briciole

mixed vegetables with thyme / verdure miste al timo

jump to Recipe mixed vegetable with thyme (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge1. In post-war Paris, a woman is found murdered in the basement of the building where Paul and Julia Child live, and the murder weapon is a knife from Julia's kitchen. If this brief introduction sounds intriguing, you'll probably enjoy the book. I'm afraid I didn't find the novel believable.2 The narrator, a young woman named Tabitha, lives with her grandfather not far from the Childs and befriends Julia. He grows a... Read more →

garlic chive pancakes / frittelle di erba cipollina cinese

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] crisp, tender, savory: so good! (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) While looking up traditional recipes that use chives (Allium schoenoprasum) of which I get a nice supply from my garden, I discovered Korean pancakes (frittelle coreane) called Buchujeon1 made with garlic chives (Allium tuberosum, a.k.a., Chinese leeks, chinese chives), which also grows in my garden. While chives' leaves are tubular, those of garlic chives are flat. young garlic chives in my garden... Most of the recipes I read is vegan, made without eggs, and I adopted this format. I reduced the quantities to make... Read more →

Persian herb and greens frittata / frittata persiana di verdure ed erbe

green to celebrate spring (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Our Cook the Books Club selection this time brings us to Ireland (Irlanda), yet the flavors are those of Iran (whose cuisine we savored also in a recent edition1). The novel Pomegranate Soup, by Marsha Mehran2 (zuppa di melograno), follows the adventures of the three Aminpour sisters, who escape from political turmoil in their native country to the UK and ultimately settle in the small Irish town of Ballinacroagh, where they open a small café serving dishes from their home country. The novel's cast includes the sisters' landlady, the town's priest,... Read more →

damper: pane australiano / damper: Australian bread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a taste of Australia on Italian linen (from la FABBRICA del LINO) The third stop of our World Culinary ABC is Australia, a country I visited a number of years ago. Highlights of that trip were: the visit to Sydney and its iconic Opera House, snorkeling around Lizard Island, on the Great Barrier Reef (Grande Barriera Corallina) a week touring Tasmania, where I found myself in a rainforest (foresta pluviale) for the first time in my life (and the seaplane flight into it was also memorable), close encounters with adorable animals like... Read more →

zucchetta al pomodoro / tromboncino squash with tomatoes

Nature's simple beauty Tromboncino squash cannot be missed when displayed on a table at the farmers' market. When I spotted it, I squealed with joy, because it is a rather rare find. I must thank The Corn Crib for growing this beauty. Besides being eye-catching with its long, curvy shape, it has a dense flesh and a delicate, pleasant flavor. Although it is harvested early and consumed as a summer squash, it does not belong to the Cucurbita pepo species like zucchini and other summer squashes, but rather to Cucurbita moschata, like butternut squash. Like its more famous relative, zucchetta has... Read more →

pâté di olive con fichi e menta / tapenade with figs and mint

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a nice couple ready for the table A tall woman and a French man were preparing a chicken for roasting, while conversing amiably. She wiggled her hand into the space between the bird's skin and the flesh, something I had never seen anybody do before. I could not quite figure out to what extent the two in the kitchen were serious. My mother-in-law was watching this on her television when we arrived for a visit and we watched it with her for a while. It was my introduction to Julia Child and... Read more →

spirali (pasta fatta a mano) / spirals (handmade pasta)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] small ridged bites of pasta dough When I need some quiet time to relax and let my thoughts fly away quickly before weighing too heavily on my mind, I make a batch of pasta dough and allow my hands to take the helm. Sometimes follow a well-rehearsed set of steps to make a familiar pasta shape. Other times, they explore a new path. When they reach a place worth describing in detail, I tell the story here. If you have been following me for some time, you know that making pasta by... Read more →

trota al forno per Mark Twain / roasted trout for Mark Twain

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a tavola! Mark Twain did not like the food he ate in the hotels where he lodged during his stay in Europe in 1879. He makes that quite clear in the autobiographical book, A Tramp Abroad, written during that trip. After negative reviews of pretty much everything he has tasted, Twain sees the light at the end of the tunnel, since he is getting ready to travel back home, where he is planning to eat: Radishes. Baked apples, with cream. Fried oysters; stewed oysters. Frogs. American coffee, with real cream... He goes... Read more →

scone con zucchine novelle e noci / baby zucchini and walnut scones

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] rustic beauty I owe zucchini: for years I detested this vegetable with unmatched zeal. When I finally learned to appreciate it, I became a devout fan, and every year I try to expiate my early sin by singing its praise. Zucchini season is in full swing, which means zucchini of all varieties are readily available at local farmers' markets and stores. Hence, this is the time to get creative with them. A bunch of baby zucchini and some basil (basilico) in a recent CSA box made me realize another winning version of... Read more →

scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi / red beet, apple and pistachio scones

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] photo could be better — scones are perfect The recipe started with yet another batch of small red beets freshly harvested and promptly roasted. It went on with an apple too large to eat all as my breakfast. En route, it picked up some fresh dill (aneto) and to complete the party, it invited pistachios to join: what a success! I had a hard time setting up this shooting session, even within the realm of my minimalist style of food photography. I baked four batches of these scones and every time, my... Read more →