Bistecca alla Fiorentina is maybe the original foodie's steak, with much lore about the great care needed in getting and cooking the perfect steak. 

There are also many misconceptions about this wonderful and expensive pinnacle of carnivory. While in Tuscany, I engaged in grueling research to get to the real facts of the matter. ;-) 

Bistecca alla Fiorentina, or Florentine Beefsteak, is a T-bone steak prepared with the finest beef and minimal other ingredients. It's all about the technique and the quality of the beef. 

That's where the first problem arises. Bistecca alla Fiorentina is prepared from the beef of the white Tuscan Chianina cattle. This is not your basic Black Angus or fancy New Zealand ribeye - the Chianina is very lean, but the cut used for the steak is tender as long as you don't overcook it. It's dry-aged 15-30 days. Of course, being so lean, you have a very small window to get it right, and its expensive so you can't afford a lot of practice. 

The steak is unseasoned, except for a dusting of salt. It's cooked over very hot charcoal, very briefly, and served rare or on the light side of medium rare. 

It's a huge piece of beef, typically sold by the hectogram (100 grams, about 4.5 ounces), but you cannot order a 1 hectogram sample; the cook carves off a steak and sends it out for approval. The one I got was 1.3 kilos and, at 5 euros/hg, cost 65 euros. (It's OK to share one steak with a couple of friends, but I had the good sense to dine with two vegetarians!)

Then it's carved tableside, and served, both the sliced meat and the remaining bone that you can hack at at your leisure. A traditional side dish is white beans with olive oil.

I had mine at Tar Tufo in Siena, one of the few places that guaranteed Chianina beef properly aged and cooked. That's important because I saw the "Bistecca alla Fiorentina" served at a number of places, most of which refused to answer the question of sourcing, or else admitted that they used Irish or French beef as less vulnerable to overcooking and more similar to what tourists expect of a steak. 

There's no reason that you can't make any American cut with the same care. It's all about the quality of the beef, and the precision technique is a factor of the leanness of the beef made worthwhile because of its great flavor. This maybe the way to go if you can get your hands on great grass-fed beef at your local farmers' market!

This is a pungent blast of early-summer flavor!

People who grow garlic cut the scapes in June (in these parts) to prevent the garlic bulb from expending energy that might be better used in a hot skillet. 

One excellent use of these doomed shoots is to pound them into a pungent pesto, as described below. 

Vieux Carre is French for the Old Quarter, which is a storied  corner of storied New Orleans. 

This is a fascinating cocktail, based on a split of rye and cognac with sweet vermouth, and two kinds of bitters. Benedictine adds a complex sweetness. 

I think all-rye or all-cognac would make a fine drink, but by making the base spirit an unidentifiable blend (really the rye and cognac become something new and different) the Vieux Carre becomes mystical. 

This is a fancy version of the Steamers (Classic) with a great flavor.

I got the idea of adding Pernod from Annette, who did the same in her stuffed clams recipe.

One night when Lorna and I wanted something easy and different, I suggested she get steamers and I'd try this - fortunately she loved it and now we have it very often.  

This is about the easiest of easy recipes! 

Steamers are steamed soft-shell clams, traditionally served with some dipping liquid (to remove any residual sand) and melted butter, and a refreshing summery beer. 

This old traditional Moules Marinieres recipe from the coast of France is quick and easy, nutritious and delicious - what's not to like? 

It's easy to find the mussels imported from Prince Edward Island, Canada, and they are often pretty clean. Local mussels are good, but they may be bigger, so adjust the cooking time accordingly. 

There are many ways to get creative with this dish, starting with the base wine and herbs, of course, but many chefs also add cream or chilies or sliced sausage... the creative opportunities are endless.  

Soujouk is a beef sausage common in the northern Middle Eastern countries from Armenia to Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia. 

It's traditionally served for breakfast with fried eggs, sliced thinly and heated up in a skillet.

I was making it for lunch, so I did it in a simple and also traditional style, with sauteed onions and tomatoes. It was really good with just those simple ingredients, and the sausage to season it all.

I don't know what makes this a Boston Cocktail. Most cocktails with Boston in the name include rum, but this one is gin and apricot brandy.

It's not a bad drink, but a lot depends on the apricot brandy. The best brandies out there, like Marie Brizard Apry, have too much flavor, so a 2:1 ratio works better. But the more common ones probably work fine at the original ratio. 

On the other hand, I made this when the New England Patriots were down 15-3 in the Super Bowl and they made up 9 points since then, so I do believe I'll have another! 

This classic was created in 1894 for the premiere of an operetta of the same name, based loosely on the life of Scottish folk hero Rob Roy MacGregor. 

It's basically a Manhattan made with with Scotch.

The traditional garnish is two cherries pinned together, no doubt a reference to the romantic interest in the operetta.

This would never have been made with a fine single malt Scotch - Scotch whiskey was almost all blends in those days. I have good luck with the Famous Grouse.

This is a merry widow, with ulterior motives!

This is a fascinating sweet cocktail of the type that may end the evening unexpectedly...

It's really rather too sweet for my tastes. I think it works best as an after-dinner drink.  

This hard-to-find, visually-unappealing, finicky vegetable is worth the hunt and the longish preparation.

I had searched for cardoons for years every late fall/early winter, with no success. Albie's Produce in the North End and even Eataly in Boston's Back Bay had failed me. 

Then a double-stroke of good luck brought me success! The produce manager at my local Stop & Shop accidentally got a shipment of cardoons from California, and I happened to be at the store on that morning.  

I sort-of recognized this long-sought vegetable, but I wasn't sure. Fortunately they were labelled Cardones, the Italian name for the vegetable, so it was easy to connect the name. 

The raw vegetable is very bitter, but 30 minutes of boiling extracts most of the bitterness, leaving only a bracing aftertaste that complements a rich buttery or cheesy sauce.  

Nobody knows for sure why this is called Alaska. One theory is that it was named for the Alaska Gold Rush. Whatever the truth is, it sure is tasty! 

The Alaska Cocktail is essentially a Martini with Yellow Chartreuse instead of Dry Vermouth. 

This makes it a very different and wonderful symphony of herbal flavors with a delightful color - all in all an exceptional cocktail experience! 

Yellow Chartreuse is more sweet than the green, so 2 dashes of Orange Bitters are an optional improvement.

This is a potent little cocktail, being almost entirely gin!  

When I discovered Djinn Spirits' Henry Knox gin, I knew exactly which cocktail to try it in. In 1775, Henry managed the transportation of 60 tons of captured British artillery 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, where it was instrumental in forcing the British Evacuation. Knox ultimately became our first Secretary of War (now called Secretary of Defense).

I made this with the Henry Knox gin and with the Coastal Roots (of Portland) Aromatic Bitters; it was perfect!