Homemade Farfalle

There's nothing quite like making homemade pasta right?!  The texture and richness of the noodle is hard to replicate with dried pasta.  Easy enough to do - like most homemade foodie treats it's a matter of practice and plenty of trial and error.

We made farfalle or bow tie noodles a few months ago - again not that difficult once you get the sizing and "pinching" figured out.  After the flour-dust settled we agreed that rolling the pasta to a thinner consistency would have made it even better - don't think you need to have it thicker to make the shape.

We enjoyed it with a very simple tomato sauce, parmesan and olive oil to finish.  As our Italian mentors preach - simple is best with great ingredients.  So don't be afraid to experiment and have fun with homemade pasta - find a dough recipe that works best for you and keep practicing - it's worth every trial and error along the way.  Mangiare!!!!!!

BTW - if you love good olives - very good olives then Cerignola olives are the way to go.  Pictured below - the sweet green are almost unripe and very "green" in flavor - the more traditional semi-ripe and delightfully brined are the "bella di" on the right.  Grazie Mario for the introduction!

Longo's Muffuletta and Pickled Peas

I like food and I like Longos.

They have a knack of coming out with some great stuff - good quality, simple and at what I would say a good value.  Longos likes to test things and is usually promoting different products on their shelves before other food stores.  Sometimes their own private label and sometimes other brands - nice to see new products and innovation.

Two examples pictured below.  The Muffuletta antipasto is a spicy olive relish that is awesome on it's own, on crackers, in a sandwich, on eggs.....as they say I put that #@%& on everything!  The Pickled Peas have only been out for a couple of months I believe - add these to a salad and you are an instant hero, trust me!

Eyes open at Longos - it's a treasure hunt.

Amsterdam

I had the incredible fortune of experiencing Amsterdam at New Years and as advertised it was like a war-zone.....not that I've ever been in a war-zone however this is what I would imagine it's close to - wow.  There is a tradition in Amsterdam of making your own fireworks and then setting off your fireworks it seems wherever you freaking like....anywhere at anytime.  On New Years eve the fireworks in the Centrum (downtown) started around 11pm and ended around 3:30am....non stop.  This was unlike anything I'm ever likely to see again anywhere.

The beauty, history and pride of Amsterdam was a true delight.  A crossroad of many cultures and religions coexisting amidst the perfume of pot, hash and fries with mayo.  Great beer of course with any and all types of cuisine readily available.  Being able to buy great beer just about anywhere at anytime was a luxury that made me giddy with delight and truly felt like we were on an exotic vacation - I know what you're thinking, simple needs for the simple right? Pictured below shows what I called "my cathedral" of Heineken - a smallish corner grocery near our apartment - what a set up!!!

It was cold at nights and during some of the days - icy cobblestones did not deter anyone on a bike and by the way everyone rides a bike because they make it safe and easy to ride a bike.  What a wonderful concept.  This isn't progressive it's just smart.  We need to learn from this here in North America and learn quickly please.

I can't wait to visit Amsterdam again.  Not for New Years but when the tulips are out and me riding a bike won't require a doctor's note.

Scala's Bistro - San Francisco

San Francisco - what else can you say?  Wonderful sites, busier than you would think, the #1 tourist destination in the US I was told - I might believe it based on the lines waiting for the cable cars - wow.  Make sure you build in a day to drive up to Sonoma and Napa - completely different climate within 30 mins of crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.  We saw a lot of people visiting the wineries with   chauffeured cars - might be a very good idea if you plan to see more than one winery.  No such thing as free tastings anymore....pay as you play - so check that out in advance.

Nonetheless an amazing place to visit - cost of living there is enormous, as much as 60% of your income can be spent on rent/mortgages - yikes.  Did you also know that Mark Twain said that in July it was one of the coldest places he had been....I also believe it.

Scala's bistro is half a block of of Union Square downtown.  Make reservations as it is busy every night of the week.  I don't recall the name of the maitre d however she is wonderfully efficient and courteous in spite of the major hustle and bustle.  It is rare that every dish is a WINNER when you dine with four people - twas so at Scala's.  I had the mushroom toast appetizer - killer, and we also shared some mussels.  Four pasta mains - all amazing.  Nice portion sizes, served hot and all super fresh tasting....reasonable wines.  Service is efficient and direct...they have ipads at your table so that you can peruse drinks and wine and get that started pronto...nice touch without getting too techno.

It was the best meal of our trip!  So good in fact I took 17 colleagues there later that week....it was just as good the 2nd time.  They were able to seat us in a semi-private dining area - large group able to be accommodated on very short notice - nice!  Everyone loved the experience.  Can't wait to get try it again someday.

Liverpool House - Montreal

Part of the now iconic Montreal food scene Joe Beef has sprouted a sibling...Liverpool House.  Located right beside Joe Beef in a humble yet rejuvenated area of downtown Montreal I can't help but think about how the more accessible Lee sprouted up beside Susur Lee's flagship on King West in Toronto....I had the pleasure of dining at Susur's mothership in Toronto and yes it was a wonderful, wonderful journey on taste and technique followed by an unexpected kitchen tour complete with Susur Lee lingering in the kitchen shadows intently monitoring our every move and comment - loved that.....their kitchen supported both concepts - but I digress....back to Montreal.

Getting a reservation at Joe Beef requires a better lead time than I could muster on this visit - likely 2-3 months out should get you in....Liverpool house was about 2 and 1/2 weeks.  Quaint and ecelectic in design it's easy to feel at home there....very knowledgable staff work hard to meet your whim and our server had an excellent knowledge of not only the food offerings that night but also the specialty cocktails for that evening - he meticulously walked us thru the entire chalk board of daily offerings - photo attached - some diners in the "front room" were taking ipad shots likely so they could share with their table-mates...chalkboard resonates fresh however ackward in execution and it would suck to have those two tables.

I had a beet salad starter with a nice glass of dry reisling that our server rustled up for me off the beaten path of regular by the glass wines.  A cod type chowder was also served with a dramatic puff pastry top...large starter that was more like a stew than chowder - dramatic yes...tasty yes!  My main was a whole sea bass ( headless) served on a delicious combo of lentil, some leeks with a few clams mixed in....the fish was delicious and cooked perfectly - the clams were not edible...rubber infidels that comfounded me after such a good experience.  We did ask our server to select a bottle of wine for us - not the best pairing and he did his best to soften it up for us - $70 bottle...he decanted and swished and swirled looking to create the silk purse....it got better.  My table mates both had a nicely seasoned/marinated flank steak...we had three side options that were interesting - mashed potato with red-wine gravy, all dressed brocoli (covered in almost an olive tempenade), wedge potatoes wonderfuly seasoned with a spicy aioli.

All in all - a solid experience - would like to try the mothership next door..do they share the same kitchen?.......perhaps by the time that happens and under the careful eye of the Quebec language police it might be Jacques Boeuf!??

Master Chef Mother in law

Sure, I've heard most of them...I mean the mother in law jokes.  I'm a pretty luck guy for many reasons - one of them is that my Mother in law is a master chef....no formal credentials other than raising 3 kids, a Hungarian husband and having a sense of adventure second to none + she is one hell of a chef.  Herb garden, shops the market, has a "ham guy", a "chicken guy", a "seafood place", an "egg farm" connection - you know typical stuff for someone that like to prepare great food etc.....there a legendary stories of barrels of oysters being tapped in the basement, a half butchered pig in the bathtub and by now at least a few other stories that I have forgotten.  You see before I met my in laws I did not know that cocktails started around 5 pm....then there was wine with dinner and then some wine with dinner and then brandy following dessert.....I have forgotten a few things over the years for sure.

Recent induction into the delicious hall of fame has to be the "celebration cake" - photo attached.  Lovingly crafted from an LCBO recipe - hand peeled orange rind candied in Ontario Ice wine mixed in with the cake batter and then later on parlayed on top of some type of hazel-nut cream heaven spread icing....let's just say I celebrated that cake a few times that night.

Also concocted from her recent trip to Alaska how about a red onion relish perhaps spread on smoked salmon or my preference of just eating with a spoon!  1 red onion diced small added to 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of red wine vinegar...pinch of pepper and reduce until very very little liquid is left.  You could add red pepper flakes to it or whatever you like - awesome!  Simple but wonderful.  That's what master chefs do so, so well.

Foodie inspiration

When was it?  When was your first inspiration about food?  The preparation, the neat ingredients, the experimenting....it was like a super cool lab where you can enjoy (most of the time) your creativity.  Like most foodies my first inspiration about food and cooking was my Mom.

Sure we ate well and she made it seem pretty easy.  Always food from scratch, prepared foods might have entered her kitchen much later in life but as a kid it was always from scratch....I remember chocolate puddings, her wicked tomato meat sauce, sweet and sour ribs, mac 'n cheese (still known as Grandma's mac 'n cheese) and who can forget my ground meat sandwiches in high school.  I could trade half of a sandwich for cake....yep, that good.  Left overs from Sunday roast hand ground with some mayo and pickle relish....killer.  Creativity with left overs was key, waste not - want not was lived and breathed in our home and I think it laid a solid foundation for the true appreciation for good food and the work and love that went into it.

Not sure what age I was however Mom asked me to help get dinner started as she had a bad headache and cold....directions were given and then down to the kitchen I went...step one complete and back up for further clues to these scrumptious experiments....chili was the first meal I ever made this way and I must say it tasted pretty damn good then and still does....same order, same recipe with a few creative additions.  And that was it, be creative my Mom said, I know she had recipes somewhere, she might have measured however I am not sure....to me this has been and always will be my creative outlet and a way to nurture others....something else I learned from my Mom.