Tante Marie Cooking Class

A little over a year ago, I took my first class at Tante Marie with Jodi Liano. I took The Basics (Series III) course with her, every Tuesday for 6 weeks. The focus of the class was on timing, but I also learned a lot of techniques, which had intimidated me in the past. By the time the 6 week course was finished, I was hooked on cooking classes. I waited for the next round of classes to come out, and as soon as they did, I forwarded them onto anyone I thought would be interested and started planning which classes I would take.

Last weekend I took Tante Marie's Quick and Easy Mediterranean Cooking with Jodi and got so many great recipes using lots of whole grains, which had intimidated me in the past. We made a fantastic harissa, which I can't wait to make at home (I'll share once I get a chance to make it myself). My favorite dish was the Tomato and Pesto Farrotto. Farro, often confused with wheatberry or spelt is actually emmer, which comes from the wheat family. It has a nutty taste and a similar texture to arborio, but without the gummy-ness. SO GOOD, better than risotto, in my opinion! I loved the farro so much that I made it for dinner this week and added lots of fresh veges. As an added bonus, Carl LOVED it! This will definitely be added to the rotation.

Side note: The farro pictured below is the brand I used, and you can find it in Whole Foods near the packaged brown rice.

(Fresh Vege) Tomato and Pesto Farrotto
Serves: 4-6
Cooking time: 60 min. (if you make it with the veges)

2 cups of farro
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (or water)
2 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
5 TBS prepared pesto (see recipe below)
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

Optional ingredients
1/2 cup zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup red or yellow pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of broccoli tops, cut into 1 inch pieces

Rinse the farro in a fine sieve. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add farro and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Stir in 1 tbs of olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside. (the farro can be prepared and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance).

Heat broth in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Pour remaining 2 tbs of olive oil in a 10 to 12 inch skillet and heat on medium heat. Add garlic and any "optional ingredients" except peas. Stir in crushed pepper and cook until onions are soft. Salt and pepper to taste. Fold in tomatoes and peas. Stir in farro, mixing well to coat the grains, and add a ladle of broth.

Cook the farro, stirring often to prevent sticking, and adding a ladle of broth every time the liquid is absorbed. Cook until farro is tender but still has a little bite int he center, about 20 minutes total (judge by texture and less by time). Stir in pesto and grated cheese. Taste. Add salt, pepper, more pesto, more cheese, as needed. Serve immediately.

Side note: To refresh leftovers, saute more vegetables until soft. Add leftovers, with a little stock and stir until stock is absorbed and leftovers are cooked through.

Pesto

1 handful of basil leaves
2-3 garlic cloves
3 tbs toasted pine nuts
approx 1/4 cup good olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

In a mini food processor, chop the garlic with the salt. Add the basil leaves, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and pine nuts, then puree. Drizzle olive oil into the mixture, until smooth. Periodically push the puree down the sides of the bowl and continue to puree. Taste. Add any additional ingredients to taste.

Offal-ly Yummy!!

Last night we ended up at Incanto and had a delicious meal. We started off with their Antipasto Platter for 2, which had a selection of salamis, a head cheese, and a country pate, many of which you can purchase from Boccalone in the Ferry Building. Then we had Marinated Local Sardines and the Beef Heart. YUUUM-MMMMY! I wasn't sure what to expect from the heart, but it tasted like a rare, moist, piece of beef. It was seared on the outside and served with a little salad. After that, I am more than willing to try more offal, especially at Incanto. We followed that with the Pork Ragu, always delicious, and the Pastrami-ed Cornish Hen... SO GOOD! The Cornish hen was perfectly cooked, juicy and full of flavor, with a hint of citrus in the marinade. It was even delicious when I reheated the leftovers the next day.

If you haven't been to Incanto, I highly recommend it. Chef, Chris Cosentino, is almost always there. You will see him in his signature, striped apron. He also has a website Offal Good where you can read his blog and learn more about offal.

Whether you like offal or not, the food at Incanto is always delicious, organic, locally sourced and sustainable. Check it out....


Incanto, Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar
http://incanto.biz/
1550 Church Street at Duncan
415-641-4500
Rating: 9.5/10
Cost: $$$ (out of $$$$$)

Saturday night dinner

The first time we went to Babbo's 4 years ago, I fell in love with wild boar ragu. The richness of the sauce, the gaminess of the meat, it was heaven. I'm not sure what convinced me to try making it for the first time, but I end up buying both the Babbo cookbook and Mario Batali's Molto Italiano, both of which had recipes for wild boar ragu. I followed the Molto Italiano recipe to a tee and found that it tasted a lot more like the wine I used than I would have liked. Then I started to blend the 2 recipes and found that it tasted too much like tomato sauce. After many iterations, some better than others, I finally have a recipe that I like.

Disclaimer: I have only made this version of the ragu once and I am writing down the recipe by memory. A lot of the measurements are approximations. I highly recommend tasting at the various stages to make sure everything is seasons properly.

And with that, here it is...

Wild Boar Ragu
approx. 8 servings
active cooking time: 1-1.5 hours
inactive cooking time: 3-4 hours

2.5-3 lbs of wild boar shoulder, divide in 2
.25 - .5 lb pancetta, chopped
1 carrot, fine dice
1 stalk celery, fine dice
1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
1-1.5 cups dry white wine
3 cups of tomato sauce (see Pizza Post)
1 16 oz. can of whole tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 qt. brown chicken stock
1 tablespoon beef bullion
1 bay leaf
Pinch of sugar as needed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup flour
2-3 TBS olive oil

Trim some of the fat off of the boar. Cut half of the wild boar shoulder [boar] into 1/2" cubes, slightly smaller than if you were making stew. The pieces do not need to be the same size. Mince the other half of the boar in the food processor and set aside.

In a large dutch oven heat 2-3 TBS of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) on medium/high heat.

On a plate mix flour and 2-3 TBS of salt and 1-2 TBS of pepper. Coat cubed boar in flour mixture. Brown the meat. To determine when to turn the meat, you will notice that it has stopped sticking to the bottom of the pan. This is the point when there is a good crust built on the outside. If it is continues to stick, continue to cook it longer on that side. This method can be applied to any piece of meat. If the pan starts to get crowded, brown the boar in as many batches as it takes. Once the cubed boar is finished browning, set aside.

Do not turn the heat off on the pan. There will be bits from the browning stuck to the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry about it, that’s normal. Add 1/3 of the chopped pancetta to the pan. Saute on medium to low heat, allowing the fat to render, 4-5 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium/high and add minced boar to the pan. Salt and pepper lightly (the pancetta is already salty). This will add flavor to the minced meat. Cook the meat about 80% of the way through. It will have extra time to cook later. If you accidentally cook it all the way through, don’t fret, it won’t ruin anything. Once the minced boar is finished, take out of the pan and set aside.

You’ll notice at this point that the majority of the bits are gone from the bottom of the pan. Turn heat down to medium/low. Add the rest of the chopped pancetta, and let the fat render, 4-5 minutes. Add celery, carrots, and onions. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until soft, 4-5 minutes, then add garlic. Sauté for another 1-2 minutes. Taste. You want to make sure the base flavors are well seasoned or they will lack flavor in the final product. Season as needed.

Add the cubed boar to the pan with the vegetables and mix well. Add wine. Bring to boil and simmer until evaporated. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, ½ of the chicken broth, ½ of the beef bouillon, oregano and bay leaf. Mix well, bring to a boil and simmer. Simmer for 1 hour. Taste.

What does it taste like?
Too tart? Add a pinch of sugar.
Tomato-ey? Add more chicken stock. (This may require a longer cooking time)
Too much wine? Add tomato sauce or paste.
Lacks richness? Add tsp of beef bullion (remember, beef bullion is super salty)

Add in small amounts. You can always add, but it’s hard to take away.

Simmer for another 2-3 hours. Stir every 30-45 minutes. If the sauce starts to thicken too much, add chicken broth. If you don’t have another 3 hours, another hour will do, just don’t add as much chicken stock. Keep in mind, the longer you cook the sauce, periodically adding chicken broth, the richer the sauce will taste and the softer the meat will be. You can over cook the meat, so I wouldn't recommend cooking it for longer than 4-5 hours. Taste periodically, it’ll make all the difference.

This is best served over fresh tagliatelle or other wide pasta.

Enjoy!!

Lupa Update

Yes, we have already been back to Lupa, and YUMMY! I can already tell that it's going to be become our go-to, neighborhood restaurant. On Tuesday, Carl had the carbonara, which turned out to be a little salty. I'm guessing from salting the dish, even though they had used pancetta. I still liked it, but it could definitely be over-powering for some. I had the lasagna, which was just as good as last time, with lots of yummy bolognese sauce on top.

Lupa Trattoria
http://www.lupatrattoria.com/
4109 24th St. @ Castro
415-282-5872

Rating: 7.5/10
Cost: $$ (out of $$$$$)

Italian food in Noe

Italy is my spirtual homeland. I love everything about it. The people, the sites, the culture, and most importantly, the cuisine. When I think of comfort food, Italian food is always the first thing to come to mind. I could eat pizza or pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When asked about my favorite meal, it's hands down, a garlicky-anchovy caesar salad with a corner peice of lasagna.. YUM!

So, last Friday, Carl and I went out to dinner in Noe and decided to try Lupa on 24th Street. It was YUUUUU-MMMY! We started off with an antipasti each. I had the the mussels and clams in spicy tomato broth, he had the crostini special. I got the point for this course. The seafood was fresh and the broth was tomato-y goodness. Perfect for dipping the free bread in. I could have eaten just that all night. Then I had one of the best caesars salads I've had in a long while. The dressing was heavy on the garlic and anchovy, which I like, but was creamy, which thankfully did not take away from the flavor of the dressing. Carl had the misticanza salad, which look simple and fresh. Again, I got the point.

For my main course I had the wild boar gnocchi. The gnocchi was soft and perfectly cooked, but the ragu had a hint of sweetness. I think they added too much sugar to balance out the acid from the tomatoes, and the wild boar tasted more like pork than than wild boar. Which isn't the end of the world, it just wasn't game-y enough. I would probably order this again, just to see if they were having an off night, since I like wild boar ragu so much. Carl had the lasagna which was DIVINE! It had lots of layers of pasta, a layer of beef and just the right amount of ricotta and bechemel. On the top layer of pasta was some melted and slightly crusty mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. On top of that was a lovely beef bolognese, with just the right balance of tomatoes, herbs and meat, which is why I think the wild boar ragu was just off for the night. Needless to say, he got 2 points for having the best main course.

The atmosphere was very warm and inviting. There were lots of regulars and families with kids, which gave it that nice neighborhood feeling, more like a big family dinner rather than a cheap diner. Our waiter was super friendly and I suspect he would recognize us the next time we are there. All in all, a great find, and one I'm looking forward to trying again soon.