Food Archives - nalrestaurant.com

Joe Trivelli’s rich and warming winter recipes | Food

Posted on16/04/202508/08/2023Author

We are never without butter at home, as essential to us as dried oregano, garlic, tomato sauce, capers and olive oil. My wife has been known to melt a pat of Jersey butter for flapjacks, and my children eat it like cheese on the endless rounds of toast they clamour each morning. Everyday luxury.

Butter is a staple of northern Italian cooking, used much more than in the south. Historically the fat of choice for the wealthy, its rich, mellow sweetness is in the elevated fine pasta served with white truffles, and is also crucial in risotto. What is poetically described by Elizabeth David as “a walnut of butter”, added towards the end of something home-cooked with everyday ingredients, making it the hug one needs at this time of year.

Pollo alla cacciatore

An Italian classic, this can be heaped on a bed of marigold-yellow polenta – an opportunity for more lashings of butter. It would also work well with greens and bread on the table to mop up the juices.
Serves 4

chicken 1, small (roughly 1 kg)
butter 90g
celery with leaves 3 sticks
leek 1, large
garlic 2 cloves
green olives 12
rosemary 3 sprigs
bay 4 leaves
passata 200ml
white wine 250ml
salt and black pepper

Using a good knife or scissors, cut the backbone out of the chicken. Turn it upside down and cut the chicken in 2 between the breasts. Remove the wings and thighs and separate them from the drumsticks. Cut each breast in 2. (Alternatively, ask your butcher to joint the chicken for you.) Season with salt and black pepper.

Melt the butter over a medium-high heat in a wide, lidded pan. When it is foaming, add the chicken, skin side down. Fry, gently crackling, for 8 minutes, turning from time to time until golden brown. While this is happening, chop the celery and leek into 2cm pieces. Peel and then add the garlic with the olives into the crackling butter in a space between the chicken. Fry for a further minute or 2.

Add the herbs and vegetables and mix them through – the butter will quieten down at this point. After 3 minutes, add the wet ingredients, incorporate and cover. Cook over medium low heat for 35 minutes, turning and basting halfway through.

Porcini and saffron risotto

There is a strong argument that porcini makes the very best risotto. The luxurious lick of saffron, along with butter and parmesan, highlights their depth of flavour. Use powdered saffron if you like it or omit it altogether if you don’t have any.
Serves 6

dried porcini 15g
saffron threads a pinch
celery with leaves ¼ of a head
red onions 1, small
garlic 1 cloves
butter 80g
olive oil
risotto rice 400g
white wine 1 large glass
stock 1.5 liters (chicken, meat or vegetables)
parmesan 60g, grated
salt and pepper

Soak the porcini in a cup of boiling water and, separately, the saffron in a couple of tablespoons. Reserving any leaves, finely chop the celery along with the onion and garlic. Warm the stock.

Melt half the butter with a little olive oil in a saucepan and sweat the vegetables with a pinch of salt over medium heat until soft. Reserving the water, drain and chop the porcini and add to the pan. After 3 minutes, add the rice and continue to gently fry, stirring for a minute or until all the grains are hot. Turn the heat up, add the saffron in its water and all the wine. Stir well as the wine evaporates. Once the liquid has evaporated, add the mushroom water, continuing to stir. Now it’s time for the stock. Add ladle by ladle, stirring and allowing for the last ladle to be absorbed before adding the next one.

Continue cooking until the rice is to your liking. Slightly al dente is the best. The whole process should take about 25 minutes. Turn off the heat. Check the seasonings. Complete it by stirring in the rest of the butter, parmesan and chopped celery leaves. Cover and allow the glossy rice to rest for 2 minutes before serving.

Celeriac, fennel and squash

A slightly aniseed, comforting mix of braised autumn vegetables. This works as well with a savory centrepiece as it does as the centrepiece itself.
Serves 4

fennel 3 bulbs (about 500g)
celeriac 350g
winter squash 300g
garlic 5 cloves
butter 50g
parsley or marjoram ½ a bunch
red wine vinegar ½ tbsp
sea salt and black pepper

Cut the fennel into 3cm wedges. Peel the celeriac and winter squash and cut both into 2cm slices. Peel and cut each garlic in half.

Melt

Botulism from food causes the death of a respected outdoorsman from Jackson Hole

Posted on18/03/202508/08/2023Author

Wyoming social media reports the death of 55-year-old Hans Russell, who succumbed to botulism after being conscious but also completely paralyzed for several weeks in a Salt Lake City hospital.

Russell was a popular outdoorsman and river guide in Jackson Hole, WY. His death is blamed on a solo camping trip to Idaho where he consumed a can of soup that was not properly refrigerated. The doctors in Salt Lake City who fought to keep him alive came to believe that the single can of soup was the source of the botulism toxin Russell consumed.

Russell was well known in Jackson Hole. He was a kayaker, paraglider, rock climber, fisherman, and guide for Mad River Boat Trips and a bus driver for Lewis and Clark Expeditions. He was an expert in the whitewater areas of Wyoming and Idaho who always put safety first

He was from Pittsburg, KS, and became attached to the Yellowstone/Teton area after high school. He did return to Kansas to pick up an Arts Degree from Pittsburg State University. His friends say he was also “an amazing guitarist.”

The botulism-contaminated soup that led to Russell’s paralysis and death was said to have trapped him in his own body in that he could not move and was called a nightmare that began with a can of soup.

The outdoor enthusiast, river runner, and guide was diagnosed with Botulism A, a rare bacterial infection that undermines the body’s nerves and prevents breathing and paralysis of muscles. It left Russell unable to talk or open his eyes.

He was a Jackson Hole resident for the past 10 years. His death was first reported on the GoFundMe page that friends were using to help pay Russell’s hospital bills.

About botulism
While a variety of food poisoning can result from eating under-processed food, one of the most dangerous is botulism poisoning. Untreated, botulism can paralyze the muscles needed for breathing, resulting in sudden death.

Anyone who has eaten any recalled products and developed signs of botulism poisoning should immediately seek medical attention, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“In foodborne botulism, symptoms generally begin 18 to 36 hours after eating contaminated food. However, symptoms can begin as soon as 6 hours after or up to 10 days later,” according to the CDC website.

The symptoms of botulism may include some or all of the following: double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, difficulty breathing, a thick-feeling tongue, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. People with botulism poisoning may not show all of these symptoms at once.

These symptoms result from muscle paralysis caused by the toxin. If untreated, the disease may progress, and symptoms may worsen to cause paralysis of specific muscles, including those used in breathing and those in the arms, legs, and the body from the neck to the pelvic area.

(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)

Peter Stormare Reveals His Sweet Side in the Rom-Com Food and Romance

Posted on10/03/202508/08/2023Author

When picturing Peter Stormareaudiences might imagine the cold-blooded hitman of Fargo feeding Steve Buscemi into a wood chipper, or perhaps the angry wrench-wielding Russian cosmonaut in Armageddon (alongside a panicked Steve Buscemi), or even the nihilist who drops a ferret in a bathtub The Big Lebowski (again, with Steve Buscemi). Apart from apparently being Buscemi’s best wing man, the Swedish Stormare has become an iconic character actor especially known for his unsavory, often comically angry or intimidating characters. From his work as a Russian gangster in John Wick 2to the Viking vampire Godbrand in Castlevaniato play the devil himself in ConstantineStormare can be intense.

MOVIEWEB VIDEOS OF THE DAY

That’s why it’s so surprising to see him playing the love interest in a downward sweet romantic comedy, the new Swedish film Food and Romance. What’s even more incongruous is just how optimistic, kind, and ebullient Stormare himself is when talking about the film and his life. The 69-year-old actor (and creator of the hilarious little series Swedish Dicks) is inspiring enough to give motivational speaker Tony Robbins a run for his money, something which runs perfectly parallel to his new film. Food and Romance is, in many ways, an inspirational rom-com about how it’s never too late to pursue your dreams and chase after the love you want. Stormare spoke to MovieWeb about the film and how its themes relate to his own life.

Food and Romance is a Sweet Swedish Rom-Com

Food and Romance (also known as Tuesday Clubor Tisdagsklubben, in Swedish) follows Karin as she’s forced to evaluate her seemingly perfect bourgeois life. Karin had different plans for this life, though — “I dreamed of working with food, but then I got pregnant early,” she says. Despite being an excellent home cook, Karin never pursued her passion; it’s hard and time-consuming enough to be a professional chef, but growing that career as a woman with a family is extremely difficult. Decades later, though, and with a cheating husband and adult progeny, Karin decides to give herself a second chance at food and romance.

The film feels very knowledgeable about the experiences of women, having been written and directed by different women who focus much on Food and Romance on the nourishing female relationships Karin has. Stormare enters the scene as Henrik, the international chef who leads the highbrow cooking class (with a focus on Asian cuisine) that Karin and her friends join. Henrik initially seems like the kind of intense character Stormare has mastered, but as he falls in love with Karin, he’s gradually revealed to be a sweet, lonely man who ultimately doesn’t want to lose out on the new lease on love and life that Karin offers.

Marie Richardson and the cast in the 2022 film Food and Romance — Samuel Goldwyn Films

It was surprisingly organic for Stormare and Marie Richardson, who played Karin, to create a chemistry of kindness in Food and Romance. “It was pretty easy,” said Stormare, “because Marie, the lead actress, and I were from the same region up in northern Sweden, and I got into the acting academy in Stockholm, and she got in like two years after me. Of course, we became friends, being from the same area. This is like 100 years ago now, but I got into the National Theatre, and she got in too, and I vouched for her. Not only was she very beautiful, she was extremely talented.”

Related: Best Movies Set in a Kitchen, Ranked“We became friends, and we worked together,” continued Stormare. “Not much, but we did some things on stage, but then I left the National Theatre, but we stayed sort of friends. And she called me a couple of years ago and said, ‘There’s this project about three women and the love interest , Are you open?’ I said, ‘That sounds fantastic, Marie. You and I, playing lovers? Yes!'”

Peter Stormare Was the Perfect Fit for Food and Romance

Peter Stormare and the cast of the film Food and Romance — Samuel Goldwyn Films

The closer Stormare got to Food and Romance, the more he realized how compatible he was for the film, and not just because of his long friendship with Richardson. “I talked to the director, and she talked about the backstory of my character Henrik,” said Stormare. “She said that he’s been all over the world, but he was in Japan for a long time, and he really loves the Japanese. And I said, ‘I’m married to a Japanese woman. I worked in Japan.’ She hadn’t known that, so it was like all these circles were coming together.”

“I thought the character was lovely, a guy who is lost and finds love by the age of 65. Movies like this are done by Hollywood,” Stormare explained, “they’re all guys, and all the guys are doing a heist or robbing banks or something.They’re