Rooftop Gourmet

I must have been a very good boy this year because instead of coal in my stocking, Santa brought me a fresh white truffle; arguably, the best Christmas present ever! My parents are fully aware of my truffle obsession and arranged to fly in a  huge white truffle, overnight straight from Alba, Italy. They handed me the Styrofoam box on Christmas eve and I had no idea what to expect until I lifted the lid just a hair. A burst of funky truffle aroma hit me in the face and turned me into a little kid on Christmas.

Most people don’t get this excited over a box of fungus, but if you’ve ever experienced fresh white truffles shaved on your meal you will empathize with me.

There are over a hundred different species of truffles, but only a few are highly prized as food in French, Italian, Spanish, and Croatian cooking. The white truffle, or otherwise known as the Alba Truffle (seen here) comes from the Piedmont region of northern Italy. The truffle is what drives people to Alba in the fall for the truffle festivals and truffle hunts.

These fungi grow underground at the base of large trees, and the weather, climate, and soil are all contributing factors to the quality of the product; very similar to wine. You can’t just grow truffles anywhere, which makes them so highly esteemed, and expensive. The famous 18th century French gastronome, Brillat-Savarin called white truffles, “the diamond of the kitchen”, because of they’re indescribable ability to elevate a dish to a whole new level.

When these little truffles are growing underground it’s very hard to know where to look for them, so we turn to pigs. Female pigs especially because there is a specific compound inside the truffle that is almost identical to the sex pheromone in boar’s saliva; making female hogs natural truffle seekers (another reason why I want to get a pet pig). If you’ve ever smelled a truffle, tasted truffle oil, or been in a restaurant when a waiter walks by you with truffle on a plate, you know why they’re so expensive (around $3,500. per pound).

 The distinctive, pungent, sexy aroma fills the room and mystifies people, leaving them craving more. They don’t even have much of a taste at all, it’s just the overpowering odor that makes people want to smell it over and over again. When you’re cooking with fresh white truffles, you never want to make anything too elaborate that will steal the show. I chose to make fresh egg noodle linguine tossed with lots of clarified butter, and topped with a raw egg yolk. While the pasta is still steaming hot, I shaved the white truffle over the dish with my new stainless steel truffle shaver.

The heat and steam from the dish made the truffle smell even more intense and sent me into a frenzy. The fresh pasta was delicate and silky, completely coated with butter and the rich egg. Truffles are classically paired with rich buttery foods because they bring the best out of those other ingredients. The pasta disappeared quickly but luckily I made a wild mushroom risotto for the second truffle course. Risotto is made with a specific grain of rice called Arborio.

This is a long grain rice which has a special starchy coating on the outside making it perfect for the slow cooking risotto process. Not only do truffles go great shaved atop risotto, the raw grains are the best way to store fresh truffles. I buried the leftover truffle in the Arborio rice and enclosed it in a mason jar so that the aromas and flavor are preserved. The wild mushroom risotto was rich and earthy, with a bit of tang from the freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

I served a special wine with this meal because it’s not everyday you have a fresh white truffle in your kitchen. I pulled out a 1995 Rinaldi Barolo, also hailing from the Piedmont region of Italy.

Barolo is the king of Piedmont when it comes to wine. It is one of the most powerful, and fruit forward varietals in the whole world, extending its longevity years longer than most wines. This wine was made 14 years ago and when I opened it up, I realized it still could have rested for another ten years. When serving older wines, it is better to pair them with simple dishes; it doesn’t get much better than old Barolo and white truffles. It was brick red in color and still had floral, earthy aromas.

The wine was round and muscular, giving off flavors of smoke, black cherry, tar, and grilled meats. Every sip was complimented by the steamy truffle smells from the plate below, transporting me to the countryside in Alba. I still have about half of the truffle leftover and I’m planning on waking up tomorrow morning to some amazing scrambled eggs.

Sometimes pizza take out menus can be ridiculously repetitive and boring; the same old dough, the same old sauce, and the same core toppings to choose from. Once you’ve exhausted all of your favorite combinations, it can be time for a change. The other day, a friend of mine mentioned to me that I never cook any Indian dishes so I decided to make an Indian themed pizza. I started off with some Naan bread, which is a staple in Indian cuisine.

Naan is a pita-like, flat bread that is traditionally cooked in a tandoor, or clay oven. The bread is used as a canvass for meats and vegetables, or as a spoon to scoop up curry dishes. I incorporated the curry into the sauce by combining some Yellow Madras Curry powder with lemon zest and creamy Mascarpone Cheese. I also marinated the chicken breasts in a spicy red curry sauce.

I simply grilled the chicken breasts and sliced them before making them the star of the pizza. I wanted to balance the spicy, smoky curry flavors in the sauce and the chicken with some sweet ingredients so I added some freshly diced pineapple chunks and some golden raisins.

The pineapple added a juicy acidic punch that helped cool down my taste buds, and when the golden raisins baked in the oven, they got plump and gooey. A few thin slices of Thai chile peppers added a subtle kick and some fresh cilantro topped everything off. After about 15 minutes in the oven, the Naan bread got nice and crispy on the bottom like a Tuscan thin crust pizza but remained pleasantly soft and chewy in the middle.

The combination of flavors were definitely new to me but totally worked in terms of balance. I figured that the heat in the curry and the Thai chilies were too much for a red wine, so I paired the pizza with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

The 2008 Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc is one of my all time favorites from Marlborough, New Zealand. Loaded with zesty tropical fruit and tart acidity, and finishing with a clean, refreshing crispness; this is your French Sancerre on speed.

Throw all of the grapefruit and balanced minerality out the window and get ready for a fruit-forward torpedo of flavor; a perfect match for such a bold pizza. Look for Naan flat breads in your local grocery store because Naan pizzas are the English Muffin pizza of the 21st century.

Cherry Coca-Cola was first introduced to a test audience by Pink Floyd at the World’s Fair in 1982. That makes us both 27 years old, and despite the fact that I don’t drink soda, I still cook with it. The syrupy sweet cherry flavor combined with the classic cola flavors (vanilla, cinnamon, and licorice) makes for a nice braising liquid. I found some awesome beef short ribs at the market that were well marbled and about three inches thick. I love adding some sweetness to my shortribs because it gives them a glossy, sticky texture and it balances out all of the slow cooking richness. 

Even though there was enough fructose in the soda to give me a cavity, I added some organic black mission figs to the pot because they were in season and looked extra plump. After getting a nice sear on the ribs, I started off by layering flavors in the pot to build my braising medium; starting with carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. 

Once everything was soft, I added the Cherry Coke, beef broth, and figs to the mixture before I popped it into a 325 degree oven and said goodbye for about two hours. The low oven temperature is key to braising because you want the liquid to stay at a constant simmer; slowly breaking down the tough fibers in the meat. The end result should be a mouth-watering, fork tender bite that literally dissolves in your mouth while delivering a wallop of concentrated flavor.

 In order to balance out the sweetness in the sauce, I paired the short rib with some cipollini onions with thyme, and some baby carrots. The plain wild rice was really good for sopping up the sauce too.

 Sometimes when I’m looking for wines to pair with food, I think about the descriptions of certain grape varietals and break down their typical characteristics. Cabernet Sauvignon, especially when grown in California, tends to be fruity, powerful, and rich; very similar to the short ribs.

The 2006 Foreman Cabernet Sauvignon was a match made in heaven for this dish because it was ruby-red in color and tasted like black currant, cassis, licorice, spice and fig. It was a little less powerful than most Cabernets that I am used to but that is probably because the winemaker decided to do most of the fermentation in stainless steel tanks.

Leaving the carbonation behind, the wine had a lot of similar qualities to the Cherry Coke. The entire meal was rich and hearty; perfect on a cold, winter night that felt like the Dark Side of the Moon.

Pesto is a sauce that originated in the northern coastal region of Liguria, Italy and the name “pesto” means to pound or crush, referring to the mortar and pestle method in which the sauce is made. I love pesto because it’s so easy to make in a food processor and you can freeze large batches of it to use at a later date. The classic pesto is comprised of only five simple  ingredients… basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and extra virgin olive oil. I have made pesto countless times over the years and experimented with all sorts of variations but the other night I decided to deconstruct this famous sauce and use different techniques to cook the ingredients. I picked up some quinoa from whole foods and decided to use it as my base for the deconstructed pesto.

Quinoa is a grain-like crop grown in South America, that is extremely high in protein and when cooked, produces a light, fluffy textured alternative to rice or cous cous. I started off by roasting handfuls of garlic cloves to bring out their natural sweetness, and toasting the pine nuts to release the aromatic, nutty oils. I wanted to use the star of pesto (the basil) in two different ways, so I added a fresh chiffonade of basil to the cooked quinoa and I quickly fried some whole basil leaves for a garnish.

Along with the basil, the quinoa got a healthy dose of Parmesan cheese and the toasted pine nuts. The result was a fluffy, yet rich mouthful of pesto ingredients all coming together as one in every bite. I topped the mound of quinoa with a perfectly grilled piece of salmon, and drizzled roasted garlic oil all over the steaming fish. A few of the mushy, sweet roasted garlic cloves were placed on top with a couple of crispy fried basil leaves and the dish was complete.

 I chose to pair the deconstructed pesto dish with a wine from the opposite side of  northern Italy, in the Fruili-Venezia region. The 2007 Bastianich Friulano is a special wine because it is named after and made by famous cookbook author and chef Lidia Bastianich.

This wine is made from the Tocai grape which is a member of the Sauvignon family and produces a dry white wine with pronounced minerality and fruitiness. I detected dried apricots, and lemon zest aromas on the nose, while the wine fills your mouth with a medium bodied, oily mouth-feel. This is an extremely complex wine and I feel like its subtle white peach flavors, and strong acidity paired great with this dish.

I got the chance to meet Lidia last night at her new cookbook signing and wine dinner at Alta Strada in Wellesley. She is a very pleasant, and passionate woman who loves to break down Italian food and wine based on 20 regions of the country, all of which have very different gastronomical cultures. Her new cookbook is called Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy, and her award winning cooking show Lidia’s Italy can be seen at all different times on PBS.

If you’re a lover of pesto, try experimenting with deconstructing the ingredients or substituting certain ingredients with new flavors. Basil can easily be replaced with arugula, cilantro, or spinach while pine nuts can be replaced with walnuts, macadamia nuts, or almonds.

My girlfriend is a huge fan of breakfast. To me breakfast is a bottle of water and a granola bar if I’m lucky. Since we never really have much time in the morning to make something nice, I decided to make breakfast for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is a concept that I my family is pretty familiar with. My father said that his mother would make eggs and potatos every Friday night when he was growing up (which my mother has replicated in the past). When I was in high school my mom would make me breakfast for dinner probably once a month, but it was never a planned event, just a spur of the moment thought or craving. Due to my lack of sweet tooth, when I think of breakfast, French toast and Pancakes are the last things to come to mind. I wanted to make something rich and savory combining breakfast foods with different flavors. I decided to make something that my mom first introduced to me when I was a kid. Egg in a hole, Bullseye Toast, One Eyed Sandwich… call it what you want, it is absolutley delicious.

I attempted to bring the Egg in a Nest to a new level by using thick sliced rustic Italian bread, wild mushrooms, truffle oil and goat cheese. The process is simple really, just drop an egg or two in the hole and sautee the toast in butter, except when you cut the bread thick like I did, you have to pop it in the oven to bake. I had some leftover Brussel Sprouts in the fridge that I didn’t want to go to waste so I incorporated them into the “hash”; diced potatos, bacon larons, onions and shaved brussel sprouts. Since you don’t hear about many people pairing wines with breakfast foods…for good reason, I had to think about what would go with these rich salty flavors.

Prosecco was the first thing that came to mind. Light, fruity and not too overpowering for the delicate eggs, although enough acidity to cut through the creamy, rich yolk. The airyness and lightness of the bubbles pair perfectly with the crispy toast and salty hash. I chose my favorite one… Nino Franco ‘Rustico’ Prosecco. This famous prosecco has been poured by the glass at Harry’s Bar in Venice for years. It just so happened that it was my girlfriends birthday as well so it was a perfect way to have a toast and celebrate.

The eggs came out perfect after baking in the oven, which is always tricky when you’re trying not to burn the bread. The whites were firm, while the yolks ran into each and every tiny crevice of the toast, picking up white truffle oil scent along the way. The woodsy mushrooms and tangy goat cheese were a nice touch, and the brussels not only gave the dish some color, they were delicious in the hash. If you are like me and your idea of breakfast is a coffee and a bagel on the go, take some time and prepare breakfast for dinner one night. After all, it is the most important meal of the day.