Mario Batali – Angelgrrl

Sweet Corn Parmigiano Budino

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1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 ears of corn
1/2 tbsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

When we were driving home from Monterey, I had Gar read me most of Chef Batali’s new cookbook “America: Farm to Table.” When we got home, I was cooking this recipe before I had unpacked. The recipe in the book is double what I have listed and it was baked in six 8-ounce ramekins. I cut the recipe in half and placed the mixture in two larger ramekins (because that’s what I have at home). I was very pleased with the way this recipe turned out. I’ll quote the description from the book, “This is simply the finest, creamiest, richest, and most decadent appetizer pudding you will ever taste.” I’m not sure about the “I will ever taste” part but it was pretty effing good.

An Interview with Mario Batali

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Right before we were about to leave for our San Francisco/Oakland trip Gar found a promo code for the first twenty people who used it to get free tickets to this one hour event with Chef Mario Batali and Chef Michael Chiarrello. The event was centered around Batali’s new cookbook “America: Farm to Table” and everyone who attended got free books (yay us). The event was fun. Chef Batali is very personable and surprisingly funny. His argument essentially is that you should buy foods from local farms as much as possible because a) you’re supporting local business b) you’re supporting local soil and c) you’re tasting the “geospecificity” of the ingredients. There was a secondary premise about buying $7 tomatoes where I was kind of lost but I think the very basic point he made was sound… not to mention I love free awesome cookbooks.