Potential Gold

Stracciata w/ Red Cannara Onions

Another favorite recipe from Italy, that I made very often while living in Italy, is this recipe for Stracciata - or - Scrambled Eggs.

This version of scrambled eggs has a local Umbrian red onion added into the mix.  The red onion of Cannara becomes very sweet when sweated slowly and bleeds a brilliant dark purple color.  This recipe is from the Slow Food school in Jesi and was brought forward to us by the amazing talents of a young chef named Enea Barbanera who cooks in the region of Umbria.

"In the Spring there was nothing better than an excellent stracciata (scrambled eggs) with onion and also the tender new leaves added in. This custom is gradually dying out, although in the area of Norcia this practise was still in use up until just after WWII. Scrambled eggs with fresh onion and leaves are in my opinion, exquisite (to make it - just blanch the leaves for a couple of minutes in boiling water, squeeze out and cut up; then make the usual stracciata).

It used to be that every home always had an abundant supply of onions, but those who didn’t could always buy them from the street vendors who would pass by periodically (they still did this up until the 60’s) with their wooden carts laden with long braids of onions, pearl onions and garlic."

Ingredients:

10 eggs
2 large onion (depending on how much onion you like)
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
a pinch of grated cheese
toasted bread

Preparation:

Peel the onion and slice thinly; put in a skillet with some oil.
Cook to soften but it should not brown;
Add the lightly beaten eggs, salt and pepper;
Cook until just set and serve with toasted bread slices.

NOTE:  I want to point out the last step of this recipe                   - Cook Until Just Set -

This recipe is very different if you thoroughly cook the eggs and if you leave them runny (like in the photo below).  Try them on the runnier side and see how much more you may enjoy this dish.  Dont overcook the eggs - they don't deserve it!

Cavatelli e Orecchiette di GRANO ARSO

The hot weather in LA + the news of brush fires and their warnings brought back a quick memory of a peculiar pasta dish made in the Italian region of Puglia.

Grano Arso:

It was and still is the custom on the Tavoliere Plain, which extends from the Ofanto River all the way to Molise, to burn the wheat stubble after reaping. The remaining burnt grains of wheat were gathered and ground into a black flour. It is difficult to find anymore but can be made by roasting grains of wheat. This dish is rooted in the traditions of the poorest rural families.

The recipe below is for the cavatelli with a tomato sauce.  This recipe is the exacto one made at the Slow Food School in Jesi, but remember a recipe is just writing on some paper (or a computer screen now) - it may need a little extra love on your side!

CAVATELLI DI GRANO ARSO CON POMODORO E RICOTTA DURA
(Burnt Wheat Cavatelli with Tomato and Hard Ricotta)

Ingredients:

300g. burnt wheat flour
400g. puréed tomatoes
100g. extra virgin olive oil 
2 cloves garlic
200g. hard ricotta
salt and water

Preparation:

For the pasta:
Combine the burnt wheat flour and water to obtain a soft dough. Make small ropes, 1cm wide and 2-3cm long and hollow them out with two fingers.

For the tomato:
Sauté the garlic in a pan with some olive oil and add the puréed tomatoes.

Cook the cavatelli in plenty of boiling salted water. When done, serve with the tomato sauce and a handful of grated hard ricotta.

Wine recommendation:
This dish has the strong decisive flavours of the burnt wheat as well as of the tomato and hard ricotta. It will therefore need a young red wine with a good structure such as a San Severo Rosso.

Variation:
Given the difficulty in finding the burnt wheat flour, white flour may be substituted.
If instead of making the pasta pieces 2-3 cm long, they were made only 1cm long, they would then be called “cicatelli”.

::::::::NOTE::::::::

When I made the pasta using the Grano Arso, the Arso flavor was so intense that we had to cut it with normal flour - I recall a 250 g. ARSO to 150 g. "OO"

Also, we made Orecchiette from the pasta as well.  All you need is a table knife...

Chapter 8 is the name...

So....I'm finally back to work at a new Steakhouse in Agoura Hills/Calabasas called Chapter 8.

I can tell you one thing for sure - opening a restaurant is not easy, nor much fun!!  Chapter 8 is the second restaurant for the owners with P6 being the first place off of Lindero Canyon Road in the same area.

Chapter 8 is a Steakhouse Lounge with amazing decor.  The restaurant seems to belong more in Las Vegas, Miami or NYC then Calabasas and that is why for both pre-opening nights we served 240+ guests.

All the meats I butcher and grill are USDA Prime.  My prep/butcher list includes some fourteen different items.  I hope to get some photos up soon but I have to ask mngmnt first.

Stop by if you like, just don't ask for any favors yet - I am still working on my temps at the all wood grill.

It's funny - I was relaxing, working here and there with family and friends for the month and a half after Italy, then BOOM - back pains, hand pains, dirty fingernails etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.