piselli mangiatutto / snap peas or sugar snap peas

June 22, 2009 | Simona

As long as I lived in Italy, the only peas I ate were shelled peas. As a child, shelling peas was a task assigned to me and one that I did not enjoy, because I did not like eating peas. I welcomed the appearance on the market of frozen peas: at least, I did not have to shell those. I remember the slogan of the advertisement for the first brand of frozen peas: colti sul fatto e surgelati all’istante. It is a play on words: the verb cogliere means to pick, but cogliere sul fatto means to catch red-handed. The slogan conveyed the idea that the peas were picked at their best and immediately frozen (surgelati all’istante) to keep them pristine — at least that is how I interpreted it.

In time, I learned to like peas, at least in some dishes. When I moved to the US, I tasted first snow peas and then snap peas. According to this page, the Italian translation of both snow peas and snap peas is piselli mangiatutto, which means peas of which one eats (mangia) everything (tutto), the pod (baccello) and the peas inside — after removing the top and the lateral string¹. It took some time before I cooked some snap peas. Receiving some in my CSA box was an incentive to get more familiar with preparing them.

I wanted a simple recipe and I am partial to roasted vegetables. A search on the web returned the perfect recipe: roasted snap peas with shallots (piselli mangiatutto arrosto con scalogno), from EatingWell Magazine. I followed the recipe almost to the letter, minus the optional bacon. The dish is easy to make and you can get the peas ready while the oven warms up. I like simple side dishes that can be prepared quickly as an ideal complement to a more elaborate main course.

I have already made these roasted snap peas with shallots several times, but each time I have failed in the photograph-taking part. So, once again, I am showing you something rather unrelated, but visually more appealing: the glorious blooming of my first red poppy (papavero rosso). Some time ago, I saw some poppy seedlings at the farmers’ market: the label said that they would be good for harvesting poppy seeds. I did not ask what color the poppies (papaveri) would be: I wanted a surprise. I love our bright orange California poppies, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the red poppies of my Italian childhood, so the surprise bloom brought a big smile on my face. Considering my poor gardening skills, I am already thrilled by the result of my little poppy adventure.

¹ According to the page referenced above, snap peas can also be called taccole in Italian. The photos of taccole I have seen on the web, however, make me think of snow peas, rather than snap peas. The two varieties differ in the shape of their pods: flat (snow peas) versus round (snap peas, as you can see in the photo above).

This post is my contribution to the current edition of Fresh Produce of the Month, an event created by my friend Marta, An Italian in the US, that this month focuses on piselli.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

piselli mangiatutto

or launch the piselli mangiatutto audio file [mp3].

gelato alla vaniglia variegato al rabarbaro / rhubarb-marbled vanilla ice cream

May 29, 2009 | Simona

I grew up eating gelato, but nobody I knew made it at home. In August of 1999, after coming back from an extended stay in Italy, I purchased my first ice cream maker and started experimenting — with the book Frozen Desserts by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir as guide. The immediate reason for my new enterprise was my husband: he missed his daily dose of gelato, and I promised him I would do something to address his withdrawal symptoms. The first flavor of ice cream that I made was vaniglia (vanilla). Later on, I learned that vanilla is the most common flavor of ice cream in the US, and I found that it is most people’s favorite.

If you are wondering about the difference between gelato and ice cream, Vanessa of Italy in SF recently published a very informative post on the subject. I don’t know whether the fat and air quantity of what I make allow it to qualify as gelato. I know, though, that I serve it right out of the machine, without freezing it first, which is what recipes I have seen instruct you to do. I freeze what is leftover, but I make sure that the consistency is creamy before I serve it again.

Without further ado, here is how I currently prepare the basic version of the vanilla kind. The evening before, I warm up to below boiling point 1 and 1/4 cups of non-fat milk with 2 of tablespoons of agave nectar and 1/2 of a vanilla bean (baccello di vaniglia) split in half lengthwise to reveal the tiny black seeds inside. The beans I get in the bulk section of the stores where I shop are very flavorful and I have found that using half of a long bean is enough. As the milk warms up, some seeds start floating around. When I remove the saucepan with the milk from the heat, I cover it, let it cool and then refrigerate.

The morning after, I make the custard: I beat 1 extra-large egg and one yolk with a 1/4 cup of granulated sugar until the mixture is bubbly. In the meantime, I warm up the milk, then slowly add it to the beaten eggs. I pour the mixture back in the saucepan and put it on the stove over gentle heat, stirring. When a film forms over the back side of the stirring spoon (I use a wooden one), I draw my finger across. If the line stays clear, the custard is ready. (If it overheats, it will curdle.) The saucepan goes straight from the heat to a cold water bath, while I keep stirring the custard to bring down its temperature. When the custard is cool, I cover the pan and place it in the fridge until thoroughly cold.

When I am ready to churn, I take the custard out of the fridge, add to it one cup of chilled heavy whipping cream and mix. With a spatula, I retrieve the two halves of the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds off their inner surface, then mix again and finally pour the custard into the ice cream maker. I let the machine run until its content reaches gelato consistency. Then I stop the machine, scrape the ice cream from the sides and bottom of the machine bowl, stir briefly, scoop into small bowls and serve immediately. Only the very end of this process had to undergo some changes for the recipe under discussion, since the rhubarb is added to the vanilla ice cream after the churning is complete.

Although I had long wished to try adding rhubarb to my gelato alla vaniglia, I had never done it until now, for no particular reason. Rhubarb was unknown to me as food until my first vacation study in England, when I was 24. Then, I ate rhubarb pie (baked by my landlady) and rhubarb yogurt, and loved them both. However, a number of years passed before I managed to use rhubarb in my kitchen.

This year, I decided it was time I added rhubarb to my ice cream. To prepare it, I followed (to a certain extent) a recipe in the aforementioned book: I cut into 3/4″-long pieces half a pound of rhubarb and cooked it gently in a tablespoon of water until soft, then added a tablespoon of sugar and a half a tablespoon of agave nectar and stirred. I processed the rhubarb in the blender very briefly before putting it in the fridge to chill. Once the gelato alla vaniglia was ready in all its sweet, creamy glory (its smell is heavenly), I scooped it into a medium bowl¹ and added the rhubarb by spoonfuls, swirling it in with a spatula to create a marbling pattern. I then served the result, which was a resounding success, as certified by the head of my quality assurance department (a.k.a., my husband).

After almost 10 years, I still enjoy making ice cream and people who try it usually like it. When I see a person’s face light up as the creamy delight starts to diffuse in his or her mouth, I feel I have the power to contribute to the world’s happiness, one small spoonful at a time. By the way, when we visit Italy now, my husband misses my gelati and sorbetti (sorbets).

A final note: the flavor of ice cream and sorbet depends heavily on the quality of the ingredients. I use organic milk and cream (latte e panna), pastured eggs (uova) and organic fruit as ingredients.

¹ I used a lidded plastic bowl, which then went into the freezer with the leftover ice cream, after I covered the surface of the ice cream with a square of wax paper.

This post is my contribution to the current edition of Fresh Produce of the Month, an event created by my friend Marta, An Italian in the US, that this month focuses on rabarbaro.
Here you will find the roundup of the event and the announcement of the next edition.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

gelato alla vaniglia variegato al rabarbaro

or launch the gelato alla vaniglia variegato al rabarbaro audio file [mp3].

finocchio / fennel

April 23, 2009 | Simona

Some time ago, I mentioned finocchio as one of the elements of a traditional Italian appetizer called verdure in pinzimonio, which includes a selection of raw vegetables (carrots, celery, fennel, radishes, etc.) to be dipped into a sauce made of olive oil, salt and pepper, and possibly vinegar or lemon juice. Each guest gets his or her own small plate of sauce.

Growing up, I ate fennel salad often, the bulb cut into bite-size pieces and seasoned with the usual combination of oil, vinegar and salt. You can slice the fennel thinly instead: I like the bite-size version, because each morsel causes a little explosion of flavor in your mouth. Sometimes my mother would serve fennel cut vertically into 6 or 8 sections at the end of a meal, to be eaten plain: its crisp flavor is quite refreshing. I didn’t know that finocchio is called Florence fennel here.

Until recently, my favorite way of eating cooked fennel was au gratin. Then, to the old preference a new one was added: Fennel and Leek Soup with Fennel Greens (zuppa di finocchi e porri con foglie di finocchio) a dish that has become an instant hit in the household. The recipe comes from my beloved Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. In it, Madison suggests to use the trimmings from its ingredients to make Quick (vegetable) Stock, something I recommend doing, because the result is a deeply flavored soup that will enchant your palate. I ended up making more stock than I needed for the soup, so I froze the rest, which means I have a little stash for future use.

I followed both recipes to the letter, halving the quantity of the ingredients for the soup and substituting the cream (which in any case is optional) with some of my own cheese, freshly grated. The thinly sliced fennel and potato and the chopped leek and onion form a great quartet of flavors, with the vegetable stock providing the background and the fennel greens a tasty decoration.

This post is my contribution to the current edition of Fresh Produce of the Month, an event created by my friend Marta, An Italian in the US. You have a few days left to send your fennel-flavored ideas to Marta.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

finocchio

or launch the finocchio audio file [mp3].

Riepilogo della frutta fresca del mese: agrumi (eccetto limoni e arance)

March 15, 2009 | Simona

Fresh Produce of the Month: the roundup

February was a month of delicious recipes all featuring citrus fruit other than lemons and oranges. Thanks to all the people who participated and apologies for the delay. For both Marta and me, March started on the mad side in terms of work. We have finally reached a lull and cast a look towards the past (the roundup) and one towards the future (the announcement of the next edition). Without further ado, I will give you a taste of each of the delicious citrusy recipes I have received.

Considering that both Marta, creator of this event, and I are from Italy, I think it is nice that the first contribution is an Italian Vegan Grilled Grapefruit-Zucchini Salad kindly presented by Asha, of Aroma!

"Slightly bitter and tangy Grapefruit and soft pulpy Zucchini slices with herbs and spices taste fabulous together," says Asha. Hence, this recipe has earned the title of "a keeper."

When I think of citrus fruit, I think about vibrant colors and flavors, both of which can be found in the Smoky Pomegranate Margarita that Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi are bringing to the party.

Pomegranate juice imparts the deep red color to the drink, while alderwood smoked sea salt is responsible for the smoky part of the name.

"Alderwood smoked sea salt is pure Pacific sea salt slowly smoked over a red alderwood fire. The process imparts a full-bodied smoky flavour to the salt."

Another colorful dish is offered by Christine of Kits Chow. Pink grapefruit, yellow corn and green cilantro make her Chicken with pink grapefruit salad quite festive.

"This is a light, refreshing salad. The best time to eat this salad in the summer when fresh corn is in season, but it is still good with canned corn… The interesting thing is that there is no oil in the dressing. Only vinegar."

Astrofiammante of Mangiare è un pò come viaggiare (Eating is a bit like traveling) has prepared Polpette in foglia di cedro, meat balls wrapped them in citron leaves and baked. The leaves imparts a delicate citrusy flavor to the meat.

She also sliced the citron and seasoned it with oil, raspberry vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh mint leaves. I wish I could find citron in the stores around here.

We remain in Italy where Lenny of Una finestra di fronte (A window on the opposite side) offers us Mini rotoli alla marmellata di bergamotto (mini rolls with bergamot marmalade).

Fascinated by miniatures, Lenny has three small-size versions of a traditional roll, filled them with bergamot marmalade and decorated with candied bergamot peel.

In the US, we visit Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook. She greets us with her bright-colored Key Lime Coconut Cream Tapioca Pudding.

Susan tells us that "key limes are harvested when very green. The more yellow they become, the more ripe they are."

On the page referenced in the post, I read that key limes are smaller than regular (Persian) limes and that "the tree itself (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) is small and bushy, rarely taller than 12 feet. It is armed with slender, extremely thorny branches…"

And this is something Lori Lynn of Taste with the Eyes can attest to: she's had "an endless supply of limes" from the Mexican lime (a.k.a. key lime) tree she planted last October, but the tree has very sharp thorns.

With some of the bountiful harvest, she has prepared an elegant Mexican Lime Tart.

The same page mentioned above says: "Some varieties are thornless, but these have a much lower fruit yield than than the thorned trees." So, there is a trade-off between ease of picking and quantity picked.

Marta, An Italian in the US, the creator of this event, adds another drink to the collection with her Limata in stile vietnamita/Limeade Vietnamese style. I should actually say "his" limeade, as Marta reports Matt's version of the recipe.

"This is a very easy drink to make, and it doesn't differ much from a regular limeade, except for the fact that it doesn't contain much sugar, and instead, it has some salt in it. It's very refreshing and a good thirst-quencher."

Your host for this month (that would be me) reminisced about her first encounter with limetta (lime), described her experience with sweet lime and, finally, offered "a variation on the theme of cavolfiore arrosto (roasted cauliflower)."

And this brings to a close the February journey along the aisles of the grocery store. Marta, over at An Italian in the US, is taking back the helm in March and the theme is one of my favorite vegetables: finocchio (fennel). You will find the announcement with rules and deadline here.

My heartfelt thanks to all the participants for their contributions. It has been, as always, a pleasure. And thanks to my friend Marta for letting me have fun with her event. Arrivederci.

limetta / lime

February 26, 2009 | Simona

(the English lime is also used in Italian)

I didn't know lime existed until, some time during my childhood, a TV advertisement showed a small green fruit, called lime dei Caraibi (Caribbean lime), together with a bright green shampoo (shampoo) — or maybe it was a bubble bath (bagnoschiuma). The association established by the advertisement between lime and green-colored personal hygiene items has been hard to erase from my mind, so buying and using limes does not come natural to me. Before I get out of the bathroom, let me add that the Italian word limetta has another meaning: nail file.

A little while ago, I saw a yellow lime surrounded by green companions and purchased it out of curiosity: I wanted to see what color it was inside. It was green! I loved the color contrast and should have taken a photo, but it was dinner time, there was no natural light and I was about to use the lime to make the recipe which follows. The next time I visit the store where I made such an interesting purchase, I will look for another yellow lime.

While shopping at another store, I saw a fruit called sweet lime (limetta dolce) and, of course, I had to try it. It looks like a lemon and it is indeed sweet, so I realized that it is a sort of edible contradiction, since the reason we treasure limes is their sharpness. If that quality is not there, what's the use? I still have half of the sweet lime and I am trying it in different settings, but have no success to report. Do you have any suggestion?

I have been making the following variation on the theme of cavolfiore arrosto (roasted cauliflower) for a couple of years. It was inspired by a recipe in a magazine called Healthy Cooking. I bought the October 2006 issue of the magazine out of curiosity (a title on the cover said Cook like an Italian…), as I had not seen it before and I don't think I have seen it ever since. I made a few changes to the original recipe, the last one of which is the use of succo di limetta (lime juice) instead of succo di limone (lemon juice).

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Cut a large head of cauliflower (or two small ones) into florets (cut large florets in half) and place in an oiled baking pan.
Bake for 12 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the following in a small bowl:

2 tablespoons capers (capperi), drained (if you use salted capers instead, rinse them)
a clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
juice of one lime (about 3 tablespoons)
1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley (prezzemolo)

Take the pan out of the oven, add the prepared mixture, stir, then distribute two tablespoons of finely chopped toasted pecans over it. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the cauliflower is ready to your liking, another 12 minutes or so. Add salt, to taste, stir and serve immediately.

This is my contribution to the event Fresh Produce of the Month: Citrus Fruit (other than lemons and oranges) created by my friend Marta, An Italian in the US, and hosted this month by yours truly.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

limetta

or launch the limetta audio file [mp3].

Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: cavolo

February 4, 2009 | Simona

Fresh Produce of the Month: the roundup

A month chock-full of delicious recipes all featuring cabbage (cavolo) in its different incarnations. Thanks to all the people who participated. And now, let the banquet begin! The dessert will be the announcement of the February edition of the event.

We start with Lori Lynn of Taste With The Eyes, who has prepared Braised Baby Bok Choy and served it on a lovely plate as support for fresh wild petrale sole sautéed in miso butter.

I have certainly tasted with my eyes: now my taste buds would like to get their share.

Greece meets Poland at Ivy's blog Kopiaste.. to Greek Hospitality. As part of a virtual world tour, Ivy made Kluski z Kapusta (Pasta & Cabbage), a satisfying dish.

I must admit I don't know anything about Polish cuisine, so I am thankful to Ivy, also for introducing a Greek cheese with a lovely name: xynomizithra.

We linger in the Eastern European tradition in the company of Andrea of Cooking Books. She got the recipe for German Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage from her grandmother, who got it from her mother. The secret of the recipe is the use of lemon juice, instead of vinegar, for the sour portion.

The bright color is guaranteed to alleviate winter blues no matter where you live.

Núria of Spanish Recipes shares stories of windy weather and resulting destruction in her corner of the world (Catalonia).

She also tells us about her Pork-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. The dark red peeking from under a roll is a slice of butifarra negra, which is "a traditional Catalan pork blood sausage."

Priya Sriram of Priya's Sourashtrian Kitchen has prepared a sunny-colored dish: Cabbage Curry (Muttagose Poriyal), where cabbage is married to white and yellow lentils.

The dish "is very simple to prepare and can be used as a side dish with any rice variety."

Deepa Hari of Simple Home Cooking shares with us her Red cabbage with moong beans and coconut or Red Cabbage Kootu.

In her words, "Kootu is a simple and delicious south Indian dish made with lentils and veggies."

Tina and Phil of 30 a Week prepared Buckwheat Groat Pilaf with Tempeh, Red Cabbage and Mustard Dressing.

"Instead of relying on a recipe from a cookbook, we attempted to come something on our own. The result… was one of the best tasting dinner ideas we’ve had in a while." That is a nice achievement.

Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf references my homeland with her Peasant Style Italian Cabbage Soup, which includes also cannellini beans.

"The soup looks very light, but is very filling as it has bean and veggies." Just the right dish for a winter day, I'd say.

Astrofiammante of Mangiare è un pò come viaggiare (Eating is a bit like traveling) has paired canederli (gnocchi made with bread that is a day or two old) with red cabbage in Canederli su letto di cavolo rosso (canederli on a bed of red cabbage) .

The pairing is complemented by some speck, a salume made made by de-boning, then curing and finally smoking a pig's thigh.

We remain in Italy with Elle of Vegolosa, who has prepared a tasty Pasta con verza (pasta with cabbage) . The cabbage is cooked with garlic and red wine, then some cooked pasta (ditalini) is added to it. Comforting.

The first Italian trio ends with Lo of Galline: 2nd life (galline means hens in Italian), who prepared a simple and satisfying dish of Broccoli saporiti (tasty broccoli) by microwaving the vegetable florets topped with a little gorgonzola. Cheese lovers, take notice.

Cavolo broccolo is a super-healthy vegetable and one that perhaps deserves an event all for itself. What do you think?

After reminding us of the good qualities of cabbage ("a vegetable that fits all seasons"), Christine of Kits Chow introduces us to Sichuan Spicy Cabbage, an example of marrying cabbage with vinegar.

"In Sichuan restaurants this dish is complimentary for diners. This is very easy to understand. It is cheap, easy to make and whets the appetite."

Rachel, The Crispy Cook, can always count on cabbage to be available in her area, even in the middle of winter. For the occasion, she set aside tried-and-true coleslaw recipes in favor of giving "a Southern-style mustardy Memphis cole slaw recipe a whirl."

She managed to take a photo before her Memphis-Style Cole Slaw had been completely consumed.

We go back to Italy, where Tatiana of Peccati di gola e di amicizia (sins of gluttony and of friendship) turned risotto into a rooting cry for her town's soccer team, Fiorentina, whose color is purple.

Her Risotto viva la fiorentina (risotto "Go fiorentina!") owes its lovely color to the use a "blue broth" that she obtained while making another dish that also had red cabbage as an ingredient.

Marta, An Italian in the US, the creator of the event we are celebrating, tells us about her first experience eating bear meat. In her Bear steak with red cabbage the vegetable complements the dark meat.

"The bear didn't taste as strong as I expected. It had a very particular taste, but not overwhelming, and it went very well with the cabbage." Food for thought.

The last Italian for today is yours truly, who met a particularly fascinating napa cabbage (cavolo napa) at the grocery store and with it prepared stufato di cavolo napa, finocchio e porri (Braised (Napa) Cabbage, Fennel and Leeks).

The stufato is enlivened with roasted red bell pepper, thin slices of baby lemon and toasted sunflower seeds.

I am carrying the Fresh Produce of the Month torch for another month. The event is the brainchild of Marta, An Italian in the US. The theme for this month edition is citrus fruit other than lemons and oranges (agrumi eccetto limoni e arance), since both lemons and oranges have been already featured in previous editions. The fruit in the photo is a kind of pomelo Marta bought in a Chinese grocery store.

If you are inspired to participate (and I hope you are), here are the simple rules for Fresh Produce of the Month: Citrus fruit other than lemons and oranges / Frutta Fresca del Mese: agrumi eccetto limoni e arance

Publish a post on your blog with a recipe involving citrus fruit (other than lemons and oranges). Add a link to the announcement (either this one or the one on Marta's blog) and mention that it's an entry for the Fresh Produce of the Month event. Feel free to place the logo on your post.
Send an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name to me at simositeATmacDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh Produce of the Month: Citrus Fruit' as subject. A photo is optional, though helpful.
If you don't have a blog just send me an email with your recipe and, if you have a picture of the food you made, that's great: I will add it to the roundup as well.

The deadline for entry submission is February 28th, 2009. I will post the roundup soon after.

Note: If you don't receive an answer to your email or a comment on your post within two days of sending me the email, please contact me again: sometimes email messages get lost in cyberspace.

cavolo napa / napa cabbage

January 17, 2009 | Simona

(here you can read other names used to refer to this vegetable).

I must admit that, until recently, I had not used this type of cabbage. Then, one day, a beautiful head of it stared at me from the shelf of the grocery store and I could not refuse its proposal to hop on my cart.

I started my acquaintance with napa cabbage by cooking it very simply. The recipe I created was inspired by one in the book If the Buddha Came to Dinner by Halé Sofia Schatz: Braised (Napa) Cabbage, Fennel and Leeks (stufato di cavolo napa, finocchio e porri). I thought that the trio of ingredients formed a nice combination, so I adopted it. And I liked the idea of cooking the vegetables with some lemon juice (besides vegetable stock or water). For the rest of the recipe, I followed my impulse.

To braise means "to fry (food) lightly and then stew it slowly in a closed container." The Italian verb is stufare, which also means to cook something (usually meat) for a long time in a covered pan. Stufato is the resulting dish. But before I move on to the description of my stufato, let me share with you a couple of idioms that use the word cavolo:

c'entra come i cavoli a merenda (it has nothing to do with it — literally: it is as pertinent as cabbage for an afternoon snack, cabbage not being considered a food appropriate for that meal)
salvare capra e cavoli (literally: to save goat and cabbage, i.e., to find the solution for a situation where competing needs appear to be incompatible. The expression derives from the riddle of the farmer that needs to carry across a river on his boat a wolf, a goat and some cabbage. The wolf, left alone with the goat, would eat it, while the goat, left alone with the cabbage, would feast on it. The farmer's task is to organize the ferry service so as to carry across all the passengers without any loss)

Back to the recipe, here are the ingredients I used:

two leeks (porri), washed and cut into thin half-moons
leaves of a couple of sprigs of thyme (timo)
a fennel (finocchio), thinly sliced using a mandoline
half a napa cabbage, finely shredded
a baby lemon (limone), thinly sliced using a mandoline
two small or one big red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and diced
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
two tablespoons sunflower seeds (semi di girasole), lightly toasted in a dry skillet

Oil a sauté pan, add the leeks and thyme leaves, and cook for 5 minutes on gentle heat. Raise the heat to medium, add the fennel, napa cabbage and lemon slices, and stir. I have received a much-appreciated gift of baby lemons and I have been enjoying them a lot. They are 2-2.5" long, tender and delicately flavored.

After a minute or so, add a couple of tablespoons of water. Bring to simmer, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then and making sure the pan is not dry. Add the red bell pepper and continue cooking until the vegetables are done to your liking: in my case, soft, but with still some crispness in the fennel. I must admit I did not keep track of the exact time. Add salt and pepper and serve warm, with the sunflower seeds on the side, to be sprinkled on the vegetables after they are plated: they add flavor and crunchiness to the delicate vegetable stufato.

This is my contribution to the event Fresh Produce of the Month: Cabbage, created by my friend Marta, An Italian in the US, and hosted this month by yours truly.

This post contains a roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

cavolo napa

or launch the cavolo napa audio file [mp3].

In case you are wondering about the farmer tasked with saving goat and cabbage, one way to achieve the goal is to follow these steps (assuming A is the starting point and B the destination):

carry the goat from A to B (the wolf won't eat the cabbage)
go back to A then carry the wolf from A to B
bring back the goat from B to A (so the wolf won't eat it)
carry the cabbage from A to B (at this point cabbage and wolf are on the same side)
go back to A then carry the goat from A to B

Verdura Fresca del Mese: cavolo

January 3, 2009 | Simona

I have once again the honor of hosting an edition of Fresh Produce of the Month, an event authored by Marta, An Italian in the US. She recently posted the roundup of the previous edition, about pears.

This month, the focus is on cabbage (cavolo) in its different incarnations: green, red, Savoy, napa, bok choy. After the Holidays, I think it is a good idea to reach for a lighter fare, which makes ample use of vegetables.

If you are inspired to participate (and I hope you are), here are the simple rules:

Publish a post on your blog with a recipe involving cabbage. Add a link to the announcement (either this one or the one on Marta's blog) and mention that it's an entry for the Fresh Produce of the Month event. Feel free to place the logo on your post.
Send an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name to me at simositeATmacDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh Produce of the Month: Cabbage' as subject. A photo is optional, though helpful.
If you don't have a blog just send me an email with your recipe and, if you have a picture of the food you made, that's great: I will add it to the roundup as well.

The deadline for entry submission is January 31st, 2009. I will post the roundup soon after.

Note: If you don't receive an answer to your email or a comment on your post within two days of sending me the email, please contact me again: sometimes email messages get lost in cyberspace.

formaggio fatto in casa con le pere / homemade cheese with pears

October 27, 2008 | Simona

A year ago, I wrote about the combination of cheese and pears in a post called cartolina da Orvieto (postcard from Orvieto) after enjoying it in a restaurant. I recently enjoyed the heavenly pair at home and a good portion of the enjoyment was due to the fact that the cheese was of my own production.

The road from labneh to my first small wheel of cheese was not without bumps. My first attempt at mozzarella and at cottage cheese were both failures. In the first case, I was able to save the curds and used them in a gratin dish; in the second, the garbage bin was the only option.

I paused a moment before investing money in a cheese press, then proceeded to purchase it. Not long afterward, out of my brand new Cheesypress press came a lovely lilliputian wheel of cheese that I left to age for a week (I could not wait any longer). What a thrill when we first tried it and it tasted good!

To make the cheese, I followed this recipe using yogurt to inoculate the milk. I used a quart of fresh (less than a day old) goat milk (latte di capra) and 3 quarts of non-fat cow milk (latte di mucca scremato). Based on the ingredients, I will dare to call it caciotta di capra, since it was fairly soft. You could taste the goat flavor as a delicate nuance. Pears from the new crop bought at the farmers’ market were the right companion for my little success.

I then decided to try and age the cheese a bit longer. For my second attempt, I followed the instructions for Farmhouse Cheddar from “Home Cheese Making” by Ricki Carroll. The main differences from the printed recipe were that I halved the quantities and used 2 oz. of cultured buttermilk to inoculate the milk instead of mesophilic starter.

The aging of my second tiny wheel lasted almost a month, while we traveled to Italy. I omitted the waxing, using a coat of oil instead: this resulted in a drier than desirable cheese. Still, the formaggio was good and the organic pears that went with it were honored (though I am afraid that is not apparent from the photo). Asian pears got to meet my cheese as well and they got along well with it, i.e., we liked the combination.

The funny thing about my adventure in cheese making is that the strongest motivating factor behind it was the production of whey to make ricotta. I did get to make ricotta, using two different recipes. But that is a story for another day.

This is my contribution to Fresh Produce of the Month, an event created by Marta, An Italian in the US. The current edition, as you may have guessed, has pears as its theme.
Here is the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

formaggio fatto in casa con le pere

or launch the formaggio fatto in casa con le pere audio file [mp3].

Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: melanzana / Fresh Produce of the Month’s Roundup: eggplant

September 25, 2008 | Simona

A month chock-full of delicious recipes all featuring eggplant: what a delight!

Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders starts the series of Indian dishes (there will be several more in this roundup) with a "side dish that is spicy and tangy and can be eaten with rice." The dish is Enna/ Oil Kathrika/ Eggplant Kozhambu/Gravy.

To make it, Srimathi uses an appam pan, though a regular wok can also be used.

Jayashree of My Experiments With Food "decided to stick the eggplant in the microwave. The rest, as they say, is history." Note that you still need to make slits on the surface of the eggplant before you microwave it (see below).

The microwaved eggplant was then used to make baingan bharta.

Sra of When My Soup Came Alive got hold of "a recipe for stuffed brinjals (eggplant) from an aunt, and… decided to go the whole hog with the grinding of the paste."

The stuffed eggplants are then fried on a slow simmer: "the result is a wonderfully stuffed and almost (but not quite) charred mixture."

Cinzia of Bread and Cherries brings us from India to Italy to taste a classic dish: Parmigiana di Melanzane, which "with some variations is very common in all of Southern Italy. In Naples the eggplants’ slices are just cut and fried, in the internal regions of Campania they are coated with flour and eggs."

After this introduction, Cinzia shares with us her family's traditional recipe. Step-by-step accompany her description.

Lori Lynn of Taste with the Eyes treats us to an All About Eggplant banquet:

Grilled Skirt Steak over Grilled Eggplant and Salsa Verde Black Beans Cilantro Garnish
Salad of Grilled Eggplant and Slow Roasted Tomato with Bûcheron Dijon Vinaigrette (photo)
Festonati Pasta, Grilled Eggplant, Homegrown Tomato Topped with Grated Smoked Scamorza, Fresh Basil Olive Oil, Garlic, Red Chile Flakes
Grilled Eggplant, Melting Scamorza Homegrown Tomatoes, Fresh Basil with Garlic Anchovy Oil

Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi tell us about Kashk, fermented whey, which is used in Iranian cuisine. I must admit I did not know about this food.

With it, they made Kashk e Bademjan (Persian Eggplant Spread), which they served with rye crackers. If you don't have access to a jar of kashk, do not be discouraged: "Don’t hesitate to make this even without kashk. It is delicious drizzled with plain yogurt/sour cream or on its own."

"A heavy, firm, eggplant with a glossy purple-black skin" inspires Susan of Food Blogga to make Grilled Eggplant with Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade, "an ideal appetizer for a party."

"The wonderful charred flavor of the eggplant is only enhanced with a boldly flavorful tapenade of savory roasted red peppers, salty olives, and fragrant fresh herbs."

Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook shares with us her own recipe for a dish "flavored with ras el hanout [a complex Moroccan spice that, depending on the preparer, can contain up to 50 ingredients], preserved lemon and currants, a celebrated Middle Eastern specialty that satisfies spicy, salty and sweet cravings in the same dish": Stovetop Eggplant Tagine.

It is "especially good the next day after flavors meld and develop."

Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf had "never ever tried Vietnamese." She tried to find an easy Vietnamese dish and found aPoached Eggplant Salad that "is easy to make and tastes nice."

Then she (virtually) traveled all the way from Vietnam to Sicily to make Pasta Alla Norma. This famous dish honors the bounty of the island and one of its sons, the composer Vincenzo Bellini and his great opera, Norma.

We go back to India in the company of UjjU of Cuisine Point.

She offers us Baingun Bhaja and tells us that "Baingun (Brinjal / Eggplant in Hindi) Bhaja is a bengali dry curry, served as part of a traditional wedding feast along with rice creations. It also makes a good appetizer."

And then we are back in Italy with Astrofiammante of Mangiare è un pò come viaggiare (Eating is a bit like traveling). Her Zuccottino di melanzana ripieno is made by shaping roasted eggplant shells into domes and filling them first with chopped eggplant pulp (seasoned with roasted garlic and parsley), then with finely chopped cherry tomatoes, olives, capers and basil and finally with more eggplant pulp.

You may also take a look at her carpaccio di melanzane marinate agli agrumi.

The back-and-forth continues and it is time to go to India, where Shail of Shail offers us Baigan ka Bharta or Chokha, which is "generally eaten with Litti or Paranthas."

Shail tells us that some in her "family love it, but some are very wary of it. But Baigan always turns out tasty."

It's Italy now, this time in the company of this event's creator, Marta, a.k.a An Italian in the US. She made two versions of Melanzane alla Parmigiana then submitted them to the taste buds of a circle of trusted friends asking them to choose their favorite version. They were all more than happy to comply with her request. I won't reveal the verdict here: find out on her blog.

"In any case, whichever version you choose: this dish is a winner."

I told the story of a memorable melanzana disaster that should serve as a warning: never forget to cut some slits on an eggplant before roasting it.

After years of avoiding roasting whole eggplants, I took the plunge and made a melanzana arrosto that becomes a tasty spread with the addition of various ingredients, including labneh.

I hope you have enjoyed this culinary itinerary celebrating eggplant in many delicious dishes. Marta, An Italian in the US, will host the next edition of her event and she has just announced the theme: pears.

If you want to participate, here are the simple rules:

Put a post on your blog with a recipe involving pears. Add a link to the announcement and mention that it's an entry for the Fresh produce of the month event. If you like it, feel free to place the logo of the pear-centered event on your post.
Send an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name to Marta at chemcookitATgmailDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh produce of the month: Pears' as subject.
If you don't have a blog just send Marta an email with your recipe and, if you have a picture of the food you made, that's even better: she will add it to the roundup as well.

The deadline for entry submission will be October 31st (not an easy day to forget).

briciole

Simona Carini serves recipes and Italian words related to food

Fresh Produce of the Month

piselli mangiatutto / snap peas or sugar snap peas

gelato alla vaniglia variegato al rabarbaro / rhubarb-marbled vanilla ice cream

finocchio / fennel

Riepilogo della frutta fresca del mese: agrumi (eccetto limoni e arance)

limetta / lime

Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: cavolo

cavolo napa / napa cabbage

Verdura Fresca del Mese: cavolo

formaggio fatto in casa con le pere / homemade cheese with pears

Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: melanzana / Fresh Produce of the Month’s Roundup: eggplant