September 30, 2011
Recipe of the week: “Musque de Provence” Pumpkin Soup
Posted by: Admin : Category: Luxury Travel
Ingredients (serves 8-10):
3 pounds of fresh Chino Farms pumpkin (skin off, seeds removed)
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon diced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon diced fresh ginger
cup flour (all purpose)
1 quarts vegetable or chicken stock
cup heavy cream (whipping cream)
teaspoon ground nutmeg
teaspoon ground cinnamon
Fresh chervil or chives
Pumpkin seed oil (optional)
Lauren Cicione is an ex-New Yorker (former contemporary art dealer) Italian American who moved to Montalcino, Tuscany two years ago. She knew it was time for a career switch when her foodie tendencies to visit every new restaurant in NYC started taking precedence over her interest in checking out new installation sculpture. Growing up in an Italian American family, she had a long-standing passion for good food and Italian wine with a strong connection to all things local and organic. After spending much time cooking with brilliant renowned chefs, harvesting grapes, working in the vineyard, becoming close friends with many of the top Brunello producers in Montalcino, she started a company called 
To call 
This delicious dipping sauce is surprisingly easy to concoct, yet is complex in flavour. It will add a lively, spicy Thai zing to grilled meats such as beef or chicken, or to roasts such as pork. Whilst it can be mixed and used immediately, allowing the sauce to stand in the refrigerator for a day or so will only heighten the symphony of flavours.The secret here is to avoid powdered chili and to use only coarse dried chili flakes, where the seeds remain clearly intact. Or better still, use whole, dried, Thai bird eye chillies – smoking them briefly in a dry hot pan, before grinding them in a pestle and mortar.
24th July of this year marked 100 years exactly since Yale man and National Geographic explorer Hiram Bingham puffed and sweated his way up to the jungle-covered ruins of Machu Picchu. A century later, travelers who want to take in this true wonder of the world aren’t limited to explorer-style bivouacking; rather, there are now a wide range of accommodations, dining experiences, spas and adventures that rival the best in the world. So, in honor of Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham and the incredible cultural patrimony of Peru, I would like to show you what a luxury trip to Machu Picchu looks like today.