Paris Observations

Some napkin scribbles from various Parisian bistrots:

• sliced fresh mushrooms, yoghurt, tarragon, lemon (Gaya)
• campari-pickled beets, razor clams, cheddar, puree (Gaya)
• a mashed potato with cantal (Gaya)
• Ventadour (Badoit-like water)

Squid Ink Spaghettini with Scallops & Bottarga

Assembled this tonight kind of ad-hoc, and came out quite good.

half pack squid ink spaghettini

EVOO

9 medium size fresh scallops, cut into quarters

bottarga--few tbls

garlic

parsley

chives (a quarter of amount of parsley)

fresh red chili

lemon

white wine

butter

sea salt

poudre de piment d'espelette (cayenne if you must)

1. saute garlic until golden, then add scallops & cook less than thirty seconds, stirring around
2. turn up heat just a tad, add splash of white wine to boil off alcohol, turn heat right back down, let sit, adding a couple thumbnails of butter, sea salt, half the chile, ppd'e
3. when pasta is ready, drain & add to pan, stir in with ingredients
4. add parsley, chives, remaining chili & bottarga, as well as another quick splash of EVOO & salt to taste
5. squeeze a bit of lemon right before serving

Properly Sauteed Mushrooms

After enjoying some sauteed mushrooms at Le Cafe Anglais several months ago, I emailed the chef, Rowley Leigh, to get the scoop on how he does this preparation (you can check out the FT for his weekly column/recipes). He gladly provided, pasted word for word here.

favorite mushrooms

EVOO--or milder one if preferred

chopped garlic

parsley

S&P

1. heat a frying pan very hot with a film of oil, add mushrooms
2. keep on a high flame until they start to yield some water
3. drain in a colander
4. heat pan again, add more oil, chopped garlic, then mushrooms, parsley & seasoning & that's it

Creamy Pesto Liguria Style

Liguria is the origin of pesto, so redundant to say "Liguria style". I think 90% of the time, we're not eating pesto Liguria style. Most of the pesto I had was creamy & puree-like rather than chopped/minced. I think key is to use LOTS of cheese in the mixture, including some stracchnio (cream cheese). Both a waitress in Santa Margherita and a chef in FdM told me this, so seems like common practice! Apparently latter helps to bind together ingredients and create the creamy consistency. I tried it once, not sure I agree but worth experimenting.

100 gr young, tender basil from Liguria (leaves only)

100 gr parmesan

100 gr pecorino Romano

100 gr pinoli, from Italy

1 clove garlic

175 ml EVOO

25 gr softened butter

S&P

1. pick basil leaves, don't wash unless you really have to (if you do wash, let them dry naturally on a cloth)
2. crush garlic to paste with salt
3. put cheeses, basil, garlic into food processor and work until fine paste, then add pine nuts and continue to zap until quite fine but leave some texture from pine nuts (knock yourself out if you want to use mortar and pestle)
4. add EVOO and butter, S&P
5. let stand a few minutes before you season further
6. when storing, poor a coat of EVOO over to preserve freshness

Santa Margherita Observations

More beautiful things to eat.

• Santa langoustines: prepared U Butti way, with mystery ingredients waitress refused to divulge
• Lasagna al pesto: the best pesto I've ever had on delicate sheets of lasagna casually laid out on a serving platter
• Mussels with dice tomato & parmesan, broiled in shell
• Rasberry granita with fior de latte gelati: a local ordered this like it had been something she had for years
• Sciacchetra digestivo
• appearance of boiled and raw vegetables in salads (cauliflower was noteworthy)

Celeri Remoulade Crostini

A tasty little number, and my invention too!  I would include this in the french tapas chapter of my cookbook!

crusty bread slices

celeri remoulade (with capers)

best quality jambon de paris or prosciutto cotto

chunks of parmesan

EVOO

parsley

ground pepper

1. toast bread, rub garlic & EVOO
2. spoon on celeri remoulade
3. lay a slice of jambon/prosciutto on top
4. spinkle parmesan chunks
5. drizzle EVOO over the whole lot
6. sprinkle with parsley & pepper

Bagno America House Salad

A nice laid back bagno in FdM with a subtle, wholesome house salad on offer.  Perfect for a hot summer day, preferably at the Bagno itself.  The salad is memorable because it combines raw and steamed veggies, mozzarella and tuna.  We made it at home, and got it just about right.  If you don't have the best, freshest, ripest ingredients, better not to bother.  No pepper allowed!

white escarole (romaine or bibb ok)

french green beans (steamed)

baby potatoes (steamed), halved 

baby courgettes (steamed, sliced on the diagonal in fairly small pieces)

radicchio, sliced rather thinly

rucola

fennel (thinly sliced, marinated in EVOO)

cherry tomatoes, halved

best quality canned Italian tuna

mozzarella

EVOO

white wine vinegar (or red, or sherry)

sea salt

1. distribute ingredients across however many serving bowls 
2. put leafy ingredients last, sprinkle with tuna & mozzarella
3. dress to taste