Another long, exciting day. I finally had the sandwich. It was " un panino de carne, bagnato, con due salse" ... a boiled beef sandwich, dipped in juice, with two sauces. One was a green sauce and the other was a spicy red sauce. It was killer delicious. And 2 euros. Here is a picture of the place I got it from, in the central market.
The cooking class was perfect, once again. I cooked things I had never eaten before, and loved it all. We started out with a shrimp cocktail, then proceeded to a crawfish 
with spaghetti. We also had a salad with the same dressing as the fennel of the day before ... oil, salt and lemon juice with carrots, celery and red bell pepper. Many instructions on using only the central celery stalks and very little pepper. We both nibbled on that the whole lesson. The crawfish, well I am not sure what to call them, here is a picture, were incredibly sweet.
with spaghetti. We also had a salad with the same dressing as the fennel of the day before ... oil, salt and lemon juice with carrots, celery and red bell pepper. Many instructions on using only the central celery stalks and very little pepper. We both nibbled on that the whole lesson. The crawfish, well I am not sure what to call them, here is a picture, were incredibly sweet.The next dish we started were these tiny octopus(es?)(i?). We started by cooking 4 cloves of garlic, 3-4 bay leaves in olive oil for a few minutes. Then added the "muscotini" ( ... tiny octopus ...) ,added water then boiled them on high heat for 5 minutes. Then added red wine, tomato pieces and more water. They were boiled on a high heat, covered, for 2 hours and still weren't done ... but I got to taste the sauce and the not-quite-done octopus. It was incredibly delicious. Tasted like a beef broth. The octopus was almost tender, like a beef tenderloin. I was totally surprised.
We did a tuna with spaghetti that was very tasty, then a stuffed calamari. I have always avoided calamari, but this dish changed my mind. We started with 4 whole calamari.
Took the feet off of them all and combined it with one of the calamari bodies, chopped it up pretty small, added 4 capers and one chopped anchovy to a frying pan with olive oil, parsley, basil and crushed red pepper, 1/2 c white wine and 1 c of fish stock. It was fried/boiled for about 3 minutes, then tomatoes and sliced zucchini were added. Then the whole calamari bodies were added and then removed after 1 minute. Another 5 minutes of cooking and bread crumbs were added. Then the calamari bodies were stuffed with the mixture. We deglazed the pan with white wine, and added 1 c cooked tomato sauce and 1 c fish stock. The stuffed calamari were added to the pan and cooked for about 5 minutes. Then fresh basil was added. The calamari were removed, the sauce was reduced and a knob of butter was added. Then plated. I loved the dish.
Took the feet off of them all and combined it with one of the calamari bodies, chopped it up pretty small, added 4 capers and one chopped anchovy to a frying pan with olive oil, parsley, basil and crushed red pepper, 1/2 c white wine and 1 c of fish stock. It was fried/boiled for about 3 minutes, then tomatoes and sliced zucchini were added. Then the whole calamari bodies were added and then removed after 1 minute. Another 5 minutes of cooking and bread crumbs were added. Then the calamari bodies were stuffed with the mixture. We deglazed the pan with white wine, and added 1 c cooked tomato sauce and 1 c fish stock. The stuffed calamari were added to the pan and cooked for about 5 minutes. Then fresh basil was added. The calamari were removed, the sauce was reduced and a knob of butter was added. Then plated. I loved the dish.For the last dish we fried two whole small fish. They were very tasty, also. The surprises were the calamari and octopus. Never thought I would crave more of either dish.
If you want to see more pictures they are here.
