Remove mint leaves from ice bath, and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels; gently pat leaves dry.
When I made Leonti's ribollita at home in my Birmingham, Alabama, kitchen, I tried the double-cleaver technique, but quickly switched to an efficient, two-handled mezzaluna after too many stray bits of onion, carrot, and celery fell to the kitchen floor.I followed his advice and sweated the vegetables in olive oil in a Dutch oven, slowly cooking the mixture, stirring almost as often with a wooden spoon as you would with a roux.
I then turned up the heat until I heard that rapid sizzle, signaling that the soffritto was beginning to caramelize, creating a massive amount of flavor.When you build flavor from the bottom of the pot like this, the flavors continue to transform, concentrating even further when you add then reduce aromatic liquids — in Leonti's case, adding crushed tomatoes and white wine, which cook down to a tomato-wine-soffritto jam full of umami.That flavor base gets rehydrated with water, then cooks down again with the kale and bread — the latter adds tangy flavor and disintegrates into the soup to add texture.
Finally, cooked beans — both whole and pureed — go in, thickening and tightening the soup into a porridge.. Leonti served many of his courses in gold-rimmed Richard Ginori china to frame his food in the Tuscan context.His restaurant's fare was big-city fine dining meets cucina povera, the Italian cooking tradition born of necessity that elevates humble ingredients into dishes fit for a king.
I asked him about the restaurant's tightrope walk between high and low.
"What is luxury?Scatter the coffee beans around the duck breasts and cook, gradually increasing the heat as the duck breasts render their fat, for about 4 minutes longer, or until the skin is crisp and brown..
Transfer the duck breasts to plate and discard the coffee beans and spices.Return the duck, skin side up to the skillet, add the port or Madeira and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
Braise the duck breasts for 5 minutes.Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes to finish cooking.. To serve, cut the duck breasts into 1/2-inch thick slices and fan them out on four plates.
(Editor: Foldable Toasters)