My Own Top Chef Challenge: Farro Salad with Roasted Mushrooms and Parmesan

Add farro to the list of foods I have never cooked before moving to Italy.

To be honest, I don't think I ever ate farro until I moved here.

I love barley. I know mushrooms and barley are a good flavor combination.

I checked my cookbooks and the internet for a farro/mushroom recipe. I found one on a favorite cooking blog, Food52

The recipe and a very nice photo are HERE.

The only modification I made was to add less than 6 tablespoons of olive oil at the end.

This salad was DELICIOUS. The next day I ate it cold and it was yummy that way as well.

I'm definitely added farro to my must-have-it-in-my-pantry-at-all-times list.

Snapshot Rome: Fish - Trionfale Market

I need to learn how to cook fish.

Once in a while I would buy shrimp or salmon at the Gelson fish counter when I lived in L.A. Not sure why I didn't buy/cook fish more often.

I grew up eating fish every single Friday. My dad went to Catholic schools but my mom was/is Methodist. I'm not sure where the fish every Friday tradition came from. One dish I had no love for was fish head soup. Pass.

Of course having Caribbean parents, we had to eat what they ate. There was no "kids menu" at our house. When we got older, like in high school, sometimes my mom would say she was thinking about making either one dish or the other and would ask our opinion. Other than that, nope. My mom was not running a restaurant. If you didn't like what she made, guess you weren't eating that night.

Growing up in the islands, fish was a big part of my parents' diet. My dad was Mr. Breakfast on weekends and sometimes we would have fish then as well.

I happened to buy sardines the other week and eating them reminded me of Sunday breakfasts in Jersey.

Now that I'm surrounded by excellent fishmongers, I need to step up my fish game. heh

To be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed by all the choices. I'm slowly learning the Italian names for different types of fish and my goal is to try a "new" fish every month. I have never cooked a whole fish. This is one of my personal Top Chef Challenges for 2011.

Made In Italy, Food & Stories...a fantastic cookbook

I know I've said several times I'm not going to buy anymore cookbooks. I couldn't help myself.

I heard great things about this book. While waiting for a friend, I started to skim though it, then bought it.

It's excellent. Some of the recipes are beyond my culinary level but I found it accessible.

Giorgio Locatelli grew up in a small town near Milan and has been cooking since he was five. He owns a very successful restaurant in London. Most of the recipes have a Northern Italy influence.

This is more than just a book of recipes. Locatelli is an excellent writer. He gives great insight into the history of various foods/recipes. The book is well illustrated and I loved reading about his family.

It took me a while to read this book. I wanted to savor every single page. If you love Italian cooking, especially Northern Italian cuisine, I recommend this book.

Ina Garten's Honey Vanilla Pound Cake. Some help from bakers?

One of the gifts I received for Christmas was Ina Garten's latest cookbook (thanks sis!)

I made the Honey Vanilla Pound Cake. This is the first time I have baked something from scratch here and I have some questions.

I couldn't find cake flour. I read online that you subtract a tablespoon from each cup of all-purpose flour and add some cornstarch but I couldn't find any cornstarch. While the cake was good, it was a little too dense. Maybe Castroni's sells cake flour?

Also in converting the temperature (350) to Celsius (180) I wonder if the oven was too hot. My cake browned quickly on top and was not baked all the way through. I had to leave it in longer.

Last but not least, the recipe called for 4 extra-large eggs but I could only find large. In the future should I used 5 large eggs?

Thanks.

My own Top Chef challenge: Homemade Chicken Stock

The Foster's Market Cookbook is one of my go-to books.

I was at the farmer's market and noticed how incredible the vegetables looked. I wanted to try Foster's Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant soup recipe.

The problem? Like most soups I needed chicken stock/broth. In L.A. I used to make soups all the time and just bought stock from Trader Joe's.

Yes, I did hear that homemade stock makes a difference but for some reason I had it in my head stock was hard to make.

Well living in Rome I couldn't find canned stock so I had to make it.

Inspired by a post from the lovely Michelle at Bleeding Espresso, I bit the bullet.

Folks I've seen the light. Just like with marinara sauce, I will make my own for now on. It was easy and I could absolutely taste the difference.

Here's a basic simple recipe from The Unemployed Cook Blog.

My own Top Chef challenge: Plantains

It's a little weird that in all the years I lived in L.A. I never cooked plantains. I'm sure there must be a market somewhere in the city that sells them. I never saw them at any of my farmer's market or in my local supermarket. I can't remember if Bristol Farms had them.

Yet I've seen them in Campo dei Fiori at the vendor we call the Bulgari of Campo because while his produce is beautiful and diverse, it's very, very expensive. You can also buy them at the Piazza Vittorio market and Prati's Trionfale market.

I was at the Trionfale market this morning and picked up a few. The vendor I went to has a great selection of Caribbean, Asian and African food. Some of fruits and vegetables I have never heard of.

Plantains are extremely popular in the Caribbean. My dad used to buy then in the City and they are perfect thing to eat with jerk chicken, or beans and rice.

Super easy to make all you need are plantains (the "browner" the better/sweeter), oil and a pan.

Fry the sliced plantains in the oil on med/high heat until they get a little crispy around the edges. Put then on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

Some people like to sprinkle brown sugar on top. I leave the sugar off for side dishes but would put some on if I'm using the dish as a dessert.


photo: foodnetwork.com

My own Top Chef challenge: Fennel

Along with trying to rely less on recipes, I'm also trying to cook with new ingredients. I have never cooked fennel before.

While this vegetable is not that popular in the States, it's huge here. You see it everywhere.

I saw chef Giada de Laurentiis cooked with it several times on her Food Network show when I lived in America.

I was at the market and on a whim I bought some.

I made her Roast Fennel with Parmesan.

This dish is so easy (I used slightly less olive oil) and absolutely delicious. The salty cheese works well with the sweet fennel. I will make this one over and over again and next time I might add some pancetta.

With such a simple dish the quality of the ingredients must be excellent.

You can find this recipe in Giada's fantastic cookbook "Giada's Family Dinners".

Roasted Fennel with Parmesan
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 fennel bulbs, cut horizontally into 1/3-inch thick slices, fronds reserved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly oil the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange the fennel in the dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then with the Parmesan. Drizzle with the oil. Bake until the fennel is fork-tender and the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Chop enough fennel fronds to equal 2 teaspoons, then sprinkle over the roasted fennel and serve.




Not only does it taste good, it's a pretty dish. I forgot to sprinkle the fronds over it.