Posted on 06/28/2018 4:06:28 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
I’ve become very interested in Italy lately, and am especially drawn toward the Sorrento Peninsula/Amalfi Coast area. Searching for recipes from the region – and continuing in the interest of finding ways to use all of those squashes that are beginning to burgeon in your gardens - I found a recipe for Spaghetti alla Nerano. This is a pasta dish that comes from the fishing village of the same name, and uses fried zucchini.
I found the recipe on a beautiful website dedicated to Italian cooking: ‘Memorie di Angelina’. Frank Fariello has done an amazing job with this blog, which is dedicated to his grandmother and his memories of her home cooking. He is passionate about his subject, and writes beautifully and thoughtfully about it:
http://memoriediangelina.com/2017/09/09/spaghetti-alla-nerano/
(While you’re there, check out his recipe for Frico, a crispy potato-cheese wonderfulness.)
I happened to find a neat way of cutting a hard-boiled egg, in case you are presenting them in a Chef’s Salad or some other dish This type of garnish cut is apparently called a ‘Van Dyke’ (after he of the beard style?) and there are a couple of ways to do it.
Here, YouTuber 'cheekyricho cooking' uses a knife:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUGJGhwZAY0
And DaveHax of 'Egg Life Hacks' uses a drinking straw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XxrgwjRBCQ
If I could, I would go to Sorrento just to visit Terrerosse, the ceramics studio of Alessandro Ottone and his wife Enrica Cerchia. They don’t appear to have an online shop, but they do have a YouTube channel full of beautiful videos mixing magical scenes of the rugged coastline of their home with some of their work in ceramics. The way that Alessandro celebrates the sea creatures and natural environment of Sorrento – tender but not sentimental - is very moving to me. I can only imagine the satisfaction that comes from possessing talent like this and being able to devote one’s working life to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0odXD6M1Ww&index=16&list=PL4rRCviH_yjBaNKMnSIFEldN_NHUFpE0D
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What first led me to become interested in this area of Italy was a YouTube channel, ‘ProWalks’, which features walking tours of several of the towns in the region. Among the videos of the resort towns, this YouTuber also has interesting tours of the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The definition of the video makes you feel as if you are actually there – and cause me to think that very realistic VR “vacations” are not too far away for us.
Some of the tours are quite long, but they are fascinating and relaxing to watch, if you are interested and have the time:
-JT
All I need is the rich boyfriend and I’m there!
Well, ok, maybe some actual time.
I’m kicking some destinations out of my bucket to put Capri up on my list. Wow.
Capers are essential with smoked salmon and cream cheese, to me. Perfect foil. Not too many, not too few.
Saved this, going to try it. I don’t do breads or carbs too well. Dying to see how much of a flavor the peanut butter gives (its ok, I love peanut butter).
Wow. I didn’t realize capers were nasturtiums. The nasturtium leaves are so yummy and spicy. I want to eat one each time I see one in a garden and only the thought of the gardeners spraying pesticides on them keeps me away.
I think the climbing would be exciting. There is something magical about the ocean seen up close from on a hill. Because your eye sees a greater chunk of vision of the sea that way, as opposed to when you are at a flat shore. When we lived up the high hill from the ocean in Manhattan Beach, you’d look out and see about “3 feet” of your front vision as ocean. Flat at Malibu, say, you see less than a foot of actual ocean in your line of vision.
In my mind I’m gong to Capri. Wow.
1 Cup cottage cheese
3 eggs
3 tbls. vegetable oil
3 tbls. flour
Blend until smooth in blender, then cook like you would a pancake on a lightly buttered griddle. Serve with syrup or fresh fruit puree. Very light and fluffy.
That is indeed unusual. First time I’ve seen a bundt pan for savory too. And I like it.
There is something striking about that dark look with the light skin. We were watching a marathon of I Love Lucy tonight and Desi Arnaz had that look going for him too, and he was a Cuban, and yesterday I was with a beautiful Cuban woman and my beautiful half Puerto Rican girl, and we were talking about their 23 and me results, with a handful % of West African blood. It could be the reason why some Italians are so beautiful too. A tiny bit of African spice in the mix?
http://cakescottage.com/2016/05/11/no-bake-summer-berry-icebox-cake/#more-132996
I’ve seen the chicks, but the mice are so adorable!!!
Capparis spinosa, the caper bush, also called Flinders rose,[2] is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers.[3][4][5]
The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), often used as a seasoning, and the fruit (caper berries), both of which are usually consumed pickled.
Other species of Capparis are also picked along with C. spinosa for their buds or fruits. Other parts of Capparis plants are used in the manufacture of medicines and cosmetics.
I was at the Blue Collar Working Dog store the other day. It is for police dogs, fire dogs and service dogs. And thought I was having a heart attack.
I fell in love with a fireman paramedic! Actually a few of them. Sooooo gorgeous!
How do they get those magnets on your body ... on your bum an d stomach without you knowing it. I’m glad I was measuring my lacy black bra for everyone in the store.
Cute....
Sweet Potato Gnocchi / Mascarpone Cheese Sauce
METHOD Rice 4 warm baked sweet potatoes, one boiled russet. Stir in 2 c flour, beaten egg, pinch cinn/nutmeg, s/p;
mix well. Pipe batches w/ ½" tip into boiling water, snip w/ kitchen shears at ½" intervals. Cook til gnocchi float
to surface. Drain; keep warm. Repeat w/ rest.
SAUCE heat 4 shallots, gar/cl both fine-ch, tb sugar, cup h/cream, 1/2 cup herb, veg or chix stock;
add 4 oz mascarpone, fine-chp sage. S/p to taste.
ASSEMBLY Combine with Sauce. SERVE garnished w/ sage leaves.
STUFFED ITALIAN BREAD
Mix stick melted butter, 1/8 c ol/oil, 3 tsp minced onion, grated gar/cloves, tb dijon, tb poppy seed, 3 tsp chp parsley.
Cut Italian bread loaf into cubes on the diagonal not all the way thru. Spoon in butter-onion garlic mixture carefully
then add 12 oz grated white cheddar/jack. Foil entire loaf, sealing sides properly; bake 350 deg 15-20 min;unwrap.
Bake 10 min (cheese is melted and gooey).
The little room this person stayed in at the Caesar Augustus (starting at 12:01) is exquisite, and just my speed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCyDA322Edg
There are a lot of nice little towns along the coast, and various boat tours. On Capri they’ll take you into the Blue Grotto:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJCh-8FDS4
What they don’t have are expansive sand beaches; it seems to be mostly short pebbly ones.
You can almost sense that the mice are planning their attack!
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