Learning to cook, Bologna style

As you may or may not know, GrubGirl recently had a birthday.  I'm not going to tell you how old she is, but her age starts with a "T" and ends in a "hirty."  So to celebrate this big day, I wanted to get her something special.  My sister-in-law's mother recommended an amazing cooking class she took in Bologna, Italy, and I looked up the information and booked the class with Bluone Cooking Tours.  It was amazing.

Communicating through email, Raffaella and Marcello told GrubGirl and I to meet them at the iconic towers in Bologna.

Once we were here, Raffaella met us and we walked around famous markets in Bologna while she told us how Italian food differs not only from region to region, but city to city.  She told us about Eately, and how the one in New York from Mario Batali is not an original concept, but rather one stolen from Italy without asking for permission.

Raffaella then took us into a few butcher shops who gave us some fresh meat and cheese.

Ok, this is gonna be a good day.  The meat was cut so thin and the cheese was so fresh, we looked at each other and got very happy, very quickly.

Last, we learned about dessert, which was balsamic vinegar.  I know what you may be thinking, balsamic vinegar for dessert?  Isn't it tart?  Well yes, but true balsamic vinegar is also very sweet and used as a topping for desserts.  When we mentioned salad, Raffaella just laughed and said "you won't put this stuff on a salad."

True balsamic vinegar comes from Modena, Italy and is stored in barrels similar to the ones below.  Grape leftovers from the fermenting process are stored in these barrels made of different wood.  After a year, some of the liquid has evaporated so they take the bottom barrel and fill up the one above it all the way to the top.  This process is done every year for 12-25 years.  Once year 12 hits, you take the top barrel and go to authenticators to see if your balsamic vinegar passes the test.  If so, you can pour the vinegar in bottles to the left and it's true balsamic.  So yes, there is a committee of people who just sit around all day and drink balsamic vinegar.  Sweet gig!

So lunch was on our own and we had to meet her at 2:00 (or 14h00m, we were in Italy) to get ready to cook our feast.  GrubGirl and I both knew we were going to eat well tonight, so we just got some gelato and waited for our inevitable food coma to happen.

Once we arrived at their house (yes, we just cooked and ate dinner at their home) we headed right for the kitchen to start on dessert.  My kinda place. We made a semifreddo which was probably the easiest thing ever. It's essentially just egg yolks, sugar and heavy cream.  We whipped the cream, cooked the egg yolks and sugar, then combined so it looked like it did below. 

 Then we took 1/3 of the mixture and put it in another bowl and mixed some coco in it.  The second 1/3 of the mixture, we got some Italian cookies and just crushed them with our hands and put in the mixture. The final 1/3 of the mixture just stayed the same.

Once that was done, we poured the part with the cookies first, then the coco, then the one left alone, into a bread pan and put it in the freezer for 3 hours.  Done!  Ok, what's next?

Time to make some pasta.  The picture below is 1.5 cups of flour and 2 eggs.  What you need to do is make a hole with the flour and crack open the eggs inside.

Little by little, continue adding flour to the eggs until it is all absorbed.  Then we folded and kneaded the dough for about 10 minutes and then covered it. When that was done, it looked like this. 

Afterward, you get the rolling pin out.  While we learned a couple of different techniques, we rolled the dough until it was about as thick as a piece of construction paper.  

That's me rolling some pasta dough

Afterward, we made some tortellini.  You flatten out the pasta dough and cut them into 2x2 squares.  Then, plop some rocchetta cheese in there and close it to a triangular shape.  Then wrap it around your finger and close the two ends. Place the closed pasta in boiled water for 2 minutes and they're done. 

 



















Needless to say, we made a lot, then we ate a lot.  The finished pasta looked like this:

It was so fresh and delicious, I will definitely try and make this at home...maybe!  While we had so many other delicious things, it'll be up to you to go to Bologna and try this class out for yourself. 

Trattoria I'cchè c'è c'è - Florence, Italy Restaurant Review

Trattoria I'cchè c'è c'è

Via de' Magalotti 11/r - Firenze

Intro: A friend from business school recommended that we try this place out, so on our last night in Florence (Sunday June 23) we glammed up and went out. (Obviously this is GrubGirl talking, GrubDaddy doesn't "glam.") The restaurant is located in the historical center of Florence, but on a quiet unassuming street which was a nice escape. Prices are mid range - primi piatti (pastas and appetizers) are €10-12 and secondi piatti (main dishes) are €16-20.

To start, GrubDaddy and I shared the Ribollita (tuscan bread soup).

For the main dish, I ordered the Spaghetti alle vongole veraci e pomodori "datterino" (spagetti with fresh clams and "datterino" tomatoes). 

GrubDaddy got the Ravioli ripeni di ricotta e spinaci in salsa rosé (ravioli with spinach and ricotta in a rosé sauce).

As a side, we shared the Ceci cotti al forno (chickpeas cooked in the oven).

Taste (10) 

GrubDaddy (GD) - 8

GrubGirl (GG) - 9

Thoughts: 

(GD) the ravioli was delicious, but the serving was a bit small. Or maybe I just have a big appetite. 

(GG) I loved the soup - it was as if they ripped off hunks of Italian bread and soaked it in vegetable broth (which I do with soup anyway). The spagetti was cooked perfectly and the clam sauce was very flavorful. I didn't like the chickpeas - I thought they would be roasted and crunchy - but they just tasted like they were quickly sautéed in garlic and oil. Try a different side dish if you go.

Presentation (5)

GD - 3

GG - 4

Thoughts:

(GD) nothing special, but plating was clean.

Service (5)

GD - 5

GG - 5

Thoughts:

(GG) service was exceptional - our waitress was very friendly, responsive, and never left us waiting (a huge plus especially in Italy where we have waited over 30 min for the conto (check)). The owner (and head chef) also came out at the end of our meal to ask how everything tasted which was a very nice gesture.

Atmosphere (5)

GD - 4

GG - 3

Thoughts:

(GG) It was kind of small inside (you could see right into the kitchen) which made it intimate, but a little too much so. The bathroom was also a little dirty (easily fixed with a little cleaning, but not up to snuff just yet).

Grubpoints (5)

GD - 4

GG - 5

Thoughts:

(GD) Similar to other restaurants in Italy, the pasta was made daily and produce was very fresh. The owner came out to see if the meal met our expectations and even the house wine was one of the better wines we've had. 

(GG) Similar to other places in Italy, there was a "cover charge" for the table (pane e coperto). At I'cchè, the cover charge was €2 but you got not only bread, but also a glass of champagne and some delicious fried dough. I'm giving this place full Grubpoints because they exceeded coperto expectations (which I normally just find annoying).

Overall (30)

GD - 24

GG - 26

At an average of 25/30, we would definitely recommend Trattoria I'cchè c'è c'è to readers. It's a solid northern Italian meal in a place that doesn't make you feel like a super tourist, in a city full of tourists. 

Gelateria Santa Trinita - Florence, Italy

If you haven't picked up on this already, GrubDaddy and I are quite partial to food establishments in the immediate vicinity of the apartments we rent. Gelaterias are no different and in Florence we hit the jackpot with Gelateria Santa Trinita (http://bit.ly/10ToQmx). It is located in the Oltarno neighborhood on the "other side" of the river (cross the Santa Trinita bridge - it's the bridge right before the Ponte Vecchio). 

Anyway, onto more important things - like the flavors. Talk about variety...GrubDaddy and I went three times (ahem during our three day stay in Florence) and you get two flavors per small - so quick math - together we tried 12 flavors. There must have been over 30 flavor options available. Plus at 1,80 euro for a small, it's a great deal.

My favorites were the cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate) and the caffe (coffee), but I give major GrubPoints to the sesame nero (black sesame) and the fico (fig). Yowzahs. 

Here's the bacio (chocolate hazelnut) and sesame nero.

GrubDaddy went with his go to pistachio and added crema which tasted like vanilla frosting. It was gone within a few minutes so I think he liked it.

I recommend sitting on the Santa Trinita bridge to enjoy your gelato and the views. You can watch all the tourists throwing elbows on the Ponte Vecchio. We've tried our fair share of gelato throughout Italy and so far nothing tops Gelateria Santa Trinita. Go check it out next time you are in Florence - you won't regret it.

Signing off,

GrubGirl

Chez Prune - Paris, France Restaurant Review

So, being that this is a food blog, the next logical step is to review restaurants. GrubGirl and I go to a lot of them, so we figured, why not?

Just some basic points about our reviews:

1) we are, in no way, shape or form, professional critics. Basically, we're relatively easy to please, and that's the way most people view restaurants. Just like the original blog, this is for the normal person and our reviews will follow the same theme. 

2) our scale is out of 30. 10 points for taste (because that's the most important) and 5 a piece for presentation, service, atmosphere and other, aptly named "Grubpoints."

3) Grubpoints can be anything else about the restaurant like uniqueness of menu, drink variety, a funny sign at the door...whatever. 

4) neither GrubGirl, nor I, know enough about drink pairing so we will not rate the drinks, though a good beer could receive some Grubpoints. 

5) full and half points only. I don't like decimals, especially adding them up, but sometimes, a place wasn't a 7 but not quite an 8, so 7.5 it is. 

6) either one of us, or both, can review a restaurant. We will always have one comment to justify our score, but both might not comment. 

Since our reviews are out of 30, essentially a 20 or above means we definitely recommend it. 15-19 means its OK, but there may be other options and below 15 means it can't even satisfy a fat guy so you should probably just close. 

Since we're still in the middle of our European adventures, we'll start off with Chez Prune, located at 36 Rue Beaurepaire, Paris, in the 10th right along the canal. 

Intro: GrubGirl and I went for lunch, as the prices were reasonable, for Paris (€15-25). From what we saw, dinner was similar, just more expensive, so we decided on getting more for our money. I got a steak skewer with pineapples, sweet potato mash and some veggie slaw. 

And here is GrubGirl's lunch, salmon, haricot vert, cole slaw and rice. 

Taste (10) 

GrubDaddy (GD) - 7.5

GrubGirl (GG) - 8

Thoughts: 

(GD) delicious meal, would have liked a little more seasoning on the meat, and maybe an extra pineapple as it was cooked very well. The sweet potato mash was excellent.

(GG) full plate, fish was cooked well, rice was a little bland on its own, loved the red sauce for the fish (some kind of tangy tomato sauce)

Presentation (5)

GD - 3

GG - 4

Thoughts:

(GD) food was presented nice with colorful seasoning, but looked as though the skewer was just thrown on top at the end. 

Service (5)

GD - 4

GG - 4

Thoughts:

(GG) service was good for American standards. Almost forgot we were in Paris. Persians must think this service was a 27...out of 5. 

Atmosphere (5)

GD - 4

GG - 4 

Thoughts:

(GD) the place was cool with funky light fixtures and a great outdoor area. 

Grubpoints (5)

GD - 4.5

GG - 3

Thoughts:

(GD) the food was fresh and local, the drink menu was good and reasonably priced and oh yeah, this was our dessert. (Some sort of apple tart which was very good)

Overall (30)

GD - 23

GG - 23

Coincidently, we both gave Chez Prune a 23 out of 30, for a place that we'll recommend to our readers, especially for lunch. The food is good and while never packed, there were always a healthy amount of people both inside and outside. 

Chocolate Almond Croissants

Oh chocolate almond croissants - how I love thee. My obsession with chocolate almond croissants started the last time I was in Paris in 2010. I sadly found out upon my return to the US that bakeries at home have not realized the power of this combination. Chocolate croissant, yes. Almond croissant, yes. A chocolate almond croissant, [insert confused look here]. Needless to say, when GrubDaddy and I arrived in Paris on June 10, the search was on for the best chocolate almond croissant in the city. Here are the highlights and of course the winner...

The chocolate almond fake out - delicious, but only almond inside. After this experience, GrubGirl learned how to say - c'est cette croissant avec deux chocolat et aux amandes? Asking if this croissant has both chocolate and almond. 

The heavy hitter - this baby must have weighed at least a pound. It had a good chocolate to almond ratio, but it was way too dense. The perfect chocolate almond croissant needs to maintain a flaky and crispy outside with a soft and delectable almond paste and chocolate combination inside. Close, but not close enough heavy hitter.

The First Tried, Never Beaten, Gold Medal Awardee 

Les Delices de Parmentier

142 avenue Parimenter (11th arr)

Near the Goncourt metro stop 

How could it be? The patisserie closest to our apartment in the 11th arr. ended up knocking all the other chocolate almond croissants out of the park. It was the first place we tried, and it should have been the last. The croissant shell was incredibly flaky and crisp, and it had the perfect sprinkling of powdered sugar and sliced almonds on top. Inside was an amazing injection of almond paste with multiple sticks of chocolate (none of this one stick of chocolate garbage). 

If you are in Paris, you must go. Try one of everything at this patisserie. Especially my favorite. GrubGirl insists.

Signing off,

GrubGirl

Pan-fried salmon with sweet potato chips and lentils

Here at GrubDaddy, we don't forget our roots as we started off as a food blog for bachelors and bachelorettes who wanted to make some good food on a budget that is also easy. While in Barcelona, it's not the cheapest city and there are also a ton of markets. This inspired me to make some salmon. We also had some leftover veggies, sweet potato and lentils, so we made too sides as well. Little did we know that the place we stayed in did not have an oven, hence the pan fry...and I think it tasted better. 

The salmon: 

What you need

Two filets of salmon 

One lemon

3-5 cloves of garlic

Half a large onion

Some extra virgin olive oil

Heat the pan with some olive oil. Since we are frying the fish, make sure the bottom of the pan is liberally covered and turn the stove on medium heat. Cut half of the lemon and the full onion like this:

Since we didn't have a garlic press, cut the cloves of garlic like this:

Place the onion, garlic and lemon in the pan. 

De-bone the salmon if not done already. They have little white bones that are more annoying when you eat one, so it's best to take them out. To do so, just use your hands and feel up and down the fish. If you feel a bump, it's likely a bone. 

Taking the bones out of the fish should be done before putting the onion, garlic and lemon into the pan. However, once completely finished, place the salmon on top of the onion, garlic and lemon. 

This will take about 10-15 minutes, or until the raw salmon turns a nice light pink. Since the salmon is on top of the pan, you can raise or lower the heat depending on speed. The flavors of the lemon, onion and garlic will seep into the salmon, however, once the salmon is cooked, the lemon, onion and garlic will be very burnt and will just need to throw away. 

For the sweet potato chips:

One sweet potato

Olive or vegetable oil

This is pretty easy. Put quite a bit of oil in a pan and put on medium-high heat. Cut the potato into thin slices. 

Once the oil starts to crack, put in the potato, ensuring that the bottom gets covered. 

A couple minutes on each side should do nicely, just make sure to watch as if the oil gets hot and gets low, you could burn a few. These will not be the consistency of potato chips, but a nice, refreshing side. 

Put on a plate with a paper towel to cool down. Put salt and pepper to taste. 

For the lentils with veggies:

Lentils in a can (or not dried)

Any veggies you want, frozen or fresh. I used zucchini and mushrooms. 

All we did was put the lentils, mushrooms without the stems and the zucchini in a pot, covered on medium heat, for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes. 

It was that easy. 

When completed, it took about 30 minutes, with GrubGirl, to prepare and 10-15 to cook, as everything was going at the same time. 

All in all, this meal probably cost us $15. All ingredients were fresh and most were bought from the market that day.