L'Aperitivo

There are certain little things I just love about italy. It's all about the details. 

Fresh panettone stuffed with Grand marnier cream, wrapped in beautiful paper...stepping into a bar for coffee and being greeting with BUONGIORNO! by strangers....driving on the autostrada during a major soccer game and cars blocking the toll booths to be able to hear a key moment in the game, (no reception under the booth) and no one caring...the list goes on. 

Paternò is famous for bar-love. Every corner in our town has a bar... or two. The bar is the center of social interaction outside the home.  People have their favorite bars, favorite baristas, favorite specialties. Some bars specialize in 'dessert', which are soft butter cookies dipped in chocolate or with added nuts or candied fruit. Some specialize in savory treats like cartucciate (puff pastry with tomato sauce, ham, cheese and olives), arancini (fried rice balls stuffed with everything from eggplant Parmesan to meat sauce to ground pistachios and cream), fried stuffed olives or mini pizzas. Some make cakes or tortes or ice cream. My favorite bar, Bar Elios, is minuscule, and makes the absolute best almond paste cookies...melt in your mouth...and in cool weather makes the raviola, a puff pastry pocket with homemade ricotta, sweetened with a bit of sugar and cinnamon or cocoa. He makes the best pistachio arancini and smoked salmon cream arancini too,.. I could brag all day about Signor Pippo and his talents. Moving on! 

The other day my brother-in-law picked me up so we could get our girls at school together and catch up. We stopped at a bar he prefers, to kill some time and grab a drink.  This bar wasn't impressive on the outside, and upon entering (after the BUONGIORNO!) I note a small gathering of people watching a tv screen. It's the Lottery crew. Watching the numbers. Two old women, a young man and a little girl. Fixed on that screen. 

We approach the bar, browse the very few offerings of pastries, and decide on just 'l'aperitivo'. We choose 'analcolico', non-alcohol. Sitting down at a tiny marble table I see the 'dessert' case. Three levels high, about 10' long, packed with trays of every dessert cookie I think I've seen. This is apparently their specialty. Giant 2'x3' wicker baskets are piled in the corner, waiting to be filled with Spumante or Prosecco, wrapped panettone and dessert cookies. And here comes the barista. 

He brings us two American style glass water glasses, filled about 2/3 up with a neon orange liquid and a slice of orange floating at the top. He brings a tray of salatini, or salty snacks, and a plate of four mini pizza bites. Not bad. Nice bonus, I'm thinking. Toasted hazelnuts, tiny spicy rice puffs, chips, peanuts and more. What a treat. It's the little things. 

The aperitivo is not sweet, not sour, it's almost bittersweet. Kind of like eating an orange peel. Strangely enjoyable. You've seen those tiny triangle shaped red bottles I'm sure. That's this. It piques the appetite, prepares the stomach for eating lunch, starts the digestive juices flowing. There's method in the madness. 

We drink, and talk, and snack, and talk. The bar fills and empties four or five times, glasses clinking and coffee saucers sliding back and forth across the marble. A young woman comes in along and the ocean of men parts to let her reach the bar, quickly down a coffee, and depart. A deaf man comes in to follow his apparently daily routine, signs to the barista and is served with a smile and a nod. More lottery crew come and crane their necks to watch the numbers. I could sit here all day. 

This week why not pick up a little pack of these Campari aperitivi at the store and serve chilled with some little snacks before dinner. Add your own little something special. 

Bucatini all'arrabbiata

Bucatini?  What in the world? Imagine rolling dough out, and then around a piece of straw. Pull out the straw and you have bucatini, or spaghetti with hole.  They're found in Italian specially stores and sometimes at gourmet grocers. Personally they're not my favorite just because they're hard to cook al dente. Here's the trick though to getting it perfect. . 

Bring your salted water to a boil. Read the package for number of minutes to cook.  Pour pasta into boiling water, stir, cover, and TURN OFF FIRE. Yep. Turn it off. Set the timer and when it dings you'll have perfect pasta. (Don't peek by the way). 

This is such a great system.  Saves electricity, saves steam and heat in the kitchen, and cooks your pasta perfectly al dente all the way through every time. Pastas like bow tie and bucatini especially need this because they tend to cook more on the outside and less at the center. Try it and see how you like it! 

Tonight we picked up some red pepper bucatini from a cousin's fresh pasta shop. I think they're cousins anyway. We are related to half the people in the area somehow. Bright red swirls of thick round pasta. Just too hard to resist. Got some fresh ricotta and spinach ravioli too. Mmm. I think Sunday we will come get their broccoli and almond stuffed orecchiette, or maybe their pistachio and ricotta pasta. Just yum. 

Anyway, my daughter wanted to cook for me, and since I'm fighting some congestion, she said I needed spicy. We stopped and got a fresh, long, spicy pepper, a can of tomato 'pulp', and two eggplants. €4. About $5.50. With €2 for pasta we were at $8 for dinner. Nice. 

Annemarie's Bucatini all'arrabbiata 

In a saucepan heat on medium hi about 2 tbsp olive oil. Slice  1" of the hot pepper into circles. Crush a clove of garlic with the side of your knife. Toss all that in the oil. Don't put the pepper seeds. 

Cook on medium hi for a few minutes and put your pasta water on to boil. 

Add a 14oz can of tomato pulp, or polpa. Kind of like our crushed tomatoes. Add a tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook on medium hi semi-covered for five-ten minutes to reduce the watery liquid down. 

Slice eggplant into 1/4" slices and brown in a skillet either dry or with a little olive oil. Salt each side. Cook till soft and brown. Set aside. 

When salted pasta water boils dump in pasta, stir, cover, turn off and set timer. Don't open the lid at all till timer rings. 

Taste sauce for salt or bitterness. If bitter add a pinch of sugar. 

When everything is done, pull your bucatini out of the water and put right into the sauce. Toss together. 

Serve topped with grilled eggplant, some crusty bread, and we like it with some fresh arugula on top. A little grated ricotta salata cheese goes perfect too. 

We ended the meal with cheese and some buttery pears. 

My congestion cleared right up, by the way. Just what the doctor ordered! 

Italian Meatball Soup

This is a 'whip-it-up-quick' meal. Have an onion? A few carrots? A half pound of ground beef?  You have the makings of one of my family's favorite meals. 

We love eating this when we've been eating out a lot, or have been traveling, or any time we want something to soothe that tummy. Even with the onion and beef in the ingredients it manages to set your system right. We learned to make this from my sister-in-law Daniela in Sicily. She would have this treat hot and ready to eat each time we arrived for a visit. Wonderful after that long plane ride. 

Italian Meatball Soup

Feeds 5 adults

Work time: 10 min

Cook time: 20-30 min

5 carrots, peeled and cut in bite sized pieces. 

2 onions, roughly chopped

*also good are sliced mushrooms, frozen corn, celery, etc

1 lb grass fed ground beef

1/2 c Parmesan

1/2 c bread crumbs 

Garlic powder

2 bay leaves

Pepper

Oregano

Salt

Cayenne pepper

Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Rice or 1/4 lb broken spaghetti (optional)

Fill a soup pot with about 3 quarts water and set on high heat. Add hard chopped veggies. Save any soft ones you want to use for later. Mix meat with Parmesan and bread crumbs. Add a couple tbsp milk or water to soften. Add 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder. Mix well. Form 1" balls, packing firmly, and drop in the water as you go. If using rice, add 1/2 c at the same time as the meat. 

Now add 2 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp oregano. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 30 min, skimming off any foam. Add those soft optional veggies about 15 min into cooking, and 5 minutes before serving add a few dashes cayenne and taste for saltiness. You can add Worcestershire to the meatballs when makings them, or the broth at this point. It's good with or without it. 

It should taste peppery and flavorful. 

We serve it with Parmesan on the table, bread we've opened and toasted for extra crunch, or you can cut up bread in cubes, toss in a ziploc with a drizzle of olive oil, a handful of shredded Parmesan, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, shake well, then pour on foil and broil in the oven for amazing croutons. 

Serving this to unexpected guests the other day, my son in college texted me and was instantly wishing he were home to join us!   By the way, I did say use a pound of meat. If you don't have it, no worries. Half a pound is just fine. Make smaller meatballs and add rice or broken spaghetti (add pasta in the last 10 minutes). Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Nutella Crostata

When I visit Sicily I am pressured to bring a supply of peanut butter. It's something that, for some reason, has never taken off over here. I'm surprised because a jar of peanut butter lasts about 3 days when I open it here. They love it. So, after a week of cobblers and crumbles with lots of fruit, my sweet nephew Simone asked me, 'Zia, PLEASE can you make me something chocolate?' 

Of course. For him, anything. Ever seen those Italian paintings of child angels? Well they were drawing him. Just angelic in face and heart, even at 9 years old. Sweetie. 

I started to make him a Nutella crostata and decided to throw in a surprise of a layer of peanut butter. Yum. 

Ingredients:

1 Stick of butter /120gr

100 grams sugar

1 3/4 c flour / 200gr

An egg

1/3 c smooth peanut butter

300gr Nutella 

Extra flour and sugar

Preheat oven to 375. 
Line a 9" round cake pan with aluminum foil or parchment so it sticks out on four corners--- easier to remove your confection to place on a plate and serve with coffee! 

Mash in a bowl with a fork, a stick of butter and 100 grams of sugar. Just weigh it.  Mix in an egg. Add 1 3/4 cup flour and mix in. 
Dump out on a floured counter and roll out. It'll stick to the pin and counter. Just flour the pin. It should remind you of sugar cookie dough. When it's about double a pie crust's thickness, stop. Using a knife cut a circle 1" larger than the base of your cake pan. (set it on top.) 
Use a spatula to scrape under the circle and roll it up on the pin to transfer to the cake pan. Press in and up sides about 3/4". 

Take about 1/3 c smooth peanut butter and add a tbsp of sugar and a tbsp of flour. Mix well and spread on the bottom. 

Then pour about 300gr of Nutella into a bowl and add a tbsp flour. Mix in and pour over the peanut butter. Spread out. 

Now use the extra dough to make a lattice, make hearts, whatever. Paint with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is browned. You can dust when cooled with powdered sugar. Remove from pan and peel foil or paper from the bottom. Serve cooled. 

Cherry Plum Cobbler with Ricotta Cream

Part of eating healthy is of course eating seasonal, ripe, fresh, and local. If you want fruit in Sicily at a decent price, actually at ridiculously low prices, eat seasonal, fresh, ripe, and local. For example, the cherries and plums I bought for this were either free or $1.35 per kilo (2.2 lbs)!  The cherries are from Etnas 10,000 feet of mountain. So so good. 

So anyway, I'm teaching them a little about southern cooking. They LOVE cobbler. I don't get why their cuisine doesn't have this, but it doesn't. Lots of crostatas, which can be dry, and dry isn't nice in summer like cobbler with ice cream, now is it! 

I made two of these, in two 9" cake pans. One for each of my sisters in law. One upstairs and one down. They were a huge hit, as I adapted them a bit to their taste. My family here doesn't like vanilla ice cream. Yes it's weird. And I about died when they put chocolate ice cream on my peach cobbler, since they don't like vanilla. Ugh. So I adapted. You'll love it. You can do this in a 13x9 pan as well for a larger or hungrier group. Just don't divide anything!

Cherry Plum Cobbler with Ricotta Cream

1/2 c butter, divided 

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

Pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract 

1/4 c strawberry or other jam

1/3 c sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

Two cups pitted fresh cherries

Two cups sliced plums. I used the slightly mushy yellow ones and it came out gorgeous and yummy. 

1 c ricotta cheese, the wetter the better

3-4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2-3 tbsp milk

Lemon zest optional. 

Mix the cherries and plum pieces in a bowl. Add 1/3 c sugar and 2 tsp cornstarch and mix. Add the jam and mix. Set aside 30 min to macerate and make all those wonderful juices. Add lemon zest if desired. 

When time is up, heat oven to 350. 

Put 1/4 c butter in each pan and place in oven as it heats. Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients for the cobbler in a bowl, then add the milk, extract and egg, and mix. Set aside. 

Your butter should be just melted. Take the pans out when it's melted and pour half of the batter in each pan on top of the butter. Yum. 

Now spoon the fruit evenly over the top of the batter. DON'T STIR PLEASE. The batter will rise up and make a pretty and tasty treat. Lastly spoon the juices over the two pans. 

Place in oven and bake 50-60 min, rotating the pans halfway through to bake evenly. They're done when the edges pull away from the sides. 

To serve, mix the ricotta, sugar and vanilla in a bowl well. Get the lumps out. You can even whisk it. Then add a bit of milk and stir in till the consistency of homemade whipped cream. Kind of plops when you dollop it. 

Serve each wedge with a dollop of ricotta cream. It's as good cooled as warm. This would be great with ice cream, but as I said, it would have to be vanilla. Can't get the Sicilians to eat vanilla ice cream, but put ricotta in and everyone is on board!  Buon appetito!

Sgombro con Salmariglio

Summer in Sicily is normally soooo hot but not this week. Enjoying sun and cool breezes. 

Lunch's main course this day was mackerel, a bluefish perfect for a light meal. My sister in law met up with the fishmonger and he recommended making it into a cold dish. Easy and tasty. We accompanied it with sautéed green pepper strips, eggplant, and cherry tomatoes, and a salad. Ended with bread and cheese. Fantastic. 

Whole mackerel here are tiny fish, about 6-8" long, and our fishmonger cleans them. Of course they shouldn't smell at all or be slimy.  Mackerel have skin and no scales so are perfect for quick cooking. 

Lay the fishes in a pan and barely cover with water. Add a teaspoon of salt, a little dried or fresh mint, a few fennel seeds, and bring to a soft boil. Reduce and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the fish, let cool a bit, and gently split into filets and remove bones. Place fillets on serving platter. 

Salmariglio is the standarddressing for   Italian meats and fish.  Chop a large bunch of fresh parsley, add to this the juice of a lemon, a little zest as well, about 1/4 c of olive oil, a teaspoon salt and a couple cloves of crushed garlic. Mix well and gently dress fish. Let sit while you prepare your side dishes and serve room temp. Decorate with a few sliced cherry tomatoes. 

This made for the perfect meal to eat with the balcony doors open wide and the breeze keeping us cool, and a little naturally effervescent water from the tap, bubbly thanks to our local volcano. Perfect. 

Peach Cobbler a la italiana

Ok ok so peach cobbler isn't Italian. It should be. It has all the required characteristics of an Italian dessert. Not too sweet. Fresh fruit. A lemon. Oh and gelato. I made some last night. And now all my sisters in law are making it. 

This cobbler was really easy and I eyeballed most of the ingredients. So here's the eyeball method. 

Preheat oven to 425F or 200C. 

Take a round 9" cake pan and fill it with chunked up fresh peaches. Here, if you want fruit, it had better be in season. Besides bananas and pineapples, the only fruit around is in season and local. Right now it's cherries, fist sized figs, and peaches. The flat ones. I had never used them since in the states they're unripened and smell nasty where I live. Here they're perfect. Of course, because they're in season. 

I filled the pan with about 8 large flat peaches. I just cut them in wedges about 1/2" or less thick. 

Add 1/3 cup sugar

A heaping teaspoon cornstarch

The zest of one large lemon and its juice 

1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract. Or none if you don't have any. No big deal. 

By the way, I have a new zest theory. We waste so much wonderful lemon zest using that little zesting tool. I use a sharp knife and just cut off the yellow. Make sure what comes off is yellow on both sides. Then cut in tiny zester looking strips. You get a TON of lemon zest, and because its cooked in sugar, it's a pleasure to find a piece now and then. Just my two euros worth of opinion. 

Ok so put this pan in the oven for 12 minutes. Or 15. Doesn't matter. Meanwhile make your dough. So easy. 

Mix a cup flour

Half a cup sugar

A heaping tsp baking powder

Two BIG pinches salt. Blend a little with your fingers. 

Add a stick of cold butter that you've cut in little pieces. Smoosh now into the flour over and over bit by bit until its all flaky. 

Now this is the weird part. Heat some water till really hot. Drizzle it into the flour, about a tbsp at a time, and fluff with a fork. Keep adding just until the dough comes together. Stir a tad to

Wet everything, and then dollop on top of the hot peaches. It'll probably cover it but don't worry if it doesn't. 

Pop back in the oven about 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Done!  This needs to be warm or hot even when served. And must be with ice cream. Over here vanilla is rare so we use fior di latte (the flower of the milk I.e. cream), or panna (cream). Any which way it works. Last night the little ones were asking for seconds. Should've know better than to make one pan for 11 people...

Italian Street Food

I'm sure many things come to mind if you imagine Italian street food. Particularly from a food truck. Well, what we imagine probably is nothing like what they serve up in Catania. 

They are sandwich trucks. Behind the counter you see rotisseries with golden chickens, trays of potatoes roasting underneath them, catching all those food juices, ... And a grill for hamburgers and hot dogs. 

They love hotdogs. Theirs don't have all the nastiness that comes to mind when we think of hotdog ingredients. They're so tasty. 

They're split down the middle, grilled,  and lain on a split Italian hard roll. Then you have your choice of toppings. 

Those are behind the glass. Behind the glass are probably twenty different toppings in shiny flat oval shaped plates. You have no idea what they are but it's really interesting watching a 9 year old boy point out all the unusual vegetable and meat toppings he wants on his hotdog. 

The standard though is:

Bread, hotdog, a pile of French fries, a good squirt of mayonnaise, and a good squirt of ketchup. Set in a paper boat, or wrapped in foil, and there you go. Yum. Take a bite with all those things in it. Messy and good. 

Better still is my nephew's favorite: 

Bread, hot dog, mustard, salsa capricciosa (pickled julienne carrots and cabbage in a mayonnaise sauce), whole kernel corn, French fries and sometimes ketchup or barbecue sauce. (Pictured here)

Other toppings (yes, ON the hot dog) include: eggplant Parmesan, tuna sauce, shrimp sauce with baby shrimp, aurora sauce, grilled steak rolls with provolone, and of course lettuce tomato and onion. 

The sky is the limit here. Grab a coke or an aranciata (fizzy orange juice...NOT a Fanta) and you're set for an evening out, maybe by the Mediterranean with the lights shining on the cobblestones. 

Linguine with Wild Fennel Weed

This is one seriously Sicilian dish. Wild fennel weed that must be picked wild, preferably off a mountain like the volcano Etna.....then a quick run by the fish market to get some little fish. Almost any kind will do. The most used would be a blue fish. You could use mackerel, or fresh sardines too. Best bet is go to a Chinese market and find some fresh or frozen tiny fish. They love fish as much as Sicilians do. 

These two ingredients make for the perfect summer pasta dish. Light and nutrient rich, with a nice crunch to boot.

1 lb linguine

A fist full of dill weed with stalks

An onion

2 salted anchovy fillets finely chopped

1/2 c pine nuts

1/2 c raisins

4 peeled tomatoes or 1 c diced tomatoes

1 1/2 c breadcrumbs

1 lb little fishes

Fill a pasta pot with water and salt as for boiling pasta. Take your fennel weed and put it right in there. Let it boil 20 min. I think we could substitute fresh dill weed. Has to be fresh and not dried. Put a whole bunch in. Let it blanch and then pick it out and let drain. Keep that dilly water for the pasta. 

Chop the dill up nicely and add to a skillet with one grated onion and 2 tbsp or so of olive oil. Sauté all that for a bit. Throw in some everything else including  pine nuts and / or raisins if you have them and sauté together. Add a bit of dilly water to make saucy. Squish the tomatoes and they'll disappear. Sauce shouldn't be red. 

Your little fishes should be cleaned and have no scales but still probably have bones. It's up to you to decide whether to filet or not. However you decide, toss in the fish and sauté away. When the fish is done, set it aside. They might fall apart and it's ok. Salt to taste. 

In another skillet toast some plain breadcrumbs. Put a bit of olive oil in with a crushed garlic clove and sauté. Add the breadcrumbs a with a little Parmesan. 

Like 1/3 cup per person. Make them nice and golden. Just set the skillet on medium high and stir every so often. Put them in a bowl for the table. 

Now boil your pasta in the dilly salted water, and strain, saving some pasta water for the table.  Toss in with the fish sauce and add pasta water as needed to make it come together. 

Serve each plate with a nice sprinkling of breadcrumbs and some Parmesan if desired.  It's crunchy and fresh and healthful. Dill weed is well known for its healthful properties and so are tiny fish :)

**In our family we actually fry the little fish fillets separately and put on top of the pasta. It's a little drier to eat but we like it. Just dredge the fillets in breadcrumbs and fry in a little olive oil. Salt to taste. 

Caffè al bar

Having time to kill in the Italian airports means coffee at the bar. Sidle up to the cashregister  and state your preference... In Naples today for me it was a caffè macchiato...espresso with a little stain of lightly steamed whole milk. 1€. I hand him a €5, slide my coins out of the change dish, which is a beautiful custom made Italian ceramic plate with the bar's name painted in royal blue with gold flourishes, along with the required receipt. Proof you have a right to that caffè.  

Now to maneuver to the bar somehow. If you're Italian, coffee drinking isn't the long sipping and chatting exercise we participate in. Your job is to produce the receipt, order your drink, drink it and leave a space for the next person. Sounds simple. It isn't.  

A spot vacates and I move in. Casually holding my receipt just above the counter level, not to seem too anxious, I wait for the barista's glance. He's wearing a traditional uniform, short sleeved white cotton dress shirt, a vest in royal blue, a red bowtie, and a royal blue hat that reminds me of the ice cream scoopers from the '50s. His eyes glance at me and he smiles from down the bar, and when he is halfway to me I mutter, "macchiato". 

He grins, swiftly grabs three stylish, tall, thin glasses with three of his fingers, runs them under the bar sink faucet and fills them halfway with water from the sink. It's a fizzy water, naturally, as we are in a volcanic area. He puts a glass before a flight attendant, a pilot, and then flips it upside down and places one in front of me without spilling a drop.  "Bella signora, vorrebbe qualcosa da mangiare oggi?" ...pretty lady, would you care for  something to eat? He smiles again, flashing those black neopolitan eyes, and starts making our espressos. 

Why the water? To clean your palate, of course! I drink mine, tasting the minerals and feeling the amazingly fine bubbles clean my mouth. By the time I'm done, so are the coffees. 

It's served in a warm cup, with the name of the coffee in the ceramic. I add one bag of sugar, it floats for a second or two and falls through. Yes it's a good coffee. I stir, then pass the back of the tiny spoon over the rim where il'l drink, to flavor the cup. Who wants to taste a ceramic cup? Then take it in, usually in three or four good sips. Done. Before I can put the cup back, my barista is back asking if it was buono... It's coffee at a bar in italy. How could it not be anything but incredible? And for me it was much more. I was 'commossa''. Moved...it was like they'd been waiting for me to come home. 

Get Ready...

Coming soon, as in beginning Wednesday, ill be posting a plethora of fantastic Italian dishes. I leave then for a month of reminding my palate of what we all strive for in our kitchens...easy, whole food, healthy, fantastic dishes that are created in response and conjunction with the weather, the health of the family, and the other meals of the day, to create optimum health and satisfaction. Yes, it can happen in your kitchen, and yes it's not really that difficult. 

Stop by this month and see how it's done. 

Devils Food Cherry Pie Cake

What an amazing and memorable and EASY cake this is. People will think you slaved. Isn't that the best kind of recipe?

This cake is a dump cake with a super easy pseudo-ganache icing that is really meant to be done in a 13 x 9 pan, so great to take on the road. I've made it in a bundt pan for birthdays, in cupcake papers to take to a friend who'd had a baby, just so versatile. It is a really moist cake but not so moist it falls apart. Here goes.

Preheat an oven to 350.
* One good quality devils food cake mix

If you're using a bundt pan, butter your pan, and dump the cake mix in it. Shake all over to coat the pan, and then dump out into your mixing bowl. If you aren't dumping the cake out on a plate just butter the pan for easy serving.

Add to the cake mix in the mixing bowl:
*One can good cherry pie filling (I like the 'more fruit' versions).
* 2 eggs beaten
* 1 tsp almond extract
* 5 tbsp oil

Mix. It'll make a bunch of goop. Won't be liquidy. Spoon evenly into your pan and smooth around a bit. That's it. Place in the oven and bake till a toothpick comes out clean. For a 13 x 9 it's about 30 min. It's probably 45 for a bundt. Just watch it.

If you used a bundt pan let it cool on a rack 5 min and then dump out on your serving plate. When cool make your icing.

In a smallish saucepan on med-hi heat put
* 1 cup sugar
* 5 tbsp butter
* 1/3 c milk

Stir. Melt and bring to a boil. Boil exactly one minute and then dump in
* 3/4 cup of chocolate chips.

Take OFF heat and gently stir with a whisk. I like to turn the burner off and when it's cooled a bit I put the pan back on the warm burner and keep whisking. Whisk till the chips are melted all the way.

NOW (don't wait) pour the icing over the cake. It's like a thick glaze and so take a little time going over and over the same areas as needed. You can spread with the back of a spoon while it's hot but once cooled it won't spread.

You'll be so pleased with this cake, I'm sure... Moist, flavorful, delicious, quick and easy. Enjoy!

Tiramisù, it really is a pick-me-up

Tiramisu to Italians is like banana pudding to Americans. Every family has a recipe and their personal version is AMAZING.

So, just to show that I'm no different, here is my recipe. I preface this by saying that although I'm 100% American, I've been eating tiramisu in homes all over Italy for over 30 years. You can rest peacefully in the knowledge that with this recipe you, yes you, American cook, can and will make tiramisu better than 99% of the restaurants in the United States.

Ever had a version of a classic dessert that has been 'improved' to the point of being unrecognizable? Restaurant tiramisus here (and often times over there as well) are saturated with liqueur, topped with meringues, layered with raisins, and worse. Just keep it simple and you'll be so glad you did.

Simple ingredients are also essential to arriving at that signature flavor.

Mascarpone cheese, which isn't what we think of as cheese, is number one. It's available in most main stream grocery stores like Safeway and Kroger. It's in the deli section near the special Parmesan. Check the expiration date and get the freshest you can. By the way, please don't use cream cheese. It's a different flavor and texture and not worth substituting.

Number two is the cookie. Savoiardi dry lady fingers are the traditional cookie but are sometimes hard to find. They are usually at specialty groceries or Cost Plus World Market and are really wonderful. They're really dry and hard and work perfectly.

That said, I have used a great substitute today. Strawberry Shortcake shells. Who'd have thought? Desperation is the mother of invention. Had to make tiramisu in Arizona once, and after searching 5 stores I gave up and bought these. The verdict? I expected to be sentenced to never making it again for the Sicilian for violating this sacred trust. Instead I was made to promise never to use savoiardi again. Most recently he expressed, "this tiramisu beats any I ever ate in Italy!" I don't know about that, but I'm glad he liked it!

Lastly is the espresso. You have to make espresso. Premium quality is from a real espresso pressure machine. Second quality but still good is from a stove top moka. Using good espresso powder is also essential to good flavor. A moka is available at Cost Plus as well if you're interested.

Remember: Good ingredients = good food. Simple concept.

So lets make it! You'll need:

2 packages shortcake shells (24 total) or 30-36 savoiardi cookies.
5 eggs, separated
2/3 c sugar
450 gr mascarpone (2 tubs)
2 tbsp Marsala or vanilla
Cocoa

That's it.

1. Make espresso. You'll need about 1 1/2 cups of straight strong espresso. Sweeten to taste (very important) and then dilute with cool water, adding about 1/2 c water.

2. Beat 3 of the eggwhites till stiff and set aside. The other two you can save to make a meringue tomorrow!

3. Beat separately the 5 yolks with the sugar till light and creamy. Add the Marsala and the mascarpone and beat in till creamy. Pour into the whites and fold in gently to combine.

4. Now to assemble. You'll be putting this in a glass 9x13 (or equivalent...I do two smaller ones so we get two desserts from it).
If using the shortcake, cut off the top ridge of each and first use only the flat circles at first. You'll fill in the spaces with the extra ridge pieces. Quickly put a cake in the coffee, flip over, pick up and let drip, and place in dish. You don't eat cake soup so the trick is to let it soak up some coffee but not fall apart. Same rule with the savoiardi. They'll fall apart if you soak them. Just dunk flip and drip. Fill the bottom of the pan. Don't leave spaces. Break pieces as needed to fill spots.

5. Pour in and spread out 1/2 the cream, then dust heavily with cocoa. Do one more layer of cakes dipped in coffee and then finish with the rest of the cream. Spread to fill to the edges and dust heavily with cocoa.

Store in fridge at least 6 hours and preferably overnight. So so good. A 2-3" square is plenty for anyone, but they may want seconds! Enjoy.

Deep Dish Apple Crumb Crunch Pie

A few years ago I asked dear son what he wanted for dessert on his birthday. Pie. Apple pie to be exact. But not a normal one. Couldn't I make some kind of pie that has apples and is creamy? Then the Sicilian king of food textures says, how about some crunch to it?! The result is below, and has to be made for someone's birthday yearly now.

Deep Dish Apple Crumb Crunch Pie

2 pie crusts worth of dough
One can apple pie filling
1/4 cup granola
6 small green& red apples
Cinnamon 2 tsp
Flour 4 tbsp
Sugar 2 tbsp
--------------
1/2 cup flour
Stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
A can Eagle brand
2 eggs
1/4 cup small granola (bottom of the bag)
Vanilla 1 tsp
Almond extract 1/2 tsp
Small bag 1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Set Oven at 425. Put the rack on bottom.

Line a 8x11 casserole with crust, trim and edge.

Pour pie filling in the crust and spread around.

Peel and slice apples and mix with flour, sugar, 1/4 cup granola and cinnamon. Put in pan. Bake for 15 min.

Apart, melt 1/4 cup butter. Off heat add eagle brand, vanilla, almond extract and eggs. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix brown sugar and 1/2 cup flour, then cut in the other 1/4 cup butter till crumbly and mix in last bit of the granola.


When the pie is out of oven, sprinkle the raisins over, and
pour the milk egg mixture over the top filling in the cracks. With foil you'll need to cover the crust edge as it'll be getting browned already. Lower oven to 375.

Top pie with the crumb mixture, then sprinkle with slivered almonds and bake at 375 for 30 min.

Serve warm with vanilla Ice cream. Preferably Bluebell Homemade, or REAL homemade. Store in fridge.

Notes: if you buy crusts and try to unite them to fill your pan, be sure and keep crust the same single thickness throughout. Don't double anywhere as it'll end up gooey and dry.
 ***We made this on a Monday, and we ate half the dish.  The rest went in the fridge.  Wednesday afternoon dear son calls me and says, "Mom, we DO have pie left, right?"..."Son, it's been two days.  Of course we don't."...(silence)..."YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!...SERIOUSLY???...THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!..." the expressions of disappointment and disillusionment continued for a few minutes until the sad realization that nothing was to be done sank in.  Poor kid.  May have to make another one...

Fast Homemade Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

This is a keeper. You know how in the spring you plant some herbs and before you know it, they're already puttered out and you haven't used them more than twice? This is the reason that won't happen this year. So good you can make it twice a week and no one will say a word.

In a saucepan melt
6 tbsp butter
Add two medium or a really large onion, chopped, and
Three large cloves garlic chopped.
Cover and let cook till soft.

Now dump in
a tall bottle of tomato purée, I think it's 24 oz,
2 tbsp brown sugar,
two vegetable bouillon cubes, and
4 cups of hot water.
Blend with a stick blender (or do it in a blender and don't burn yourself) thoroughly.

In a bowl, put a bunch of herbs. Basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley. Lemon thyme is fabulous. All good. Chop em up well and then add salt and pepper. Put in your soup, bring to a low boil, turn off heat and blend again. Stick blenders are wonderful things I do have to say. You need one.
Anyway, the soup is done. Cover and let wait till your croutons are ready too.

Cut up some old bread. Baguettes, Italian, hard, soft, even white bread (gasp!). Cut into bite sized cubes and put in a bowl. Drizzle all over with olive oil to make sticky. Toss in some herbs. Whatever you think. Oregano, basil, parsley, thyme. Add some garlic powder. About a tsp per 2 cups of cubes. Now Salt and pepper. Then the Parmesan comes in. Grated is ok but the shredded is really nice if you can get it. Pour it all on a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet, and put under the broiler for 3-4 minutes, turning as you see them toast. Serve!

Homemade soup with homemade toasty cheesy croutons. Yum!

They'll be asking for an encore... Enjoy!

Just Smashing Chicken

The Sicilian brought two more chickens home today instead of chicken breasts. Well, it was the same price so yay for economy and freebies!

Took off the breasts and froze for another day, and what to do with the rest? This time we made brick smashed chicken.

Cut the chicken with some shears straight down the breast bone. Open up the chicken and either using a brick (a clean one I hope) or maybe a mallet, smash it on the back. You'll have what I show in the picture. Imagine laying on your tummy flopped on the bed. I do anyway haha.

Sprinkle the underside generously with
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
Smoked or spanish Paprika
Garlic salt
Crushed dried Rosemary
Flip over onto a grill / grate over a pan to catch drippings and sprinkle again.

Roast at 350 for about an hour.

If you want to make sauce or gravy for it, take two tbsp of the drippings and put in a skillet. In a little bowl mix 2 tbsp cornstarch with a little water and set aside. Heat the grease, then add 1/2 c white wine, 1/2 c water and half a bouillon cube. Cook till the bouillon is dissolved and taste. Salt to taste and add the cornstarch. Cook just a minute till thickened. Pour over the chicken and serve. Enjoy!

Cuteness on a Cupcake

Tonight my son received the Eagle badge from the Boy Scouts of America. Quite a to-do I must say. Loads of fun and a few tears shed.

Part of it is food. Eagle ceremonies have, of course, the eagle as their theme. This the plethora of eagle themed food.
- wings
- chicken salad
- fried chicken
- deviled eggs
- an so on.

A dear friend of mine and I made these cuties. Marshmallow eagle heads to top chocolste iced cupcakes.
Not hard and fun to do.

Melt a block of almond bark in the microwave or on a double boiler. Stir every 10 seconds until melted.

Coat a large marshmallow and place on waxed paper on a cookie sheet.
Immediately stick a whole cashew on for the beak Then sprinkle with coconut. Lastly make black eyes with a tiny tube of icing from the store. They'll sit a day or two if you like. The icing should be chocolate as bald eagles have brown bodies. These are great and wonderful tasting. And were a hit at the party along with the mini cheesecakes. Try them! Enjoy.

Egg Benedict Bites

What a great thing. Eggs Benedict you can eat with your fingers. And you know it isn't that messy because I'm not the finger-lickin' type.

You can do this in just a few minutes, or really the time to boil eggs and make the hollandaise. Oh, and they can be however you like. Love smoked salmon? Do it. Have some left over spinach? Sauté with garlic and butter and use it. It's a platform for anything you can imagine.

Toast some bread and cut in fours.

Boil some eggs. (Btw, the absolute fool proof way is to cover the eggs with water and put on just under max heat. When comes to a rolling boil, time 5 min. Then remove from heat and run cold water over it till you can handle peel and slice. Perfect. )

Make Hollandaise: in a metal or glass bowl whisk three egg yolks with 1/4 tsp salt, a pinch pepper, and 2 tbsp lemon juice. Put a small saucepan of water on to boil. Melt a stick of butter separately. Place egg bowl over the boiling water and whisk as you drizzle the butter in. Keep whisking over the water until the sauce takes a consistency that it coats a spoon thickly. Done.

We layered
Toast
Smoked salmon
Sliced egg (salt and pepper)
Sautéed spinach w garlic and butter
Slice of avocado
Hollandaise.

Kids were fighting over them. So good. Served for birthday breakfast today with Nutella croissants, cappuccino, mango, and homemade Orange Julius.

Enjoy!

Grilled Vegetable Lasagna

We do love lasagna. It's just pasta though and there's no real mystery to it. If you can put it on pasta, you can use it with lasagna.

In fact, lasagna is just the shape of the noodle. Pasta al forno, or pasta from the oven, is a great way to make pasta ahead of time and even to make it portable. Just undercook any pasta, just till soft, in salted water, and drain. Make your sauce, and then mix them all together. Later in a pan with cheese and bake. Done.

But that's another story.

Vegetable lasagna is faster even than meat lasagna. You need:
Grilled vegetables, like sliced eggplant, sliced zucchini, mushrooms or grilled onions
Sliced tomato
Parmesan
Lasagna noodles
Vegetable broth (make your own with water, a tomato, a carrot, an onion)
2 liters Besciamella (see my other lasagna recipe for instructions, but it's doubled with 2 liters milk, 1.75 sticks butter, 2 c flour )

Prep your ingredients and set up to assemble. Key is to flavor each thing perfectly. Salt the veggies. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt basil and olive oil. Good parts make a fantastic whole.

Place in pan in this order
Besciamella
*Pasta
Broth (wet well )
Besciamella
One veg
Parmesan
Repeat from the *.

I like to do the veg layers as follows:
Eggplant
Tomato w/ basil salt and olive oil
Zucchini
Other
The pan will probably only hold four layers broom and seal with besciamella.
Bake at 350 for 45 min or till golden. Allow to set for 20 min and dig in!

Almond torte

I have a little bit of a food obsession. But I'm not alone. Most of you do too.

As a side job I teach Italian language class. It's a small class and we usually use 30 minutes of the class to chat and to eat something wonderful.

A couple of classes ago my student Katherine brought us this beautiful Almond Torte. She made it from scratch, just a simple yellow cake recipe with the addition of marzipan into the batter. It had homemade whipped cream with almond extract and chocolate shavings. So so good.

Take the bit of time to do a scratch cake for a sweet afternoon tea time. It makes the memory.

Orange Salad-Insalata d'Arancia

Sicily is the home of citrus in Europe. Look in the side door of restaurants around the continent and you'll see Sicilian names on the fruit cartons like Paternò (CT), our Sicilian family's home town.

Flying into the Catania airport you see the presently very active volcano Etna, and miles of orange and lemon trees. The volcano erupted a few centuries back covering most of the southeastern side of Sicily, leaving 10 feet or more of lava and ash to enrich the soil of the future, the result being more oranges than you've ever seen in all of Florida.

In winter and early spring the oranges are in full swing, and so economical it is a shame not find some wonderful use to consume large quantities of them. Orange salad is one way.

We eat orange salad either plain with onion, or combined with sliced fresh fennel, or in this case with fennel and avocado (only in America though!). There are 'food rules' you must abide by. Orange salad is always dressed with olive oil and salt, but the acid changes depending on what else you're putting in. The main rule is, if you add fennel it must be lemon juice. Period.

Original orange salad:

10 naval oranges
1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
Or 1/4 cup thinly sliced red or white onion
Salt
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar.

Cut the ends off the oranges and then slice the skin off in strips, removing the white parts. Cut peeled orange in half, then each half in thirds and thirds again, making 9 bite sized pieces of each half. If you get the hang of this method you'll come to love it for cutting all kinds of fruit, like cantaloupe and watermelon.

Place oranges in glass bowl. Add chopped onion, mix, and dress with oil and vinegar and salt. Mix well and taste. It should be sweet and tangy with a taste of salt. Serve immediately or set aside for 30 min to blend flavors. Enough for 4-5.

Orange Fennel Avocado Salad

1/2 of a large fennel bulb
3 oranges, peeled and chopped as above
1 large avocado, seeded and cut in cubes.

Cut the fennel in half again, and slice thinly. Place in bowl with the orange bites, and dress with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add the avocado at the end and toss immediately to coat with lemon. Taste and adjust dressing. A little extra salt is in order because of the avocado. Yum. Serves 4.

Don't skimp on the olive oil just because it seems odd to put it on fruit. You should see a little shine on the fruit from it after its mixed. Use good oil too. Nice and green. Lastly don't skimp on the salt, and use good salt. I like Real Salt, a little lighter flavor and full of minerals.

Enjoy!

Real Italian Crusty Bread

Many food lovers have been on the bread journey. Tried this recipe and that, tried different yeasts, sourdough starters, making their own 'mother'. How to get the perfect crumb, perfect elasticity, perfect crust. Organic flour, bread flour, fresh ground wheat or soaked and sprouted wheat. So many variables.


This is a great place to stop and breathe and enjoy yourself. Can't mess this up. At all. It's impossible. And you end up with the most beautiful, crackled crusted, elastic Italian bread with gaping holes in the crumb...just pure bread joy. You've gotta try this bread. It isn't the easiest bread but for sure it's the best I've had. Lets do it.

At about 8pm, In a mixing bowl put 3 cups bread flour, 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast, and 2 teaspoons salt. Mix that up. And yes, 1/4 teaspoon is all. In fact you could make 10 loaves from the yeast in one packet.

Add 1 5/8 cups warmish water. Actually doesn't have to be warm, but since its cold here I use warm to get it started using your fingers kind of toss the flour to wet it, and after turning the bowl around a couple of times it should be a kind of wet goop. If there are dry spots just sprinkle a tad more water. Now cover with plastic wrap and put in a cold oven and leave it for 12-14 hours.

After first rising - 14 hours

Next day, between 8 and noon, check the dough. It should have tiny bubbles all over the top. Heavily flour a countertop and scrape out the dough.

Sprinkle with flour so it doesn't stick to the world.  Then with a scraper fold the dough in thirds like a piece of paper, cover with that piece of plastic and let rest 15 min. 

Rest covered 15 min.

Heavily flour a cotton towel

Meanwhile take a tea towel, or a cotton napkin, and the tighter the weave the better (never terry cloth), and rub flour into it. Lots of flour. Cover at least the area the bread will sit on when you move it onto this towel in the  next step.
After the 15 minutes, remove plastic wrap, flour it so you can handle it, and fairly quickly pick it up, and tuck the edges under all around kind of making a ball of socks. Set it on the cloth, cover with plastic again and another towel as well, and let rise 2 hours.

Form a boule (turn inside out)

90 minutes into rising though, put the oven rack on the very bottom level, turn on to 450, and put your oven-safe pot and lid inside. Make sure the lid is oven safe too. It'll get to heat for those last 30 minutes and be ready to make that wonderful crust.

Now it's been two hours of rising. Using two oven mitts, remove the pot to a hot pad on the counter, and with a mitt remove the lid (I always forget that the lid is scorching too).

With a scraper, kind of scrape the dough gently up from the towel, because its attached itself notwithstanding the cup and a half of flour you rubbed in, but just around the sides. Then put your hand under the towel, pick up the dough and flop it over into the pot. Try to aim well. If it sticks to the sides just don't worry about it. With the mitts, put the lid back on and all in the oven.

 

Bake 30 minutes. Then remove the Lid and bake another 20-30 minutes or until nice and brown. When done, with the mitts on, remove lid and dump the bread out on a cooking rack. Rap on the bottom. it sounds hollow when done. It'll pop and crackle and just sing wonderful serenades of bread love to you. Resist the temptation to cut into it right away. It needs to sit for 15 min or so and then it's fair game.




Hope you try this. It's so empowering to be able to make something this wonderful. Enjoy!

_____________________
Here's a quick time line for your bread:
-8pm Day 1  Mix dough, cover w/plastic, place in cold oven
-8-10am Day 2 Dump dough on floured surface, rest 5 min, fold and make a ball, cover with plastic and let rest 15 min.
-Flour a smooth cotton towel heavily
-After the short rest, remove plastic, form a boule, place on towel, cover with plastic and another towel, rise 2 hours.
-After 1 1/2 hours, place oven rack on lowest rung, heat oven to 450 with pot and lid inside.
-After 30 more minutes, dump bread upside down into pot, cover, bake 30 min.
-Remove lid and bake 20-30 min more or until browned.
-Flip out on a cooling rack to cool.