Death by Chocolate

The time has come. The post that explains the delectable picture in my heading. CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES.

The truth is, the pictures speak a thousand words- truffles are pretty simple to make, you just need to be willing to get your hands dirty :)

I'm searching for the recipes (my cook book is a little messy hehe) but I figured you'd enjoy seeing the pictures regardless

Vanilla and Nutmeg. Tasted like Christmas (I think haha)

Milk chocolate with nuts, and Dark chocolate chili. 

Who knows. Yummy :)

Casa del Vino

This post, unfortunately, will not involve any of my cooking. Instead, I wanted to share one of my photo projects that I worked on while in Florence, about Casa del Vino. If you speak any Spanish, Italian, French, etc, you'd probably guess that this was a wine bar of some sort. Actually, this was a little hole-in-the-wall shop that I frequented for lunch. Yes, they had a very nice selection of Italian wines, but they also made yummy sandwiches and snacks (this is where I first tried tripe! yes, cow stomach).

Still, I don't think that's the reason this place became packed everyday around 1. The warm atmosphere kept people coming, usually regulars who knew the owners by name. In fact, even I got to know the owner and his wife, Nicoletta, after a few glasses of wine. If anyone ever goes to Florence, I highly recommend this friendly place if you're searching for a true, local, Italian experience!

Tripe Sandwich

One of the regulars. I think he was suspicious.

The owner

Nicoletta

Regular

Pasta e Cremino

Here is another wonderful monday of mouthwatering treasures:

I learned to make two different pasta recipes, Penne All'arrabbiata and Bucatini All'Amatriciana. The shape of the pasta in both these recipes was specifically picked to match the sauce perfectly. For those who don't know, penne is a short pasta in the shape of hollow cylinders, while Bucantini (my favorite when I was cooking in my Florentine home hehe) are a sort of hollow spaghetti- like long, thin, delicious straws. Enjoy these recipes from class sllluuuurppp!

Penne All'Arrabiata: 

Can never have too much olive oil

+ 1 pound penne pasta
+ 6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped**
+ 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
+ 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
+ 1/2 cup olive oil
+ 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
+ sea salt to taste
+ grated parmesan (lots of this if you're my father)

** Tomatoes are very easy to peel if done right. All you have to do is cut a shallow x at the bottom of the tomato, drop into some boiling water for about 30 seconds, then remove and put in some ice water. The skin should peel right off!

This recipe is so Italian: simple and delicious!!!

Put a pot full of water to boil for the pasta- this will probably take the longest so get it started!

Next, put the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the garlic, chopped tomatoes, basil and chili. Simmer all together for a few minutes so all the flavors come together, and then lower the temperature. Add some salt to taste

When the pasta is al dente (cooked but firm) drain and toss into the pan with the sauce, stirring it all up! A little trick we learned was to save a little bit of the pasta water for the sauce as well, because the starch left in the water kind of brings it all together.

Now you can transfer the pasta to a serving dish and top with parmesan cheese. Buon Appetito!

YUMMMMM!

Bucatini All'Amatriciana:
Spicy and Savory- will definitely make your mouth water. This dish is very popular in Rome!!

+ 80 grams (about 3 oz) of Guaniciale**
+ 1 medium onion, finely chopped
+ 15 gr (1/2 oz) red hot pepper- more or less depending on how adventurous you're feeling!
+ 1 can of diced tomatoes
+ 400 grams (about 13 oz) Bucantini pasta (can use spaghetti if you can't find this)
+ salt to taste
+ 80 grams (about 3 oz) grades Pecorino Romano cheese

**Guaniciale is kind of like the Italian version of bacon, but it is never smoked (like bacon). If this can't be found, it can be substituted with pancetta. Use bacon only if you can't find those!!! I'm still thinking of what I can put for my vegetarian friends...

Heat the meat over low heat until the fat melts. Transfer it to a clean plate and put aside.
Next, cook the chopped onion in the fat left over from the meat (hmmm scandalous, but dellicccciousss) until the pieces are soft. Add the pepper, mix it all up real good, then add the tomatoes and stir. Season with salt to taste, add the guaniciale, and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes.

Hopefully you remembered to put a pot of water to boil for the pasta by now- cook the bucatini until it is al dente, and mix with the sauce. Serve with the grated cheese on top and enjoy!!

hmmm that's-a-spicy!

Moving on... to the sweet stuff! In chocolate class we made an Italian classic, cremino. You really can't find this anywhere else. I tried to do some research on google about its history but can't find anything! The ultimate specialty- during the chocolate festival (a few posts back), you could see the cremino towers all around the booths: layers of white and milk chocolate- flavored with delicious, nutty hazelnut.

Though the recipe itself is easy, most of the ingredients are a bit hard to procure if you're not a professional pastry chef (or study in a culinary school hehe)

Cremino layer:
+ 500 grams White chocolate
+ 250 grams hazelnut paste
+ 10 grams cocoa butter (this makes it creamy and basically melt in your mouth ahhh)

Melt the chocolate and cocoa butter together and then add the hazelnut paste. You must make sure it is all evenly mixed and is fully melted and smooth, otherwise you risk getting globs of cocoa butter. Line a pan with parchment paper and spread the chocolate in an even layer. Put in the fridge to cool.

Cremino Alpino layer:
+ 500 grams milk chocolate
+ 250 grams hazelnut paste
+ 10 grams cocoa butter

Repeat the process from above, and when mixture is ready, smooth over the first cremino layer in the pan. You can repeat this as many times as you want (some of the treats sold at the fair looked over 20 layers tall!) but we only made the two layers in class.

Next, when all the chocolate is set, you'll want to cut it into pieces and indulge!!

We wanted to be precise. Notice the cocoa butter globs- EEK!

Cut into slices, then cubes!

Fun-sized pieces of cremino!

Our final, delectable masterpiece!

And the very same day...

I also had chocolate class. Oh, what wonders we made today! (again, Feb. 28). Chef Ciacci taught us the art of pralines! These were chocolate shells filled with all kinds of goodness, the possibilities were endless! Some were filled with a milk chocolate, black tea infused ganache. Others with a caramel sauce. Yet others with a white-chocolate, lemoncello filling. yum yum yum
 FEAST!

White and milk chocolate- get to melting!

Pure glucose, very sticky

the empty shells, waiting to be filled!

Fill'er up

ooooozing

Hey mambo!

I don't quite have the recipes on hand for the following masterpieces, but I wanted to allow you readers to indulge in some mouth-watering pictures. In class (Feb 28 I know i'm behind), we made some fresh pizza made from home-made dough, tomato sauce, and slices of buffalo Mozzarella. drooool

Kneading some pizza dough

mmmm pipin' hot pizza

We also made a different version of pizza from southern France. No cheese or tomato sauce... What were they thinking??

saute-ing LOTS of onions

mmmm French Pizza

Ash's birthday

This was in no way my doing, but it was fabulous food related, and friend related- so I figured it was worth mentioning. It was my beautiful roommate Ashley's 20th birthday week and we had to celebrate, of course. Stephanie, her best friend forever and ever, teamed up with another one of our roommates (yes we have many) and created a MASTERPIECE of a cake. This cake-monster consisted of two layers of chocolate cake, glued together and frosted with a (semi) homemade nutella frosting (meaning they mixed nutella with vanilla frosting) and adorned with peanut m&ms and 21 candles. Feast your eyes:

you're gorgeous!!! happy birthday <3

Perugia

We decided to take a quick little day trip to the city of Perugia. This name might ring a bell for several reasons: for some, this is the birthplace of Perugina, a wonderful chocolate company that fames itself for their delicious bacci (kisses- and an Italian kiss is ALWAYS better than a Hershey's hehe). Still some may recognize the name because it is where the eery and brutal case of Amanda Knox recently took place- there is even a lifetime movie!!

We boarded our train bright and early, and arrived in the city lost and confused. Thankfully, we found an English speaker who (somewhat) directed us to the city's center. We unknowingly set for a long and tiring trek

The "shortcut" 

Just a little lost

Finally we reached the city center, where an antique market was in full play. On the countless tables lay old broaches, hair pins, pendants, earrings, hats, vintage you name it! Several tables stood with boxes full of old records- Beatles, Stones, and Italian artists that I could not remember for the life of me. For me, however, the most impressive part was the breathtaking view

We walked around the city for a bit, but what first seemed new and exciting, now was cold and frustrating. I was so hungry and freezing, I could not focus on ANYTHING! We had planned to go to a specific restaurant, Darmicocco to be exact, and we simply COULD NOT FIND IT! We roamed around the city for what seemed like ages, when we finally stumbled upon the correct street. You could not imagine my relief when we saw the sign for the restaurant!!

Once we sat, a whole new adventure ensued. Not a soul in the place spoke a word of English, and for 20 minutes we tried to understand how to order, what to order, and how much anything cost. At last, a woman with very broken English explained that we really had no choice, that the menu was fixed, and we simply order the 4 course meal for the table. OH! well that could have been very easy... Let the feast begin!

Appetizer, not pictured, was a variety of different spreads (like bruschetta, patte, tapenade, etc). First course: polenta with tomatoes and cheeeeese. Second course, macaroni (with tomatoes and cheese). I must admit, after that we were all pretty full- but the meal was only starting! Next came a plateful of meats- chicken, beef, and turkey, together with salad and (more) bread. Finally the dessert course arrived, with a delicious margarita cake served with a sweet wine. Mama mia what a meal.

After the feast, everything in Perugia instantly became more beautiful. The sun came out, and our spirits were lifted

Finally, we all know a trip cannot be complete with some sweet. We visited the famous Perugina store, as well as a few other scrumptious delicacies :)

sweeeeet