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Plan Your Italian Garden!
Homegrown is alright with me.
It’s never too early to plan a garden, and these days, with all the info on the Internet and all the mail order catalogs there is plenty to sift through. In just a few weeks it will be time to actually plant. Now is the time to do a little research.
Sure, if you are not in Italy, then you do not have the exact microclimate to grow a particular Italian vegetable or fruit. You do not have Italy’s indigenous soil either. But I am not going to quibble, and I am not going to let the purists stop me from growing my own, and neither should you. What greater joy is there than to walk into the garden with an empty trug and return to the kitchen, the trug brimming with fruits and vegetables grown with one’s own two hands, one’s own sweat and toil.
Don’t miss the thrill of seeing the tiny sprouting plants lift the dark, rich soil. Read the remainder of this entry »
On Sunday, occasionally – No. 1
Welcome to my newest feature. In my virtual peregrinations I find articles that are informative, entertaining and just downright beautiful. Some are by professional food writers, others by amateurs. I’ve decided to post my favorites here on my site. This way you can see what I see. Most of what I post here will be in English, and I’ll focus on things Italian, but there are no limits. Not yet anyhow. If I see something special, I’ll post it here. For now my list will go up on the occasional Sunday – no promises yet on a regular schedule.
Many thanks to Kathy Ayer, whose Italy on a Plate-Weekly Roundup inspired this project, and to Judy Witts Francini for telling me to get going. Thanks also to Nancie McDermott, who wrote to me “You are the clipping service that never sleeps.”
Here are nine that caught my eye. Click on the descriptions to see what I discovered! Read the remainder of this entry »
Sweet Pea and Fava Crostini with Herbs and Ricotta
More with Pace da Poggio Etrusco Extra Virgin Olive Oil
The baby vegetables are in the Farmer’s Markets. The herb garden is planted, and tiny peas in their pods have made an appearance. My mint plants are already giving forth, their new leaves packed with fresh flavor. Spring has arrived, and with it have come the fava beans.
Travails with Fave or Size Does Matter
Preparing fave (FAH-vay, plural of fava) is a labor or love, or so some people say. The preparation of this member of the Fabaceae (bean family) is a point of great contention among the cooking community and for a time, a source of plunging self-esteem for me. To peel or not to peel? That is the question. The Great Fava Bean Debate of 2013 rages on. For years I labored (or not, depending on one’s point of view) in blissful ignorance of the aforementioned debate, happily zipping open the fava pods, removing the tiny beans from their downy resting spots and eating them. For me there was no third step. You know the one, the part where you peel the beans.
In the garden or at the market I selected firm, bright green pods, free of marks or blemishes. Patient harvesting or careful shopping rewarded me with tiny beans, sweet and tender, about the size of my little fingernail. I never bothered with the larger beans, having always thought them better suited to the compost heap than a diner’s stomach.
However there came a point at which I realized that everyone, food writers and friends alike, even food writing friends, was talking about peeling the fave. A terrible unease set in, the kind of self-doubt in which I specialize. Could I possibly be so rustica, so out of touch with civilized culinary technique? It seemed that everyone peeled those little beans before consuming them, whether raw or cooked. Then one day just a few weeks ago I was rescued from the ignominy of bean preparation inadequacy by none other than food writer Nancy Harmon Jenkins. She came down on the side of not to peel. Despite some formidable opposition, chief among them Paula Wolfert, Nancy stuck to her guns. There is no need to peel, she declared. It is simply a matter of knowing how to pick fave, and you should pick them young. Thanks, Nancy. A girl needs her heroes. Read the remainder of this entry »
Foolproof Frazzled Mamma Cheesecake or The Pope Made Me Do It
A Culinary Comedy of Errors and Experimentation
Adri’s Great Blog Cook-a-thon #7
This is the story of three women, eleven pounds of cream cheese and two Popes.
It started innocently enough when I read a post by Trisha Thomas, AKA Mozzarella Mamma. “Dear Blog Readers — I’m seeing RED. I’ve become obsessed with Cardinals. I am constantly contemplating Cardinals.” It was mid-February 2013, and Trisha, an APTN reporter in Rome was covering the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI and the Conclave that would elect his successor. That’s where the two Popes come in.
The third woman is Linda Prospero, author of the Italian food site Ciao Chow Linda. She too reads Mozzarella Mamma. There we were, connected online by a mutual love of Italian culture and food and an interest in i papabili (men likely to be elected Pope.)
Blood Orange and Bella di Cerignola Salad with Solerno
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
…Robert Herrick
It’s as true of blood oranges as rosebuds. Winter will soon be gone, and with it this most glorious citrus fruit. So juice up the Lenten season with blood oranges. There’s no sin in them.
This classic combination of blood oranges, black olives and a vinaigrette is a wonderful luncheon plate. And jazzing it up with a drizzle of Solerno blood orange liqueur updates it a bit. I’ve used black Bella di Cerignola olives. These olives are delicacies. Huge, with meaty flesh that yields to the bite, they come from Foggia in the region of Puglia. Try them once, and you will be hooked. Read the remainder of this entry »