I want to share some pics and videos from a fun event I did recently, pairing Ruffino wines with American cuisine for a delicious dinner in a beautiful Tuscan winery in the Chianti region. It came together beautifully. I cooked for 2 days, combining my traditional recipes with fine Tuscan ingredients, then gave a couple cooking presentations before and after dinner.

I would like to thank Clara Ceccherini for conceiving, planning and realizing the event and Marina Baumgartner for interviewing and sharing the stage with me during the cooking presentation. I also had the pleasure of passing the time with our impeccable hosts and owners of Ruffino wine, the Folonari family. They granted me the unforgettable opportunity to hold this special event in truly unique and stunning surroundings, and provided a living lesson in hospitality and professionalism.

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We had a great time last Friday at the hamburger lesson in collaboration with Laboratorio Cingoli. We all got our hands dirty forming and flipping burgers, and everyone got to assemble their own mini burger.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s a recap of some great hamburger tips from Giuliano Cingoli:

1. Obviously, the better quality meat you use, the better the burger, but not all of us have the time (or money) to buy freshly ground chuck from the butcher. Giuliano has a great trick to transform mediocre, pre-ground supermarket meat into an soft, moist and excellent burger. The secret weapon? Instant mashed potatoes. I know it sounds wrong, but it works! You’ll only need about 5% of the weight of the meat. So for a pound of meat, mix just under an ounce of instant mashed potato flakes with water until you reach the consistency of mashed potatoes, and mix this in with the meat before cooking.

2. Only salt the meat after it’s finished cooking. Salting before hand only helps to release the juices, which makes for a dryer burger.

3. Use just a little bit of oil in the pan, about 2 spoonfuls. The pan should be over medium heat, just enough to make the oil bubble. If the flame is too high the burgers will burn too quickly on the outside before the interior is cooked through.

4. Place the raw patties on the hot grill or pan, the burger is ready to flip when it unsticks naturally from the cooking surface. How long you cook the other side depends on personal preference. For a rare hamburger, simply quickly sear the other side and serve. If you would like it cooked medium-rare, remove burger when blood starts to ooze out of the top of the patty. If you prefer a well-done burger, continue cooking for another couple minutes.

Thanks again to everyone who participated, to Laboratorio Cingoli, and to the folks down at Sub Zero and Wolf, for the fun evening!

Click here to see pictures of the event on our facebook page.

So, in celebration of Milan’s Salone del Mobile and my own, self-proclaimed International Burger Design Week, I’ll be hosting an Authentic Texan-Style Hamburger lesson in collaboration with Laboratorio Cingoli:

When: Friday, April 16th at 6:30 pm.

Where:  The showroom of Sub-Zero & Wolf in Piazza Diaz, Milan

Free and open to the public.

I’m proud to announce a book signing event and a series of three American cooking courses I’ll be hosting at La Scuola de La Cucina Italiana. For my American readers: La Cucina Italiana is the most important cooking magazine in Italy, or as a friend described it last night, “the Vogue of culinary publications.” Their headquarters is in Milan, equipped with a fabulous kitchen space and cooking school where I’ll have the pleasure of teaching a few lessons. To kick things off, I’ll be hosting a book signing and cooking event at the school on Tuesday, March 16th. Check out the information below and sign up if your interested!

Per eventuali problemi di visualizzazione cliccare qui. Alla scoperta dell’America attraverso le ricette di Laurel Evans Martedì 16 Marzo – ore 19.00 Presentazione del libro Buon Appetito America! di L. Evans, fotografie di E. Scoti (Guido Tommasi Editore). Show cooking, una ricetta del libro eseguita in diretta per voi. Presso la Scuola de La Cucina Italiana, Piazza Aspromonte 15, Milano. Posti limitati, è necessario dare conferma della partecipazione a Le Api Regine info@leapiregine.it tel. 348 90 26 013 – 338 36 46 932 Lezioni di cucina American Brunch Lo facciamo in tanti ne parlano tutti scopriamo la vera tradizione dell’autentico brunch Texan Cooking Un viaggio gastronomico attraverso i sapori del Texas e le sue molteplici influenze Cakes & Sweets Dal Cheesecake alla torta di mele, ecco un corso dedicato interamente ai tipici dolci americani Sabato 27 Marzo dalle 14.00 alle 17.00 Lunedì 12 aprile dalle 9.30 alle 12.30 Mercoledì 28 aprile dalle 19.00 alle 22.00 Per informazioni e prenotazioni Scuola de La Cucina Italiana ipca@quadratum.it tel. 02 70 64 22 42 Ai sensi dell’art. 7, d. lgs 196/2003 (codice in materia di protezione dei dati personali) potrà esercitare i relativi diritti, fra cui consultare; modificare i Suoi dati o essere cancellato da questa mailing list, rivolgendosi a Le Api Regine: info@leapiregine.it