Italian Food Lovers

Again this year, Valrhona, a leading chocolate producer – from the cultivation of cacao to the final product – chose to present its new irresistible preparations at Academia Barilla.

As a matter of fact, the Valrhona meeting, entitled Il Gelato sotto i riflettori or “Gelato Highlight,” was held at the Academia Barilla headquarters in Parma, Italy. Here, Valrhona shared with their clients Read more…

Today we have again with us Chef Tony Mantuano from Spiaggia Restaurant in Chicago sharing with us an end-of-summer recipe for the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network: Warm Berry Soup with Mint Gelato (Macedonia ai Frutti di Bosco con Gelato alla Menta).

This recipe is featured, alongside with other dozen yummy recipes, cocktails and Chef tips, on The Spiaggia Cookbook, Eleganza Italiana in Cucina, co-authored by Chef Tony Mantuano and his wife and wine expert Cathy Mantuano. Follow the links to get the book online at Amazon or Barnes&Noble.

WARM BERRY SOUP WITH MINT GELATO
A recipe by Chef Tony Mantuano
(serves 8)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MINT GELATO

- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 1 cup liquid pasteurized egg yolks (8 egg yolks)
- 2 teaspoons green crème de menthe

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MACEDONIA

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cups mixed fresh berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup raspberry sauce
- Leaves from 8 sprigs fresh mint for garnish

PREPARATION

In a saucepan, combine the milk, half-and-half, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and the chopped mint and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine-mesh sieve, and return to the saucepan. Keep warm over low heat. Discard the mint.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until combined, about 2 minutes. Gradually add half of the hot milk mixture to the egg-yolk mixture and whisk vigorously to combine. 

Return the egg-yolk mixture to the pan with the remaining milk mixture. Return to medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 4 to 6 minutes. Do not let it boil; overheating will break the custard. Remove from the heat and continue to stir for a few seconds to keep the mixture from overcooking.

Stir in the crème de menthe. Let cool, cover, and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.  Pour the custard into an ice-cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Add the berries and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, water, and raspberry sauce and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Remove from the heat and ladle into 8 warmed bowls. Top each serving with a scoop of the gelato and garnish with mint leaves. Serve immediately.

CHEF MANTUANO’S TIPS

This soup warms both body and soul, and is easy and quick to prepare. You can substitute purchased mint gelato or ice cream for the homemade. You can prepare this recipe to serve 4, by halving the ingredient measures for the berry soup. Make the gelato as directed and serve generous portions.

Thank you Chef Mantuano for sharing this recipe with us, we look forward to having you as a guest again at Italian Food Lovers!

Summertime is here, at least according to the calendar since today is June 21. Not much according to the season, as in Italy this year we experienced a very slow start of the season, with heavy showers up to a couple of days ago alternated to beautiful sunny days, but not so hot as we had up to last year (this is actually good news, as last year we couldn’t even breath for the high temperatures!).

What’s the most characteristic summertime food icon? Nine out of ten would say Ice Cream and sure gelato plays a big role in Italian gastronomy and food culture, so we decided to serve you a video on an event we hosted at the Academia Barilla Culinary School last month, for the Academia Barilla Short Film Awards, a satellite event to the well-know Brescello 2008 Film Festival.

During the gala event, Academia Barilla Executive Chef Nicola Bindini, helped by Chef Matteo Carboni of the Academia Barilla Chef Team, prepared and served to the participants of the event a very particular ice cream: liquid nitrogen ice cream.

We managed to get some video footage of the Academia Barilla Short Film Award Gala from TV Parma, who was partnering, filming and broadcasting the event. After some editing for the web format, and with the help of Chef Matteo Carboni whose voice-over comments the making of ice cream using the nitrogen freezing process, we are happy to present you the video on how to make a gourmet ice cream using liquid nitrogen.

Used in creative cuisine, as well as in many other applications including surgery, liquid nitrogen has the power to freeze instantly and, in the ice cream making process, really helps in reducing preparation time, while not affecting the ice cream flavor nor its organoleptic properties.

As Matteo comments, liquid nitrogen has a boiling point at -320 Fahrenheit degrees, and this is why the Chefs have to use protection gloves to handle the preparation. So please don’t try this at home before taking all due safety precautions.

The ice cream base is composed by milk, cream, sugar and egg yolks. As Chef Matteo Carboni reminds in the video, it is important to pour the liquid nitrogen very slowly and keep mixing the ingredients to avoid crystallization, and to keep the ice cream homogeneous and smooth.

All the fog you see in the video and in the picture above is the product of the fast evaporation of the liquid nitrogen, and it is safe to breath for the few minutes of preparation. As Matteo says, the ice cream made with liquid nitrogen has a fresher flavor and a finer and smoother texture than the traditional ice cream - yummy!

Happy summertime to all Italian Food Lovers from the Academia Barilla Culinary School!