Category Archives: Main Course

Homemade Ravioli…Making It Isn’t Easy

But homemade ravioli is certainly worth it. The difference between homemade ravioli made with pasta that has been made with Double Zero flour and store-bought ravioli is like night and day. The texture and mouthfeel that the Double Zero flour gives you is fantastic.

Dean Zanella is a friend of ours that is a chef in Chicago. He makes gnocchi that is unlike any gnocchi I have ever had. To me, most gnocchi are very heavy gut bombs. Dean’s gnocchi are light and airy. I asked him how he got them to be so light. He told me that it was his grandmother’s recipe from Italy and that he could tell me but would have to kill me to protect the secret. Fast forward 15 years and we visited Mama Agata, a chef on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Low and behold, her pasta made with Double Zero flour, produced the same light texture and mouthfeel as Dean’s grandmother’s recipe. Ever since then I have been making some pretty good ravioli.Chefs Harry Crane, Dean Zanella, John Hogan and Lucien Vendome

Making ravioli is a couple hour endeavor. It just takes time. You have to make the pasta dough. Then you have to make the filling. Then the process of making the pasta dough can get pretty tough. It is the kind of thing that if you do it regularly it gets easier. For me, I do it so infrequently, that there is a learning curve every time I make ravioli. It just isn’t easy. Then again, with a second snowstorm in a week, I have a couple hours to play with.

Cheese Ravioli In A Light Savory Herb Sauce

 

One little detail is that you need a pasta machine to make decent pasta. My brother-in-law Bob Hamilton gave us one 25 years ago. I used it a few times, but until I learned about Double Zero flour, using the machine was more trouble than it was worth. It sat in the attic for years but now it has been promoted to a kitchen shelf.

This story brings me back to a Bolognese sauce I had once at a hilltop castle in northern Italy in the 1990’s. It was amazing. I tried for years to replicate it without success. I thought that maybe it was the setting, the day, phase of the moon. Then I told the story to my favorite chef Lucien Vendome and he asked: Have you tried adding heavy cream? Voila!

My ravioli made with Double Zero flour isn’t easy to make, but pretty darned good. Try it with my Bolognese sauce made with heavy cream and you won’t be disappointed.

Bolognese Sauce

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

 

Chicken Provençal

We Eat With Our Eyes

What is old SNL line? It is better to look good than to feel good. Great chefs and great hosts know that people eat with their eyes and it is very important to make an attractive presentation.

 

SNL Better to look good than to feel good

What gets both fine dining restaurants their Michelin stars and wine group gathering a success?  It is the small things. To get a Michelin star (or 3) has become the holy grail for chefs. As a host of a wine group gathering, you certainly don’t need to obsess over details the way chefs at a 3 star restaurant would, but you can certainly learn a lesson or two.

One of the major revelations after touring wonderful restaurants in Europe is how well they do the small things. Plating can be a work of art. The minute details are designed and arranged to please the eye. It is a fact that we all eat with our eyes. The better chefs know how to leverage this fact.

The tricks developed to dress a plate at a restaurant with stars in the Michelin Guide were impressive. The chef used micro-planed tender young zucchini to dress the plate. He/She seared cheese into lace like heart shapes. Sauces were painted on the plate to add flavor and presentation impact. Pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the presentation. One can almost feel guilty eating.

(Note the Micro – planed zucchini, truffle shavings  and lemon zest)

(Note the seared cheese in heart shapes)

The level of service is also impeccable. Chances are that you won’t have just one waiter, but rather a team of highly trained professionals making your meal most enjoyable. Their will be a maître d’, a waiter, a sommelier, a water/silverware guy and a server. All of them are very knowledgeable and well trained. The attention to detail is amazing.

We ate at Alain Ducasse’s La Bastide de Moustiers. Ducasse has restaurants around the globe and has amassed an amazing 21 Michelin stars. He has stated that his goal at La Bastide de Moustiers is not Michelin stars, but rather to serve the food he likes in a relaxed atmosphere. We were served imaginative food, by friendly people in a relaxed atmosphere. What more could one ask for?

(How could you not enjoy a meal in this type of setting)

Inevitably, one thing that is not small at restaurants with Michelin stars is the bill. Here is where supper clubs kick in. Learn the small things that made your meal at the restaurant with Michelin stars special and apply them to your next wine group gathering.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.