briciole

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 →

red Napa cabbage and winter squash with applesauce / cavolo napa rosso e zucca con salsa di mele

jump to Recipe a personal take on the cabbage and apple pairing The current Cook the Books Club selection is Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown: The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.1 There's the pirate ship's colorful cast of characters — Mr. Apples, the knitting thug; mysterious twins Feng and Bai; and Joshua, who can neither hear nor speak and becomes a sort of adopted... Read more →

roasted vegetables with za'atar / verdure arrosto con za'atar

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] the oven and za'atar turn summer vegetables into a flavorful side dish (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Also called wild thyme, za’atar is an herb typical of the Middle East. Chef Yotam Ottolenghi has this to say about it: [Za’atar] has a distinctive, pungent, savoury aroma. Its scientific name, Origanum syriacum, hints at a connection to oregano, marjoram and the like, but, for me, its flavour evokes cumin, lemon, sage and mint.1 Za’atar is also used to indicate a mix composed of the dried herb, sumac (obtained by grinding the berries of the shrub... Read more →

roasted eggplant and tomatoes with cheese / melanzane e pomodori arrosto con formaggio

jump to Recipe I wish I could also share the smell (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The current Cook the Books Club selection is 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement by Jane Ziegelman. While a couple of articles about the book had made me curious, the reading turned out to be totally engrossing. Using five immigrant families as points of departure, Ziegelman paints a rich historical and social picture of New York City: They are German, Italian, Irish, and Jewish (both Orthodox and Reform) from Russia and Germany—they are new Americans, and... Read more →

kohlrabi slaw with fresh fruit / insalata di cavolo rapa, carota e frutta fresca

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] fresh fruit turns kohlrabi slaw sweet Pale green or purple, kohlrabi is a stunning vegetable, with its bulbous enlarged stem and its crown of leaves. The name kohlrabi comes, via German, from the Italian cavolo rapa and literally means 'turnip cabbage'. However, kohlrabi is not a turnip, but a cultivar of Brassica oleracea, a species that includes broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale. Kohlrabi is a versatile vegetable: you can eat it raw, add it to soups and stews, shred it to make fritters or slice and grill it, or cube and roast it. Regardless of the... Read more →

vegan zucchini side dish / contorno di zucchine vegano

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] a light, flavorful side dish (linen napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel Honeysuckle Season by Mary Ellen Taylor1 an author I featured in a post last year with her novel Winter Cottage2. Both novels are centered around a mansion, whose walls know secrets that the reader learns as chapter follows chapter and the story moves back and forth between present and past. In Honeysuckle Season, the protagonist, Libby, finds out who her biological parents were and also finds love and the realization of her wishes.... Read more →

spinach with cheese and chocolate / spinaci con formaggio e cioccolato

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] fresh spinach with cheese and a touch of chocolate (linen placemat from La FABBRICA del LINO) The inspiration for this dish came from three sources: 1) fresh spinach leaves from the farmers' market1 (see photo below), 2) a recipe for spinach and goat cheese quiche2 and 3) my husband's use of grated chocolate on leafy greens. After reading the quiche recipe quickly I thought it called for the goat cheese (caprino) to be layered under the spinach: a closer reading revealed a misunderstanding on my part, but I stuck to the idea. My husband uses... Read more →

leek gratin / porri gratinati

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] leeks and cheese: nothing else needed (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) I love leeks both as an ingredient and on their own1. Leeks make every dish to which you add them more flavorful, but in a delicate way as they are not overwhelming. Given my preference, I consume large amounts of leeks, particularly when I can get them fresh at the farmers' market. an abundance of leeks The first dish I ate made with leeks, many years ago, was a gratin. One of my roommates in Milan made a version on the rich side.... Read more →

red beet, avocado, blood orange and daikon salad / insalata di barbabietola rossa, avocado, arancia rossa e ravanelli

jump to Recipe before tossing (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Where I Come From by chef Aarón Sánchez1. I didn't know him before reading the book, but a few pages into it, I realized a few year ago I had met his mother, Zarela Martinez. She had been described to me as the chef who introduced Mexican cuisine to New York. It was interesting to read her story told by her son: what an amazing woman! On July 21, 19822 the NY Times published an article by Craig Claiborne titled... Read more →

vegetable and quinoa salad / insalata di verdure e quinoa

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] ingredients ready to be turned into a salad (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Last summer I started taking photos of produce I brought back from the farmers' market. I enjoy letting fresh vegetables take center stage before they are transformed into dishes. Some of you will wonder: What about the quinoa? It comes from a local farm too.1 Lake Llanquihue and Osorno in the background (image taken outside Puerto Varas, Chile) One of my last restaurant meals before the pandemic changed our lives was in a delightful place called El Humedal2 (the wetland) in... Read more →