Cortona (Arezzo), Toscana

The town of Cortona sits atop a hill in the center of the Tuscan province of Arezzo. Because of its perch, Cortona can be seen from kilometers away on the windy roads of Tuscany.

Cortona boasts especially old Umbrian and Etruscan origins. Founded by the Etruscans between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, the town was defeated by the Romans in the fifth century and took the name Corito. At the height of their empire, the Greeks called Cortona, “the metropolis of the Tyrrhenians,” that is, the non-Greek peoples.

Though closer in proximity to Siena, the culture of Cortona was (and is) highly influenced by that of Florence, particularly during the Renaissance. To this day, the city of Cortona is surrounded by a city wall dating to the time of Etruscan rule.  The town’s picturesque charm lends its beauty to the 2003 romantic comedy “Under the Tuscan Sun.”

Zampa di Vitello alla Toscana

Braised Calves Feet with Tuscan Beans & Pecorino di Fossa
Recipe courtesy of Mario Batali

In his seminal Il cuoco galante, the early-19th-Century cook and philosopher Vincenzo Corrado wrote that milk-fed veal is the choicest of luxury meats, “There being no part of the animal that cannot be seasoned and tastefully prepared.” So is the case for the foot, typically cooked slowly, as in this Tuscan preparation.

Serves 4

• 2 calves feet split by your butcher
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 garlic cloves peeled
• 4 cups Spanish onion, cut into large dice
• 4 cups celery, cut into large dice
• 4 cups carrots, cut into large dice
• ½ cup dried cranberry beans, soaked in cold water overnight
• ½ cup dried white runner beans, soaked in cold water overnight
• ½ cup dried rice beans, soaked in cold water overnight
• ½ cup pancetta, cut into large dice
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 quarts unsalted chicken stock
• 2 cloves sliced garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
• 1 cup white wine
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup grated Pecorino di Fossa
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• ¼ cup finishing olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450◦F.
2. Add calves feet, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, 3 cloves garlic, 1 cup onions, 1 cup celery, 1 cup carrots, and 3 tablespoons kosher salt to a large stock pot and cover ingredients with water. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer for six hours until the foot is tender and meat is falling off the bone. Keep an eye on the water level throughout the cooking process, as you may need to add more. When the meat is tender, carefully remove it with a spider kitchen utensil and let cool to touch on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Remove meat, tendon, skin and thoroughly chop with a cleaver or large chefs’ knife (discard bones and cartilage).
3. Preheat three small sauce pots and add olive oil to each until just smoking. Equally divide among the three pots pancetta, onion, carrots, celery, thyme and garlic and cook until the vegetables are translucent. Put one quart of chicken stock in each pot and add drained beans to separate pots. Cook all beans over very low heat until each is tender but not falling apart. Rice beans will take 30-40 minutes, cranberry beans will take 1 hour and white runner beans will take 2-3 hours. Season each pot with salt and pepper, remove from heat and let beans cool in liquid. Once cooled, drain beans and remove pancetta, vegetables, thyme and garlic.
4. In a medium sauté pan, toast garlic until golden brown, add meat and chopped thyme, deglaze with white wine, add beans and allow to simmer until hot. When hot, place in an ovenproof casserole dish and top with Pecorino di Fossa and breadcrumbs. Bake uncovered until golden brown on top (about 8 -10 minutes). Top with parsley, nutmeg and a drizzle of olive oil and enjoy with a slice of your favorite crusted country bread.

Vic Firth Gourmet in Use

Originally posted by PhillyChit-Chat.com

Acclaimed drummer, Jimmy Fallon’s house band, DJ, producer, Vic Firth Signature Drumstick Artist and member of the The Roots – Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson hosted a cook-off and private dinner at Time Restaurant, Bar and Absinthe Lounge (1315 Sansom St., BTW 13th & Broad, Philadelphia)  on Sunday, April 3^rd in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA.

This dinner was the first in a series of new food ventures ?uestlove is launching. Additional announcements will follow in the upcoming weeks.

Sunday’s cook-off event treated 25 special guests to a five course, family style dinner prepared by nine hand-selected chefs. The chefs competed against each other with one hour to shop for ingredients at South Street’s Whole Foods Market, then just three hours to prep and serve their dishes. In addition to their creative family style meals, chefs will also have to include the signature dish of the evening; ?uestlove’s drumsticks (I’m craving chicken now, friend chicken please. Why are the KFC’s disappearing?) The winner of the cook-off will have the honor of cooking for The Roots backstage at their4th annual Roots Picnic on Saturday, June 4th at Festival Pier in Philadelphia.

Ready to Go

Chefs competing at the cook off:

• Kenny Bush – Philadelphia, PA
• Nick Wilson – Fitchburg, MA
• Scott Shroeder – Philadelphia, PA
• Elita B – New York City, NY
• Clara Park – Philadelphia, PA
• Anthony Leo – Philadelphia, PA
• Brian Tucker – Philadelphia, PA
• Eric Paraskevas – State College, PA
• Jennifer Zavala – Philadelphia, PA

Originally posted on Zagat.com

The Roots’ ?uestlove Goes All Tom Colicchio

Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson is looking for a few good chefs. The drummer and frontman for The Roots and the house band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is holding a Top Chef–style “Qook-off Showdown” this Sunday, April 3, at an undisclosed Philadelphia location. After putting the call out onTwitter for video entries, the high-coiffed entertainer selected seven aspiring cooks to participate in the contest. Each will have an hour and a specific budget to shop for provisions at the South Street Whole Foods, which they’ll use in a five-round culinary tournament to impress ?uestlove and friends.

?uestlove and Sasha Grey

Following a showcase of a required ingredient in each of the first four courses, the contestants will have free reign on a fifth signature dish of their choosing. The winner of this weekend’s challenge will get to cook backstage for the band during the super-popular annual Roots Picnic (June 4 at the Festival Pier; tickets here). Rumors that the ambitious kitchen wizard will also work with ?uest on a forthcoming Philly Soul Food truck are unfounded, say his PR team. We can always hope!

Update: ?uestlove’s team has just added two additional aspiring chefs to the roster, for a total of nine contestants, and also revealed that Sunday’s dinner will take place at Midtown Village wine bar Vintage. They’re also teasing that this is only the first in a series of food ventures the musician has planned, so we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Originally posted on Zagat.com

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the ?uestlove Cook-Off

“When ?uest is involved, you know the food is going to be awesome.” That sentiment, voiced by actress and event judge Sasha Grey, reverberated around the dining room of Midtown Village’s Time last night. At the inaugural event of ?uestlove Food Ventures, nine chefs from Philadelphia, New York and Boston drew their knives and battled it out in an intense, day-long Top Chef–style cook-off. After a marathon of 45 courses (five from each cook) were served, described and evaluated, Bistrot La Minette sous-chef Kenny Bush emerged victorious, garnering a chance to provide backstage grub at the Roots Picnic on June 4 and a foot in the door for future related projects.

The Judges

“This started out me just wanting to make sure we had good food for the band at our picnic,” said Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, frontman of The Roots and house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. “Then we decided to put the call out on Twitter, and the idea just kept growing.” The drummer is a well-known food aficionado, who says his daily NBC gig has afforded him the opportunity to pinpoint Manhattan’s best eats. “Not that Philly is slack in that regard,” he’s quick to add. Knowing where to dine out runs in the family: ?uestlove’s sister, Donn T, is a world-touring musician who calls her multicity Zagat Survey collection a crucial travel accessory.

The Cook 4 Quest challenge began mid-afternoon when the nine entrants fanned out in South Street’s Whole Foods Market to procure ingredients. Then it was back to the small kitchen at Time, where the rivals stood literally shoulder-to-shoulder as they sliced, diced, peeled and prepped for an 8 PM dinner bell. Tempers could have flared as easily as the stove’s multiple burners, but the atmosphere remained convivial, with all participants going out of their way to help each other reach needed fixings or get hold of precious clean utensils.

?uestlove Cook Off Guests

Each candidate served a five-course meal to the judges panel, made up of Drew Lazor (Meal Ticket), Marcos Espinoza (Foobooz, The Feast), Audrey Taichman (Audrey Claire, Twenty Manning), Sasha Grey and ?uestlove. A “drum stick” appetizer had to be presented in both chicken and seitan form, followed by “soul on a stick,” a salad course, a potato option and a signature dish of the chef’s choosing. Newly trendy kale made an appearance on several menus, as did spicy seasoning. Highlights from Kenny Bush’s winning bill of fare were General Tso–style chicken and seitan wings, his mother’s candied yams with homemade marshmallow fluff and a lamb kafta kabab with mint cilantro purée.

“All along, I thought my clean cooking style would be a great fit with The Roots,” said chef Bush. “I know how to make flavors really shine, but I like to do it in a healthy way.” The philosophy apparently clicked; ?uestlove notes that as recently as a couple of years ago, almost half the prolific troupe was vegan. As of now, the membership of this food-aware music ensemble includes four pescatarians and two vegetarians. “The band is the nucleus,” says ?uest, “but we’ve got a whole solar system of projects that revolve around it. Which now includes adventures in food.”

So what’s to come? Watch for a New York episode of the soul food cook-off, set to take place within just a few weeks (details forthcoming). And a hint of something more permanent could be found alongside the fork and knife at each judge’s setting: a set of drumsticks and a hair pick, both signature ?uestlove items that Vic Firth(who recently jumped into the culinary world with gourmet pepper mills) is helping develop into utensils to be used in the team’s coming food undertakings. And let’s not give up on the idea of a roving food truck bursting with soul just quite yet.

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