Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

We're Off!

It is finally here - departure day! I'm not sure what will happen to the counter at the side once we have left but I can deal with that when I run into an internet cafe somewhere.

The airways transit shuttle service picks us up at 4:30. This seems ridiculously early for an 8:30 flight but who am I to quibble. I just want to get to the flipping airport! If we have two hours during which to lounge about the Air Canada lounge at least we will be comfortable!

I booked our flights on Orbitz back in February. The tickets cost about $ 1300 each including all taxes and surcharges at the time. The cost was less than when we flew to Rome last but more than what other flights were going for. However, it was an open jaw ticket with the times we wanted so I went for it. Sometimes you have to pay more to get the convenience that you want.

Arrival in Turin:

Air Canada 890

Depart:	8:25pm evening	Toronto, Canada Toronto Pearson International (YYZ)
Arrive:	11:00am morning	Rome, Italy Rome Intercontinental Airport Leonardo da Vinci (FCO)

Change planes. Time between flights: 2hr 20min

Alitalia 1417

Depart:	1:20pm afternoon	Rome, Italy Rome Intercontinental Airport Leonardo da Vinci (FCO)
Arrive:	2:35pm afternoon	Turin, Italy Turin Citta Di Torino (TRN)

Total duration: 12hr 10min | Total miles: 4743 miles.

We return from Florence on June first routed through Munich.

Incidentally - the same ticket on orbitz right now is now about $ 1900. OUCH

A few days ago I posted about packing lightly (not something I adhere to at all!). I defy anyone to fit all of this into a carry on:

You'll notice Victor sound asleep on a freshly dry cleaned shirt (one he later vomited on, ARGH). Heck - just my shoes alone would fill a carry on (running shoes, sandals, dress shoes, casual walking shoes). Add to that 2 pairs of jeans, cords, casual pants, dress pants, 2 shorts, bathing suits and on and on and you'll get the picture.

Just packing the empty wine carriers (soon to be full of lovely brunellos and barolos) took up half of the space in our luggage.

Everything has wheels so we will be fine. Of course, the only challenge will be fitting it all into the rental car. :-)

I am a bit out of sorts. I have about 9 hours to go and little to occupy my time. I am too organized and requires some sort of major panic attack before it feels like we're going away.

I will be blogging from the road whenever I can find an Internet cafe or if my iTouch can pick up on a wireless signal. I've put together a bunch of 'canned posts' to fill in the spaces when I can't find a connection. I don't have a clue how to manage photos though - i have brought just about every cable I own so hopefully something will work.

See you soon!

Mother's Day 2008

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Paul and I wanted to have our mothers over for dinner even though we leave on Tuesday for our long-planned vacation to Italy (no, it is clear, I NEVER get sick of saying that!) Because of this we decided to keep it simple - not like last year's multi-coursed food feast.

Things were further complicated by a trip to the clinic for me. My foot was in incredible pain and I could hardly walk. It turns out I have a disease of fat, 60 year old men - gout. ARGH Happily the anti-inflammatory, ice, and heat seem to be working and I should be able to hobble about Italy. It did put a dint in our dinner planning.

We had the table set early in the day.

Paul got a wee bit cranky when he heard that I had hobbled to the field near our house to cut the lilacs for the table. Mind over pain, I say! Normally the table is far more decorative but this was the best I could do yesterday in my painful, diseased state.

We started off with assorted antipasto.

You'll see cheddar cheese shortbread, crackers,a nd assorted breads. The cheeses were goat cheese with dried cranberries, Stilton, a soft Brie like cheese from Quebec, smoked white cheddar, and a cheese with black truffles. We arranged candied walnuts on the cheese trays. We also served cured meats and olives (to get ready for Italy). To go with the cheeses we served a fig and balsamic compote, a pear jam we bought when we were in Florence, and my strawberry, balsamic, black pepper compote.

Simple and easy - this is the sort of appetizer I like - you just open packages, boxes, and jars and presto - antipasto that looks as if you have slaved for hours!

We then moved to the table for the main event.

Paul's mother loves steak so we had New York strip loin. I had bought an whole strip loin at Costco for about 70 dollars, trimmed it (and my finger in the process), and cut it up into steaks. I got about 16 steaks like the one you see pictured here - not a bad deal at all!

We grilled the steaks and then finished them off with a Stilton and panko crust. They were served on a bed of Gruyere mashed potatoes with a drizzled of Cabernet wine sauce. On the side were honey roasted carrots.

We also served a cucumber salad which combined crisp slices of cucumber with a creamy dressing laden with celery seed.

Dessert was champagne gelatin with mint and strawberries. I served two of the lemon cookies I made yesterday on the side.

The leftovers were all sent home and now the fridge is almost cleaned out!

SSB - Week 5 - Lemony Semolina Cookies (Biscotti di Limone e Semolino)

Happy Mother's Day!

Krista came up with the notion that it might be interesting to get a group of folks together to bake and blog each week. A group of us on Slow Travel are going to do just that. Each participant selects a recipe from the cookbook and we all work our way through it. Today is the fifth entry in our baking challenge as we continue to work our way through Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma (who also happens to be a member of the slowtravel community). This is my last entry before I head to Italy to experience some of these treats in their 'home' country.

This week it was my turn to select the recipe for the slowbakers to make -  Lemon Semolina Cookies (biscotti di limone e semolino). I selected it because I thought that the cookies would go nicely with the dessert I was making for Mother's Day dinner - a Champagne Gelatin with Strawberries. I also selfishly thought it would be a simple thing to put together two days before we leave for Italy (hmmm, I wonder how many different ways I can weave that into the post?).

These cookies are deliciously crunchy, lemony enough to suit any lemonfan and not too sweet. They would go equally with tea or coffee and would probably be very nice along with a glass of limoncello after a heavy dinner in place of a more traditional dolce. I like the way that the light coating of sugar glistens in the light.

Lemony Semolina Cookies

Source: Dolce Italiano by Gina De Palma
Makes 5 dozen cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup semolina
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
freshly grated zest and juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons limonccello
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk flour, semolina, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.

Using KitchenAid (or similar) cream together the butter, oil and 1 cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and egg yolk, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Continue to add the lemon zest, juice, limoncello and vanilla, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl down.

Using low speed beat in the dry ingredients until a very soft dough is formed. Scrape out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, flatten into a disc, wrap and chill for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease two baking sheets, line with baking parchment or line with a teflon sheet.

Break off teaspoon-sized bits of dough and roll them into balls about an inch in diameter. Roll each in a small bowl of sugar and place on the tray. Make sure to space them an inch apart as they'll spread.

Bake for 14-15 minutes until they've flattened out and are crinkly on top. Cool on the sheet for 2 minute and then use a spatula to transfer to a wire rack.

Jamie Oliver's Roasted Cauliflower With Cumin, Coriander and Almonds

When most people think of ways to cook cauliflower they will come up with either boiling or gratinating - I'm sure this is the same for you. It may seem strange, but cauliflower is absolutely fantastic when lightly roasted, especially with herbs, spices, cheeses or breadcrumbs. It develops a really incredible flavour that is impressive. Here's a recipe by Jamie Oliver that is Indian-ish in style.

It isn't authentic 'indian style' cauliflower but it was heading enough in the correct direction that we decided to give it a try when we were last making Indian food. It is easy to prepare, involving very little in the way of prep, and as Oliver states, the flavour is incredible.

Jamie Oliver's Roasted Cauliflower With Cumin, Coriander and Almonds

1 head of cauliflower, outer green leaves removed, broken into florets
sea salt
olive oil
a knob of butter (we interpret a 'knob' to be about a tablespoon)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1-2 dried red chillies
a handful of blanched almonds, smashed
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.

Blanch the cauliflower in salted boiling water for a couple of minutes then drain in a colander, allowing it to steam dry (you don't want any water left in your cauliflower or it won't roast properly).

Toss cauliflower in a good glug of olive oil and the butter.

In a pestle and mortar (we used a coffee grinder that I only use for spices) , bash your spices and chillies with a pinch of salt, then mix them with the almonds and put in a hot, dry oven-proof pan to slowly toast them.

After a couple of minutes, add the cauliflower.

When the cauliflower gets a nice bit of colour on it, add the lemon zest and juice and mix around well.

Fry for about a minute longer then pop the pan into the preheated oven for about 15 minutes to crisp up.

Butter Tarts

Today was my last day at work for four weeks. I soon suspected by the way people's faces were glazing over when I said this that my countdown had gone on far too long. What can I say . . . I am an excited guy!

I thought that I would make a treat for my colleagues on my last day so I whipped up a batch of butter tarts. For the uninformed butter tarts are a unique Canadian treat - a wee bit like the Canadian version of pecan pie (without pecans or Karo syrup). There are theories about whether they were adapted from southern pecan pie, old-fashioned sugar pies, or maple syrup, backwoods or vinegar pies. Squabbles arise whether or not the tarts should be runny or not, and just how runny. Opinions differ about the use of syrup or sugar only, eggs beaten or not, currants or raisins, and how the tart pans should be filled.

Butter tarts are serious business for we Canadians.

I had told my friend Nancy that I made great butter tarts. She argued that her mom's would be better.

This is what she wrote after she tried one of these tarts:

The tart is AMAZING!!!! I need the recipe. I do believe it may even surpass my mom’s and my sister’s – and I don’t say that lightly!

Ha!

She then went on to eat three tarts.

This recipe is unique because it uses maple syrup. It is from an old cookbook of mine - The Mennonite Relief Sale Cookbook - originally published in 1973 (making this cookbook older than Paul!)

I do NOT make my own pastry - I find it far easier to buy prepared tart shells in the frozen food aisle.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen tarts.

Butter Tarts

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup REAL maple syrup
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange lined tart shells on a baking sheet (or in tart tins if you are making your own pastry)

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Beat until the thickness of cream.

Fill each shell 2/3 full.

Bake until the pastry is golden brown and the filling bubbling - about 30 minutes.

Note - nuts or raisins may be added. I HAVE to have raisins in my butter tarts but some twisted folk prefer them without. I made about 10 tarts without raisins and then added about 2/3 cup raisins to the remaining filling and filled the rest.

Jamie Oliver's Pappardelle with a Ragu of Tiny Meatballs

This is a sophisticated version of spaghetti and meatballs - that 'Italian classic' that no mama in Italy would ever make. For some reason it has caught on here in North American. I bet if you asked 100 folk to name their favourite pasta dish more than a third would select this!

While this recipe looks complicated it isn't. You can make the meatballs in advance and then just toss them together with the sauce as the water for the pasta boils.

Jamie Oliver's Pappardelle with a Ragu of Tiny Meatballs

1 x basic pasta dough or use 1 lb good-quality dried pappardelle
A knob of butter
Parmesan cheese

Meatballs
1 Pound ground beef  -Jamie makes a point in the book to say have the butcher grind this in front of you and be sure to get hormone and antibiotic free meat
1-2 Dried chillies
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 Nutmeg, grated
3 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Large egg   -  He also points out this should be free range organic
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Zest of 1 lemon - I personally think you should use less, maybe a half?
Salt and pepper

For the tomato sauce
Olive oil
2-3 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A Bunch of basil, leaves picked and stalks chopped
1 Fresh red chili, pierced with the tip of a knife - I used a dried for this
2 x 400g Tins of plum tomatoes
Swig of red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

If you’re making fresh pappardelle to this first and lay it out on a floured pan while you get on with the meatballs and tomato sauce.

To make your meatballs, mix and 'scrunch' (a Jamieism) together all the meatball ingredients in your hands and shape into marble-sized balls. When rolling the meatballs, run your hands under cold water every now and then – it will help to make the meatballs dense and hold their shape better. Place them in a pan and put in the fridge while you make your tomato sauce.

Get a pan on the heat and add a glug of olive oil to it. Gently fry the garlic, basil stalks and the whole chili, then add the tomatoes and red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper then gently simmer for half an hour.

Heat up a little olive oil in a frying pan and throw in your meatballs. Cook until they’ve got a really good color on them, and then add them to your tomato sauce. Remove the chili from the sauce and check for seasoning. Continue to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, if you’re using dried pasta, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook according to the package instructions. Otherwise, when your meatballs are almost done, cook your fresh pasta for 2 to 3 minutes until al dente.

Drain the pappardelle in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water, then toss it in the meatball sauce. Add the knob of butter, the Parmesan and tear over half the basil leaves. Now, toss around to coat the pasta. Add a little bit of cooking water to loosen the sauce if needed.

When it’s superb, serve on a big platter or divide up between individual plates, scatter with the rest of the basil leaves, grate over some Parmesan and serve as soon as possible.

Packing

Six days to go. I need to think about packing . . .

Palma has already packed her bags and weighed them to see if they will be accepted on a plane without penalty.

Me? I am making lists . . .

One of the great on going debates  discussion on the slowtravel community message board generally revolves around packing. There are those who swear by their ability to pack enough clothing for an entire three week European adventure in a carry on bag. We are not in that camp. No, not evening close.

I see nothing to be gained by rinsing out my jockey shorts each evening with shampoo and hanging them to dry in the window.

Someone posted this a few weeks back:

We just returned from one week in Paris, and it (a BACKPACK) performed very well. I was able to pack a pair of jeans, a pair of chinos, two polos, two long sleeve button down shirts, one sweater, one pair of shoes, six pairs of socks, six pairs of boxers, one heavy jacket, three under shirts, one long sleeve tee, one short sleeve, tee, a pair of mesh shorts, two books, four magazines, shaving kit, notebook, maps, and other smaller items. It was comfortable to carry through airports, the Paris metro, and while walking down the street. If you regularly can use a 22" roller for one week trips, then you can use this too. It was perfect.

Nothing about this, other than a week in Paris, sounds perfect to me. Hell, I need a backpack just for my camera, iPod, video camera, cell phone, assorted chargers, international plug, etc.

Frankly I do NOT pack lightly at all. Why, you ask?

1. Read the jockeys in the bathroom sink drying in the window for  # 1.
2. I don't care to wear the same outfit five days in a row. I suppose no one would know. The problem is I would and I wouldn't be able to live with ME!
3. Yes, I know that the people I see don't know me and I will likely never run into them again. However, I just do NOT like the thought of wandering about with my clothing looking like Phyllis Diller's ankles because I have rolled it up in a tube to fit it all in a carry-on.
4. I am addicted to guidebooks. Guidebooks take up room in the suitcase. Hell, just printing out hotel reservations, plane reservations, directions to the villa, car rental agreements, etc has filled a file folder.
5. I am not a nudist (and the world gives thanks for that). I like clothing.
6. Apparently I have shoe issues. I bring different pairs with me. I bring walking shoes, sandals, running shoes, dress shoes. Sometimes I bring river shoes or hiking boots. Have you ever tried to put a pair of hiking boots in a backpack?
7. Some folk enjoy wearing nothing but black for weeks on end. I am neither a monk nor a goth. I enjoy some colour in my life. Having a clothing palette involves a variety of colours. This takes luggage room to mix and match appropriately.
8. I like to bring wine home with me. Thanks to those pinheads who tried to down an airliner with the contents of a coke can I can no longer bring my wine home as carry-on. Now I have a wine suitcase, carefully fitted with styrofoam, to safely bring that liquid gold home with me.
9. I have been known to purchase a thing or two. Actually I have been known to purchase so many things that I was forced to mail boxes of dirty clothing home in order to make room for my purchases in my suitcase. I could fill a carry-on in 5 seconds in Florence.

So you see, I just don't get it. To those who like to pack lightly, I say - good for you. I shall have my two bags, changes of clothing, clean jockey shorts, shoes, wine, and purchases.

This You-tube has some helpful advice for those of you who wish to pack lightly. At first I thought it was helpful, having watched it a few times I now think it is mocking light packers. I like it more now. :-)

Grilled Carrots with Thyme and Onions

I don't know where I first found this recipe but it is probably one I have done on the grill more than any other. It is easy - a real no fuss production that results in a great addition to a meal. I've made this with carrot slices, baby carrots, julienned carrots, and so on - it is forgiving and flexible - my kind of recipe!

Grilled Carrots with Thyme and Onions

1 lb peeled carrots, sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 tsp butter
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
freshly ground pepper

Divide carrots between two pieces of foil large enough to fold into packets. Sprinkle evenly with onion, butter and thyme; season with salt and pepper to taste. Loosely wrap foil over vegetables, sealing tightly. Place on grill over medium-high heat; cook, turning once, for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender-crisp (note: smaller pieces of carrot will require less grilling time). Makes 4 servings.

Whistlestop Cafe Marinade

This is Sandi and her husband Bill.

Bill's family used to own the famous Whistlestop Cafe. You may recall this spot from a little movie called Fried Green Tomatoes.

The family has sold the cafe but still sells some wonderful whistlestop products. When I first met Sandi last fall she gave me a bottle of Whistlestop Marinade.

It sat in the cupboard until last week. I thawed two pork tenderloins and placed them in a zip lock bag with half of the marinade.

I then threw the pork tenderloins on the BBQ, grilling them until they were done.

The marinade is a versatile liquid that added a wallop of flavor to the pork tenderloin. According to the bottle it is made with Kikkoman soy sauce as the base, a blend of spices, vinegar and a dash of real lemon juice. It enhances flavors… without using MSG.

This was a quick and delicious dinner, thanks Sandi and Bill!

For those of you interested in getting some of this delicious marinade yourself, it can be ordered here.

Sunday Slow Bakers - Week 4 Grappa-soaked Mini Sponge Cakes

Krista came up with an idea that it would be fun to get a group of folks together to bake and blog each week. A group of us on Slow Travel are going to do just that. Each participant selects a recipe from the cookbook and we all work our way through it. Today is the fourth entry in our baking challenge as we continue to work our way through Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma (who also happens to be a member of the slowtravel community).

This week's selection, Grappa-Soaked Mini Sponge Cakes (pan di spagna con grappa), was selected by Palma. It presented folks with a few challenges - many of us didn't have mini bundt cake pans. Some used a large bundt pan, others muffin tins. Me? I had an mini easter egg bundt tin which I have used once. I was far too concerned about saving money for our upcoming trip to Italy to buy a new pan. I made easter egg grappa soaked mini sponge cakes.

The other challenge was in finding the grappa. Sandi searched in vain but discovered that the Piggly Wiggly in Alabama just did not carry the stuff. I had no trouble finding grappa but it was only available in huge bottles. Funny that I had no trouble shelling out $ 50 bucks for grappa but would not buy new cake pans 10 days prior to leaving for Italy . . . I ended up buying a Mazzetti Grappa di nebbiolo in honour of our upcoming trip to Piemonte. Others used brandy, amaretto, or lemoncello.

I only needed 4 tablespoons of the grappa for the cakes, I am sure that Paul will drink the rest of the stuff. . . .

This is Paul knocking back a third glass of Casa Emma grappa during our tour of the winery back in /06. It was thoughtful of his to drink mine because I was driving, his own because he just can't waste a good drink, and mom's because she was already 'overserved'. I'm not sure that he has recovered from his grappa induced coma though.

Grappa-soaked Mini Sponge Cakes

For the grappa syrup:

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons grappa
1/4 cup water

For the sponge cakes:

2 cups cake flour (I used all-purpose)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 large eggs, separated (mine were extra-large so I only used 7)
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon grappa
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray and flour 2 mini bundt pans (or one large bundt pan).

Stir together the ingredients for the grappa syrup in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Place the egg yolks, sugar, and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium speed until they are very light, pale yellow, and doubled in volume (about 3 minutes). Beat in the grappa and vanilla, followed by the melted butter. Transfer this mixture into a large mixing bowl. Fold in the dry ingredients quickly and lightly, using a large rubber spatula, stopping just before they are fully mixed together.

Clean the mixer bowl and whisk attachment and carefully dry. Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl and beat on medium-high speed until foamy and light. Add the cream of tartar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter quickly and lightly.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, filling them 3/4 of the way full. Smooth the tops. Bake the cakes for 20 - 25 minutes (note, the time will be longer if you are making one large cake), or until the cakes pull away from the sides of the pans. Allow the cakes to cool for about five minutes in the pans. Carefully remove them to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Gently brush the cakes with grappa syrup, being sure to cover the entire surface of the warm cakes with the syrup. Use all of the syrup. Allow the cakes to cool completely before serving.

Gina suggests serving the cakes with whipped cream (to which you could add a small quantity of the syrup), creme fraiche, or gelato. They could also be garnished with fresh fruit or simply dusted with icing sugar.

We enjoyed our cakes with a bit of gelato. They were amazing! The grappa syrup was delicious, although the grappa flavour isn’t very strong as most of the alcohol does burn off while the syrup is cooking. The little cakes are pretty and make for an attractive presentation. I will definately be making this recipe again (hmmm - I guess I should have sprung for those new pans! *smile*)

You can see how the other slow bakers met this challenge on their blogs . . .

Destination Anywhere
Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
Happy Trails for Us; My Reluctant Blog
In and Out of the Garden
Keep Your Feet in the Street
My Place in the Sun 
Palmabella's Passions
Postcards From the Trail 
What I Really Think