sleepy stomach.

I think the mere title of this post says more about my current state of tiredness than anything else. For some reason, since I got home from cooking class, I have just been beat. Unfortunately, with a research paper to write, bedtime will likely not be until some unmentionable hour past midnight. Yuck.

Cooking class was somewhat uninspiring again tonight, but I thought I'd share the fruits of my labor with you anyway.

We started with a stereotypical Italian antipasto (deja vu?), bruschetta al pomodoro. The usual went into the tomato mixture: chopped tomato, olive oil, salt, fresh garlic, oregano, and fresh basil. Toss, let sit, then top toasted Tuscan bread with tomato-y goodness. Add a little red pepper to spice up your life.

I was REALLY excited about our primi piatti when I first read the recipe today, but the end result was less than impressive. Orchiette al cime di rapa is an ear-shaped pasta made with turnip greens and anchovies. Of course, everyone in the class freaked out at the idea of anchovies, but in the end, you honestly could not taste them. The dish ended up being bland, boring, and sadly without any real flavor or identity. I liked the pasta shape, but ended up topping it with anything and everything I could get my paws on (salt, pepper, red pepper...more salt...and parmesan).

Parmesan cheese makes everything better.

Again, reading the recipe for this next dish, flan di zucchine, excited me much more than the actual food. I personally sliced enough zucchini to feed Ethiopia, then we blanched it. Layer the slices in the bottom of a pan and top with a mixture of egg yolk, parmesan cheese, beaten egg whites, and a dash of nutmeg. Top with more zucchini slices and bake.

Blah.

I did, however, love our main course, pesce al spada di marinara. We baked fillets of swordfish topped with chopped tomato, olive oil, chopped black olive, capers, breadcrumbs, and an array of spices. Simple, delicious...and hot. I may have burned my tongue wolfing it down.



Aaaaaand the finale! The dessert we made was actually not on the syllabus, but since we weren't scheduled to make one today, our very kind cooking teacher showed us the "proper" way to make a tiramisu! (Briana, tell Matt that I'll make him some when I get home.)

In case you were wondering, the proper way to make it is sans liquer, with straight espresso, lady fingers, eggs, sugar, and marscapone. Boom. Using a 100 g marscapone to one egg to one tablespoon of sugar ratio (depending on how much you want to make), separate the eggs, mixing the sugar into the yolk and beating the white until VERY VERY stiff. Add marscapone to the egg yolk mixture then mix in the whites. Prepare the espresso, then quickly dip the lady fingers in the coffee (do NOT leave them there to soak or they will be too soggy). Place a small amount of the marscapone mixture in the bottom of a pan, topping with the coffee-soaked lady fingers. Top with the rest of the marscapone. Refrigerate. Serve topped with cocoa.

Boom. Delicious. Simple. Italian.

Now I'm off to...procrastinate a teensy bit more before I finally settle down to write about Caterina and Marie de'Medici, Queens of France. You'd think they would be more interesting than they actually are.

Buona notte!