Cooking at Home with Chef Mauro Buffo: Not your ordinary “home-cooking,” more like a five-course meal with wine pairing!

When Mauro and I decide to have dinner at home on our day off, it’s not the easiest production, yet it is always an unbelievably delicious one. I am very grateful when he cooks for me, for my family and friends, because Mauro works more than anyone I know: 72+ hours per week, preparing food, cooking food – so on his only day off, it’s quite intense for him to cook yet again for another five or six hours. Then there’s also the factor that he doesn’t have the time in one day or the equipment in my apartment to prepare a menu of his standards – but what I love about him so much is that he can brush that aside and still cook, and above all, we still have such a nice time together.
Yes, Mauro does most of the cooking – just as I am rushing to try and learn Italian, I am also rushing to try and learn to cook in a manner that Mauro might actually be impressed by my skills – but I do help him in some aspects of the preparation. There are a lot of components that go into a good home-cooked meal. Here’s my list. (1) Lots of love and patience; (2) Good produce and high-grade products; (3) Proper utensils and space; (4) Preparation and planning, (5) Good ambiance; (6) Good wine to match well with your meal; (7) Good company; (8) And while you are cooking, try not to do too many other things – stay focused and attentive to your dish.

Mauro Buffo’s Menu:

First Course: Fried Soft Shell Crab

Second Course: Saffron Risotto with Gold Leaf (Marchesi style)

Third Course: Lobster Tail, Scallop, Shiitake Mushroom, Bok Choy, with Rhubarb sauce and Mushroom Reduction Sauce

Fourth Course: Cheese Plate

Dessert: Chocolate Ganache Cake, Cherry in a Sambuca-gelatin cube, Watermelon with Mint

Where We Shopped:

1) Caffé Falai, 265 Lafayette St. between Prince and Spring. Mauro and I buy our bread at Falai, it’s amazing, amazing, amazing. I love the whole wheat raisin with rosemary, and the fennel bread, but they also have focaccia and baguette as well. We also bought a Chocolate cake that seemed similar to a chocolate ganache cake, but I’m not sure what it was exactly, except phenomenal – dream!

2) China Town. Mauro and I have recently started to shop more in China Town than wholly at Whole Foods Market which can be so expensive. China Town actually has some amazingly fresh produce and fish for really, really cheap. What I would have spent $50 on produce – I spent $10 in China Town. All the greens that we purchased were really fresh and they do have some interesting options. It’s been awhile since I’ve actually used coins in my pocket to purchase food from a market. Chinatown also has great dried exotic mushrooms – probably the best price in NYC. There are many places to choose from, just explore and use your discretion. The scallops we bought were great, but the lobster tails which were frozen were not as fresh as they would have been at Whole Foods; but the live soft shell crabs were very tasty. Here is a link that lists some places to shop in China Town: http://www.explorechinatown.com/PDF/ShopperParadise.pdf

3) Di Paolo, 200 Grand St. between Mott and Mulberry. While you’re in China Town, stop by Little Italy’s favorite Italian shop where you can buy pastas, raviolis, risotto rice, bread, sauces, salumi, meats, cheese, oil – all Italian, and all amazing!

4) Murray’s Cheese, 254 Bleecker St. between 6th and 7th Ave, or 43rd St. and Lexington. However, we went to Murray’s Cheese to buy our cheese. We were looking for the Cashel Blue which is not so easy to find. Murray’s has an amazing selection of high quality cheese. www.murrayscheese.com/

5) Astor Wines and Spirits, 339 Lafayette at E.4th St. We didn’t go crazy with the wine and champagne because, honestly, we just can’t afford what we would love to have paired dinner with, so we made it simple and stuck with some of the mid-ranged white Italian wines, such as the Gini, Soave Classico 2006 (we now know that we prefer the Inama Du Lot, Soave Classico 2003); Kratos, Fiano, Maffini 2005 from Compania, Italy; Cantina Terlano, Sauvignon Blanc, Winkl from Alto Adige, Italy. http://www.astorwines.com/

6) Union Square Market, Union Square Park, 14th and Broadway, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, from 8am to 6pm. Mauro and I bought a few small herb plants to keep growing at the apartment and to use as an adding touch to the dishes: baby lemon-thyme, and baby purple basil. The market has a wide variety of flowers, to meats/fish, to fruits and vegetables – organic and traditional – even some homemade pies and breads.


** One nice thing about having guests over for dinner is that they usually bring some nice wine as well. Tony, an intuitive counselor ( www.tonyleroy.com/ ) brought an amazing white Bordeaux that I will search the city for: Chateau Talbot, Caillou Blanc 1998. Chateau Talbot is “one of the oldest dry white wines in the Medoc. It is made with 80% Sauvignon and 20% Semillon. It’s very subtle bouquet offers aromas of peaches and white blossom.” Check out the site: http://www.chateau-talbot.com/. This Bordeaux was amazing with the risotto. Tony also brought a bottle of Perrier Jouet Champagne that we ate with the first course of fried soft shell crab. I love Perrier Jouet. Here’s a great site that lists all the greatest champagnes and links to their official sites: http://www.maisons-champagne.com/traduction/english/limach_gb.htm

Mauro’s Recipes:

( I have to make a note that some things are just too difficult to note with Mauro’s cooking techniques – it would just be too exhausting. If you have any specific questions feel free to email Mauro at lovewineandcheese@gmail.com – maybe you want to know how to make your risotto better? I think Mauro could very possibly make one of the best risottos in the world. Mauro’s suggestion for pasta and risotto dishes were tweeked by Ferran Adrià and listed in the El Bulli book 2004 and 2005 – http://www.elbulli.com/libros_continuar.php?lang=en )

Fried Soft Shell Crab:

Mix 4 eggs with 200g of white flour and a half bottle of beer – whisk together and leave in the refrigerator for a half an hour.
Dip the live whole crab in the mixture and gently shake off the excess. Then dip the crab in semolina flour.
Meanwhile heat the oil to 180C (hot/not smoking). When ready put the soft shell crab in oil – deep fry until a golden color about three or four minutes.
The sauce that Mauro served on the side is made of coca cola, ginger juice, chopped chives, chopped shallots, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar – just mix together
Additional on the plate was a yogurt sauce: yogurt mixed with a touch of olive oil
The crab was served on top of a bed of greens

Saffron Risotto with Gold Leaf – Marchesi Style:

This is a classic Marchesi risotto from Gualtiero Marchesi’s restaurant in Italy, a former three-star Michelin (Mauro worked with him for a few years). According to Mauro, in the 1980s Marchesi wanted to give more attention to his saffron risotto by adding gold leaf (saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world). People, at that time in Italy never used gold leaf in the kitchen, only in pastry, so Marchesi adorned the dish with gold leaf giving more nobility to saffron. You can actually click onto this site and go to cuisine and see practically the identical dish with the recipe as well: http://www.marchesi.it/

First prepare the chicken stock (home-made chicken stock makes a huge difference). Roast chicken bones in a pan until golden. Add carrots, onions, and celery – about one inch pieces. Also add garlic, rosemary, white wine, and Madeira. Let the alcohol reduce and then add water – about three inches. Lightly boil/simmer for an hour and a half.
When ready, drain everything and keep the stock simmering on the stove (all the ingredients must be hot when mixing with the risotto).
For the rice – chop onions really, really thin. Heat a skillet very hot/not smoking and add olive oil and the onions. Cook on high temperature briefly and then turn down the flame cooking the onions slowly for a few minutes. Add the whole saffron – a few pinches (it’s easy to put too much). Then add the rice and toast for awhile until the rice is hot.
Add a half glass of white wine, let the alcohol evaporate for a minute. Now the rice starts sticking together. Pour in the hot chicken broth, about three-fourths of a gallon – add this in three pours – not all at once – constantly stirring. You should have a soupy consistency. Mix everything and add salt.
Meanwhile grate the parmesan. When the risotto is almost cooked – should still have a small piece of white inside (you want it al dente) – after almost ten minutes of stirring, take it off from the stove and add a few tablespoons of butter and double the amount of parmesan cheese.
Then add a few drops of white vinegar – if you don’t use acid butter.
If necessary add more chicken stock. The risotto has to be creamy – and if there is not enough saffron you can still add some now.
Plate the saffron and with great care add the gold leaf – it is very delicate and any wind or movement will break it apart – as seen in our picture.

Lobster Tail, Scallop, Shiitake Mushroom, Bok Choy, with Rhubarb sauce and Mushroom Reduction Sauce:

Peel one stem of rhubarb and slice really thin. Add one teaspoon of sugar and salt and set aside for ten minutes.
Meanwhile soak the dry mushrooms in water; you need one mushroom per person for the plate and another mushroom per person for the sauce. Let them sit for about twenty minutes.
Peel the lobster tail, one per person. Slice onion and roast the lobster shell and the onions together in olive oil. Put the lobster meat aside in the refrigerator.
Strain the mushroom and keep the water – add this to the lobster shells and onions. Then chop the mushrooms for the sauce, keeping in mind you need one whole mushroom per person for the plate. Add cilantro and let everything simmer together.
Put the remaining mushrooms soaking in water and light soy sauce.
Boil salted water in a pot (Mauro uses a lot of salt, like a huge whole handful) and blanche the bok choy – no more than ten seconds. Before blanching make sure you have salted ice water ready to put the blanched bok choy in immediately after.
While the bok choy is chilling and the lobster/mushroom sauce is simmering, cook the rhubarb for two minutes in a little bit of olive oil – until soft. Then put it in a blender, add about two teaspoons of ginger juice and mix together until a smooth pureed texture.
When the lobster sauce is reduced, about twenty five minutes, check for salt – add if needed. Mash everything together in a strainer, preserving just the thickened reduction sauce. You s should have about a cup and a half to two cups of sauce (if the sauce is not thick enough but the flavor is strong, add cornstarch, tapioca, or kuzu).
Now that you have both sauces prepared and the bok choy and mushrooms ready, heat a sauté pan; when hot add olive oil and sauté the scallop on one side (Mauro prefers cooking it on one side without flipping), and the lobster tail (keep in mind that the lobster tail, ours was small, cooks faster. Meanwhile, heat the bok choy and mushroom in the soy sauce liquid (do not cook). When the lobster and scallops are cooked to temperature take off the stove and add salt.
Warm the lobster sauce – the rhubarb sauce is fine room temperature – then plate everything in whatever design you find pleasing – in Mauro’s plate he had one piece of mushroom, bok choy, lobster tail, and scallop per person.
To finish Mauro added a piece of the fresh flowering lemon-thyme and baby purple basil.

Cheese Plate:

One slice each of Cashel Blue, “a sumptuous, mellow, creamy cow’s milk blue from Ireland” (we discovered this delicious blue from the cheese plate at Wallsé); La Tur, “a blend of cow, goat, and sheep’s milk – a specialty from the Alta Lange region of Italy” (one of our absolute favorites); and Formaggio Di Fossa, “a raw Italian Pecorino that’s been buried in the ground for three months.”
We served the cheese naked on a plate (without any accruements) and with sliced bread from Caffe Falai on the side.

Chocolate Ganache Cake, Cherry in a Sambuca-gelatin cube, Watermelon with Mint:

I’m not sure if the cake we bought from Caffe Falai was a Chocolate Ganache or what, but it was creamy and absolutely perfect. The dessert was served on a plate similar to the arrangement of the cheese. One slice of the cake which was the main dessert, and then Mauro made a few creative compositions to lively up the last and final course.
To make the cherry in a sambuca-gelatin cube (which was a favorite of all), mix 200g of water with 100g of sambuca, the juice from a half of a lemon, and one teaspoon of sugar. Take out one-third of this liquid and warm it up. While warming the mixture, put three sheets of gelatin in cold water for ten minutes. After these two steps, place the gelatin in the warm sambuca mixture and whisk together.
De-pit the cherries (there’s a nifty utensil for this), and in an empty ice-cube tray place one cherry in each compartment and fill with the gelatin mixture. Leave everything in the refrigerator until a jello-like consistency.
The Watermelon with mint was made to be eaten as the last bite of the whole entire dinner. Mauro cubed pieces of watermelon, one per person, and placed a strip of the Listerine mint breath freshener strips on one side of the watermelon. This definitely gives you a kick, but you know you are done after you eat it.

Dinner was amazing; I was completely full afterwards; everyone left with huge smiles on their face – and it didn’t make a huge dent in the wallet. All together dinner lasted around three and a half to four hours – which I love – I hate it when you cook all day and serve everything together in one course and then you are done in about twenty-minutes. On this night, the cooking preparation was just about equal to the time we took to enjoy.
Thanks Mauro:)