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
BASIL SALT
ING •3 cups fresh, washed basil •1/2 cup kosher or coarse sea salt •2 gar/cl
METHOD Blender/pulse all ing. Spread on sheetpan; dry out 3-5 days.
(A food dehydrator helps.) When fully dry, blender/pulse; pulverize into
fine crumb. Decant into shaker.
There's even an image of Frank and Ava eating this delicacy at the villa. This elegant risotto was their favorite.
They stayed at Villa d’Este on fabulous Lake Como in the 1950’s. The Villa's Chef Parolari shares his secret recipe.
Risotto can Carciofi / Risotto with Artichokes
PREP Slice artichokes very thin. Set aside one-half. Saute rest on med in tb ea melted butter, ol/oil 3 min (soft in center). Set aside.
RISOTTO BTB then keep at a bare simmer 6 c chix stock. Cook/stir/soften onion in tb ea melted butter/olive oil on med w/ wooden spoon til translucent 3 min. Add rice; cook/stir 3 min, coat every grain w/ butter and oil. Then add ½ cup spumante (sparkling wine); stir til absorbed. Add cup stock; stir til absorbed. Add uncooked sliced artichokes. Continue adding stock ½ cup at a time, stir frequently; absorb liquid before adding more stock. Cook rice just tender and creamy but al dente, 15-20 min. You may have leftover stock. Add 1/2 cup spumante; stir well. Offheat, stir in 3 tb butter, Parm, s/p. Let rest 1-2 min.
SERVE topped w/ sauteed artichokes, sprinkling of minced Italian parsley. Side of Italian sausage grilled or sauteed w/ sage and butter.
ING 6 arti/hearts 4½ tb butter 2 tb evo 6 c chix stock small fine-chp onion 2 c Carnaroli (or arborio) rice, cup Italian spumante, 3 tb Parm
NOTE Eataly, NYC, has fantastic Carnaroli rice; worth the effort to find it, but dish is still delicious with arborio rice as well.
Love this cake with a cup of tea. Had it first on the Amalfi Coast for breakfast. Love that region.
http://italyonmymind.com.au/breakfast-pear-cake-torta-di-pere-frullate/
One of our greatest memories of Italy was walking down to the 5 villages in the Cinque Terre/Liguria region. We stopped and tasted little seafood dishes along the way in this glorious region.
http://tangoitalia.com/liguria/liguria-food-and-recipes/
We make this every summer when the lemon verbena comes up.
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/cinque-terre
Capers are the buds, and I can take them or leave them. Nasturtium leaves and flowers are edible, with a clean peppery sort of taste, and really good in salads. They also repel certain bugs, so I interplant them with my broccoli and munch on them during the spring. :)
Eggplant is starting to come up in the garden. I make lots of this and freeze it:
https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Caponata-1000087189
But they are cute for a Fourth BBQ....and the sauce is deelish.
BAKED POTATO HOT POTS
Stuff hollowed-out baked potato halves, mounding at top. Then top with canned potato strings....bake to golden color. Serve with hot Chipotle Sauce.
CHIPOTLE SAUCE: heat 6 oz can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, cup h/cream, 1/4 c lime juice, bit grnd cinnamon.
Thanks, I will make those for the 4th. It must like the weather because my lemon verbena is gorgeous and full this year.
Drumstick Ice Cream Sandwiches
INGREDIENTS
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups half and half
1 2/3 cups Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or paste
20 waffle-style cookies
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups chopped honey roasted peanuts
DIRECTIONS
Combine cream, half and half, and sugar in medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently, about 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add in vanilla bean or paste. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes before placing in an electric ice cream maker.
When ice cream base has cooled, pour it into ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions.
When finished churning, transfer to an airtight container. Allow ice cream to harden in freezer for at least 1-4 hours.
To assemble, use a large ice cream scoop; place one scoop of frozen ice cream on top of a waffle-style cookie. Spread ice cream as flat as you can, then place another cookie on top, creating a sandwich. Repeat this process with all the cookies.
Place ice cream sandwiches on a tray, and put back in the freezer for 30 minutes.
In a medium bowl, melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each until chocolate is melted and smooth.
Remove sandwiches from freezer. Dip 1/4 of each sandwich into melted chocolate, tapping off any excess. Immediately coat chocolate in chopped nuts and place back on the tray. Repeat with all sandwiches.
Place them back in freezer for 15 minutes to freeze chocolate.
Wrap each sandwich tightly in cling wrap, and store up to 1 month in freezer.
http://www.imperialsugar.com/recipes/desserts/frozen-desserts/Drumstick-Ice-Cream-Sandwiches
WATERMELON ICE CREAM--CHOCOLATE "SEEDS"
served up in chilled watermelon bowl.
Must use alcohol--1/3 c Passoa Passion Fruit liquor (Chambord port wine, or vodka).
Watermelon's high water content ices up; alcohol disperses ice crystals.
METHOD Simmer 20 min 2 cups watermelon puree, cup sugar, tb corn syrup, 1/8 tsp salt
Offheat, add liquor, tsp vanilla. Mix into 2 cups plain watermelon puree.
Chill thoroughly. Add 2 c light cream; fridge 4-24 hours to meld flavors.
Freeze in ice cream maker to soft consistency.
Spoon into airtight container, sprinkling w/ 2 oz shaved datk chocolate as you pack.
Freezer/harden several hours before serving. When refrozen, thaw a bit til scoopable.
But hot, muggy days are made for gelato di melone. Ripe melons have a high sugar and water content as well as dense flesh, resulting in a creamy-textured gelato without the addition of eggs or milk. If you want that extra bit of dimension from a just bit of dairy, my trick is to add a small amount of yogurt; the acidity gives a pleasing, subtle tang to offset the natural sweetness of the melon......2 medium cantaloupes will give you about 3 pounds of flesh, which yields about 6 to 7 cups of unfrozen gelato mix. Feel free to adjust this recipe up or down to accommodate the size of your ice cream freezer.
Gelato di Melone
Ing 2 medium, ripe cantaloupes 1/2 cup honey a pinch of kosher salt Fresh juice from 1/2 a lime 1 cup plain yogurt, whole or nonfat (optional)
Procedure---Puree melon in blender w/ honey, salt, lime juice, and yogurt (if using)----may have to do in batches. Strain to remove fibrous pulp. Taste and adjust the sweetness up or down to your preference with honey and lime juice. Freeze in a gelato or ice cream maker.
LOL! They look like Sparklers!
ING forty Oreos, stick melted butter, 1/2 gal vanilla ice cream, second stick butter, can evap/milk, cup milk/choc/chips, 2 c conf, Spanish peanuts (skins on)
CRUST Mix Oreo crumbs, stick melted butter. Spread on 9x13” pan bottom. Slab out softened ice cream to layer on crust. Freeze firm.
Pour cooled sauce over frozen ice cream. Sprinkle w/ peanuts, then freezer firm.
SAUCE melt butter/choc/chips on med. Add evap/milk, conf. Reset to med-high; BTB. Boil/stir 8 mins. Let cool.
I’m going to use my pizzelle iron for the waffle cookies. I usually make them with Italian liquor as a flavoring.
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