In Praise of Stallone Cuts & Power Cheeses...

The origin of Stallone Cuts:



October 31st Feastival. Lost my mind and my stomach at Trader Joe's, bought an irresponsible quantity of mediterranean delites. The place was so packed, I shared empathy with the peppers forced into the jar of roasted red peppers that I was holding. It reminded me of why I enjoy shopping late at night, in secret, when I make the best decisions and harness the creativity of the night, in a frosty dairy section somewhere at some local food purveyor. Or not. They don't seem keep the vampire business hours I am accustomed to. Does anything good ever happen to anyone between the hours of nine am and five pm?

I was preparing an appetizer of prosciutto, herb'ed groat cheese, roasted red peppers, basil, and capers. These are the modfied Stallone Cuts. They looked fantastic and tasted of what Italy must taste like. Every single one of them was consumed. The pairing of goat cheese and prosciutto was the perfect contrast. Goat cheese is a power cheese, grassy, brite, and generally overwhelming. Can't get enough of it myself. I am not going to stop eating goat cheese until I get enough of it. But, the sweet and subtle, salty prosciutto countered and deliciously subdued the power cheese, the ideal counterpart. Add the capers and fresh basil and roasted pepper, subtract weakness, and you have the simple equation for a unique and ponderous gustatory experience. It left me stammering foodcentric haiku all evening long, dumbstruck. But it was a large affluvial spectrum of flavors, big and expansive, and thus the modified Stallone Cuts seemed to catch people by surprise...methinks it was the goat cheese awakening the non-believers. Cheesus flavor riot. The best part is that the prosciutto is self-adhesive, so there is no need to harpoon the Stallone Cuts with dangerous and wildly expensive toothpicks, the scourge of finger foods, friend of gums.

While I refer to my pesto as

pesto deluxe de speciale

my pesto is always a little different, but still very basic and rudimentary. There are of course the requisite pesto ingredients, namely basil, usually Thai basil. This is an asian deli classic good buy, and tastes more of basil than basil, out basiling other basils. Cheapest pinenuts I can find. I figure little is won or lost on the battlefieled of love and pinenuts. Olive oil, usualy takes me twenty minutes to select a bottle, because is it such an important ingredient in my diet. Salt,cracked pepper (heavy on both), and some parmesan areggiano, best I can afford. From here, I have a list of additonal participants that I usually invite:

--Roasted Red Pepper.
--Sundried tomatoes. Because they are amazing, and taste of the sun.
--Parsely, the original.
--Italian parsely, chopped rough and and thrown in
--Feta cheese. Another power cheese. It is such a strong complement with the herb
flavors, and very satisfying contrast to the basil.
--Scallions provide an undeniable freshness, and another shade of green.
--Shallots. Nothing is too onionesque for me, but I do one or the other (shallots).
--Jalapeno, seeded. Haven't tried that, but why not? Especially with some feta.
--Extra parmesan shaved on top. So nice.
--Cilantro. Undoubtedly my favoite herb. Cilantro makes any pasta better tasting
and more dynamic.
--Little rosemary.
--Kale, thin chop. A greatway to add a crisp to balance the pasta, which should not
be crisp.

I grow parsely, scallions, rosemary, cilantro, kale (pictured above), and basil, all growing adjacent to my taco plantation. An herb garden is an absolute necessity for a gustatory jedi. Herb gardens are culinary tool sheds, and pesto is a prime example of why they exist. Classic is great for basil. I like it simple too. But any of these premutations added at the end of the show are sure to provide you with the change we can believe in feeling.

The last item is hard to even discuss. It reflects my willingness to expand or broaden my skill set, and my mission of administering relentless beatdowns to bland meals. It is all about having an intersting diet where I am more familiar and in control of the food I consume, ideally making my life and diet more interesting, and thus transorming my life and mind into more pleasureable places to inhabit. This dish is very emblematic of why I enjoy doing what I do. Born out of necessity for another pasta dish for the feastival, I recalled how much I enjoy my cousin's wife's baked ziti, and decide to give it a chance with a different approach. Feeling cavalier, I made a power cheese sauce of gorgonzola, half & half, butter and flour and minced garlic. Melting and stirring, smooving, repeatedly, I had it where I wanted it after about thirty minutes. I had placed the drained al dente ziti in a large dish for mixing, along with olive oil, mozzarella cheese, plenty of spicy italian sausage (half cooked, drained mostly), rosemary, salt, cracked pepper, chopped purple kale and parsely from the garden, and some basil, mixing all thoroughly. AT a bubbling temperture, with the sauce at the right consistentcy, it leaves the stove and is poured atop of the pasta. Th intention is to evenly coat each piece of the ziti, but not so that the sauce ends up pooled in the bottom of the dish. If anything, more on top means that a fine, bubbling golden crust can develop on the top of the dish, a dome of power cheese.

Because all of the ingredient are partially cooked, I slow baked it at about 325 to 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the cheese dome forms. It was one of the better dishes I have ever served to anyone. There is a strong gustatory portfolio in this dish. Blue cheese power cheese sauce, smokey and deep, with a cache of tanginess. Off of the bone. Copious amount of rosemary, blue cheese, and savory italian sausage, proved to be an irresistable siren song. It was loud, large, mouthwatering and indulgent, filthy rich and flagrant with flavor. I would not have changed anything. The leftovers were decimated because of the magnetism of the combination of flavors, which pulled me back to the refrigerator repeatedly and with invisible, unsettling force. I'm thinking about how I want more of that and need to make it this weekend. But I have a great recipe for a roasted red pepper soups, and some fresh tomatoes resembling lemons (panzanella), and I wanted to brine and smoked some pork chops. And make pork stock.

All told, there was an interesting tapestry of flavors woven into my moustache.