salad

bean, tomato, sweet pepper and corn salad / insalata di fagioli, pomodori, peperoni dolci e mais

| Simona

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bean, tomato, sweet pepper and corn salad
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
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.

farm fresh vegetables
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.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Bean, tomato, sweet pepper and corn salad

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound / 225 grams Coco Nero beans in the pod, about 4 ounces / 113 g shelled
  • 1 cup / 240 ml water
  • 1/4 small onion, halved
  • 1 small garlic clove, peeled
  • 1/2 bay leaf
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 3 ounces / 85 grams roasted sweet peppers or bell peppers (recipe below)
  • 3 ounces / 85 grams roasted sweet corn (recipe below)
  • 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.

Serves 2

1 The book page on the author’s website.
2 Wikipedia: Tiburon, California
3 Angel Island State Park. To learn more about the immigration station and the people who were detained and processed there, visit the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation website, which includes virtual exhibits.
4 Thanks to Star Route Farms farm in Bolinas for growing special produce including the Coco Nero beans

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

Cook the Books logoThis 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.)

The roundup of the event.

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.

Copyright © 2007 – 2026 Simona Carini. All rights reserved.

red beet pkhali / pkhali di barbabietole rosse

| Simona

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[versione in italiano]

red beet pkhali / IMG_4927

ready to spoon some?
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan1 which tells the story of four women in Kent, UK, during WWII. The food rations in effect at that time play a central role: they affected everyone and cooks in particular, tasked as they were to prepare nourishing and tasty meals with what the rations provided. (Vegetable gardens and foraging enriched the limited availability of ingredients.)

The novel's title refers to a BBC program devised to provide ideas on how best to make use of those rations. The four women compete to become the program's co-lead by cooking a starter, a main dish and a dessert that showcase what's possible within the confines of the wartime pantry.

The book includes the competition recipes and a few others. It is interesting to read the alternatives people devised for ingredients that were in short supply, like sugar. The one surprise in the story is the croquembouche Zelda (the chef among the four women) brings as her entry for the dessert part of the competition.

Red beets are mentioned several times in the book using their British name, beetroots. Audrey grows them in her garden and they are featured in a couple of the recipes provided in the book. I don't grow them, but like to get them at the farmers market, particularly when they are sold with their greens, which are delicious in their own right.

I last featured red beets in a salad2 inspired by Finnish rosolli. This time, for inspiration I turned to Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya von Bremzen3 and John Welchman. The book includes recipes from a large area, from the Baltics to Uzbekistan. In the Zakuski section (appetizers, antipasti), I read about Georgian pkhali, a dish made from a finely chopped cooked vegetable (like spinach, eggplants, beets) with a dressing of ground walnuts (noci tritate), garlic, vinegar, spices and herbs. I decided to make Beet Pkhali.

I halved the recipe and adjusted a couple of other things, most notably 1) I toasted the walnuts; 2) used parsley instead of cilantro; 3) used sherry vinegar since I couldn't find tarragon vinegar.

The headnote says that pkhali must be made "at least 6 to 8 hours ahead for the flavor of the garlic to settle properly" (page  25). The result? Oh my! The vinegar and spices balance out the distinctive sweetness of red beets and the walnuts provide a light body to the soft texture of cooked beets. Pkhali is served as a pâté but I've also read it defined as a spreadable salad. It is a bit addictive: you taste a small spoonful, spread some on a cracker, drop a dollop on green salad, and before you know it, it's gone.

The second time I made the recipe I measured the ingredients more precisely, then the next time I adjusted some more. Below is my current version and further down there is a link to the recipe that inspired me.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Red beet pkhali

Ingredients:

  • 2 red beets to obtain 6 ounces / 170 grams when cooked and peeled (see Note below)

For the walnut sauce:

  • 1 1/2 ounces / 42 grams walnuts, preferably freshly shelled
  • 2 small garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced red spring onion
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/8 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground fenugreek
  • A small pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons / 22.5 ml water
  • 3/4 tablespoon / 11.25 ml sherry vinegar

For the pkhali:

  • The roasted red beets from above
  • The walnut sauce from above
  • 1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml sherry vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
  • Fine sea salt, if needed, to taste

Note: If possible, purchase red beets with their greens. Cut off the greens about 1 inch / 2.5 cm from the root and consume them as soon as possible like you would other types of dark leafy greens. (You can also use them, together with spinach, to make Spinach Pkhali) For efficiency's sake, I recommend that you roast more beets than you need for the recipe and add the extra ones to a soup or salad.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Scrub the red beets well. Wrap each beet in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Put the beets in the oven and roast them until easily pierced with a blade. Check after 45-60 minutes (depending on the beets' size) and gauge the cooking time remaining.

Let the red beets cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Weigh the amount you need for the recipe. Cut the beets in bite-sized pieces and set them aside.

To make the walnut sauce
Heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C.

Distribute the walnuts on an unlined baking sheet or cookie sheet and place in the oven. Roast the walnuts for a few minutes until they smell fragrant. Remove them from the sheet and let them cool.

Ground the walnuts in a food processor. Place the ground walnuts in a bowl and add all the other sauce ingredients. Mix well and set aside.

To make the pkhali
Process the roasted red beets until coarsely minced. Add to the bowl with the walnut sauce. Mix well.

Add the other pkhali ingredients and mix well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (6 to 8 is better).

Take out of the refrigerator the pkhali ahead of time, spread it on a serving plate and smooth the top with a spatula. (I shaped it more like a low mound.) With a knife, make a pattern of diamonds on the top.

Serve at room temperature.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.



A colorful, delightful way of serving this nutritious root vegetable.

1 The book's page on the publisher's website
2 From briciole's archive: Red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad
3 Cook the Books club read von Bremzen's memoir some years ago, and, inspired by the book, I made Mushroom and egg salad
4 Section on pkhali in Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman

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

pkhali di barbabietola rosse

or launch the pkhali di barbabietola rosse audio file [mp3].

[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.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey From Rock. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event. 

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.

red beets, walnuts, salad, spread, Georgian cuisine

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Newrule

pkhali di barbabietole rosse

red beet pkhali / IMG_4927

pronti all'assaggio?
(tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Le barbabietole rosse sono una delle verdure che amo comprare al mercato dei produttori, soprattutto quando hanno ancora le foglie attaccate (come nella foto in basso), che sono una delizia.

In un post dell'anno scorso le ho presentate in un'insalata ispirata al rosolli, piatto tipico finlandese. Stavolta l'ispirazione me l'ha data il libro Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook di Anya von Bremzen3 e John Welchman. Il tomo racchiude 400 ricette provenienti dall'area che va dalle repubbliche baltiche all'Uzbekistan. Nella sezione Zakuski (antipasti), ho trovato il pkhali, piatto tipico della Georgia composto da una verdura cotta e tagliata finemente (come spinaci, melanzane, barbabietole) condita con una salsa di noci tritate, aglio, aceto e spezie. Ho deciso di provare a fare il pkhali di barbabietole rosse.

Ho dimezzato le dosi e ho cambiato dei dettagli: 1) ho tostato le noci; 2) ho utilizzato il prezzemolo invece del coriandolo fresco (che negli USA si chiama cilantro); 3) ho utilizzato l'aceto di sherry perché non ho trovato quello al dragoncello. 

La ricetta nota che il pkhali deve essere preparato "almeno 6-8 ore in anticipo in modo che il sapore dell'aglio si assesti" (page  25). Il risultato è eccellente. Aceto e spezie bilanciano il sapore dolce delle barbabietole e le noci danno una leggera corposità alla consistenza morbida delle barbabietole cotte. Pkhali viene servito come pâté ma ho anche letto una definizione di insalata spalmabile. Ne assaggi un cucchiaino, ne spalmi un po' su un cracker, ne aggiungi un cucchiaio ad un'insalata verde e in un batter d'occhio non ce n'è più.

La seconda volta che ho preparato la ricetta ho misurato le quantità con più precisione e la volta successiva ho fatto minimi aggiustamenti. Qui sotto c'è la versione corrente e più in basso il link alla ricetta che mi ha ispirato (in inglese).

Ingredienti:

  • 2 barbabietole rosse per ottenere 170 grammi, peso cotto e netto (vedi Nota in basso)

Per la salsa alle noci:

  • 42 grammi di noci, preferibilmente appena sgusciate
  • 2 piccoli spicchi d'aglio tritati
  • 1 cucchiaio di cipollotto rosso tritato
  • 1,5 cucchiai di prezzemmolo fresco tritato
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di coriandolo in polvere
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di fieno greco (trigonella) in polvere
  • Un pizzichino di pepe di Caienna
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di sale fino
  • 1,5 cucchiai / 22,5 ml d'acqua
  • 3/4 cucchiaio / 11,25 ml di aceto di sherry

Per il pkhali:

  • Le barbabietole rosse arrosto (vedi sopra)
  • La salsa alle noci (vedi sopra)
  • 1/2 cucchiaio / 7,5 ml di aceto di sherry
  • 1 cucchiaio di prezzemmolo fresco tritato
  • Sale fino, q.b.

Nota: Se possibile, acquistare barbabietole rosse con ancora le foglie attaccate. Tagliare le foglie un paio di cm al di sopra del bulbo e consumarle prima possibile (si possono preparare come altre verdure in foglia). Per essere efficienti, raccomando di arrostire più barbabietole di quante ne servano per la ricetta e utilizzare il resto come ingrediente in una zuppa o insalata.

Scaldare il forno a 190 C.

Pulire le barbabietole rosse. Avvolgere ciascuna barbabietola in un pezzo di carta stagnola e metterle su una placca da forno. Infornare e arrostire le barbabietole rosse fino a quando si possono perforare facilmente con un coltello. Controllare dopo 45-60 minuti (a seconda della grandezza delle barbabietole) e valutare il tempo di cottura rimanente.

Far intiepidire le barbabietole, poi pelarle. Pesare la quantità necessaria per la ricetta. Tagliare le barbabietole a pezzi e metterle da parte.

Preparare la salsa di noci
Scaldare il forno a 170 C.

Distribuire le noci su una placca da forno. Tostare le noci per alcuni minuti.  Toglierle dalla placca e farle freddare.

Tritare finemente le noci nel robot, versarle in una ciotola e aggiungere tutti gli altri ingredienti della salsa alle noci. Mescolare bene e mettere da parte.

Preparare il pkhali
Tritare le barbabietole rosse nel robot. Aggiungerle alla ciotola con la salsa alle noci. Mescolare bene.

Aggiungere gli altri ingredienti del pkhali e mescolare bene. Coprire la ciotola e tenerla in frigo per almeno 4 ore (6-8 ore anche meglio).

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero il pkhali in anticipo, versarlo su un piatto da portata e lisciare la superficie con una spatola. (Io l'ho gli ho dato la forma un po' a collinetta, invece che piatta.) Con un coltello marcare la superficie con una decorazione a losanghe.

Servire a temperatura ambiente.

Serve 4 come antipasto.

1 Sezione su pkhali in Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook di Anya von Bremzen e John Welchman (in inglese)
2 Il libro di memorie di Anya von Bremzen: L'arte della cucina sovietica

UnMondoIngredientiLogo 329221889_1929099054116173_1830165923816230171_nContribuisco il mio pkhali di barbabietole rosse dalla Georgia alla lettera B 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.

 

recipe: red beet pkhali

| Simona

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avocado salad / insalata di avocado

| Simona

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[versione in italiano]

avocado salad / IMG_4899

flavor and color bursting from the bowl
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The novel Miss Cecily’s Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman1 is our current Cook the Books Club selection. I enjoyed the story of the friendship between Kate and Miss Cecily and the style in which it is told. It was a reading that satisfied well the need for something light during an intense period. 

When the story feels like it is sliding under a shadow of predictability, Zimmerman inserts a surprise to keep the reader's interest alive. This happens even beyond the ending, as the interview with the author, which I found at the end of the book, brought some interesting details.

The story shines a light on the importance of mentors in one's life. Miss Cecily is not an easy one, but Kate perseveres, understanding that the elderly woman's sometimes sharp words come from a place of affection and wisdom.

In the 1950's, Miss Cecily wrote a cookbook (Thought for Food), which contains menus and practical advice for different occasions (for example, Tea for a Crotchety Aunt). The recipes belong to that era and the menus mentioned are not keen on vegetables, which are what I mostly eat, so I thought I'd contribute a vegetable dish of my liking for balance.

avocado salad / IMG_4899

summer flavor thanks to a winter surprise
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Kate could prepare this avocado salad for Ben whom in the story she scolds for buying store-bought guacamole instead of preparing it fresh. The salad was inspired by the avocado salsa cruda recipe in The Latin Table by Isabel Cruz. The main ingredient change I made is the use of arugula (rucola) instead of cilantro (coriandolo).

I love avocados! Mashed avocado makes a great dressing for many vegetables, including roasted Brussels sprouts and steamed purple sprouting broccoli. A local farmer2 is growing tomatoes (pomodori) in hoop tunnels, so between those and locally grown arugula, I have been enjoying bowls of this brightly flavored salad.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Avocado salad

Ingredients for one serving:

  • 4 ounces / 112 grams small tomatoes OR cherry tomatoes
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams arugula (rocket), clean weight
  • 1 tablespoon minced red spring onion OR shallot
  • 1/2 medium ripe avocado
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml lime juice, or to taste
  • 1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml extra-virgin olive oil, optional

Half and slice the tomatoes. If using cherry tomatoes, half or quarter them, depending on their size. Place the tomatoes in a bowl.

Chop the arugula and add it to the bowl. Add the onion or shallot to the bowl. Dice the avocado and add it to the bowl.

Sprinkle the salt and drizzle the lime juice on the salad then toss it gently and thoroughly.

Taste and adjust the salt and/or lime juice, if needed. For a richer salad, sprinkle the olive oil. Toss again.

Serve immediately.

Serves 1

1 A review of the book on the Library Journal
2 Palmer Creek Farm

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

insalata di avocado

or launch the insalata di avocado audio file [mp3].

[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.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

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.

salad, avocado, tomatoes, lime juice, Mexican cuisine

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Newrule

insalata di avocado

avocado salad / IMG_4899

una ciotola piena di colore e sapore
(tovaglietta de La FABBRICA del LINO)

Si dice "avocado" ed è facile pensare al guacamole, salsa messicana preparata nel molcajete (mortaio), ma per questo viaggio virtuale nel mondo degli ingredienti, ho preparato una ensalada de aguacate ispirata dalla ricetta per avocado salsa cruda in The Latin Table di Isabel Cruz. Ho sostituito il coriandolo, del quale non sono una fan, con la rucola.

In uno dei mercati dei produttori che frequento, in questo periodo trovo avocado raccolti qui in California (e il cipollotto rosso). Avocado di produzione messicana si trovano facilmente nei supermercati tutto l'anno. La varieta più comune è Haas ma ce ne sono anche altre1.

Grazie ad un produttore locale in vena di esperimenti al mercato vicino casa ho trovato dei bei (e buoni) pomodori, nonostante la stagione. Di produzione locale è anche la rucola.

Ingredienti per una porzione:

  • 110 grammi di pomodori piccoli o ciliegini
  • 30 grammi di rucola, peso pulito
  • 1 cucchiaio di cipollotto rosso (o scalogno) tritato
  • 1/2 avocado medio maturo
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di sale fino o q.b.
  • 1 cucchiaio / 15 ml di succo di lime o q.b.
  • 1/2 cucchiaio / 7.5 ml di olio extra-vergine di oliva, facoltativo

Affettare i pomodori. Se usate i ciliegini, taglieteli a metà o in quarti a seconda della loro grandezza. Mettere i pomodori in una ciotola.

Tagliare la rucola e aggiungerla alla ciotola, poi aggiungere il cipollotto (o scalogno).

Tagliare a dadini l'avocado e aggiungerlo alla ciotola.

Spargere sull'insalata il sale e il succo di lime e mescolare bene, delicatamente.

Assaggiare e correggere sale e/o succo di lime, se necessario. Per un'insalata più ricca, spargere l'olio d'oliva e mescolare di nuovo. 

Servire subito.

1 Varietà di avocado (in inglese)

UnMondoIngredientiLogo LetteraAContribuisco la mia insalata di avocado dal Messico alla lettera A 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.

 

 

 

recipe: avocado salad

| Simona

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radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon / insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela

| Simona

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radicchio salad / IMG_4773D

flavorful and brightly colored
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The novel Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson1 is our current Cook the Books Club selection, hosted by yours truly. I chose the book from a list of food-rich ones because the title intrigued me. Fernet-Branca is a popular digestivo (digestive liqueur) in Italy, not a cooking ingredient. A splash of it can be added to an espresso to make a version of caffè corretto. A Fernet caldo (warm) is meant to help digestion.

While I don't know what Fernet-Branca tastes like, I remember well how much I liked its TV ads when I was a kid. The ads2 featured ever-shifting shapes made with modeling clay.  

"An opera buffa with recipes" is how the NY Times review1 describes the novel, and I agree. The story and the events are somewhat outlandish and hilarious. The protagonists, Gerald and Marta, whose voice and perspective we hear in turn, keep the reader's attention and so does their turf war — fought in a corner of Tuscany, which for both of them is a foreign country.

Gerald, a British ghost writer, is also a creative cook. His recipes, like the book's plot, are — shall we say — unusual and often enriched with Fernet-Branca (to which Marta introduced him). The inspiration for my salad came not from Gerald's creations, but from a connection I made between bitter liqueur (amaro) and its digestive properties, and bitter greens, like beloved radicchio.

radicchio salad ingredients / IMG_4750D

group photo: salad ingredients (minus the microgreens)
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Last month, I spent a few days in Venice (Venezia) and ate radicchio every day, raw or cooked. All the varieties were available at the store where I usually shop for vegetables, which made me happy. In recent years, I have been able to obtain radicchio from some vendors at farmers' markets in California,3 and when that happens I always make a point of thanking the farmer for growing a beloved vegetable. 

While the round, wine-red radicchio di Chioggia is the most common salad variety, I sometimes find the burgundy-flecked variegato di Castelfranco.

radicchio salad / IMG_4771D

before the final tossing
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

With their delicate sweetness, Fuyu persimmons, now in season, and great in salads, provide a lovely contrast to radicchio. The other ingredients contribute to the salad's flavor and texture profile.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces / 56 grams radicchio (variegato di Castelfranco or radicchio di Chioggia)
  • 2 ounces / 56 grams leaf lettuce
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams carrot (1 small carrot), clean weight
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams microgreens4 of choice (sunflower, kohlrabi, arugula)
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams Fuyu persimmon (about 1/2 of a medium persimmon)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • A splash of sherry vinegar + 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, possibly homemade OR 2 tablespoons vinaigrette
  • 1/2 ounce sweet blue cheese, crumbled

Chop the clean radicchio and leaf lettuce and place into a bowl.

Scrub the carrot  and scrape its surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Grate the carrot using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater. Add the grated carrot and the microgreens to the bowl.

Core and thinly slice the persimmon, then add to the bowl.

Sprinkle the salt on the salad then distribute the mayonnaise or vinaigrette on the surface. Toss gently and thoroughly.

Sprinkle the blue cheese, toss again, plate and serve.

Serves 2

1 The book on the publisher's website and a review of the book on the NY Times.
2 Fernet-Branca website, one ad and another one
3 From briciole's archive: Savoy cabbage and radicchio and radicchio and sweet corn
4 This page explains the differences between sprouts and microgreens.

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

insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela

or launch the insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela audio file [mp3].

[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.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

 The roundup of the event.

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.

salad,leaf- lettuce, carrot, radicchio, mayonnaise, microgreens, persimmon

recipe: radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon

| Simona

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strawberry, fava bean, fennel and radish salad / insalata di fragole, fave, finocchio e ravanello

| Simona

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IMG_4362

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).

fava beans, fennel, strawberries / IMG_4360

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.

IMG_4361

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.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Strawberry, fava bean, fennel and radish salad

Ingredients :

  • 7 ounces / 200 grams strawberries, possibly organic
  • 1 teaspoon / 5 ml balsamic vinegar
  • 1 pound / 450 grams fresh fava beans
  • 1 small fennel bulb
  • 1 radish
  • 2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml balsamic vinegar
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
  • A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon stone-ground mustard
  • 4-5 leaves of fresh basil, chiffonade
  • 1 teaspoon minced fennel frond

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.

1 The book's page on the publisher's website
2 Big Night
3 From briciole's archive: Strawberry, fava bean and fennel salad
4 My favorite image of Mastroianni, by Diane Arbus

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

insalata di fragole, fave, finocchio e ravanello

or launch the insalata di fragole, fave, finocchio e ravanello audio file [mp3].

[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.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

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.

strawberry, fava bean, fennel, radish, salad

recipe: strawberry, fava bean, fennel and radish salad

| Simona

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red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad / insalata di barbabietole rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo

| Simona

jump to Recipe

IMG_4299

Colorful salad: the view from above
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the spy novel Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews1. I chose this book for our Club in early June 2021. I had no idea that by the time I started reading it, it would feel like current events. It was hard to believe the book was published in 20132.

While I am an avid reader of mystery novels, this was my first experience reading a spy novel. I was attracted to it because each chapter ends with a short recipe (ricetta): more a list of ingredients and a sketch of the preparation than a real recipe. Still the contrast is intriguing.

The author is a former officer of the CIA’s Operations Directorate, so he wrote the novel from a place of personal experience. I was interested in the language (acronyms and some spy jargon) and the window the novel opens on the mechanics of some secret operations. I found the main characters in the novel interesting, in terms of how they end up doing what they do and also with respect to the question: how do they keep their humanity? How do they maintain friendships, marriages? Those relationships are rooted in trust, openness, sincerity, and yet the spy’s main role is to dissimulate and violence, some of it quite brutal (torture, murder) is part of the job.

IMG_4296 (1)

salad ingredients ready to be tossed together
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

As the story travels to different countries, the recipes span a number of culinary traditions. When the novel moved to Helsinki, I looked for Finnish recipes, since an important part of the novel takes place in the Nordic capital: that’s where Dominika meets and falls in love with CIA operative Nate, and befriends fellow Russian Marta, whose disappearance pushes Dominika to step over to the other side. In my search, I read about rosolli, a salad 

made of cooked, diced root vegetables, especially beetroot, carrot and potato, often combined with one or more of pickled cucumber (of either the vinegar or brine type), raw onion and apple. Variations may also include additional ingredients such as pickled herring or boiled egg…3

Then in chapter 40, I read:

On the way back to Tallinn, Benford stopped at a highway café grill, to see how the Lada would react. Surveillance proceeded two hundred meters and waited on the side of the highway. Benford made himself stretch out a lunch of boiled sausages, pickles, herring, Baltic rosolje salad, black bread, dark loamy beers.

and a recipe for Estonian Beet Salad—Rosolje appears at the end of the chapter, signaling that various versions of this dish are typical of the larger Baltic region. In fact,

Similar dishes are found throughout northern Europe, from the Low Countries across Scandinavia to Russia. Especially the Russian vinegret is very similar to the Finnish rosolli.3

The salad I made is a free interpretation: I roasted red beets and carrots, omitted potatoes, pickles, herring and the “cooked beef or pork” mentioned in the book’s version, used my homemade mayonnaise (maionese) as dressing and added blue cheese (formaggio erborinato). The combination is quite nice: sweet, tender vegetables, crisp apple, egg, a hint of sharpness in the cheese. You can roast the vegetables ahead of time, then assemble the salad right before the meal. I imagine preparing the ingredients and allow the guests to make their own salad, which can be served also as an appetizer (antipasto).

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad

Ingredients per person (to be multiplied as needed):

  • 2 small red beets
  • 2 small carrots
  • 1 large egg, from pastured poultry
  • 1/2 medium apple
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
  • A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • A splash of sherry vinegar, to taste
  • 1-2 tablespoons / 15-30 ml mayonnaise, possibly homemade, to taste
  • 1/2 ounce / 15 grams Point Reyes Bay Blue4 OR other sweet blue cheese

Note: I recommend you purchase a bunch of red beets with their greens. Cut off the greens about 1 inch / 2.5 cm from the root and consume them as soon as possible like you would other types of dark leafy greens.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Scrub the red beets well. Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface with a blade to remove a thin layer of skin. Wrap each in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Put in the oven and roast the vegetables until easily pierced with a blade. Check the carrots after 30 minutes and the beets after 45 minutes and gauge the cooking time remaining for each.

Let the carrots cool until easy to handle, then slice them (half the slices if the carrot is wide) and set them aside. Let the red beets cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Cut the beets in bite-sized pieces and set them aside.

In the meantime, hard-boil the egg, let it cool, then peel it and dice it. Crumble the cheese. Just before assembling the salad, dice the apple (peeling optional).

Compose the salad using the vegetables, apple and egg. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar and toss. Add the mayonnaise and toss, then add the blue cheese, toss one last time, and serve.

1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website
2 A review of the novel on the NY Times
3 The wikipedia article about rosolli and a recipe for rosolli on the Finlandia Foundation website
4 Point Reyes Bay Blue cheese, “a rustic-style blue cheese with a natural rind. It is known for its mellow flavor and sweet, salted caramel finish.”

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

insalata di barbabietole rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo

or launch the insalata di barbabietola rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo audio file [mp3].

[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.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.  

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.

red beet, apple, carrot, egg, salad