A Little More From Italy

While I'm back stateside, I've still got tons of pictures and stories to share from Italy. And yes, I really do wish I was still there. Being back in the Hudson Valley isn't so rough but getting back into the swing of classes and work is surely far from thrilling.

I thought I would share a few more pictures from my trip before finally sharing a new (super easy) recipe with you guys this weekend.

That first picture is from the truly incredible lunch and cooking demo we had at Vissani(my first 2 Michelin star experience).  Those would be Chef Vissani's hands plating one of many tasting plates he made for us before lunch.  My favorite was the lobster marinated in coffee with red pepper balls, Bartlett pears, and pecans. It was balanced out so nicely.

I still can't put in to words just how much wine we drank, and how many wineries we got to visit.

The table above wasn't even part of a meal. It was merely an incredible spread of meats, cheeses, and bruschetta to enjoy while we tasted four different wines and we somehow managed to head over to a multi course dinner following. Our eating habits were nothing short of impressive.

Here are a few favorites from a lovely lunch enjoyed outside among a vineyard. The potato torte was smooth and lovely. The sauces really took it to the next level though. Then there was the duck ragu with garganelli...one of my favorite pasta shapes, I even hand rolled my own last year.

And then there was the day we visited a Chianina cow farm and then enjoyed lunch in an ancient village positioned amongst rolling hills of olive groves and vineyards. I'm telling you, it was magical. Only thirty people lived in this tiny neighborhood and we got to eat at the farmer's small bed and breakfast.

The meal started with crostinis with chickpea puree (they grew the chickpeas), and muchroom paté (not pictured).  Then we had a massive serving of heartwarming lasagne followed by spaghetti with basil pesto and fresh ricotta. Mind you, this wasn't even dinner. Key lesson of this trip: Pacing yourself.

For the main course we had Chianina beef which was so incredibly tender you could cut it with your fork, with chickpeas and chard on the side. I loved how earthy the sides were but not everyone was a fan.  And for dessert a simple yet perfect panna cotta with fresh picked local berries. This dessert was a winner.

I promise I'll have a recipe posted very soon! In the meantime, I hope this Italy post can at least make you wish you were in Italy as much as I do.

Italy: Firenze

As you may have guessed by the picture...I'm in Italy! Above is a picture at one of the numerous wineries we've toured and tasted in the week I've already been here.

Here's the background on the trip: As part of the bachelor's degree program at school, I get to take a three week food, wine, and agriculture trip and so here I am in Italy, literally eating my heart out and washing it all down with copious amounts of local wine and olive oil. I've quickly decided this trip would more aptly be named "Italy: A Lesson in Gluttony."

Our first night was in Firenze (aka Florence) and we ate at Ristorance Da Omero which was conveniently located in an itty bitty town right across from Galileo's house. The meal started with prosecco, as every meal should and then we had assorted bruschetta, penne with ragout, and malfatti (pasta) with mushroom and sausage.  After that we had the most amazing Florentine steak, perfectly rare and nicely grilled. We devoured it with several bottles of Chianti. The lovely man above fixed our desserts up for us, I went for the chocolate cake but the ricotta cheesecake with orange marmalade, I stole several bites off my friend Rachel.

The next day we went to Avignonese and toured the vineyard and property before sitting down for a lunch/wine tasting.  The property was stunning, and their circular vineyard (above) was really something special.  When they first started growing the grapes they tested out different areas, different lengths of sun exposure, and spacing before finding out which worked best and applied it to their other vineyards.

We also got to tour the huge room where they dry out the grapes for their famous Vin Santo (above).

The location for lunch was nothing short of breath taking.  The meal was delicious and they were constantly refilling our wine glasses, I think around the middle of this meal we realized just how much wine we would be consuming on our trip.

The meal: Goat cheese flan served over cream of spinach (Wine: Vignola Sauvignon Cortona 2011)
Paccheri pasta with lamb and eggplant ragout (Wine: Rosso di Montepulciano DOC 2011)
Baked Chianina veal with roasted potatoes and Gradoli’s beans with olive oil (Wine: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG 2008 and Desiderio Corona Merlot DOC 2008)
and for dessert Mascarpone cheese and wild berries on a crispy crepe (Wine: Endidae Gewurztraminer Passito Castelfeder)

The meal was clearly outstanding. And actually the mascarpone has been one of my favorite desserts so far. But picture this: three to four course meals every day, and sometimes twice...one word: Gluttony. The trip has been absolutely wonderful so far, I'll update on Perugia soon!

p.s. After the meal we wandered around and found these beautiful quince growing next to the sweetest little garden, with a pretty handsome farmer too might I add. Oh and that's me snapping pictures of some gorgeous kale in the middle.

Ciao!

Things I Saw & Things I ate

I'm going to keep this post mostly picture focused. I'm sick of writing/typing. 

I've been knocking out the homework today, have I mentioned I can't wait for this semester to be over?

No more six class schedule and no more weird gaps between classes.

You know those weekends where you do absolutely nothing and then spend the next day cramming in all your homework? 

That's today. Hey, what can I say? There's nothing like an encroaching deadline to get you motivated. 

Procrastination works for some of us.

Anyway, here's some stuff from when I was in the city last.

No words needed. Eat those images up.

Also, whisked. has a facebook page now.

So, how abouts you "like" it?

Go on, doooo it.

"no foolin"

Honestly, I'm pooped.

bahhhhh, the restaurant started getting pretty busy this week and I gotta say it's been a lot of fun.

Long story short, my mind is "googley" to quote my good friend Kelli and I can't put a sentence together to save my life...fun fact: writing these three sentences has taken me close to an hour.  what, you think I'm possibly pretty dumb? that's okay becuase hey, i'm not!

So, here are some pictures I've scrounged up. I'm enjoying looking at them, maybe you will too? if not, well...shit happens.

Falafel in Brooklyn mmm look at those pickles, such good salads too. okay now, I'm seriously craving this.



Frozen Yoghurt with Graham Cracker Crumbs, Strawberry & Sliced Almonds. hello killer combo, whats up?



I love Kombucha! My aunt says it tastes like salad dressing...ha to each his own



One of the dishes from The Bounty, we call it "noodles" what do you call it? scallops? yah, that makes sense, but I think it's funny when they start yelling out orders for noodles...sounds like something a 6 year old would say not an executive chef.



A windowsill full of herbs! what smart store owners, bet they have nice dinners.



Lovely baked eggs with spinach & tomatoes at Arielle. cheesy.



This is what your neato baking roommate brings back to the room when she's in chocolates class. culinary school is pretty silly



surprise! I have a tattoo, who knew? I know, it's  blurry but it's an action shot! how intense mannnn



Hold the phone. Look at this gorgeous meal my mum made me before I headed back to school. Check out those sweet potats (best sweet potatoes in the world. I swear, you're jealous right now) & the salmon with rub with love dry rub on top--this stuff's so so good.



Look Here! It's my first Easter Basket! My roommate Taylor hooked it up for Easter, gotta give her lovely mom some credit for our seriously epic Easter Baskets! p.s. I'm jewish. plot twist.



In conclusion, this is my uniform for front of house. heyyyyyyyyy. I'll be putting this get-up on next friday to start front of house (FOH) in American Bounty! and then what? then I graduate. jeepers.



Enjoy the show. goodnight!

p.s. I love fried Calamari

Rye Berry Salads

While I was home we discovered a bag of rye berries we had purchased at the farmers market a while back and decided to finally cook em up.

My mom soaked them overnight and then simmered them in some salted boiling water until they were done/tender.

And then no one really knew what to do with them so I threw together these two salads with the help of some leftovers.

Salad number one (Lefty)

• roasted sweet potatoes


• avocado


• tomato


• steamed zucchini


• cilantro


• olive oil


• dijon mustard


• s&p

Salad number two ladies and gentleman (Righty)

• ginger marinara sauce from pasta & co.


• castelvetrano olives


• pickled raisins from Boat Street Pickles


• parmesan


• olive oil


• s&p

Not too shabby, actually I'd go as far as to say these were down right delicious. Thank you very much leftovers, you've done me well once again.

Amy's Bread Cake

I definitely prefer savory food to sweet food, there’s just no denying that salt is one of the most wonderful things around  BUT this cake is riiiiidiculous.

Nothing fancy shmancy, just some damn good cake from amy’s bread.

It’s a yellow cake, pretty dense, not that sweet & a super sweet, buttery pink frosting.

Sometimes simple is better. no sometimes it’s just straight up best.

Eataly

anyone been to eataly? it’s ridiculous!

I have no idea how anyone was able to land this much space in New York City, even Mario Batali and the Bastianich clan but jeez the place is huge…apparently it used to be an event space

anyway its filled with high end Italian groceries, and sevearl miniature restaurants featuring amazing dried/cured meats, cheeses, fish, meat, pasta, pizza. 

a couple of weeks ago we stopped by and had a lovely bottle of white wine and the Grande Piatto Misto Salumi e Forgmaggi, oh and lots of bread and olive oil

mmmm