briciole

piselli mangiatutto / snap peas or sugar snap peas

As long as I lived in Italy, the only peas I ate were shelled peas. As a child, shelling peas was a task assigned to me and one that I did not enjoy, because I did not like eating peas. I welcomed the appearance on the market of frozen peas: at least, I did not have to shell those. I remember the slogan of the advertisement for the first brand of frozen peas: colti sul fatto e surgelati all'istante. It is a play on words: the verb cogliere means to pick, but cogliere sul fatto means to catch red-handed. The slogan... Read more →

gelato alla vaniglia variegato al rabarbaro / rhubarb-marbled vanilla ice cream

I grew up eating gelato, but nobody I knew made it at home. In August of 1999, after coming back from an extended stay in Italy, I purchased my first ice cream maker and started experimenting — with the book Frozen Desserts by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir as guide. The immediate reason for my new enterprise was my husband: he missed his daily dose of gelato, and I promised him I would do something to address his withdrawal symptoms. The first flavor of ice cream that I made was vaniglia (vanilla). Later on, I learned that vanilla is the most... Read more →

finocchio / fennel

Some time ago, I mentioned finocchio as one of the elements of a traditional Italian appetizer called verdure in pinzimonio, which includes a selection of raw vegetables (carrots, celery, fennel, radishes, etc.) to be dipped into a sauce made of olive oil, salt and pepper, and possibly vinegar or lemon juice. Each guest gets his or her own small plate of sauce. Growing up, I ate fennel salad often, the bulb cut into bite-size pieces and seasoned with the usual combination of oil, vinegar and salt. You can slice the fennel thinly instead: I like the bite-size version, because each morsel... Read more →

Riepilogo della frutta fresca del mese: agrumi (eccetto limoni e arance)

Fresh Produce of the Month: the roundup February was a month of delicious recipes all featuring citrus fruit other than lemons and oranges. Thanks to all the people who participated and apologies for the delay. For both Marta and me, March started on the mad side in terms of work. We have finally reached a lull and cast a look towards the past (the roundup) and one towards the future (the announcement of the next edition). Without further ado, I will give you a taste of each of the delicious citrusy recipes I have received. Considering that both Marta, creator of... Read more →

limetta / lime

(the English lime is also used in Italian) I didn't know lime existed until, some time during my childhood, a TV advertisement showed a small green fruit, called lime dei Caraibi (Caribbean lime), together with a bright green shampoo (shampoo) — or maybe it was a bubble bath (bagnoschiuma). The association established by the advertisement between lime and green-colored personal hygiene items has been hard to erase from my mind, so buying and using limes does not come natural to me. Before I get out of the bathroom, let me add that the Italian word limetta has another meaning: nail file.... Read more →

Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: cavolo

Fresh Produce of the Month: the roundup A month chock-full of delicious recipes all featuring cabbage (cavolo) in its different incarnations. Thanks to all the people who participated. And now, let the banquet begin! The dessert will be the announcement of the February edition of the event. We start with Lori Lynn of Taste With The Eyes, who has prepared Braised Baby Bok Choy and served it on a lovely plate as support for fresh wild petrale sole sautéed in miso butter. I have certainly tasted with my eyes: now my taste buds would like to get their share. Greece meets... Read more →

cavolo napa / napa cabbage

(here you can read other names used to refer to this vegetable). I must admit that, until recently, I had not used this type of cabbage. Then, one day, a beautiful head of it stared at me from the shelf of the grocery store and I could not refuse its proposal to hop on my cart. I started my acquaintance with napa cabbage by cooking it very simply. The recipe I created was inspired by one in the book If the Buddha Came to Dinner by Halé Sofia Schatz: Braised (Napa) Cabbage, Fennel and Leeks (stufato di cavolo napa, finocchio e... Read more →

Verdura Fresca del Mese: cavolo

I have once again the honor of hosting an edition of Fresh Produce of the Month, an event authored by Marta, An Italian in the US. She recently posted the roundup of the previous edition, about pears. This month, the focus is on cabbage (cavolo) in its different incarnations: green, red, Savoy, napa, bok choy. After the Holidays, I think it is a good idea to reach for a lighter fare, which makes ample use of vegetables. If you are inspired to participate (and I hope you are), here are the simple rules: Publish a post on your blog with a... Read more →

formaggio fatto in casa con le pere / homemade cheese with pears

A year ago, I wrote about the combination of cheese and pears in a post called cartolina da Orvieto (postcard from Orvieto) after enjoying it in a restaurant. I recently enjoyed the heavenly pair at home and a good portion of the enjoyment was due to the fact that the cheese was of my own production. The road from labneh to my first small wheel of cheese was not without bumps. My first attempt at mozzarella and at cottage cheese were both failures. In the first case, I was able to save the curds and used them in a gratin dish;... Read more →

Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: melanzana / Fresh Produce of the Month's Roundup: eggplant

A month chock-full of delicious recipes all featuring eggplant: what a delight! Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders starts the series of Indian dishes (there will be several more in this roundup) with a "side dish that is spicy and tangy and can be eaten with rice." The dish is Enna/ Oil Kathrika/ Eggplant Kozhambu/Gravy. To make it, Srimathi uses an appam pan, though a regular wok can also be used. Jayashree of My Experiments With Food "decided to stick the eggplant in the microwave. The rest, as they say, is history." Note that you still need to make slits on the... Read more →