Your latest happy food find?

Mine is Fregola di Sarda, Rustichella D'Abruzzo brand in particular. So far I've only used it to make the Fregola, Wild Mushroom, Sherry and Cream recipe from "Fine Cooking". We're stuck there, the combination is so perfect that I haven't moved past that recipe. But I can certainly see the possibilities with other ingredients.

This lovely little pasta is like an Acini di Pepe with double the taste and texture.

Anybody have another happy food find? I'm always looking.

Wow, that's a new one on me. The online descriptions I get are analogous to cous cous or short-grain rice. What's the grain size? Texture? You have me very curious indeed!

[Jenise]

What Stuart said! Never heard of fregola.

You can see a picture from yesterday's Louisville Courier Food section, the size is about the same as acini di pepe but the toasting gives it an extra special crunchy texture. And attractive appearance.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbc ... FEATURES02

I hadn't heard of it before coming across 2 recipes from Fine Cooking.

http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/dtSe ... ipe&page=1

I rarely buy red sauces for pasta, preferring to make my own. A visit from grandkids, one who will only eat pasta with butter and Parmesan and the other prefers marinara sauce, so while at the store I noticed Barilla Marinara Sauce. I love Marinara Sauce and was so pleased when I opened it. It has a strong garlic flavor but did not list garlic in the ingredient list. I added my eggplant meatballs to it and one cup of my home made tomato sauce. It was excellent and the eight year old grandson ate it with gusto! I will buy it again.

Another good product from Santa Barbara Olive Co..... Olive Muffaletta in an 8 ounce jar. Its good on crostini or I use it (4 ounces) in an olive bread recipe that I put together some time back. It is a good tasting product like most of their inventory..

The other product that you probably have used but I will mention is the Porcini and White truffle cream from Urbani. Great on pasta (cream sauce) or risotto.

[Jenise]

Two this week. A source for buccatini, an impossible-to-find pasta shape in this part of the world, and it's from an excellent artisinal type pasta at that. Also, canned fava beans. I've never even seen canned favas before, but Chris (who posts here too) pointed them out to me at the Food Coop, and I just had to try them. Last night they were combined with lightly cooked lima beans, a little spaetzle, lots of shaved fresh garlic and just EVOO and vinegar to make a really healthy bean salad for a campout dinner at a local lake.

[Robin Garr]

Two this week. A source for bucatini, an impossible-to-find pasta shape in this part of the world

Probably hopeless, but have you tried asking for perciatelli? I believe it's a different regional name for essentially the same pasta, and I've seen both in U.S. stores. (The aptly named shop Lotsa Pasta in our town usually has a couple of different brands of both.)

[Jenise]

Two this week. A source for bucatini, an impossible-to-find pasta shape in this part of the world

Probably hopeless, but have you tried asking for perciatelli? I believe it's a different regional name for essentially the same pasta, and I've seen both in U.S. stores. (The aptly named shop Lotsa Pasta in our town usually has a couple of different brands of both.)

No, I'm unfamiliar with that name. But I'm pretty well stuck with Barelli, Ronzoni and Di Cello locally--nothing artisinal around here. Or what passes for it is the Francis Ford Coppola brand. IOW, there's no one to ask....

Also, canned fava beans. I've never even seen canned favas before, but Chris (who posts here too) pointed them out to me at the Food Coop, and I just had to try them. Last night they were combined with lightly cooked lima beans, a little spaetzle, lots of shaved fresh garlic and just EVOO and vinegar to make a really healthy bean salad for a campout dinner at a local lake.

Canned fava beans Indo European brand sold on shelves of the Lebanese market by you under the sub brand name of Sahara. Large and small beans in several sizes. Good for foul mudammas, a staple in my kitchen! Excellent quality.

Goji berries. Great addition to couscous or rice that is not as sweet as raisins and has a more refreshingly bitter component. Plus great color.

Haven't found any other uses for them yet.

I tried the canned favas in a salad last night with some garbanzos (both drained & rinsed); chopped tomato, cucumber, green onion, and parsley; then dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, dried coriander, smoked paprika, and sea salt.

. But I'm pretty well stuck with Barelli, Ronzoni and Di Cello locally

That's why they invented the internet. To get hard to find pasta shapes, delivered to your door.
http://www.agferrari.com/index.php/item ... /6137.html

BTW, you mean,Barilla and DeCecco, don't you? Nothing wrong with that pasta.

[Robin Garr]

No, I'm unfamiliar with that name. But I'm pretty well stuck with Barelli, Ronzoni and Di Cello locally--nothing artisinal around here. Or what passes for it is the Francis Ford Coppola brand. IOW, there's no one to ask....

That's sad. There may be hope, though! Some of the big brands appear to call it perciatelli. de Cecco, for instance - this link sells it only by the case, but indicates that de Cecco does make the stuff.
De Cecco Perciatelli Pasta No. 15
http://www.buythecase.net/product/9733/ ... _pasta_15/

Robin, just FYI, I hope you're not buying anything from these people, because the case they have on offer for $65, wholesales for around $25 on the street.
It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in their pricing model.

Roasted garlic juice.

Blood orange olive oil. I'm not much for flavored oils, but I do like this one.

[Robin Garr]

Robin, just FYI, I hope you're not buying anything from these people, because the case they have on offer for $65, wholesales for around $25 on the street.
It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in their pricing model.

Oh, nononono! I can get all that stuff in Louisville, or maybe not everything you'll find on Arthur Avenue, but most of it.

That was just the first Google evidence I found to indicate that De Cecco does in fact make a perciatella, which in my opinion appears identical to bucatini.

perciatella, which in my opinion appears identical to bucatini.

They are identical. The words have different roots, one in northern (b) and the other in southern (p) dialects.

Fregola would not be served with a sauce in the sense that Americans think of pasta sauce. It would be flavored by finishing it - after boiling - with a quick toss with flavored ingredients where the oil or butter or juices carry the flavor to the pasta. Or put it in soup as the article suggests. It would not be "cheesed".