Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten1. I am aware Garten is a popular cookbook author and food TV personality. I don’t watch TV (of any kind) so don’t know her. The book’s style is lively and if you are interested in the author, you will probably enjoy reading it.
There was a long wait list to get the book from the library, and when I finally started reading it and doing some research on her recipes, I got sick, in a way that made experimenting in the kitchen out of the question for a while. I am finally better, but also short on time and not yet comfortable in straying far from foods I know I can consume. I had made the recipe below a few times while reading the book, before getting sick and I made it again after I got better, as it belongs to the “safe” category. Adjusting to life happening,I may say.
bunches of daikon radish at the San Rafael farmers’ market (my favorite are the purple ones)
Spring brings to the farmers’ market ingredients I enjoy using, including red spring onions, spring leeks, purple daikon. I still remember the day, a few years ago, when a farmer at the Temescal market in Oakland, suggested I try purple daikon: it’s become a favorite, both raw and cooked. And as with other root vegetables, its greens are edible, so when you purchase a beautiful bunch like those in the photo below, you get two vegetables.
Beside daikon radish (daikon), as root vegetables I used carrots (carote) and red radishes (ravanelli), plus another favorite vegetable escarole. It a type of endive, slightly bitter, and delightfully so. In the photo above you see the curly variety of escarole. like to use the outer leaves (foglie esterne) in a cooked dish, while I add the inner, tenderer leaves to salads. Using carrots and escarole in the same dish creates a delicious bittersweet combination.3
Sometimes, when unwell, I crave a specific food: I like to interpret this as my body telling me what it needs, so I listen. This time it was baked tofu. I decided to purchase it already prepared, which makes the dish quite quick to prepare, another nice feature when energy is low.
If using only olive oil, the dish is vegan. I like to substitute 1/2 tablespoon of the oil with butter (unsalted), which goes well with the carrots.
3 ounces purple daikon radishes OR a combination of purple daikon radishes and red radishes
3 ounces / 85 grams escarole leaves
2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 ounces red spring onion, clean weight, diced small
¼ teaspoon Harissa spice mix
Leaves from 4-5 thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons / 30 ml hot water
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1 ¾ ounces / 50 grams baked tofu, sliced thin and each slice halved
Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface to remove a thin layer of skin, then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Scrub the daikon radishes and red radishes (if using) then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Wash and drain the escarole leaves, halve them lengthwise then slice them crosswise into 1/2-inch / 2.5 cm strips.
Warm up the olive oil in a 10-inch / 25-cm skillet.
Add the onion, lower the heat and stir, then after 1 minute, add the grated carrot and stir, sprinkle the harissa spice mix, add the thyme, and stir well. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 minutes, stirring often.
Add the daikon and radishes, if using, to the skillet and stir. Add the hot water and stir, then cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the escarole to the skillet, stir well, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring a few times.
Uncover, sprinkle the sea salt and stir.
Distribute the tofu on the vegetables and allow it to warm through, 2 minutes or so. Fold the tofu into the vegetables (as in the top photo) or leave it on the surface (as in the photo below).
Before removing the skillet from the heat, taste to ensure the vegetables are tender to your liking.
Remove from the heat and serve warm.
Serves 2.
one portion, plated
You can add more tofu, if you wish. I find the amount given in the recipe a good balance with the vegetables for a side dish (contorno).
Click on the Play button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems]
fall flavors combine to make a delicious side dish (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Crying in H Mart a memoir by Michelle Zauner. In August 2018, the author had an essay published in The New Yorker magazine1 with the same title. It starts like this:
Ever since my mom died, I cry in H Mart. For those of you who don’t know, H Mart is a supermarket chain that specializes in Asian food. The “H” stands for han ah reum, a Korean phrase that roughly translates to “one arm full of groceries.”
The essay became the first chapter of the memoir, which
maps a complicated mother-daughter relationship cut much too short. Stories of Korean food serve as the backbone of the book, as Zauner plumbs the connections between food and identity. That search takes on new urgency after her mother’s death — in losing her mother, she also lost her strongest tether to Korean culture.2
For most of the book, I had difficulty connecting to the author. I finally felt the connection when, after her mother’s death, Zauner experienced the unbearable weight of perceived failure in their inability of winning the fight against cancer. (My mother died 14 years ago, also of cancer.) Adding that crushing burden to a person’s grief is unfair. I believe we should erase the metaphors used to describe cancer’s progression in favor of factual words.
I expected the book to make me want to try Korean food, but it didn’t. Part of the reason is that most of the dishes mentioned (and there are a lot!) are meat-based. Then, the food is part of the language and narrative of the book. Not being Korean, I don’t have any memories of, or associations with those dishes. However, I understand the feeling. Shopping at a supermarket (supermercato) is one of the first things I do when I arrive in Italy for a visit: surrounded by familiar foods, I have truly arrived.
street seller of roasted chestnuts (Perugia, 2012)
So the book inspired me to look at a food from my upbringing, something not only Italian, but from my family traditions. When I was in Italy last month, the smell of roasted chestnuts (caldarroste), which in Italy are sold as street food, reminded me of my mother. Every October, she would buy a large amount of chestnuts from someone in Casperia, the village in central Italy where she grew up. Then, in the following weeks, we would eat them often, as dessert at the end of dinner, alternatively roasted and boiled. I liked them both ways.
a trail above Bressanone through a chestnut grove
In Bressanone, a city in South Tyrol, where we spent the first week of the recent visit, one day I rode my bicycle through a castagneto (grove of chestnut trees) and saw people foraging for chestnuts, freeing them from the spiny burs (ricci). While chestnuts are not widely available where I live now, one farm brings them to the market. When, upon returning from Italy, I saw them, I was inspired to use them to make a side dish, together with other seasonal ingredients: honeynut squash, green cabbage, leeks.
The main ingredients (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
The side dish is earthy and sweet (almost dessert-like) and you can easily make it vegan by omitting the butter and adding another tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. It is a great choice for Holiday-related gatherings as it accommodates a variety of eating styles.
6 ounces / 170 grams leek, white and light green portion, clean weight (set aside the darker green portion to make broth or stock)
2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon / 15 grams unsalted butter OR 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil [vegan option]
1 pound / 450 grams green cabbage
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
½ teaspoon harissa spice mix
¼ cup / 60 ml lukewarm water
¾ -1 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
Notes: 1) The chestnuts must be prepared in advance, so plan accordingly. 2) If you cannot find the honeynut squash, you can use a small butternut or red kuri squash.
Do ahead: Cook the chestnuts With a pointed blade, make a slit in the shell without cutting through the meat. Place the chestnuts in a saucepan, cover abundantly with water and add the bay leaf. Cover the saucepan, bring to a lively boil then cook on low heat until the chestnuts are tender (check one after 30 minutes to estimate the time remaining).
Take the pan off the heat. Take out of the water 3 chestnuts. Wait a minute to let them cool and peel the first one. Use a sharp knife with a pointed blade to remove the shell, then the skin. Take another one out of the water, then peel one of the first 3, and so on: this creates a lineup of chestnuts cool enough to handle but warm enough for easier peeling. If a chestnut breaks while being handled, it is fine: they will be roughly chopped later anyway. Set aside.
Prepare the dish Use a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash. Deseed the squash, if needed. Slice it, then cut it into cubes no larger than ½ inch / 1.25 cm. (If you use a red kuri squash, quarter it and deseed it first, then peel it.)
Cut the leek (or leeks) in half lengthwise and slice into 1/8 inch / 3 mm half-moons. Rinse well in a colander, then place in a bowl and fill it with cold water. With your hands, swirl the leeks to clean them well, then scoop them out of the water with a sieve or slotted spoon and drain them in a colander.
Warm the olive oil and butter (if using) in a 10-inch deep sauté pan or large skillet on medium heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low, add the leeks, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Add the squash, stir well and cook for another 2 minutes. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 8 minutes, stirring often, until the leeks are just tender and the squash has softened a bit.
In the meantime, quarter and core the cabbage. Cut away the external thick ribs. Slice each quarter into ¼-inch / 6-mm-thick ribbons.
Turn up the heat to medium-low. Add the garlic to the pan, sprinkle the harissa on the vegetables and stir well. After 1 minute, add the cabbage and the water, stir slightly (this will be a bit awkward, given the volume of the raw cabbage) and cover. Cook over low heat until the cabbage is almost ready (15-18 minutes, or as needed), stirring often.
In the meantime, cut each chestnut into 6-8 pieces.
Add the chestnuts to the cabbage and stir well. Cover and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes, stirring often, until the chestnuts are heated through and the cabbage and squash are tender.
Sprinkle ¾ teaspoon of salt on the vegetables, stir, taste and add more salt, if needed. Remove the pan from the heat. Serve immediately.
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
bright colors and flavors on the plate (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd1. The novel is set in South Carolina in 1964. Young Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped by her mother’s death and a violent father, and stand-in mother Rosaleen run away from their home and hometown and find refuge in the house of the three Boatwright sisters in Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that is somehow connected to Lily’s mother’s past. Lily learns about bees, beekeeping, making honey (miele) and about life in an environment that is nurturing — with a dose of eccentricity.
I can see how the novel became a bestseller (and a movie): individual lives play out in a small corner of the American south against the backdrop of the civil rights’ movement. Rosaleen gets assaulted at the beginning of the novel for wanting to register to vote, following the passing of the Civil Rights Act. It’s a bit slow-moving at times, like poured honey.
The view from Tiburon towards the Golden Gate Bridge
While Tiburon, SC, is fictional, Tiburon, CA2, is a lovely town on the San Francisco Bay (tiburón means “shark” in Spanish). I ride my bicycle through the town fairly often. The view from the bay front is spectacular. On a day without fog you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. When there is fog you can get a portion of it, like in the photo above, or you see nothing at all. From Tiburon, you can take the ferry (traghetto) to Angel Island. The U.S. Immigration Station, in operation between 1910 and 1940, was on the island, which is now a State Park3.
Given the novel’s setting, I should have been inspired to prepare something with honey, but instead I went with the color yellow and chose sweet corn. Freshly harvested Coco Nero beans in their pod at the farmers’ market4 plus seasonal delights like tomatoes and sweet peppers pointed towards a nice salad and that’s what I prepared.
vegetable composition with Coco nero beans (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
The salad requires some planning as the beans, sweet peppers and sweet corn must be cooked beforehand. The recipe can be easily doubled.
4 ounces / 113 grams tomatoes, slicing or small heirlooms
1/2 ripe avocado
1 teaspoon fresh lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Notes: For efficiency’s sake, I suggest shelling more beans and freeze what you don’t need for future use. Same for sweet peppers and sweet corn: you can use them right away in other dishes or freeze them for future use. Beans sold still in the pod require less water and less cooking time than dry beans.
I recommend roasting
at least 2 fresh ears of corn, still in their husks and with silks attached (otherwise wrap them in foil before roasting)
at least 1/2 pound / 8 ounces / 225 grams sweet peppers (choose a meaty variety)
Cook the beans
Place the beans in a saucepan with the water, onion, garlic, bay leaf and salt. Bring the water to a lively boil, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are tender. Taste them after 20 minutes and estimate if/how much longer they should cook. Check the beans at regular intervals and add some hot water, if needed to keep all the beans moist.
Let the beans cool in their cooking broth (pan uncovered), then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their broth until ready to use.
Roast the corn
Heat the oven to 450 F / 230 C.
Place the corn on a baking sheet leaving a bit of space between the ears and roast for 20 minutes. Let the ears cool briefly, then remove the husks and silks.
Working in a shallow bowl or dish, stand the corn vertically and use a knife to cut the kernels and scrapings from the cob. (Save the empty cobs to make stock or broth.) Weigh the necessary amount, toss with a fork to separate the kernels, and set aside.
Roast the peppers
Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.
Place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or aluminum foil. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 90 or 180 degrees, depending on their width.
Roast for 15 more minutes, then turn the peppers. Repeat after 10 minutes. Continue roasting until they are ready, i.e., when the skin has turned dark and is detaching in places. (The time depends on the type and size of peppers.)
Put the peppers in a sealed container or paper bag to steam, then peel off skin, discard stem and seeds, and the liquid they release. Weigh the necessary amount, dice and set aside.
Assemble the salad Drain the beans and place them in a small salad bowl. (Set aside the cooking liquid for use in a soup or stew.)
Add the sweet peppers and corn to the beans. Chop the tomatoes and add to the bowl.
Scoop the avocado flesh into a ramekin and mash well with the lemon or lime juice. Spoon over the salad and toss.
Add the minced shallot and fresh parsley and toss briefly. Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper on the salad and toss one last time.
Refrigerate the salad an hour or so, then take it out of the refrigerator ahead of serving it so it is not too cold. The salad is best consumed the day it is assembled.
Store any leftover salad in the refrigerator and consume within a day.
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
mixed vegetable with thyme (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge1. In post-war Paris, a woman is found murdered in the basement of the building where Paul and Julia Child live, and the murder weapon is a knife from Julia’s kitchen. If this brief introduction sounds intriguing, you’ll probably enjoy the book. I’m afraid I didn’t find the novel believable.2
The narrator, a young woman named Tabitha, lives with her grandfather not far from the Childs and befriends Julia. He grows a variety of herbs (erbe aromatiche) in his greenhouse:
There were rows of planters in the dome-shaped room… filled with herbs like tarragon, chervil, rosemary, thyme, basil, and of course, catnip. (dragoncello, cerfoglio, rosmarino, timo, basilico, erba gatta)
Thyme is probably my favorite herb and I use it with abandon, most recently on the first summer vegetables that have made their appearance at the farmers’ market.Usually, I strip the leaves, but sometimes I add the sprigs (rametti) whole, and remove the almost bare stems at the end, before serving. The tenderest ones blend with the vegetables and are undetectable when eating.
Last month, I spent a week in Los Osos, a town on the Central Coast of California, south of Morro Bay. The Monday farmers’ market there is one of my favorite: small, but offering a rich variety of produce. Also, with respect to the markets in Northern California, it was ahead of time in terms of summer vegetables. As a result, while there I ate the first zucchini (zucchine) and tomatoes of the season and even some sweet peppers. I also found glorious bunches of carrots (carote).
bunches of carrots at the Los Osos farmers’ market: irresistible
At the San Rafael farmers’ market, I recently scored the first eggplant (melanzane) of the season and at the Arcata farmers market, I put in my bag a beautiful head of escarole (scarola): it a type of endive, slightly bitter, and delightfully so. I like to use the outer leaves (foglie esterne) cooked with other vegetables, as in the recipe below, while I add the inner, tenderer leaves to salads. Using carrots and escarole in the same dish creates a delicious bittersweet combination.
summer vegetables are here! (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO
The dish is easy to make and cooks fairly quickly. I finish it with some flavorful creamy white miso3 from a local producer. As is, the dish is vegan. You can enrich it with eggs, cheese or, to keep it vegan, nutritional yeast.
1 tablespoon white miso or 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface to remove a thin layer of skin, then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Warm up the olive oil in a 10-inch/25-cm deep sauté pan.
Add the onion, lower the heat and stir, then after 1 minute, add the grated carrot and stir. After 2 minutes, sprinkle the harissa spice mix, add the thyme, and stir well. Cook on low heat for another 2 minutes, stirring often.
In the meantime, trim top and bottom of the eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch / 6 mm slices lengthwise, then cut each slice into small dice.
Add the minced garlic to the pan and stir. After 1 minute, add the diced eggplant and stir, then add the water and stir. Cover the pan and cook for 4 minutes, stirring a few times.
Wash and drain the escarole leaves, halve them lengthwise then slice them crosswise into 1-inch / 2.5 cm strips.
Add the escarole to the pan, stir well, cover and cook for 4 minutes.
In the meantime, trim the zucchini, then grate them using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Add the zucchini, turn up the heat to medium and stir well. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for 4 minutes or so, until the zucchini are just tender.
Uncover, add the white miso and stir until well blended (or sprinkle the sea salt and stir).
Remove from the heat and serve warm.
Serves 3-4.
I have already prepared this dish several times and I see myself doing it often this summer.
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
a simple pairing with a lot of flavor (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
This is my interpretation of a traditional dish from Italy. The first recipe I read uses black-eyed peas (fagioli dall’occhio) so that’s what I used in my first version, together with some Musquée de Provence squash I found at the farmers’ market. I then read other recipes which referenced “white beans” (fagioli bianchi). I had some Zolfino bean1 (fagiolo zolfino), an Italian heirloom variety, so I used that. For my final try, I used locally grown organic Yellow Eye beans, which performed best in the recipe.
black-eyed peas (top), zolfino (middle) and yellow eye beans (bottom), Speckled Hound squash (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
In terms of squash, besides the Musquée de Provence, I used Speckled Hound (locally grown by the same farm that grows the beans) and a Honeynut squash, also from the farmers’ market. All the squash varieties performed well.
All the recipes I read list cooked beans as one of the ingredients. I start with dried beans and my recipe below includes instructions on cooking the beans. The fresh ginger (zenzero) is my addition: it is the perfect complement to winter squash.
1/2 cup / 100 g / 3 1/2 ounces Yellow Eye beans or other similar beans
2 cups / 480 ml water
1/2 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/2 small onion, halved
A couple of parsley stems
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Ingredients for the dish:
Half of the cooked beans and their liquid (see below)
1 pound / 450 grams winter squash (for example, Speckled Hound, Musquée de Provence), clean weight
2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces / 112 grams red onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
Cook the dry beans
Rinse the beans then place them in a small saucepan with the water, the aromatics and the sea salt. Cover, bring the water to a lively boil and keep it there for 4-5 minutes. Turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are tender. Taste them after 1 hour and estimate how much longer they should cook.
Check the beans at regular intervals. If necessary, add some hot water to ensure there is enough liquid to cover the beans.
Let the beans cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.
Prepare the dish
Drain the beans and weigh separately the beans and their liquid: set aside half of each for the recipe. Put the rest of the beans back in the rest of the liquid and refrigerate for use within the next few days.
Peel and deseed the squash. I use a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds and a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash. Depending on the type of squash, you may halve it first, then deseed it, then peel it. This is what I did with the Speckled Hound squash. If you are using a honeynut squash, however, it is easier to peel it first, then cut it. I purchased the Musquée de Provence cut into sections and already deseeded, so I only had to peel it.
Weigh the amount of squash needed. Cut the squash into small bit-sized pieces.
In a 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan, warm up the olive oil on medium heat, add the onion, stir well, then turn down the heat. After 1 minute, add the grated ginger and stir well. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 8 minutes, until the onion is soft, stirring often and making sure the pan does not become dry.
Add the garlic to the pan and stir well. After 1 minute, turn up the heat to medium, add the cut squash and stir well. Add 2 tablespoons of the bean broth and stir well. Cover, lower the heat and cook until the squash is just tender (15 minutes or as needed), stirring every now and then. Add the beans and stir well. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the sea salt and stir. Remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle the parsley on the vegetables and stir well. Serve immediately.
Serves 2-3.
take a small portion or a big one (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
By using different varieties of winter squash and beans, every time you get a slightly different dish.
1 Zolfino bean page on the Slow Food Foundation site
Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
un connubio semplice e gustoso (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
Lettera dopo lettera, siamo arrivati alla Z, ultima tappa del nostro viaggio alfabeto-gastronomico. Dopo aver contemplato ricette da varie parti del mondo, ho deciso di rimanere in Italia con un piatto semplice e gustoso, nel quale si incontrano due ingredienti che amo molto: la zucca e i fagioli.
La prima ricetta l’ho trovata sul sito dell’Accademia Italiana della Cucina: zucca e fagioli dall’occhio ‘all’uso di Formia’.1 Ho poi trovato un paio di altre ricette2 (‘alla napoletana’) che utilizzano fagioli bianchi (e la cipolla). Come al solito, ho fatto vari esperimenti, utilizzando diverse varietà di zucca e di fagioli, non solo quelli dall’occhio, ma anche il fagiolo zolfino, originario della Toscana.3 e una varietà chiamata “Yellow Eye” coltivata in un’azienda agricola vicino a dove abito, che è anche l’origine della zucca Speckled Hound nella foto qui sotto. In termini di zucca ho utilizzato anche della Musquée de Provence e Honeynut.
fagioli dall’occhio (in alto), fagiolo zolfino (in mezzo) e yellow eye (in basso) e zucca Speckled Hound (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
Nessuna delle ricette che ho letto descrive la cottura dei fagioli quindi io ho usato la mia ricetta base per cuocerli. L’uso dello zenzero fresco è dettato dal mio gusto: lo zenzero è complemento perfetto alla zucca.
Ingredienti per i fagioli:
100 grammi di fagioli piccoli, come il fagiolo zolfino
400 ml d’acqua
1/2 foglia d’alloro
1 spicchio d’aglio a fettine
1/2 cipolla piccola tagliata a metà
2 steli di prezzemolo
1/8 cucchiaino di sale fino
Ingredienti per il piatto:
metà dei fagioli cotti e del loro liquido di cottura
450 grammi di zucca, peso pulito
2 cucchiai / 30 ml di olio extra-vergine d’oliva
112 grammi di cipolla rossa tritata
1 cucchiaio di radice di zenzero grattugiata
1 spicchio d’aglio tritato
1 cucchiaino di sale fino
1 cucchiaio di prezzemolo fresco tritato
Preparate i fagioli
Sciacquate i fagioli, poi metteteli in una piccola pentola con l’acqua, gli odori e il sale. Coprite, portate a bollore vivace rapidamente e mantenete per 4-5 minuti. Abbassate il calore, e fate cuocere i fagioli a fuoco dolce fino a quando siano teneri. Controllate i fagioli ad intervalli regolari e, se necessario, aggiungete dell’acqua bollente per tenerli immersi nel liquido di cottura.
Fate freddare i fagioli nel liquido di cottura, poi rimuovere gli odori e scartateli. Lasciate i fagioli nel loro brodo fino a quando siete pronti ad utilizzarli.
Preparate il piatto
Scolate i fagioli e pesateli separatamente dal loro liquido di cottura: mettete da parte metà dei fagioli e del liquido per la ricetta. Mettete il resto dei fagioli nel resto del loro liquido di cottura. Conservate in frigorifero e utilizzate nel giro di pochi giorni.
Sbucciate la zucca e rimuovete i semi. Io uso un pelaverdure verticale per sbucciare la zucca e un cucchiaio da pompelmo per rimuovere i semi. A seconda del tipo di zucca che utilizzate, tagliatela prima a metà, poi togliete i semi e poi sbucciatela. Ho fatto così con la Speckled Hound, mentre con la Honeynut e più facile prima sbucciarla, poi tagliarla. Ho comprato la Musquée de Provence tagliata a sezioni e senza semi quindi ho dovuto solo sbucciarla.
Pesate la quantità di zucca necessaria e tagliatela a cubetti.
In una padella di 25 cm a bordi alti, scaldate l’olio su calore medio, aggiungete la ciposlla, mescolate bene, poi abbassate il calore. Dopo un minuto, aggiungete lo zenzero e mescolate bene. Incoperchiate e cuocete a fuoco basso per 8 minuti, fino a quando la cipolla sia tenera, mescolando spesso e assicurandovi che il fondo non si asciughi.
Aggiungete l’aglio e mescolate bene. Dopo un minuto, alzate il calore a medio, aggiungete la zucca e mescolate bene. Aggiungete 2 cucchiai del liquido di cottura dei fagioli e mescolate bene. Incoperchiate e cuocete a fuoco basso fino a quando la zucca sia appena tenera (15 minuti circa, o il tempo necessario), mescolando di tanto in tanto.
Aggiungete i fagioli e mescolate bene. Incoperchiate e cuocete per 5 minuti.
Salate e mescolate. Togliete la padella dal calore, spargete il prezzemolo e mescolate bene. Servite immediatamente.
Porzioni: 2-3
prendete una porzione piccola o grande (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
La possibilità di creare accoppiate diverse scegliendo diverse varietà di fagioli e di zucca rende questo piatto particolarmente attraente.
Contribuisco questo piatto di zucca e fagioli dall’Italia (che ho preparato anche col fagiolo zolfino e che comprende lo zenzero tra gli ingredienti) alla lettera Z di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di Trattoria Muvara
FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall’azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.
a lot of dark leafy greens go into this dish (2nd version) (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Undercooked by Dan Adhoot1. The book is described as “a collection of hilarious essays about how food became one man’s obsession and coping mechanism, and how it came to rule—and sometimes ruin—his relationships.” It was the first time I listened to an audio book read by the author: it was interesting, and in this case, a necessity, I think. I am afraid I didn’t find the essays hilarious, rather mostly sad. Two essays I enjoyed listening to. In the first, Adhoot talks about his grandparents, Iranian Jews who emigrated to the U.S. Adhoot’s grandfather was treated horribly because of his religious heritage, but didn’t let that cow him. His grandmother was a great cook, who prepared sumptuous meals for the family as a way of sharing Persian food traditions and expressing her love. When Adhoot describes the grandparents’ relationship, he holds his usual jokes and finds moving words. I felt I was finally listening to the person, not the comedian.
In the second essay, Adhoot talks about living with his parents during the pandemic. It is around food that their relationship heals. One truly funny moment of the book is the phone conversation with his mother whom he called to ask for a recipe. It reminded me of surreal conversations with my mother on the same topic.
(L to R) beet greens, turnip greens, tatsoi from the farmers market (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Adhoot lists a number of Persian dishes his grandmother used to cook, all meat-centered — not for me. He also talks about the lengthy process used in Iran to cook basmati rice. For a previous Cook the Books Club edition, I wrote about Kuku Sabzi, a kind of herb frittata traditionally prepared for Nowruz, the Iranian New Year that is celebrated on the spring equinox2 so that was out from my list.
I then looked at the Jewish side of his heritage for inspiration. Some years ago, I acquired a book of Jewish Italian cuisine: La cucina nella tradizione ebraica, a rich collection3 of recipes, succinctly described and without photos. There I found tortino di spinaci, described as being an old Italian recipe (I decided it is a cousin of kuku sabzi). It uses raisins, pine nuts, anchovies (acciughe) and capers (capperi).
The original recipe calls for spinach, which I could not find at the farmers market when I first decided to make my version, so I used a combination of beet greens (foglie di barbabietola), turnip greens (foglie di rapa) and tatsoi. As usual, I adjusted the quantities to suit my taste. The result was excellent — but I didn’t take a photo.
baby turnip greens and spinach from the farmers market (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
For the next rendition, I used spinach and baby turnip greens from the farmers market. The flavor was different, as was to be expected, still excellent. The color was different as well, as the previous version included the stems of beet greens, which gave the dish a reddish tone.
Washing, chopping and cooking the leafy greens takes a bit of time and patience. However, once the greens are ready, the dish takes only some assembly, then the oven does the rest.
1 pound 10 ounces / 740 grams spinach OR a combination of spinach and other dark leafy greens, including beet greens, turnip greens, tatsoi
3/4 ounce / 20 grams raisins
3/4 ounce / 20 grams pine nuts
4 tablespoons / 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 anchovy fillets
1/2 ounce / 15 grams drained small capers
1 garlic clove
1 large egg from pastured poultry
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Wash the spinach and other greens, if using, carefully and drain them, letting a small amount of water cling to the leaves.
If you are using beet greens, tatsoi, or another dark leafy green with relatively thicker stems, separate those from the leaves and chop them.
Place the raisins in a ramekin and pour 1 tablespoon warm water on them and stir. Set aside.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet. Do not walk away from the skillet and keep the pine nuts moving in it: they are small and delicate and burn easily. Set aside.
A handful at a time, chop the leafy greens. I make a small pile and slice it at 1/2 inch / 1.25 cm intervals. Transfer the chopped greens into a large bowl.
Warm up a large skillet over medium heat, then add 1 1/2 tablespoons / 22.5 ml of the olive oil. If you have them, add the chopped stems, stir well, cover, and cook them for 5 minutes or until tender. Add half of the chopped greens, stir well, cover and cook until the greens are tender (8-12 minutes, depending on the greens), stirring every now and then. Transfer the greens into a bowl to cool.
Repeat with the same amount of olive oil and the rest of the greens.
Mince together the parsley, anchovy fillets, capers and garlic, possibly using a mezzaluna.
Warm up a small skillet over medium heat, then add the remaining 1 tablespoon / 15 ml of the olive oil. Add the minced ingredients and cook for a minute or so, making sure the garlic does not turn brown. Remove from the heat, add to the cooked greens and stir well. Add the raisins and stir.
Roughly smash the pine nuts with a mortar and pestle. Add to the vegetable mixture and stir.
Heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C.
Oil the bottom of a 9.5″ / 24 cm glass pie plate. Dust it with fine breadcrumbs and remove the excess.
Break the egg into a small bowl, whisk it with a fork to blend yolk and white, then pour it onto the vegetables and stir to incorporate.
Sprinkle the salt and pepper, stir well and empty the bowl into the prepared pie plate.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Take the plate out of the oven. Serve immediately (it will cool slightly when you cut it and transfer onto plates).
Serves 4-6.
This is an excellent way to prepare greens. The result has is a bit sweet, a bit nutty, a bit savory: each bite a small surprise.
1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website 2 From briciole’s archive: kuku sabzi 3 The cookbook’s page on the publisher’s website (in Italian)
Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting the product on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
tanta verdura in questo piatto (seconda versione) (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
Un’altra cosa che tenevo a fare nel nostro viaggio era un piatto della tradizione culinaria ebraica in Italia. Nel libro La cucina nella tradizione ebraica, una ricca collezione1 di ricette descritte in modo succinto e senza foto, ho letto la ricetta per questo tortino che oltre a pinoli e uvetta utilizza acciughe e capperi.
(da S a D) foglie di barbabietola, foglie di rapa e tatsoi (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
La ricetta originale utilizza gli spinaci che io però non ho trovato al mercato il giorno che ho deciso di preparare la mia versione della ricetta. Allora ho utilizzato un misto composto di foglie di barbabietola, foglie di rapa e tatsoi (cavolo cinese). Come mio solito ho adattato le dosi degli ingredienti al mio gusto personale. Risultato eccellente ma non ho fatto una fotografia.
verdure dal mercato, comprese foglie giovani di rapa e spinaci (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
La volta successiva ho utilizzato foglie giovani di rapa e spinaci. Sapore diverso, come mi aspettavo, comunque ottimo. Anche il colore è diverso, dal momento che la versione precedente comprendeva anche gli steli delle foglie di barbabietola che hanno dato al piatto un colorito rosso.
Lavare, tagliare e cuocere le verdure a foglia verde richiede un po’ di tempo e pazienza. Ma una volta che le verdure sono pronte, ci vuole poco tempo per terminare la preparazione, poi il forno fa il resto.
Ingredienti:
740 grammi di spinaci, o un assortimento di spinaci e altre verdure a foglia verde, come foglie di barbabietola, foglie di rapa, tatsoi
20 grammi di uvetta
20 grammi di pinoli
4 cucchiai / 60 ml olio extra-virgine di oliva
2 cucchiai di prezzemolo fresco tritato
1 1/2 filetti di acciuga
15 grammi di piccoli capperi scolati
1 spicchio d’aglio
1 uovo codice 0
1 cucchiaino di sale fino
1/4 cucchiaino di pepe nero macinato fresco
Lavate bene gli spinaci e le altre verdure (se le usate), scolateli, lasciando un po’ d’acqua sulle foglie.
Se utilizzate le foglie di barbabietola o la tatsoi o altre verdure che hanno steli relativamente spessi, separateli dalle foglie e tagliateli a pezzetti.
Mettete l’uvetta in una tazzina, versateci sopra 1 cucchiaio d’acqua calda, e mescolate. Mettete da parte.
Tostate i pinoli in una padellina a secco. Metteteli da parte.
Una manciata di foglie alla volta, tagliate le verdure. Io faccio un mucchietto e taglio fettine larghe 1-1,5 cm. Trasferite le verdure tagliate in un’insalatiera capiente.
In una padella grande scaldate a fuoco medio 1,5 cucchiai / 22,5 ml dell’olio. Se li avete, aggiungete gli steli tagliati a pezzetti, mescolate bene, coprite la padella e cuocete a fuoco basso per 5 minuti o fino a quando siano teneri. Aggiungete metà delle verdure tagliate, mescolate bene, coprite la padella e cuocete a fuoco basso fino a quando siano tenere (8-12 minuti, a seconda del tipo di verdure), mescolando di tanto in tanto. Trasferite le verdure in un’insalatiera.
Ripetere con la stessa quantità di olio e il resto delle verdure.
Tritate insieme con la mezzaluna il prezzemolo, i filetti di acciuga, i capperi e l’aglio.
In una padellina scaldate a fuoco medio il resto dell’olio (1 cucchiaio). Aggiungete gli ingredienti tritati e cuoceteli per un minuto, assicurandovi che l’aglio non imbrunisca. Togliete dal fuoco, aggiungete alle verdure cotte e mescolate bene. Aggiungete l’uvetta e mescolate.
Tritate grossolanamente i pinoli con mortaio e pestello. Aggiungete alle verdure e mescolate.
Scaldate il forno a 170 C.
Oliate leggermente il fondo di una tortiera di vetro da 24 cm e spolverizzatelo con pane grattato, poi rimuovetene l’eccesso.
Rompete l’uovo in una ciotola e sbattetelo leggermente con una forchetta, poi versatelo sulle verdure e mescolate bene per incorporare.
Salate e pepate, mescolate bene e versate le verdure nella tortiera.
Cuocete in forno per 30 minuti.
Sfornate e servite immediatamente (il piatto si raffredda leggermente quando lo tagliate e trasferite le porzioni sui piatti).
Porzioni: 4-6.
Questo è un ottimo modo per preparare le verdure a foglia verde. Il risultato è un po’ dolce, un po’ salato: il gusto di ogni boccone è una piccola sorpresa.
Contribuisco il mio tortino di spinaci con pinoli e uvetta, piatto della tradizione ebraica in Italia alla lettera U di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di Trattoria Muvara
FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall’azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.
tepary beans and winter vegetables (red dish & vase by @fem_pottery, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
I grew up in a region of Italy, Umbria, famous for legumes (fagiolina del Trasimeno, lenticchia di Castelluccio and roveja, to name just a few) and I like all legumes, so it is not surprising that during a visit to Tucson, AZ, I purchased some locally grown white tepary beans. Here are some notes on this special bean (Phaseolus acutifolius):
The tepary bean has been handed down for countless generations amongst my Akimel O’Odham (River People, Pima) and our cousins the Tohono O’Odham (Desert People). The bavi is high in soluble fiber and protein and is a low glycemic index food.1
This ancient superfood of the Sonoran Desert has sustained our O’odham people for centuries. Highly acclaimed for its nutritional value the Stotoah Bavi (white tepary bean) is noted for its unique and delicious naturally sweet yet savory flavor and creamy texture.2
Tepary beans are ideally suited to the dry farming methods, such as those used by traditional Tohono O’odham farmers. They are one of the most heat, drought and salt-tolerant legumes in the world, thriving in the alkaline desert soil.3
In an article on NPR’s The Salt,4 farmer, scientist and tepary bean evangelist Gary Paul Nabhan says:
“There’s a way, that I can’t describe in words, where teparies to me taste like the desert itself. They have this nuttiness and this resilience… Tepary beans are deeply part of cultures here in the desert. There were over 30 different cultures in Mexico and the United States that grew tepary beans.
Tepary “beans come in a spectrum of colors: white, brown, black, and speckled blue like robin’s eggs.”4
a view of the main ingredients (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
The tepary bean is small and cooks relatively quickly. I prepared it simply, with some onion and carrot, following the recipe on the package5 with some personal touch. Tepary beans have a delicate flavor and light texture. I’ve been adding them to the pans of winter vegetables I prepare. The dish above includes leeks, radicchio di Treviso and winter squash (zucca) and it is vegan. Beans and squash are two of the three sisters of Native American agriculture, the third one being corn.6
1/2 cup / 3 1/4 ounces / 92 grams dry white tepary beans, rinsed
1 3/4 cups / 420 ml water
1/2 small onion, diced
1 small garlic clove, unpeeled
A small bay leaf
Fine sea salt
1 carrot
Place the beans in a saucepan with the water, onion, garlic, bay leaf and salt. Bring the water to a lively boil and keep it at the same level for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are tender. Check the beans at regular intervals. Add some hot water, as needed, to keep all the beans moist.
Scrub the carrot well and scrape the surface with a blade to remove a thin layer of skin. Grate the carrot using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater. Weigh 1 ounce / 28 grams of the grated carrot.
When the beans are 15-20 minutes from being ready, add the grated carrot and stir. Continue cooking the beans until they are tender.
Let the beans cool in their cooking broth, then remove the bay leaf and garlic clove, and discard them. Add 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, taste and adjust seasoning. Let the beans rest in their broth until ready to use.
Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
fagioli tepary e verdure invernali (vaso & ciotola di ceramica di @fem_pottery, tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
All’inizio del nostro viaggio decisi che almeno uno dei miei contributi doveva onorare la tradizione dei popoli indigeni del nordamerica, e arrivati alla lettera T finalmente realizzo il mio piano presentandovi i fagioli tepary bianchi1 (Stotoah Bavi) che ho conosciuto quando ho visitato Tucson, nel sud dell’Arizona.
Questo fagiolo, Phaseolus acutifolius, è diverso dal fagiolo comune, Phaseolus vulgaris. Di piccole dimensioni, dal sapore delicato e dalla consistenza cremosa, il fagiolo tepary fa parte della cultura degli O’odham ed è adatto ad essere coltivato a secco.
Oltre che bianchi, i fagioli tepary possono essere marroni, neri o chiazzati blu.
gli ingredienti principali (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
I fagioli tepary sono piccoli e cuociono abbastanza rapidamente. Li ho preparati in modo semplice, seguendo la ricetta tradizionale riportata sulla confezione1 (anche se è solo in inglese, vi suggerisco di dare un’occhiata al sito web dell’azienda produttrice dei fagioli) alla quale ho aggiunto dei tocchi personali. Mi piace aggiungerli alle verdure invernali che preparo in grandi quantità in questo periodo. Il piatto in alto comprende porri, radicchio di Treviso e zucca. Fagioli e zucche sono due delle “tre sorelle” (la terza è il mais):
le tre principali colture praticate tradizionalmente da diverse etnie amerinde dell’America del Nord e di quella Centrale: la zucca, il mais ed il fagiolo (abitualmente il Phaseolus acutifolius o Phaseolus vulgaris). In una tecnica conosciuta come companion planting, le tre colture sono piantate insieme e vicine…
Le tre piante beneficiano l’una dell’altra. Il mais provvede una struttura su cui i fagioli possono arrampicarsi, eliminando la necessità di pali di sostegno. I fagioli creano i composti azotati per fertilizzare il suolo utilizzato dalle altre piante, e le zucche si estendono sul terreno, bloccando la luce solare, ed aiutando a prevenire la crescita di erbacce. Le foglie di zucca funzionano anche come un sistema di “Pacciamatura vivente”, creando un microclima che trattiene l’umidità nel suolo.2
Ingredienti:
92 grammi di fagioli tepary bianchi
420 ml d’acqua
mezza cipolla piccola tagliata a dadini
una piccola foglia d’alloro
un piccolo spicchio d’aglio in camicia
sale fino
una carota
Sciacquate i fagioli, poi metteteli in una pentola con l’acqua, la cipolla, l’aglio e un pizzico di sale. Portate a bollore vivace rapidamente e mantenetelo per 5 minuti, poi abbassate il calore, incoperchiate, e fate cuocere i fagioli a fuoco dolce fino a quando siano teneri. Controllate i fagioli ad intervalli regolari e, se necessario, aggiungete dell’acqua bollente per tenerli immersi nel liquido di cottura.
Lavate bene la carota e raschiatene la superficie con una lama per rimuovere la pellicina. Grattugiate la carota con la parte a buchi più grossi della vostra grattugia. Pesate 28 grammi di carota grattugiata.
Quando ai fagioli mancano 15-20 minuti di cottura, aggiungete la carota grattugiate e mescolate. Continuate a cuocere i fagioli fino a quando siano teneri.
Fate freddare i fagioli nel liquido di cottura, poi rimuovere la foglia d’alloro e l’aglio e scartateli. Condite con 1/8 cucchiaino di sale fino, assaggiate e correggete, se necessario. Lasciate i fagioli nel loro brodo fino a quando siete pronti ad utilizzarli.
Contribuisco i fagioli tepary, coltura e piatto tradizionale dei Tohono O’odham nell’odierna Arizona (U.S.A.) alla lettera T di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di Trattoria Muvara
FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall’azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.
fresh ingredients, simply prepared make my ideal meal
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
The current Cook the Books Club selection is A Cook’s Tour, Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisinesby the late Anthony Bourdain. Some editions of the book carry the subtitle In Search of the Perfect Meal, which feels more appropriate as it is a theme that recurs in the memoir.
At times, Bourdain writes with deep sensitivity and shares insights in what he saw and experienced, like his observations of Vietnamese people or his homage to the many Mexican immigrants who work in restaurants in NYC. The book comes alive in those moments and made me wish it contained a lot more. He makes some references to his mental health, which of course now appear under a different light. What made this a hard book for me to read are his tirades (for example, against vegetarians and non-smokers) and descriptions of animals turned into food.
One theme Bourdain touches on several times, particularly when he describes his time in Vietnam, is the great flavor of dishes made with fresh ingredients and consumed immediately. Here we are in full agreement. My visits to farmers’ markets are the most important inspiration in the kitchen. Summer produce is a rich source of ideas. A couple of weeks ago, I saw the first Tromboncino squash1 of the season and rushed to buy it. Much to my delight, some local farmers grow this type of squash. (In Italian tromboncino literally means small trombone, the musical instrument.)
Besides being eye-catching with its long, curvy shape, Tromboncino squash has a dense flesh and a delicate, pleasant flavor.2 Although it is harvested early and consumed as a summer squash, it is not a cultivar of Cucurbita pepo like zucchini and other summer squashes, but of Cucurbita moschata, like butternut squash. Like its famous relative, zucchetta has seeds only in the lower part of its body: the long neck is seedless (as you can see in the top photo).
The tomatoes in the photo are of a variety called Prairie fire. They have a subtle gold striping and deep red flesh. The dish can be made also with other types of tomatoes, like Early girl, which I used in an earlier rendition of the recipe.
3 tablespoons / 45 ml extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds / 680 grams tromboncino squash
8 ounces / 225 grams tomatoes, like Prairie fire or Early girl or other meaty variety
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh leaves of winter savory or thyme or a mix of the two herbs
1/2 teaspoon Harissa spice mix, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
Optional toppings, to be added when the dish is ready, just out of the oven: nutritional yeast (which keeps the dish vegan) or freshly grated cheese (like pecorino toscano)
Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.
Distribute half of the olive oil on the bottom of a 3 quart / 3 liter (13″x 9″ x 2″ / 33 x 23 x 5 cm) glass baking dish.
Wash the squash and cut it into slices (no more than 1/2 inch / 1.25 cm thick), then pile 2-3 slices and cut into 1/2 inch / 1.25 cm cubes, adjusting your cutting to accommodate the curves of the squash. Quarter the tomatoes lengthwise. If using elongated tomatoes, like Prairie fire, halve them crosswise. If using larger tomatoes, like Early girl, slice them.
Place all the vegetables (squash, tomatoes, garlic) in the baking dish, sprinkle with the herb(s) and harissa and drizzle the remaining olive oil on top, then stir to mix. Place the baking dish in the oven. After 20 minutes, take the baking dish out of the oven and stir the vegetables. After another 15-20 minutes, check a piece of zucchini and gauge whether the dish is done or needs a few more minutes.
When the vegetables are ready, take the baking dish out of the oven, sprinkle the sea salt and stir. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve out of the baking dish or transfer onto a serving dish and serve.
Serves 5 as a side dish.
This is a flavorful side dish that brings together two of my favorite vegetables. Eating it is celebrating the simple pleasures of life: fresh, locally grown produce prepared with care.
This is a favorite photo showing the first tromboncino squash I purchased this season in the company of other “family members.”
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
Farm-fresh iceberg lettuce inspired this serving option (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Taste by actor Stanley Tucci1. The book included a couple of interesting sections, one pertaining the history of the highly enjoyable movie Big Night (1996),2 in which Tucci played the younger brother, Secondo. I didn't know that he had written the screenplay. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.
The other section I enjoyed was where Felicity (now Tucci's wife) prepared roasted potatoes in a way that first surprised then alarmed the author, but that in the end won the family's approval. Although the last part of the book focuses on the cancer diagnosis Tucci received, the intense treatment he underwent and his recovery, overall the book is pretty light. I wish—and this is on the publisher, not the author—that it had been proofread by an Italian.
Reading the book in the run-up to the 16th anniversary of my little blog, made me think of all the recipes I have created for it. I decided to select a recipe from the early years and update it based on my current eating habits. The recipe I chose comes from a July 2008 post3 and features seasonal ingredients quite representative of Italian cuisine. The salad also happens to include the colors of the Italian flag (called tricolore): white, red and green (bianco, rosso e verde).
before the salad there are pretty ingredients (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
When I first moved to California, 28 years ago, it was hard to find fava beans and fennel, two foods that had been part of my life since childhood. In time, the situation changed and now I can easily purchase them where I live, when in season.
Fava beans make me think of my father, who loved them eaten fresh from the pods, with just a bit of salt. Fennel reminds me of my godfather, who ate some at the end of every meal (wiped clean with a cloth, not washed, an instruction I follow).
Even after so many years in California, our long strawberry season still thrills me. As a child, the weeks during which strawberries were available always seemed to pass too quickly. Now I know that I have time to enjoy a favorite fruit for several months.
Ready for bright colors: the view from above (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
For this update, I added a radish to the ingredients, a small peppery note to balance the sweetness of berries. (I had the idea after taking the photo above, so the radish is absent from it). Finally, a beautiful head of iceberg lettuce (lattuga iceberg) inspired me to make small boats for serving. To eat, close the leaf into a wrapper and enjoy the combination.
Wash, hull and slice the strawberries, then season them with the balsamic vinegar. Toss and set aside to marinate.
Shell the fava beans and blanch them for 30 seconds, then drain them and plunge them into a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking. Slit the skin with your thumbnail then pinch or twist to slip the bright green core out of its coat and into a small bowl. Set aside.
Trim and clean the fennel bulb, leaving an inch or so of the green stalk to hold it when slicing. Quarter, cut off the core, and slice thinly using a mandoline. Set aside.
Grate the radish using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Bring the ingredients together in a serving bowl.
Pour the olive oil and balsamic vinegar into a small glass jar. Add sat, pepper and mustard. Put the lid on and shake vigorously. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables and toss.Taste and adjust seasoning, as needed.
Sprinkle basil and fennel frond.
Toss again and serve as a side dish (contorno) or appetizer (antipasto). Alternatively, spoon some salad on iceberg lettuce leaves and serve.
Serves 3 (4 if served on iceberg lettuce).
For future reference (i.e., when it will be my turn to host Cook the Books. Tucci describes a meal he shared with legendary Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni4:
After dinner Marcello ordered a digestivo. This consisted of a half a shot of amaro and a half a shot of Fernet-Branca.
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
The current Cook the Books Club selection is Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown:
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.1
There's the pirate ship's colorful cast of characters — Mr. Apples, the knitting thug; mysterious twins Feng and Bai; and Joshua, who can neither hear nor speak and becomes a sort of adopted son to Wedgwood — plus buried family secrets aplenty and a thorough condemnation of the inhumane trading of tea, slaves and opium.2
The novel offered a change of time and scenery to my usual reading: I sailed on the Flying Rose, met the characters, followed their adventures and on Sundays I sat down with Captain Mabbott and Chef Wedgwood to savor his dishes and their conversation. As you can imagine from the premise, there was a fair amount of food in the book, some intriguing dishes, some less so, all providing to the reader a chance to think about the limitations of cooking on a ship that spends a lot of time sailing and does not have refrigeration on board.
During a visit to an island, Wedgwood encounters lemongrass (citronella) and that gave me the idea of using it, something I have never done. However, I could not find fresh lemongrass where I have been recently, so I found inspiration in the episode where Wedgwood gets hold of fresh cabbage and makes sauerkraut (crauti) with it. Some years ago I made sauerkraut at home and realized that I am not wild about it. I do like cabbage, though, all the various types. The variety that caught my attention at recent farmers' markets is pretty red Napa cabbage.3
beauties on display at the farmers' market (brought to you by Luna Farm)
I became better acquainted with Napa cabbage a few years ago when I worked on my rendition of the Indonesian dish Orak Arik Wortel (Napa cabbage, carrot and egg scramble)5 for the cookbook Risikitchen.6 It was time to develop another recipe with it and here it is.
9 ounces / 255 grams winter squash, to obtain a clean weight of 8 ounces / 225 grams
6 ounces / 170 grams red onion
3 tablespoons / 45 ml extra-virgin olive oil
13-14 ounces / 370-40 grams red Napa cabbage
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
½ teaspoon berbere (Ethiopian spice mix)
3 tablespoons / 45 ml lukewarm water
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
Roasted applesauce (recipe below) or your favorite applesauce (unsweetened), to serve
Remove seeds and strings from the squash (a grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool to do this). Use a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash, then cut it into small cubes.
Peel the onion, halve it and thinly slice it lengthwise.
Warm up the olive oil in a 10-inch deep sauté pan or large skillet on medium heat. Turn down the heat to medium-low, add the onion, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Add the squash, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring often.
In the meantime, separate the Napa cabbage leaves and slice them 1/4-1/2 inch / 0.6-1.25 cm thick.
Add the garlic to the pan, sprinkle the berbere and stir well. After 1 minute, add the cabbage and the water, stir slightly (this first stirring will be a bit awkward, given the cabbage volume) and cover. Cook on low heat until the Napa cabbage and squash are tender (20 minutes or so), stirring often. Should the pan become dry, add another tablespoon of water.
Sprinkle salt, stir, taste then adjust as needed. Remove the pan from the heat.
Serve with roasted applesauce on the side. Spoon some applesauce on the portion of vegetables, stir it in and enjoy.
Serves 5.
Ingredients for a batch of roasted applesauce:
3 pounds / 1.36 kg apples (se Note below)
A generous pinch of fine sea salt
Note: Since they are left unpeeled, organic or pesticide-free apples are strongly recommended. In terms of varieties, mix sweet and tart varieties to get a balanced flavor.
Heat the oven to 500 F / 260 C.
Rinse well, quarter and core the apples. If an apple is large, cut each quarter in half lengthwise. Distribute the apples in a 3 quart / 3 liter pyrex baking dish or similar baking vessel, sprinkle the salt and stir briefly. Cover with aluminum foil and seal around the edges. Bake 30 minutes or until the apples are soft.
Remove the foil carefully to let the steam out and transfer the apples into a bowl. Purée the apples with an immersion blender. At the beginning, pulse and move the blender to start breaking the apples, then reduce them to a fairly smooth purée.
Spoon the applesauce into sterilized jars, put the lid on and store in the refrigerator.
my idea of comfort side dish (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
My side dish is not at the level of the delicacies Chef Wedgwood developed for Captain Mabbot, but it is greeted with enthusiasm at the dinner table and that, for me, is the best reward.
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FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Debra of Eliot’s Eats. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)
This is my contribution to 
Contribuisco questo piatto di zucca e fagioli dall’Italia (che ho preparato anche col fagiolo zolfino e che comprende lo zenzero tra gli ingredienti) alla lettera Z di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di 
Contribuisco il mio tortino di spinaci con pinoli e uvetta, piatto della tradizione ebraica in Italia alla lettera U di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di 
Contribuisco i fagioli tepary, coltura e piatto tradizionale dei Tohono O’odham nell’odierna Arizona (U.S.A.) alla lettera T di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di