Shakespeare and Pane Vino

Celebrated Shakespeare’s 443rd birthday this week at ICE (Institute for Culinary Education) in Chef Cathy Kaufman’s class on English cooking of the Tudor era. We made two tarts (apple/orange + cheese), a rosewater gelee topped with edible silver,  dishes of duck, venison and lamb, salmon in pastry (amazingly moist), trifle cream, and three amazing salads.  The first, a grand sallat, featured greens tossed with candied oranges and lots of other good things crowned by cherries on rosemary spears and garnished by lemons, eggs and other beauties.  I don’t do it justice here.  It really was amazing.  The second, a spinach sallat was in fact, cinnamon toast with spinach and raisins.  Delicious but quite sweet and unexpectedly ginger and cinnamon laced.  The last salad, shaped as a fleur d’lis was made of finely grated parsnips (more like medieval carrots than today’s carrots) with shrimp.  Quite delish.  So much fun to make these dishes, and we all learned tons.

Dinner at Pane Vino in East Hanover was wonderful last evening. Lots of fennel on the menu making my husband’s pizza with sausage, fennel and caramelized onions an absolute delight.  His Caesar salad had an unusual but tasty sweetness about it.  My spinach ravioli was nice;  chef’s special with quite alot of ricotta in the blend but okay.  We like this restaurant especially since one can always get a table without reservations, they have a bar so we aren’t toting wine around, and their food is far more interesting than the more packaged Italian places.  More Tuscan and less southern Italian.

Headed south to North Carolina!