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Well, it turns out that eg is not nearly as normal as I thought. She sometimes does photograph her food. She sent a picture of her peppers.
She did not send the recipe.
She also sent this one of zucchine frying, a photo in which you can admire her unusual choice in kitchen color. Yay, eg!
I appreciate boldness. I especially appreciate boldness in relatives.
Anybody else have photos of their food that they are proud of?
Today is the first day that I help Alex a bit with Food and Wine Friday at Blog from Italy. We are hoping to have something different to say from the usual about Italian food and wine, who eats it, what they think of it and where to get it. Today he is all over gelato. Go slobber on your monitor!
August 1st, 2008
Busily making fig conserves, freezing tomato sauce and putting raspberries one by one into a bottle of grappa has kept me from cooking anything photo worthy. I did make something pretty though and I’ll post it tomorrow morning my time.
The raspberries are ripening one by one. So it doesn’t matter that the bottle neck is narrow. There is no crowd trying to get in.
July 30th, 2008
My internet connection, not very good at its best, has been completely absent for days and is only partial now. Because of that, we will be taking a brief vacation while Mary gets used to Luigi, I get mad at TelecomItalia, Michele ponders the best way to get her mom back to Italy and Cherrye whips Calabrian tourism into shape. Barb is easy to make happy. Just buy her excellent house for the bargain price she’s asking and she will be all smiles.
Me? All I want is the plumber to do what he’s supposed to do, Telecom to do their job, the plums to ripen… well, forget about it, I can see I am asking the impossible.
But, I have a great new recipe in the works which wowed a recent crowd of eaters– so be right back.
July 11th, 2008
Where I live, in the Italian countryside, everybody wears slippers almost all the time. You put on serious shoes to muck out the chickens or to hoe the cabbages, then doff those and put the slippers back on when you are done.
Since that is true, I can’t think why I never thought up a way to wear slippers and work unconsciously at the same time. If I look at the many versions of slippers I have, almost all of them are dual duty in that they look like they are not slippers, but instead are evening shoes, tap dancing shoes, beach shoes or even shoes one wears in the seraglio in hopes the Sultan will send for you this night.
All these years I could have been cleaning the house instead.
July 8th, 2008
I went away. First I went to Ficulle where I worked, then I went to central and southeast Umbria to play.
Barb had her camera, so I let her do all the work, plus I stayed at her house. I spent time in the very kitchen pictured in her house for sale poster.
I know she’s not said it all yet, so look more than one day.
July 6th, 2008
Earlier today, eg sent me a link and suggested it was an idea I could use with the cats. It’s just a fabulous idea, and I am all for it. It seems a bit much work to completely rewrite the entire proposal, however, so for a start, just go here and insert cat wherever it says sheep.
Our situations are very similar. The sheepherders are keeping the hills of Abruzzo in traditional ways. The cats and I are keeping the hills of Umbria in traditional ways. The sheepherders are under financial pressure and need help. We are under financial pressure and could use help. Now it is true that they have many hundreds or perhaps thousands of sheep you can adopt, and I have a varying population of cats that number around seven give or take a litter, they also need more money because they are tending to a larger land mass than we are.
Our initiative, “Adopt a sheep and defend nature”, is meant to invert this serious trend, and propose naturalists, environmentalists, and gourmets, the distance adoption of a sheep, that in exchange of maintenance and rearing expenses, will yield its fruits (lambs, milk, cheese, ricotta, wool, manure) as well as protection of the portion of land it defends together with the rest of the flock. Stock farms taking part in the initiative guarantee their products, including biological products, with quality marks, and among other things offer agritourist accommodation. Therefore the person adopting the sheep will be able to stay at the chosen stock farm and periodically follow the farm activities: grazing, lambing, milking, sharing, and transhumance. All this in full respect of the animals’ needs and habits, as dictated by the regulations of biological production.
Besides the fact that neither I nor Wordpress knows what transhumance means, and that I would be hard put to hire rooms out to all the adopters should they decide to come, I think we can do a bit better than they on some issues. It’s a bit obscure, but the upshot is they are going to sell the products of your sheep to anyone, not send it to you. I am not sure what most of you would do with a year’s worth of wool, milk, lambs, grazing and manure, anyway. I can promise you, on the other hand, that if you adopt a cat I will happily send you anything it produces in a year that I can find. I will make adopters a reservation with Alberta if they want to be near their adopted cat, or somewhere in town with 4 stars if they just want to swing by and pick up their cat’s year’s production.
The advantages of the initiative “Adopt a sheep and defend nature” to the user are the following: a saving of over 12% of the market value of the products obtained, products that are certainly genuine, the option of using products derived exclusively from the adopted sheep (at the discretion of the user), since the adoption is nominal apart from the cheese products that need the milk of a number of sheep, which would still be guaranteed by being reared following the same criteria.
So, it appears that you will be given a 12% discount when you buy your sheep’s products. The cats products will be yours absolutely free!
With an annual contribution of € 190,00 we will be able to count on a capital that will help us by anticipating the shelter and feeding expenses and encourage us in carrying on our activity.
I assure you, that with the exception of Other Guy, who seems to rack up vet bills like E Taylor collected gems, your annual €190 contribution will make life much nicer for the cats and for Umbria. The photo above is where your cat hangs out and where you can meet your cat or shear your cat. The chaise longue on the left is wearing its cat cushion and is accompanied by its anti-cancer umbrella. The table under the gazebo is strewn with embroidered cloths the cats have mounded for lounging. Two sides of the cat habitat are edged with catnip, so you can convince your cat to nip and then try to climb the concrete telephone pole behind. There is ample space to romp with your cat or even get down with him or her and roll around the habitat’s terracing. I think that beats the sheep crib, even if we don’t have lambs.
Special concessions, discounts or promotions for all the events and shows related to pastoral life will be reserved to those who join: the shearing festival in April - May; the transhumance festival at the end of May - beginning of June; the guide to the flocks at the summer mountain pastures on foot or on horseback in mid June; guided excursions in high altitude pastures in July - September; thematic evenings on production, pastoral activity, and taste laboratories, according to a calendar that will be updated every six months.
If it seems really important, we can institute a shearing festival in the spring. The transhumance festival is a bit more difficult, but we will consult a bigger dictionary and see what we can do. All the cats but Gloria do love to go hiking, but they prefer lower ground, not the mountains, and a quarter to a third of a kilometer is as far as they go. We can, however, go that distance and back again any number of times. Thematic evenings are pretty much dedicated to food — theirs — but they share very cheerfully, even with the hedgehog. Tastings should be no problem at all.
We do not yet have a prepared contract to sign, but it will be our pleasure to email you one on request. After all, the cats don’t have numbers, but names. Other Guy, Bear, Gloria, Nonna, Tom, Mamma and Tilda. I’ve talked it over with them and they seem extremely eager to have new patrons and to get home visits!
June 10th, 2008
This is an experiment in presenting a new recipe for a new dish. Throughout the recipe I will place photos of the dish, and at the end we can decide which of the photos is most likely to make someone want to cook it or eat it.
The dish is yummy, and it could easily have been made another way, but I’ve been pondering on how to make a first course that could be plated in the kitchen and made to look quite special. If I baked it in flat layers it would just look like another lasagna. If I just casseroled it, it would look like baked ziti. I wanted something arranged, orderly, presented, in short. I had in mind to make individual ramekins, but mine are all too small and besides 15 of them would be too much for most ovens when I cook for larger groups. I will make this only when I am cooking with an assistant who can run them to the table, because they’d all get cold if I were doing it all on my own.
I haven’t really named it, either. It’s paccheri, of course, and it’s stuffed, and the filling is Sicilian inspired, but it’s not from Sicily, it’s from the nutty cook in Umbria. Have a look at the ingredients and see what you think about a name. Paccheri may not be easy to find where you are, but if you make manicotti and cut them in half it will look about the same, if a bit larger mouthed. You’d reduce the number because each would hold more stuffing.
When buying a sausage for this dish, look for the leanest ones possible. You can use salted capers if you like, but rinse them and soak them in milk before using them if you do. The ones I used are just pickled in brine and I did nothing to them. The cheese to use can be any decently mature cheese that is still soft enough to melt. It might be Fontina, Bel Paese, or another you like. I used Pecorino because it is universally available in Italy and it’s really, really good. Sometimes Pecorino in other countries is not.
Paccheri (senza nome) 
For two people
Preheat the oven to 175°C or 350° F
24 paccheri, boiled to al dente in salted water, rinsed in cold water and drained
Stuffing:
2 Italian sausages, split and meat removed
a piece of fresh bread, a cube 3 cm X3cm X 5cm or 1” X 1” X 2”, torn in pieces
1 tablespoon or less of milk to soak the bread
¼ teaspoon minced dried chili (peperoncino)
1 tablespoon drained capers, chopped
2 heaped tablespoons of pine nuts, dry toasted in a pan
½ a beaten egg (beat it in a little bowl and take half)
about 1 cup (250 ml) simplest homemade tomato sauce
a tablespoon or so of fresh oregano, marjoram or basil
about 1 ounce (30 g) semi-soft Pecorino, grated coarsely
Mix all of the Stuffing ingredients together, squishing thoroughly with your hands. Find a shallow ovenproof dish that is just about the size of all your paccheri stood up on end. Drizzle a little olive oil over the bottom, spreading it around, then a little of the tomato sauce, tipping to spread that as well.
Using a teaspoon, one by one, pick up the paccheri and stuff some of the meat mixture into each one. Alternatively and probably easier, pick up a little of the mixture and roll it into a small sausage shape between your palms, then slip it into a pacchero. As each is filled, stand it up in the pan until you have run out of filling. I ran out after 18 paccheri. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the standing pasta, then scatter the fresh herb, then add the grated Pecorino over that.
Put it into the heated oven and bake about 40 minutes until the sausage centers are done. I measured the temperature at 160°F, and left it to finish the climb from reserved heat.
Garnish with sprigs of whichever herb you used. Optionally you may wish to add a few drops of olive oil for gleam. Eat immediately, really hot.
Notice that I did not add any salt. Umbrian sausages are extremely salty. Capers are salty. I did not need a single grain of salt. If you live somewhere else, your sausages may not be so salty and you may need to add a little to the stuffing.
If you click on the photos, they’ll pop up on a dark background and be easier to judge. Which one do you think would tempt you to eat this?
If none look good to you, I want to know that, too, but I’d also like to know the reason why!
And now, having figured out exactly where it is this week, I am proposing this dish to Presto Pasta Night, hosted this week by Closet Cooking. When you look at that blog, you can see what is possible in countries that have closets.
June 9th, 2008
Although I cannot click on the ads here, I can now see them. I am absolutely confused by some of them.
Some posts attract ads for woodworking or construction supplies. Blink.
Many have ads about belly fat, which seems to be the phrase of the day everywhere I go. Many have ads for vacation rentals in Italy and especially in central Italy. That makes a lot of sense to me.
I’m sort of goggling over the ads for pasta recipes or Italian food recipes. What do they think this is? But OK, I have always been told that the best place for a jewelry store in next to another jewelry store, and not next to a doughnut shop as I always thought.
Anyway, to anyone who has clicked on the ads, thank you. After almost 3 years I received a check which amounts to one month’s telephone bill! It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
June 4th, 2008
NB: I had to change the name of the dessert because I copied myself.
What did we eat? I’ve not forgotten! Yummy foods from the South — or in Italian il Meridionale.
Antipasto was burrata, which may be the single most luxurious cheese made in any country. A firm exterior of mozzarella di bufala surrounds a center packed with fresh cream. How could that be bad? It was sliced and drizzled with a little oil and sprinkled with fine chiffonade of fresh basil leaves.
The primo was Pepata di Cozze con tagliatelle
, and this is when I discover that Alberta does not eat mussels. But you should because they are delicious, cheap and good for you. Buy farmed ones if you aren’t positive that the wild ones come from clean waters.
The secondo was Agnello con Piselli, or lamb with peas. I promise you that unless you have eaten this in southern Italy, it is nothing like you expect. It’s very good, too. Unfortunately for Alberta, she also doesn’t eat lamb.
Dolce was Crostata della stagione, named by me to reflect that the torte is made the same every time, but then you pile on the fruit of the season. This time it was strawberries, and quite nice ones, in spite of the cool and cloudy days we’re experiencing.
Agnello con piselli
Lamb with peas
Ingredients for 4
I onion
80 g pancetta in small cubes
800 g pieces of lamb, cubes
500 g frozen or shelled fresh peas
salt
1 coffee cup of hot broth– about 3 ounces
a large handful of grated Pecorino (or Parmigiano Reggiano) cheese, about 1 ounce
2 eggs
1 tablespoon grated Pecorino cheese
pepper
Method:
Thinly slice the onion and gently brown it with the little cubes of pancetta. When it is well browned, add the lamb and continue to brown well. Add the peas and the cup of boiling broth, correcting the salt and pepper. Cover it and leave it to cook. When it is cooked to your taste, which for us took about 35 minutes, add the two beaten eggs, which will have been beaten with a tablespoon of grated pecorino. Stir it in to thicken the sauce and then serve immediately.
To make it easier to time the courses of the meal, we cooked this to almost done then removed it from the heat. When the first course was over, we brought it back to a simmer, stirred in the cheese and then the eggs and finished it. It would easily have served six of us in this multi course meal.
Corstata della Stagione
for six people
Pasta Brisee for one torta
80 - 100 g of fresh, soft goat cheese
the finely grated rind of a lemon
1 tablespoon sugar
about 400 g of prepared fresh fruit
2 tablespoons sugar
First, make pasta brisee using any recipe you like. Here is a good recipe which you can half if you are making this crostata.
Pasta Brisee
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (4 grams) salt
1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 - 120 ml) ice water
In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. Add remaining water, if necessary. Do not process more than 30 seconds.
Alternately, you can make a pile of the flour, salt and sugar on a work surface, then put the cut up butter in the center and using your fingers, mix it until it looks like coarse meal. Then add some of the water, kneading it in, adding only as much as it takes to form a ball, which you should wrap and chill for a few minutes before rolling it out to make the crostata shell.
Turn the dough out onto your work surface and gather it into a ball. Divide the dough into *two equal pieces, flatten each portion into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before using. This will chill the butter and allow the gluten in the flour to relax. At this point you can also freeze the dough for later use.
*unless you have halved the recipe as mentioned above.
For each disk of pastry, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to fit into a 8 or 9 inch (20 to 23 cm) tart pan. To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards to get uniform thickness). To make sure it is the right size, take your tart pan, flip it over, and place it on the rolled out pastry. The pastry should be about an inch larger than your pan.
When the pastry is rolled to the desired size, lightly roll pastry around your rolling pin, dusting off any excess flour as you roll. Unroll onto the top of your tart pan. Never pull the pastry or you will get shrinkage (shrinkage is caused by too much pulling of the pastry when placing it in the pan). Gently lay in pan and with a small floured piece of pastry, lightly press pastry into bottom and up sides of pan. Roll your rolling pin over top of pan to get rid of excess pastry. With a thumb up movement, again press dough into pan. Roll rolling pin over top again to get rid of any extra pastry. Prick bottom of dough (this will prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes). Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes to chill the butter and to rest the gluten.
To pre-bake the shell: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line the unbaked pastry shell with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill tart pan with pie weights or beans. I use beans and I keep them in the pantry wrapped in the foil I re-use many times. Bake crust for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is dry and lightly browned. Remove weights and cool crust on wire rack.
While the crust is still warm, spread the goat cheese over the bottom of it with a silicon spatula, being gentle, then grate the lemon rind over it, and then sprinkle the first tablespoon of sugar over that.
Arrange the clean and prepared fruit to cover the crostata completely. That means pit and half plums, peel, pit and slice peaches, etc. Berries just need to be clean and possibly hulled. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar over the fruit.
You may want to serve this with lightly whipped and lightly sweetened cream, or you can make a pool of cream or sour cream on the plate and serve the slice of crostata on top of that. We garnished it with mint sprigs from my garden.
I personally could have eaten this entire crostata by myself. Only the fact that I liked the student and I need to lose weight prevented that happening. It is a very good thing that I have no fresh fruit in the house at the moment, because I could otherwise whip this up again in no time flat!
June 2nd, 2008
I received this in my email this morning, and since we are all gardening nowadays I thought I’d offer it up. I don’t know that it works, but it just might. I get bitten or stung a dozen times or more through gardening season, and thank goodness, that means until November!
“It might be wise to carry a penny in your pocket while working
in the yard……… BEE STINGS !
A couple of weeks ago, I was stung by both a bee and hornet while working in the garden. My arm swelled up, so I went to the doctor. The clinic gave me cream and an antihistamine. The next day the swelling was getting progressively worse, so I went to my regular doctor. The arm was Infected and needed an antibiotic.The doctor told me - ‘ The next time you get stung, put a penny on the bite for 15 minutes’.
That night, my niece was stung by two bees. I looked at the bite and it had already started to swell. So, I taped a penny to her arm for 15 minutes. The next morning, there was no sign of a bite. We decided that she just wasn’t allergic to the sting.
Soon, I was gardening outside. I got stung again, twice by a hornet on my left hand. I thought, here I go again to the doctor for another antibiotic. I promptly got my money out and taped two pennies to my bites, then sat and sulked for 15 minutes. The penny took the string out of the bite immediately.
In the meantime the hornets were attacking, and my friend was stung on the thumb. Again the penny. The next morning I could only see the spot where the hornet had stung me. No redness, no swelling. My friend’s sting was the same; couldn’t even tell where she had been stung. She got stung again a few days later upon her back—cutting the grass! And the penny worked once again.
Wanted to share this marvelous information in case you experience the same problem. We need to keep a stock of pennies on hand.
The doctor said that the copper in the penny counteracts the bite. It definitely works! “
May 23rd, 2008
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