# Need a little dinner party menu suggestions...help Italian



## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

So, NRatched invited her co-worker and husband over, they really dig italian american food. I wanted to keep it something that I'm capable of doing, in other words, stupid simple because I stink. Too tame a menu? 

start out with some crostini's with some white bean salad and some goat cheese/truffle honey

not sure if i need/want a next dish

small dish of penne with prosciutto and asparagus in a truffled light cream sauce

veal osso bucco with creamy polenta

not sure what to do for dessert.

I'd also like to pair a bottle of wine with each course. I'd obvioulsly like to make as much ahead of time so I'd only really have to cook the pasta dish which is quick. 

I gotta kind of keep it simple/common, which is good since I'm not very creative, but want to make it pretty good. Any suggestions appreciated.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Polenta works, but if you can handle risotto, maybe with porcini, it makes a great presentation, make a ring of the risotto and center the Osso Boco.

Tiramisu is classic, well, probably overdone


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

you're talking to the risotto king.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Now, outside the "risotto ring", some "creamed spinach, and don't forget the gremolata on the Osso Buco!


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

How about making some parmesan baskets to hold the salad? Or large bell pepper halves to serve as bowls.

I had a Clos du Bois Sauvignon Blanc the other day that might pair well with the penne in cream sauce.

mjb.


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

ive had that Clos du Bois as well, not bad. the bean salad and goat cheese i was just going to serve on crostini's.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I don't like to fuss about with dessert too much and I like to make something ahead that's easy to put together. I've been finding great organic berries at Fairway recently, my favorites being blueberries. So why not serve berries with custard? First I buy a nice already made pound cake, and lay a couple of slices down on each plate. Sprinkle with a little creme de cassis or sherry and then some berries. Top with custard and some creme fraiche. Very elegant and light.

Let me know if you'd like my custard recipe.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

lots of truffle on your menu....it's such a big bold flavor. Just wrote a menu for a 10 person dinner party that had baby greens with haricot verte, champagne viniagrette, morbier softly melted on a crostini drizzled with truffle honey......throw back to a 1990's but still works today.

escarole is a super green to wilt this time of year...
Panna Cotta with fruit and amarettis would be a lighter touch after such a heavy meal. Depending on whether you are still in winter poached fruit mode or have moved on to Spring berries.....lemon or buttermilk panna cotta are more Spring like.
Bonus, can be made ahead.....amaretti by numerous days.


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

This is right up my alley...

Your menu looks good and I agree, the risotto would be better with the Osso Bucco.

For dessert, you can do berries.. right now FL berries are just coming in so you should be able to find the 'fragole' (strawberries). A traditional light Italian dessert is to take the strawberries, clean them, sprinkle them with sugar and a little lemon juice. They are then served with whipped cream on top. The lemon brings out the sweetness of the berries. You can also do the same by combining blueberries, blackberries and strawberries...

I also have a simple recipe for dessert, called coppa di marscapone. It's made with prepared peaches, some pannettone bread (raisin bread will work too), some peach brandy, marscapone cheese, confectioners sugar and egg yolk. It takes 5 minutes to make which you'll chill and serve with chocolate curls. If you want the recipe, let me know and I'll post it. I've never had a guest leave it...

You can also serve some parmigiano reggiano with honey for dessert... again, traditional.

As for wines... start with Prosecco, the Italian sweet version of champagne. Then try an Est! Est! Est! for the penne. It's light like a Pinot Grigio but better. For your main course, try a Dolcetto d'Asti... perfect for the Osso Bucco.

Hope it helps..


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

If you want to keep it authentic, sort of, that is, italianate, at least, the desert is always a problem (I don;t like many italian deserts). 
Here you might only get a bowl of fruit. You always get a bowl of fruit, actually, even if there is desert, and they even give you a dish and knife. 
Alternatively you might get a "Macedonia" which is a fruit salad, where the fruit is all cut up tiny and overloaded with lemon and sugar (for my taste) or (wince) maraschino liqueur. It's also very popular to give people a pineapple quarter, sliced so it's sitting on the skin, in triangular slices. Or strawberries cut up with lemon and sugar or maraschino. 

I always do desert, and always actually think first of my desert and then how to make the meal go around it! But usually i do american things, or french, or hungarian or whatever, not italian, and they are always so appreciated here. But for an italian meal, the two standard ones are tiramisu (try making it with italian meringue instead of eggs - it-s really light and fluffy) or panna cotta. You can serve panna cotta with some berries, and that would be pretty standard. It's quite easy to make. 

Or the other thing, that has no appeal for me, personally, but would be very italian, is cantucci ("biscotti" in shape, but very small and very hard, with almonds in them) to dip into a vinsanto or what is that sweet wine from pantelleria? You can make them or buy them, but be sure they're really tooth-cracking cantucci - meant to be dipped. Not what you would find there called "biscotti"
I can come up with a recipe if you want.

Or cheese. (Cheese with the fruit is nice.)


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Yes, vinsanto is the sweet wine into which you dunk rock-hard biscotti, at least in Tuscany.

For dessert, I like panna cotta dressed with berries. You make the panna cotta the night before and chill it, then you just decant them and dress with berries, a mint sprig, and maybe a little very thick cream or something. When cooking, desserts irritate me: I find them to be such a different thing from everything else that I don't want to deal with it. So I like stuff that can be made completely ahead, before I get focused on the other foods.


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## prochef360 (Nov 10, 2008)

nice idea, and yes! i agree that desserts should be done earlier to get them out of the way as you prepare for dinner. panna cotta is my all time favorite dessert!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I like to get my cooking out of the way to focus on the desert!
Actually i cook everything at once, food flying all over the place. No one ever complains though.


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

I did one of these deals two weeks ago for some customers of mine and did the meal with a lot of prep prior to the meal and made the meal simple to I could also enjoy my guests

Ravioli was made 4 days prior and frozen. All my prep work was done that morning along with the dessert to chill.

An hour before they arrived I put my antipasti course together in 10 minutes and when they walked in, we have 10 minutes until that was ready.

I'm all for prep work ahead and my kitchen also stayed fairly clean....


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## gonefishin (Nov 6, 2004)

For dessert you could make a Lemon Olive Oil cake using Lemon agrumato oil (which actualy presses the lemons with the olives when making the oil.

A California Meyer lemon agrumato oil

A lemon agrumato oil from Italy

I'm sure one of the stores near you may have these in stock.

I'm also a sucker for a bowl of pasta fagioli. Yum...

Oh...you could also add (or end on) an Italian inspired cheese platter with some cut figs, etc and a nice glass or two of matching wine.

:bounce:

Have fun! (which I know you will)
dan


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

*Coppa al Mascarpone* 
Ingredients:
7 oz. slightly stale Panettone, crust removed (can use raisin bread if not avail)
6 tbsp. peach brandy 
8 halves of peaches preserved in syrup 
1 1/4 cups Mascarpone 
10 tbsp. confectioner's sugar 
2 egg yolks 
10 tbsp. chocolate curls

Directions:
Cut the Panettone in small cubes. Put them in a bowl and sprinkle with 4 tbsp. peach brandy. Cut the peaches in small cubes and add them to the Panettone. 
Work the Mascarpone with a spatula until it is creamy. Mix in the sugar, egg yolks and 2 tbsp. peach brandy. 
Delicately combine the mixture with the Panettone and peaches. 
Divide the preparation among 4 dessert cups and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 
Decorate with the chocolate curls before serving. Serves 4.

This is a simple dessert to make as I mentioned earlier and can be done well ahead of time.

However, as also mentioned, a light dessert of a Tuscanita can be served with some cantucci and vin santo wine. You dunk the cantucci into the vin santo and drink what's left


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

I think i'm leaning toward a panna cotta, with berries, since Ive made them before and they came out great.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Panna cotta sounds great. Weren't you one of the brave souls who tried the recipe I wrote for HIME? If not and you want it, I've got a good recipe.

As to the rest of it, since osso bucco has pride of place and you are (after all) _il maestro di risotto_ I'd consider changing the pasta from penne to risotto with a lot of stir fried vegetables; siding the osso bucco with any sort of flat noodle, and saucing the noodles with the braising liquid from the osso. Serve the osso with gremolata.

Partnering risotto with osso bucco not only makes more sense from a Milanese perspective, it allows you to get some veg in there. I'm not sure if I'd lead with a soup or a salad or an appetizer -- probably a seafood amuse of some sort. I just made a ton of gravlaks -- you're welcome to half a pound if you want it.

BDL


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I'd like your recipe, bdl, and why does one have to be brave to try it??? I have a recipe that is simply cream, sugar and gelatin. Easy enough. 
Risotto and noodles in the same meal? With the inevitable bread, you have a starch-heavy balance. Stir fry in a risotto? A soup before the risotto? I'm confused. Risotto would always be served as a first course, a "primo" and soup is also a "primo" - two primi? And noodles are also a primo. That makes three! In the 1800s they had a soup course and a pasta or rice course, but nobody would eat so much nowadays. (They also served sandwiches between courses sometimes! jsut to give you an idea) But it seems topheavy, too many first courses and appetizers, and then where is a good vegetable course? A big salad is always pleasant after a heavy meal like ossobuco and risotto, to clean the palate. After, not before. Or a nice vegetable course. These are always essential to a good balanced italian meal. 
OK, not sure you wanted an authentic italian meal, but if you do, you'd have rice, soup OR pasta first (antipasto is optional before it), followed by meat, vegetable course, followed, if you want it, by salad, then fruit, desert and coffee. There is some sense to only having one first course, though, and to having only one mainly starchy course, besides authenticity - it doesn;t matter if it;s authentic, but it should be balanced.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

I won't attempt to address the main courses, already hungry from reading the above!

Desert - try poaching some in seaon fruit in half and half sugar syrup, cool, then serve in a large wine glass with a nice chilled rose. Saw Geogio Locatelli do it on his show and it looked great.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

siduri;258654 said:


> I'd like your recipe, bdl, and why does one have to be brave to try it??? I have a recipe that is simply cream, sugar and gelatin. Easy enough.
> 
> In the 1800s they had a soup course and a pasta or rice course, but nobody would eat so much nowadays.
> 
> ...


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

*LEMON PANNA COTTA with STRAWBERRY COULIS*

*
PANNA COTTA
(Makes 6 or 8 servings)
*

_*Ingredients:*_
Butter
1 envelope unflavored gelatin; or the equivalent, 1 tbs, or 0.25 oz
1/4 cup water
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 tsp lemon zest (taken with a micro plane)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs lemon flavored vodka, limoncello, orange liqueur (such as triple sec, curacao or Grand Marnier), 
1tsp vanilla extract

_*Technique:*_ 
Generously butter 6 or 8 small molds or ramekins.

Pour the gelatin into 1/4 cup (2 tbs) cold water and allow it to soften.

While the gelatin softens, bring the cream, lemon zest and sugar to a simmer, and allow to simmer for about five minutes. Remove from the heat, whisk in the gelatin, the liquor and the vanilla extract.

Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins. Allow to cool slightly before covering with cling wrap. Then place in the refrigerator at least 6 hours, and preferably overnight.

*
STRAWBERRY COULIS
(Enough for above Panna Cotta recipe)
*

Ingredients:
Fresh strawberries (optional)
Orange liqueur (optional)
Granulated sugar (optional)
12 oz package frozen strawberries
1/4 cup superfine or powdered sugar
6 tbs orange liqueur

Technique:
Macerate the fresh strawberries, if using, with the granulated sugar and liqueur to taste (depends on sweetness of the berries, but about 3 tbs of sugar and 2 tbs liqueur to every cup of berries).

Partially defrost the frozen strawberries. Place them in the blender's container with the orange liqueur, and sugar. Puree completely. Sieve to remove seeds and bubbles, and add gloss.

*
FINAL ASSEMBLY
*

_*Ingredients:*_
Macerated or fresh berries
Mint sprigs, or edible flowers (optional)
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

*Technique:*
Pour some coulis on as many salad size plates as there will be portions served.

Run a wet knife around the rim of a ramekin to loosen the panna cotta. Unmold by placing the mold upside down on the plate, gently wiggling and lifting. The panna cotta will come free. Garnish the panna cotta with more coulis on top, surround it with macerated berries. If you like you may garnish further with sprig of mint, or a nasturtium or violet, and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Note: This recipe is original . If you choose to share it, or post it somewhere else, please attribute it to me, Boar D. Laze. I would consider it a kindness if you would also mention my (eventually) forthcoming book: _COOK FOOD GOOD: American Cooking and Technique for Beginners and Intermediates. _


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

yep thats the one i used last time


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

My idea was to do a risotto with very little riso and lots of vegetables; and to use it as much as vegetable as starch. I like a little pasta with osso bucco because it helps get the sauce into the diner's mouth. Osso bucco and risotto (at least the way I make them) are both Milanesa, I like the way they partner; and I'm not willing to give up the pasta beside the osso. So sue me.

Were I sane, your protestation of "too much starch," would make sense. And by normal standards of course you're right. But hangin' out 'mongst the Asian-folk of the SGV as I do, the concept of "too much starch" is one that can be a little hard to grasp. Rice AND noodles seems completely normal. Is that new-found cultural bias or just darn-it-all Milanesa of me? Quien sabe? Besides, there was a certain amount of playfulness in the suggestion, just because you are, in fact, _il maestro di risotto_ (the Puccini version of the _Meistersinger von Nurnberg_). So balance away.

Bravo bravissimo,
BDL

PS. Would Puccini have been as good without Andrew Lloyd Weber to copy from?


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Thanks for the recipe, bdl. 
For me, starch is fundamental, and i don;t mind having more than one in a meal, but it doesn;t feel balanced, no matter what. I wouldn;t do it for company, i certainly wouldn;t do it in a restaurant. (Not that i cook in a restaurant, but i would find it weird in a restaurant to have both pasta and rice). For that matter, though, I also don;t like having more than one meat course, even though it;s often done (a prosciutto and melon before a meal with meat, or a pate' followed by meat, or a typically italian salame and cold cut antipasto before a meal with meat) even though i love meat and can eat a lot of it. It just doesn;t feel right. The only thing i feel can't be overdone is vegetables. I don;t mind them in every course, and i donl;t feel it;s a meal without something green. So i'll make pasta with cauliflower or zucchine, and follow it with a vegetable course. But this is all personal preference I guess. 

Koukouvagia, 
salad is ALWAYS served after the meal here, your friends are right, before the fruit and desert, after the main course. The standard sequence is antipasto,( optional), first course (obligatory) of pasta, rice, soup, polenta or gnocchi, second course of meat or fish or something complex like melanzane alla parmigiana, a side dish of vegetables, or two vegetables, a salad course, separate and after all that to "clean the palate" and "aid the digestion", then fruit (obligatory) and desert (optional), and finally coffee.

Here, one is supposed to eat bread with the main course, (companatico), because not to eat it is impolite, because it means you fill up on the expensive meat (think 25 euros a kilo) rather than on cheap bread. And the first course serves the function your mother gave to salad - mainly to fill you up so you won;t eat so much meat! I remember when it was considered a normal portion here to have one etto (100 gms) of meat per person. 

In a normal family meal you usually have first, second and contorno (vegetable, which might be salad) and fruit - for a special event there may be the whole thing. Desert is rare and strictly for special occasions. I actually cooked three courses when my kids were living here, every day - pasta or soup or rice, meat or protein and vegetable, and often salad too. Most italians used to have this twice a day, though supper was usually the leftovers from lunch preceeded by a simple soup.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I've never understood the need for dessert after a meal although I will tartake if dining out somewhere nice. In my family we always had fruit after a meal with no exceptions! Dessert in Greece (if eaten at all) is eaten in the afternoon after the daily nap, with coffee.... way before dinner. And usually all it is is an almond cookie, not chocolate cake with icing.


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

Ok, I have a menu, but have a few questions.

*Apertif*
_Negroni (our guest loves Negroni's), some Aperol cocktail I may whip (make) up._

*L'antipasto*
_Duo of crostini - White bean salad, goat cheese drizzed with honey_

*Il primo*
_Garganelli with proscuitto, asparagus (or peas), light cream sauce with a drizzle of truffle oil on the plate before plating _

*Il secondo*
_Osso Bucco with Toasted Pine Nut Gremolata and Rissoto Milanese_

*Il contorno*
_Not sure - Possibly just asparagus, if I use peas in the garganelli_

*Il dolce*
_Lemon Panacotta with a Strawberry Coulis_

*Il caffè*
_Coffee with Biscotti from the italian restaurant, -shhhhh_

*Ammazzacaffè*
_Grappa_

Ok, here are my questions, thoughts. I've made everything on this menu, which is most likely why it's on there. I enjoy the garganelli dish (actually I cheat and use penne) but I usually make it with asparagus, but I'm stuck on a good side for the secondo, so, I see it made with peas, and I'll just steam or blanch some asparagus. (should I plate it with the osso bucco?) I switched out polenta for risotto to be more traditional, and, well, I rule at risotto, and have become pretty good at parcooking it. Everything on the menu can be done ahead with the exception of the very easy primo, and finishing the risotto.

I know it's not super traditional milanese, but, shouldn't be too bad and it's pretty much everything our guests like.

*WINE PAIRINGS! Help.* just need 2 or 3, say 20$ bottles....something I wont have to hunt for. Maybe something paired with the primo and something with the secondo.

Also, I'll give someone a big kiss if they want to translate my menu to some nice sounding italian!!!


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

*Il secondo*
_Osso Bucco with Toasted Pine Nut Gremolata and Rissoto Milanese_
Osso bucco con pignole a rissoto Milanese

*Il dolce*
_Lemon Panacotta with a Strawberry Coulis_
Panacotte di limone con coulis di fragole


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Here;s your translation, RP

*Apertif* aperitivo
_Negroni (our guest loves Negroni's), some Aperol cocktail I may whip (make) up._

*L'antipasto* antipasto
_Duo of crostini - White bean salad, goat cheese drizzed with honey_
Duo di crostini ai cannellini e al caprino e miele

*Il primo primo*
_Garganelli with proscuitto, asparagus (or peas), light cream sauce with a drizzle of truffle oil on the plate before plating _
never heard of garganelli, but anyway, i imagine garganelli is the correct italian, so 
garganelli con prosciutto e asparagi (piselli) con una besciamella leggera e odore di tartufo
 *Il secondo secondo*
_Osso Bucco with Toasted Pine Nut Gremolata and Rissoto Milanese_
Osso buco con gremolata di pinoli tostati e risotto alla Milanese (again, don;lt know what a gremolata is but i'll assume it's correct, i never saw it here, but i see it on this website all the time - i've heard of cremolata but that;s a sort of fruit granita)

*Il contorno* contorno
_Not sure - Possibly just asparagus, if I use peas in the garganelli_
asparagi (piselli)
*Il dolce dolce*
_Lemon Panacotta with a Strawberry Coulis_
Panna cotta al limone con _coulis_ di fragola
*Il caffè* caffe' 
_Coffee with Biscotti from the italian restaurant, -shhhhh_
caffe' con biscotti (or if you're using the small hard almond ones, con tozzetti (literally means little hardies)
*Ammazzacaffè*
_Grappa_
same

Beware, flitalian, of the endings of words - an o or an i or an e can make all the difference. after 35 years here, i still get them wrong all the time, though i guarantee the abocve are correct. (pinoli not pinole, no one would understand you if you said "pinole" for some reason, though to us it sounds almost identical, for instance,). Risotto has one s and two ts, etc. 
I can;t get an accented e on my computer and i never know which direction it goes anyway, so keep yours, it looks right. 
Good luck with your dinner, or in bocca al lupo. It looks like your guests will be more than satisfied!


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Siduri,

Gremolata (or gremolada) is a Milanese thing, de rigeur with osso bucco. It's chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest.

It's amazing how much alike Spanish, French and Italian are, and yet so different. 

I love Italian food,
BDL


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

For your pasta dish, I found this yesterday if you're in a pickle for a recipe.

Jamie Oliver - Recipes - Latest Pasta and pizza


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

Siduri,

Grazie!!

Ancora imparo!

I bow to anyone who lives there!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

that's interesting bdl, my mother used to do anchovies or bollito (boiled beef) with layers of parsley and garlic and oil. She called it salsa verde. . But she was from the Lucca area. the anchovies were probably originally supposed to be the salted dry ones, that you bone and wash, but in the states would wash the ones packed in oiil.
Instead my relatives in lucca used to make a wonderful lamb stew with browned lamb, into which you would add anchovies, lemon peel and garlic, and then flour, then i think wine. it's wonderful. In fact i think i'll try to find some stewing lamb this weekend. 

FLitalian - ah, how i wish i could move away! but that is another story.


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

Siduri,

You're making me hungry for more than just food. I had hope to get back to Toscana this year but the economy is not helping. For my wife and I, we're looking to move there and you're looking to leave. Want to trade?? :lol:

My family hails from Bari and my wife's from the Salerno area.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

my husband is from ciociaria, that is east of rome, and he just worked a couple of years in Bari, which he liked very much. He said the people are a lot more civil than in Rome (it wouldn;t take much). The food was absolutely wonderful. 
On the whole, i have to say that though my family comes from tuscany, the best food is from the south.


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## chalkdust (Feb 18, 2009)

i would want a little more veggies on the menu. white bean salad seams like a heavy/filling start and it would be difficult to get the rest of the food in!

of course with enough aperitif lol or "digestive" and enough conversation


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

I ditched the primo, as the risotto was enough, and 38$ of Osso Bucco was enough as well.

Turns out our "guests" cancelled....so called up my parents and they came over.


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)




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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Man that looks good. Just call me Uncle Boar.

BDL


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## chalkdust (Feb 18, 2009)

wow!

looks awesome


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Looks good enough to eat!


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

Great job!!!


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## ingabakes (Mar 16, 2009)

I would've gone the tiramisu too, but so it's not so twee, make it into a parfait. If you have some nice glasses or large brandy balloons- I've even made them into a wine glass, and layer your tiramisu with the marscapone cream first, then soaked savoiardi, cream etc. I like to dust with drinking chocolate or dutch cocoa in between the layers so the parfait has some really nice ripples to view through the glass. Top with a sliced strawberry/ swirl of whipped cream- not traditional I know, but it look great. Make sure you put the glass on a white cake plate when you serve it- more elegant.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

You lost me at the fifth word. To which tiramisu do you refer? Just drifting along on your tangent, your tiramisu inspired trifle sounds both pretty and delicious. 

BDL


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

Last time I made tiramisu, I used votive candle holders (the cheap, straight side ones) and put the cream in the bottom and used 1/2 of an espresso soaked savoardi pushed vertically down the center. I then put another dollop of the cream over the top and finished it with ground dark chocolate... in essence, tiramisu shots in something slightly larger than a shot glass.

When I make my cream, I add 2 tsp espresso coffee beans ground to espresso grind to it.

My recipe... from my good friend, Chef Mik at AlterEgo in Perugia, Italy!! It's a WOW everytime!!


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

RPM,

That was a nice job. Have you tried Bracciole yet? The Osso Bucco looked very good. Makes me wanna make some for a special weekend dinner soon.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Tiramisu in a glass sounds beautiful but what about seconds???


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

Siduri,

When I did these, I made 24 of them!!!

Soooo... in answer to your question.. you get another shot!! On the house!!

As a note... the votive cups are great for desserts and I've used them for panna cotta and my coppa di marscapone. Most guests 'want' a dessert but not a lot. A shot glass is too small but the votive candle holders were perfect and at $0.50 a piece.. perfect!!


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

I've made tiramisu in chocolate bowls before


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

RPM...

I like the look. What did you use as the form for the bowls?


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)




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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

RPM

Son of a gun!!


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

I saw a very funny, very charming French patissier, a guy who'd won the MOF, on that talk show "A Chef's Life." He did the balloon trick in the cooking part.

He was very funny about it. He started by dipping the balloons in the chocolate three times, to make three-lobed leaf shapes, and then he remarked, "you're supposed to be quite careful how you remove the balloons, so you don't break the chocolate. You untwist the neck and let out air slowly, you see?" And then he stabbed them with pins, laughing. Came out perfect.

He also did this truly cool thing where he first drizzled white chocolate in a little random swirl on top of the dark chocolate, and when he dipped and popped the balloons you got this beautiful contrast pattern.

Jacques something, I think. Name escapes me. Check it out if you have a chance, though.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

RPM, soooo...... when are you inviting those of us nearby for dinner?


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

ha, name the time and place, I'll cook

can't guarantee it will taste good though!


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

This might be worth a 'road trip'...


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Ha, well as long as it looks that good.


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