A Day in Chianti

A month ago, Chris and I had the wonderful opportunity to take a trip through Italy and the Swiss Alps.  It was a two-week trip of a lifetime, and I can't even begin to wrap my head around sorting through the 1000+ gorgeous pictures I came home with, let alone narrow it down to make a keepsake photo album.



One of our longest stops was in Florence, where we rented a charming little apartment for a week and spent time both enjoying the sights in Florence, as well as getting outside of the city to enjoy a few day trips.  But since this is a food and wine (and craft, but come on, I wasn't crafting in Italy!) blog, it's only fitting that the highlight of this post is the culinary highlight of our trip.

And for that, I must take you to Chianti.



We researched and hired a local driver to take us around the Chianti region of Tuscany on our second day in Florence, which was definitely a good decision.  Come on - renting a car and driving around those winding roads in a country where we don't know the language?  While drinking wine?  Let's just not go there.

Our driver showed up and she was lovely, and my goodness she was good at weaving in and out of the crazy traffic/randomly parked cars!  Also, and most importantly, she was very familiar with the various wineries and had great rapport with the wineries where we stopped.




Even though it was a dreary, rainy day, I still got some great photos, and my loving husband was so kind to hold the umbrella over my head as I snapped away!

But now we reach the part of the story where we talk about the food.

Around lunchtime, we stopped at a winery called Casa Emma.  At this point in the day, the rain was coming down in sheets, and as soon as we stepped inside, it started hailing.  We were happy to be inside and be warm, and the winery manager was happy that someone actually braved the weather to come in.  He immediately sat us down, rolled the heater over, and shared the story of his winery with us.  He prepared a light cheese and prosciutto platter, and we tasted all of the winery's wines, as well as the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar (both also products of the winery) I have ever had.

Once we were done with the tasting, he asked if we wanted to stay for lunch.  They had a full dining room that was recently built in the back of the building, overlooking their vines, so of course we obliged.  Since we were the only ones there, I think they were also thrilled to have someone to enjoy the food they had been lovingly preparing.



We were treated to a wonderful four-course meal, all specialties of the region.  And of course, we had plenty of wine.

We started with a selection of light starters, including a liver pate that is very traditional for the area.

Of all the amazing food in that meal, the absolute most memorable dish for me was the pasta.




The pasta dish was a simple homemade pasta bolognese, but there was nothing simple about the complexity of flavor and the texture of the pasta.  That was the day where I finally fully understood the concept of al dente.  It's not just making sure not to overcook the pasta; a true homemade pasta, made perfectly, has the most incredible texture.  Then paired with a deep, rich sauce, and of course finished with some of the winery's olive oil, the experience was ethereal.






We then had a pork dish that blew my husband's mind, including a 2-day red wine sauce that had outrageous depth of flavor.  Though I will admit it wasn't a pretty dish, it was certainly something special to taste.  Chris even asked them how they made the sauce, and the winery manager went back and asked the chef, then came back out and dictated a full list of instructions.  You can find the recipe at the bottom of the post, but I warn you, it is a very quick list of steps, and involves what I assume to be absurd amounts of olive oil and wine.



And of course, you also finish it with even more olive oil.  Eeesh.


Finally, no meal would be complete without a little dessert.



...and a little dessert wine.



Even with the cold and rainy weather, our day and this meal experience in Chianti was one of the most incredible memories of the whole trip.


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Pork Loin in 2-day Red Wine Sauce
That's what I'm going to call it since they didn't actually tell us its name.  Also, the instructions are fairly crude since the winery manager was just talking us through how they make it.  You take what you can get!

1. Start with a good amount of olive oil in a big roasting pan (after what I saw with the abundance of olive oil at this winery, I'd say "good amount" probably means a whole lot of olive oil.  Hey - maybe that's why it was so good!)
2. Add one carrot, half an onion, and lots of garlic to the pan.
3. Heat the pan, and add a large pork loin when the oil is hot.  Turn to sear on all sides.
4. Kill the heat.
5. Add enough red wine to cover 3/4 of the loin (oh right - the other reason why this tasted so good.)
6. Cook in an oven at 350F/180C until the wine is fully reduced (sorry, he didn't tell me how long this takes, but I'm guessing quite a while)
7. Remove from heat, let it cool, and put in the refrigerator overnight.
8. The next day, remove the pork, and stir the sauce over heat by hand until everything breaks down.
9. Slice the pork thinly, sear quickly in a pan to heat, and top with the sauce and serve.

Felt Fox and Raccoon Garland

Can you believe it's April already?  I sure can't.  This has already been quite the year, and I haven't even reached the craziest part of this year yet.  But more on that another time.

This past weekend, I was so fortunate to be able to head up to Wisconsin for my wonderful friend's baby shower.  She's due next month, so I couldn't wait to see her and her beautiful belly.  She's having a baby boy, and has decided on having a woodland creatures theme in the baby's room.  Although I bought a gift for the shower, I knew I also wanted to do a little something handmade.  The week before the shower, my friend and I were swapping baby room decor finds on Etsy, all centering around foxes and raccoons.  Finally it hit me - I could make her a felt animal garland!

With a quick 5 minute search, I was able to find an adorable fox graphic and raccoon graphic that I knew had to be my starting point.  I did a quick screen shot, zoomed in on each animal, and printed it.  The blown-up image then served as a background to trace each animal and its features.  I cut out all the pieces from a sheet of paper, which I then used as the pattern for three felt foxes and three felt raccoons.  I glued all the pieces together (using Mod Podge, of course!), and once they dried, I glued a strip of jute across the back.  I also found that I needed to give their oversized tails a little reinforcement, so a toothpick was glued on the back of the tail to keep it from flopping over.

The garland turned out so cute, I even surprised myself!  I'm glad that I decided to use different color felt for each animal, giving them all their own personality.  It worked as great decor for the shower, and will be adorable in his nursery.

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Tartine's Currant Scones and Lemon Cream

The weekend of Thanksgiving, we had 5 family members visiting us in chilly Chicago.  Thus, there was a lot of cooking, eating, and drinking.  I was in a menu-planning flurry the week before the big holiday, not just for the Thanksgiving meal, but also for every other meal that weekend.  And it was that planning week that one of my favorite blogs, Alexandra's Kitchen, posted the recipe for Tartine Bakery's Current Scones and Lemon Cream.  
Upon reading the recipe and looking through the pictures, I was hooked.  I sent it to my husband's sister to get her thoughts, and she immediately responded that we must make them that weekend.    So Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend, she and I made the scones for everyone, and boy were they delicious.  Warm and both soft and crunchy, bright pops of currants, just delicious.
But oh, that lemon cream.

I would like to bathe in that lemon cream.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I could find an excuse to eat that with almost anything.  Posted originally on Food52 (my new obsession), this lemon cream is so bright, so rich, so creamy.  The lemon flavor is so robust, the first bite catches you off guard.  And after that first bite, it's hard to stop.  You'll find yourself wanting to lick the dish, to get every last bit of goodness.

Since I didn't deviate from the recipe at all, I'm going to point you over to Alexandra's Kitchen for the full rundown, paired with her beautiful photography.

Alexandra's Kitchen: Tartine Bakery's Currant Scones with Lemon Cream

The Best Thing I Ever Made

You know that show on The Food Network "The Best Thing I Ever Ate?"  Well, they also have a cooking version, "The Best Thing I Ever Made."  And if I was ever invited to contribute to that show, I would make this pasta.

I'm being completely serious, this is the best thing I've ever made, it is so incredibly, outrageously delicious.

It's blowing my mind just thinking of it.

If there's one thing I can say about this pasta, is do not skip any part of this recipe.  I know you'll be tempted to just omit the breadcrumbs, or maybe you don't have any lemons for zesting lying around.  Then wait to make the pasta.  Wait until you have the time, and the ingredients, and the love, to make this pasta the thing of beauty that it is.


Spaghetti with Soft Eggs and Speck
adapted from Food52
*note: this recipe makes one serving.  Why?  Well, the original recipe author was a military wife who often had to make meals for one while her husband was deployed, and in my case, my husband won't eat eggs or pecorino romano so I made this on a night when he was out of town.  I suggest you increase the recipe accordingly.

Pangritata (a word not in my vocabulary previously, this is the seasoned breadcrumbs part of the recipe)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup fresh or stale coarse breadcrumbs (I pulsed an old part of a baguette in the food processor)
2 teaspoons minced fresh Italian parsley
zest from half a lemon

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the breadcrumbs and sauté until beginning to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the parsley and the lemon zest, and toast for another minute until the mixture is crispy and golden brown.  Set aside.


Spaghetti with Soft Eggs and Speck

4 ounces spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
4 paper-thin slices of speck (speck is a smoked prosciutto)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Lay out the slices of speck on a baking sheet and either toast them in a toaster oven or in a broiler.  Because the slices are so thin, they will cook very, very quickly, so keep an eye on them to make sure they crisp but don't burn.  This will likely take 1 minute, maybe 2 if you're starting from a cool toaster oven.  Remove and set aside to cool.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook pasta to al dente according to directions on box.

After adding the pasta to the boiling water, wipe out the skillet from the pangritata, add 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter and melt together over medium heat.  When the oil/butter mixture is hot, add the garlic and immediately break the eggs into the skillet.  If need be, lower the heat a bit. You want the garlic to cook without burning and the egg whites to set, but the yolks to remain runny.

Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking liquid from the pasta before draining when al dente.

Add pasta back to the pot, pour the eggs and all the fat from the skillet onto the pasta, add the parsley and half the cheese, and toss well, breaking up the eggs as you do. If it is looking a little dry, add some of the reserved cooking liquid (for mine, I ended up adding about 2 T).

Break up the toasted speck (it will be thin and crisp) and toss with the pasta.

Plate the pasta and eggs, season well with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and then top with the pangritata.

Eat immediately, with a nice glass of wine.