Fillmore Street Jazz Festival

Talk about crowds of happy people, the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival was a blend of colorful people, jazz performers, and over 8 blocks of fine art and crafts and gourmet food and beverages. On Saturday the stage just out side of Vivande came the knockout vocals of Kim Nalley. This isn’t only my opinion but I can tell you that most of the visitors to the festival were parked right out side of Vivande to get a look and a listen. It was packed, no getting in or out of the restaurant for four hours. Who cared, the music was great.

Strolling along the eight blocks of Fillmore we past from one sound to the next, up-and-coming jazz fusion and Latin-flavored acts to seasoned crooners belting out jazz standards. It was a beautiful day and all was right.

Frittata Di Menta - Mint Omelet

I had the pleasure to instruct the multitudes at the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival this year (more about later) on the fine points of making an omelet and it is my pleasure to share the recipe, Frittata Di Menta Mint Omelet with you.

Buon Appetito,
Carlo

Frittata Di Menta
Mint Omelet

Makes 6 servings (1 – 9-inch pan)

§ 10-12 large mint leaves, medium-fine chopped
§ ½ Cup chopped Italian parsley, about a half-bunch, well washed
§ 6 AA large eggs
§ 2 or 3 Tablespoons bread crumbs (not seasoned)
§ 2/3 Cup grated pecorino cheese
§ About 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – I use our house Vivande House Olive Oil for best taste

Combine all ingredients except the oil and whisk with a fork. Let rest for about 5 minutes to help combine the flavors.

Put the oil in the frying pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Gently pour in the mixture and lower the heat a little. When the bottom is set, about 2 minutes, pull back one edge of the frittata with a fork, and tilt the pan so that any uncooked runny eggs will slide onto the hot pan surface. Do this until the eggs are no longer runny, and the bottom of the frittata is golden. Check this by gently lifting an edge of the frittata with a spatula.

When the bottom is golden gently flip or turn the frittata over and gild the other side. Be sure it is fully cooked and not runny in the middle and the bottom has a nice golden color. You can place a dinner plate over the pan, and carefully turn the pan over so that the frittata falls onto the plate. Slide the frittata back into the pan, and let it cook for a little longer until the bottom is golden.

Gently slide it on to a warm serving plate, let cool a few minutes and then cut into wedges and serve. This frittata is also good at room temperature. So you can make it early in the day and serve it for lunch with a tasty salad of sliced tomatoes and red onions, or mixed greens.

It is also a very good snack, or cut into smaller pieces or wedges, it is a great hors d’oeuvres food, delicious with wine or cocktails, and some olives.

Pasta and Panini by Carlo Middione

Whew! I thought I would never finish writing and editing my books just published by Ten-Speed Press (July 1, 2008 but available now.) Pasta was edited to fit a new small book format. Panini (it could be a companion to Pasta) was written with the idea of taste foremost, and simplicity. Buy them from me and I will personalize them. My handwriting is terrible but I am sincere.

Enjoy,

Carlo

Fettuccine Alfredo - What’s In a Name?

Somebody long before me said that; but I got to thinking about “Fettuccine Alfredo”. What it is it? Supposedly it was invented in the restaurant Alfredo alla Scrofa in the Via Alla Scrofa in Rome by the venerable Alfredo di Lelio himself. Actually, he simply amped up the amount of butter into the fettuccine and reportedly used very young parmesan cheese (in itself suspect because true Reggiano must be aged under consortium rules that go back 700 years, so how did he manage this?). Since butter was added before and after the pasta was tossed into a bowl and he add twice as much to begin with it became Fettuccine al Triplo Burro, Fettuccine with Triple Butter. The constant tossing of the butter, cheese and the fettuccine eventually make a sauce coated pasta to die for. And it goes without saying, the less you do to this ethereal dish, the better. The ingredients, though must be past the diamond test; brilliant, true, the best and the freshest, and it does not hurt to be a genius.

Nowadays, one finds basil in it; garlic (oh MY GOD), sea food, sun dried tomatoes. None of this will do. Some folks even make a thin béchamel so that the fettuccine can literally swim in what passes for “sauce”. All this is like painting Dali-like mustaches on the Mona Lisa in the name of “improving” it and making it more modern.

I make a killer version of the authentic vaunted dish and it is called, simply, fettuccine al burro. A medium dry red wine is all else you need and you can get a peek of heaven – a fork full at a time..

Ciao,
Carlo

The Good Pear

Pear, pere, poire, any way you spell it, it is one of the major aristocrats of the fruit world. It is also versatile, lending great taste and texture to savory dishes as well as sweets.

Finding a “good” pear is another matter; I am famous (infamous is probably more descriptive) in fruit stands and supermarkets. I will only shop when I have time to be leisurely and inspect the pears without fear of harassment. The pile of rejects mounts quickly as I sort through very gingerly from the enormous pile of pears. My pile of “maybes”, is not quite so big, and the pile of “ahah! Maybe these are it!), is tiny. The produce folks that know me leave me alone. They also know that I respect the pears, not squeezing the top near the stem, not dropping them, and certainly they know I put them back in beautiful arrangements, sometimes better than how I found them.

When the perfect pears are finally plucked out of the bin, they are taken home and ripened until barely soft and juicy. I don’t eat pears that are not juicy (requiring a bath afterwards.) An example of how I serve pears when not simply from a bowl, dead ripe, accompanied by cheese and bread and stout red wine, follows. Enjoy them this season while “good” pears are possible to find.

Good Eating, Good Pears
Carlo

Flott Tuna

The other day at Vivande Carlo was so busy he missed lunch. When he finally took a break he broke open a can of Flott Tuna. In a matter of minutes he created an amazing treat.

Carlo scooped cooked cannelloni beans into a bowl and added chopped red onion, chunks of peeled orange, and a couple dashes of lemon juice. He mixed in the Flott Tuna (with olive oil) and topped it off with Sicilian coarse ground salt and plenty of black pepper.

He quietly enjoyed his creation spread on fresh chunks of Italian bread and a glass of Sicilian white wine. Carlo was content.

Ciao,
Giorgio

Vinegar and Oil Pairing

The vinegar and oil pairing that features Santa Chiara olive oil and Tiburtini white vinegar is enjoying an enthusiatic following. I have been using the pairings with a variety of summer salads.

While I am partial to the Vivande-brand balsamic vinegar, I have been substituting the Tiburtini white wine vinegar. The result is a bold, zesty flavour that punches up my salads. I have also enjoyed this pairing with slices of homegrown tomatoes garnished with red onion and plumpy capers.

The Tiburtini vinegar comes from Italian dessert grapes, delivering a light and fruity flavour. The Santa Chiara extra virgin olive oil is extremely light, used exclusively as a finishing oil. Drizzle this over fish, vegetables or light entrees.

A Fast Trip to Sicily via My Kitchen Table:

I just made a batch of pure (poo-ray) di oliva; what some folks would call Tapenade. I put in some lavender leaves, black olives, anchovy and lots of extra virgin olive oil (Sicilian, of course), and made a paste of it with my 60 year old English chemist’s mortar and pestle. Spread on crostini this is as good as olives can get.

Good Eating

Carlo

What's Cooking at the Fillmore Jazz Festival

I’m doing a cooking demo accross from Yoshi’s during the Fillmore Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 5, 2008 at 1 p.m. I am going to show everyone how to make a frittata of eggs, pecorino cheese, bread crumbs and parsley. It is a sensational dish and can be eaten hot or at room temperature. For busy folks this should a handy dish to learn.

Ciao,
Carlo