I have arrived safe and sound. And with internet!

Amelioration

The bags are packed. Goodbyes said. Boarding pass printed. Tears shed.

This is the day that I left for Paris.

Thank you for reading thus far, but the adventure is just beginning!

By this time tomorrow I shall write to you from Paris.

Good bye and hello. Le Cordon Bleu here I come!!!

My Favorite Food Things - Day #30 - Eggs

For my final post in the favorite food things series – I must mention eggs. I would be doing my heritage an in justice if I didn’t.

For four generations my family has been in the egg business. With over a million birds, it’s an understatement to say, “I love eggs!”

I am proud to have been apart of this Fassio Family tradition for the past 5 years. Eggs are in my bones, and always will be.

The egg industry has taught me a ‘salt-of-the-earth’ approach to cooking. The closer a chef is to the source, the better the final dish. Guaranteed. My ingredient-choosing-style is based on this. If I can’t grow or raise the products that I use – I try my best to know the family that does.

Being an egg farmer has also taught me respect and appreciation for all living things. The circle of life is a beautiful thing.

While I have chosen to leave the egg industry as a profession – my foundation as an egg farmer will forever be. As I develop my culinary capabilities you will see eggs, and farming, woven throughout.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #29 - Fat

Put one tablespoon olive oil with one tablespoon butter in a sauté pan. Heat. Add your next ingredients. Cook.

I love this combination of olive oil and butter.

A higher temperature will be reached with the addition of olive oil than with just plain butter – allowing you to reach better sautéing capabilities. The oil will also keep the butter from burning. And the butter, of course, adds a fantastic flavor.

As for the butter, make sure it is unsalted. This allows you to add the desired amount of salt - keeping your dishes from becoming too salty.

Let’s not forget, by cutting the butter with olive oil, you also cut the saturated fat – thus making a healthier choice.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #28 - Dislikes

In my thirty years there has only been one thing that I had to spit out. Only one taste that I couldn’t stomach – natto.

Natto is a Japanese dish made with fermented soybeans. The fermentation process makes the soybeans taste rancid with disgusting bacteria. Also, fermentation makes the soybeans incredibly sticky. Eating natto, which traditionally is accompanied by white rice, is an acquired practice. The stickiness makes it almost impossible to break the clinging strings that connect your chopsticks to the bowl. Check it out.



I’m not sure what turned my stomach first; the smell, taste, or frustration of this dish, but I can never go back. Since I was in Japan when I tried natto for the first (and only) time, I like to think that it can’t get any better – so why try again?

Yuk! Never again.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #27 - Posts

Here is a short-list of my favorite posts.

http://anthonyfassio.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-husband-james.html

http://anthonyfassio.blogspot.com/2009/10/search-for-my-white-coat.html

http://anthonyfassio.blogspot.com/2009/11/french-tutor.html

http://anthonyfassio.blogspot.com/2009/11/music-to-learn-by.html

http://anthonyfassio.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-favorite-food-things-day-22-fresh.html

My Favorite Food Things - Day #26 - Holiday Tradition

For as long as I can remember my mother has made this recipe during the holidays. This bread is so simple, yet full of flavor. The secret? Baby food!

Mom’s Plum Bread

2 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 small jars of plum baby food
7 small loaf pans
Butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter loaf pans. Sift dry ingredients. Make a well in the center, add rest of ingredients. Mix well with spoon or rubber spatula. Fill loaf pans ¾ full and bake for 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #25 - Bread

As an Italian, whenever I am sitting down to a meal you can bet that I’ll have a piece of bread in my left hand. It’s just how you eat in my family.

So what is my favorite type of bread? I am not sure on the specific name, but I do know what it looks and tastes like.

Crusty outer layer – and I mean crusty. Hard as can be. The type of layer that just explodes with crumbs when you bite into it (and often scraps the roof of your mouth). A hint of salt and an overwhelming flavor of ‘bread.’

Soft and fluffy center. So airy that if you roll it between your fingers it reverts back to dough. Just waiting to sop up any sauce, drippings, or juices that may have escaped onto the plate. Sometimes a bit of tang from sour cream and other times only a butter flavor prevails.

I have seen the Italians, the French, the Swiss, and even the Mexicans bake such bread. Luckily, there is a lot of this bread out there – just waiting for my left hand.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #24 - Nuts

There is something about this nut that says – holiday season – to me.

One bite and I can hear Christmas carols in my head, I feel that blizzard coziness throughout my body, and the smell of pine wafts through my nostrils.

I am not sure how the association with the holiday season came to be. Perhaps it was my Italian grandmother’s cookies which were made with this nut – a Piedmontese staple. Or maybe the association is from my traditional New Year’s Eve Chocolate Nutella tart. This nut is also more abundant in the winter months, possibly creating the link.

The outer shell tends to be bitter and is often removed when used for cooking. A small, round, crisp, nut is left. A flavor that is unique and potent. Raw it tastes like the grassy fields that it was harvested from. Roasting brings out a burnt butter-like flavor. Used in confections it develops a layered flavor.

I love this nut anyway I can get it. Raw in a nut bowl for snacking. Slightly toasted in a salad with chèvre. Finely chopped and crusted on a leg of lamb. Mixed with melted butter and formed into a crust. And, of course, mixed with chocolate or coffee for a heavenly flavor unique only to the hazelnut.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #23 - Fruit

Berries. Need I say more?

My Favorite Food Things - Day #22 - Fresh Ingredient

My childhood home was surrounded by 50 acres of corn and tomato fields.

When it comes to these two items, my mother would say that there is nothing better than fresh corn on the cob. A fresh tomato however, wins my heart.

As a child, I would run out to the tomato fields to be met with that thick aroma of the vines. A pale pinkish-red would stain the bottoms of my shoes from trampling on those that fell to the dirt. And my mouth would water with anticipation.

OH! There was nothing better than picking a plump tomato from the vine and biting into it, eating it like an apple. The fruit’s juice trickling down my face. My taste buds dancing with joy as the tomato flavor exploded in my mouth. A slight sugar rush from the tender sweetness. And finally the satisfaction of looking up from my tomato juice drenched hands to see acres and acres of more tomatoes just waiting to be consumed, to be consumed all by me. So I would pick a second, then a third, and a fourth, and when I would think that I just can’t eat any faster, I would fall deeply ill. So full from tomatoes that it seemed as though that my inners would burst from the fruit’s acidity. I would fall to my rear, legs flanked out in front of me on either side allowing room for my belly to sag ever so gently. And I would giggle. I would giggle with pure happiness. That happiness that one feels when they’ve reached rapture. Then I would pick one more tomato and slowly devour it…giggling all the way.

Oh, the joy - the pure, pure joy - of a freshly picked, ripe tomato.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #21 - Dairy

Crème fraîche is my favorite dairy product.

Crème fraîche, French for fresh cream, is similar to sour cream but with a higher fat content. Crème fraîche contains about 30% fat whereas sour cream is usually around 10%. That’s not entirely why I like it so much – although the fat sure is tasty. I prefer crème fraîche because it won’t curdle when heated, unlike sour cream. Therefore making it perfect for finishing sauces.

Crème fraîche also has a less tangy flavor than sour cream which I like because it puts more of the flavor control back into my hands. (Doesn’t that sound like a controlling chef thing to say?!!?)

As for the other dairy contestants; heavy cream, milk, butter, yogurt, cream cheese, et al., I like them too. And as said before, they all have their proper place and usage in my kitchen.

Wonder how all these dairy products come to be? Here is a great chart showing how, when, and with what fat content they manifest. Click on it to make it more readable.

Published Articles

A friend suggested last night at one of my catering gigs that I should have links to all my published articles on this blog. So check it out! There is a box on the right with all of my work. Take some time to read through. Enjoy!

My Favorite Food Things - Day #20 - Julia Child Moment

Everyone loves Julia Child. This is my favorite Julia episode.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #19 - Cheese

Call me a fromage-phile, or a caseophile, or plainly, a cheese-lover.

I will take any type of cheese. In any form. At any meal. With any ingredient. Pick a favorite though? Not going to happen.

If you can’t tell by now – I have a hard committing to a favorite item. It’s not because I lack the ability to make decisions. No, it’s because I love food so much, and because different ingredients are better in different dishes.

Let’s take cheese for example. Raclette would only be satisfying with the cheese of its namesake. Raclette is a Swiss dish made from raclette cheese in which you scrape slightly melted cheese from a communal wheel onto bread and other accoutrements. This just wouldn’t be good with say, stilton or American cheddar.

Now put some pears, walnuts, and a fruity vinaigrette along with the stilton and you’ve got a rockin’ salad. Likewise, melt the American cheddar over some cooked macaroni and you’ve got yourself a tasty mac n’ cheese dish. Substitute other cheeses for these and the result will be less than desirable.

So, with that…here are my current favorite cheeses (this list changes on almost a daily basis).

Colston Bassett Stilton
L’edel de Cleron
Zamorano
Pimentino
Cornish Yarg
Morbier
Pierre Robert
Mont St. Francis
Sainte-maure de Touraine
Roquefort
Any variety of chèvre

My Favorite Food Things - Day #18 - Protein

Duck - if it’s on the menu.

Veal – if my father is coming for dinner. (Pork for Mom)

Lamb – if I am cooking.

Eggs – if there is a vegetarian in the house.

Every protein has a time and place on any table. I love the many different methods of cooking duck; confit, pan-seared, or a l’orange. It is always fun for me to order duck at restaurants. Inevitability, the duck will be prepared in an innovative way – always worth noting.

My father is a die-hard osso bucco fan. Osso bucco is a Milanese dish typically made with veal shank, although lamb shank is a frequent substitute. Regardless the time of year, event, or meal – when you ask my father he will always say, “Osso bucco!” And the exclamation is no exaggeration.

We have a little joke in my family about what Mom will order at a restaurant. God bless her, she will always pick up a menu and carefully consider each item. The joke is, of course, that without fail, she will order the pork.

Lamb is one of those proteins that you either love or hate. I love lamb. Perhaps it’s my Greek coming out, I don’t know. I love lamb burgers, lamb chops with balsamic vinegar, but my favorite is braised lamb. Mmmmm…take a nice leg of lamb (or as an homage to my father use a shank) pour a bottle of Bordeaux wine in the pan, fill the sides with Chipolino onions, fennel, and fresh rosemary and let the dish bake at low heat for hours upon hours. Devine peace. Scrumptious!

For all the vegetarians out there - fear not! Eggs are a super source of protein - not to mention they are jam-packed with a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Bottom line is that just like poison – everyone picks their favorite!

My Favorite Food Things - Day #17 - Vegetables

I haven’t met a vegetable that I don’t like. I prefer my vegetables either roasted or in some sort of a medley – like a gratin or hash. But, I will take also take them steamed, sautéed, mashed, baked, or even raw.

My all time favorite vegetable however is fennel. Oh, but I do love asparagus. Oh, oh and there is nothing like fresh peas in the summertime. How can I leave off roasted Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli? I would be doing myself an injustice if I didn’t write about how much I adore onions and potatoes…and sweet potatoes…and turnips. And there is fresh corn on the cob. Raw celery root. And buttered carrots.

Ok, in all seriousness, my favorite vegetable truly is fennel. Roasted with a bit of parmesan. Sautéed and added to mashed potatoes. Baked in lasagna. Pickled with some winter pate. No matter the preparation, fennel will always steal my heart.

(By the way my husband is working on becoming a dietician and this post should make him very happy)

My Favorite Food Things - Day #16 - Salt

Celtic. Table. Coarse. Sea. Kosher. Fleur de. Iodized.

Who knew there were so many varieties of salt?

There is a small glass bowl - just big enough for my fingers to plunge into - that sits next to my range. As you may have guessed, this is the bowl that the majority of my saline seasoning comes from. I use this bowl so often that I don’t bother keeping the lid on. This bowl is always full of Kosher salt, my favorite variety. It is also the saltiest tasting of all the salts which means you tend to use less.

When it comes to baking I stick with the traditional table salt. Table salt is the most refined of all the types. I say I use this for baking not because I like the taste or performance better, but because most baking recipes call for table salt. And for those that have added an inaccurate amount of salt to a baking recipe know that disaster is sure to happen. So I mainly use table salt in baking simply out of fear!

Occasionally I will use the coarse variety, the largest of typical cooking salts, when I am looking for that nice salty crunch.

Fleur de sel, flour of salt, is a hand-harvested salt and varies in flavor, color, and texture from region to region. This is a quick dissolving salt and is best used right before serving rather than in the cooking process. I tend to use fleur de sel on dishes that benefit from the salty taste – like salads, pork roasts, or chocolate desserts.

Check out this awesome reference website for a complete list with explanation. I am sure they wouldn’t mind if you also bought a few jars while you were looking around.

http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_gourmet_reference.asp

My Favorite Food Things - Day #15 - Apparatus

My most prized kitchen element (next to my knives, of course) is my food processor.

When I am cooking a meal I often get annoyed with the amount of times I need to hand-wash my Cuisinart, my food processor brand of choice. I use this item more than anything else in the kitchen.

This apparatus is running whether I am making pasta dough, soups, vinaigrettes, bread crumbs, salad dressing, or shaved Brussels sprouts.

What is your most prized kitchen element?

My Favorite Food Things - Day #14 - Dinner Party Music

Brilliant Food + The Right Mix of People + Music = Dinner Party.

Most people focus on the first two elements of this equation. Often neglecting or “slap together” the play list for a dinner party.

I am going to step out of my chef role for this post and chat about music. Well, I am going to chat about music for a dinner party – I don’t otherwise get along with pop culture.

I love to play Les Nubians during my dinner parties. The music is hip/urban without being vulgar. Sophisticated without being boring. And gentle enough without being one-dimensional.

This is my favorite Les Nubians song, J'veux D'la Musique – and how appropriate, en français!

My Favorite Food Things - Day #13 - Ranges and Ovens

I prefer gas ranges over electric.

A gas range will better distribute the heat and make for more uniform food. They also produce a wider range of temperature than electric. Low enough for that slight boil when making things like fumet or confit. High enough for that flash pan fry on items like asparagus and prawns seafood.

Not only will gas give you lower and higher temperatures than electric, it will also give you instant control of the heat. This is probably the best attribute of gas ranges. Once you turn the dial on, the heat is at the desired temperature – no need to wait for it to warm up. Likewise when you turn the dial off, the heat is instantly off.

Now when it comes to ovens, I am not sure. Older gas oven technology was poor - often having cold spots in the oven. Gas ovens also used to have no or limited broiling capabilities. From what I hear gas ranges have dramatically improved over the years. Cold spots and an inadequate broiler are no longer the case. Is that true? Perhaps you can give me some guidance on this one!??!

If we were to talk about brand, we would be talking about Viking and Wolf. My dream is to have a home kitchen stalked with these brands. Viking is probably the more well know of the two, but not necessarily the best.

Viking has long been known for its high standard of quality and performance. Viking, American made and owned, has also been known for its high price. Additionally, repairs with Viking can be extreme and sometimes burdensome.

Wolf, also an American company, has been known for the quality with a slightly smaller price tag. Wolf also owns Sub-Zero, which is the best refrigerator. So, often you can get a nice kitchen ‘package’ with a Wolf range and oven, and a Sub-Zero refrigerator.

I will also admit that I do not know much about European or Japanese manufacturers of ranges and ovens. Maybe my fellow international readers can add some of their two cents to this post, helping us all out.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #12 - Pots and Pans

Stick? Or non-stick?

That is the question.

I prefer ‘stick.’ There are two types of ‘stick’ pans that should be in every kitchen, stainless steel, SS, and cast iron.

Stainless steel will cook uniformly (although not as well as copper), can handle high temperatures, and are easy to care for. The thinness of SS helps to transfer heat quickly from to the sides of the pan and into the food you are cooking. Perfect for sauces.

Other metals like copper and aluminum are much more expensive and react with the food leaving it with a metal-ly flavor. If money is no object however, then a copper pan lined with stainless steel is the king.

Cast iron skillets retain heat and are best for slow cooking and browning. The only disadvantage is that these tend to be very heavy and often burdensome for some chefs. A great cast iron skillet requires, “seasoning,” a process of coating the bottom with shortening and baking at high temperatures. This will create a natural, ‘non-stick’ type of surface. To maintain this surface the pan needs to be seasoned often.

Non-stick pans need to be taken care of with a lot of attention – no metal spoons and don’t wash with certain chemicals or anything abrasive. While non-stick surfaces use less oil and make clean up faster there are still concerns of how it’s manufactured.

Non-stick pans are protected with Teflon (PTFE) which will invariably begin to flake off into your food. Once the PTFE begins to flake the pan will need to be replaced, which becomes costly over time. And the verdict is still out on the hazards of consuming PTFE.

So my style is to use a stainless steel pan with enough oil or a well seasoned cast iron skillet and to cook until my heart’s content – PTFE worry free.

My Favorite Food Things - Day #11 - Meal Style

My idea of a good meal consists of 3 to 4 hours, 10 plus small portioned courses, great company, and of course a comfortable dining table.

This is also my style of cooking. I much prefer small plates which represent the complete spectrum of the chef’s ability.

The over sized meals that most restaurants serve can leave you disgustingly full and disappointed, not to mention depressed.

I also prefer tables with no more than 10 or 12 diners. Once you get too large of a crowd then the quality and capability of the food begins to diminish.

I am a fan of communal tables, just not serving the food communal style. That is to say, all at once. A chef needs time and space between courses to ensure that the proper level of food is produced.

Chef Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin (NY, NY) has a fantastic chef’s menu with a seafood focus. Salt Lake’s Forage Restaurant’s 10 course meal is worth the 3 to 4 hours. London’s very own Chef Gordon Ramsay showcases his chef’s small plate abilities at Maze. Another great place.

These are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of great, small course style restaurants. One might say that the multiple course is a new trend in the US – regardless there are endless places to find such a dining experience.

Here are some photos from my meals at Le Bernardin, Forage, and Maze (photos are in that order).

My Favorite Food Things - Day #10 - Website

I was a diehard Gourmet Magazine fan. With their recent death I thought I was going to have to find a new recipe-source-lover, but fear not!

All past Gourmet recipes (since 1941) are conveniently stored on the Epicurious website -http://www.epicurous.com/. This website also hosts recipes from Bon Appétit Magazine (another fav) and original recipes from the folks at Epicurious themselves.

This is a wonderful source with great recipes, ideas, articles, and menus. I pay close attention to each recipe’s reviews. This is a great way to get an understanding of what needs to be changed or, “tweaked,” in each recipe.

Go online, http://www.epicurous.com/, and plan your next dinner party!

My Favorite Food Things - Day #9 - Foodie Stores

Put me in a food/gadget store and good luck getting me out! These types of stores are my favorite shopping venues. I love strolling through Crate and Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, and Sur La Table but these chain stores only pass the muster part of the time. The best treats are those one-of-a-kind type stores.

The best kitchen gadget store in the world is Pages (121 Shaftesbury Avenue) in London. Now, I will preface by saying that I have yet to visit Paris’ Dehillerin and others. (So, I expect this answer to change, but for now it is Pages in London.)

This shop is full of all types of gadgets, plates, cookware, whisks, and the like. I was staying in a flat just around the corner from this little gem one summer and was delighted to stumble upon Pages during one of my walks.

A good kitchen store has got to offer me one of two things - something new or ingredients that I can’t find any other place. For the former I don’t mean a new utensil that I haven’t heard of – I mean inspiration. I rarely use those fancy utensils – I like my knife, palm, and old fashioned elbow grease to get most of my work done. For the later I am talking about spices or vinegars, or wines, or nuts, or meat that are hard to come by.

A great kitchen store has got to appeal to my creative side – that is to say, it needs to inspire me. Pages had walls of serving pieces. Some ramekins so small that a grape would barely fit in. A set of wine glasses that gave the illusion that they were falling over. Inspiring! My brain started rushing with the endless possibilities of creating food based on serving pieces.

Here is a list of some of my other favorite kitchen stores.
(Photos follow in the same order as this list)

--Kitchen Arts (215 Newbury Street, Boston, MA)
--Mr. Marcel Gourmet Market (At the Farmer’s Market - 6333 West 3rd Street, LA, CA)
--Spoons and Spice (4700 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, UT)
--LeSanctuaire (315 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA)
--Market Kitchen Store (On Granville Island, 2-1666 Johnston Street Vancouver, BC)
--MoMA (11 West 53 Street New York, NY 10019)
--Great Market Hall (Fővám tér, Pest end of Liberty Bridge, Budapest, Hungary)

My Favorite Food Things - Day #8 - Kitchen Shoes

You need to always add a little bit of your own personal spice to life - don't live a 'meat and potatoes' type of life.

For me it is my kitchen shoes.

I prefer Crocs over the other leading brands of non-slip kitchen shoes. I like Crocs because of the holes on top which allow your feet to breath. Now, of course, this also means that when you drop something on your foot onto your sock it goes! Crocs are comfortable, and extremely functional in preventing your legs from tiring and your back from fatiguing.

The main reason I prefer Crocs for my kitchen shoes is because of the fashionable color options. Actually, it is because they offer my favorite – signature color – chartreuse!

Anyone that knows me well, or has seen my kitchen knows that there are elements of chartreuse here and there – nothing major like chartreuse cabinets! Just small elements like my apron, spatulas, or teapot…and of course, MY SHOES!

My shoes are my way of adding a little bit of me into the kitchen – both personal and professional – without being over the top.

What is your element of spice that you add to life? If you don’t have one, you better find one…

My Favorite Food Things - Day #7 - Serving Dishes

I don’t have a favorite brand or type of plate, but rather a favorite style.

Food in and of itself is colorful and beautiful. In order to showcase the beauty of a chef’s creation all food should be served on clean, plain surfaces, namely white surfaces. Occasionally a chef can get away with another solid color – as long as the contrast between the food and surface makes the dish ‘pop.’

In general, I always serve my food on white surfaces. This way I allow only the food to be seen, never masked by the background.

I also believe that the food shapes and forms must contrast with the serving piece. For example, round food should be served on square plates. And food in the shape of cylinders should never be served in a canoe shaped dish, but rather on a long, flat rectangular platter. So forth, and so on…

The final component to my favorite serving piece is size. The portions of food should never crowd the plate. This can cause the food to visually “blend” together – creating a collage. Food is not a collage. They are individual pieces that succinctly come together in the mouth, not on a plate. A plate too large can also have a negative impact. If the plate is oversized the food can seem dwarfed or worse pretentious - the caliber of the food (innovativeness / level of creativity) must match the size of the plate.

When color, shape, and size are perfectly balanced with great food the diner is left with a night to remember.

Check out Crate and Barrel or World Market for the best selection of white serving pieces.