Greetings!
Is it Cause or Effect? I am always interested in what our customers have to say (well, most of the time) and usually learn something from them, especially when it involves food, and at times, subjects like ''what is the fundamentally important role of logic when exploring reasoning in the discipline of philosophy?" as one of our young local graduate students likes to talk to me about while choosing his groceries for the week. I find all this information fascinating and have been able to store enough material so that I can handle my own at the next ten cocktail parties I attend!
Most of our customers are "nice people", even the ones I know to be Republicans, and I particularly like talking with vegetarians because they are all nice and they sometimes inspire me to come up with more vegetarian meals. I wonder if it is because they are vegetarian that they are nice or if they are nice because they are vegetarian?
Take our cooking classes for example: We try to accommodate vegetarians in our classes, because as I mentioned, they are "nice". Many times we will substitute meats with vegetables and legumes or just eliminate them all together as with flavor-packed lentil dishes. In one of our classes attended by, among others, a gentle couple, which I will refer to as "D" and "P" and their friend "B", we used eggplant instead of chicken in the Farro stew, omitted pancetta and used vegetable stock in place of chicken broth for the lentils, and a made a classic risotto with porcini instead of the shrimp we had originally planned to use. Everyone told me they loved the food, unless of course, they were just being nice. Hmm.. I wonder?
So, look for more vegetarian options, some of which were inspired by the very lovely D, her boyfriend P and their nice friend B, and some dishes that are also vegan. We are also working on gluten free dishes which are very low in carbohydrates and, as far as the calories, we just won't mention them.
As for my young buddy, the MIT philosopher, which I will refer to as "C", I am glad that he also likes to cook while trying to apply logic to the meaning of life.
Good luck!
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Bresaola is a salt-cured, air-dried beef - an Italian specialty that has been around since the 1500's. Unlike most other cured meat products, Bresaola is made from beef and is extremely lean. It originated in the Valtellina Valley region of northern Italy but our Bresaola is made in the US from very lean Beef Eye of the Round by Fratelli Beretta. All fat is trimmed from the meat and then it is rubbed with coarse salt and seasonings. We slice this Bresaola to perfection and place it in vacuum sealed packages priced from
$5.00-$6.00.
Spanish Serrano Ham. There is nothing more Spanish than Jamón Serrano. Our Serrano comes from the Sierra Nevada area of Andalucia. This ham is cured for at least a year, and it has a much deeper flavor and firmer texture than Italian prosciutto. Use it in sandwiches with Piquillo peppers, Manchego cheese, olives and good quality olive oil or in your favorite recipe calling for cured meats. We pack perfect, well trimmed thin slices of Serrano in vacuum sealed bags costing between $5.00 and $6.00
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Serrano ham and Bresaola Until the end of August on special for $1.00 off per package. At that price you may want to pick up a few of them... they keep for 2-3 months.
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Have You Heard of This?
Iced Coffee -Cambridge store only- What's unusual about iced coffee you say? Nothing really, unless the coffee is brewed from fresh ground Lavazza coffee and the ice cubes are made out of the same delicious Lavazza coffee instead of water. I know what you are thinking- brilliant, right?
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New Cooking Class
In my house Beef Braciola is a simple preparation built on a strong foundation of a classic time-tested combination of simple herbs and spices. The Lentils are the very exclusive Italian variety from "Castellucccio Di Norcia" in Umbria (look them up) and they will be served together with the Braciola. We will also show you how to prepare Gnocchi made with our own Ricotta, butter and "00" Italian flour. They are soft as a cloud, delicious and half the carbohydrates of potato gnocchi...The Quick Tomato Sauce, one of my favorites, is rich and concentrated and will be used as a topping for the Gnocchi. Class will take place in the production area of our Somerville location. Volunteers will be asked to help with the cooking process. Appetizers and wine or soft beverages will be served during the demonstration and at the end we will sit down to enjoy the meal we prepared. Come hungry! $65.00.Sign-up online www.caponefoods.com or call 617-629-2296.
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Serrano Ham with Mushroom Escabeche
 Serrano ham can be found in every restaurant and Tapas bar in Spain and in the Barcelona area of Catalonia it is served as a tapas or "pincho" and often combined with marinated mushrooms on "tomato bread".
Ingredients
1/2 gallon water
8 oz red wine vinegar
10 oz oyster mushrooms (or other type)
1/2 tsp salt
For Marinade
1 ozflat parsley, minced
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano, dry
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 ozextra virgin olive oil
1 ozMerlot red wine vinegar
Bring water, salt and red wine vinegar to boil, add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes on high heat. Drain and add rest of marinade ingredients.
For Tapas
6 oz Serrano ham, thin sliced
2 ea tomatoes, ripe and medium size
1 loaf baguette (from Clearflour bread)
3 oz extra virgin olive oil, from Spain
2 oz Piquillo peppers
kosher salt, to taste
Cut bread into1/4" slices and toast lightly. Cut tomato in half and rub cut side on toast and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Next top with Serrano, mushrooms
and some Piquillo pepper. Serves 6-8 as an appetizer.
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Cordially,
Capone Foods
Capone Foods |
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Baked Home-Made Ricotta
with Apricot Jam
 One night a few months ago I woke up at about 2 am and could not go back to sleep. Having heard that warm milk and cookies could help, I got up out of bed and headed to the kitchen for the solution to my dilemma. I soon realized that I shouldn't be eating sugary food like cookies, especially in the middle of the night- it's just not healthy! Now we all know that you can't have milk without cookies, so I figured the next best thing to do, since I was sitting on a stool very close the refrigerator, was to open the freezer door and pull out a goose. A grey goose. A Grey Goose vodka bottle that is! I also grabbed some ice because it just happened to be conveniently stored in the same area. I did, however, have to "get up" and walk over to the liquor cabinet for some vermouth to wave over my drink. Sounds very civilized and a lot healthier, than cookies, no?
What does all this have to do with Ricotta cheese you might ask. Well, after drinking the second glass of that delicious French wheat water, I began reminiscing (to this day I don't know why) about the good old days back in Boston's Haymarket when customers came to our store from near and far for our wonderful rich and creamy homemade Ricotta. Even though I was sitting in my kitchen, I know there comes a time when I should stop imbibing, but since I was still awake, I figured what the heck, why not make cheese? So I got up from my stool, grabbed some milk and cream, a pot and strainer, some salt and vinegar and... Voila! In less than 30 minutes, I had made some delicious Ricotta cheese, just like we did in the good old days. So this is how, after more than 26 years, I was inspired once again to make Ricotta cheese, and within two days this delicious hand-dipped old fashioned Ricotta was being made in our store and enjoyed by our current customers.
Some people think that wheat is just for bread. I find it is also quite inspiring!
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