much more dense than regular pasta, and buckwheat has become a common substitute with the increasing presence of individuals with celiac disease (gluten intolerance). Although not 100% gluten free, this pasta has less gluten than the normal recipe. We boiled the pasta and prepared this in casserole form--mixed with potatoes and cabbage (typical of Northern Italy) and layered with cheese and baked in the oven. The top became crispy and the combination in flavors was very pleasant and wholesome--probably one of my favorites from the day.

Tagiatelle di Kamut, vaolo croccante, oli al pistacchio

Pasta e Fagioli

Preparing the crispy fagioli pasta

Orichiette pugliesi with broccoli

Taggiatelle alle Nocciole in Salsa di Funghi

Pizzoccheri della Valtellina

After class I came home and relaxed. I just painted my toenails for the first time in who knows how many years (I still had a speck of nail polish on my big toe from a pedicure with mom last summer in Ann Arbor). There is so much to do and see here in Firenze, I often forget that it's nice to just sit, read and relax--so today I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and fresh air :).

For dinner tonight we had the leftover pasta from class. It was fun to get to share it with my family here--they really enjoyed it!

Tomorrow Marcella has classes during the day so I am not going in until 5:00. The lesson is vegetables--YAAY I MISS VEGETABLES! We are making eggplant parmesan, among other things... so I am really looking forward to that. Even though class isn't until the evening, I still plan on getting up at a reasonable hour to get some museums and churches in during the day. I think I will visit the Mercato Centrale (which I usually miss because of class), Palazzo Vecchio and maybe Museo Galileo.

Photos of the Day:

PASTA!

left to right: hazelnut, buckwheat, kamut

top to bottom: kamut, fagioli, orecchiette

Lesson of the day:

Lunch conversation today was focused around open-mindedness and the ability to create, interpret and adapt.

With respect to cooking: these recipes are just the basics--I can adjust them in so many ways it's unbelievable. Depending on season and dietary restrictions, the dishes I am learning to make can be changed based on the skills I am learning and intuition I am building. In regards to my time here in Firenze, there is no schedule or even routine--I'm just going with the flow and seeing where life takes me. Maybe it's the summer-feeling, or maybe this is just Italy; whatever it is, I like it :)

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 29

Pasta dishes eaten: 17

Photos taken: 1006