briciole

zuppa di verdure miste / vegetable medley soup

(a.k.a. "vegetables you have in the fridge" soup) [cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] Before owning an immersion blender, I rarely made soup. My first attempt at using the food processor to purée a soup ended in a spill of hot liquid that I did not want to encore. Enter the immersion blender, and I now make soup at least once a week. In winter, it's more like twice a week. I have a nice supply of homemade stock, mostly chicken, but also vegetable. I make chicken stock according to Julia Child's recipe every time I roast a... Read more →

zuppa di fagiolina del Trasimeno / cowpea of Lake Trasimeno soup

Fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno, or, commonly, fagiolina del Trasimeno, is one of the Slow Food presidia in Italy. I first talked about this special legume from Umbria, my home region, in this post. From the Slow Food page on fagiolina: È un fagiolo con forma ovale e minuscola e può essere di vari colori: dal crema al nero passando per il salmone e per tutte le tonalità del marrone, anche screziato. In bocca è tenero, burroso e particolarmente saporito. This tiny, oval bean,... exists in colors ranging from ivory white to salmon pink to brown to black. Soft, buttery and flavourful...... Read more →

macco di fave / fava bean purée

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] In a recent post, I wrote about cooking fave secche (dried fava beans) for the first time. For my second experience, I decided to realize a dish from Calabria (a region in southern Italy), whose recipe I had seen on the Accademia Italiana della Cucina site a while back: macco di fave (fava bean purée). The English version of the recipe is available in the book by the Academy called La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy. I soaked one cup of dried fava beans in plenty of water overnight (16 hours... Read more →

minestra di fave e orzo / fava bean and barley soup

Last Sunday, for a dinner with friends, I prepared three soups. One of them was the result of my first attempt at cooking dried fava beans (fave secche). While I am very familiar with fresh fava beans (fave fresche), and prepare them often when they are in season, I had never had the chance to meet the dried kind up close and personal. When I saw dried fava beans at the farmers' market, I knew the time had come for me to experiment with them. Melanie and Kevin, the young couple behind Shakefork Community Farm (the grain CSA of which I... Read more →

zuppa di porri e patate / leek and potato soup

Two years ago, I wrote a post about making chicken stock according to a recipe by Julia Child. I have been using that recipe ever since, every time I roast a chicken. After degreasing the stock, I freeze it and then use it for various purposes, like making vegetable soups. Two precious findings at the farmers' market suggested that I make leek and potato soup. I had seen a recipe for it in "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom," the same source of the chicken stock recipe mentioned above, and decided it was the right time to try it. Child describes this as one... Read more →

passato di carote e zucchine al levistico / carrot and zucchini soup with lovage

my exhuberant lovage In a previous post I mentioned the beautiful lovage (levistico) that I have in my herb garden.The plant is now over four feet tall and looks simply gorgeous. The photo shows just a detail of the copious foliage. The need to use some chicken stock from a batch I had previously defrosted and the presence in my vegetable bin of two beautiful, dark green zucchine (zucchini) from the farmers' market suggested the word "soup" to me, and I heeded the suggestion. Before starting to make the soup, I cut a stem of lovage. I can't say I measured... Read more →

zucchina trombetta / summer squash "Trombetta"

If you see a vegetable of this lovely color and interesting shape, you must get it, right? And that is what I did. I am not referring to the eggplant (melanzana), but to the zucchina embracing it. Once I had it in my basket, I knew I would cook some of it with the eggplant and make a soup with the rest. I read that zucchina trombetta (or zucca trombetta) belongs to the species Cucurbita moschata (as does butternut squash). The following week, I eagerly sought another specimen of zucchina trombetta, but had to wait another week for my provider to... Read more →

crema di mais con tofu (non c'è due senza tre) / corn soup with tofu (three's a charm)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] A bit more than a year ago, I wrote a post titled non c'è due senza tre (good things come in threes, or three's a charm). On that occasion, the dish I had been making serially was pastiera, a traditional Easter dessert from Napoli. This time, it is corn soup. The first rendition is described in this post and the second here. For my third try, I purchased soft tofu and also shortened the cooking time. The use of soft tofu and the treatment to be applied to it came from Claudia... Read more →

crema di mais con tofu e pomodoro (seconda versione) / corn soup with tofu and tomato (second version)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] I decided to write an update on my recent post on this subject separately, as the original is already fairly long. While my attempt at obtaining a spongy texture in the tofu was unsuccessful, Claudia of Honey from Rock had her dedication to achieving the desired effect rewarded (in more ways than one, as this post explains: congratulations!). Here are the interesting details of her quest. I am very thankful to Claudia for sharing her experience. After reading Claudia's post, I decided to try freezing a piece of the tofu I purchased... Read more →

crema di mais con tofu e pomodoro / corn soup with tofu and tomato

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] Apprentices have asked me, what is the most exalted peak of cuisine? Is it the freshest ingredients, the most complex flavors? Is it the rustic, or the rare? It is none of these. The peak is neither eating nor cooking, but the giving and sharing of food. Great food should never be taken alone. What pleasure can a man take in fine cuisine unless he invites cherished friends, counts the days until the banquet, and composes an anticipatory poem for his letter of invitation? (Liang Wei, The Last Chinese Chef) The opening... Read more →