briciole

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 →

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 →

lentil spread / crema (da spalmare) di lenticchie

jump to Recipe [versione in italiano] small lentils, big flavor (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) After reading the first six Adam Dalgliesh novels by P.D. James in order of publication, I skipped to #11 Death in Holy Orders which I purchased some time ago at a library sale. Then last month, at a local bookstore, I picked The Lighthouse which is #13 (2005). Death in Holy Orders ended with Commander Dalgliesh (Metropolitan Police Service at New Scotland Yard) in love with Emma Lavenham and I was glad to see her still in his life in The Lighthouse. I love P.D.... 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 →

pecan parcels (apricots stuffed with pecans and pancetta) / albicocche ripiene con noci pecan e pancetta

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] sweet, salty, soft, crunchy: the best of all worlds It is stone fruit season! There are plums (prugne) and apricots (albicocche) and then plumcots, pluots and apriums. More than a century ago, horticulturalist Luther Burbank bred the plumcot with a 50-50 plum and apricot split. However, it was Floyd Zaiger who revolutionized the fruit and made it widely available. Zaiger bred the plumcot with a plum to create the pluot — three-fifths plum and two-fifths apricot — and coined the trademarked moniker. While the plumcot is a simple plum and apricot cross,... Read more →

roasted cauliflower with za'atar / cavolfiore arrosto con za'atar

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] it looks plain, it tastes deep When I walk or ride my bike around Berkeley, I stop at some of the Little Free Libraries on my way. In one of them I found The Cost of Living: Early and Uncollected Stories1 by Mavis Gallant2. I didn't know the author, but the blurb on the back cover made me curious, so I put the book in my backpack. The short stories have a common characteristic: tension, sometimes quite high, runs just under the surface and reveals itself in geysers of emotion. I enjoyed... Read more →

celery omelette / omelette con sedano

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] celery omelette topped with some mashed avocado (tablecloth by La FABBRICA del LINO) Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson called out at me from a table at a library book sale and just like the country in which is it set, Norway, it grabbed me immediately. The sky, the woods, the water, everything is expansive in Norway, majestic, yet quiet. Petterson's prose is like that. Life's familiar themes—friendship, love, loss, betrayal, coming of age, aging—play a role in the story of Trond Sander, the 67-year-old protagonist. I imagined to be sitting in... Read more →