F is for Focaccia and Freakish amounts of Carbohydrates.

This week marks the end of the week in which I have eaten, tasted, re-tasted and devoured the most ridiculous amount of carbohydrates imaginable. We began with pasta fresca, moved into more pasta like pasta asciuta and pasta ripiena (dried and filled), then gnocchi with potatoes, with ricotta, with bread. The next day was risotto, as many times as we could make it in an attempt to master it (all'onda - like a wave so to speak). Tasting and tasting. Tweaking and re-tweaking, all the way through, each dish, each time, over and over. Mind you, I am NOT complaining about this. I have been given this magical license to do so. So, I will eat, as my waistline now shows. Damn you delicious food and your protocol for more butter and salt. The following day was a slight break, working with eggs.  However these little uovo's couldn't stop us from dipping crusty fresh, warm baguettes from the downstairs bread kitchens, into a luxurious poached yolk, which melted out onto a plate like paint escaping from a bucket.
Then of course, the mecca of all carb days, Pizza day, to end the week.
Why no pictures you ask? Well, first of all, my hands were perpetually greased with di olio extraverrgine d'oliva for one. Two, the pizza's were either devoured instantly, or shipped off to other floors of the school (in hopes of a trade for pastries, cakes, breads and the like) faster then I could whip my camera out to snap a shot. Our hot pizza stone oven cranked out about 30 pies that day, all of which were gorgeous. But all this pizza talk aside, I will say a certain pizza purist in Southern California still makes the best pies I ever had. I'm looking at you M and M.  

My favorite fun fact of the week came from our Chef Jessica stating, "Pizza is a triumph of imagination over a scarcity of ingredients." I couldn't agree more.
So my week of self loathing for eating all of these deliciously carbo-loaded fantasies came to  a close over a nice drink with some school friends, and a few fantastic slices of Focaccia with Sea Salt and Rosemary from a fellow student who really nailed their dough. Mine was more like a cardboard flavored version of his, which was donated to the compost.
So, this dream of making and eating all these starchy items for weeks on end. Mastering the Art of Fullness.  This, a craft or design of the gods. A fantastically bright beacon of light which has decided, fate and good fortune,  will shine on me? I get to eat Carbs? Loads of them?! Non-stop! And HAVE TO for quality control purposes?! (Sounds incredibly ideal right?)
Not such a dream for my jeans or personal satisfaction with myself. It has sent me straight to the gym in a full sprint.
So if you see me running down Lafayette to get to my destination of sweaty glory and hopefully back to a size 27, don't be alarmed, I probably just ate a mountain of Pasta Fresca alla saliva de burro or a new favorite Risotto con Fungi e Pomodoro. 


If you don't desire to make your pizza or focaccia at home, no judgements. There are loads, hundreds, millions of places where they serve up the best of the best. Here is a link to an article from the lovely and wonderful Magazine La Cucina Italiana all about where to go to get the best pizza imaginable across the globe. Brooklyn's own Motorino made the list!

The Perfect Pie - From La Cucina Italiana

E is for Eventually, it will all come together.

The last few days at school were pasta days! 
Hard to beat good pasta. Really, who doesn't like pasta? It's addicting in its chewiness, salinity, sauce accompaniments, aroma and taste. It was also particularly exciting to learn the basics because now, I can practice without feeling like I'm lost in the dough. 
Lost in it "not coming together" properly. So, get ready for a pasta frenzy. You need it? I'll come make it. I wanna be the best. Which is a good thing considering, to master the art of it is quite a challenge and on top of that a coveted position at restaurants around the globe. But, I haven't been making it my whole life like most of those people have, so I have a lot to work on. 


Our Chef Haley Stevens whipped up a bunch of different little shapes to show us, and man was that a sight. Seriously, a total motivator.  

We began small, with simple fresh egg pasta or pasta all'uovo, then moved into colored pastas like pasta verde which gets is brilliant green from spinach, and of course the mystical black pasta, pasta al nero di seppia, which is colored with squid ink. Thirdly, was a pasta with just water and semolina flour, used to make a variety of shapes and sizes of pasta, but we practiced our Oreccchiette (little ears).  I personally like this one best because of the ease of mailability as well as it's "coming together" properties. 


Really, these have been great days to be in the kitchen. Flurries of activity, smiles and it puts everyone in a good mood when we get to work with our hands. However, the best was yet to come for some of us on Wednesday.


Jacques Pépin the Dean of Special Programs at our school, master French chef, friend of Julia Child, author of a few culinary bibles and absolute-all-around-genius held a demonstration at the International Culinary Center this afternoon. 
We rushed downstairs to get seats, but alas, we were forced to stand on stools in the back of the auditorium. He lectured, reminisced and regaled us with old tales and lovely fragrances from the stove at the helm of the room. Walking into the room as he removed the skin, deboned and essentially used every part of a duck, was actually quite amazing. Not only that, there were samples for everyone. 
The smell of the duck skin roasting in the oven, well, it was sublime. Excitement enveloped the room as he handed out tastes of duck breast ladled from a saute pan. Food made with his own hands. Once in a lifetime, you might say. 

It has been all around extremely educational. Waking up at the crack of dawn to learn Italiano, rushing to the kitchens upstairs to begin pasta class, then hurrying down to watch a master chef prepare amazingly wonderful food. I've got to say, just like the pasta, "its all coming together" slowly, but surely. 


Thursday was Lasagna day, which also caused a buzz around the school. People were coming in with Tupperware for leftovers, and delivering the personal sizes to different departments cause some to nearly faint. Needless to say, it was pretty damn good. We used our fresh made Spinach Pasta, Bacemmella, Ragu di Carne and grated Parmigiano. Delicious, and really pretty color contrast. 


Here is a simple recipe for you to try! Making pasta can be easy, fun and fast, but practice will definitely make perfect. I'll be right along side you, believe me. 




Pasta Verde (Green Pasta)
Y. 1 pound of dough
By: The Italian Culinary Academy 
Ingredienti:
225 g (8 oz) 00 Flour - very low gluten flour from Italy
2 fresh eggs
70 g (2 1/2 oz)  blanched, chilled, drained fresh Spinach
Salt
10 g (1/3 oz) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Semolina flour, for kneading and rolling

Procedura:
1. Food Processor method - yields a speckled pasta. 
    Place Eggs, spinach, salt and Olive oil in food processor bowl. Blend until smooth. Add Flour. 
    The dough should just be coming together in a ball. 


2. Knead on cold surface for 4 to 6 minutes until smooth. (like a baby's bottom, a term actually used in class today.)


3. Divide in half and wrap with plastic wrap immediately (or it will dry out) and refrigerate for 30 minutes, if not using right away. You can leave it out of the fridge if you will roll it out within the hour. Just let it rest of 30 minutes. 


4. If you have a pasta roller, roll it out starting on the highest setting, folding over 2 to 4 times, then moving down a setting, one at a time until you have reached the desired thickness. After which point, cut into desired sizes, shapes, etc. 


5. If you roll it out with a rolling pin, just make sure to have enough bench flour so it doesn't stick and rip.


6. Pot of boiling salted water, drop in for 1 to 2 minutes. 


7. Remove from water and put directly into sauce of your choice. Preferably a light in flavor sauce. We used butter and sage with a little pepper. But really, it's a personal thing. 






Eventually, it will all come together. I promise. (But here's hoping!)