sweet corn

beans, winter squash and corn / fagioli, zucca e mais dolce

| Simona
beans, winter squash and corn in a serving bowl
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.

beans, winter squash and corn in a serving bowl
different version, same deliciousness
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Simona Carini (briciole)

Beans, Corn and Winter Squash

Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Approximate time to cook the beans 1 hour
Servings: 3
Course: Main Course
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the beans:
  • 1/2 cup / 100 g / 3 1/2 ounces Vermont cranberry beans or similar variety
  • 2 cups / 480 ml water
  • 1/2 bay leaf
  • 1 garlic clove sliced
  • 1/2 small onion halved
  • 2 parsley stems
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the dish (besides the batch of beans)
  • 8 ounces / 225 grams honeynut, autumn frost or butternut squash clean weight
  • 2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 ounces / 112 grams red onion finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked spicy paprika or hot paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground dried chihuacle negro or smoked paprika
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1/4 cup / 60 ml tomato passata (I use my roasted strained tomatoes)3
  • 3 1/2 ounces / 100 grams escarole leaves
  • 2 ounces / 56 grams roasted poblano pepper
  • 4 ounces / 112 grams roasted corn thawed, if frozen
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Equipment

  • 1 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet

Method
 

Cook the dry beans
  1. 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.
  2. 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)
  3. Check the beans at regular intervals. If necessary, add some hot water to ensure there is enough liquid to cover the beans.
  4. 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
  1. Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. For efficiency's sake, consider roasting several peppers and refrigerate or freeze the extra.
  2. Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 180 degrees.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  1. Peel and deseed the squash. I use a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds and a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash.
  2. Weigh the amount of squash needed. Cut the squash into small bite-sized pieces, no more than ½ inch / 1.25 cm.
  3. 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.
  4. Add the thyme, spices and garlic to the pan and stir well.
  5. After 1 minute, turn up the heat to medium, add the cut squash and stir well. Add the tomato passata and stir well.
  6. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook until the squash is just tender (10 minutes or as needed), stirring every now and then.
  7. In the meantime, wash and drain the escarole leaves, halve them lengthwise then slice them crosswise into 1/2-inch / 2.5 cm strips.
  8. Add the chopped escarole leaves to the pan and stir well. Cover and let cook for 4 minutes.
  9. Add the beans and stir well. Cover and let cook for 2 minutes.
  10. Add the corn and chopped poblano peppers and stir well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
  11. 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.

1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website
2 The quote is from a paper cited on the USDA National Agricultural Library page The Three Sisters of Indigenous American Agriculture
3 From briciole’s archive: Recipe for Roasted poblano peppers with corn. and for Strained roasted tomatoes

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.)

This is 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.

roasted poblano peppers with corn / peperoni poblano arrosto e mais dolce

| Simona
roasted poblano peppers with corn and fromage blanc
smells comforting
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Coming to My Senses by Alice Waters1 chef and cookbook author, whose name is associated to the renowned restaurant Chez Panisse2 in Berkeley, CA, which she opened in 1971 (with Paul Aratow), the farm-to-table movement and the Edible Schoolyard Project.3

I listened to the audio book, narrated by Waters. I enjoyed learning about certain aspects of what makes Chez Panisse special, like the beautiful menus. Listening to Waters’s stories, it’s important to remember that ideas like farm-to-table restaurants, now mainstream, were new when she started implementing them. I don’t share any of her experiences in terms of “food awakening” as I grew up in Italy and with strong connections to food producers.

Waters describes her travels to France and other parts of Europe. She writes off Italy, where she had an unpleasant experience. Initially I was irritated by her words, then realized that I have done the same with France, after an unpleasant experience in Paris. Indeed, first impressions leave a lasting mark.

I don’t have any of Waters’s cookbooks, but I share her focus and delight in cooking with fresh, local, seasonal ingredients (ingredienti freschi, di produzione locale e di stagione). This is the season of peppers, sweet corn and fresh onions (cipolle), including sweet Walla Walla. I was inspired by a recipe from Saveur magazine: Creamy Poblano Rajas With Corn by Fatima Khawaja.4 In my version, I oven roast poblano peppers and sweet corn, the balance of ingredients is more towards the peppers, and I use fromage blanc rather than Mexican crema or crème fraîche. The result is drier, to be served as a side dish.

People who follow me on Instagram know that I celebrate farmers and their products by creating still lifes like the one below, which include two of the recipe ingredients.

tomatoes, peppers, oregano
from the farmers’ market, including a poblano pepper and fresh oregano

In the spirit of a Chez Panisse menu, below are the sources of the ingredients used in the various rendition of this recipe, purchased at local farmers’ markets or farm stands:

  • poblano peppers: Happy Hearts Farm, Luna Farm, Shakefork Community Farm
  • sweet corn: Earthly Edibles, Flood Plain Produce, Shakefork Community Farm, The Corn Crib
  • Walla Walla onion: Neukom Family Farm
  • garlic: Happy Hearts Farm, Luna Farm
  • fresh oregano (origano): Woven Hearts Herb Farm
  • Foggy Morning (fromage blanc): Nicasio Valley Cheese Company
roasted poblano peppers and corn, garlic clove and sliced onion on cutting board
ready to start cooking

When sweet corn and peppers are in season, roasting them is a kind of ritual I follow once I get home from shopping.

Simona Carini (briciole)

Roasted Poblano Peppers with Corn

5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Time to roast corn and peppers 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 32 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Side Dish
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 ounces / 112 grams roasted sweet corn (from 1 medium ear)
  • 1 pound / 450 grams poblano peppers
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 10 ounces / 280 grams Walla Walla onion thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves  minced
  • 1 large garlic clove minced
  • 2 ounces / 56 grams fromage blanc
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste

Equipment

  • 1 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 450 F / 230 C.
  2. For efficiency's sake, 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).
  3. 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 (or foil).
  4. 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. Refrigerate (or freeze) the rest.
  5. Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.
  6. Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 180 degrees.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Cut the flesh into strips ½ inch wide x 2 inches long (1.25 cm x 5 cm) and transfer to a bowl. Transfer the corn to the same bowl.
  10. In a 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet, warm up the olive oil and butter (if using) over medium heat. Add the onion, stir well, turn down to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and beginning to brown, 8-10 minutes or as needed. Add the oregano and garlic and cook until fragrant, less than 1 minute.
  11. Add the poblano peppers and corn and stir well, then add the fromage blanc in small dollops and stir to blend.
  12. Remove from the heat, sprinkle the sea salt, taste and adjust, then serve.

Notes

Roast the sweet corn and poblano peppers ahead of preparing the dish.

1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website
2 Chez Panisse
3 The Edible Schoolyard Project
4 Recipe for Creamy Poblano Rajas With Corn by Fatima Khawaja from Saveur magazine. In reference to food, rajas means strips of a food item, most commonly poblano peppers.

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 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

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

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

| Simona

jump to Recipe

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.

radicchio and sweet corn / radicchio e mais dolce

| Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

radicchio and sweet corn / IMG_4044

a little bitter and a little sweet

A short motoscafo1 ride from the Fondamente Nove of Venezia brings you to the island of Murano. Most visitors go there for a day visit. We stayed there during our most recent visit to Venice, renting a small apartment on Fondamenta dei Vetrai, a short walk from the Murano Colonna stop.

Fondamenta da Mula, Murano / IMG_3955

Fondamenta da Mula, Murano

We had never been to Murano before and enjoyed its quiet, especially early in the morning and late in the afternoon, when day visitors left, leaving a peaceful stillness in their wake. The warm light etched the buildings against the blue sky and seemed to paint another layer of color on them.

Murano by night / IMG_3994

Silent night in Murano

Cooking while on vacation is one of my favorite activities: I get to shop in local stores2 and be creative with a reduced set of kitchen tools and usually a limited time. Being in Veneto (the region of Venice) means being in radicchio land, so it is not surprising that the beautiful vegetable inspired me.

There are several types of radicchio, tied to their production zone:3

  • radicchio di Treviso
  • radicchio di Chioggia
  • radicchio di Verona
  • radicchio di Castelfranco

A basket with beautiful heads of radicchio di Treviso inspired this simple side dish, that marries radicchio‘s distinctive light bitterness with the sweetness of sweet corn.

Since corn season is behind us, I used prepared corn kernels to make the dish. Using canned corn makes this dish come together in less than 15 minutes, while using frozen corn adds just a handful of minutes to the preparation. 

radicchio di Treviso / IMG_4048

The voluptuous beauty of radicchio di Treviso

Printer-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for radicchio and sweet corn

Ingredients:

  • 5 ounces / 140 g prepared sweet corn (see below for details)
  • 8 ounces / 225 g radicchio di Treviso
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • fine sea salt, to taste (depending on what kind of sweet corn you use)

If you use frozen sweet corn, prepare a 10-ounce / 280 g package (this is the smallest format I have found) according to package directions and take half, drained. Set aside while you cook the radicchio.

If you use canned sweet corn, drain 5 ounces / 140 g and set aside while you cook the radicchio.

Separate the leaves of radicchio, wash and drain them. Cut them in 1/4-3/8 inch / 0.5-1 cm wide ribbons.

Warm up the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat, then drop the radicchio in it. Stir well to coat. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook the radicchio, stirring often, until the spine is somewhat softened, about 7 minutes.

Add the corn and stir well. Continue cooking for a minute or two until the corn is heated through. Adjust salt, give it a final stir and take off the heat. Serve warm.

Serves 2-3.

chopped radicchio / IMG_4036

a view of the cutting board

We loved this side dish so much that I made it more than once not only in Murano, but also after we got back home to California, a way of stretching the memory of our lovely sojourn on the Venetian Lagoon4.

1 Venice water buses
2 We particularly liked the olive focaccia, whole-wheat crackers and Bussolà Forte (a traditional sweet treat) from Panificio Marangon located in Fondamenta Santi 8.
3 This page has some details on the various types of radicchio
4 More photos of our recent trip on my Instagram page or Flickr photostream

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

radicchio e mais dolce

or launch the radicchio e mais dolce 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.]

radicchio, sweet corn, side dish, stew, Italian cuisine

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Newrule

radicchio e mais dolce

radicchio e mais dolce / IMG_4044

un po’ di amaro e un po’ di dolce

Un breve tragitto col motoscafo ti porta dalle Fondamente Nove di Venezia all’isola di Murano. La maggior parte dei visitatori vi rimangono in giornata. Noi ci abbiamo soggiornato durante la nostra recente visita Venezia, affittando un appartamentino sulla Fondamenta dei Vetrai, non lontano dalla fermata di Murano Colonna.

Fondamenta da Mula, Murano / IMG_3955

Fondamenta da Mula, Murano

Non eravamo mai stati a Murano before e ci è piaciuta molto, soprattutto al mattino presto e nel tardo pomeriggio quando i visitatori se ne andavano lasciandosi dietro una scia di calma. La luce calda incideva gli edifici contro il cielo azzurro e sembrava dipingere su di essi un’altra mano di colore.

Murano di notte / IMG_3994

Notte silenziosa a Murano

Cucinare quando sono in vacanza mi piace moltissimo. Faccio la spesa nei negozi del luogo1 e avere a disposizione un ridotto set di “strumenti” in cucina mi spinge ad essere creativa. Essendo il Veneto terra di radicchio, non c’è da meravigliarsi che questa bella verdura mi abbia ispirata.

I diversi tipi di radicchio sono legati alla zona di produzione:2

  • radicchio di Treviso
  • radicchio di Chioggia
  • radicchio di Verona
  • radicchio di Castelfranco

Un bel cesto di radicchio di Treviso mi ha ispirata a preparare questo semplice contorno nel quale si sposano il piacevole amarognolo del radicchio e la dolcezza del mais.

Dal momento che la stagione del mais è finita ho usato del mais pronto, il che rende il contorno veloce da preparare. Di fatto il mais cotto al vapore e scatolato fu la mia prima esperienza con questa verdura, quindi questo è stato una specie di viaggio nel passato. Se usate mais congelato ci vogliono una manciata in più di minuti.

radicchio di Treviso / IMG_4048

La bellezza voluttuosa del radicchio di Treviso

Ingredienti:

  • una lattina da 150 g di mais dolce cotto al vapore senza additivi (140 g di prodotto scolato)
  • 225 g radicchio di Treviso
  • 1 cucchiaio / 15 ml olio extra-vergine di oliva
  • sale fino, q.b.

Scolare il mais dolce e metterlo da parte mentre cuocete il radicchio.

Separare le foglie del radicchio, lavarle e scolarle. Tagliarle a strisce larghe 0.5-1 cm.

In una padella scaldare l’olio a fuoco medio, poi aggiungere il radicchio. Mescolare bene. Cuocere il radicchio a calore medio-basso, mescolando spesso fino a quando le coste si siano un po’ ammorbidite, circa 7 minuti.

Aggiungere il mais e mescolare bene. Continuare a cuocere per 1-2 minuti fino a quando il mais è caldo. Correggere il sale, dare una mescolata finale e rimuovere dal fuoco. Servire caldo.

Porzioni: 2-3.

chopped radicchio / IMG_4036

pronto per la padella

Questo contorno ci è piaciuto così tanto che l’ho preparato più di una volta non solo quando eravamo a Murano, ma anche dopo il ritorno in California, un modo per allungare nella memoria la bella vacanza sulla Laguna Venata3.

1 Ci sono particolarmente piaciuti la focaccia alle olive verdi, i cracker integrali e il Bussolà Forte (dolce tradizionale di Murano) del Panificio Marangon, Fondamenta Santi 8. Andateci!
2 I vari tipi di radicchio
3 Altre foto del nostro recente viaggio le potete trovare sulla mia pagina di Instagram o sul Photostream di Flickr

recipe: radicchio and sweet corn

| Simona
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pane al lievito naturale con chicchi di mais arrosto / roasted corn sourdough bread

| Simona
DSC_6022 / roasted corn sourdough bread

simple, flavorful fare

If you drive by a farm stand called The Corn Crib, you must stop and buy four ears of freshly harvested corn, right?

And if a couple of hours later you open your CSA box and find another four ears of freshly harvested corn nestled between heirloom tomatoes and peaches, you grin at the unexpected surprise, right?

What would you do with the bounty that magically materialized in your hands? I cannot answer for you, but as soon as I got home, I turned on the oven and roasted the corn in two batches. I made Corn salad with cherry tomatoes, avocado and lemon cucumber for dinner and while savoring its fresh, juicy flavors, I started thinking about other ways to use the abundancy of roasted corn kernels.

oven-roasted corn

can you smell the sweetness?

I realized that corn kernels (chicchi di mais) are used in bread only in the context of cornbread. I do that too, in my recipe for Cornbread with roasted corn kernels. What about corn kernels in wheat bread?

I immediately did a trial run using a simple yeasted bread recipe. The result was encouraging, so I kept experimenting. I like a lto the Walnut raisin sourdough bread I presented recently, so I used that winning recipe as the basis. Let me introduce you to my roasted corn sourdough bread:

Roasted corn sourdough bread in the Dutch oven

beauty in the pan

Important: this bread uses a starter that requires a bit of advanced planning. The corn must also be roasted ahead.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Roasted corn sourdough bread

Ingredients:

For the preferment

  • 30 g sourdough starter (refreshed previously, if stored in the refrigerator)
  • 60 g water
  • 60 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread) 

For the corn kernels

  • 2 nice, fresh ears of corn (pannocchie di granturco1), still wrapped in their husks (if they aren't, wrap them in foil before roasting them) and with their silks attached (see important Note below)

For the dough

  • 140 g preferment (sourdough starter) prepared in advance with the ingredients listed above
  • 260 ml water at 85 F / 30 C
  • 0.4 g / 1/8 teaspoon  instant yeast 
  • 50 g stone-ground whole-wheat flour (I use locally grown and milled Hollis wheat)
  • 25 g stone-ground cornmeal (I use locally grown and milled corn)
  • 300 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour, plus as needed to shape the bread
  • 200 g roasted corn kernels
  • 1/4 cup / 60 ml basil chiffonade
  • 6 g fine sea salt

Prepare the preferment
12-16 hours before starting to make the bread, prepare the preferment: weigh the ingredients in a 2-cup container, stir well with a fork, cover and let ferment at room temperature in a draft-free place. (Adjust the timing as needed for your starter and your room temperature so that by the time you start making bread the preferment is bubbly active.)

Prepare the roasted corn
Note: even roasting 2 ears of corn, you will have some leftover kernels, but for efficiency's sake, I suggest you roast 3 or 4 ears of corn. Roasted corn kernels can be used in a number of other recipes, like:

Preheat oven to 450 F / 250 C. Place corn on a baking sheet leaving some room around each ear. Roast corn in the oven for 20 minutes. Let cool briefly, then remove the husks. Working on a shallow bowl or pyrex dish, use a knife to separate kernels and scrapings from the cob. (Save the empty cobs to make stock or broth.)

Make sure the corn is at room temperature by the time you are ready to start making the bread. With the help of a fork, separate the kernels, so they distribute evenly in the dough.

Prepare the dough
I start making the bread early in the morning, so I am sure the boule will be baked and thoroughly cooled by dinner time.

In a bowl, mix preferment (sourdough starter), water and instant yeast. The small amount of yeast I use helps keep the leavening process within a predictable time frame in the cool environment of our house. 

Add the flours and stir with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk.

Add corn and basil and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Sprinkle salt on the surface.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest 5 minutes. In the meantime, oil well a plastic tub with lid where you will transfer the dough when fully mixed.

Wet the spoon (if using it) and mix dough until it is homogeneous.

Transfer the dough to the oiled tub. With wet hands, letter-fold the dough and then flip it to oil the surface. This is your time 0. Cover the tub and let rest for 45 minutes.

This very nice video on The SF Baking Institute website describes and shows a couple of important techniques I apply to bread dough.

  1. Stretching and folding: as Mac says in the video, the stretching part is of fundamental importance in gluten development
  2. Pre-shaping and shaping rounds (useful for later)

The video is not long, but if you don't have time to watch it in its entirety, you can start at 4':30" and watch about 8 minutes until Mac shows how to shape a boule.

  • A) Stretch and fold the dough in the tub along both sides.
  • B) Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.

Repeat A and B two more times, at which point you will be at time 3 hours.

Check gluten development by stretching a corner of the dough to make a windowpane. If you don't get a windowpane, let dough ferment a little longer. 

Shape the bread
Lightly flour your working surface and transfer dough onto it. Use a bench scraper to help you move and turn the dough.

Gently pat the dough to flatten it into a thick circle and degas. Fold corners of dough towards the center, flip (so it is seam side down) and pre-shape into a boule on an unfloured section of your working surface, which offers some resistance (see video at 8'). Move the round towards you, then back with a slight rotation, all the while tucking dough underneath. Bring a bit of tension to the dough, but not as much as you will later, during shaping.

Let pre-shaped round rest for 20 minutes, covered (I leave it on the kneading board and cover it with the plastic tub turned upside down).

In the meantime, generously flour a lined round bread basket or similar container (my brotform is unlined, so I have a square piece of cloth that I flour and use to line it). Flip the dough (so it is seam side up) and flatten lightly, then fold corners of dough towards the center. Flip (so it is seam side down) and shape into a boule on an unfloured section of your working surface, which offers some resistance (see video at 12'). Move the round towards you then back with a slight rotation, all the while tucking dough underneath. Bring tension to the dough, but do not overdo or the surface will tear.

Gently flip the dough and place it seam side up into the prepared basket. Cover (I use a clean shower cap for this) and let the dough rest until doubled in size (also, until a dimple made on the dough with your fingertip persists), in my case 3 to 4 hours, depending on the room temperature. 

DSC_6021 / roasted corn sourdough bread

ready for the oven

Prepare the oven
Place a lidded 5-Qt cast-iron Dutch oven. in the cold oven and preheat the oven to 475 F /245 C. (You can bake the bread on tiles and use your preferred method for creating steam in the oven.)

Bake the bread
When the dough is ready to be baked, cut a piece of parchment paper large enough so that you can take hold of it by the corners and use them to help you lower the dough into the Dutch oven and later to retrieve the bread from it. Lay the parchment paper onto the back of a baking sheet. Flip the dough onto the parchment paper, lift basket and peel away liner.

Score the surface according to your preference. I got the star-shaped scoring you see in the photo from the recipe for White sourdough in How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou: With scissors, cut the points of the star all around the top of the boule. 

Take the Dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. Pick up the parchment paper and lower the shaped dough into the Dutch oven. Put the lid on and place the Dutch oven back into the oven. Turn the oven temperature down to 425 F / 218 C.

Bake for 15 minutes,  then remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes. At this point, check the bread's internal temperature: if it is 210 F / 99 C, it is ready. Otherwise, continue baking for another 2 minutes, then check again. In my case, it takes 32 minutes for the bread to bake.

Carefully extract the bread out of the Dutch oven using the parchment paper flaps to lift it up. Place on a rack to cool. Restrain your desire to go at the bread with your knife: let it cool completely, at least two hours, then slice and feast on it with all your senses. 

Roasted Corn sourdough bread
Almost ready to be sliced

This is a lovely summer bread, with a gentle corn flavor. The roasted kernels look like golden pearls and act as little surprises when savoring a morsel.

You can enjoy this bread by itself or with a bowl of soup, cheese, salumi (charcuterie) and other dishes.

1 Both mais and granturco mean corn in Italian.

Nuovo italia (1)I am sending this bread to the August edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Sandra.

Nowy2And to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish). The roundup of the event.

Finally, to Yeastspotting. This page has one portion of the roundup and links to the other two portions.

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

pane al lievito naturale con chicchi di mais arrosto

or launch the pane al lievito naturale con chicchi di mais arrosto 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.]

bread, homemade bread, sourdough, corn

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recipe: roasted corn sourdough bread (pane al lievito naturale con chicchi di mais arrosto)

| Simona

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recipe: corn salad with cherry tomatoes, avocado and lemon cucumber (insalata di mais)

| Simona
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