Proud Italian Cook

Scenes from Chicago Gourmet 2011

October 1, 2011 by Marie 16 Comments

Last sunday I attended Chicago Gourmet, an interactive epicurian event showcasing more
than 100 of Chicago’s finest restaurants and chefs as well as hundreds of renowned vitners, spirit makers and premium breweries from all over the world. The event was held in beautiful Millennium Park where guests enjoyed live cooking demos, seminars, gourmet tastings and book signings by popular chefs, master sommeliers and winemakers.

I was fortunate to get a front row seat to view the cooking demo between Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto, NYC and Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill, both appeared as contestants on Top Chef Masters, and both said it was one of the hardest things they ever did. It was fun hearing about some of the behind the scene stuff that went on and all the late night partying!

Chef Milliken made quinoa fritters and dulce de leche churros while Chef Waxman was making homemade potato gnocchi that was pan fried and then tossed with diced eggplant, tomatoes, corn, basil and garlic, a recipe from his new book, Italian, My Way.

His tips for making light and airy gnocchi is never working the dough too long and treating it nice and gentle. He also likes to freeze them before they’re cooked. His favorite way of cooking them is pan fried straight from the freezer right into the pan with olive oil.

There were tastings from awesome Chicago restaurants, it was a little mind boggling at times because you would go from crab to meatballs, then to mussels, asian, steak, etc, etc.

Note to self, not good to mix foods!

I must say one of my favorite tastings was from Frontera Grill, I love shrimp tacos and this was bursting with flavor!

These beautiful platters weren’t too bad either situated near all the tasting tents for all the wineries and other spirits.

Apparently infused vodka and rum is the hot new thing with flavors like, apple, whipped, citrus, espresso, mango, melon, cotton candy, cake and butterscotch just to name a few!

There were lots of cocktails being shaken and poured all day long, I must say these were very popular tents!

Trays and trays of beautiful ruby red crab gazpacho and the most delicious spicy bloody marys with blue cheese stuffed olives, so good!

And of course dessert, there’s always room for dessert, especially when it’s some Illy coffee and a cannoli!

16 Comments Filed Under: Chicago Tagged: Chicago Gourmet 2011, Frontera Grill, Johnathan Waxman, Mary Sue Milliken

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Fettuccine in Foil

September 23, 2011 by Marie 20 Comments

Lately we’ve been loving roasted red pepper sauce, a simple combination of homemade marinara blended with roasted red peppers creates a dynamic flavor combination, toss it in some pasta and it is hard to resist!

Every couple of weeks or so I make a huge pot of marinara, I buy a 6lb can of San Marzano tomatoes, saute 12 to 15 cloves of chopped garlic in 3/4 cup of olive oil, 5 teaspoons of salt, pepper and lots of basil, sometimes I might add a small onion but most times I don’t.

After it simmers for a good while I let it cool down, pour it into containers and stick it in the freezer for when ever I need it. In this case I held one out to make my roasted red pepper sauce.

I suggest roasting your own peppers, I personally don’t like the flavor of the jarred ones and besides, they’re too watery for this recipe. I put mine which were drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper under the broiler, keep watching them until they’re soft and slightly charred. Peel the skin off and whirl them in your food processor.

Look at that color isn’t it beautiful? Now all you have to do is spoon your already highly flavored marinara into the mix, as much as you want accordingly to your own taste, until you reach the perfect balance of pepper verses tomato. The more pepper flavor the better, that’s what you’re aiming for here.

My al’ dente cooked fettuccine was then tossed with that luscious roasted red pepper sauce, pre roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and artichokes, I added in some olives, lots of basil and parsley.

For a rustic presentation I placed it into individual foil packets and top it with a few pieces of fresh mozzarella, seal it tight and put it in a 350F oven for 15 minutes until cheese gets gooey and heated through.
So Good!

Buon Appetito!

20 Comments Filed Under: Pasta, Sauces Tagged: homemade marinara, pasta in foil, roasted red pepper sauce

Roasted Vegetable Strudel and A Farewell to the Garden

September 16, 2011 by Marie 66 Comments

I can’t believe how brave I’m getting with phyllo dough, I used to be so afraid to use it, but after my last post I realized just how forgiving it really is. It’s so easy to patch it up if you make a mistake and you’d never even see your blooper after it’s all baked up.

In my last post I made a “pie“ so this time I decided to make a “strudel”, a roasted vegetable strudel. It was amazingly easy to make and it tasted phenomenal!

Roast your vegetables ahead of time, I used 2 zucchini, 1 large eggplant, 1 large red pepper, 1 small onion, 3 garlic cloves and a half a bag of frozen artichoke hearts. Dice the veggies, drizzle with olive oil, S&P and roast at 425F until tender and golden.

The most important thing I can say about using phyllo is to keep it covered with a damp cloth as you go layering it. For this recipe I used 6 sheets, I did not drench them in melted butter either, instead I sprayed olive oil over each sheet with my olive oil mister as well as a sprinkling of grated romano cheese on each layer.

When you reach the 6th sheet spread your vegetables all over leaving about a 2″ border all the way around. Scatter your favorite cheese combination on top of the veggies, I used fresh mozzarella, grated fontina, asiago and romano. Fold up the border ends over the vegetables then carefully roll up starting up on the longer side until it becomes into a log.

I sprayed olive oil on top of the log along with grated cheese and black pepper and baked it for around 20 minutes at 400F until golden.

Let it cool down a little before you slice into it. This was so good I can’t wait to make it again! You can really choose any veggies you like as well as cheese. I served a little dipping sauce made of leftover marinara and roasted red peppers that I swirled in my food processor! What a great combination!

Yesterday I went out and grabbed everything that was left in my garden, the last of my tomatoes and the rest of the kale, the weather is definitly changing here dipping down to the 40’s at night.