Bruschettina

The Legendary....

OCTOPUS & CHICKPEAS...as one of my final posts, I thought I would put up pictures of the most requested Bruschettina item.  Check out the Octopus photo album for before and after shots!

Last Dinner

I would like to thank everyone who attended my last dinner at the Boat Street Cafe last night - I think it was a huge success - I wish I could do more of them!  I would especially like to thank the crew of Boat Street:  Renee, Russ, Eli, Shannon, Robert, and Erika - I could not have done it without you guys (and, of course, Federico, for the Umbrian "contraband" care package)!!!

Here is what we ate:

• Selection of Umbrian Cured Meats: salami, salami contadina, copacolla, salsiccia
• Porcini e Finocchio:  pickled porcini mushrooms, and fennel & radish salad with fig vinegar
• Polenta Bianca con Tartufi Neri:  white polenta with Umbrian black truffles
• Lumache alle Cacciatore:  snails, hunter style
• Fricco di Angello con Lenticche di Castelluccio:  lamb shoulder braised with vinegar and rosemary, with Umbrian lentils

Here is what we drank:

• Zardetto Prosecco
• La Carraia Orvieto Classico 2005
• Sportoletti Assisi Rosso 2004

side note:  I didn't think I would have to say this but....truffles are fabulous on just about everything....but who was making salami and truffle sandwiches??? (never help yourself to truffles, especially Italian truffles, without asking!) ;-)

Final Dinner at Boat Street Cafe

Unfortunately my last dinner is sold out - I wish everyone could come!  However, if you are in the Boat Street area this Sunday, please stop by and join us for aperitivi from 7:00 - 7:30 before the dinner - salute!

Also, if you have the chance - make sure you attend the family style dinners held occasionally at the Boat Street.  I went this past Sunday  - short ribs to die for!!!

Prosciutto Tastes Like....What?!?

I just read the Chow-Bio of this week's Stranger.  I don't know wether to laugh or cry.  The new "chef" (and I use that term extremely loosely) of the Asteroid Cafe (my former employer) was quoted saying "I don't like prosciutto—it tastes like dog food."  That statement is so offensive on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin......and I'm not going to....I'll just let that statement speak for itself.  :-(

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=89331

Cioppino

This Week's Best Bite: Town & Country

One of my favorite takeout dinners is a bowl of cioppino ($5.99/32 oz.) from the seafood counter at Central Market (15505 Westminster Way N., Shoreline), also available at other Town & Country markets.

The rich tomato-clam broth is stuffed with comfort, from big rounds of cooked carrot to hearty chunks of cod and halibut.

-- Rebekah Denn (Seattle P-I)

I get the cioppino from the Ballard Market (town & country) all the time- I actually had it yesterday afternoon for lunch!

Le Fotografie Italiane

I finally posted my photos from my trip to Italy - check them out - there's a lot!

FAQ's

Its been a very long time since I posted anything.  I think the best way to re-begin is to answer all those questions everyone has been asking! here goes...

1. Are you moving ?  Yes

2. Where?  Foligno, a small town in Umbria, about 20 minutes from Perugia.  It is the geographical center of Italy, so of course, Foligno-ites call their home "The Center of the Universe."

3.  When?  I am leaving Seattle on November 14.  I will return to my home town of Philadelphia to celebrate my friends' Elyse and Carl's wedding, and, of course, the holidays.  I will fly to Italy on December 28.

4. Is it true that you fell in love with an Italian?  Yes.  His name is Federico Bibi, and he makes Trampetti Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva http://www.trampetti.it/, which is used by some of the best restauants in Seattle!

5.  Is Federico jealous that you are using Mannucci Droandi Olive Oil?  Its okay, we have worked it out...

6.  What will you do in Italy?  Cook, of course!  I also plan to attend the University for Foreigners in Perugia - gotta work on il mio italiano http://www.unistrapg.it/english/

7.  Are you selling your business?  Yes, after careful consideration, I have decided to sell the business.  I will sell only to someone who intends to run it in the same spirit as I have.  Don't worry Octopus Lovers, I will train them well!

8.  What about your cat?  The Sebastianator is going to live with my Mom in Glenside, indoors, supervised, no more grass...

9.  Will you ever return to Seattle?  You never know.........  ;-)

coming soon:  photos from Italy!!!

Sunset Magazine

I am featured in this month's (August 2006) Sunset Magazine (pg 88) - I even gave up some of my secret recipes!

Article by Molly Watson

Photos by local Columbia City-ite Jim Henkins

Seattle Farmers Market Food Article

This article was in the Seattle P-I today - here's my part:

Check out the link for the full article and a "shiny, happy" picture of me - powder, please!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/277448_rest14.html

Farmers markets also offer a fresh bounty of noshing choices

By REBEKAH DENN
P-I RESTAURANT CRITIC

The grilled toasts called "bruschettinas" ($2.50 each, $7 for three) are a sunny reflection of the best of the market spirit, changing weekly to showcase the freshest and loveliest ingredients from neighboring booths. Chef Jennifer McIlvaine dips garlic cloves in olive oil, skates them over slices of artisan bread, grills the bread while you wait and tops it with your choice of seasonal bounty, with hot toppings warmed in well-worn cast-iron pans.

In early spring the options may include heavily grilled asparagus with bits of young green onion, or farmstand eggs hard-boiled and chopped, mixed with paper-thin radish slices. A week later, fresh snap peas may stand in for the eggs, with the radishes giving way in their own turn when more mature peas are paired with grilled onions.

Our personal favorite this season was cool pickled cauliflower decorated with fennel fronds. (Most popular, ironically, is the octopus-chickpea mix, the sole dish whose ingredients don't come from the markets.) The same attention to quality and detail shows in the sparkling citrus-mint juice ($2.50), for which McIlvaine muddles sprigs of fresh mint in a cup before pouring on fresh juice and topping it with a separate slug of chilled mineral water.

McIlvaine, a former cook at Asteroid Cafe and Zig Zag Cafe, also serves monthly five-course "Farmers Market Dinners," with signup sheets at her booth.

Where: Ballard Farmers Market (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays, 5300 Ballard Ave. N.W.), Columbia City Farmers Market (3-7 p.m. Wednesdays, 4801 Rainier Ave. S.), Edmonds Farmers Market (9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays, corner of Bell Street and Fifth Avenue).

July 21 Dinner

This is the menu for the Friday, July 21 Bruschettina Dinner.  This will be final dinner until I return from Italy.

  thank you!

$75 per person (plus gratuity), $20 deposit per person required.

Reservations can be made by email or at the farmers market.

Hope to see you soon!

Jennifer

FRIDAY, JULY 21

7:00 pm

SUMMER IN ROMA

ZUCCHINE RIPIENE

Zucchini stuffed with ground veal, tomato and herbs

with fried squash blossom

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ACQUACOTTA LAZIALE CON VONGOLE

"Cooked Water" in the style of Lazio with Clams

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SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA

Traditional, made with guanciale and fresh duck eggs

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TROTA AL CARTOCCIO

Whole trout, cooked in parchment

with artichokes, baby potatoes, and fennel pollen

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FRAGOLE ALLO ZABAIONE GRATINATO

Strawberries with Sabayon gratin

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a flight of summer whites

Colli di Luna Vermentino

Castello della Sala Orvieto Classico Superiore

Villa Simone Frascati Superiore

Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico

Fazi-Battaglia "Arkezia" Spumante

*menu subject to change*