Tag Archives: pizza

The Healthy Choice

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Have you ever taken a bite of something and suddenly understood what is meant by “the flavor exploded on the tongue”?
I did tonight.
It wasn’t an apple picked from a local orchard. It wasn’t basil from my backyard. It wasn’t a tomato from the farmer’s market or bread fresh from the oven.
No, I’m talking about pizza.
Hot, greasy pizza from the local pizza house. The crust is oddly chewy with crispy edges, the cheese is questionably thick, and pools of oil collect in the dip of the pepperoni slices. But that first bite, when the melty, sweet-salty mozzarella combines with the yeasty crust and sweet tomato sauce is an irreplaceable moment of bliss.
Why, you may ask, am I writing about cheap pizza? Because it is moments of total tastebud heaven such as this that explains my passion for food and appreciation of its power and presence in daily life. 
It wasn’t the healthiest choice. In fact, I had just finished a lovely dinner of tempeh + BBQ kale chips when I met that slice of [heart]burnin’ love. But after that first taste, it simply had to be done. And that decision, ignoring every fiber that told me to deprive myself, was in fact one of the healthiest things I’ve done today.
I enjoyed every. single. bite.
~Namaste~

Restaurant Review: Bella Luna

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Instead of letting everyone in the house abandon me and leaving me to stalk the aisles of Whole Foods for dinner (not necessarily a bad thing, really), my mom invited me to her dinner date with a friend. And then put me on restaurant-search duty as the resident foodie of the fam. I was more than happy to oblige :)
I had read about Bella Luna, a funky restaurant/lounge in Jamaica Plain in a feature in the [Boston] Globe. It  was described as “satisfyingly groovy” and had a menu to match, so we figured, why not??
I couldn’t have described it better myself.  You walk in to a somewhat dimly lit space, most of the light shining out of big paper mache star lamps. The decor was funky, just shy of kitsch, and the service was great. Our waiter had an impressive knowledge of the wine list, too. Best of all, they have outdoor seating under bright red umbrellas. I love sitting outside. I think it totally ups the atmosphere and makes for an even lovelier evening meal.
If we weren’t charmed yet, each seat had a different plate with its own hand-drawn design:
Clearly designed by some aspiring artists. TOO cute!
And I loved the bottle the water was served in:
A restaurant I just went to recently did this too…maybe this a becoming a trend in the US restaurant scene?
To start, we 3 split an order of some seriously awesome fried calamari. For all you skeptics out these, I usually don’t like fried food because it tends to make me violently ill, but I couldn’t resist one golden, crispy bite – and it was SO good. Some of the best I’ve had.
We also split the Mediterranean Duet, warm pita bread with raw veggies and 2 dips: classic hummus and a spicy eggplant dip:
The hummus was only so-so, a little too creamy-chickpea-y for me. What can I say, I need my tahini and GAHLIC! But the eggplant dip was ca-razy good! Heavy on the ginger and with quite a kick of spice, and really tasty. The other two helped, but I pretty much dominated this plate.
For my entree, I just got a big salad – love me some arugula!
The shrimp was lovely and fresh, and the cheese was deliiisssh. Arugula and sharp cheeses like prmeggiano were basically made for each other. It also had pumpkin seeds, which I totally loved! Such a fun extra flavor addition. It was in a very simple lemon vinaigrette, which I felt needed a little work – it was a little too much like straight lemon juice. I think just a spice or two added to it could really make it incredible. But I was a very happy leaf-eater with this salad.

Mom got this beauty:
Arugula, goat cheese (!), cherry tomatoes, red onion and garlic oil.
Ok, I don’t know what kind of crack they put in their crusts, but this pizza was one of the best I’ve had. And I’ve had what I consider the best - fresh from the oven, in Italy, after making it myself. But this was up there. The crust was that perfect thickness and the arugula + garlic oil made it herby and delicious. I had a slice and then a couple more teeny tiny slivers when we brought it home. Whoa.
And Mom’s friend Barb (and just in case she reads this…HI!!!) got the wild mushroom ravioli:
I had half of a bite of my madre’s bite because it’s me and I avoid all things involving peas like they’re mosquitoes (and, actually, ravioli…but that’s another story), but the bite I had was some seriously phenomenal ravioli. The earthy mushrooms + creamy sweet cheese filling flavors were just spot on.

Dessert came in the form of lemon sorbet and tiramisu. Now, I will say that this is one restaurant where the “judge a restaurant by their desserts” rule does not work. We had great appetizers and wonderful entrees, but I was quite disappointed in the dessert. The sorbet, although refreshing and lemonade-like, had a very odd texture. It was almost like freezer burn-icy on the outside (which had a watery flavor) but then oddly chewy on the inside. Sorbet, to me, is supposed to be smooth and almost creamy, at least easy for a spoon to dig in. This was almost gummy, and there was nothing inventive about the flavor. The tiramisu was even more of a disappointment – I mean, I realize I’m horribly biased, but still. The sponge in the middle was watery and weak tasting, and the whipped cream on top tasted very artificial. And the chocolate syrup was no better than Hershey’s out of a bottle – not that that doesn’t have it’s place, but come on. That place is not tiramisu! I tried [multiple times] to take a picture, but the sun had long since set and LuLu wasn’t having it. Clearly they should just hire me to be the tiramisu chef! Haha, jk jk (sort of ;) .
Dessert aside, it was a lovely meal with great conversation and company, and that is what a meal is supposed to be.
~Namaste~

She’s Baaaccck…

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Didja miss me??!! 
So, instead of attempting to put the past 6 days into words, I will do it with pictures. They’re worth a thousand, right?
Stop #1: Ursinus College, Collegeville PA
P.F. Chang’s – loved how they served the wine flight!
The Collegeville Diner
Campus
Stop #2: Haverford College, Haverford PA
Love it.
Stop #3: Lancaster Art Hotel, Lancaster PA
The restaurant used all local, organic food! I was a happy foodie :)
Amouse bouche: Gazpacho
lettuce+cauliflower+zucchini+beans+snap peas+ fennel+goat cheese = YUM.
One of the best pizzas…ever.
Chocolate cake w. raw almond butter filling. I all but licked the plate.
!!!
Stop #4: Goucher College, Towson MD
[Pit stop in Pittsburgh!]
Baskin-Robbins kiddie cone soft-serve :)
This salad had some of the tastiest roasted tofu EVER. I want to know what they did to it!
Stop #6: Oberlin College, Oberlin OH
Solar energy panels power their entire environmental studies building – too cool, right?!
Dinner at the Black River Cafe:
Homemade raspberry-lavender sorbet. Amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Our last stop was to Hyde Park, NY to check out the Culinary Institute of America for me. They didn’t allow pictures inside the school and I was so focused on the tour, I didn’t take pics of the campus – but it was gorgeous. To sum up, I was in love with it. And if it hadn’t been sealed earlier, when we passed by one of the baking classes that focuses on gluten-free/vegan-friendly baking, one of the students brought out biscotti they had just made for our tour to try. I am a little superstitious about talking about the possibility of my going there, just because, um, let’s just say I had a truly awful, scarring experience with the undergrad college application process and now I’m totally scared of jinxing this next upcoming process. Stupid maybe, but…I can’t help it.
We ate lunch in the school’s student-staffed cafe. Mom got a pesto-white bean soup:
It wasn’t, perhaps, amazing, but it was most definitely delicious and worth the price. I had a chopped veggie salad:
Now this reached amazing-status. Radish, beets, green beans, carrot, zucchini, fennel, potatoes in a champagne vinaigrette. So simple but so good. And I had a roll because I was not about to leave without trying the bread:
Oh, this is up there on my favorite-breads list. Yes, I have one – it also includes the rolls at Legal Seafoods, the bread from our local Italian specialty food store, and the Tuscan bread at Sergio’s. This was a perfect little piece of carb heaven. Crispy-crunchy on the outside, doughy and fluffy on the inside. If I learn how to recreate these, my life could be complete.
The drive home was brutal beyond belief – what should have been a 2 1/2 hour zip turned into a traffic-laden 5 1/2 hour nightmare. Despite a downright blissful yoga class this morning, I’m still exhausted. BUT, it was a very successful and pretty fun trip. My brother has a better idea of what he wants in a school, and I had some seriously delicious eats.
I think I’m going to sleep for a veeerrrrrry long time tomorrow. I can’t wait!
~Namaste~

Edible Vengeance

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This being my blog and I all, I have every intention on being 100% honest on here. And honestly – today was not a good day. I know exactly why, but that didn’t change the fact that just getting out of bed was a challenge. Every negative thought possible was running through my head, about everything – my body, my abilities, my future – it was an endless stream of depressing negativity.
What I hate most about days like this is how LOUD the ED voice becomes. I should eat as little as possible, work out as long as possible, blah blah blah blah BS. There was a time where I could and would listen. But now, it just pisses. me. off. So, I fought back. How, you may ask?
Chocolate.
First in the form of yogurt:
I have had this for a while, but was saving for dessert…and then kept forgetting about. This morning was time.
It was good, quite good (although not amazing). At first it felt “wrong” eating something so chocolatey…but really, it’s not all too far away from what I would put in oats.
I mean look at the ingredients:
It was a tad sweet for me, but all in all yummy. And it helped – made me feel just a little stronger.
Oh, and the chocolate did not stop there. Oh no.
Chocolate-covered cherry oat bran.
[Note: Next time, cut cherries smaller!]
Amazing Grass GreenSuperfood Chocolate
With almond milk, banana, cherries, and a splash of ‘nilla. 
LOVED this. Very deep and chocolatey; I was impressed! I liked this as much as the Kidz Wildberry flavor – my only reservartion in buying a bigger container was that I don’t necessarily want a chocolate-flavored smoothie every time I make a smoothie…maybe I will like the Original? Anyone else tried these before?
I continued my day of “edible vengeance” – after quite the breakdown in the kitchen with my mom – with probably the best sandwich this side of the Atlantic:
This is an Italian Sub from a little Italian Deli near my house that I grew up going to. The family who owns it is from Southern Italy and import most of their products, and make their [absolutely mouth-watering] bread. Walking in there is like walking into a mini-Mercato Centrale. It’s wonderful. And they make the best Italian sub ever on their crunchy, golden, doughy baguette that rocks my carboholic socks.
Although, I will say this – there is nothing “Italian” about an Italian sub except for the individual ingredients. Yes, the bologna, salami, mortadella, mozzarella, and all that is Italian – but try to find this in Italy, and it’s simply not there. In fact, when we explained what an Italian sub is to my Food & Culture professor, she looked at us like we had 3 heads! It is such a cool example of how food changes and adapts to a different culture. One of the many reasons why I love it so :)
Anyway, the vengeance went right on into dinner:
Artichoke-onion-garlic pizza on whole grain crust from Whole Foods. Aka, heaven.
This was so yummy. Their whole grain crust is to die for – you can see the flax seeds hangin out in it! YUM. And really not all that expensive, either!
I suppose today has been a long time comin. I can tell because I’ve had a serious itch to bake, bake, BAKE! And I have. Tonight it was Jenna’s Whole Wheat Banana Bread that I made into muffins:
We had ripe bananas, I had the recipe pulled up…it was fate.
That little heart is from the end of my box of Kashi Heart to Heart cinnamon cereal (one of my favorites!). The two on the bottom have a drizzle of almond butter on top, and though you cant see it, the top 2 have a brown sugar sprinkle on top. I like getting creative with the presentation :)
And last night, I made Dreena’s SuperCharge Me! cookies:
With craisins and vegan chocolate chips.
May I just say – WHOA. These are incredible. I just love sweets that are good & good-for-you. The flax meal gives them a wonderful nutty flavor and texture! I will be making these again. Butterscotch will be involved.
And speaking of chocolate [when I am not speaking of chocolate?], the Amazing Grass trial continued yesterday with:
I loooved the Wild Berry, so I had high hopes for the Chocolate!
1/2 nana + 8 cherries + 1/2 c. almond milk + ~1 c. spinach + 1 packet Kidz Chocolate SuperFood.
Meh. I didn’t like this one much – too…grassy? I was really surprised when I liked the regular Chocolate so much! It was better after I added a hefty spoonful of cocoa powder, but still – I’ll stick to the Wild Berry.
More new things were sampled yesterday, including:
Sideways-spoon test:
It passed – a little too well, though! It was a bit too reminiscent of eating glue. And it had a weird texture, like a little gritty? I’ll keep on keepin on with Fage, the tried & true [love].
Took advantage of a 5 for 5 sale at WFs and got some new Odwalla bars – well, new to me.
I liked it, but it was not very pomegranate-y at all. It reminded me of a NutriGrain bar without the icky sugary filling. I might not buy it again, just because it wasn’t exactly a stand-out, but it was worth the try.
In other news, I think my body is insisting on becoming a vegetarian. My mom and I went to the gym and then when we got back, she made a lentil-chicken soup using leftover chicken from dinner this past weekend. It smelled good, and I do love all-things lentil…but I couldn’t stomach the idea of chicken. No idea why. But, if your body screams at you, it’s a good idea to listen – so I made this tasty mess:
This was 2 egg whites + the remains of the tofu package I used for the cake frosting. It was Nasoya Lite Silken Tofu, because it was the only silken tofu the store had. It mixed with the egg whites more or less easily, and I cooked it in the pan with some broccoli slaw, garlic salt, pepper, oregano and rosemary. I drizzled it with *the best* olive oil, and when it needed still a little something more, I added a splash of golden balsamic vinegar – perfect. With a slice of whole grain bread from Costco. It was really tasty! I will definitely be making this again!
I wish I could say that’s all that’s been happening over here, but…this ain’t the half of it. Emails, culinary school research, job search…oy vey. This is definitely a job for yoga.
~Namaste~

Happy Holiday Eats

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Whoo! I just wrote my [massive] About Me page. Check it out…if you have, like, an hour. Ok, slight exaggeration, but seriously…us English majors can ramble!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!
Remember these? I couldn’t quite decide what I thought of them. 
Well, I was feeling some carbs last night, and took advantage of my mood to try one of these babies – naked!
I LOVE the whole flaxseeds – they add great texture! This waffle crisped up pretty nice, but was still good ‘n gooey in the middle. Yum. I do kinda wish the flaxseed were ground up – the body doesn’t digest it in whole seed form…but it does make for a fun texture! Just sayin’. Still, yummy nutty flavor. I can’t wait to try the Red Berry flavor. Mmmm!
Holiday-eve eats also included:
Luna Blueberry Bliss
Another ex-Luna Sunrise flavor to show up in the regular line. Tastes pretty much identical – blueberry-y with vanilla frosting on the bottom and oats sprinkled liberally on top (my favorite part – surprise, surprise ;)
I do caution people with light sweet-tooths–this could very easily be too sweet for a lot of people. Luckily for me, I have a sweet-tooth the size of the Duomo, so that’s often not a detractor for me.
I miss you, Duomo-dear!
Speaking of bars of the Clif variety, I tried another new one today when I waited too long to eat and was in danger of having a hypoglycemic attack:
I haven’t been thrilled with the Clif bars I’ve tried – the texture is a little odd and they are usually waaay to sweet for me (see above to see why that is a problem!). But, mint+chocolate is one of my favoritest combos EVER, so I figured this was a safe bet. And it was. Very similar in taste to the Luna Choc. Peppermint Stick, which is my favorite Luna flav, just with the slightly chewy texture of Clif. I enjoyed. My hypoglycemia is a big reason why I’m such a fan of bars – they provide an instant blood sugar boost when you’re desperate! Love ‘em.
The ‘rents took advantage of the gorgeous weather New England is treating us to and went off sailing on Sunday, so my brother and I went to dinner. At Whole Foods. Yes, I love it that much. Their salad bar = my Cloud 9.
I should get better about this – as in, wandering around both sides, looking at all the offerings, and combine different ones to make a fabulous, cohesive salad. But alas, that is a battle I have yet to win – I always walk out with a little of everything! Kind of my favorite way to. Lots of different, fun flavors. This was heavy - in weight and in fiber! Sat in my tummy like a rock.
I also picked up this guy (gal?):
Hint is totally unsweetened water that is flavored with the essence of various flavahs. I’ve had the honeydew hibiscus before and loved every sip. I just love that it’s not sweetened, yet still so flavorful! Super refreshing.
Despite all that fiber, my aforementioned massive sweet tooth was still acallin’…and whaddyaknow, but there is a JP Licks right in the same shopping center! It’s a Mass. ice cream chain that the most amazing soft serve ice cream ever, in the craziest flavors. And it’s fat free. Hard to argue.
I went for the Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor:
It was literally a cookie in softserve form. I could taste the buttery brown sugar of the dough. Perfect way to end the meal. I drove home very happy, belting out Glee between licks.
Today was pretty low-key. We had a lovely Memorial Day dinner with out neighbors – and MAN was it yummy!
We started out with a lovely appetizer spread of cheese & crackers and chips & salsa/guac. In fact, last summer (after I had gone back to school, sadly), they held a “guac-off” – one neighbor’s homemade guacamole against our other’s. Yes, I love on a 3-house “street” that is really a hill. Most people drive by and think it’s a driveway for the house in front ours. Nope! It was actually a really fun place to grow up. Like an extended family!
ANYway, dinner was goo-oo-ood.
Quinoa salad a la me:
As with many of my grain salads, I just kind of threw stuff together. But this one came out quite well!
-Cook one cup of quinoa (just follow the directions on the container – I used Bob’s Red Mill.). When it’s done, put it in your salad bowl.
-Rinse one can of black beans and throw in your salad bowl.
-Boil a couple ears of corn (or grill, if they’re still in the husk!). Cut it off the cob and throw it in the bowl.
-Add chopped grape tomatoes, grilled baby bell peppers, fresh cilantro.
-Saute a clove or two of garlic in a little olive oil and add it to the mix.
-For the dressing, I mixed lime juice, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. I seasoned it with garlic salt, a little pepper, chili pepper, ginger, curry, and cumin. 
Feel free to add whatever veggies to this you want, and experiment with spices. 
It will be better the next day, after all the flavors have melded together more. I also prefer these things chilled, so try to make it early and keep it in the fridge for a while before serving (this doesn’t always happen…no biggie!)
It was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself! I looove grain salads (hence the WF’s salad bar obsession). I love that you can do so many different things – they never have to be the same twice!
Our neighbor made these shrimp pizzettas:
The green one has cheese and fresh pesto (!!!), and the other is a “shrimp scampi” pizza, a little creamy with diced tomatoes and cheese. Yum yum yum!
My dad made some delicious, juicy BBQ chicken, but it paled in comparison to the main attraction:
LOBSTAH!
Yup, I’m a hardcore Boston chick – love me some of this shellfish. So good. I don’t even need the drawn butter…just a hefty tail, and maybe a little claw meat. One of the main reasons I could never go totally vegetarian. Just.so.delicious.
This beautiful meal was eaten under the [manmade] stars (aka, their table umbrella):
with a little canine accompaniment:
She likes lobster too. And chicken, and pizza, and appetizers, and…well, pretty much anything we eat. She finds it very upsetting when she is not included in the enjoying of the food. And she makes this known. But how can you resist that face????
[Answer: You can't. She very happily accepted chicken bites from the table, and a couple crackers. Spoiled rotten.]
Ok, I have a confession: this week happened to be a certain time of the month in which I eat everything that passes my nose with very little thought as to whether I really want/need it. It’s quite frustrating after a while, but after I accept that my hormones must sometimes be catered to and up the exercise a bit, I feel better. So, this week is Project: Conscious Eating. I know how eat intuitively, despite it being much harder than it seems it should be, but I’m going to try harder. It just feels so much better when you east when you’re hungry and stop when you’re not. I feel like I was getting really good at it in Italy, but it got harder, as it always does, when I came home to a full-size refrigerator and an endless supply of cereal and snackage. It’s a new month, a new day, and it’s never too late to start. So, I’m starting. Wanna join me? GO TEAM!
Happy June!
~Namaste~

Restaurant Review: Gran Gusto

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What to do when you’ve just returned from a semester in Florence and are itching to go right back?
Go to one of the best Italian restaurants nearby.
Enter: Gran Gusto.
Located in Cambridge, Mass., Gran Gusto is owned and run by native Napolitani. Chef Giuseppe Castellano was generous enough to bring a taste of his home country to my home state, and boy am I grateful. Everything is homemade – from the focaccia slices brought in classy metal conical baskets, to the pasta and pizza, to the classic Italian dessert offerings. Oh, I was home!
After reading the menu and listening to our waiter (who spoke to me in Italian – I wanted to hug him!) list the specials with a certain flair that can only be described as veramente italiano, my parents each started out with a salad – and I stole plenty from each of their plates.
This is baby spinach, fresh asparages, roasted red peppers and a slice of what I am mostly sure was an aged pecorino (but might have been a good parmegiano reggiano…my tastebuds’ memory is failing me). It was all dressed up in a light oil-and-vinegar dressing and drizzled with a touch of balsamic. It was just lovely. The freshness and different flavors of the veggies, the sharp pungent taste of the cheese, and the sweetness of the balsamic was Italian simplicity at its finest. 
I should also mention the wine – my parents ordered a really nice red from Montalcino and gave me sips. YUM! Oh, I miss a glass of wine with dinner. It really makes the whole thing more satisfying.
For our entree, my parents and I ordered the same thing – boring, yes, but it sounded SO good!
Fresh fettuccine with morel mushrooms (some of the best funghi in the world), spinach, and baby squid called calamarelle. I heard squid and I was there! None of us were sorry, either. The pasta was perfectly al dente. The sweetness of the squid melded beautifully with the earthy mushrooms flavor, and I was just so happy. There’s just something about a wonderful plate of fresh pasta that gets me grinning every time.
No picture, but my brother ordered a pizza with ham, mushrooms, olives, artichokes, and the mandatory fresh tomato sauce and bufalo mozzarella. Though I’m quite sure no slice will ever top the pies we made in cooking class, this was as authentic as it gets. My dad said it really took him back to his childhood, when he could wander down to a pizza place that used the fresh tomato sauce and mozz. The boys at the table were quite satisfied :)
When dessert time rolled around, the words of my beloved cooking professor resonated in my head: “The true way to judge a restaurant is by its dessert list. The way the chef chooses to finish the meal is very important.”
Couldn’t agree more.
My brother went with the tiramisu – one of our mutual favorite desserts. The thing I love about tiramisu is that it’s always a little different every time I taste it. This was no exception. Though I still prefer our rendition, this was good with a thicker than usual layer of cocoa, giving it a really nice deep cocoa-y flavor. 
My parents, hankering for something lighter and fruity, went with the delizia limone:
A wonderfully light lemon sponge cake with a chilled lemon cream in the middle and a couple big fat slices of strawberries hiding!
I ended up helping them out a lot with this – I love that it was chilled! It turned the tart lemon, sweet cream and airy cake into a light lemony cloud of dessert perfection. And the strawberry slices in the middle were like finding buried treasure!
If you live anywhere in the vicinity of Cambridge and have a hankering for bell’ Italia, or even just want to brush up on your Italian language skills, take a trip to Gran Gusto. It certainly helped this homesick Florence-sick chick!
~Namaste~

The Case of “The Lasts”

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Ugh, I hate this part. You know, the one where everything you do is “the last.” Last load of laundry in our crazy machine [it secretly wishes it were a rocket ship - you should hear it on spin cycle). Last shopping trip in the market. Last time I have to climb the never-ending stairs to Italian class...ok, maybe I don't hate every part. Those stairs at 8 in the morning were not exactly a treat.
After I got my grade on my Italian final - all good :) - I came home for some overnight oats!
Before you go to bed, put oats in a bowl and pour an equal amount of liquid (I'm a fan of almond milk) over them, and maybe add a dash of cinnamon. Let them sleep in the refigerator and when you are both awake, the oats will have absorbed the liquid and be soft - voila, no-cook oatmeal!

(There are different ways of preparing them; some people add more stuff to it the night before. That's why they're so fun - lots of different ways to experiment!)
Before...
After: all mixed up with some vanilla yogurt.
This was exceptionally good today - it tasted like snickerdoodle cookie dough! The perfect way to prepare for my cooking practical, the second half of my final for that class where we actually have to cook for and be judged by our professor.
We set his table up all pretty:
We were split up into teams to tackle 3 courses of 4 dishes.
Course 1: BREAD
Not just bread - stuffed focaccia and pizza.
This was the focaccia we made a couple weeks ago for our "green class." It's amazing, and this time it was even better. The spinach is sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic to add flavor and it worked - the spinach-garlic combo sang through the bread. The mozzarella (use fresh buffala mozzarella - it's a little fattier but you can use less to get a powerful punch of flavor) was perfectly stretchy, and the dough was juuuust dense enough to hold up it's filling but fluffy enough to be like eating yummy, doughy, pillows. 
Another team made pizza margherita - tomatoes, mozzarella, basil. This was very probably the.best.pizza. I've ever had. The flavors was perfectly balanced and so fresh. The crust was the right thickness - not cracker like but not like you were getting more crust than ingredients in your mouth at once either. The sauteed the tomatoes in garlic and olive before topping the dough to bake - this is essential for non-soggy pizza, because if you just throw the raw ingredients on the top, the water (that makes up most of the veggie) will release and make your pizza WAY to heavy to eat. The cheese was golden but not gummy or too crispy and with the basil was SO good. Yup, will be making this when I come home.
Next course: Pear-filled ravioli in a walnut-herb sauce with pecorino.
PEAR!
This was very tasty. The pasta was a little undercooked, but I actually like overly-al dente pasta (yes, I'm odd). I wish the pear had been blended with the pecorino and then filled, the ravioli with just chopped pear felt a little sparse to me. But the walnut sauce was SO good - walnuts, parsley, and basil. You couldn't really taste the walnuts, at least not unless you looked for it, but that is actually kind of the goal. Like pesto - it's not ALL about the pine nuts that you add to it, but if you took them out you would know. It really did work well the sweetness of the pears. As my professor commented - "amazing".
Dessert: MY TEAM!
[Thanks again blogger for the sideways picture. It's not funny anymore.] 
Crema di amaretti – I also made it here.
Gosh, I love pretty food.
The filling is very similar to tiramisu – we used the double boiler method to kill any salmonella ickiness in the eggs as we beat the. Here’s what we did: Separate the whites from the yolks of your eggs (it’s one egg for every 2 people you are serving). Get your double -boiler going; when the water is simmering (NOT full-on boiling!), use a hand-mixer (or one of those fancy-schmancy Kitchen Aid mixers that I can only dream about owning) beat the yolks with cane sugar (tablespoons=number of eggs used) until it’s nice and creamy. Set it aside to cool. Get your water a-simmerin’ again, and repeat the process with egg whites (no sugar) until they form stiff peaks. Not sure what that means? I didn’t either. Get them to the point where if you turn the bowl upside down, the egg whites don’t move (and please use a second bowl underneath when testing this…). Let those cool as well. Fold in marscapone cheese with yolk-sugar mixture gently. Then add the egg whites. 
This is where I added a couple teaspoons of cinnamon. I remember thinking it would be good the first time we made it, and I wanted to do it for the final. My teacher loved it! Yay! Nothing like feeling innovative in the kitchen to make me smile:)
Now, look at the consistency you have. You want something tiramisu-filling-like, very light and creamy. We made the call to add a liiiiittle bit of whipping cream (whipped with a little lemon juice and a pinch of salt to get it fluffy!), and that really made a huge difference. We used about 125 grams of cream, and we were making for 14 people – so you really don’t need much.
To plate, dip two amaretti cookies (they’re like little almond biscuits, I will have to consciously search for them in the States when I come home – I’ll keep you updated!) in strong coffee mixed with just a few drops of milk and sugar. Sprinkle the top with coffee (instant here is fine), chocolate chips and cocoa powder. Voila! better-than-tiramisu goodness.
Our professor’s comment? “Delizioso!”
He gave me a big hug when I left and that was when this whole “I’m actually leaving” business hit me. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! DON’T MAKE ME GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
SO, after class I wandered over to the Ponte Vecchio to do some window shopping. I have been searching for a necklace with the Florentine fleur-de-lis crest, and I knew if I would find it anywhere, that’s where it would be. The Ponte Vecchio is known for its jewlery, specifically marble and gold. Honestly, I really can’t stand gold, but I was still hopeful. It was looking pretty dim at first; all I could find were charms the size of my pinky fingernail at the low, low price of 122 euro – which is, what, maybe 150 dollars? Ugh. I was feeling like giving up, when I crossed to the other side and found it.
Yay! 6 euro, and I already have a chain :) Ain’t it perty?
For the first time this week, the sun was out! I have been planning on returning to Piazzale Michelangiolo to get some better pictures because a) the day we went it was cloudy, b) I have a new camera!!, and c) the combination of my carberrific lunch + the joy of finding my jewelry left me with some newfound energy to burn!
The walk there is lovely.
[Ponte Vecchio]
Remember the funky trees?
It’s quite a hike to get there…
And just when you think it’s over…
But it’s worth it.
Even though I’ve only been here for 4 teeny months, I still call it ‘mine.’ Not that it only belongs to me; more in the way that it has made such an impact on me. It’s home.
Dinner tonight was long-anticipated. We planned to go to Cibreino – “the poor man’s Cibreo.” Cibreo is one of the most important (and most expensive) restaurants in Florence. The chef is world-reknowned for his take on Italian food. Simply put, it’s a big deal.
Cibreino is a little trattoria around the corner from Cibreo that offers a limited menu for a MUCH smaller price. Same kitchen – fewer options.
I was excited.
We got there at 7, when it opens, and all breathed sighs of relief when there was a table for 4 ready and waiting. The trattoria is a very small room with only 8 or so tables, so we were a little worried. It was also mostly tourists – and we were treated as such, which was a little annoying but to be expected considering the fame of this place.
After much debate and some help from our very entertaining waiter, I ordered:
It was a veggie-fish soup. Very well spiced and I loved the fish that was in it – no idea what it was called, a kind of white fish that looked a little bit like tuna (different taste though). It was a little brothy for me, but it was so well-seasoned that it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of it. They also brought us a “surprise” bowl of the minestra di pane - bread soup – that is very similar to ribollita. That was awesome – tasted just like Thanksgiving stuffing! Ah, the wonders of sage.
At the end of our class today, my cooking professor was talking about going to restaurants. He said the best way to judge a restaurant is by its appetizers and dessert – how they start and end a meal. He emphasized the great importance of dessert and ending a meal on a sweet note, because there’s always room for sweet! (You understand now why I enjoyed this class so much?) I was feeling inspired and so Alaina and I split the flourless chocolate cake.
Best. Decision. Ever.
This was one of the best chocolate cakes EVER. Very thin but SO dense and moist. I could have eaten an entire cake’s worth of it. But, aside from the phenomenal flavor, I also appreciated the portion size – it was a perfect dessert. Wonderful taste but not overwhelmingly huge so as to make you waddle out of the restaurant. Well done, Cibreino. Well done.
What fabulous plans do we have on our last day in Firenze? Pack, pack, pack – print boarding passes – and then pack some more. Ah, the glamour of life abroad.
And I loved every second.
~Namaste~

Rain, Rain, Vattene!

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Monday was a generally unpleasant day, with one notable exception…
Prosciutto, pecorino, and arugula. Worth staying awake through my classes for.
That, however, was an exceptionally difficult task considering we got back to Florence via taxi from Pisa at 2:30. More than once I had to physically struggle to keep my eyelids up. 
But enough of my whining. THE END IS NEAR!!! It is our last week of classes, then exams and then home! I’m still in a state of semi-denial about this whole’ leaving Florence’ situation. Let’s not talk about it.
Let’s talk about oats!
Mmm, chocolate-pineapple oats to be exact. Maybe it sounds weird, but really it makes sense – every chocolate fountain I’ve encountered is usually accompanied by strawberries, pound cake chunks, and pineapple! If you haven’t tried this combo, you must – whip out that fondue pot collecting dust in your basement and get to it! Heck, just nuke some chocolate chips in a bowl and dip some pineapple in there. I am a chocolate+fruit fiend. Especially in terms of gelato combos…mmmmm….
It has yet to cease raining here since we’ve returned from our Spanish vacation. We’re thinking Florence is sad we’re leaving soon. Yup, that’s definitely it.
Last night was our LAST Ethnic Tuesday! Che peccato! And what better way to do up our last one than with…pizza?
We actually discussed the interesting nature of pizza recently in my Food & Culture class. It has become an “archetype food,” meaning a food with no specific identity and neutral characteristics. Think about it – we have Thai Chicken pizza, Hawaiian pizza, Mexican pizza…it crosses every ethnic boundary line! So really, it’s the perfect choice for our final Ethnic Tuesday. It covers every ground!
We’ve had Gusta Pizza on the list for a while (and yes, I have an actual Excel spreadsheet of restaurants to go to) because it is rumored to be the best pizza in Florence. That certainly sounds like a challenge made for the ladies of The Palace! It was pouring down rain, and the restaurant was across the Arno – but we do not let Mother Nature stand in the way of pizza. We called a cab. Totally worth it.
There are only 7 different pizzas made (and a couple daily specials), which we all agreed was kind of nice – sometimes looong menus are just too overwhelming! After much debate, I went with the Napoli – tomato, mozzarella, capers, and anchovies. It was the anchovies that did it – Italy has made me an addict ;)
Melty mozzarella deliciousness :)
It was saltier than I would have liked – and before you say it, yes I know anchovies are capers are salty, but actually the anchovies I’ve had here haven’t been overwhelmingly so. I still enjoyed it. How can you tell? I ate the entire thing. Crust and all. Yes, it was that good. And I don’t regret a single bite.
Today the weather matched our mood…our LAST Wednesday lunch at Sergio’s!!! WAAAAAH!!
Alaina’s parents are coming next week and Alaina is taking them there on Monday for lunch and I’m tagging along (for blatantly obvious reasons), so it’s not our true last lunch there, but it is the end of our Wednesday lunch date tradition, and that is sad. We all sat around with our pasta e fagioli with mournful looks on our faces between bites.
From this…
To this. No better tribute could be paid than that of an empty plate.
Tonight, LdM is hosting a farewell sit-down dinner for us – and where free food beckons, we follow. Until then, I’m getting my study on for the written part of my cooking final tomorrow. Antioxidants, phytochemicals, and homocysteine, oh my!
~Namaste~

Puffy Pizza and Planes

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Gah, no update in so long! Didja miss me? Barcelona was SO FUN!!! But more on that later. When we last left Gillianasana…
I’ll be honest, Thursday did not begin well. You may remember my Easter morning surprise when I woke up to find my face swollen to 10 times its normal size. I suspect it’s either a reaction to Italian mosquitoes or something else like bed bugs….EW. Whatever it is, it got me again, and my eyes were swollen shut. As in, I could barely see to walk around the apartment. Thank goodness I had one Italian class left that I could miss. I have pictures…but I’ll spare you. I’d hate to spoil anyone’s appetite.
What upset me most about this little obstacle was that not only was today my last cooking class (*tear*), but it was the class focused on my true carb love, bread. And not just any bread….pizza dough!!!! Yes, today we made pizza from scratch. I was not about to miss this, swollen eyes or not. By the time class rolled around it had gone done a little, so I threw on my big sunglasses and was out the door. 
We all split up into 5 groups – 4 pizzas and 1 dessert. My group went with a veggie pizza – eggplant, zucchini, and mozzarella with garlic and tomato sauce. It was fantastically easy, too – my family better be ready for some pizza a la ME!
We started with the basic bread recipe – flour, water, yeast, a little salt and a pinch of sugar. *Tip*: you always use half the amount of flour for the water. Like, if you have 300 grams of flour, you use 150 ml of water. You melt the yeast in the water first and add the pinch of sugar – the sugar helps activate the yeast to move things along quicker. Mix the flour and salt together and form what I call the flour volcano – bascially make a hole in the middle of the flour pile so the flour forms a kind of wall . Pour some of the water/yeast mixture into the hole and start gently working them together – we used a fork to do this, kind of making a whipping/beating motion. Eventually it will be juuust well-mixed enough to start kneading with your hands.  Add a little olive oil, white wine, and vinegar as you knead to keep the bread from drying out. After about 10 minutes, form the dough into a ball and make an X in the top; let it rest for about 2 more minutes, then work it a liiittle bit more, then reform the ball, remark the X, and let it rest again under a damp paper towel for about 10 minutes. When your 10 minutes are up, roll it out with a rolling pin on both sides – it will probably be a funky shape, not a perfect circle. Personally, I think that makes it more interesting. Just sayin.
For veggie pizzas, the veggies MUST be sauteed at least a little before being put on the pizza and baked. Veggies are mostly made of water, and if you throw em on there raw, they will release their water onto the pizza while baking and the end result is heavy and very hard to eat – no wimpy pizzas!!! We sauteed our eggplant and zucchini in some olive oil and garlic (hard to go wrong with that combo). For the sauce, we just used pureed tomatoes and heated it up, adding a little (what else?) olive oil. Ladel it in small amount in the middle of the rolled out pizza dough and swirl it around with the bottom of the ladel. Repeat this just until it’s covered – don’t oversauce! I promise, there will be enough, even if you like sauce. Just put the ladel down.
Add your sauteed veggies and cheeeeeeese:
And throw it in the oven for baby and me about 20 minutes-ish at 215 Celsius, about 415 degrees Fahrenheit. E voila!
Have you ever seen such a beautiful sight?
Ours was my favorite I think. The crust was the perfect thick/thinness, there was just enough sauce, not too much cheese and the veggies gave texture and taste that made this probably some of the best pizza ever.
Another group made a Margherita pizza, which is fresh tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. I liked it, but I think I prefer tomato sauce to straight tomatoes.
Then there was a [mostly] white pizza with mozzarella, parmesan, prosciutto and I believe mushrooms. I LOVE parmesan on pizza. It gives it such a good bite. This was probably my second fave.
The last group topped theirs with potatoes and rosemary. I liked it, but I didn’t love it; the textures of the bread and potatoes didn’t work as well together for me. I would rather have them separate, I suppose. 
We kept it simple with dessert – stuffed peaches. They’re finally in season here, and they were cut open, de-pitted and stuffed with a mixture of chopped almonds, brown sugar, egg yolk, cocoa powder
It was a very tasty little bite. The peaches were a little too underripe I think, but the filling was AWESOME. Like a really good biscotti – crumbly, sweet, almondy. Would actually be really good on oatmeal, methinks…
And no pizza is complete without wine, right? A very light white. My puffy self was grateful.
[I kept my sunglasses on the entire class. I'm sure everyone thinks I'm insane. Don't care.]
After that, it was a mad rush to GET OUT of the house and get our butts to Barcelona!! My roommate from school is studying there this semester and I was soo excited to see her :) After that the day started getting better (even though the puffiness didn’t fully reside until late the next day…eek). I won’t go into details about the rest of my Thursday, because, um, OY VEH. 
Barcelona – get ready. The ladies of The Palace are coming.
~Namaste~

A Very Unique Easter

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Buona Pasqua…err, 2 days late! The internet has been a serious downer, but I can only get so low before I remember I’m living in Florence. That makes everything so much better.
Easter was…certainly unique. Oh, where to begin. 
I woke up and knew something was off. My head was pounding and I just felt weird. I figured out the problem pretty quickly…
No, I did not get beaten up in the middle of the night. Well, actually, I guess I kind of did…by a MOSQUITO. Mosquitoes are bad all year round in Florence, and the one buzzing around our room last night got me good. Really good. 
I had planned on doing some Easter morning yoga, but I was a little distracted, for obvious reasons. I needed chocolate, and I needed it immediately. Lucky for me, chocolate is how Italians celebrate Easter, in the form of eggs:
All wrapped up perty!

Vestri, a wonderful chocolate company here in Firenze (with excellent gelato!)
300 grams of dark chocolate. Yep, this helped the puffy-face situation.
For comparison ;)
I sought further consolation in my good ole stand-by – oats!
I used raisins for the first time in my oats – I loved it! Added a really nice sweetness.
I also added blackberries and strawberries my roommate bought for pancakes. I LOVE berries in my oats, but they’re not quite in season and Italians are big on eating on in-season fruits, so they’re not as easy to find. Don’t worry – come summer, you will see a LOT of berrylicious oat bowls around here!
Raisins, berries, cinnamon, oh my!
The puffiness slowly receded throughout the day, but I was still quite comical-looking when we ventured out into the torrential downpour for a nice Easter dinner. We went to Dante’s, recommended by many students because they offer free, unlimited wine. And puffy face + pouring rain = definitely a good day for wine. 
I ordered my first pizza in Italy!
Foccaccia al salmone
Suuuper thin foccaccia (very much like naan) with mozzarella, tomatoes, arugula, and smoked salmon. Basically, the perfect bagel, with mozzarella instead of cream cheese and a different carb on the bottom. Smoked salmon + arugula is a match made in heaven.
I pretty much demolished this massive pizza, but the thinness of the crust made it lighter than it looked. The wine was nice too…but then they brought a second bottle. And then a free shot of limoncello. And then I was a liiiiittle bit tipsy.
We gave up on the idea of walking home when we looked outside and it was raining even harder, so we called a cab. Alaina generously made a crostata for our dessert that was awaiting us patiently in the refrigerator:
So perty! And quite yummy also!
However, Alaina got upset that Sam and I ate “all” of the fruit (her accusation, not my admission), and things escalated quite quickly into a full-out berry/crostata WAR. Berries in our hair, on the floor, on our clothes, and basically every other surface in our apartment was at some point or other covered in berry juice. True, not so fun to clean up…but totally worth it.
Our Easter Monday was pretty uneventful. Slept in, did a bit of shopping, and sent angry vibes to Mother Nature for not giving us spring weather. I did make a pretty sweet bowl of oats though:
KINDEREGG OATS!!!
If you have never had a Kinderegg before, please find one now. They look like this:
Made in Germany, they are milk chocolate.white chocolate on the inside with a little toy inside.
When I was little, I had several au pairs and two of them were from Germany (in fact, one of them is pregnant with twins!! SO exciting!!! Hi Tina!!) and they gave these to me and my brother a bunch – SO fun. They are huge in Europe and one of my roommates here has discovered them and is full-on addicted, and so she bought us each one for Easter. My first thought when I saw it was to add it to oats. We all have our addictions, I suppose.
So, there you have it. My Easter in Florence. Crazy, weird…and definitely one-of-a-kind.