Rome (Part 1)

Arrival: Rome. After an insanely long flight and being force-fed nuked peas in molten plastic at 37,000 feet, we needed some Italian cooking that everyone dreams about. We headed to the Trastevere neighborhood, because we had heard this was a good place to eat in a quaint Roman atmosphere. Obviously, 900 other tourists got the same memo. After wandering the streets and trying not to succumb to a tourist trap restaurant filled with Americans talking about how great the pizza was at the Colosseum, we found a cute little place that seemed to have many Italians sitting, eating, and drinking wine. 

I ordered one of my favorite things, oxtail ragu with rigatoni! I have made this dish once, and it was actually a greater success than the version at all Arco di S. Calisto. While not completely horrible, I still had to wait to use my Italian adjectives. I was so ready to shout a benisssimo or a perfetto, but sadly I had to settle for a soft whisper of discontent. If you braise oxtail in tomatoes for several hours, it will be good -- but this was just a feeble attempt at ragu and pasta.

Regan was so excited to order the saltimbocca alla Romana (one of her favorite dishes) in Rome! However, what appeared on her plate after being thrown at her from a disgruntled Italian was perhaps one of the worst meals of the entire trip: cold carrot slices in a thin off-white sauce with tough veal that did not leap into her mouth. A stray cat would have probably passed on this sad excuse for Rome's signature dish. Oh well... we finished a bottle of wine and knew the food couldn't get much worse. It may have been a good thing to have been let down in the beginning.

I decided to not go at the food thing alone and looked online for more worthy suggestions, which led us the next day to lunch near the Pantheon. We were seated next to a table filled with zucchini flowers and artichokes, which we took as a good sign of things to come.

Regan ordered a tuna salad with tomatoes, onions, beans, olives, and arugula. She enjoyed it, and it was definitely a step in the right direction, but I thought it was still not worthy of a molto bene. It wasn't rocket science, only a rocket salad.

I decided to go with the fried zucchini flowers, because I never see it in Seattle. It was good, but nothing more than tempura-fried zucchini flowers. Not bad, but not that thrilling. They could have left the zucchini flowers on the table for decoration and battered me some fish.

Later in the day there was a light at the end of the tunnel: Il Gabriello, a restaurant near the Spanish Steps that was packed, yet without a reservation we still managed to grab a table in less than 15 minutes.

Because it was 93 degrees, we ordered a cool bottle of white wine and started with an octopus and potato appetizer that was beautifully presented and prepared. Finally, this was what we had been waiting for! 

Next up, I ordered the radicchio and walnut ravioli in a shrimp cream sauce. Simply amazing! We had stumbled upon the right restaurant. Regan loved it and helped me finish off every last morsel on the plate. She thought it was some of the best pasta she had ever had. There were bits of shrimp in the sauce, and the pasta was exquisite -- our first taste of the good life!

Regan ordered a beef salad with arugula and olive oil, a very simple but deliciously executed dish. We thought about returning to this restaurant on our return to Rome at the end of our trip, but we knew there were other roads -- hopefully, roads that would lead us to the Rome of our dreams.

 Rome (Part 2) coming soon...

Recipe: Salmon Nirvana

What a glorious time in the Pacific Northwest! Salmon season has begun with the highly anticipated arrival of Copper River Chinook and Sockeye. Last night, I picked up some Sockeye -- which I believe to be one of the world's greatest delicacies. At the moment, I do not have a grill, so I prepared it my next favorite way, pan-fried. Wild salmon is best when it is just simply prepared. It doesn't need any sauces or even much seasoning. The beauty is in the way you cook it. It always makes me crazy when you go out to dinner, and the wild salmon on the menu is covered in a an orange glaze or has a butter sauce on it. Why? Leave it alone, cook it properly, and taste it in all its natural goodness.

I improvised this salad to go with it, and it turned out spectacular: arugula, shaved asparagus, cherry tomatoes, red onion, sliced Sicilian-style green olives, and toasted pine nuts. I put this all in a bowl and made lemon juice and olive oil dressing. I then added a shake of salt, pepper, and oregano.

Add a good glug of olive oil to a hot pan, and season your salmon with a dash of salt and pepper. I place the salmon skin side up first to get a nice crisp color on the top. Cook like that for a few minutes then flip it over, skin side down. When I have a piece with a good bit of the thin belly of the fish, I take that off first, because it cooks in a few minutes and is the best part of the fish. I don't want that to be overcooked! Just take your spatula and lift that part off the skin. Now cook the rest of it for about 5 more minutes (depends on the thickness of the fish). You can put a lid on it so it cooks through a little faster. You want the texture of the salmon to be moist, and it should practically melt in your mouth -- better undercooked than over-done. It will continue cooking once you pull it off the heat. (Overcooked salmon will stick to your teeth, and you will be searching in your cabinet for ingredients to make an orange glaze!) If cooked right, it will be like butter, and you will be in salmon nirvana.

Recipe: Seared Halibut Cheeks w/ Cucumber-Kale Salad and Crispy Potato Rings

Monday night: Regan's new spiral slicer arrived!

I'd bought some halibut cheeks and a cucumber earlier in the day. Back at home, I had some lacinato kale, a couple Roma tomatoes, and a red onion. I sliced the kale into thin slices chiffonade-style, along with a small amount of radicchio. I cut up a few slivers of red onion and the Roma tomatoes (without the innards) and added a couple cloves of freshly chopped garlic. Regan spiral-sliced me a good-sized cucumber, and I added all that jazz together, along with a nice swirl of olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. (Spanish sherry reserve vinegar is a great balsamic substitution, and it is cheaper than a high quality balsamic. )

Now it was time to cook the cheeks. I pulled them out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, and seasoned them with a little salt and pepper. I got the pan nice and hot and added some olive oil. I'm working with an electric stove top that doesn't like to cooperate. Sometimes it gets too hot and other times not hot enough. Just try your best to get a nice brown color on the fish and flip it after a few minutes. The key is not to overcook the fish and to get a nice sear and crispness on the outside.) This time I didn't quite achieve maximum searing, but at least the fish was not overcooked and still tasted great.

For the finish, Regan spiral-sliced a potato into thin curls that I soaked in water and air- and towel-dried. I threw those into an oven at 425 degrees until nice and crisp. This helped compensate for the lack of proper searing of the halibut. I plated the salad, added the halibut, and placed the crispy potato rings on top of the halibut.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
4-6 halibut cheeks
1 potato
1 large cucumber
1/2 bunch of lacinato kale
1/4 head radicchio
2 roma tomatoes
a few slices of red onion
balsamic or Spanish sherry reserve vinegar
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt, pepper

Recipe: Tuna Salad w/ Grilled Zucchini

This is a salad I make that was inspired by one that I had in Spain. Get a nice bunch of mixed greens, whatever you like. (A few of my favorites are curly endive, escarole, and lacinato kale.) Grill up some zucchini strips. Pick up an assortment of Spanish olives, some piquillo peppers (in jars at most grocery stores), and the best canned tuna you can find -- I buy Wild Planet Albacore. It is a tuna steak and comes in its own juices in a BPA-free can. It is really good stuff and definitely worth the upgrade from your "Sorry Charlie". Mix the greens with some phenomenal olive oil, dried oregano, and the acidic flavor of your choice. This one I used a white wine vinegar, but you could also use red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice. Add to the green the sliced piquillo peppers, olives, grilled zucchini, and tuna. Then drizzle it with a bit more olive oil, ground pepper, and I top it with a cherry pepper.

In Spain, I feasted on a similar salad with a nice glass of white wine, but here in the Northwest I'm more likely to kick it back with a tasty brew. Every time I make this, I am transported back to a bar in San Sebastian where pigs hung from the rafters and the only escape from the summer heat was a cold glass of wine and a cool tuna salad. Buen Provecho! 

Recipe: Charred Radicchio w/ Baby Spinach, Tomatoes & Toasted Pine Nuts

I love this salad and the many variations of it. I always have spinach, radicchio, cabbage, kale, or some other type of similar vegetable in my fridge. A salad like this is good anytime -- as a side dish, light lunch, or dinner. Ingredients:

half a head of a radicchio
a handful of baby spinach, cut in narrow strips
a handful of pine nuts
tomato
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt & pepper
dried oregano
fresh chopped garlic

First, heat up a pan and add the radicchio. I cut the radicchio in wide strips and heat it until it begins to char a little bit. This will mellow the bitterness of the chicory. (If you have a grill, even better.) You just want it to start turning a little brown in spots. Place the radicchio in a bowl, and add the chopped baby spinach. Throw a handful of pine nuts into the hot pan and lightly toast them. Cut up your tomato, finely chop a couple cloves of garlic. Combine everything and give it a swirl of good olive oil and balsamic vinegar, pinch of salt, pepper, and dried oregano, and toss. I think you will say it "tasted like a good!"

This salad can be made many ways. I usually like to add red onion to it. If pine nuts are a little pricey for you, substitute toasted slivered almonds or walnuts. Salut!