Satisfying and nourishing, albeit not colorful (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn.1 In alternating chapters the book follows Isabelle and Reina walking the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain 27 years apart (in 1997 and 2024, respectively), for very different reasons and with different perspectives on what historically was a religious pilgrimage (pellegrinaggio), a dimension rather absent from the book, particularly its more recent thread. The relationship between the two women is revealed early on in the novel and readers can guess what will happen by the end of the book. A light summer’s beach read.
As Isabelle is from Andorra, I looked up traditional recipes from the country, which is located between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains. One popular dish, also mentioned in the book (chapter 51), is trinxat, a cabbage and potato hash for which you can find recipes online. If you decide to try it, something I didn’t do, make sure you read José Andrés’s tip about cooking the potatoes with their skin on.
Another traditional dish is escudella, a meat stew. The name reminds me of the Italian word scodella, which, depending on where you are on the peninsula, refers to the soup bowl or the deeper caffelatte bowl. I am basically vegetarian, so could not follow the original recipe, which includes various types of meat, but I extracted, so to speak, some of the vegetarian elements from it and used them to make a stew of green cabbage, beans and new potatoes, using local ingredients (ingredienti di produzione locale), including:
Vermont cranberry beans from Rain Frog Farm
green cabbage and garlic from Luna Farm
new potatoes from John’s Happy Garden
red onion from Shakefork Community Farm
In the spice department, I used paprika, which reminds me of my visit to Basque Country, geographically located along the coast of the Bay of Biscay, north of the Camino de Santiago.
1/2cup/ 100 grams / 3 1/2 ounces Vermont cranberry beans or similar variety
2cups/ 480 ml water
1/2bay leaf
1garlic clove sliced
1/2small onion halved
2parsley stems
1/8teaspoonfine sea salt
For the potatoes
4ounces/ 113 grams new potatoesscrubbed
1/2tablespoon/ 7.5 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1/8teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
For the dish (besides the batch of beans and the potatoes)
2tablespoons/ 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
4ounces/ 112 grams red onion finely diced
3garlic cloves minced
1teaspoonsweet paprika
1/2teaspoonharissa mix
1/8teaspoonhot paprika
1pound/ 450 grams green cabbageclean weight (outer leaves removed, if necessary)
1/2cup/ 120 ml vegetable brothpreferably homemade
3/4teaspoonsea salt or to taste
Equipment
1 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet
Method
Cook the dry beans
Rinse the beans then place them in a small saucepan with the water, the aromatic vegetables and the sea salt. Cover, bring the water to a lively boil and keep it there for 4-5 minutes.
Turn down the heat, cover the pan, and let the beans simmer 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.
Roast the potatoes
Time the preparation so that the potatoes are ready shortly before the cabbage is cooked.
Heat oven to 400 F / 205 C.
Dice the potatoes, then place them in a bowl.
Sprinkle olive oil and pepper on the potatoes and stir well.
Transfer the potatoes to an 8-inch / 20 cm cast-iron skillet and distribute in a single layer.
Place the skillet in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, or until tender, shaking the skillet half-way. If necessary, roast a few more minutes. Set the skillet aside.
Prepare the dish
In a 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet, warm up the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, stir well, cook for 1 minute, then turn down the heat. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft, stirring often and making sure the pan does not become dry. (Add 1 tablespoon / 15 ml of the bean broth, if necessary.)
In the meantime, quarter and core the cabbage. If the cabbage is large, halve each quarter. Cut away the external thick ribs. Slice each piece into ¼-inch / 6-mm-thick ribbons.
Measure the vegetable broth. If desired, use 2 tablespoons / 30 ml of the bean broth and add vegetable broth to make 1/2 cup / 120 ml.
Turn up the heat to medium-low. Add the spices and garlic to the pan and stir well.
After 1 minute, add the cabbage and the broth and stir. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the cabbage is tender (20 minutes, or as needed), stirring often.
Add the beans and stir well. Cover and let cook for 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the sea salt and stir. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Add the potatoes to the pan, stir well and serve hot.
Notes
Cook the beans ahead of preparing the dish.
I served this dish to several guests and my husband, who likes adding a dollop of whole-milk yogurt to it.
Satisfying and nourishing, albeit not colorful: green cabbage, beans and new potatoes
Beside being pretty, the Vermont cranberry beans have a creamy consistency when cooked, which works well in this dish.
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.
Small lentils with big personality (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.1 The book is a collection of 40 short essays, each centered on a specific food, ranging from fruit (lots of fruit, including rambutan, figs and mango), to spices (cinnamon, vanilla — cannella, vaniglia) to dishes, like lumpia and leche flan. Using the title food as starting point, each essay blends memories, meditations on aspects of life, and information about the food, in an evocative, lyrical language. The title aptly describes the way the book is presented and read.
Before selecting this book for our club, I knew and appreciated the author’s poetry, but was not familiar with her essays. I like how she uses a food to start a thread that weaves through memories with factual details sprinkled in. Reading most of the essays engendered a similar process for me. For example, the opening essay on rambutan made me travel to the Big Island and its wonderful farmers’ market, where, among many other fruit, you can find clusters of sweet, juicy rambutan.
rambutan at a farmers’ market on the Big Island
The book doesn’t include recipes and rather than by one of the foods, I was inspired by the time of year and the food memory it elicited. To celebrate the New Year (Capodanno), I followed the tradition of eating lentils. My mother always prepared a pot of the delicious small lentils typical of my home region, lenticchie di Castelluccio. She cooked them with local sausages, another typical food.
I usually bring back a bag of lentils when I visit Italy. Besides the famous Castelluccio lentils, Colfiorito lentils are also grown in Umbria. They are likewise small, fast cooking and deeply flavored. Below is a photo from my favorite store in downtown Perugia, Antica Spezieria e Drogheria Eredi Bavicchi,2 where I purchase this and other specialty legumes.
Colfiorito lentils, Umbrian delicacy
Besides the lentils, the dish includes honeynut squash and an assortment of leafy vegetables. For the latter, I use what I find at the farmers’ market, trying to create a balanced mix of flavors. Examples include: rainbow chard, red beet greens, radicchio di Treviso. Having one component of the dish variable means each time I make the dish it tastes unique. Note that in the case of rainbow chard and red beet greens, I cook also the stems, which I particularly like.
Umbrian lentils with honeynut squash and vegetables
1/2cup/ 100 grams / 3 1/2 ounces Castelluccio lentils OR Colfiorito lentils OR other small lentils (like de Puy or black beluga)sorted and rinsed
1cup+ 2 tablespoons / 270 ml water
1garlic cloveunpeeled
1small bay leaf
1/8teaspoonfine sea salt
For the dish
4ounces/ 112 grams leekwhite and light green portion, clean weight (set aside the darker green portion to make broth or stock)
8ounces/ 225 grams honeynut squash
2tablespoons/ 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1pound/ 450 grams combination of vegetables (mostly leafy greens): for example, rainbow chard, Swiss chard red beet greens, radicchio di Treviso, salad turnip greens
3garlic clovesminced
1teaspoonHarissa spice mix
3/4teaspoonfine sea saltor to taste
Equipment
lidded 5-Qt cast-iron Dutch oven
Method
Place all the ingredients for the lentils except the salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook on low heat, covered, until lentils are tender.
Check after 20 minutes and estimate the time necessary to complete the cooking. If the lentils look dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of hot water.
When the lentils are done, add the salt and stir. Remove from the heat, retreive and discard the garlic and bay leaf and set aside.
Cut the leek 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 leek to clean, then scoop out of the water with a sieve or slotted spoon and drain in a colander.
Peel and deseed the squash. I use a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash and a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds.
Cut the squash into small bite-sized pieces, no more than ½ inch / 1.25 cm.
Wash and drain the vegetables, leaving a bit of water clinging to the leaves. Separate the stems from the leaves of chard and red beet greens and chop the stems.
Halve the leaves lengthwise, stack 5-6 at a time and cut them into 1-inch / 2.5-cm wide ribbons.
Warm up a lidded 5-qt cast-iron Dutch oven. Add the olive oil. When hot, add the leek, stir well, cook for 1 minute, then turn down the heat. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 4 minutes, stirring often and making sure the pan does not become dry.
Add the garlic and Harissa to the pan and stir well.
After 1 minute, turn up the heat to medium, add the cut squash and stir well. Turn down the heat, cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Turn up the heat to medium, add the chopped stems, stir well and cover. Turn the heat down and cook until the squash is just tender, 6 minutes.
Turn up the heat to medium, add the sliced leaves and cover. Turn the heat down and let the leaves wilt for 1 minute, then stir well.
Cover and cook the vegetables on gentle heat for 10 minutes or so, until tender, stirring every now and then.
Turn up the heat to medium, add the lentils and their liquid (the amount should be small) to the pan and stir well. Cover and turn down the heat to low.
Continue cooking for 4 minutes or so, until the lentils are heated through.
Add the sea salt, give it a final stir and take off the heat. Serve warm.
Notes
If you purchase rainbow or Swiss chard with long stems included, use up to 6-7 inches / 15-18 cm for this dish and save the rest for another dish. Do not discard them: they are delicious, and so are red beet green stems.
Earthy flavors, great nutrition (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
This dish brings me to my home region and makes me feel I keep alive an ancient tradition.
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.
three sisters and friends (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel Maame by Jessica George.1 Following the protagonist, Maddie, a 25-year old woman of Ghanaian origins living in London, the novel tackles topics including family ties and responsibilities (a father with advanced Parkinson’s disease, a manipulative mother and a shallow brother make up Maddie’s family), friendships and relationships, racism, a young person trying to find their place in the work environment and in life. As readers, we cheer Maddie on her journey to a more assertive and realized self. I found the beat-to-beat narrative a bit tiresome and the continuous asking Google life questions quickly lost freshness. I guess the slow pace is a metaphor for Maddie feeling stuck in a situation that leaves her unfulfilled.
Maddie’s family roots in Ghana made me think first about foods from Italy, where I come from, but then winter squash and pumpkin being widely available this time of the year, I started thinking about foods from where I live now and was inspired by the Native American tradition of companion planting corn, beans and squash in a mutually supporting situation. A page on the USDA website2 strives to offer a view of this intercropping method with focus on the people who practiced it, and describes it as “not simply an agricultural strategy ” but “a cultural complex”:
Some Indigenous Peoples of the Americas planted corn, beans and squash or pumpkins together in mounds, in an intercropping complex known to some as the Three Sisters. Corn provided support for beans, beans provided nitrogen through nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria that live on the roots, and squash and pumpkins provided ground cover to suppress weeds and inhibit evaporation from the soil. While the origins of the Three Sisters complex are unknown, veneration of the Three Sisters appears in the earliest accounts of European explorers and missionaries in North America. As described by Lewandowski, from its earliest appearance in written records, the Three Sisters complex was not simply an agricultural strategy or technology, but a cultural complex, complete with stories, ceremonies, technology, customs and etiquette.
The recipe below is my way of honoring what from my perspective is a great combination of flavors and textures. The ingredients (ingredienti) I used in the various renditions of the recipe are grown locally at the following farms:
Vermont cranberry beans: Rain Frog Farm
honeynut squash: Wild Rose Farm
Autumn frost squash: Happy Hearts Farm
poblano peppers: Shakefork Community Farm
sweet corn: The Corn Crib, Shakefork Community Farm
escarole (scarola): Shakefork Community Farm
red onion: Shakefork Community Farm
garlic: Happy Hearts Farm, Pomme Hill Farm
fresh thyme (timo): Woven Hearts Herb Farm
smoked spicy paprika and ground dried chihuacle negro: Luna Farm
This recipe has two ingredients in common with the previous one: roasted poblano peppers and roasted corn.3 I can still get fresh poblano peppers at the farmers’ market and have been roasting them to use in various dishes and also to freeze. Sweet corn season, on the other hand, is sadly over so what I use in this recipe was roasted during the summer and frozen, so it comes from my freezer.
different version, same deliciousness (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
1/4cup/ 60 ml tomato passata (I use my roasted strained tomatoes)3
3 1/2ounces/ 100 grams escarole leaves
2ounces/ 56 grams roasted poblano pepper
4ounces/ 112 grams roasted cornthawed, if frozen
1/2teaspoonsea saltor to taste
Equipment
1 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet
Method
Cook the dry beans
Rinse the beans then place them in a small saucepan with the water, the aromatic vegetables and the sea salt. Cover, bring the water to a lively boil and keep it there for 4-5 minutes.
Turn down the heat, cover the pan, and let the beans simmer until they are tender. Taste them after 1 hour and estimate how much longer they should cook. (In my case, they were ready)
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.
Roast the poblano peppers
Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. For efficiency's sake, consider roasting several peppers and refrigerate or freeze the extra.
Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 180 degrees.
Roast for 15 more minutes, then turn the peppers. Repeat after 10 minutes. The peppers are ready when their skin has turned dark and is detaching in places. If necessary, continue roasting for a few more minutes.
Put the peppers in a sealed container or paper bag to steam, then peel off the skin, discard the stem and seeds, and the liquid they release.
Weigh the amount needed for the recipe. Cut the flesh into squares ½ inch / 1.25 cm side and transfer to a small bowl. Set aside.
Prepare the dish
Peel and deseed the squash. I use a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds and a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash.
Weigh the amount of squash needed. Cut the squash into small bite-sized pieces, no more than ½ inch / 1.25 cm.
In a 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet, warm up the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, stir well, cook for 1 minute, then turn down the heat. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 8 minutes or so, until the onion is soft, stirring often and making sure the pan does not become dry.
Add the thyme, spices and garlic to the pan and stir well.
After 1 minute, turn up the heat to medium, add the cut squash and stir well. Add the tomato passata and stir well.
Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook until the squash is just tender (10 minutes or as needed), stirring every now and then.
In the meantime, wash and drain the escarole leaves, halve them lengthwise then slice them crosswise into 1/2-inch / 2.5 cm strips.
Add the chopped escarole leaves to the pan and stir well. Cover and let cook for 4 minutes.
Add the beans and stir well. Cover and let cook for 2 minutes.
Add the corn and chopped poblano peppers and stir well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the sea salt and stir. Taste and adjust the salt as needed. Remove the pan from the heat. Serve immediately.
Notes
Cook the beans, roast the poblano peppers and thaw the frozen corn ahead of preparing the dish.
Try combining different varieties of winter squash and beans to get a slightly different dish.
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.
green on green with a touch of orange (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the historical novel The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson. I borrowed the book by accepting a suggestion within the Libby app. I was intrigued by the long title and wanted to know what it was about. I soon found myself drawn to the story, which is set in the UK in the summer of 1919, post-WWI, during the Spanish flu pandemic. It is a challenging time for veterans re-entering civilian life, for women forced to abandon the jobs many held during the war and for the country overall.
The protagonist, Constance Haverhill, has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. There, she meets a kind refugee waiter, a group of women motorcyclists and a (physically and emotionally) wounded veteran. The elderly woman Constance is tasked to take care of turns out to be a more interesting character than expected.
I enjoyed Simonson’s style and treatment of characters so much that after finishing the novel, I borrowed her earlier ones: “The Summer Before the War” (where again the war in question is WWI) and “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand,” probably her most famous book.
While the Hazelbourne novel is not food-oriented, it includes a number of references to foods. I was inspired by “tiny spring peas” included in a restaurant meal in chapter 2:
There were celery stalks on a long glass dish served with small silver tongs. There were dishes of small green olives, and a plate of the ubiquitous tinned sardines rolled around tiny white onions and stuck through with a cocktail pick. A broth followed, slightly cloudy. Then an indeterminate course of oeufs mayonnaise. Finally, the main course: Mrs. Wirrall had ordered Dover sole for the ladies and the pie for Harris. She had commanded, and was delivered, buttered new potatoes, a dish of tiny spring peas, and a carrot mash. There was even a small wedge of lemon in a muslin cloth, which the waiter squeezed over their fish with a silver tool.
“I haven’t seen a lemon since before the war,” said Constance. There were one or two frowns from ladies at neighboring tables, which indicated that not all patrons had been honored with such an intoxicating spritz.
As we move towards late spring, the farmers’ market is filling with colorful fruit (hello cherries!) and a wider variety of vegetables, including fava beans and peas, both favorite of mine, fresh spring onion (cipollotto) and garlic (aglio — hurrah for no more storage allium!).
green on green with a touch of orange (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
I decided to add a carrot (carota) to the green on green motif and was happy with the result. The small size of the dish reflects the fact that I made it for myself only: you can easily multiply the recipe. Both peas and fava beans require shelling. The latter are much tastier if you remove also the skin (trust me on this).
Shell the fava beans and weigh the necessary amount. Blanch the fava beans 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. (You don’t need to peel tiny fava beans, whose skin is quite thin.) Set aside.
Shell the peas, weigh the necessary amount and set aside.
Finely chop the spring onion.
Scrub the carrot well and scrape the surface to remove a thin layer of skin, then grate it using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Peel and mince the garlic clove.
Heat up an 8-inch/20-cm cast-iron skillet, then add the olive oil. When hot, then add the onion and stir well to coat. Sprinkle the Harissa spice mix and stir. Cook on medium-low heat for 2 minutes, stirring a few times.
Add the grated carrot and stir. Cover and cook on low until the onion is soft, 6 minutes or so, stirring often.
Add the garlic, stir and let cook for one minute.
Add the peas and warm water, cover and cook for 4 minutes.
Add the fava beans and stir. Cover and cook until the peas are tender, 2 minutes or so.
Sprinkle the sea salt and stir. Remove from the heat, sprinkle the parsley, stir and serve.
Serves 1
I like to serve half the amount the recipe makes with an egg sunny-side up on top and a side of mixed vegetables with thyme2
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.
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.
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.
a personal take on a traditional Umbrian dish (dish by @fem_pottery, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller1. The novel tells the story of Olivia Rawlings, pastry chef in an exclusive club in Boston, who, after losing her job, takes refuge in the town of Guthrie, Vermont. The connection to Guthrie is her friend Hannah, who lives there with her husband.
Olivia is hired as pastry chef at the local inn and quickly gets involved in town’s activities. She also meets a number of residents, a colorful cast deftly described by Miller. Adventures ensue, some in the professional field, others in the personal one. The seasons, particularly winter, play a role as well, with the traditions tied to them. The novel is an easy, pleasant read, possibly something to immerse yourself into during the upcoming winter Holidays.
As you can imagine, given Olivia’s job, there is a fair amount of food in the book, mostly desserts. I don’t have a sweet tooth and we don’t eat dessert at home, so I looked for inspiration elsewhere, namely in the weather: it’s cold in Guthrie in the winter, and it snows a lot. Growing up, my father would describe a cold day as “polenta day,” a not-so-subtle hint to my mother to prepare one of his favorite dishes.
rovejaa (Pisum arvense) and its flour (dish by @fem_pottery, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Traditional polenta is made with cornmeal. In Valtellina, a splendid valley in the Italian Alps, polenta taragna2 is made with a blend of cornmeal and buckwheat flour (farina di grano saraceno). In my home region of Umbria, the local legume roveja3 (Pisum arvense) is ground and cooked into a nutritious type of polenta called farrecchiata.
I brought the ingredient back from Italy and the reading inspired me to prepare the traditional dish, which I never ate at home as my parents were originally from the neighboring region of Lazio, so farrecchiata was not part of their culinary heritage. Neither was roveja, but I was introduced to it some years back and wrote a post about it.3
a dish to warm and nourish (dish by @fem_pottery, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
I make farrecchiata with my usual method for making polenta. According to recipes I read, the traditional way of serving farrecchiatia is with a simple sauce of garlic-infused olive oil and anchovies (alici). Much as I like anchovies, I did not enjoy the result. Farrecchiata has a slightly bitter note to be balanced, so for my next experiments I used my favorite polenta pairing: cheese (formaggio). That made my taste buds happy, particularly when I used fresh chèvre (caprino fresco).
Fundamentally, polenta of any type is a blank canvas that invites the cook to choose their preferred pairing. This is also the case for leftover polenta, which is firmer than the freshly cooked one, can be sliced and pan-fried, grilled or baked and enriched with the topping of choice.
cheese of choice, to taste, crumbled, cut into small pieces or grated, depending on consistency
I use crumbled Cypress Grove Meyer Lemon and Honey4: 1 ounce / 28 grams mixed in at the end of cooking plus to taste as topping on individual servings
Pour the cold water into a saucepan and add the salt. Slowly add the roveja flour in a thin stream, while whisking. Place the saucepan over medium heat. Continue whisking as the water warms up. As soon as the water reaches boiling point, turn down the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Keep stirring with the whisk for the first 10 minutes or so, then switch to a wooden spoon as stirring implement.
Cook the farrecchiata for 35-40 minutes, stirring often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and to avoid the build-up of steam that results in bubble explosions.
Add the chosen cheese to the farrecchiata at the end of the cooking time, and stir to incorporate it. Serve immediately, possibly with additional cheese as topping or on the side.
Makes 1 1/2 cups. Serves 3-4 as a side dish.
I have served and eaten farrecchiata as a side dish, together with roasted or stewed vegetables. A particularly pleasant pairing is with roasted winter squash, whose sweetness complements farrecchiata‘s pleasant bitter note.
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.
una tradizione della mia regione d’origine (ceramica di @fem_pottery, tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
Arrivati alla lettera R del nostro viaggio nel mondo degli ingredienti ho scelto di preparare un piatto umbro: la farrecchiata (polenta di roveja). Della roveja, dal 2006 Presidio Slow Food dell’Umbria, ho scritto in passato.1 Confesso che non ho mai mangiato la farrecchiata in Umbria. I miei genitori erano originari del Lazio e mia madre faceva la polenta classica di mais. Durante una recente visita ho comprato della farina di roveja e finalmente ho preparato la farrecchiata.
la roveja (Pisum arvense) e la sua farina (ceramica di @fem_pottery, tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
Le ricette che ho consultato descrivono una salsa di olio infuso d’aglio e alici sciolte per condire la farrecchiatia. Le alici mi piacciono, ma non ho gradito il connubio con la farrecchiata. Questa ha una nota amarognola da bilanciare. Quindi successivamente ho usato il mio condimento preferito: il formaggio (polenta taragna2 docet). Il mio palato ha apprezzato, in modo particolare quando ho usato del caprino fresco di produzione locale.3
un piatto nutriente e che riscalda (ceramica di @fem_pottery, tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
Ingredienti:
480 ml di acqua fredda
1/4 cucchiaino di sale fino
85 grammi di farina di roveja
formaggio a scelta, in quantità a piacere, sbriciolato o tagliato a pezzetti o grattugiato, a seconda della consistenza
io uso caprino fresco sbriciolato: 30 grammi mescolati alla farrecchiata al termine della cottura, più a piacere sopra le porzioni individuali
Versate l’acqua in una pentola e salate. Aggiungete lentamente a filo la farina di roveja, mescolando col frullino a mano. Mettete la pentola su fuoco medio e portate l’acqua ad ebollizione, sempre mescolando, poi abbassate il calore al minimo che mantiene un leggero bollore. Continuate a mescolare col frullino per 10 minuti poi passate ad usare un cucchiaio di legno.
Cuocete la farrecchiata per 35-40 minuti, mescolando spesso per evitare che si attacchi al fondo della pentola e anche che accumuli vapore e poi provochi piccole esplosioni vulcaniche.
Al termine della cottura, aggiungete il formaggio scelto e mescolate bene per incorporarlo. Servite immediatamente la farrecchiata, magari con dell’altro formaggio da aggiungere a piacere.
Porzioni: 3-4 come contorno.
Servo la farrecchiata come contorno insieme a verdire arrosto o stufate. Una combinazione che apprezzo in modo particolare è quella con la zucca, la cui dolcezza si bilancia bene la nota amarognola della farrecchiata.
Contribuisco la mia farrecchiata (polenta di roveja) dall’Italia alla lettera R 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 bowl of rich flavor (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Food Americana by David Page1: The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America’s Favorite Dishes, including pizza, barbecue, fried chicken (pollo fritto), ice cream. I found the book interesting as it draws a lively picture of each food and also lets people speak: chefs, historians, restaurants’ customers and more. Each chapter ends with a recipe.
Inspiration for something to make could not come from the foods described in the book as I basically don’t eat any of them,2 but the reading got me thinking about how living in the U.S. has brought me into contact with cuisines from around the world, of which the Ethiopian one is a favorite. So I decided to make a favorite dish among those that are served at Ethiopian restaurants when you order the vegetarian combo, which consists of an injera (the traditional flat bread made with teff flour) spread on a large plate and topped with small mounds of various dishes, one of which is Misir Wot (or Misir Wat), a spicy red lentil stew.
one of the ingredients is niter kibbeh, spice-infused butter
As I started reading various recipes, I realized there was more to the dish than red lentils and berbere, the traditional Ethiopian spice blend, which I’ve been using for years in my kitchen. First, I learned about niter kibbeh, butter infused with spices which is used for cooking in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The recipe I followed is in the blog Hunt Gather Cook3: I made 1/4 of it and used red onion instead of shallots, which I could not find at the grocery store (they are not in season).
Then, in the recipe for misir wot4 that I chose to follow more closely among all those I consulted, I learned about mekelesha, another spice blend used in making the stew. While I made both niter kibbeh and mekelesha, I decided to skip making berbere5, as I have some and want to finish it before making more. As I am cooking Misir Wot for myself only, I halve the recipe I reference below and I use niter kibbeh instead of the vegetable oil it calls for.
Clockwise from the left: nigella seeds, niter kibbeh (melted), mekelesha, berbere and red lentils
Once you have the various elements, the dish does not take long to make. However, the recipe I most closely followed4 recommends to let the dish rest for hours or overnight to allow the flavors to blend. The spices also mellow a bit. This is usually a great suggestion for stews and soups, and it is something to incorporate in the planning.
1 tablespoon minced red onion (the original recipe calls for shallots, but they are out of season)
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 scant teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek
Toast the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in a small dry pan over medium heat until they smell aromatic, about a minute.
Cut the butter into small cubes. Put the butter and all the other ingredients (including the toasted spices) into a small saucepan with a heavy bottom. Let the butter and spices come to a bare simmer over low heat. Depending on your burner, turn the heat further down to keep the bare simmer. Cook gently for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat when you see browning. For me this happened at about 22 minutes. I think if you make a larger quantity, the time will be longer.
Cut a small piece of cheesecloth, double it and line a tea strainer with it. Strain the butter through the cheesecloth into a small, clean glass jar. The spiced butter lasts months in the refrigerator and can be frozen.
Ingredients for the mekelesha spice blend:
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom (cardamomo)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (cannella)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (chiodi di garofano)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (pepe nero)
Blend the spices in a small, clean jar. You will use a small amount of mekelesha, so once done, it will be ready for future misir wot batches or other stews and curries.
Ingredients for the red lentil stew:
4 1/2 ounces / 125 grams dried split red lentils
2 tablespoons niter kibbeh (if you use vegetable oil instead, the dish is vegan)
4 1/2 ounces / 125 grams red onion, finely chopped
1/2 -inch piece peeled fresh ginger, grated
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 1/2-2 teaspoons berbere (see Note below)
1/4 teaspoon ground nigella seeds (it is easy to grind whole seeds using a mortar and pestle)
1/4 cup / 60 ml warm water for the onion
1 1/2 cups / 350 ml warm water, plus more as needed, for the lentils
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon mekelesha spice blend
Note: whether you buy it or make your own, berbere‘s spiciness varies by blend and personal perception. If you are unsure, use 1 1/2 teaspoons to start with, then, depending on the result, increase it to 2 teaspoons the next time.
Place the lentils in a mesh strainer, and rinse until the water runs mostly clear.
In a 8-inch / 20 cm-wide saucepan, warm the niter kibbeh over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until it smells aromatic, about 1 minute. Stir in the berbere and nigella and add a splash of water. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir, add another splash of water and cook for 5 minutes. Repeat the process once more. If the onion is very dry at the end, add a splash more water.
The slow, long cooking of the onion with berbere truly makes the dish: at the end, the onion is reduced to an intensely aromatic, almost creamy mass.
Add the lentils and half the sea salt and stir well. Add 1 cup / 240 ml of the warm water. Cover, turn up the heat to medium and bring the mixture just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and maintain a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally and add warm water a bit at a time to ensure the lentils cook through and don’t dry out. You should use about 1 1/2 cups / 350 ml of water total.
Cook until the lentils are tender but not mushy, 10-12 minutes, stirring in the mekelesha when the lentils are almost done. You can gently mash some of the lentils against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the remaining sea salt and stir.
Remove the pan from the heat. You can serve the stew now, but it will taste better if you let it cool and refrigerate it overnight, then reheat it and serve.
Makes 2 servings (2 cups)
1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website 2 The chapter on Mexican cuisine mentions mole. From briciole’s archive: mole poblano. 3 Recipe for Niter Kibbeh on Hunt Gather Cook, by Hank Shaw 4 Recipe for Misir Wot in the Washington Post, which includes the recipe for mekelesha spice blend, adapted from “Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa,” by Yohanis Gebreyesus with Jeff Koehler (Kyle Books, 2018) 5 Recipe for berbere in the Washington Post
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 piatto ricco di sapore (tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)
Arrivati alla lettera L del nostro viaggio nel mondo degli ingredienti ho scelto di preparare Misir Wot (o Misir Wat) un piatto con le lenticchie rosse tradizionale dell’Etiopia che era nella mia lista da molto tempo:
Se andate a mangiare in un ristorante di cucina etiope, potete ordinare il misto vegetariano, che consiste in un pane injera (il tradizionale pane piatto, morbido e un po’ spugnoso fatto con la farina di teff) con sopra mucchietti di vari piatti, uno dei quali è appunto Misir Wot, lenticchie rosse stufate speziate.
uno degli ingredienti è niter kibbeh, burro speziato
Quando ho cominciato a leggere varie ricette mi sono resa conto che avrei avuto bisogno non solo di lenticchie rosse e berbere, il misto di spezie tradizionale della cucina etiope che uso da anni (è ottimo per insaporire verdure). Prima di tutto niter kibbeh, burro infuso con spezie utilizzato in Etiopia ed Eritrea per cucinare. La ricetta che ho seguito è dal blog Hunt Gather Cook1: ne ho preparato 1/4 e ho usato cipolla rossa invece dello scalogno che non ho trovato nel negozio dove faccio la spesa (non è stagione).
Poi mekelesha, un altro misto di spezie che appare nella ricetta per misir wot2 che ho scelto di seguire più da vicino tra tutte quelle che ho consultato. Ho preparato niter kibbeh e mekelesha, ma non berbere3, perché ne avevo abbastanza e volevo finirlo prima di fare la mia versione. Dal momento che preparo Misir Wot per me sola, nella mia ricetta dimezzo le quantità della ricetta e utilizzo niter kibbeh invece dell’olio vegetale.
in senso orario da sinistra: semi di nigella seeds, niter kibbeh (fuso), mekelesha, berbere e lenticchie rosse
Una volta che avete gli ingredienti pronti, cuocere il piatto non richiede molto tempo. Ma la ricetta che ho seguito più da vicino4 raccomanda di far riposare le lenticchie per diverse ore o durante la notte per dare tempo ai sapori di mergere. Questa raccomandazione è in generale ottima nel caso di stufati e zuppe ed è un elemento da incorporare nella pianificazione. Vi ricordo che 1 cucchiaio = 15 ml e 1 cucchiaino = 5 ml.
Ingredienti per niter kibbeh:
4 baccelli di cardamomo schiacciati
0,6 cm di bastoncino di cannella
1 chiodo di garofano
112 grammi di burro
1 cucchiaio di cipolla rossa tritata (la ricetta original richiede scalogno, ma non l’ho trovato da comprare)
1/2 spicchio d’aglio tritato
1/2 cucchiaio di zenzero fresco grattugiato
1 cucchiaino scarso di origano secco
1/8 cucchiaino di curcuma in polvere
1/4 cucchiaino di fieno greco in polvere
Tostate a secco il cardamomo, il chiodo di garofano e la cannella in una padellina a fuoco medio fino a quando diventano aromatici, circa un minuto.
Tagliate il burro a cubetti. Mettete il burro e tutti gli altri ingredienti, comprese le spezie appena tostate, in un pentolino con il fondo pesante. Scaldate a fuoco basso fino a bollore minimo. Cuocete per 30 minuti. Togliete dal fuoco quando vedete che il burro comincia a imbrunire. Nel mio caso questo è successo dopo 22 minuti di cottura. Credo che se utilizzate più burro, il tempo necessario sarà più lungo.
Tagliate piccolo pezzo di garza alimentare, piegatelo in due e usatelo per foderare un colino. Versate il burro nel colino e fatelo colare in un barattolino di vetro. Il burro speziato si conserva per mesi in frigorifero e potete anche congelarlo.
Ingredienti per il misto di spezie mekelesha:
1/4 cucchiaino di cardamomo in polvere (possibilmente macinato fresco)
1 cucchiaino di cannella in polvere
1/4 cucchiaino di chiodi di garofano in polvere
1/4 cucchiaino di pepe nero macinato fresco
Mescolate le spezie in un barattolino di vetro. Userete solo una piccola quantità di mekelesha ma l’avrete pronto per futuri misir wot batches e altri piatti.
Ingredienti per le lenticchie:
125 grammi lenticchie rosse decorticate
2 cucchiai di niter kibbeh
125 grammi di cipolla rossa, tritata
un pezzetto da 1,25 cm di zenzero fresco grattugiato
1 piccolo spicchio d’aglio, tritato
1 1/2-2 cucchiaini di berbere (vedi Nota in basso)
1/4 cucchiaino di semi di nigella in polvere (è facile macinare i semi di nigella in un piccolo mortaio e pestello)
60 ml di acqua riscaldata, per cuocere la cipolla
350 ml di acqua riscaldata, un po’ più se necessario, per le lenticchie
1/2 cucchiaino di sale fino, diviso
1/4 cucchiaino di misto di spezie mekelesha
Nota: l’intensità del berbere varia. Se non siete sicuri, per cominciare utilizzate 1 1/2 cucchiaini e poi, a seconda del risultato, la volta successiva aumentate la dose a 2 cucchiaini.
Mettete le lenticchie in uno scolapasta a rete e sciacquatele fino a quando l’acqua sia limpida.
In una pentola bassa di 20 cm di diametro, scaldate il niter kibbeh a fuoco medio-basso. Aggiungete la cipolla e cuocetela per 10 minuti, mescolando di tanto in tanto. Aggiungete l’aglio e lo zenzero e cuocete per 1 minuto, mescolando di continuo. Spargete il berbere e la nigella sulla cipolla, mescolate e aggiungete un po’ dell’acqua calda (1 cucchiaio). Coprite la pentola, e cuocete a fuoco basso per 10 minuti. Scoperchiate, mescolate, aggiungete un altro po’ dell’acqua calda e cuocete per 5 minuti. Ripetete un’altra volta. Se la cipolla è secca alla fine della cottura, aggiungete un altro po’ dell’acqua.
La cottura lenta e lunga della cipolla con il berbere è importante per la riuscita del piatto: al termine la cipolla è ridotta quasi ad una crema molto aromatica.
Aggiungete le lenticchie e metà del sale e mescolate bene. Versate 240 ml dell’acqua calda sulle lenticchie, coprite la pentola, e portate a ebollizione su fuoco moderato, poi riducetelo a basso e mantenete un leggero bollore. Mescolate di tanto in tanto e aggiungete il resto dell’acqua un po’ alla volta per fare in modo che le lenticchie cuociano completamente senza mai rimanere secche.
Cuocete le lenticchie fino a quando siano tenere ma non del tutto disfatte, 10-12 minuti. Aggiungete la mekelesha quando le lenticchie sono quasi pronte e mescolate. Se volete, potete schiacciare un po’ delle lenticchie con un cucchiaio di legno contro la parete della pentola. Aggiungete il resto del sale e mescolate. Togliere la pentola dal fuoco.
Potete servire le lenticchie immediatamente, ma saranno più buone se le fate raffreddare e le tenete in frigorifero durante la notte. Riscaldatele e servitele. Sono davvero ottime.
Porzioni: 2.
1 Ricetta per Niter Kibbeh sul blog Hunt Gather Cook, di Hank Shaw (in inglese) 2 Ricetta per Misir Wot sul Washington Post (in inglese; comprede la ricetta per il misto di spezie mekelesha) adattata dal libro “Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa” (Etiopia: ricette e tradizioni dal corno d’Africa) di Yohanis Gebreyesus con Jeff Koehler (Kyle Books, 2018) 3 Ricetta per berbere sul Washington Post (in inglese)
Contribuisco il mio Misir Wot con lenticchie rosse dall’Etiopia alla lettera L 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.
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus1 which tells the story of Elizabeth Zott, a research chemist in California in the early 1960's, who becomes the host of a cooking show.
Rowing plays a role in the book, referred to mostly as a a source of physical discomfort, if not downright suffering. I thought I would balance out that perspective with a photo I took recently while rowing on Richardson Bay (an arm of San Francisco Bay). I captioned it: for this is why I row.
Based on the length of the library's waiting list, the book is popular. A light reading.
Besides dishes prepared during the show, there are others mentioned in the book: none sparked my imagination. On the other hand, this is the time of year when fresh fava beans are available and I enjoy bringing them into my kitchen. Most often I use them as an ingredient in salads2, but a recipe for a soup in La Cucina, the Regional Cooking of Italy by the Accademia Italiana della Cucina3 caught my attention, as it uses another seasonal ingredient I enjoy: spring onions. After months of using storage onions, fresh, juicy spring ones are a pleasure to savor.
I cannot imagine Elizabeth Zott choosing this soup for a Supper at Six installment, though had she done so, she could have explained to her audience about favism4 (favismo) a severe reaction to consumption of fava beans that occurs in people affected by deficiency of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), and could have expanded on the role enzymes play in chemical reactions. Once diagnosed, people affected by the genetic condition avoid ingesting fava beans.
two main ingredients plus a non-traditional one (for an Italian dish) (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
My rendition of this simple soup includes an ingredient I recently purchased from a local farmer5: a miso made with green lentils (lenticchie verdi) and aged for a bit more than three years. I have been adding it to various dishes and even to cookies.
Note: the miso6 I use is aged 3+ years, like red miso, but it is made using green lentils rather than soybeans. It has a relatively mellow flavor. I suggest using yellow miso first. Depending on your preference, you may then mix it with some red miso for a stronger flavor (or with white miso for a lighter one).
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. (You don't need to peel tiny fava beans, whose skin is quite thin.) Set aside.
Chop the spring onion.
Heat up the olive oil in a saucepan, then add the onion and stir well to coat. Cook on low heat until the onion is soft, 6 minutes or so, stirring often.
Add the fava beans to the saucepan and stir well. Pour the water into the saucepan: the vegetables should be submerged, but visible just below the surface. (Add more water if necessary.) Cover the saucepan and bring the soup to a boil.
Cook the soup on low heat until the fava beans are soft, 25-30 minutes or as needed. Stir every now and then with a wooden spoon and mash some of the fava beans against the side of the saucepan.
Put the miso in a small cup. When the soup is almost ready, spoon some of the liquid into the cup and stir to blend. Pour the diluted miso into the soup and stir well.
Remove the soup from the heat. Serve hot, with some chives sprinkled on top, if desired.
Serves 2-3.
I love this soup: the spring onion gives it a fresh flavor, the fava beans make it earthy, miso adds umami and the result is satisfying,
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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.
Arrivati alla lettera F del nostro viaggio nel mondo degli ingredienti ho deciso subito che avrei preparato un piatto con le fave, che in questo momento sono di stagione. Mio padre le adorava e a tutti in famiglia piacevano crude, mangiate a fine pasto, semplicemente sbucciate e con un pochino di sale o, meglio ancora, del pecorino fresco.
Mia madre preparava anche la zuppa di fave: a me non piaceva per via delle bucce. In tutti i piatti che preparo con le fave il primo passo è quello di liberarle dalla loro buccia, previo breve sbollentamento.
i due ingredienti + uno non tradizionale (per un piatto italiano) (tovaglietta de La FABBRICA del LINO)
Ho trovato questa zuppa sul sito dell'Accademia Italiana della Cucina1 che la colloca in Campania come regiode d'origine. La ricetta è brevissima e io l'ho personalizzata con l'utilizzo di un ingrediente non tradizionale, il miso, che in questo periodo sto usando molto perché ho trovato un produttore locale che mi ha ispirato.
Una nota riguardo al favismo: è una reazione all'ingestione di fave che può colpire persone affette da carenza dell'enzima glucosio-6-fosfato deidrogenasi (G6PD). Una volta diagnosticata la carenza enzimatica (che ha base genetica), queste persone evitano le fave.
Ingredienti:
450 grammi di fave fresche
225 grammi di cipolla novella rossa (cipollotto rosso)
2 cucchiai / 30 ml di olio extra-vergine di oliva
355 ml di acqua, o q.b.
3/4 cucchiaio di miso (vedi nota in basso)
erba cipollina tritata, facoltativa
Nota: il miso che utilizzo è maturato per oltre 3 anni, come il miso rosso, ma è fatto con lenticchie verdi invece che fagioli di soia. Non ha un sapore forte. Vi suggerisco di provare prima ad utlizzare il miso giallo. Se preferite un sapore più intenso, potete usare un mix di miso giallo e rosso. In generale, più il miso è scuro, più lungo è stato il periodo di fermentazione, più intenso è il sapore. Se non trovate il miso o non desiderate usarlo, potete fare lo stesso la zuppa e condirla con del sale fino.
Sgranate le fave e sbollentatele per 30 secondi, poi scolatele e tuffatele in acqua ghiacciata. Spellate le fave (a parte quelle proprio piccole, dalla pellicina fine) e mettetele da parte.
Tagliate finemente la cipolla.
In una pentola scaldate l'olio di oliva, aggiungete la cipolla e mescolate bene. Cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando la cipolla è tenera, circa 6 minuti, mescolando spesso.
Aggiungete le fave e mescolate bene. Versate l'acqua nella pentola: le verdure devono essere appena sommerse. (Aggiungete acqua se necessario.) Incoperchiate la pentola e portate ad ebollizione la zuppa.
Cuocete la zuppa a fuoco basso per 25-30 minuti o fino a quando le fave siano tenere. Mescolate la zuppa di tanto in tanto con un cucchiaio di legno e schiacciate alcune fave contro la parete della pentola.
Mettete il miso in una tazzina. Quando la zuppa è quasi pronta versare un po' del liquido nella tazzina e mescolate bene. Versate il miso diluito nella zuppa e mescolate bene.
Togliete la pentola dal fuoco. Servite la zuppa ben calda con, se volete, dell'erba cipollina tritata sparsa sulla superficie.
Porzioni: 2-3.
Questa zuppa mi piace molto: la cipolla novella le dà un sapore fresco, le fave un sapore rustico, il miso contribuisce umami e il risultato è ottimo.
1Ricetta sul sito dell'Accademia italiana della cucina
Contribuisco la mia zuppa di cipolle e fave dall'Italia alla lettera F 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.
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.)
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