briciole

Ethiopian red lentil stew / stufato di lenticchie rosse etiope

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] a bowl of rich flavor (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Food Americana by David Page1: The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America’s Favorite Dishes, including pizza, barbecue, fried chicken (pollo fritto), ice cream. I found the book interesting as it draws a lively picture of each food and also lets people speak: chefs, historians, restaurants' customers and more. Each chapter ends with a recipe. Inspiration for something to make could not come from the foods described in the book as I basically don't eat any... Read more →

onion and fava bean soup / zuppa di cipolle e fave

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] simplicity at its best Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus1 which tells the story of Elizabeth Zott, a research chemist in California in the early 1960's, who becomes the host of a cooking show. Rowing plays a role in the book, referred to mostly as a a source of physical discomfort, if not downright suffering. I thought I would balance out that perspective with a photo I took recently while rowing on Richardson Bay (an arm of San Francisco Bay). I captioned it: for this... Read more →

red beet pkhali / pkhali di barbabietole rosse

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] 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... Read more →

avocado salad / insalata di avocado

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] 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... Read more →

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

jump to Recipe 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... Read more →

brown butter oatmeal raisin cookies / biscotti al burro nocciola con fiocchi d'avena e uvetta

jump to Recipe just baked (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I had fun reading again Alice's adventures. For example, I paid more attention to the way she talks to herself and about herself. Truly one of those books that tell us something more or a bit different each time we read them. Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words “EAT ME” were beautifully... Read more →

roasted tromboncino squash with tomatoes / zucchetta al forno con pomodori

jump to Recipe fresh ingredients, simply prepared make my ideal meal (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The current Cook the Books Club selection is A Cook's Tour, Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by the late Anthony Bourdain. Some editions of the book carry the subtitle In Search of the Perfect Meal, which feels more appropriate as it is a theme that recurs in the memoir. At times, Bourdain writes with deep sensitivity and shares insights in what he saw and experienced, like his observations of Vietnamese people or his homage to the many Mexican immigrants who work in restaurants in... Read more →

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

jump to Recipe 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... Read more →

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

jump to Recipe 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... Read more →

honeynut squash and red beet soup / zuppa di zucca e barbabietola rossa

jump to Recipe festive colors and bright flavor Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Midnight Chicken by Ellen Risbridger1, a cookbook with stories. The most exciting thing for me related to this book is that I was able to get the electronic version from the library (biblioteca). I am still not sure how I got the various pieces to work, but one day, I clicked on a link in an email and pretty soon I could open the book in my e-reader. I don't think this is the best solution for cookbooks (seeing as the kitchen is not the... Read more →