Monday's class focused on Piedmont in the Northwest region of Italy. They are known for their rustic, mountain food. We started with the lecture which was pretty much read word for word from our vocab list in the back of our binder. Once that was over, we got into the kitchen to cook. The recipe I received was Fonduta with Polenta. It was a pretty quick recipe and needed to be served as one of the first dishes. I started by making the polenta. I pretty much had to stand over the oven and stir it for about 30 minutes. Once it was cooked, I had to pour it onto a sheet pan and spread it so it could be cut after it cooled. While this cooled, I started to make the fonduta. The difference here is that there are egg yolks and no wine in the recipe. That was again a process of standing over the stove for a while. I cut the polenta into triangles and sauteed them in butter to give them a crispy crust. The fonduta was really good. It was a very Strong Fontina that was used in the recipe and it tasted great with the polenta.
Piedmont Recipes:Baci Di Dama al Funghetto, Zuppa di Valpelline, Peperoni Ripieni con Tonno, Fonduta and Polenta, Sformato di Spinaci, Brasato al Barolo, Gnocchi di Patate alla Piemontese, Cipolle Ripiene di Margo, Pan Valle D'Aosta, Dolce Torinese, Baci di Dama, Grolla D'Amicizia
Tuesday's class focused on Lombardy. This is to the east of Piedmont, so the food style is somewhat similar. We started by watching a video about the region. It was mostly about Milan since that is the most popular location on Lombardy. We then went into the kitchen, before the lecture, to start the braise and prep our other dishes. During this time, I made a dessert that needed to be frozen ASAP. It was called Semifreddo al Torrone. I had to start by ribboning egg yolk and sugar together. Then I added whipped egg white and whipped cream to that base. It was very light and airy. I then layered some chopped chocolate and Torrone in the bottom of a dish and covered it with the egg and cream mixture. Torrone are those Italian nougat candy that comes in a blue box. They have almonds in them and some are flavored with orange, almond or lemon. Dad has gotten them before from Simple Elegance so some of you may know them. This molded mixture then went into the freezer. Lecture was pretty boring and so was the rest of the day. Some of us weren't in the best of moods due to certain conditions, but I won't write anything harsh since this is a public blog...I'll bite my tongue. All I can say is that we could not wait for the class/day to end. Now that I know how things are going to be, I guess I won't expect as much for this Tuesday class for the next few weeks that we have it. I also made a saffron risotto as well.
Lombardy's RecipesDoratini al Tre Formaggi, Insalata Capesante con Funghi e Carciofi Crudi, Busecca Matta, Tortelli Di Zucca, Osso Bucco, Risotto alla Milanese, Pomodori Ripieni, Ciambella con le Noci, Semifreddo al Torrone
For tonight's wine seminar we focused on writing wine notes. We had to focus on the smell of the wine, fruits, non-fruits and oak aromas. Then we tasted them and focused on the sugar and acidity levels. The class went really well. It's a lot of wine to take in. We probably did about 15 wines. The whole class I sat there and wondered if people that are highly educated in wine have a hard time just enjoying it or if they are too busy to think about bitter tannins. In a couple weeks we do wine pairing with food, can't wait for that!
P.S. I received a 94 on my practicum! No word on the written exam yet, but I will take this 94 and run with it!
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