For this year's Christmas Eve dinner, I'm going to try something I have never done before - inspired by the movie "Big Night," I'm going to put on my Louis Prima CD and attempt to make a timpano! For those of you who haven't seen the movie (though you certainly should rent it!), the centerpiece of the film was an amazing Italian feast - and the centerpiece of the feast was the timpano! I had to hunt around a lot for good recipe - I found one version in a back issue of "Saveur" magazine. The dish, prepared by the ubiquitous character actor Vincent Schiavelli, looks wonderful - but not quite the same as the timpano in the movie. I did some surfing around, and finally discovered the timpano page of my dreams at http://forum.epicurean.com/timpano/wwwbo... - an article, recipes, a discussion board, and even movie clips! From reading the site, I have learned that this dish may very well take me a couple of days to organize and prepare, so I plan to start making my ingredient shopping list fairly soon!
If you're looking for a way to add interest to a traditional Chanukah dinner, there are a lot of great ideas in Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen, by Joyce Goldstein, one of my favorite cookbook authors. The Italian Jewish community has a rich culinary tradition, and Goldstein presents the recipes in her usual clear, informative style. There are a lot of deep-fried dishes in Italian Jewish cooking - but this isn't the time of year to be worrying about a little extra oil!
Another first for me this year is going to be home-baked Panettone. This cylindrical Italian fruit bread is widely available in these parts, but it isn't cheap, and I always find the packaged panettone from the local deli to be a bit dry and tasteless. There's a fairly simple recipe at, of all places, the "Ragu" spaghetti sauce web site - http://www.ragu.com/cookbook/desserts/pa... - it looks like a good basic recipe, anyway. A fancier, richer-looking version is available at the Good Morning America web site - http://www.wchstv.com/gmarecipes/panetto... - this one contains more fruit, some cognac, and thorough directions. There's an entire Christmas menu - including panettone - at http://www.dolcevita.com/natale98/cucina... - and finally, at the good old King Arthur Flour website, a recipe for "semi-traditional" panettone -
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