Aroma Cucina

We're back!

Woo Hoo! We’re back in the blog world. Back in Aroma Cucina land. Back in Italy. Back in Montone!

Where have we been?

Down the rabbit hole that is called IACP. It was a wondrous place, not unlike Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole. After being consumed by producing two years of successful conferences in New York and San Francisco, it was time for a change.

This picture is from the San Francisco conference, and that smiling woman is Denise Vivaldo. One of the truest, funniest, sharpest women around.

Life was full of surprises and adventures, but ultimately, it was time to come back home.
I learned that I really, really, enjoy producing events like the IACP conference. I’m an adrenalin junky; but then again I already knew that. I love the team building, the foxhole buddy work that goes into building an event. It’s a lot like putting on a play, all that work that leads up to the event, then the rush of the event…and then…its time to put on another show!

I also learned that its important to listen to your inner voice, and when its time to move on, get moving.

We’re still doing our thing here in Montone: eating, cooking, sipping wine and cocktails and generally loving life in Italy. If you are reading this, its nice to see you again. If you are new to Aroma Cucina, then benvenuti!

World Pasta Championship goes to Yoshi Yamada!

As part of the “Italian Cuisine in the World Forum”, Academia Barilla hosted a World Pasta Championship at their beautiful campus in Parma. You have to love a town where the directions to the Academia are, “Follow along the Strada del Parmigiano...”

We arrived on Saturday, for the final showdown between four chefs: 3 Italians working internationally, and 1 Japanese chef, working in London.  Proof positive that pasta is an international dish, if you actually needed any proof.

As luck would have it, I wound up as a judge for the final competition. And I do mean luck, as it was a lottery style selection of judges from the general audience. There was also a full retinue of culinary professional judges. This meant, I was able to taste the pasta, whereas, poor Jeff had to content himself with only smelling the delicious dishes.

And now you will have to content yourself with pictures and a little description. You should have been there!

First up: Vittorio Beltramelli who is the chef at “Nolita” restaurant in Paris.
He created a spaghetti dish with poached quail eggs, asparagus and prosciutto. It’s a classic pairing of ingredients, but he gave the dish a twist by cooking the spaghetti in a Parmigiano infusion. He simmered a good amount of the grated cheese in water, along with a few chunks of Parmigiano, then strained the liquid and used that to finish cooking the pasta. He said that he normally lets the infusion rest overnight to gain flavor, but that wasn’t possible during this timed competition.
It’s certainly an interesting concept, but you’d have to have an abundant amount of Parmigiano or Grano Padano on hand!


Second competitor: Giorgio Nava, chef at “95 Keerom” in Capetown, South Africa. His dish was a homely, but satisfyingly delicious blend of fresh borlotti beans (cranberry beans) that he brought from his garden in South Africa, pureed with fresh vegetables and finished with steamed mussels. 

What is it about South Africa these days? Everywhere I turn, I’m hearing good things about the food and wine in South Africa.  Chef Nava has a farm, where he is raising Romagnola cattle, somehow he also raises fish and has a garden...now that is self sufficiency.

Third competitor: Sauro Scarabotta, chef at Fricco de Frango in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He may be cooking in Sao Paulo, but he’s a hometown boy to us because he’s from the nearby Umbrian town of Gubbio.
His pasta dish certainly paid homage to his Gubbio roots: a type of open ‘ravioli’ made from sliced pumpkin and filled with a pasta risotto flavored with sausage, tomato and zucchini.
Yes, a pasta risotto. The pasta is treated exactly like you with a risotto...toasting the pasta, small amounts of liquid added until the pasta is cooked.


Fourth competitor: Yoshi Yamada, who calls himself a “Japapoletano”, because he’s a Japanese chef who learned his trade in Napoli and is currently the chef at Tempo Restaurant & Bar in London, although very soon, he’s leaving Europe, and heading back home to Japan.

He made a bavette allo scoglio, or a linguine pasta with seafood, that tasted fresh, light and sweetly balanced.  He also would have won a prize for most pots while making one pasta dish. I lost count somewhere around seven. His technique was to cook each of the flavor components separately and then combine them only at the last moment.  It’s something I like to do as well, but I sure wish I had the dishwashing staff that he has! I have Jeff, who is a master at cleanup, but he draws the line at washing pots!

Each chef was required to make 3 plates of his dish: one for the judges, one for the ‘popolane’ judges (or regular people) and one for photography. Chef Yamada made an extra plate for the audience and even that wasn’t enough, as the hungry audience demanded that the final pot or padella be passed around.


After Yoshi Yamada was announced as the winner, the entire audience was invited to a pasta party made by the students and staff of the Academia Barilla. Now, imagine a roomful of people, who have done nothing but sniff, or have one bite, of these fragrant pasta dishes for over three hours...we were ravenous, and our hosts were generous!
Many thanks to Ginaluigi Zenti, Executive Director of the Academia Barilla and to Ilaria Rossi for inviting us.  And congratulations to all of the outstanding, inspiring competitors!

More photos of the competition here!

Breaking News about Fruits & Vegetables: Is being healthy good enough?

 News Flash: Until fruits and vegetables taste good, and are affordable people won’t eat them.

 As soon as we land in Italy, we start eating more vegetables. 

The spring vegetables are in: tender purple artichokes, crisp peas, snappy fave beans, are mounded high in the market. A shopping bag full of freshly foraged greens is 3 euro.

 It’s not an effort, or a chore to eat more vegetables. It’s more about making difficult decisions: fennel or asparagus tonight?  They are as interesting as any piece of meat on the plate.

We sat with some American friends the other night and wondered why shopping at a NYC or Portland green market was so expensive. Why shopping at the green market was something you saved for special dinners.

 Italian markets are reasonably priced. How come? I’ve asked this question many times, in different places, and never gotten an answer that solved the riddle.

We went to a Food Policy talk in New York, and were told that the Greenmarket was no more expensive than any grocery store. In my experience, that’s simply not true.

Granted, the Union Sq Market in NYC, sells precious micro greens by the ounce, and I’m buying foraged greens by the bagful.  Then again, the Italian produce sellers are notorious for having a heavy thumb on the scale, so maybe that’s how they make up the difference.

Have you noticed? Food deserts have been in the news. Food deserts are neighborhoods where you don’t have decent grocery stores. Then the news comes out that food deserts aren’t the problem. Even when there are vegetables for sale, people aren’t buying them.

Preaching about the health benefits of fruits and vegetables works for some people, but desire is a far more powerful motivator.

How do we create the desire in people to eat more vegetables?  How do we make vegetables sexy and in demand? Who does PR for the artichoke? Who speaks for the carrot?  And silly, childish, cartoon vegetables are not the answer. And neither are shrill spokespeople who intone the wisdom of plant eating from a pillar of self-congratulation.

 Do you think if seasonality was reintroduced to our lifestyle, and we learned to long for the first peas of the season, that it would make a difference?  If peas (and men)  were bred for sweetness and tenderness, would they create a yearning; instead of peas that were bred for longevity and shipping, and who are more like a dependable but unexciting husband?  

 I think the moral of the story is: if the asparagus tastes good, we will eat it. I’m not sure what the moral of the story is regarding tender v. dependable husbands, I’ll let you work that out for yourself.

 

 

NYC IACP Conference Evolution: Down the Rabbit Hole

Like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, I’ve been living in a parallel world for the past seven months. Jeff tumbled in a few months ago and as we are emerging and returning to our old world, we are much richer for friendships forged in foxholes, much wiser for hard lessons learned, and excited about what the future holds. 

What am I talking about?? I vanish from the blog world, come back blathering about   rabbit holes. Good Lord, I’m a Born Again Blogger!

I’m talking about the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference in NYC that was 5 days of food, fashion and love.  People have written eloquently and glowingly about attending this conference, this is about what it was like to plan and execute this whale of a conference.

Don’t call me Ishmael. Call me Nutz.

It all started with Doug Duda. He’s part Merry Prankster, part Auntie Mame willing us to enjoy the ride, part Guru with mystical ideas that continually flow, and part Whisperer, smoothing over the rough patches. He was also the Conference Chair for this whole shindig, and he invited me along for the journey. My job, as the honorable “Host City Chair”,  would be to corral the ideas and keep fitting the pieces of the puzzle together.

The next one to join our little band of Pranksters was Martha Holmberg, author, writer, visionaire. Martha is a bit of Pippi Longstocking, a dash of Judith Jones, with good pinch of Ruth Reichl’s editorial eye and Anna Wintour’s instincts.

And then we were 3. Of course, it wasn’t just us, but we became a nucleus, or maybe we became a virus as we infected others with The Passion.

Here, drink a little KoolAid,  and help us plan this event that eventually grew to be 5 days long,  with over 23 tours launched in a single day, an opening party with 16 chefs, phenomenal cocktails and naked women covered in fruit slices, over 230 speakers, over 170 educational sessions,a glamorous awards ceremony, a culinary expo that was zinging with energy, a book and blog festival that rocked, demos and hands on classes at the Institute of Culinary Education, the International Culinary Center, and a delightful, intelligent cocktail party and more sessions at the James Beard House. 

Conferences need a theme, and Darra Goldstein of Gastronomica  filtered the New York food scene into a simple sounding concept, “The Fashion of Food”.  New York as an axis of media, food policy, food trends, culture and fetish.
But how do you translate that into a visual message? This was fun, batting around ideas, trying to distill the message into something cleaner, simpler.
Enter Jason Blake. Jason is a challenging, provocative  photographer whose photos tell stories, the narrative caught in a shutter flick.

You see what’s happening, right? More bodies tumbling down the rabbit hole, but not tumbling, more like we were thermalling, buoyed by each others ideas.

Jason woke up one morning with THE way to tell this Fashion of Food story. Take the threads of what is in style now: veganism, craft cocktails, culinary students, cookbook authors, charcuterie makers, urban farmers, kids, a butcher, a coffee roaster. Use real people, stylize them like a Gucci ad and ask the question, “Am I in Fashion?”.
Martha came up with the tagline that said it all.  We had the visual anchor. We had a conversation starter.

The actual photo shoot was a bit like the stateroom scene in the Marx Brothers “Night at  the Opera”. Organized chaos that verged on ordinary chaos.

Pushing  furniture aside in our loft, we set up a simple back drop and had our artisans display their talents. Our poor mixologist arrived with a hang over and we had him pouring a soy sauce and water mixture over and over to simulate a cocktail. I’m sure the smell worked well with a raging hangover.  Our butcher skateboarded over from Brooklyn with 3 rabbits he’d slaughtered in his backyard. Actually he slaughtered 50 of them and just brought 3. He always butchers in a shirt and tie. We had to hide the rabbits from the vegan activist when she showed up. The coffee roaster is naturally gorgeous, and I think Jason fell a little in love with her, but that’s to be expected. Then again, throughout the day, I think he fell in love more than once.

How did we find these people? Nicki, the coffee roaster is the daughter of Jeff’s first girlfriend.  The charcuterie maker is our good friend Elaine, she of cherry pie fame.  Adam the butcher? I think Adam and Nora, our urban farmer,  came from a conversation with Holley Atkinson of Slow Food NYC. The adorable kids are Karin Endy’s boys. Karin is the President of The Culinary Trust and Karin roped in Ona our culinary student and Simone our vegan. I met Lauren Shockey, our author, at a book signing event and fell in love with the story behind her smile. The mixologist thought I might be just a little nuts, but he was a good sport in the end.The net widens.

This is a long story, that deserves telling. But it needs to be told in pieces, in installments.

Next chapter: enter Jimmy Carbone. (Kar- bone- ay).  Bring a beer for that chapter.

A Celebration of Good Things to Come: IACP NYC Conference

IACPNYC Conference Launch Party, Jan 9, 2012

It was time to throw a party and a party we did throw!
There is a wild & crazy group working on the IACP Annual Conference and it was about time we did a little celebrating.

A little background: IACP (Intl Assoc of Culinary Professionals) has a conference every year and this time it’s in NYC, so naturally it’s bigger, noisier, splashier, and of course, tres, tres fashionable! 

This will be 5 days of workshop sessions with some of the biggest names in the culinary world, parties, awards, red carpets, demos, expos...you name it, we’ve got a session that covers it from Times Sq to Soho and points in between.

You know it takes a lot of people to make it happen, so last Monday we threw a party to kick back with everyone who has been working on this conference, local members and curious culinarians.  Obviously the word has gotten out that we’ve kicked things up...a lot!  The buzz was deafening in that room! We got some complaints the next day that the music was too loud, but I think DJ Snacky Tunes was just about perfect..there was just a zillion people in a club. Of course it was noisy! 

Thanks to the generous folks at Santos Party House, we had this fabulous downtown club to do our celebrating. The crew who work there are professional and absolutely great to work with. If you are looking to throw a party, this might be the place for you!  We even had velvet ropes, with gigantic bouncers guys at the door.  Are those dudes paid not to smile? If they said move...I moved!

Usually these type of events are the kind where you come, stay a little while and politely and quietly leave after showing your face.  Not this party.  The world showed up and no one wanted to leave!  

 

Thanks to our generous sponsors, there were indeed delicious reasons to hang around.
Driscoll Berries got right into our Fashion of Food theme with an amazing display of a berry covered dress form with very generous tastings of all their berries. Jarlsberg USA’s had this crazy cheese sculpture with a shredded cheese dip that was way too addictive! 
Brooklyn Oenology’s lineup of their local wines, all blended in Brooklyn was impressive. The Brooklyn Brewery kept all the beer drinkers very happy.  What’s with Manhattan, I ask you?? We have no wineries, no breweries? Manhattan it is time to step up to the plate!

Bulldog Gin, one of our house favorites, came with their sparkling Blueberry Cobbler signature cocktail.

Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto had a spread of hand sliced prosciutto, mortadello, porchetta and salumis that was a tasting feast. Honestly, I haven’t had prosciutto that good since I was last in the Old Country!
Bobolink Dairy’s cheeses and fresh baked breads were gorgeous and tasty.

Special kudos to Jimmys No.43’s for that crazy good  bruschetta! The more  time I spend with Jimmy’s Food Karma crew, the more I love them!

And speaking of love, who doesn’t love Voss water in those chic, sexy bottles?
 
The attendee list read like a who’s who directory of the movers and shakers from all corners of the culinary world:  from chefs to food bloggers, from food stylists to food photographers, from restauranteurs to reviewers, from journalists to cookbook authors, from vintners to brewers, and of course culinary students.  A true blend of culinary disciplines in attendance, with an obvious new mix of young talent anxious to be a part of this evolving organization.

The upcoming NYC Conference was what everybody in the room was talking about.  You could feel the excitement and anticipation of what will be happening at this 5 day Conference. There were ideas and schemes popping up in every corner.

 There are workshops not to be missed, and optional tours that will wow even the most jaded New Yorker!  A word of warning: book early to avoid disappointment, as space is limited, and they are going fast. And there will be a few more parties, and who wants to miss a good party?

 

Where Have We Been Lately?

‘May you live in interesting times.’ - ancient Chinese curse.
“They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.” - Robert F Kennedy

Not that we’ve been in any danger, and that phrase about interesting times is most likely not a Chinese curse at all, but lately we have been roiled and rolled by life! 

Planning for the upcoming IACP Conference in NYC next spring has dominated our days, but it has been interesting, entertaining and stimulating. The collective creative energy of everyone involved is making this one wild and crazy time.

Earlier this week we went on a ‘dry run’ of one of our optional tours that will be offered during Conference. Escorted by the charming Kian Lam Kho of Red Cook,  we fearlessly boarded the No. 7 train to Flushing Queens.  He took us to three of his favorite restaurants: a Taiwanese, a Shanghai and a northern Chinese restaurant where we had the most amazing cumin crusted rack of lamb ribs. Cumin lamb ribs are Chinese? I would go back to Flushing in a heartbeat to eat these crispy, crunchy cumin-y ribs!
 Our last stop was the huge New World mall Food Court and I confess, I barely had any belly room left for tasting the hand pulled noodles that would normally be tops on my “To Slurp” list.

Grace Young, the Stir Fry Guru, was also along on our excursion and kept us entertained with stories and recipes from her family in China. We sampled the sticky, sweet, savory, succulent “3 cup chicken” at the Taiwanese restaurant. This launched a conversation about regional cooking variations that sounded as much like Italy as it did about China.  Grace’s uncle’s version of 3 cup chicken included equal parts rice vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. While Kian’s version was equal parts rice vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil.  All I know is Jeff kept jabbing me with a chopstick saying, “You have to make this!!” So I guess I’ll be experimenting with this tasty glaze in the very near future.

Sea intestine just doesn’t sound appetizing, does it? Does it make you any more intrigued if I say it’s actually a sea worm? Or that one description of the live sea worm described it as a phallic filled condom?
Here are two of our cohorts watching a YouTube video of a tank of sea intestine worms. mmm...

But for all that buildup, it’s a mild flavored, toothsome, ingredient that when it is cleaned and cooked, looks a lot like whole wheat ziti and tastes great paired with braised Chinese celery.

One of my surprise favorites was the curdled soymilk soup. Despite it’s off putting look, I could see craving a bowl of this savory soup on a blustery cold day.

I’m late to the party when it comes to soup dumplings.  It seems like everyone else has been singing the praises of xian long bow. I thought soup dumpling meant the dumpling was in a bowl of soup, but it’s the other way around: the soup is inside the dumpling! (How do they do that??)

I needed a lesson on the proper way to eat soup dumplings and the beautiful Maya was happy to show me the ropes. Most important: eat them hot, hot! Carefully pry the dumpling out of the steamer with your chopsticks and into your spoon, add some ginger flavored vinegar to the spoon, bite the top off of the dumpling and then slurp up the soup and the dumpling. I believe this causes an instant addiction reaction.

And that, my friends,  was just one afternoon of Conference planning! I mean we had to do a ‘dry run’ of one of the tours we are planning, right?

 If you want to take this tour you’ll have to join IACP and come along on Kian’s next tour of Chinatown!
Buon appetito indeed.

Food Speak: NYC Style

Do you think we could view the world of food as a many faceted, sparkling crystal? Shiny in spots and grubby in others?  Do you think New Yorkers are a tribe unto their own? How does everyone afford to go out night after night? Why didn’t I didn’t know I could go to a different food event every day and night? 

I’ve been a part of some amazing and unique conversations while I’ve been in The City the past few weeks. As is par for the course with me, one question leads to another.

There is no question that food is HOT. The media, the buzz, the attitudes, the events remind me of the crazy days in the fashion world when money flowed and the world revolved around Kate Moss.  Linda Evangelista infamously declared she didn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000.  Now, I believe it s Giada De Laurentiis who is the reigning diva of the moment.

Celebrity chefs have usurped the Super Models. My, how the world has changed.  Or, my, how it really hasn’t changed at all; it is still just as silly as it ever was.
But, there is something else going on; there is an air of urgency, an awareness that we need to know more about what we are eating.


Our complacency with the way we eat is slowly being shrugged off, like a sleeping giant shaking its head and trying to make sense of what happened while he was napping.  Shake, shake: junk food isn’t really cheap if you factor in the cost of making people sick. Shake, shake: food tastes better when you eat it in season. Shake, shake: people forgot how to cook, but they’re waking up to it’s pleasures once again. Shake, shake: we’ve got a lot of people to feed on this planet, how we gonna do it?

On Tueday night, I listened to Kat Flinn, Pam Anderson and Lauren Shockey talk about their new books and their personal journeys that led them back to the home kitchen. The crowd roared when someone said, “Bring back Home-Ec classes!”


As part of the Culinary HIstorians series,I listened to one of our national treasures, Paula Wolfert, talk about the joys of Moroccan cooking, and how happy she is to bring Berber cooking the attention it deserves.  It was a sold out event and the audience was rapt, respectful and informed.

By Friday, I needed to round up food people for our #IACPNYC photo shoot.  The word went out and within 24 hours I had a skate boarding butcher, mustached mixologist, gorgeous coffee roaster, courageous author, vegan activist, home charcuterie maker, two adorable boys who wanted to play air guitar with a bunch of celery, and an urban farmer all lined up to have their photo taken for the cause. My sincere thanks to Holley Atkinson of  Slow Food NYC and Karin Endy of The Culinary Trust for helping me to gather the clan.


There was a kind of magic in the room as everyone shared their stories with us. These passionate people are doing amazing things and changing the way we think about food and drink.  I have the utmost respect and admiration for our photographer, Jason Blake, who conceived of this project and who let his curiosity and enthusiasm bring out the best in everyone.

One last shout out of the week to Jane Lerner of Smorgasburg/The Brooklyn Flea frame. What a great time and great food to be had in Brooklyn!  Thanks for getting me over there and opening my eyes and tastebuds.

There’s a phrase that keeps simmering in my brain as I work on the IACP conference and meet all these committed people: “May you live in interesting times.”  Well, I do believe I’ve hit the jackpot.

Do New Yorkers love to eat and talk about it?

Anyone passionate about food, food blogging, food policy, urban farms, cocktails, wine, Top Chefs? Anyone in NYC?  I thought, just maybe, maybe there might be a few of us around.

Here’s the scoop, in case you missed the news: IACP* is having their annual Conference in NYC next year (March 29-Apr 2, 2012). It’s wil be huge and we need people to get involved. This is your official invite to jump in and contribute. 

We need people to help with the Host City Opening Celebration, Awards Gala, Culinary Expo, Book Fair, Volunteers, PR, Marketing. You have skills, passion...here is your chance to work alongside some of the most amazing, connected people in the culinary world.

Next meeting: Tues. June 28 in Soho at 6:30pm. If you are not in the city, there will be a conference call line set up. Email me for details: judith [at] aromacucina dot com. Even if you can't make it...spread the word!

I know, I’m pouring it on thick, but I do believe IACP is THE culinary organization to belong to because it every represents every single aspect of the food world.  Even Jeff is joining so he can generate some love for those who work the Front of the House. Really, isn’t it time for a reality food show about Top Waiters and Servers??

And in the interest of full disclosure, I’m the Host City chairperson for this shindig, and I want our city and IACP to shine!

If you are involved in the culinary world, but don’t know about IACP, take a look at what went on at our recent Austin conference:  Austin is Awesome,

Food on Fire: The Artful Gourmet

Post Conference Depression Syndrome: What's Cooking with Kids

A Fulfilling Week: Food Nouveau

IACP Austin, Chef's Move to School: Nancy McDermott

5 Things I Learned at the IACP Conference: Austin 360

*IACP = International Association of Culinary Professionals and that's the last time I'm telling you.

A New Love Affair: Pickled Onions

I came away from Austin with a new love: pickled onions. OK, I did flirt with a fried pickle, but it was just an infatuation. I think my love of the pickled onion has staying power.

Going to an IACP Conference is a little like being set down in the middle of a Calcutta rush hour intersection. Everyone is going somewhere, people are connecting on Twitter and colliding in the hallways as they tap into their devices, and look for their next session or contact.  It’s an adrenalin rush of networking, and when Susan invited me and another IACP-er to a quiet backporch dinner, it was like being invited to an oasis of calm.

There was a delicious table full of goodness waiting for us when we walked in the door. Plates of  warm tacos, chile spiked BBQ, baked tortillas and beans scented the whole room while we sipped some cool rose wine.  But there tucked away on the far corner of the table, like a shy girl at her first dance,  sat a bowl of pickled onions aglow with a natural pink blush.

I’ll take pickles over sweets any day, so I was immediately intrigued. It made perfect sense to pair BBQ with something pickled,  the acid and the salt could free up the palette after the fatty richness of the meat. But it was the crunch, the tartness, the play on flavors that hooked me. Susan used a recipe from Joe Yonan’s new book Serve Yourself and that is one bangin’ good recipe.

Now I’m back in Montone, and I’ve got a bowl of magnificent red onions staring at me, and I remember the shy girl at the dance, and I come up with my version of pickled onions. What would you call them here? Cipolla sottaceti? Ciopolla salamoia? Doesn’t quite have the same appeal, does it?

Here’s my version of Pickled Onions:
2 large red onions, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup vinegar
3/4 cup water
1 t salt
Zested orange peel
Chili peppers
Pepper corns
 Juniper Berry

Peel and slice the onions to a medium thickness, about 1/4” or 5cm.
Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix until the salt dissolves.
Place the onions into a jar and cover with the brine mixture. 
I like chili peppers, and mine are sort of punky, not that hot, so I added a good 5-7 chili peppers into the brine.
 I also like the way orange peel acts as a flavor bridge and enhancer, it smooths out some of the rough edges of the chili and pepper corns. But, you adjust the brine the way you like it.

Let the onions marinate for 24-48 hours before using them.
This is not a sterilized, canning recipe. These onions will only keep for about a week to 10 days in the fridge, so just make a small batch and next time fool around and tweak the recipe a bit, just for the fun of it.
Buon appetito!

Next up: Fried Zucchini Blossoms with a Pickled Onion Sauce

Cooking with Mangoes: Crispy Chicken & Mango Salsa

Rich, sweet, silky mango paired with chile spiked, crispy skinned chicken. It’s a perfect study in contrasts: sweet v. salty, crispy v. silky, sweet v. sour. It’s not a knock down, it’s a love fest.

Still in the throes of Duc Tran’s Asian Fusion Confusion, I came home from Austin with a  taste for mangoes. But, mangoes paired with heat and spice.

You should know, that in 4 days in Austin, I had a cumulative 8 hours of sleep, so Delirium may have been my muse. Turns out she can be such a lovely muse.

Crispy Chicken & Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa
1 perfectly ripe mango
1 fresh shiso leaf
Chopped garlic, ginger, onion
Dash of hot sauce
Fresh lime juice

Cut the mango into small cubes.
Thinly slice (julienne) the shiso leaf.
Finely mince a tiny bit of garlic, onion and ginger, add a small amount of hot sauce or  chili pepper.
Toss together and moisten with fresh squeezed lime juice. You don’t want to cover or mask the sweetness of the mango, you just want to boost it.
Let the mango salsa sit for at least 20 minutes or the time it takes to cook the chicken.



Crispy Chicken
1-2 butterflied, boned, chicken legs

Dry rub: Equal parts salt, adobe chile, and smoked Spanish paprika

Preheat oven to 390F/199C. Use the convection oven option if you have it.

LIne a roasting pan with parchment paper. Lay the boned chicken legs on the pan and sprinkle with the dry rub.

Roast for about 20 minutes. Finish for the last 1-3 minutes under the broiler to crisp the skin.


Serve on a warm plate, with the cool salsa and have a fine time tonight!  I’d recommend a light, fresh red wine like a grenache to make the dinner sing.
Buon appettio!