My Global Kitchen (blog)

Plain and Simple: No Knead Bread

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:49:00 -0500

As you know, I love to cook! I wanted to use my love of cooking to spend time with my neighbors so decided to offer some cooking lessons...But what in the world could an American teach an Italian in the kitchen??? Then one day it came to me that they might like to make homemade bread. I find bread to be one of the least expensive things to make--and there's nothing quite like warm, fresh bread right out of the oven to go with a meal. With that in mind, I made up a little invitation which I distributed to my neighbors.

When my neighbors, Franca and Fernanda came over on Saturday, the 23rd of January, I asked if they would mind having Larry take photos of our lesson so you too could learn to make the bread on this blog. Since they don't use the computer, I brought out my laptop to show them recent blog entries.

Franca and Fernanda loved seeing some of my earlier blog entries and were happy to be part of the next lesson...Pane Sensa Impasto or No Knead Bread. This is the easiest bread I've ever made! If you've never made bread...start with this simple recipe (which you'll find at the end of this blog). One recipe makes four one-pound loaves. Or it can easily be used to make foccacia, pizza crust or even crusty rolls. Maybe the best thing about this recipe is that you don't have to bake it all in the first day. You can bake up a quarter of it for supper tonight...and put the rest of the dough in your fridge to bake up fresh at a later day. We find we actually prefer it baked a few days later as the texture is even more rustic and has a bit more of a sour-dough flavor. The dough can be kept up to two weeks in the fridge.

Here are the ingredients you'll need to try it yourself:

Franca, sampled some of the foccacia while I explained the basics.

The first thing we did was to put 1 Tablespoon of sugar into a large bowl. This serves as "food" for the yeast, helping it to grow more quickly.

Since Italians don't use measuring cups or spoons, I just used a soup spoon to measure the sugar.

Next, I added one Tablespoon of salt. The bread if not too salty...but if you're concerned about having too much salt, you can cut back a little here. I wanted to keep the recipe simple, so kept the measurements of the first three ingredients equal (one Tablespoon each).

Third, I added one Tablespoon of yeast. This can be dry yeast sold in 3-pack envelopes, jars or even in two-pound packages at Sam's Club or Costco. I generally just use the normal "active yeast" so can't give you any advice about other options such as "rapid rise yeast " or "bread machine yeast". Though not as common, you can also purchase small cubes of fresh yeast--which is very effective but has the down side of not having as long of a shelf life. I have kept both types (dry or fresh yeast) in the freezer with good success.

Here are the most common types of yeast available in North America...

...and here are the options of yeast available here in Italy...fresh brewer's yeast or dry, lievito di birra, indicating it is made from the same fermentation process as beer.

I showed Fernanda and Franca the varieties available locally.

Probably the most important thing about making bread is the temperature of your liquid. A warm liquid causes the yeast to grow...but if the liquid is too hot, it will kill the yeast. And if your liquid is too cool, the yeast won't grow very quickly.

The baby-bath-temperature water is poured over the sugar, salt and yeast.

If you're 100% certain that your yeast is alive--not past the expiration date--and that your water temperature was warm, but not too hot, you can go ahead and add your flour now. I personally prefer to wait about ten minutes to make sure the mixture is bubbly, indicating that the yeast is growing. It should look something like this:

Next I dumped in a one-kilo bag of flour. (In North America I use six cups.)

Then, I stirred up the mixture with a wooden spoon...

...until the dough looked "shaggy". It will be too wet to knead. If there are dry patches, where the flour isn't getting incorporated quickly, add just 1-2 Tablespoons of water and mix together a little longer.

It should only take about five minutes to mix together.

Next we covered the dough loosely with a lid. You can use a dish towel or a piece of plastic wrap instead, if you prefer.

The dough should be kept in a warm place--a sunny window, near a radiator, etc. for about two hours, or until it has doubled in size. (Sorry, we didn't think to take a photo of the risen dough...but you probably understand, right?)

Before getting my hands all sticky with dough, I sprinkled some cornmeal on a clean dish towel. (If you don't have cornmeal, use some flour or bran instead.) This is where I will set the ball of dough to rise...

Next, I rubbed some flour on my hands...the next step is going to get pretty sticky!

Lifting up the ball of risen dough, I pinched it in half...and then in half again, so that I ended up with about a quarter of the dough. At this point the dough is very sticky...I often drop it into my flour canister or into a bowl of flour to lightly coat it with flour.

This makes is a bit easier to shape into a ball.

Tucking the edges under, I formed a ball, dipping it into more flour as necessary.

ThenI placed the ball of dough on the cornmeal...

...and sprinkled it with more cornmeal before lifting the dishtowel over it, so it wouldn't dry out. After about 20-30 minutes, I preheated my oven to 200 degrees Celcius/400 degrees Farenheit. For the crustiest loaf possible, I like to preheat a heavy (i.e. cast iron) pan while I'm preheating the oven. If you don't have a cast iron pan, or don't want the bread too crusty, you can grease a cookie sheet or a stainless steel pan and just let the dough rise in the pan, instead of on a towel.

In about 45 minutes, this is what the ball of dough looked like. Now comes a somewhat tricky part. I would have never believed you could move this risen dough without it falling flat. But you can! With lightly floured hands, I lift up the dish towel with one hand and flip the dough over onto my other hand...

...now quickly and gently moved the dough to the preheated cast iron pan...

...and set it in the hot, ungreased pan...

Voila! It's a little off-center but it's in there...

I like to cover it with an oven-safe lid. This creates a mini-steam oven inside, resulting in a crustier loaf.

If you don't want to risk moving your loaf, just place it on a greased cookie sheet or in a greased stainless steel pan, cover it with a dish towel and let it rise for about 45 minutes. Then, place it into the 400 degree oven.

Bake for 25 minutes...if you are using a covered pan, uncover it after 25 minutes. Bake for 10-15 more minutes or until a lovely brown. The bread will slip right out of a preheated, heavy pan...sometimes I even remove it from the pan and set it right on the oven rack for the final minutes. Can you tell I like it crusty? Yum! The texture is usually quite rustic...and it's always delicious!

Franca and Fernanda each took a loaf home...as well as a piece of dough to bake another day. They both told me later that they were very happy with their freshly baked bread...a first for both of them.

The dough can also be pressed into a greased pizza pan. For foccacia, let it rise about 20 minutes and then brush it with some olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary.

To make rolls, with well-floured hands, pinch off smaller pieces and shape loosely into an oblong shape. Rolls made with this dogh are a bit flat and irregularly shaped, since the dough is sticky and not intended to be shaped nice and smooth. They are similar to ciabatta rolle...ciabatta means "slipper" and these rolls are a bit flat and irregularly shaped--like a slipper.

Here's the recipe--with North American measurements. Below that it is the recipe in Italian, in case you're interested in that as well. Buon appetito!

Ciao!

Debbie

Plain and Simple Crusty Bread

1 tablespoons yeast

1 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

3 C. warm water

6 cups bread flour, scooped out (notspooned in)

Cornmeal

1. In a large bowl or plasticcontainer, mix 1 T. yeast, 1 T. salt and 1 T. sugar into 3 cups lukewarm water(about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches.Dough will be shaggy, too wet to knead. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel andlet dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Shape into loaves and bake atthis point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready tobake, flour your hands and sprinkle a little flour on the dough. Pinch or cutthe dough in half or in quarters (depending on how large you want the loaf).Turn dough in well-floured hands to create a ball. (The main reason you make aball is so that the loaf will fit in a round, covered pan.)

3. Place the dough either in a greased, stainless steel pan(that has an oven-safe lid) or on towel sprinkled generously with flour or cornmeal,if you want to bake it in a cast iron pan (again, with an oven-safe lid).

4. Let the ball of dough rise forabout 45 minutes*. If you’re going to bake it in the ungreased, heated castiron pan, transfer the risen loaf into the pan and cover before baking. Ifusing the stainless steel pan, just cover and place in the oven. (It’s a little hard to explain how to do the dough if you use a cast iron pan. Because the cast iron pan is so heavy, it has to be preheated, so you can’t let the dough rise in the pan. Instead, let it rise on a towel sprinkled with cornmeal or bran on the counter and when the dough has risen, transfer it over to the hot cast iron pan. It is also easier to do if you make smaller loaves—i.e. a quarter of the dough.

4. Bake in a preheated 400 degreeovenfor 25 minutes. (I have baked it at a lower temperature when I hadsomething else baking at 350 degrees…just bake it longer, until lightly browned.)

5. When lightly browned, uncover andbake 15 minutes longer or until well-browned. You may want to remove itcompletely from the pan and bake directly on the oven rack at this point for adarker crust.

Yield: 4 small loaves or 2 large loaves.

*Note: Cold dough needs to rise about 1 ½ hours, instead of just 40 minutes since it needs to come to roomtemperature first.

Options: This dough can be used as apizza crust. Just press the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and spread with sauce… You can also make the dough into sandwich rolls. The dough is soft but if you flour your hands well, just pinch off a piece about the size of an orange and manipulate it into an oblong roll. Let rise about 30 min. and bake. They may not be quite as crusty as the bread baked in the covered pan but I have done it and they work.

Pane Senza Impasto

1 cucchiaio di lievito di birra (una busta o un cubetto)

1 cucchiaio disale

1 cucchiaio di zucchero

800 ml di acqua tiepida

1 kilo di farina Tipo 0

Polenta

In una grande ciotola o recipiente di plastica, mescolate il lievito con il sale e lo zucchero. Aggiungete l’acqua tiepida. Incorporate la farina, mescolate fino ad ottenere un impasto omogeneo. La pasta dovrà restare molto soffice e morbida. Copritela con pellicola o con un tovagliolo e lasciatela lievitare a temperatura ambiente per due ore o, volendo, fino a cinque ore.
A questo punto, potete conservare la pasta in frigorifero sino ad un massimo di 15 giorni o procedere come segue:

Con le mani ben infarinate, suddividete la pasta a metà, o come sipreferisce in base alla forma che si desidera ottenere – una sfera, dei panini,una focaccia, una pizza, o una “baguette”.
Porre l’impasto in un tegame d’acciaio, dopo aver spalmato l’interno con del burro
Oppure,stendere l’impasto su di una teglia imburrata, per ottenere panini, “baguettes”, pizza o focaccia
O, se volete usare un tegame di ghisa, porre la sfera dell’impasto su di un tovagliolo cosparso generosamente di polenta o di farina

Lasciate lievitare l’impasto per circa 45 minuti. Se l’impasto è preso dal frigo, dovete lasciarlo lievitare più di 45 minuti perché sarà freddo. Un’ ora e mezza, di solito, è sufficiente.

Se volete usare un tegame di ghisa, riscaldatelo precedentemente, mentre riscaldate il forno. Poi trasferite la pagnotta lievitata nel tegame di ghisa caldo, e copritelo prima di cuocere.

Se utilizzate il tegame di acciaio o una teglia, infornatelo quando l’impasto è ben lievitata.

Cuocete nel forno preriscaldato a 200 gradi per 25m. Togliete il coperchio e cuocete ancora per 15m fino a quando la crosticina è ben colorita.

Homemade Pasta with Pesto

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:06:00 -0500

I met Stephanie in Grand Rapids two years ago, a delightful student at Calvin College. Since then, Stephanie came to work as an RA at Black Forest Academy in Kandern, Germany. In December she wrote to ask if she could come visit us with a friend, Julie, over her Christmas break. And so last week, we enjoyed several days together, sightseeing in the Torino area and cooking in my kitchen.

Julie and Stephanie came to visit from Black Forest Academy

The evening they arrived, I offered to have them choose a menu from my cookbooks and we would make the meal together. They were delighted! After settling on a menu together, we headed off the next morning to Porta Palazzo, the largest outdoor market in Europe. The following evening, we made homemade pasta and pesto together, along with fresh bread, fennel salad, baked perch and Hot Fudge Pudding Cake. Larry took photos so you could enjoy the process...and hopefully try it yourself. Let's start with the pesto (recipe at the end of this blog):

Ingredients for pesto: fresh basil, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, garlic and nuts

Pesto is one of my favorite Italian foods! If you aren't familiar with it, it is a delightful, vibrant sauce used to coat pasta--and there's nothing quite like enjoying it on fresh pasta!

Pesto, which originated in Genoa, Italy, comes from the Italian word pestare that means to pound or to bruise. In Rhode Island I made quantities of pesto in September, when my basil plant in the garden was huge. I would freeze it in ice cube trays, and then popped them into a plastic bag. The wonderful aroma of crushed, fresh basil in the middle of winter is enough to bring back memories of a warm and pleasant summer day! So we purchased some fresh basil for our pesto, and removed all the leaves from the stems.

We lightly pressed the leaves into a measuring cup and gave them a quick wash in the salad spinner. Next, we used a microplane zester to grate some fresh Parmesan...though you can use the stuff in the green can if you prefer...

Many recipes for pesto call for pine nuts--but given the high cost of them, I'm happy to tell you that walnut taste exactly the same in pesto. Having harvested and shelled a few pine nuts last year, I understand why they're so costly--but just can't bring myself to spend the money on them in a recipe like this, where they're all ground up and the flavor is so similar to walnuts. But...I didn't even have any shelled walnuts in the house...so we ended up shelling the 1/4 C. necessary for the pesto:

Now, with everything ready, we put it all in the food processor. While originally pesto was made using a mortar and pestle, I've found it adequate to use a food processor. Instead of bruising the basil, it purees it, but the end product is so similar that most of you probably don't want to spend $99 at Williams-Sonoma to buy a marble set like this:

So pull out your food processor and toss in your ingredients:

The fresh basil leaves...

The grated Parmesan cheese...

The walnuts... or pine nuts if you prefer...

And that nearly-non-negotiable in every Italian recipe--garlic.

We processed everything together:

Notice that damp basil leaf that doesn't want to leave the side of the processor? As soon as I took the cover off, it tumbled into the other ingredients.

Isn't that a beautiful color of green? You can almost smell the basil, can't you? Next, I removed the feed-tube from the processor and we drizzled in a half cup of olive oil.

And here's the finished product, ready to coat our fresh pasta.

We used a rubber spatula to get all that goodness into a bowl...rinsed out the processor and began to make the dough...

And here's all you need to make fresh pasta: flour, eggs, and salt. The old-fashioned way to make pasta would be to knead it by hand...but for many years I've made it in a food processor and find it much easier and quicker. For over 20 years I made pasta using all-purpose flour. But last year, when we moved back to Italy, I began using semolina flour and find I prefer it. So if you can find Semolina where you live, try it. I find it makes the texture of the pasta delicate, yet not fragile.

Here's what Practically Edible (one of my favorite food websites) says about Semolina:

Semolina is made from the endosperm (the core or heart) of Durum Wheat, coarsely ground. It is then sifted. The coarser material becomes Semolina, the finer stuff becomes Durum Flour. The Durum Flour is the texture of other flours, whereas the Semolina is closer in texture to granulated white sugar or coarse cornmeal.

When making pasta, I usually calculate how much to make by counting one egg and 3/4 C. flour per adult. However, given the differences in the sizes of eggs--I've found L is not a uniform size around the world!--I usually add one less measurement of flour in the batch. So, with Stephanie, Julie, Larry and I, we needed a total of four eggs. However, I only added three 3/4 C. measurements of flour...then, if the mixture seems too wet, I can always add more flour. (Of course if it's too dry, you can add a few drops of water.)

If you're serving fresh pasta as a side dish--as with an American meal--calculating one egg per adult will make far too much pasta. Also, if you're making a one-dish pasta meal, where meat and veggies are sautèed and stirred into the pasta, you should plan on making less pasta. If I were making Toni's Chicken Marsala with Fresh Pasta (p. 133 in O Taste & See Some More) or Pasta with Sautéed Vegetables (p. 62 in Around Our Table), I would only use 2-3 eggs for 4 people, since the other ingredients increase the overall amount.

Since we were serving the pasta and pesto as a first course (primo) we decided to use 4 eggs, and broke them into the food processor bowl:

I love how Larry captured this egg falling into the processor!

Our eggs in Italy are a nice, deep yellow... Next we added the flour and a pinch of salt.

I'm a stickler for spooning the flour into the measuring cup, instead of scooping it out. If you're a "scooper" you'll need to figure on adding a bit less flour since scooping packs the flour into the cup and you end up with more flour than you would with the spooning technique. This is a 3/4 C. measuring cup...and I added three of these to the four eggs. A pinch of salt is added and then we're ready to process it. At first the mixture will be quite crumbly...but as you continue to process it, the mixture will form a ball and roll around the edge of the bowl.

And here's the "view from the top" when it's ready:

Some people still roll the pasta by hand, with a rolling pin. But for 20 years I've used an Imperia pasta roller, which is a quicker and easier.

Cheaper ones are on the market, but if you decide to invest in one, I would recommend one that's heavy enough to stay attached to your countertop. With ours attached, next I adjusted the rollers to be as far apart as possible.

Now, we're ready to roll! The first step is to press the dough with the heel of your hand to flatten it.

Then it needs to be cut into managable-sized pieces. With 4 eggs, I cut it into 4pieces.

Each piece is then pressed even flatter onto a well-floured board before rolling it through the pasta roller. If it doesn't come through the rollers nice and smooth, we just keep folding the dough over, dusting it with flour and re-rolling it until the pieces are lusciously smooth.

We readjust the knob so that the rollers are set for the next to the thinnest setting...and roll everything again. As the pasta is pressed thinner, it also gets longer and needs to be cut to a length that's managable for eating.

Now we're ready for the fun part--we attach the cutter to the machine and cut the sheets of pasta into fettuccine, which literally means "little ribbons". In some parts of Italy these are called tagliatelle, which comes from the word "tagliare" or "to cut".

We toss the fettuccine in some flour to keep the cut edges from sticking together...

...and spread it out on the dish towel...

Meanwhile, we've heated a large pot of boiling, salted water. No need to lay out the pieces of fettuccine on a drying rack. I tried it once to see if there was an advantage but there really wasn't. I usually make the pasta just before we cook it...not too far in advance or I run the risk of it sticking together. The pasta is gently dropped into the boiling water...and after it comes to a boil, I test a small piece. It's usually done within one minute!

Once it's drained, I toss it back into the hot, empty pot and pour the sauce or pesto over it and gently coat the pasta with the pesto.

I'm a "stickler" for warm food and have pre-heated the pasta bowls in the warm oven.

We and the girls were definitely ready to sit down and enjoy our first course together...along with the crusty bread we made. But we'll save the bread making for our next blog!

Buon appetito! Thanks for the memories, Steph and Julie!

Here are the recipes:

Basil Pesto (enough for 4-6 servings)

1 1/2 C. fresh basil leaves (pack lightly in measuring cup--or 3-4 handfuls)

2-3 cloves garlic

1/4 C. (50 g) pine nuts or walnuts

3/4 C. (60 g) Parmesan cheese

1/2 C. (125 ml) olive oil

pinch of salt

Put basil, garlic, nuts and cheese in food processor. While processing, pour the olive oil through the feed tube. Process until the consistency of creamed butter. Pour over warm pasta, or cover and refrigerate or freeze for use later.

Fresh, Homemade Pasta (serves 4 adults as a first course)

4 eggs

2 1/4 C. Semolina or all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

dash of water if needed

Combine eggs, flour and salt in food processor. Process until mixture forms a ball. If it stays crumbly, add a little water. If you don’t have a food processor you can knead the ingredients together by hand.

Divide the dough into four pieces and roll through a pasta roller on the widest setting. Then roll through on the second thinnest setting. Now the pasta is ready to cut and cook. You can roll them with a rolling pin, of course, if you have time and strength!

Making Risotto with Sandra and Nunzio

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:41:00 -0400

I heard it said that making risotto is a little bit like riding a bicycle: It takes a little bit of practice to begin with, and a certain amount of concentration thereafter. While most of us think of pasta when we consider Italian foods, rice was introduced here in Italy by the Arabs who dominated Sicily centuries ago. Since the northern, marshy terrain of Piemonte—where we live—was conducive to growing rice, risotto has become a popular staple in northern Italy. I began experimenting with a variety of risottos after we moved to northern Italy in2008, and included several varieties in my newest cookbook, Around Our Table. Since risotto is best made with a willing spouse or friend—who’s willing to stir it almost constantly for 20 minutes—I decided to make it when my husband’s sister and brother-in-law came to visit last month. Sandra and Nunzio have owned several pizzerias over the years so are used to being in the kitchen and were a lot of fun to work with!

Sandra, my sister-in-law, and Nunzio, her Sicilian-born husband make risotto

While I prepared the rest of our meal, Sandra followed my recipe for Shrimp Risotto from Around Our Table. We ate it as a first course, but you can easily use it as a one-dish meal with a salad on the side.

The first step in making risotto is to bring your broth to a boil and then lower the flame to let it simmer. Generally when you’re cooking rice, you use twice as much broth as rice. However, with risotto, you use nearly three times as much broth since much of it evaporates as you cook. This can result in a salty dish if you use bouillon so homemade or canned stock is best if at all possible. If you only have bouillon, increase the ration of water to bouillon base.

While the broth was heating up, Sandra diced onions…

…and then sautéed them in a mixture of olive oil and butter. Notice that we used a heavy-bottomed,wide saucepan since some of the broth needs to evaporate.

If you were using raw shrimp, you would sauté them at this point until they turned pink and then use a slotted spoon to set them aside in a bowl. We used pre-cooked shrimp, so we just added the rice to the onions and stirred it well to coat it with the oil and butter.

When making risotto, it’s important to use a short-grain rice for a creamier risotto. Most Italians use Arborio, but any short-grain—almost round—rice will work. Though I haven’t tried it yet myself, I’ve heard that you can use almost any whole grain to make risotto such as pearl barley, spelt or farro. I’m guessing that some of these other grains may require a longer cooking time but would offer more food value to the risotto.

Sandra “toasted” the rice for several minutes until it was translucent. Then she added some white wine—compliments of Nunzio…

Remember that broth that we left to simmer on the back burner? Well, Sandra added a ladle-full at a time, stirring each addition until it’s almost absorbed.

You don’t have to stir it constantly, but you definitely have to stir it often, which is why it’s best to make this a community effort by engaging someone else’s help while you prepare other dishes for the meal and set the table.

After adding all the broth, we taste-tested the rice…it still had to cook another 4-5 minutes to be “al dente”, with a firm center, but not crunchy. Then we added…

...the shrimp and some butter...

...freshly grated Parmesan cheese...

...and some fresh parsley...

...and a squeeze of lemon.

Voila! It was ready to enjoy! Buon appetito!

Risotto makes a wonderful meal during these cool winter months. I hope you'll try it! Here’s my recipe for Shrimp Risotto which serves eight. Sandra and I made only a half of a recipe to serve four. Check out Around Our Table for other variations such as Pumpkin, Vegetable or Cheese Risotto.

9 C. (2 liters) chicken broth, heated

2 T. olive oil

2 T. butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 lb. (1/2 kilo) medium shrimp,cleaned and deveined or 1 lb. scallops

3 C. (900 g) rice, preferably Arborio or other short-grained rice

1 C. wine (or chicken broth)

1 1/2 C. (60 g) grated Parmesan cheese

2 T. butter

3 T. fresh parsley, chopped

1 T. lemon juice

1. Keep broth heated on a back burner while preparing the rest of the risotto.

2. Heat 2 T.oil and 2 T. butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and sauté until softened,about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook until pink, or cook thescallops just until whitened. Set aside in a bowl.

3. Add rice to the pan, stirring well to coat with oil. Add wine (or broth), stirring until evaporated and absorbed.

4. Now begin adding 1 cup of broth at a time to the rice mixture, stirring frequently until nearly absorbed. Continue adding the broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring frequently, until the rice is “al dente” -- done but not mushy.

5. When the rice seems “al dente,” stir in the Parmesan, butter, fresh parsley, and lemon juice. Gently stir in the seafood and heat through.

To purchase a copy of Around Our Table, go to our Home page. Enjoy!

Mom Peck's Potato Salad

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:48:00 -0400

One of the benefits of being married to Larry is having an Italian mother-in-law, Brigida! She grew up in the Naples area, married Larry's father, a U.S. serviceman, and now lives in Virginia Beach. Each summer she comes back to visit her sister in Naples--and this year came up to see us outside of Torino. Her Italian accent and lively personality keep us smiling.

No one can believe my mother-in-law looks so young!

Must be the Mediterranean diet.

For her last evening here, I asked her if we could make her very special Potato Salad together. The recipe is on page 71 of O Taste & See Some More. (I'll also add it at the end of this blog.) With olive oil and lemon juice it's such a fresh-tasting summer treat. Here's how we made it:

Five or six whole potatoes are covered with cold water and brought to a boil. We simmered them gently until a fork could be easily pressed into them--about 25-30 minutes.

While the potatoes simmered, Mom Peck cut the ends off of the fresh green beans and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Meanwhile, I cut the small zucchinis in half and then into thick slices. We steamed both--in separate pots, since the beans take longer to get tender. Both should be tender but not mushy. Then we drained them and set them aside.

When the potatoes were done, they were drained and cooled for 10-15 minutes before we peeled them. She just uses her fingers to peel the potatoes; I prefer a small knife. The potatoes need to be quite warm--even though they're hard to handle. If left to cool completely, they're much harder to peel. (Of course you CAN peel them before you boil them, if you prefer. I find it easier but Mom Peck prefers it this way...and since we're making HER potato salad, I wasn't going to insist. :))

The potatoes are then sliced, and salted...before adding the beans and zucchini.

No Italian I know measures their olive oil...in my cookbook I've listed "1/4 C. olive oil". But this is just my best guess. The olive oil is drizzled over the veggies before adding....

...a squeeze of lemon. For this amount of salad, a half a lemon is enough.

Mom then gently stirred the mixture...while I added some minced onion and a shake of oregano. You'll want to season the salad to taste and enjoy at room temperature.

We enjoyed ours out on our balcony with Baked Salmon Trout (directions to follow), and Fennel Slaw (p.48 in Around Our Table). I cooked the fish according to the suggestion of the clerk at the fish market and it was fabulous! First time I've ever had Salmon Trout...I'm sure you could use just salmon or just trout if this particular type isn't available to you.

The filets of fish were placed in a single layer and drizzled with olive oil. Then I added some white wine, cherry tomatoes halved, a sprig of fresh rosemary and a sprinkle of salt. I covered it with foil and baked it in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Voila!

Summer's almost over...why not enjoy a bowl of Mom Peck's Potato Salad this week?

Here's the recipe:

5-6 large potatoes, left whole

2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) cubes or slices

2 C. (200 g) fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces

1/4 C. (60 ml) olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp. salt

1. Place the whole potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Cook until tender (test by piercing with a fork). Drain and cool; peel off the skins and dice into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes or 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) slices.

2. Meanwhile, separately steam the zucchini and the beans in a little salted water until tender but not mushy. Drain and set aside to cool.

3. Combine all 3 vegetables in a bowl. Toss gently with olive oil and salt.

4. Just before serving squeeze the lemon over the salad and toss again gently. Check the seasonings--you may like it with more olive oil, salt or lemon juice. Serve at room temperature.

Variation: For a little more “pizzazz”, add 2 green onions, thinly sliced, and a sprinkle of oregano.

Buon appetito!

Ciao!

Debbie

Lemon Mousse Cake with Courtney

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:53:00 -0400

One of my favorite things to do is to pass on my love of cooking to younger women. Courtney, a young American wife and mother who has lived in Avigliana for 3 years, has been an eager learner--and that makes Matt happy! She and I got together one day to make Lemon Mousse Cake from my new book, Around Our Table.

We assembled the ingredients...

...and read through the recipe. This lucious, light dessert might seem indimidating if you've never made a cake roll before...which is why we're going to show you the steps. You'll find the complete recipe here, or on page 95 of Around Our Table.

We started by making the Creamy Lemon Filling: Courtney grated the zest off of the lemon--be sure to only grate off the yellow part, none of the white part, which is bitter. If you don't have a zester, use the very fine grater side of a hand-grater. Two teaspoons is all it takes to give it a burst of lemon flavor.

I squeezed out 1/3 C. fresh lemon juice...you can use the stuff in the bottle if you want. Lemons are much less expensive here in Italy than in North America, though the cheapest ones I found are imported from Argentina. How is that possible?

The zest and juice are combined with a can of sweetened condensed milk and 4-5 drops of yellow food coloring--so it comes out nice and yellow and everyone knows it's a lemon dessert. We chilled this mixture for 30 minutes while we made the cake.

We also whipped the chilled heavy cream (no Cool Whip over here in Europe, folks!) and put that in the fridge...After the cake cools, we'll fold these two mixtures together for the filling and frosting. Now, let's make the cake.

The first step is to prepare the pan. We greased a cookie sheet with edges...then lined it with parchment paper. You can also use waxed paper. It's possible to make this cake without parchment or waxed paper...but you'll have less worries if you do. Even a well-greased pan can stick occasionally...and then, what a mess.

Courtney separated our eggs...

...we beat the egg whites until foamy... and gradually added 1/2 C. sugar. We then beat them some more until they were stiff by not dry. Do you see the nice little peak when we lifted out the beaters? Once you have a nice stiff peak, stop beating them because if they get too dry, it's hard to fold in the egg yolk mixture. Use a very clean bowl to beat the egg whites; any grease or oil--or even alittle bit of yolk--in the bowl will keep them from beating up into these nice, stiff peaks.

In a separate bowl, we beat the egg yolks until lighter in color--about 3-5 minutes,

then gradually added 1/4 C. sugar and 2 tsp. of lemon juice...

...and some vegetable oil.

We folded the yolk mixture into the beaten egg whites. It's important here to use a gentle motion to fold in--don't beat the mixture! Instead, use a large spoon or spatula to lift from the bottom, up and over the top.

We then combined the dry ingredients and folded those in as well, using the same gentle folding motion.

This delightful mixture was plopped (is there a better word?) onto the prepared pan...

...and smoothed out into the corners before baking for only 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees.

While the cake baked, we spinkled powdered sugar generously onto a kitchen towel...

...so that as soon as it was done and we loosened the edges...

...we could dump the cake out onto the towel...

...peel off the parchment paper...

...and roll it up with the towel. Then we set it aside to cool on a wire rack.

When it was cool, we gently unrolled the cake and spread half of the Creamy Lemon Filling on it. (Remember those two mixtures we put in the fridge a while ago? We folded them together to make this creamy filling/frosting.)

We re-rolled the cake, this time without the towel, of course, and set it on a serving platter.

We used the remaining Creamy Lemon Filling to frost the cake roll. I thought the filling/frosting came out a bit runnier than in the past...but it worked. So don't be unduly frightened if it seems thin. If you use Cool Whip, the consistency may be a bit more consistent than using heavy cream, which I find is often a softer mixture. The cake should be chilled for at least two hours. I have found it keeps really well in the fridge for even several days,though it's a bit of a challenge covering it. I've had success putting toothpicks into the cake and then covering it loosely with foil or plastic wrap.

And here, Friends, is the finished product! Matt and Courtney, along with their 2 darling children, came over for supper the night that we made the cake...

...to enjoy a meal together and a slice of the Lemon Mousse Cake.

Matt wanted seconds...yum! It was so light and delicious!

Thanks, Courtney, for helping me! I've loved watching you develop your cooking skills during this year!

Courtney and Matt are moving back to Indiana this week...we're going to miss them so much! They have attended the International Church of Torino with us and our prayers go with them as they move back "home".

Ciao!

Debbie

Making Bunet with Maria Angela

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:35:00 -0400

Italians love their food, and we love it too! One of my favorite things to do is to learn from an Italian how to make one of their recipes. Each region of Italy prides itself in their particular recipes, and our region of Piedmont ("Piemonte" in Italian, which means "at the foot of the mountains") is no different. When my friend and neighbor, Maria Angela, offered to show me how to make Bunet, she insisted that the recipe she shared with me was actually called Bunet di Cuneo. Again, I saw how important their roots are to Italians since Cuneo is her hometown, about 45 minutes outside of Torino.

Here we are, Maria Angela and I, beginning to make the Bunet together.

Maria Angela and her husband have lived in our apartment building for 30 years, a pretty amazing fact since we've moved three times in the last ten years! She's aware of every function taking place in the area, and has invited us to many of them. We've attended several plays together, an antique market, as well as other events. The first time we enjoyed a meal in their home, Maria Angela made this simple, chocolate Bunet. It's quite easy to make and I thought you might enjoy trying an authentic Italian dessert--besidesTiramisu--the only Italian dessert most Americans know! So here's the recipe as she gave it to me, and at the end I'll give you the American equivalents.

70 g sugar

6 eggs

200 g sugar

50 g unsweetened cocoa powder

100 g amaretti cookies

750 ml milk

To begin, Maria Angela carmelized 70 grams of granulated sugar right in her loaf pan, over the stove. I recommend carmelizing it with 1T. water in a heavy skillet and then pouring it into your loaf pan to avoid burning your fingers! She did this before I arrived, so I'm sorry I don't have any photos to show you of the carmelization process.

Notice how dark the carmelized sugar gets,
making the finished dessert a lovely, deep brown.

Each recipe makes one pan; we, of course, made two pans so we could each have one. The pans need to be set into another pan which will hold the hot water for a bain marie, or hot water bath, which gives a more even, gentle heat during baking.

Once the pans have been prepared, we broke the eggs into a bowl and beat them with the 200 g of sugar. Italians do not use measuring cups; they weigh every ingredient.

Next, Maria Angela weighed the cocoa powder...

...and I measured it to see how much an American,
without a cool, digital scale, should use.

Amaretti cookies are considered to be a specialty of this area. They are small, hard cookies, which we needed to "grind" into very fine crumbs.

If I had beenin my own kitchen, I would have used a food processor but Mary Angela used a food mill. It was a novel idea, though a bit more work.

Now we were ready to add the cocoa powder and amaretti crumbs into the egg and sugar mixture.

It?s not a bad idea to sift the cocoa powder, to avoid lumps of bitter cocoa. If you don't have a sifter, be sure to "smash" any lumps before adding it to the mixture.

Then stir the mixture gently until well-combined.

Add 750 ml of milk. In Italy most people use the long-conservation milk which is conveniently stored without refrigeration until it's opened. If your milk is cold, you should warm it on the stove or in the microwave until comfortably warm.

Now stir gently, but thoroughly...

...and pour into the prepared pans.

Notice how different Maria Angela's batch looks from mine. Even though we followed the same recipe they looked completely different. I used Dutch cocoa which I brought down from Germany but her cocoa was from the grocery store here in town. My batch had lumps of cocoa, even though I sifted it into the mixture. If I had been in my own kitchen, I would have tried using a whisk but she didn?t have one so we just "went with it". Actually, when we ate it the next day, it tasted absolutely fine.

Remember the two loaf pans were setting in a larger pan? Now Maria Angela poured boiling water into the outer pan before putting them into the oven for one hour at 200° C (400°F).

After baking, the pans were allowed to cool to room temperature before chilling them overnight in the fridge. To serve, slide a knife around the edge of the Bunet to loosen the edges and invert it onto a platter. Slice into luscious, thick pieces and enjoy!

Buon appetito!

Grazie, Maria Angela, per la ricetta di Bunet di Cuneo!

Now here's the recipe with American equivalents:

1/3 C. sugar

6 eggs

1 C. sugar

2/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 C. Amaretti cookie crumbs

3 C. milk

1. Carmelize 1/3 C. sugar and pour into loaf pan.

2. Beat together the eggs and 1 C. sugar.

3. Add the cocoa and Amaretti cookie crumbs. Stir well.

4. Add the milk, stirring gently but thoroughly.

5. Pour into loaf pan and set in a larger pan with at least 1 inch of boiling water.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

7. Cool to room temperature before chilling overnight.

8. To serve, slide a knife around the outer edges and invert onto a platter. Cut into thick slices and enjoy!