Adri Barr Crocetti

A Book Review

My Calabria: Rustic Family Cooking from Italy’s Undiscovered South

 
I have mentioned it before. I am a cookbook addict, an avid collector. I love the genre, and my shelves are overflowing. Positively, absolutely overflowing. The truth is the books have begun a slow walk across the library floor, down the hall to the side of my bed. Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you. It is only fitting that the books have made their way to my bedside since cookbooks are my preferred bedtime reading. But with all those books I have had to become highly selective with my purchases. This one, however, was the proverbial no brainer. As soon as I heard that Rosetta Costantino had written a book on the cooking of Calabria, I knew I had to buy it. Ms. Costantino was born in Calabria, and at the age of fourteen came with her parents to the United States. She and her family live in Oakland, California where she teaches cooking. Her book was released late last year. I apologize to you all for keeping it to myself. Its 416 pages are filled with the food and culture of Calabria, all from the very personal viewpoint of Ms. Costantino. This collection of recipes, reminiscences and cultural background will have you reaching for your Post-It Flags. Read the remainder of this entry »

I sure hope it’s true what they say about the third time being a charm. Because three times now I have thrown Bart’s pants in the washer after having done a photo shoot, and three times straight the Nikon Remote has been in the pants pocket. Yeah, our very own version of the Timex Torture Test. John Cameron Swayze would have approved. You should have heard the stream of expletives Bart unleashed when I brought it to him after the first episode – all warm and nice from the dryer. Whoa. But miracle of fine engineering and Nikon excellence, it still worked. Yes. But Bart realized he had to be much more careful. Read the remainder of this entry »

Okay, so you are wondering about the title. I can hear you all now. Adri, that is SO not you. What are you thinking, writing a title like that? What’ll people think? Kinda snippy, Dudette! Let me set everyone straight right now. Don’t think anything about it, and since you asked, yes, I like Giada DeLaurentiis. I like her a lot. She makes some great Italian food, and she makes it accessible. She is, as they say in the biz, relatable. The stories, the laughs, the Italian family, the neighborhood in which we both grew up. Yes. I shall proclaim it now. I, Adri Barr Crocetti, am a fan. Giada – for all the great recipes and all the inspiration, mille grazie.

Moving along. Just a few days ago Bart and I were talking about my blog articles and making a list of subjects under consideration. Among them was one of my fave rave summer desserts, Gelatina di Espresso. Espresso Gelatin. Homemade Espresso Jell-O. Call it what you will. I love it, especially on a scorching hot summer day. I entered it on my list and moved on.

Saturday morning I looked at the Food Network lineup I saw that Giada D. was going to do Espresso Chocolate Jellies. That sounded intriguing, so I took a look. Her dessert consists of a layer of chocolate covered with a mixture of instant espresso and Kahlua set with gelatin and topped with whipped cream. Mine is not. Mine is pure unadulterated espresso set with gelatin and topped with sweetened vanilla scented whipped cream. See? That’s all I meant by my title. Two different recipes.

I first tasted this very adult dessert in July of 1971 – on a night train from Milan. After a wonderful and very elegant dinner, it was time for dessert. And I could not believe I was being served Jell-O. I came halfway across the world for Jell-O? No way. Except it was true, and as it turned out, I was glad. One taste and I was transported to the world of adult desserts. Not too sweet, with the bitterness of Espresso, this was a soft gelatin that surrendered to the heat of my tongue. This was not my mother’s Jell-O.

In another twist to this story, and this is where the synchronicity comes in, we celebrated National Train Day this past Saturday, in honor of our great American railroads. I love trains, and I traveled all through Europe on them. So today, along with celebrating American trains and Amtrak, I salute Italian trains, the trains that introduced me to Gelatina di Espresso and the last trains in the world where the conductor kisses the passport photograph of a woman he finds particularly beautiful. Viva i treni!

Alfonso Bialetti’s Italian stovetop espresso makers rocked the coffee world when they first appeared in 1933, and they dominate the market to this day. Known as Moka Express, Bialetti’s original stovetop espresso maker has remained almost unchanged since 1933 save for one decorative addition – the chubby mascot on each coffee maker L’Omino con i baffi – The Little Man with a Moustache is Sig. Bialetti himself. Familiar to us all, these darlings of the Italian design world come in sizes ranging from single serving all the way up to 18 cups.  (The standard of measure for a cup in a Moka pot is 1 cup =2 oz.)  Steam does the work in this style of espresso maker, and it does it quickly, which matters a lot if you have a recipe that calls for 2 standard U.S. cups (a total of 16 oz.) of espresso, as this one does. These iconic babies with their easily recognizable octagonal shape continue to live up to their maker’s promise of allowing customers to enjoy in casa un espresso come al bar – an espresso in the home just like in a coffeehouse.

Gelatina di Espresso

makes 4 servings, ½ cup each

1 envelope (1/4 oz.) KNOX Unflavored Gelatine
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups ( 16 ounces) hot espresso
3 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate shavings

Before we begin – don’t be put off by the idea of using gelatin. Once you understand it, you’ll be glad you took the time to learn. Classic gelatin technique consists of two steps, bloom and dissolve. If you are new to gelatin or just need a refresher, click here to see my post on Espresso Panna Cotta and come up to speed with step by step directions. For even more information click here to see my post on Blood Orange Fruit Gelatin.

Brew espresso. While espresso brews, pour 2 tablespoons cold water in medium bowl and sprinkle gelatin over. Set aside to soften for 5 minutes, do not stir. When espresso has brewed and gelatin has softened, pour 2 cups (16 oz.) hot espresso over gelatin mixture and stir to combine and melt gelatin. Add sugar, a tablespoon at a time until desired degree of sweetness is achieved. Keep in mind you will eat this cold, so a little extra sugar may be necessary no matter how perfect the sweetness level seems when you first try it. Place bowl over ice water bath, stirring occasionally to promote even cooling.

Pour mixture into serving glasses and refrigerate until set, 2 hours or overnight. If you are feeling particularly playful, rather than serving this dessert in the traditional wine glasses or coupe dishes, use coffee cups or espresso cups. The whimsical touch will delight your guests and guarantee smiles all around.

Beat heavy cream with sugar and vanilla, until very soft peaks form. To serve give each gelatin a dollop of whipped cream. If you are a fan of dark chocolate like Bart, then finish it with a dusting of either bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate shavings.

And for the gardeners out there – don’t discard those espresso grounds, they’ll give your tomatoes a great nitrogen boost!

Note: You can click on any picture to see a slide show with even more pictures!
I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.

Wake up!  It is time to start your gardens!

Each year Bart and I kick off our garden season with an early morning visit to day one of Tomatomania at Tapia Brothers Farm in Encino. Great name. Great event.

For tomato gardeners the Tomatomania seedling sale is the place to be. Gardeners are presented with a dizzying array of choices. And I do mean dizzying. Hundreds of varieties, thousands of plants, along with herbs, items for soil preparation and fertilizer. This is the time of year to shift into high gear for Spring and Summer gardening.

It is time to clean up the garden area, prepare the soil, decide what to plant and where to put it all, and purchase the plants. We had a ball this morning, looking at the seedlings, chatting with fellow gardeners and listening in on people’s comments about their favorite plants.

I picked up some favorites from last year including Juliet, Ananas Noire, and Sungold. I decided to try some new ones too. Among them are Jaune Flamme, Haley’s Purple Comet (couldn’t resist that one) and Green Envy. Let me say it was hard to choose and harder still to leave all those other little babies behind. Check their web site for a sale near you. If you can not find one, do not despair. They sell seedlings online.

The more I garden the more I am utterly amazed at the tremendous number of choices available to us. I love to grow unusual plants, and so over the years I have settled on a few specialty purveyors. For herb plants look no farther than Goodwin Creek Gardens. They have over 1000 herbs and plants including every herb you can think of and more varieties of lavender, thyme and geranium than I ever knew existed.

If it is peppers you are after, Cross Country Nurseries is the company for you. Again, more plants than you can imagine – hundreds in fact. Their catalogue lists the plants and their culinary uses. Another thing I love about their catalogue is the chart that gives the name and type of pepper, length, width, heat level and country of origin. What more could a gardener possibly ask for?

And finally, never again will you sneak seeds back home in your suitcase. Seeds from Italy is a specialty purveyor of heirloom seeds from Franchi Sementi of Bergamo, and from southern Italy the seeds of a very small company in Andria, Bari. This company is unmatched. Grow these seeds and you will be the talk of your neighborhood. Many of these are things you will never see in an American supermarket. They specialize in traditional heirloom Italian varieties, and lots of them – 9 types of arugula, 14 types of cima di rapa, 7 types of eggplant, 25 varieties of lettuce and 18 types of zucchini! Their catalogue also features growing instructions and recipes. Sign up online for their terrific newsletter.

A gardener’s life is good. I hope you decide to garden this summer. No one says you have to have a huge garden. Just grow something. Anything. Feel the dirt. Plant something, tend it and watch it grow. It’ll taste better than anything you ever bought in a store.

Note: You can click on any picture to see a slide show with even more pictures!

I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today
To-morrow will be dying.
…Robert Herrick

Grab them while you can.  Juice them and freeze their juice.  The season does not last forever, but right now blood oranges are everywhere, including my back yard, so I am using them a lot.  Tarts, panna cotta, cocktails, zabaglione and some very adult gelatin.  I remember eating lots of Jell-O  when I was a kid.  It’s the red flavors I liked best – none of that green stuff for me.  Pass the raspberry, hold the lime.  I can picture holding my mom’s wooden spoon and looking down as I stirred the garnet liquid, knowing that in a while it would transform into its own unique state of matter, somewhere between jiggly and solid, a state that, when  exposed to the heat of my mouth, would return once again to its liquid beginnings.  Magic.   But as always, times and tastes change, and Jell-O was long ago relegated to the realm of childhood memory.  Until Bart was in the hospital, that is.  (To forestall any worry – he is perfectly well now.  No troubles.)  But after many days of no food at all, the angels of mercy presented him with Jell-O.  He loved it.  He devoured it.  He wanted more.  Either the poor guy was really hungry, or that Jell-O was really good.  I will never know.  But when he returned home he wanted some from scratch.  Homemade fruit gelatin.  Not a glamorous name, but that is what it is.  I thought why not?  This could be really good.  We bought some cherry juice and gave it a try.  It was easy to make and we were rewarded with a blast of pure cherry flavor.  More experimentation was surely in order; at each visit to Trader Joe’s we’d scan the juice section for a new flavor to try.  Bart always got to choose, still does.  Along with cherry, some of our favorites are pomegranate, blueberry and cranberry, and now blood orange.  Topped with a dollop of softly whipped cream, homemade fruit gelatin is surprisingly refreshing.  Pure fruit taste.





My standard recipe is  2 cups of liquid,  sugar and 1 packet (1/4 oz.) KNOX Unflavored Gelatine.  Don’t be put off by the idea of using gelatin. Once you understand it, you’ll get the hang and you’ll wonder what the fuss was about.  Proper gelatin use consists of two steps.  First you must soften, or “bloom” the gelatin.  To do this pour a small portion of liquid into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it.  Set aside for 5 minutes.  Do not stir.  Second, pour softened gelatin into hot liquid and stir to dissolve.  See, no hassle.  No mystery. For more info on gelatin use, see my post on Espresso Panna Cotta.





Depending on the juice you use you may or may not need to add sugar – cranberry and pomegranate always need sugar, from 4 to 6 tablespoons for 2 cups of their very tart juices.  Grape juice may not need any sugar, but remember that you will eat this cold, so a bit of sugar may be necessary to lift the flavor, no matter how perfect the juice seems when you first try it.


I say go for it.  Perfect your fruit gelatin technique in time for summer.  You can wow your guests with unusual flavor combinations and multi-layered delights.


In the fifties every chic hostess used Dorothy Thorpe glassware; in a nod to my mom, the most chic of hostesses and the woman who taught me all about Jell-O, I give you Blood Orange Fruit Gelatin in Dorothy Thorpe glassware.

Blood Orange Fruit Gelatin

makes 4 servings


2 cups strained blood orange juice
3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 packet (1/4 oz. or 2 1/4 teaspoons) KNOX Unflavored Gelatine




Pour 1/4 cup juice into a small bowl.  Sprinkle KNOX Gelatine over, and set aside to soften for 5 minutes.  Do not stir.


Pour remaining juice in small saucepan and add sugar to taste.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Remove from heat.


Pour softened gelatin into hot liquid, stirring to combine well and dissolve gelatin.  If your juice has cooled, quickly bring it back to the boil, remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, just to be certain it will dissolve.


Pour mixture through a fine strainer set over medium bowl.  Place bowl over an ice water bath to cool, stirring occasionally.


Pour mixture into serving glasses and cover carefully with plastic.  Refrigerate until completely chilled and set.


To serve, garnish with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.




Note: You can click on any picture to see a slide show!