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!

Tasting

I get pretty stoked about school when we have "tastings" It's the educational way of saying that we get to drink beer/wine in the middle of the day before we do our class work. no complaints here.

Yesterday, we tasted some beer. I'm an IPA girl myself, though the others were alriiiight. Again, no complaints here....beer tastings are always welcome in my world.

The Budweiser was well, Budweiser. It is what it is. Does the trick, right? 

The Hennepin, from Omegang Brewery was nice and light. 

Then there was the Backyard IPA, not my favorite IPA but a nice hoppy beer nonetheless.

And then the Keegan Ales, Mother's Milk, a darker beer. I thought I would hate that one, but surprise surprise, I kinda liked it. Don't know if I could stomach more than a small taste, but it wasn't too heavy and tasted like dessert. Anyone out there like Guinness? that stuff is way too heavy for me. 

Last week, we did a little cheese tasting. AMAZING

We tasted the cheese with a Malbec (great red wine, highly reccomend trying Malbec if you're into reds....this Ben Marco is a great option), an IPA, an unoaked Chardonnay, and the Hennepin beer. Obviously, it was a great afternoon.

My favorites for the cheese:
Kunik from Nettle Meadow (it's the one that looks like brie...and is just so delicious and creamy)
Camembert from Old Chatham Sheepherding Company
and the Caveman Blue Cheese from The Rogue Creamery in Oregon (this cheese smells TERRIBLE, but it tastes real nice with some walnuts)

Off to class, today we are tasting mixed drinks!