Quarantine Cooking

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tullius

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Have often thought scallions sliced on a bias would make a nice garnish and add some color, but cannot break and bring myself to do it: too many lessons worth remembering.

Carbonara is treasured, almost sacred in Rome, and serious in its simplicity. Pasta, guanciale, eggs, pecorino, water, pepper, that's it. Pancetta if no guanciale, bacon if no pancetta.

If you want to practice arguments and insults for a long time in Italian over wine, ask a Roman if garlic should be included.. ;)
 

waikikigun

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spaghetti alla carbonara View attachment 31110
learned to make this in Rome
For some reason this brings back memories. In the eighties I had an Italian girlfriend named Lara. She lived in a town called Cornedo, in Vicenza, and was a uni student in Venice. Whenever she scrounged together a million or so lira she'd stuff the cash in an envelope and send it to me to fly over and meet her in whatever place: Paris, Chamonix, Florence, wherever. I eventually took up Italian and became fluent. The last time I saw her was in Paris, July 1989, right around Bastille Day. Now, whenever I sign onto 23 and Me I half expect to find out I've got a 30 year old Italian kid. But they don't do the DNA thing much, those Italians.... all that from a plate of carbonara.
 

tullius

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Ma Tullius' Tuna Salad

Mom always put cheddar cheese in her tuna salad. It was unusually excellent, except for one thing. Here's my go not using a vile ingredient that rhymes with "miracle drip". Serve on well toasted cheap burger buns w/ sliced tomatoes and lettuce. Saltines or crostini work too.

2 five oz. cans chunk light tuna (skipjack tuna, water, veg broth, salt), 2/3rds of the broth drained
2/3 c extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarse shredded or diced
3 thin slices onion, diced
1 small stalk of celery, diced
2-3 T mayonnaise (recipe)
2 t extra virgin olive oil
1/8 fresh lemon, juiced
1/8 t cayenne
seasoned salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and mix well: salad should be not dry but not runny. Check and correct seasoning/consistency, chill well. No need for mayo on the buns.

Yield: 4 sandwiches
 

jclif43

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Ma Tullius' Tuna Salad

Mom always put cheddar cheese in her tuna salad. It was unusually excellent, except for one thing. Here's my go not using a vile ingredient that rhymes with "miracle drip". Serve on well toasted cheap burger buns w/ sliced tomatoes and lettuce. Saltines or crostini work too.

2 five oz. cans chunk light tuna (skipjack tuna, water, veg broth, salt), 2/3rds of the broth drained
2/3 c extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarse shredded or diced
3 thin slices onion, diced
1 small stalk of celery, diced
2-3 T mayonnaise (recipe)
2 t extra virgin olive oil
1/8 fresh lemon, juiced
1/8 t cayenne
seasoned salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and mix well: salad should be not dry but not runny. Check and correct seasoning/consistency, chill well. No need for mayo on the buns.

Yield: 4 sandwiches
There is always a need for more mayo( read Dukes). LOL
 

tullius

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what happens to the rest of the potato?
Believe it or not, there's not too much potato you didn't see on the plate. These were pretty old soft leathery taters with 1" sprouts that were in storage: thumbed the sprouts off, peeled them with a peeler, sliced at most a quarter inch off each end so they sit flat, and then cut them in half perpendicular to the long axis so you get two of the things on the plate from each potato. You could use the peels and ends in soup, to season cast iron or black steel pans, roast or fry them, etc, but these went in the compost pile. Got at least 50 more lbs. to use up..
 

tullius

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My version of the former are shallow fried in 1/8" oil for 6 min until one side has a nice hard crust. Turn heat down, flip, season and baste with thyme and rosemary infused butter for a few minutes, then finish in the oven for 35 min, braising in a cup or two of broth or stock which gets wonderfully absorbed into the potatoes while the tops stay crusty.
 
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