As a culinary student, I get asked all the time what kind of food I want to cook out in the real world. It's a tough question to answer, and I usually shrug it off...but I secretly think Italian all the time. Nothing is quite as satisfying as a big bowl of pasta...which, we didn't even make today. Instead, we started with a Sicilian orange and fennel salad. I tossed in some red onions and baby arugula for good measure.
Next was the Caccuccio, a Tuscan soup of shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari in a tomato soup. My problem with seafood soups is that poaching seafood is never really flavorful. So instead, I sauteed all my seafood in garlic and butter. I also used the anchovies in the soup since it was on our cart. Why not? It made the tomato soup taste seafood-y without having to poach all my fish...which wouldn't have given up a lot of flavor anyway. Again, Chef Watts ate a whole baguette slice...I love when she does that. I toasted my crostini in a pan with clarified butter and rubbed it with garlic straight off the heat. I channeled ITALY today!
And for our entree, we braised Osso Bucco and served with Risotto, both in the style of Milan. I topped my Osso Bucco with Gremolata, equal parts minced lemon zest, parsley, garlic and anchovies. The Risotto I made with saffron, and finished with parmesan, butter and Mascarpone, for extra creaminess. Okay, maybe it should have been more SPLAT! than molded, but whatever. Leftovers are gonna be delicious tonight!
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