September 15, 2021

A lot has happened in the seven months since my last blog post.  I’m sure you’ll understand why I haven’t posted in a while.

We’re no longer in Santa Fe!

That’s right, we’ve moved full time to Palm Springs, California.

It was, and remains, exceedingly difficult to have left all our close friends in Santa Fe but Palm Springs called to us.

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We get two growing seasons each year.  Since we’re just a few hundred feet above sea level, I don’t need to be concerned about testing recipes at high altitude.  The weather is pretty darn great, too!

The variety of what we can grow here is amazing.  We have ten citrus trees, three fig trees and an apricot tree.  We’re considering adding a pomegranate tree.  We have table grapes trellised up a side wall.  There are four raised beds for herbs and vegetables.

Frank grew the most awesome tomatoes this year.  I have quite a stash of homemade passata (tomato puree) in the freezer.

The timing of our seasons takes a bit of getting used to.  Our first season pretty much ended in June.  That’s probably the time that most of you were just getting started with your gardens.  Though the herbs have continued to grow through the summer heat, all the vegetables were done by the end of June.

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Right now we have an abundance of fresh limes.  The other citrus trees have fruit but it won’t be ripe for a few more months.

The vegetable beds sat fallow for the summer.  Just a few days ago, Frank planted them with seeds for what will be our second harvest of the year.  That will take place in November and December.

Though we’re not harvesting vegetables at the moment, this is the perfect time for zucchini in most of the country.  When there’s an abundance of zucchini, sformato is the answer.

Sformato di Zucchini (Italian Zucchini Bake)

This was the first item that I cooked with Zia Fidalma at her home in Tuscany in August 2019. Green beans, cut in small pieces, can be prepared the same way except the beans are boiled and not sautéed. A combo of beans and zucchini is also possible. Zia does not usually add herbs to her sformato but since she had some niepita she added it. Though you’re not likely to have niepita (aka mentuccia romana), unless you grow your own, adding a small amount of marjoram or oregano is a welcome addition. If you don’t have fresh herbs, use a light sprinkling of dry herbs. In any case, herbs are totally optional.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 7/8 cup milk (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2-3 cloves garlic chopped
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 medium-small zucchini about 7” long, approximately two pounds
• 1-2 zucchini flowers chopped, if available
• 1 small sprig niepita (mentuccia romana) or marjoram or oregano, minced, optional
• salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 ounce Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• butter for the baking dish
• fine breadcrumbs for the baking dish

Method

 

Besciamella

1. In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter.
2. Add the flour and sauté briefly until the raw smell is gone. Do not brown the flour.
   
3. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring well after each addition to avoid lumps.
   
4. After all the milk has been added, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan. Boil for one minute.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in the nutmeg.
   
6. If not using immediately, pour the besciamella into a heat-proof bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface to avoid the formation of a skin.
   
7. Refrigerate if the besciamella will not be used within an hour or two.

Sformato

1. Do not peel the zucchini. Cut off the stem ends and slice the zucchini lengthwise about 3/16 inch thick then crosswise the same thickness to make thick matchsticks.
   
2. Sauté the garlic in the olive oil until fragrant.
   
3. Add the cut zucchini, chopped flowers and minced niepita if using. Season with salt and pepper and sauté briskly until just barely tender.
   
4. Mix the cooked zucchini with the besciamella, nutmeg, and Parmigiano.
   
5. Stir in the eggs after the mixture is cool enough to not cook the eggs.
   
6. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper.
7. Butter a baking dish, approximately 7 ½” x 11”.
8. Sprinkle the buttered dish with fine dry breadcrumbs.
   
9. Pour the zucchini mixture into the prepared baking dish. It should be about ¾ inch thick.
10. Bake at 400°F till very brown on top, approximately 90 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before cutting.
    
11. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Copyright © 2021 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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February 3, 2021

This recipe is for Mike.

It’s for all of you, too, but especially for Mike.

Mike dutifully reads all of my posts and recipes but says he’ll never make any of them despite the fact that he’s a good cook.

I challenged myself to post a recipe that Mike COULD make if Mike CHOSE to make it.  (Hint:  that means it’s fast and easy!)

Most of us are not going to cure our own olives.  Even in Italy that’s true.  But starting with good quality cured olives and seasoning them to make them unique is quite another thing.

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Many years ago, when we were living in Chicago, and had a very productive garden plot, fall “harvest” season saw lots of foods being made and preserved for the coming months.  One of the ways we made use of abundant fresh herbs was to put up gallons of olives with herbs and a light vinegar brine.  It was a technique I learned from a friend in Santa Fe, Joe Hoffman.

The vinegar allowed the olives to be kept for months and months without deterioration.  Done right, they weren’t sour.  In fact, I thought the vinegar treatment mellowed some of the bitterness that olives can have.

“Joe Hoffman’s Marinated Olives” were a staple nibble during cocktail hour for most of our dinner parties for many years.

Our herb harvest since moving to Santa Fe hasn’t been as abundant as it was in Chicago so I haven’t made these olives in a while.  What I do make is an utterly different style of marinated olive that can be prepared just a few hours before serving time.  These olives will last in the refrigerator for several weeks, though not as long as Joe Hoffman’s olives.

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The original recipe, which I have since modified, came from Jo Bettoja’s In a Roman Kitchen.

These olives pack a major flavor punch and never cease to get raves from dinner guests.

Roman-Style Olives (Olive alla Romana)

These olives only need to marinate a few hours before serving. They will keep in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for several weeks.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1/2 pound oil-cured black olives
• 2 cloves garlic cut into slivers
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds crushed
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• thin lemon slices cut from about two wedges of lemon

Method

 

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature a few hours, stirring occasionally.
   

Notes

Copyright © 2021 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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January 27, 2021

“Can’t you come up with another name?”

That was my husband’s response when I said I was going to post a recipe for olive oil cake.

I suggested the Italian, Torta all’Olio d’Oliva.  He wasn’t amused.

I guess he thinks the idea of olive oil in cake isn’t appetizing.

Nonetheless, the cake is a staple in regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.  And a delicious one, at that!

There are endless variations.  Some are thin, barely an inch tall.  Some are savory-sweet.  Some barely reveal the presence of olive oil.  Others proclaim the flavor of olive oil loudly.  Some are good for snacking (with tea or coffee).  And a few are actually good enough to serve for dessert with no embellishment.

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Then there’s the olive oil to consider.  Even among really good extra-virgin olive oils, and I do suggest you use really good extra-virgin olive oil, there is a range of flavor profiles.  Words like grassy, bitter, peppery, fruity, and buttery come to mind.

Which you use will influence the flavor of the cake.  All will be good but some may be more to your liking than others.

Honestly, though, does the world need another recipe for Torta all’Olio d’Oliva?

That’s a rhetorical question, right?

I mean, really, we wouldn’t ask if the world needed another recipe for chocolate cake.  We’d just lean into it and make it happen.

If you’ve never had olive oil cake, and if you like to bake, I suggest giving this version a try.  It has a moist crumb, crunchy top (from brown sugar), and a hint of orange from orange zest and orange liqueur.

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This cake is suitable as dessert, not just snacking.  It’s not going to be a spectacle of a dessert, like the Maraschino Cherry Cake I made from the first edition Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, but I believe it will surprise many of your guests with just how good it is.

Now for the apology:  I prefer to cook, and I DEFINITELY prefer to bake, using the metric system.  It’s just so much easier to scale recipes up and down.  Also, among professional bakers, most ingredients are weighed, even liquids.  Without a scale that measures in fractions of a gram, however, it is not practical to weigh small amounts of ingredients like baking powder and salt.  For these, I stick to teaspoons and tablespoons when I publish recipes though I often weigh these ingredients, too.  Remember, though, that a standard teaspoon is now treated as if it were 5 ml, and a tablespoon 15 ml, even though both are just a smidge less, at least in America.

Although the recipe app will convert metric measures to non-metric, I’ll be happy to supply anyone with ingredient quantities in the typical volume-based American system upon request.

Olive Oil Cake (Torta all’Olio d’Oliva)

This is a cake which definitely benefits from sitting, tightly covered, at room temperature for two days before serving. The flavors mellow and the olive oil diffuses throughout the cake. For the topping, use a brown sugar that is not soft and moist but rather granular. Use a good quality orange liqueur such as Arancello (sometimes called orangecello in the United States) or Grand Marnier.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 240 grams cake flour
• 52 grams fine cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons orange liqueur
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 230 grams granulated sugar plus more for pan
• 3 large eggs
• Grated zest of one orange
• 275 grams extra virgin olive oil plus extra
• crunchy brown sugar such as Turbinado or Italian Zuccero di Canna

Method

 

1. Oil a 9” springform pan with olive oil.
2. Cover the bottom with parchment and oil the parchment.
   
3. Sprinkle the pan with sugar and dump out the excess. Even if you spread out the oil precisely it will tend to bead up, unlike butter, so there will be some sugar clumps. Don't be concerned.
   
4. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well and reserve.
   
5. Combine the liqueur, lemon juice and vanilla. Reserve.
   
6. In a planetary mixer, using the whisk, beat the sugar, eggs and orange zest on high speed until thick and ribbon-like, approximately 3-4 minutes.
   
7. 
8. Still on high speed, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and beat until fully incorporated.
   
9. The batter should get thicker.
   
10. On low speed, add the flour mixture, in three additions, alternating with the liquid mixture, in two additions, starting and ending with flour. Scrape the bowl once or twice to ensure an even mix.
    
11. Pour into the prepared springform pan.
12. Sprinkle the top with brown sugar.
    
13. Bake at 350°F until brown, firm on top, and a cake tester comes out clean; approximately 60 minutes. Do not underbake the cake or it will fall as it cools.
14. Cool the cake for 15 minutes in the pan then poke the top all over with a skewer.
    
15. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the cake and allow it to absorb.
16. Remove the side of the pan and cool completely.
17. When the cake is cool, remove it from the base of the springform pan. Wrap it in plastic and allow to rest at room temperature for at least one day, preferably two, before serving.

Notes

Copyright © 2021 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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January 21, 2021

Pre-pandemic my husband randomly chose a region of Italy.  Most of our meals for the month were traditional foods of that region.

In response to the pandemic, I reduced my marketing, with rare exception, to one supermarket trip once a week.  Obtaining the ingredients to create very specific regional Italian cuisine became difficult with such a shopping regimen.  Meal planning, though still Italian, reverted to dishes for which I could obtain the necessary ingredients at the supermarket supplemented by deliveries from Amazon.

Amazon is my source for Italian flour, several types of which I use for making pasta, bread, pizza and cake.  Carnaroli rice can be difficult to obtain under the best of circumstances but is available on Amazon.  Some of the ingredients for gelato are impossible to find in retail shops making Amazon the go-to source.

Other items, like specific types of cheeses or cured meats or olives, can only reasonably come from local retail markets.  The same is true for produce and an array of other ingredients.  One marketing trip a week to a general supermarket made it impossible to gather many of the required ingredients so the one-region-a-month-cooking-and-eating regimen fell victim to the pandemic, at least temporarily.

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I made food from Piemonte (Piedmont) while our region-a-month plan was still active.  Piemonte has cows, so beef and dairy figure prominently in the cuisine.  Piemonte is also home to Barolo, among other wonderful wines.

Piemontese food does not shy away from calories or flavor!

This dish makes use of two of the stars of Piemontese cuisine, beef and wine.  The most traditional recipes call for a whole filet.  The wine is traditionally Barolo.

There was a time when Barolo was affordable.  It is no longer a budget-friendly wine and certainly not one that I would use to braise beef in, even if it’s filet.  If you’re interested in how Barolo became so well-known, watch the movie Barolo Boys.

It’s rare to find a modern recipe that simply specifies Barolo as the red wine.  Even when the traditional name of the dish, Brasato al Barolo, is used, the wine is rarely Barolo.  Calling this Brasato al Vino would be more accurate but that name doesn’t really convey the historic context of the dish.

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I’ve made this with filet that I dutifully larded with my home-cured pancetta.  While the taste was good, the texture of filet after braising was not good, even with the larding.

After that first attempt, I decided to use a cut more commonly used for long, slow, moist cooking even if it was not as high-brow as filet.  Once I made that decision, I started doing recipe research that stretched beyond my several very traditional multi-volume sets of Italian regional cuisine published in Italy in Italian.  I discovered that other (iconoclastic English-speaing) cooks had made the same shift to “lesser” cuts of meat.

I particularly like brisket that’s been braised though a nicely marbled chuck roast would work too.

The dish was a hit when made with brisket.  Truth be told, the family didn’t care to ever have it again when I made it with filet.  With the textural change from the brisket it’s become part of our standard menu rotation.

This is a perfect dish for winter.  It’s great for entertaining as it is actually better if made the day before and reheated just before serving.

Oh, and if you actually make it with Barolo, please invite me to dinner!

Brasato al Barolo (Beef Braised in Red Wine)

Since Barolo is so expensive, most contemporary recipes call for another full-bodied red wine. I have used Zinfandel as well as an Argentine wine that was 60% Merlot and 40% Syrah with great success. The meat can be served without refrigerating first but refrigeration makes it easier to get neat slices. If not refrigerating, pour the hot sauce on the sliced meat and serve immediately. If you don’t have a stash of garlic oil on hand, smash two cloves of garlic and sauté in the olive oil until golden then remove the garlic.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 1 day d 4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 1/2 kilogram beef brisket
• 2 onions chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 4 cloves garlic smashed
• 1 1/2 bottles of Barolo or other full-bodied red wine
• flour for dredging
• 50 ml garlic oil
• 100 grams pancetta diced
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 6 sage leaves
• 3 inches stick cinnamon
• 6 juniper berries
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• salt to taste
• 100 ml dry Marsala

Method

 

1. Combine beef with the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and wine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
   
2. The next day, remove the beef and wipe dry.
   
3. Strain the marinade. Reserve the solids and liquid separately.
4. Dredge the beef in flour.
   
5. Sauté pancetta in garlic oil over low heat until it renders its fat and browns. Remove pancetta and reserve.
   
6. Brown the beef in the rendered fat. Remove the beef.
   
7. Add the vegetables to the pan and sauté until softened and the onions are translucent.
   
8. Add the tomato paste. Sauté the tomato paste briefly to darken and sweeten it.
   
9. Add the reserved marinade to the pan along with the bay leaves, cloves, rosemary, sage leaves, cinnamon, juniper berries and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.
   
10. Add the beef. Season with salt. Braise till tender, partially covered, approximately 3 hours.
    
11. Remove the beef and refrigerate, tightly covered.
12. Strain the braising liquid. Discard the solids and refrigerate the liquid.
    
13. When the beef is cold, slice it against the grain and put in an ovenproof pan or casserole.
    
14. Skim the chilled braising liquid.
15. Heat the de-fatted braising liquid with the reserved fried pancetta.
    
16. When the braising liquid comes to a boil, remove from heat and add the Marsala. Pour the liquid over the beef, cover the pan, and heat at 350°F for approximately 1 hour.

Notes

Copyright © 2021 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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January 13, 2021

January 7th is International Porchetta Day.

It was declared so by the participants in a charcuterie class at the Italian Culinary Institute in January 2019.

There is a private Facebook group of individuals who subscribe to the cult of porchetta.  We agree to make porchetta annually on January 7th.

The charcuterie class in question began on January 7, 2019, one week before my three-month Master of Italian Cuisine course began.  I made a point of getting to Italy early, really early, as I didn’t want to find myself in class with a sharp knife in my hand the day after landing, jetlagged from a 29-hour trip and an eight-hour time change.

I arrived the evening of January 8th, almost a week before my course started. I was invited to go to dinner with the charcuterie class.  I described that first chaotic day in my first dispatch from Calabria.

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The next day, Chef John invited me to sit in on the charcuterie class.  Although not officially part of the class, I shared meals and course time with the group.

When International Porchetta Day was declared, with the date matching the first day of the charcuterie course, I became a member.

Traditionally porchetta is made with a whole pig, and not a small suckling pig, but a BIG one!

When porchetta is made at home, it’s done with a smaller cut of meat.  I use the shoulder, aka Boston Butt.  At the Italian Culinary Institute, they use two cuts, the capo collo and a pork belly.  The capo collo is a long muscle group in the shoulder that, in essence, is a large cylinder.  The shoulder, and by extension the capo collo, contain beautiful marbling that makes a luscious roast.

At the Italian Culinary Institute, the belly is rolled around the capo collo.  The fat of the belly protects the capo collo.  It also makes a beautiful presentation.  It also adds about 8 pounds to the weight of the roast.  So, unless you’re cooking for a very large crowd, using the shoulder alone will more than likely be ample.

Given the limitations of the lock-down in Palm Springs where I’ve been sheltering in place, six of us, members of our COVID Pod, celebrated International Porchetta Day.

Porchetta was obviously the centerpiece of the meal and I made my traditional version.  Here’s a link to my Porchetta recipe.

I focused on side dishes that would compliment the roast and settled on a whole roasted cauliflower and a Roman dish called Carciofi e Patate (artichokes and potatoes).  For dessert we had an Olive Oil Cake.

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Carciofi e Patate is traditionally made with whole artichokes, lots of them!  In season, one can buy 12 artichokes for €1 in Italy!  That’s right, about 10¢ each!!! I once used 12 artichokes when I made the dish as part of Easter Dinner.  I spent more than $50 on artichokes for that one dish.  Clearly when Italians describe the dish as “economical” they have no idea about artichoke prices in the United States.

While I prefer the dish made with fresh artichokes, I won’t do that again until I’m in Italy during artichoke season.  Frozen artichokes work well and are much more budget-friendly.

Carciofi e Patate (Artichokes and Potatoes)

Carciofi e Patate is a classic Roman recipe. It pairs well with most roasts.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 12 ounces frozen artichokes
• 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
• 3/4 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Method

 

1. Peel potatoes and cut in 8 wedges unless the potatoes are very large or very small.
   
2. Brown the potatoes in the three tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat.
   
3. When the potatoes are well-browned, reduce the heat to medium. Add half the onions and garlic.
   
4. Sauté until the onion is golden.
   
5. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add approximately ½ cup of water. Cover and cook on medium heat until cooked through, adding more water as needed, approximately 25 minutes. There should be no water left when the potatoes are cooked.
6. Meanwhile, sauté the remaining onions and garlic in the remaining extra-virgin olive oil in a sauté pan.
7. When the onions are golden, add the artichokes and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté briefly.
   
8. Add white wine, cover and braise until barely tender, approximately 10 minutes. The artichokes will cook further with the potatoes so do not over-cook them.
   
9. Add artichokes to the pan with the potatoes.
10. Sauté, uncovered, about 10 minutes longer, to meld flavors. Adjust salt and pepper.
    
11. Stir in parsley and serve.

Notes

Copyright © 2021 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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July 30, 2020

I apologize!

This isn’t an Italian recipe.

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I’ve had a taste for cheesecake for months now.  A few weeks ago, I bought cream cheese and sour cream in anticipation of making cheesecake.

Well, yesterday was the day.

I pulled out a recipe that I stumbled upon more than twenty years ago.

It was from a coffee shop in Santa Fe, The Three Cities of Spain, that closed in the mid 1970s!  Apparently, the coffee shop was quite an interesting place!

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I can’t tell you much more about the recipe, though now that I’ve looked, I’ve found a number of versions on the web.

What I can tell you is that if you like cheesecake, MAKE THIS CAKE NOW!

The Best Cheesecake... Ever!!

The very short and simple ingredient list belies the deliciousness of this cheesecake. Make it the day before you want to serve it so that it has time to chill and set.

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 11 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Servings: 10 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

Crust

• 5 ounces finely ground graham crackers
• 2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• unsalted butter to grease pan

Filling

• 24 ounces cream cheese
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

• 16 ounces sour cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

 

Crust

1. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 1/2 inch (24 centimeter) springform pan.
2. Combine all crust ingredients. Press into the bottom and about one inch up the sides of the buttered springform pan.

Filling

1. Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, preferably using the paddle of a planetary mixer. Scrape the bowl several times to be sure the cream cheese is well blended.
2. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating very well after each addition, and scraping down the bowl.
3. Add the sugar and blend. Add the vanilla. Turn the mixer to high and beat until very light and fluffy, approximately one minute.
4. Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan. The filling should come over the top of the graham cracker crust.
5. Bake 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until the cake is jiggly in the center but set about three inches in from the edge.
6. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to rest for five minutes. Do not turn the oven off.
7. Prepare the topping.

Topping

1. Blend all ingredients thoroughly.
2. After the cake has been out of the oven for five minutes, put the topping on the firm part of the cake, around the edges, then carefully spread it evenly over the entire top of the cake.
3. Return the cheesecake to the oven for 10 minutes.
4. About 10 minutes after removing the cake from the oven, run a knife around the side to loosen the crust but do not unmold the cake. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature then cover loosely and refrigerate at least six hours.
5. About three hours before serving, remove the cake from the refrigerator. Remove the side of the springform pan. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving.

Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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July 21, 2020

You can keep the chocolate!

It’s not that I don’t like chocolate.  It’s just that I’m not one of those people who thinks chocolate is the absolute best flavor for sweets.

My favorite flavors are almond and coconut.  Preferably together.

I remember a cake I ate when I was 12 years old.  It was an absurdly moist yellow cake that tasted of almond and coconut.

In memory of that cake, which I had only once, I have an entire stash of coconut-almond cake recipes.  I’m building up to the day when I head to my kitchen in Palm Springs (so I can bake without contending with the nearly 8000-foot elevation of Villa Sentieri) and bake coconut-almond cakes every day till I create one that tastes the way I remember it.

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In the meantime, I make lots of coconut- and almond-based desserts including almond gelato, maraschino cherry cake with almond filling (from the first edition Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook), raspberry bars with almond crust, coconut pistachio crumb cake, Brazilian coconut pudding, coconut pie, Marcona almond blondies, and wattalappam (a coconut custard from Sri Lanka) among many, many others.

One of my favorites, is an improbable recipe I got from Great Aunt Fidalma in Tuscany nearly 20 years ago for a crostata (tart) with a filling of crushed amaretti cookies and amaretto liqueur.

I know, I know, amaretti and amaretto only pretend to be almond.  They’re really made from apricot pits.  At least the commercial versions are made from apricot pits.

You knew that, right?

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The brand of amaretti I typically buy is Lazzaroni.  It’s the one that comes in the red tin.  Until recently, the brand of liqueur I bought was Amaretto di Saronno.  In 2001 Amaretto di Saronno was rebranded to Disaronno Originale.

When I went to buy the Amaretto to make this crostata, I found an unfamiliar one from the makers of the cookies, Lazzaroni Amaretto.

While Amaretto di Saronno is made from infusing apricot pits, the good folks at Lazzaroni say that they infuse their famous cookies (which, of course, contain apricot pits).

Since the flavor of this crostata is entirely dependent on the amaretti and the amaretto, I suggest you buy good quality ones.

Crostata di Amaretti (Amaretti Tart)

Use very good quality amaretti cookies and amaretto liqueur as the taste of the crostata is completely dependent on them. You can buy amaretti in packages of 200 grams, if you buy a larger quantity, weight out 200 grams or 7 ounces. Most home cooks in Italy buy little envelopes of powered (artificial) vanilla flavoring. These are not common in the United States, so I’ve substituted vanilla extract. You can use one envelope of Italian vanilla flavor instead of one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

Pasta Frolla

• 300 grams all purpose flour
• 70 grams sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• grated zest of one lemon
• 80 grams butter
• 2 eggs

Filling

• 200 grams amaretti cookies
• 125 ml amaretto liqueur
• 100 grams sugar
• grated zest of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg divided
• 2 egg whites
• 1 pinch cream of tartar

Method

 

Pasta Frolla

1. Blend the flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla powder, if using, salt and lemon zest in a food processor until combined.
2. Add the butter, cut in pieces, and vanilla extract, if using, then blend till well combined.
3. Add the eggs and blend till the pastry almost forms a ball.
4. Remove the pastry from the food processor and use your hands to press everything into a single ball.
   
5. Wrap the pastry in waxed paper and refrigerate for an hour before using.
6. Roll the pasta frolla into a 13-inch circle.
7. Line a greased 10" deep dish tart pan with a removable bottom with Pasta Frolla going about 1 inch up the sides. Trim the excess and use it to patch the crust if necessary.
   

Filling and Assembly

1. Reserve six amaretti for garnish.
2. Crush the remaining amaretti and combine with liqueur, and vanilla extract, if using.
   
3. Soak, occasionally crushing the amaretti further, until thick and batter-like.
   
4. Combine sugar, lemon zest and vanilla powder, if using.
   
5. Combine the egg yolk and the sugar mixture with the amaretti mixture. Mix well.
   
6. 
7. Beat the three egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff.
   
8. Fold a spoonful of the egg whites into the amaretti mixture to lighten it.
   
9. Gently fold in the remainder of the whites, in two portions.
   
10. Pour the filling into the tart pan lined with pasta frolla.
    
11. Garnish the top with the reserved whole amaretti.
    
12. Bake at 350°F approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown.
13. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes then gently remove the sides of the pan. (I like to do this by setting the pan on a large can then gently jiggling the pan apart.)
    
14. Cool thoroughly on a rack.
15. The crostata should be stable enough to slide off the bottom of the tart pan and onto a serving platter.
    
16. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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July 13, 2020

I published a photo for this dish on my Facebook feed last week and got so much attention that I decided to actually post the recipe.

Sformato di Spinaci (spinach sformato or, if you must, spinach casserole) is a dish that garners great reverence in my husband’s family.  A while ago, I published my adaptation of the family recipe.

I make sformati out of lots of different vegetables besides spinach, including Swiss chard, zucchini, and cauliflower, among others.

Sometimes I swap out the ground beef in my husband’s grandmother’s recipe for sausage or Calabrese salame, or mushrooms.  This is a heretical act in his family but everyone still eats the sformato.  This is compounded  by the blasphemy of adding besciamella to the mix.

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Although I make several versions of potato “cakes” I never thought of them as sformati until I stumbled upon the genre while perusing Italian-language food websites.

Although I had mixed meat, such as salame or prosciutto, and cheese into the potato mixture before baking it, I had never made a layer of filling in the middle.  Doing so changes the whole character of the dish.  It really feels like a main course (or what would be a secondo in an Italian meal) rather than gussied up potatoes that should be served as a side dish (contorno)!

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When serving sformato di patate, I often start with soup and end with a salad… unless it’s a meal for which I developed a new gelato flavor to try! (This happens once, if not twice, per week… the gelato, not the sformato!)

This recipe calls for prosciutto cotto (cooked ham).  This is not the cured ham that we simply call “prosciutto” in English.  It really is just a cooked ham.  Typically, it would not be smoked.  I have successfully made this with good quality ham from the deli counter as well a fully-cooked lightly-smoked ham from the meat counter.

Since the cheese is smoked, I find that smoked ham works as well as un-smoked ham though the latter is more traditional.

Sformato di Patate (Italian Potato "Cake")

Italian prosciutto cotto is not smoked so the most traditional ham would be unsmoked but since the cheese is smoky, I’ve occasionally used a lightly smoked ham and gotten fantastic results. If the ham is not sliced very, very thinly, cut it into batons about the size of wooden matchsticks. I’ve chosen to keep this recipe in the metric measures that I use. You can click the button below to change to American measures. Feel free to round the quantities up or down a bit.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1.1 kilograms russet potatoes
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 50 grams Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated
• 50 grams whole milk
• 200 grams smoked scamorza or provola cheese thinly sliced
• 150 grams prosciutto cotto very thinly sliced
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary or two if you prefer
• butter room temperature
• fine dry breadcrumbs unflavored
• salt
• black pepper freshly ground

Method

 

1. Peel the potatoes. Dice and cook in salted water until they can be easily pierced with a fork but are not falling apart.
2. While still hot, pass the potatoes through a ricer and allow to cool until they are comfortable to touch.
3. Combine potatoes with eggs, Parmigiano and milk. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Butter a 22 cm springform pan and coat with fine dry breadcrumbs.
5. Press about 60% of the potato mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
6. Layer the prosciutto and scamorza inside, making two alternating layers of each.
7. Top with the remaining potato mixture and smooth the top.
8. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and dot generously with butter.
   
9. Bake at 350°F for approximately one hour, until golden, adding the rosemary sprig to the top of the sformato after about 20 minutes of baking.
10. After an hour, the internal temperature should be close enough to 165°F that it will reach that temperature while it rests.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool approximately 15 minutes before removing the sides of the pan and serving.
    

Notes

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March 25, 2020

I’ve been at home now for more than two weeks with just a weekly shopping trip to take me “off the mountain” as we say in our house.

This has given me ample time to catch up on some projects and start others.  It certainly gives me a lot more leeway to plan out a lot of cooking adventures.

Three days ago, I made 19 pounds of ‘ndjua.  It was a great project for a Sunday.  Well, these days, almost every day is like Sunday.

Making the ‘nduja, which is roughly 25% red pepper, wiped me out of the supply of peperoncino piccante in polvere (ground hot red pepper) that I brought back from Calabria in September.  In fact, I had to supplement with red pepper from India that I bought at an international food store in Las Vegas, NV a couple of months ago for just such an eventuality.

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I’ve used up half of my supply of nero di seppia (cuttlefish ink… what, in America, we call squid ink except that it’s not from squid…it’s from cuttlefish), also brought back from Calabria.

The same is true for my lievito madre, powdered mother yeast.  It’s a combination of commercial yeast and “natural” yeast.  It’s sort of like a sourdough starter except that it’s not sour and you don’t keep the culture going.  You just use the powdered stuff as needed.

These are all common supermarket or open-air market items in Italy.

We have plans to spend a month in a villa in Calabria this fall.  I have been honing my shopping list for months but I’m now concerned that the trip might not happen as planned.  It’s still a bit too early to know for sure but I’m getting myself mentally prepared for cancellation.

Meanwhile, I do what I love.  I cook.  Even if it means that I might use up precious supplies with the prospect that there may be no reasonable means of restocking in the near future.

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Two days ago, I made stuffed and rolled flank steak.  One day last week I made a batch of black pasta (with, ahem, cuttlefish ink) that I tossed with fresh scallops and mushrooms. I made a killer sous vide rib eye roast on Sunday.  It bobbed along, all seasoned up, in a vacuum sealed bag with my sous vide doing all the hard work while I made ‘nduja.

The ‘nduja was done, and hung, in time for me to pour a bourbon, take the roast out of the bag and sear it, and cook some veggies.

I’m comforted to know that in about two months there’ll be lots of ‘ndjua to enjoy.

If you’re stuck at home, why not consider making something new—like ricotta.  All you need is milk, vinegar and salt (and, if you wish, a little cream).  Once you’ve made ricotta, you can drizzle it with honey and serve it for dessert or turn it into Sancarlin and serve it with some garlicky crostini.

Ricotta Fatta in Casa (Home-made Ricotta)

You can replace the cream with an equal amount of whole milk but using cream improves the yield. Because the boiling point of water (and thus milk) is much lower where I live in Santa Fe, I target a temperature between 192°F and 195°F. At sea level, you can go up to 203°F. What you don’t want to do is to have bubbles break the surface of the milk, though there will be some foaming around the edges.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Servings: 2 pounds

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 9 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

Method

 

1. Warm the milk, cream, and salt in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat.
2. Stir occasionally until it reaches 170°F. Stir more frequently after that, and almost constantly once it reaches 185°F until the targt temperature is reached, 192°F or higher as described in the headnote.
3. When it reaches the target temperature, add the vinegar and stir well. Turn off the heat and move the pot off the heating element. Even if you’re using a gas stove the grate will remain hot and can increase the temperature of the milk too much.
4. Allow the milk to sit undisturbed. Curds should form a raft floating on top in 10 minutes. If curds do not form, add 1 tablespoon more vinegar, stir well, and wait 5-10 minutes more.
   
5. Cut the curds into one-inch cubes with a knife.
6. Lift the curds into cheese molds set on a grate to drain.
   
7. Alternatively put the curds into a strainer lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth.
   
8. Drain until the ricotta is as dry as desired based on how you plan to use it. The ricotta will be slightly stiffer once it is chilled so do not drain it too much.
9. Once drained, the ricotta can be stored with the bottom sitting in a little of the whey to keep it moist. It will not reabsorb liquid once it has drained out.

Notes

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March 18, 2020

A few weeks ago, our dinner group decided that the theme of our dinner would be dishes from my blog.  For complete disclosure, I recused myself from that decision.

Dating back to the beginning of our group, Santa Fe Ate, the name being both a play on what we do and how many we are [though recently we’ve been six due to a move out of state], Becky Gould has bid on appetizers.  There is the occasional exception but one can count on Becky to sate our hunger at the beginning of an evening with some artfully created appetizers.

Becky went through every one of my blog posts and came to the conclusion that I had not posted very many recipes for appetizers.

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My review confirmed the same.

This post is the beginning of trying to rectify that situation.

Crostini are a favorite appetizer in our house.  The formula is infinitely adaptable.  It goes something like this:

1. Toast bread, preferably a rustic Italian-style loaf or a baguette.
2. Drizzle with good extra-virgin olive oil.
3. Rub with the cut side of a clove of garlic.
4. Add a topping of your choice.

Often, I stop at step three.  Toasted bread rubbed with garlic and extra-virgin olive oil is good without any embellishment.

If I’m not making many crostini, I’ll toast the bread in my 1967 General Electric Toast-R-Oven using the aluminum tray and the “top brown only” setting, flipping the bread once to toast both sides.  [Yes! I really do use a 53-year-old toaster oven.]

When making crostini for a crowd, I use the broiler and follow the same process of flipping the bread.

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Choose toppings to suit your whim and the season.  Chopped fresh in-season tomatoes with a hint of basil is a classic topping as is coarsely mashed cooked cannellini beans with an extra drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Just last week I made crostini topped with goat cheese and spicy eggplant preserved in extra-virgin olive oil (melanzane piccante sott’olio) that I had made a few days earlier.

This particular combination of beans and arugula, zipped up with lemon, is very refreshing and a reminder that spring is not far away.

Crostini with Fava Beans and Arugula

Frozen fava beans work well in this recipe. If you cannot get fava beans, substitute edamame. If using fava beans, you will need to start with more than one cup of shelled beans to have one cup of peeled beans after cooking.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 6 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 8 persons

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 cup shelled fava beans or edamame
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for final assembly
• 1 ounce baby arugula divided
• 12-16 mint leaves if available
• 3 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground, to taste
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 baguette

Method

 

1. Cook fava beans or edamame till tender, approximately 3-4 minutes. Drain and shock in ice water.
2. If using fava beans, peel them.
3. Coarsely chop the cooked beans in a small food processor.
   
4. Remove half the beans and reserve.
5. Coarsely chop 1/2 ounce of arugula by hand. Reserve.
6. To the beans in the food processor, add 1/4 cup of olive oil, the remaining 1/2 ounce of arugula, mint leaves (if using), Pecorino Romano cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
   
7. Process until almost smooth.
   
8. Combine puree with the coarsely chopped beans and arugula and mix by hand.
9. Adjust salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Refrigerate several hours, or overnight, to allow flavors to blend.
10. Return to room temperature before using.
11. To serve, toast slices of baguette. Drizzle one side of the toasted bread with extra-virgin olive oil. Rub the bread with the cut side of a garlic clove, distributing the oil.
    
12. Top each slice of bread with some of the bean mixture.
    

Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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