David Pulls Pork

Why must a pulled pork sandwich hail from the land of BBQ? This is my version using the left overs of slow-cooked pork shoulder in milk and lemon. Worked well I think because pork was cooked in a combination of dairy/citrus, which complements the yoghurt chili sauce that contains a hint of yuzu. A Fixin washed it all down nicely!

shredded left-over pork

EVOO

yoghurt

coriander

rucola

lemon

S&P

quality white baps (sandwich buns)

Japanese green chili paste

1. mix the shredded pork with a bit of EVOO to moisten
2. mix chili paste and yoghurt for desired level of spiciness
3. dress a mixture of rucola and coriander with lemon juice, S&P
4. warm/char baps on oven top grill
5. to assemble, spoon a large quantity of pork, leaves, yoghurt dressing onto buns and serve

Fetuccine Alfredo

A rekindled love affair began tonight. Perfect with some boiled green beans, EVOO, garlic and lemon on the side. An option here is to add a bit of vodka into the sauce and top the dish with salmon eggs.

single cream (double if you insist)

butter

grated parmesan

fresh grated nutmeg

fresh ground white pepper

maldon sea salt

best quality fettucine

1. melt as much butter and cream in a pan as you like or necessary for quantity of pasta (need about 1 portion of butter to 2 of cream); save some cream on the side
2. add parmesan, nutmeg, pepper, salt and stir
3. make pasta, drain and stir into pan; mix until coated, adding a bit more cream if sauce needs some loosening up
4. serve on warmed plates

Pasta con Patate e Provola

So nice of Luigia and Fabiana at Mattozzi l'Europeo (mattozzieuropeo.com) to email the recipe to the best pasta dish I had during our most recent trip, reproduced here word-for-word.

500 gr di patate

50 gr di lardo

150 gr di cipolle

400 gr di pasta mista sedano

sedano

carota

pomodoro

parmigiano

provola affumicata

basilico

sale & pepe

olio

1. roslate nell' olio: carota, lardo, cipolle, sedano insieme ai pomodorini del piennolo (o ciliegino) e pezzetti di patate
2. circa a meta' della cottura versate acqua calda condita con sale
3. quando bollira' aggiungete la pasta fino ad arrivare quasi alla cottura
4. servitela dopo avere mantecato tutto in una padella con pepe, parmigiano reggiano, pezzetti di provola affumicata e basilico

Tonight's Dinner

A tasty little dinner tonight.

• ciabatta & soprasada
• penne arrabiata
• pork shoulder slow cooked in milk, sage, lemon rind
• braised swiss chard, chili, garlic
• Austrian pinot noir
  
  

Aperitivis

One of my absolute favorite things, preferably on a warm Spring evening at a good quality bar in a small Ligurian seaside town, complete with some briny, young and crunchy green olives. I will use this post to list the ubiquitous aperitivis and the more original combinations that have come my way (all on ice, by the way, with exact measurements to follow). Vermouth of choice is Punt e Mes (a tad more bitter than usual rosso vermouth). The bubblier the soda water the better, so I'd go with Canada Dry versus Perrier or equivalent.

• Americano: campari, Punt e Mes, soda water, slice of orange (replacing soda water with Schweppes tonic water a nice touch)
• Negroni: campari, Punt e Mes, gin
• Negroni Sbagliato: campari, Punt e Mes, prosecco
• Aperol Spritz: aperol, prosecco, soda water
• Amaro: 30 ml Amaro Montenegro on ice with orange wedge, 45 ml blood orange or mandarin sorbet, 5 ml lemon juice, 30 ml prosecco
• Campari Sour Fizz: campari, calamansi, seltzer (from Ma Peche)
• Telefonino: 200 ml Campari, 200 ml Zucca, 150 Antica Formula; top up with tonic water and slice of orange
• White Spritz: 35 gr Aperol, bitter bianco, prosecco

Napoli Observations

• Ristorante Europeo di Matozzi: one of only two trattorias in the city center listed in the Gambero Rosso guide, run by two sisters who have taken over the reigns of this 100 year old establishment. Incredibly accommodating, they made sure we sampled the house specialties which included a mixed pasta with potato, smoked mozzarella, pancetta and basil prepared risotto-style; their version of spaghetti frutti di mare; and sauteed escarole with pinenuts, capers, olives. Dessert included the best baba au rhum I've ever had, so much lighter than the French variety; on the lighter side, Michelle had little gelatis encased in walnut shells, kumquats and chestnuts by Marco Gelati from Salerno (apparently exported to London).
• spaghetti cozze & parmesan: our taxi driver convinced us that this was the frutti di mare pasta to have in Napoli, saying that most of the vongole in the restaurants are imported from Spain, unless specified "vongole veraci". According to him, half of Napolitanos love cozze with cheese while the other half believe it is sacrilege. I've seen mussels and cheese elsewhere, including in Liguria where mussels are broiled in their shells with sprinkled cheese. The other take-away here is that if serving a vongole-cozze pasta, de-shell the mussels but keep the clams in their shells.
• toma di piemonte: nothing to do with Campagna but one of the ingredients in an alpine-themed panini with speck and mushrooms from the airport bar.