Keeping in mind that the first picture of each post becomes a thumbnail on a facebook post, and a few people have let me know that the three dead ducks in my kitchen sink were a bit much, I thought I would start with these lovely beans, tarbais from southwestern France, ordered from D’Artagnan, which are the heart of the cassoulet. For this uber challenge there was little question of what I would make. I had only eaten a cassoulet once,…
It occurred to me, as I looked over the last month of Charcutepalooza challenges, that I had the opportunity for some extra credit, to sort of prove the point of the whole experience you might say. I knew I had to prepare for the grand finale, the December challenge, which for me was going to be to prepare that mixed bag of meats and beans, a cassoulet. But I also had, hanging out there, the challenge from the very beginning of the year,…
My husband, Frank, and I are big fans of the pizza at Pizzaria Mozza, Mario Batali’s joint venture pizza place (seems a little too subtle to describe it as such- it’s actually a bustling and buzzing West Hollywood happening place) with Nancy Silverton and Joe Batstianich. So, when in New York a couple of years ago, we decided to try Otto, his New York pizza place (also a little to common a describer…). I tell you all this because it was here that…