Still life with pumpkin

Sometimes the composition occurs naturally, over time.  Winter is coming, the pumpkins are now inside.

James

Fab! Fabbri

They're back (at the Mediterranean Wholesalers - see here) so we snagged some. We weren't able to go home in a Fabbri truck, seen on the Boston food website here:

But we found some fascinating Fabbri history here and here, the latter being the official website, which has a range of remarkable period advertising here.



Better than roses, pearls?  But of course!

James

Team Pasta

After an episode with some eight-year-old pasta chefs, Bev decided she needed a pasta machine for Christmas. Funded by her sister (thanks Tam!) and purchased from the Med Wholesalers (who have to sell Nonna-proven Italian cooking kit, or risk Malocchio) we have a pasta machine.

So (on Christmas day) there was a team effort to make tagliatelle. Paul went first...

...and proved a smooth operator. Top tip (from Maria) was to dust the pasta with flour to smooth the rollers by making the pasta silky...

Jo dressed for as the elegant Italian Donna for the task, and rolled a successful batch as well...

I turned a mean handle next,


...and lastly Bev, who'd helped her glam assistants take a turn...

and then...
...we ate it.

How to eat a cookie

It has come to our notice that some people don't know how to eat a cookie* properly.

Thanks to Australian-New Yorker Ella Morton, we are lucky enough to have the expert, the Cookie Monster to teach us the correct technique.



Cookies are very important, and correct technique and vocabulary and crumbing crucial. What would we do without the Cookie Monster's expertise? We are, of course, most appreciative, but letters from the Cookie Monster's Attorney will not be acted upon.

This one, is, of course for Zach, and his appropriate vocabulary.

James
(Occasional Cookie Monster understudy).

*'Biscuit' outside N America, of course.

Truly delicious mushroom soup

Mushroom soup

50 g butter
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
400-500 g large swiss brown (flat) mushrooms, cleaned and chopped (reserve a few slices for a garnish)
2 potatoes, scrubbed and chopped in pieces
salt and pepper
1 litre home made chicken stock
sprig of fresh thyme
dollop of cream
100-200 g fresh ricotta

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter and cook the leeks, slowly, until they are start to soften.

Add the mushrooms, stir and continue to cook until the vegetables are all softened. Now season with salt and pepper, tip in the potatoes and give it all a stir to coat the potatoes in the buttery juices. Cook for 1 minute.

Pour in the chicken stock and add the sprig of thyme. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

Remove the thyme sprig if you can (I couldn't find mine), and blend the soup roughly with a hand-held blender. We like our soup quite coarse, so this was a quick splurt, not a long process. It's up to you!

Stir in the cream and break in the ricotta (if you want, do the rocitta before blendin, and it will not form little white lumps. Again, we like it that way, so we have chunky rough soup with ricotta in it). Check the seasoning.

Serve with the mushroom garnish, a few small snipped chives or parsley, and bread on the side. It's very filling!



The recipe above is based on the excellent soup-making advice in Xanthe Clay's cookbook, Recipes to Know by Heart. Thanks, Xanthe!