Teaser Tuesdays: I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti

I haven't joined in on the "Teaser Tuesdays" party for awhile; but since I'm reading a food-related book right now, it seems appropriate to bring a contribution to the potluck.

"Teaser Tuesdays" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I happen to be reading the very well-timed I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci. I'd heard of the book when it was first published, and then happened to just blunder into it at the library last week ... the universe offers us what we need at the right time, if we're paying attention.

Given that I've recently ended a relationship, and given that I'm living alone now and cooking all sorts of things I haven't been able to in recent years (due to the dietary and health quirks of many of my loved ones), this seemed like the perfect "sit on the sunny porch after dinner and read" kinda book.

It's filled with tales of hope and heartbreak, as well as stories of faith and foolishness ... and lots and lots of recipes. Giulia's parents were both Italian -- her father born in Italy, her mother raised by Sicilian immigrants -- so her love of food and her talent for creating sublime dishes are both exquisite!

Here are my two teaser sentences from page 13:

"He seemed truly smitten with me, and that kind of thing just didn't happen. I can count on my breasts the number of times I have missed a meal, but for several days after that date I ate next to nothing."

In contrast, I usually go into starvation mode when my heart feels as though it's been shattered into thousands of shards, and eat very enthusiastically when I'm happy and contented. To each her own coping mechanisms ....

I'm doing quite well and eating heartily, since the time was right (though it's still a sad situation) for my new-found freedom. And here, just 'cause they're so perfect, are two more quotes from the book that sum things up perfectly:

"But still, cooking was mine. It relaxed me .... It was a way to make sense out of my internal chaos. There is logic and order to cooking. What you put into it has everything to do with what you get out of it. With love, it's not so cut-and-dried."

"Because cooking and eating well are my raison d'être, I don't stop when there's no one else to feed."

And on that note, I thought I'd make one of the comforting recipes featured in this book about lost loves -- Sauteed Summer Peppers.

I just happened to have every one of the ingredients on hand, and even threw in some mushrooms that I needed to use up; then I served the dish over polenta, rather than with the recommended grilled sausages.

It was hearty, it was delicious ... it was absolutely sublime for a sunny Spring evening on the front porch ... :)

Sauteed Summer Peppers

Vegetables:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red onion, ends removed, sliced lengthwise into semicircular chunks
pinch dried oregano
3 bell peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow), cored, seeds and pith removed, cut into strips
6 ounces sliced mushrooms
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
2 large tomatoes (or 4 plum tomatoes), seeded and cut into chunks
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in large saute pan or Dutch oven over medium heat and saute garlic and onion with the oregano until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add peppers, mushrooms and 1 teaspoon salt and cook partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt; continue to cook another 10 to 15 minutes until the peppers are very soft. Test for seasoning and serve with torn basil leaves and freshly ground pepper.

Polenta:

6 cups water
pinch of salt
1 cup cornmeal
freshly grated parmesan, for serving

Bring water and salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Slowly whisk in cornmeal, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes until thickened.

Place polenta into a serving dish and place peppers over it. Top with parmesan.

Serves 4.

Teasing on a Tuesday

I haven't dropped in on the literary club known as Teaser Tuesdays for ages, but thought I'd give it a whirl today since I'm actually reading a food-related book.

Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition, by Andrew Friedman, is an in-depth look at the most prestigious cooking competition in the world, which features some of the true stars of the culinary universe -- Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, chefs from California's famous restaurant The French Laundry -- as they prepared to represent the United States in 2009.

The Bocuse d'Or [boh-KOOS DOHR] is held every two years, and the 2011 edition was completed only last week; it's rather like the Olympics, in that countries are represented by teams of chefs who are cheered on by avid spectators. According to Wikipedia, "The audience atmosphere of the Bocuse d'Or evolved in 1997 when the support for the Mexican candidate included a mariachi band, foghorns, cowbells, cheering and yelling from the stands ...."

Although the French have won 6 of the 11 events, Scandinavia swept everyone else away this year: the winners were Denmark, Sweden and Norway, respectively. Here is a very brief summary of what was expected of the competitors, summed up on 911cheferic.com:

Once the pairs from each country enter the main stage area, they are given a fully equipped 18 X 2 meter kitchen cubicle, and have five hours to prepare a meat dish and a fish dish using ingredients selected by the Bocuse d’Or committee. However, each chef must provide the serving platters, all specialized cooking equipment and all of the food ingredients, with the exception of the designated meat and fish items. Both platters must be presented with a choice of three different garnishes and must contain a total of twelve servings. Two portions are plated for presentation and for the official photograph. The competition jury comprises some of the most renowned chefs from each of the 24 countries, all of whom expect to be thoroughly wowed by the taste, creativity and presentation of each dish.

Now, having read that, be sure to check out the Facebook page of Denmark's team leader, Rasmus Kofoed to see the winning dishes ... truly, works of art! (I'd simply place the photos here myself, but I don't want to infringe upon anyone's rights.)

So, anyway, meandering back to the original intent of this post ....

I'm reading a book about this intense culinary competition, for which teams raise money, chefs take leaves of absence from their day jobs to practice for months at a time, and teams compete for a prize of 20,000 Euros. Therefore, let me finally get around to sharing a tantalizing tidbit with you, per the rules ....

"Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!"

"During that time, Skeie thought about his cuisine, not cooking even one garnish, but instead visualizing elements and compositions, imagining their flavors and how they would harmonize, taking them apart and reassembling them in his mind. In September 2008, about the same time Hollingsworth was finalizing his dishes for Orlando, Skeie was taking his actual Bocuse d'Or food out for a test drive in a kitchen outfitted with the same equipment he'd be using in Lyon; he'd have started earlier, but his participation in the Bocuse d'Or Europe in July (one of the continental contests that had been introduced in recent years), ironically, distracted him from the upcoming world competition."

Teaser Tuesdays: Tantalizing Tastes

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading and, as she states, "Anyone can play along! Just do the following":

Grab your current read.

Dying for Chocolate -- A Culinary Mystery by Diane Mott Davidson. Yeah, it's drivel about a caterer who solves crimes ... but it's food-related drivel at a time when my brain isn't up for much more of an intellectual challenge at the end of long work days.

Open to a random page.

Page 178.

Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

"The juicy steaks were redolent of a garlic-Burgundy marinade, the flaky baked potatoes oozed melted butter, and every leaf of the green salad was unabashedly coated with thick guacamole dressing."

"Therefore, alongside our strawberry pie we had Schulz's famous chocolate-mint cheesecake."

Sigh ....

"Teaser Tuesday"

I had intended to make myself a lovely little afternoon tea assortment to bring for lunch today, until my evening plans changed and I didn't spend any time in my kitchen last night after cooking up some bratwurst for dinner and then washing a sinkful of dishes. (I got to spend my evening with Tom instead ... excellent trade-off, if I may say so!!!)

Anyway, because I was rushed, I ended up slapping together a huge vegetable sandwich with avocado, cucumbers, tomato, red onion and lettuce instead, which was really wonderful ... but not quite what I'd envisioned.

For some reason, I've been fixated upon the dainty little cucumber sandwiches (likely because I bought some beautiful specimens at the Westside Farmers' Market last week), the pretty little cookies (having found some chocolate-filled chocolate cookies -- yeah! -- at the Om Market recently), and tea (iced tea -- that was an easy one to navigate to!). It will happen ... it has to! I'll be home tonight playing "catch up," so I can do laundry and pit cherries and bake cookies and clean and make a pitcher of iced tea while I'm at it. So maybe tomorrow I can indulge myself ....

But rather than leave a day without some semblance of tossing myself out into the cyber-fray -- can't risk having anyone forget lil' ol' moi, after all! -- I have put together this quickie post instead. It has nothing to do with afternoon tea, but is food-related nonetheless.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading and, as she states, "Anyone can play along! Just do the following":

Grab your current read.

Okay.

Open to a random page.

Page 132.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

"With a start of asparagus tricolore -- three colors -- under shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano and panna cotta covered with crushed strawberries for dessert, I felt pretty good about the menu."

"The four brothers who owned the operation -- Angelo, Mario, Remo, and Lino Soppani -- held fast to one credo that worked its way throughout the ranks of chefs, cooks, pot washers, counter personnel, and me, the lone intern: if you start every day with a dedication to being the best, then greatness will be achieved and maintained over time."

Share the title & author, too, so that other participants can add the book to their "to be read" lists if they like your teasers!

Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella by David Shalleck with Erol Munus with a foreword by Mario Batali.

I've been trying to finish this book for months and months now ... I love it, but there's just not enough time to do everything! It's the story of a chef who needed a new adventure in his life, who ended up becoming the private cook on a yacht touring the Mediterranean for a summer ... sigh. Of course, such a prospect would undoubtedly require far more work, far more planning, far more organization, and far more effort than one would necessarily want in one's life; but oh, to be under such stress on a teakwood yacht surrounded by gorgeous scenery and with the most extraordinary food items available when in port!!! A girl can dream ... :)

I'd also like to engage in what might seem like a bit of self-promotion, though it's certainly not intended as such. A very lovely woman named Sheila emailed me the other day telling me how much she loved a granola recipe of mine that she'd seen in one of the Taste of Home publications, and asking if she could feature it on her blog ... wow! Well, today's the day! So go check out her blog -- Reforming U -- and follow her so that you don't miss any of her fabulous recipes (like one I saw the other day that included a blueberry salsa) or fitness tips (which God knows I need desperately). Sheila is just starting this venture, so go show her some love!