Prosciutto On My Mind

With today's flash sale on prosciutto di Parma at Whole Foods (see a couple of posts below for details), I have prosciutto on my mind for this weekend's dinners. One of my favorite things to do with it is asparagus and leek risotto with prosciutto from Bon Appetit, which is also a good choice since asparagus is also on sale, $2.98 a pound at Whole Foods and $1.48 a pound at Sprouts. strisce all Chiantigiana from Bon Appetit. Yes, technically that one calls for pancetta, but it's great with prosciutto too. There are just so many things you can do with prosciutto - heck even use it with a fine cheese and good bread to make the grilled cheese sandwich from heaven. And the best thing is that none of these ideas even hints at Thanksgiving-type foods. There will be enough of those shortly.

Oh, Please Spare Me

I've long extolled the virtues of the prosciutto ends at the Pearl Street Whole Foods store for use in cooking when dicing the meat anyway, since the ends were selling at nearly half the price of the freshly sliced prosciutto at the deli.  Not finding any of the ends yesterday, I asked the deli staff, who directed me instead to "prosciutto crisps," cooked little slices which they said is what they are turning the ends into now.  With the freshly sliced prosciutto selling in the $25 a pound range and the ends nearly half that, these "crisps" are $35 a pound!  Okay, since I like accuracy, a penny less than that at $34.99 a pound.  Like I am going to choose that product to dice up into a chowder!  Sheesh.