forkheartknife

my food got a nice little stage tonight along side great pizza with 'a tavola mangi'.

i got to serve all the pickled stuff that i made on monday as an appetizer. (thank goodness i don't have to take care of all those pickles myself..) the beets turned out perfectly. the color was that deep red, bright purple beet hue. the texture was on the money. the flavor so satisfying. vinegary, but not too, with some sweetness but mostly earthy beetness.

so lets talk about how that one worked out in the jar.. i lightly blanched the beets, boiling them for a bit, then dropping them into jars. over top, i poured the boiling pickle magic- mostly that standard pickle brine: vinegar, water, salt, pepper, pickling spices. for this one i added about a cup of apple cider vinegar to what was boiling. covered the beets in the jar with the brine, then topped off the jar with about a tbsp of olive oil.

pizza from #2 was again really great. my favorite was the marinara, sausage, basil, mozz and fried egg pizza. then there was a braised radicchio, leek, bacon and arugula salad pizza. it might actually be a tie. nevermind, can't top something with a fried egg on it.

i got to clean things up at the end with the campari and citrus sorbet. up front with the grapefruit, but the campari took away that zing that makes you pucker at the end. really refreshing and cleansing.

it feels so nice to get to have some food out there. watching people try my creations. and this one night a week thing is so perfect, keeps the energy feeling exciting and experimental. playful and interesting. i'm full.