Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

Just a little hint of coolness in the air and I am transported to one of our favorite Tuscan villages, Terranouva. We have traveled to Tuscany several times in early fall to catch a great airfare deal but it has become one of our favorite times to visit Italy. There are all sorts of festivals, including Perugia's chocolate festival- positioned between ancient buildings, fabulous museums and, oh yeah. . .lots and lots of chocolate-the only other place I remember anyone ever shoving chocolate at me was in my dreams! I didn't start the blog to ramble on about chocolate . . . I intended to share this ingenious Knorr product from the IPER store-Porcini-flavored cubes. I found them last night tucked away in the back of one of my cupboards. I made a pan-fried version of the Pollo Al Mattone and served a delicious risotto with porcini and field greens. It was authentically Tuscan.

  I have been anxious to try my new experiment with my own freshly roasted coffee beans. Using about a half of a cup of my Mocha Java Joe Beans (great chocolately undertones) I created the sugar-free liqueur with the addition of a Madagascar Vanilla Bean to a decanter of vodka. The mixture has been sitting under the wine bar for about four weeks-developing the most beautiful deep chocolate brown tones and decadent aroma! It struck me today that the perfect presentation for this liqueur was this beautiful cordial from the 30's. Cool colors, minted simple syrup and my own coffee-chocolate liqueur resulted in this refreshing "Peppermint Patty" cordial.

        My experiement with my peanut clusters didn't give me the results I had hoped for. The nuts and chocolate were good but the caramel was from a vendor I had never tried. I think next time I would rather use my own recipe. I found the caramel to be lackluster in depth and robust flavor. The ratio of salt to sugar was off. My original thoughts for the filling were more towards the nougat texture and it looks like it's back to the drawing board! Oh, darn-who will ever eat all this chocolate!

    Today is one of my play days. I was due to tape a show but couldn't sleep at all last night-so I opted to wait until tomorrow, leaving me with a little free time between editing and cleaning house. I have shifted gadgets between my two kitchens, checked stage one of the Limoncello batch-strained it and will make the simple syrup and fresh lemon juice batch later today. I also started an experimental batch of a new idea that came to me when I wasn't sleeping. I'm going to try a coffee, vanilla and chocolate liquer. My plan is to make it similar to the Limoncello as that recipe is delivering very consistent results. Two stages-the first 40 days developing the essense and the second 40 days to blend a simple syrup and develop the intesity of flavor. I am starting with the coffee and vanilla beans and in 40 days will make a chocolate simple syrup. Easy, breezy!

Flying over NYC, recently, I decided that when the occasion called for it - I was only going to order Chocolate Martinis. With plans for an upcoming episode on the history of cocktails I wanted do a little research. I know how that must sound . . . but, wait . . . listen! I was dedicating myself to the research [for ya'll] and quite frankly, I came back pretty well informed! For the life of me, though, I don't know what I did with my notes. My research began at the lounge at the Renaissance Hotel in White Plains, New York. You know . . . now that I'm thinking about it, my research actually began with two Bloody Marys on the plane trip up! And even though this blog isn't about tomatoes this might be a good time to share news about another new blog, Tomato Patty. . . http://www.tomatopatty.blogspot.com/ . Do ya'll mind if I take a break here? I'm going to go mix up a batch of Chocolate Martinis. Ok, I'm back. . . anyway, as we sat there in the glow of the can...