Announcing the launch of a new website gallery dedicated to Burgers.

I was shooting these beautiful free range chickens at Flying Pigs Farm in Shushan, NY during my last travel assignment for the upcoming ” I Love NY Cookbook ” by Chef Daniel Humm.

At one point, I was lucky enough to capture this funny sequence, illustrating the short, romantic but painful love affair that this beautiful rooster enjoyed before getting caught by his own wife.

Enjoy!

Rustic Bread + Salad + Grilled Hanger Steak + Mustard

Tripe, trippa in Italian, is the stomach of an animal, in this case beef. It’s texture is unique and very different from other offals or meat cuts. Very rubbery and tough when raw, becomes gentle and gelatinous when cooked slowly with a liquid.

This is one of many ways of cooking tripe. Various regions in Italy cook it in slightly different ways, changing the type of tomato product and its quantity, adding more or less liquid, various type of beans, herbs, spices and other ingredients. It is a humble, inexpensive dish and a true delicacy to be enjoyed in the cold months.

Buonappetito!

Recipe below… Read the rest of this entry »

A different way to enjoy pork.

Imagine a perfectly roasted rib-end roast complemented by a delicate sauce composed by the creaminess of milk, the sweetness of roasted garlic and onions, the acidity of white wine and the richness of the cooking drippings of the roast.

This recipe is inspired by a typical preparation from the Italian region of Lombardia called “Arrosto al Latte” and I see it as a humble, more simple version of the Classical French Veal Orloff with the sauce being a rustic version of the Soubise. Of course it could be prepared with veal instead of pork if you prefer.

Mild, elegant, yet rich, it is wonderful accompanied by braised Savoy cabbage and potato purée. Absolutely incredible if you could shave some white truffle on it just before serving. But that’s totally optional.

I like to use the rib-end not just because it makes a beautiful presentation, but mostly because of the texture and flavor that this particular cut offers thanks to the tenderness and fat content of its meat. It is the pork counterpart of a beef standing rib roast or prime rib.

To prepare it, season the loin with salt and pepper at least 1 hour before you plan to cook it. In the meantime dice a large onions and peel six cloves of garlic that will cook with it and also start preparing the side dishes you are planning to serve.

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Few things to me can be as satisfying and heart-warming as a few slices of a good salame with freshly-baked, rustic bread and a nice glass of wine. Honestly, does it get any easier, tastier or any more Italian than that?

The biggest issue at hand, as you often read in my posts is about the quality of each ingredient in such a simple preparation. And finding the right ingredient, in this particular case, can more or less challenging, depending on where you live.

Growing up, I was so used to freshly baked bread that I would have never, ever imagined one day it would have become a luxury that I could afford to enjoy only once in a while. We used to have so many great bakers in the small town where I lived that my family bought fresh bread alternatively from three or four of our favorites because each excelled in a particular bread which would influence our choice for the day.  So one day we bought from one baker, and the next day from another but one thing was for sure – we purchased bread daily, religiously. Except for Sunday, when all the bakers were closed. Bummer.

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Warning: can be addictive.

Fast to prepare (and also to eat…) this is one of those dishes in which the result by far exceeds the effort. Saltimbocca may follow, or accompany very well, the Gnocchi alla Romana described in my previous post and are typical of the same area in Italy. They are also delicious on the side of cooked spinach and potato purée or fried artichokes and a delicate green salad like in the image above.

They are normally composed of tender slices of veal, each layered with a sage leaf and topped with a thin slice of Prosciutto. A tooth pick can be used to hold it all together. Chicken or pork can be used too with good results, but veal is the traditional choice and in my opinion the best option.

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