November 2006 Archives

Pecan Pie Recipe

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Here's the recipe I plan to use for the Thanksgiving pecan pie - emailed to me by my mother:

For crust
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups chopped pecans

Make crust:
Mix first 3 ingredients in processor. Add shortening and butter; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in enough water to form moist clumps. Gather into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 1 hour.

Roll dough on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch round cake pan with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Trim to align with pan edges. Freeze 15 minutes.

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Mix in 3/4 cup pecans. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with 1 cup pecans. Bake pie until set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

Serves 8.

-Ellen

International (or American) Food

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Thanksgiving is almost here and I'm getting ready to cook some American dishes - mashed potatoes, pecan pie and cranberry sauce. We're eating Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house so I don't have to worry about the turkey, and mashed potatoes should be no problem. But pecan pie and cranberry sauce are not common here in Italy so the ingredients are hard to come by.

Florence Restaurant Websites

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Here are some more Florence restaurant and cafe websites - these will also be added to the master list here.

  • Fuori Porta (website under construction) - this is a pretty popular enoteca boasting over 700 labels, right on the other side of the Porta San Niccolo (Porta San Miniato). Via Monte alle Croce, 10r Tel. 39 055 2342483
  • Pigmento Café (website under construction) Via Erbosa, 12r Tel. 39 055 6584766
  • Café de Paris Piazza Dalmazia, 7r Tel. 39 055 4220505
  • La Rotonda Pizzeria, pub. Via Il Prato, 10/16 Tel. 39 055 2654644
  • Alfredo Ristorante Open daily for lunch and dinner. Typical Tuscan fare. Via Don Minzoni, 3r Tel. 39 055 578291
  • Il Piacere Fish and meat. Via G. D'Annunzio 149 Tel. 39 055 602605
  • Tremerli Mediterranean, Via de' Fossi, 12r Tel. 39 055 287062
  • Salamanca Tapas and Spanish. Via Ghibellina, 80r Tel. 39 055 2345452

In Tuscany, Luxury Farmhouses

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08castello_span

New article in the NY Times (via the IHT) that reads more like a sales pitch than anything else about "Castello di Casole". Yes, this is an amazing property, but how and why do articles like this get written? From genuine interest and newsworthy-ness, or because they need to sell some more fractional shares? Not the kind of place many people would seem to be able to afford to visit... especially me.

Salsicce & Fagioli

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Salsiccefagioi

My friend had to go down to Perugia and came back with some fantastic sausages and pancetta for us. This dish is pretty simple - I cooked some cannellini first (takes about 3 hours when using dried beans), then added the beans to a baking dish with the sausages, which were browned first in a pan (I also added a little white wine to the pan before removing the sausage). A couple of smashed garlic cloves, a few sage leaves, strips of pancetta on top, and in the oven for about 30 minutes (until the sausages are cooked through). Make sure you drink plenty of chianti with this to negate your heart from clogging up with the pork fat.

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This page is an archive of entries from November 2006 listed from newest to oldest.

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