Fried (Green) Tomatoes

This is a flavorful side dish, slightly sour even if your tomatoes are a little more ripe. They are so beautifully golden, with an appealing aroma, they can even tempt children!

I was shopping for green tomatoes, but couldn't find any. I had to settle for almost ripe ones, still more red and juicy than I would have preferred. However, it still worked out perfectly, and while the slices were a little more moist than if they were green tomatoes, they still were very easy to prepare, and the flavor was tangy and tastey. So, this dish is almost fail-proof!

I wanted to try chickpea flour, even though this is usually made with regular wheat flour. I will definitely make this recipe again, with the chickpea (or garbanzo bean) flour. In Italian, chickpea flour is farina di ceci, and is often used in Italian cuisine. I wanted to try it in place of wheat flour because some of my friends are on the south beach diet and can't eat regular flour. So it was a big experiment, and it worked perfectly. Ceci-garbanzo-chickpea flour is low in carbs, so it is a "flour" well worth trying! As for taste, if I hadn't cooked it, I wouldn't have known it wasn't wheat flour.

Starring:



3 large tomatoes (unripe if possible)
1/3 cup of flour (chickpea flour if you feed adventurous)
1/3 cup of olive oil
salt

Here's how you prepare this:

Cut tomatoes into slices about 1/2 inch thick.




Place slices on wire rack to drain the juices,

and sprinkle with salt



Let drain for an hour. Flip tomatoes and sprinkle salt again.



after another hour, place the slices on paper towels,





and pat dry with another paper towel gently laid on top of the slices.



Dip the tomato slices in flour being careful to coat both sides well.







Heat oil in a frying pan and arrange slices of tomato in pan with plenty of room. Fry until golden.



Remove the slices, and place on absorbent paper towels briefly. Continue to fry the rest of the tomato slices in the same way. Transfer the tomato slices to a serving platter.



Last but not least, Buon Appetito!

Bell Peppers with Tomato and Basil

I think this one will quickly become a family favorite!

I am on a roll this week with contorni, or side dishes. Today's dish is very flavorful; no one could ever accuse it of being boring. It is also rather unusual for an Italian side dish, in that it includes a meat as one of its ingredients. But there is such a small amount of bacon that it can actually almost be considered a spice! The flavors blend so magnificently in this recipe, but the smell, ah! Wait til you cook this! Your kitchen will smell divine.

Variations: For vegetarians, simply omit the bacon. The rich flavors of the peppers and tomatoes, garlic and basil will make this dish stunning, even without the bacon.

This is a side dish, but I see several other applications! It would be a very flavorful topping for bruschetta, and it would also be a fantastic topping for focaccia, baked right in.

May I present: Bell Peppers with Tomato and Basil- Peperoni con Pomodori e Basilico
Starring:



5 or 6 red and yellow bell peppers
2 strips of bacon or a small package of pancetta affumicata
3 garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
3 or 4 ripe plum tomatoes
about 15 fresh leaves of basil
about 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

First, preheat your oven to 350F or 180C. Place the bell peppers in a shallow baking pan and bake for 15 minutes.



Meanwhile peel and chop the garlic cloves.




chop the tomatoes,



and slice up the bacon.



also gather together your basil leaves and tear or coarsely chop them.



When fifteen minutes have passed, remove the bell peppers from the oven. (Baking the peppers in the oven before sauteeing them helps to reduce the time it would take to get them to soften in the skillet). Allow the peppers to cool a little, and then grasp the stem and pull to easily remove stems and seeds. Cut the peppers into strips.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the bacon.



Fry until it becomes lightly golden, and then add the garlic,




and then the pepper strips.



Turn the heat down to medium low. Fry for about 5 minutes,



and then add the tomatoes.



Cook covered, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. The peppers should be soft, and the liquid from the tomatoes should have evaporated.

Uncover and add the basil. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Stir gently, and transfer to a serving platter. Serve plenty hot! (Hint: This dish still tastes fantastic after it has been re-heated. You can always make this up ahead of time, and re-heat to go along with dinner if you know you are making a complex meal).




Buon Appetito!

Chard and Pine Nuts

Bietole con Pinoli

This recipe combines some of my favorite things. I love pine nuts, pinoli. And I love chard bietole.

Did you know that great groves of stone pine (P. pinea), trees between Pisa and Viareggio, all along the coast produce such a quantity of pinoli that they are exported throughout Europe?



And since we are already talking about the area between Pisa and Viareggio, a very lovely area of Tuscany, let's throw in some history for ten points (or not). Anyhow, between these two cities is a town called Torre del Lago. Its most famous son is none other than Giacomo Puccini who wrote 12 operas including Madam Butterfly, La Bohème, and Tosca.

Hey! We weren't supposed to be speaking of great Italian composers, but of chard and pine nuts! When I went shopping, I was looking for Swiss Chard, but couldn't find any. On sale instead was some vibrant organic Rainbow Chard. I couldn't resist! It is so beautiful, I am in love with this vegetable!



So let's get started in cooking up this flavorful contorno, or side dish featuring rainbow chard and pine nuts!

Starring:


Organic Rainbow Chard
Pine Nuts
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt

First wash the leaves carefully as they are textured and could harbor grit and sand easily. Next, find a Wild Thing if you have one handy who is old enough to wield a knife... here is my own 13 year old, who was pretty impressed by the colors of this showy chard. He just had to get his hands on it.


Separate the leaves from the stems,



and cut the stems in long thin strips.



Pretty!

I love all these colors.
Can you believe this color is natural, and means it is very good for you? I always look for organic veggies for my family, and buy them when I can. For you Italian readers organic means biologico.

After all the stems are cut in strips, add them to a large pan to which you have already added about two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and let heat. Add the chard stems and cook for about fifteen minutes on medium heat.



Then add one cup of water, or some water and a bit of white cooking wine if you like. Turn heat down to medium low. Let the water steam the stems so they begin to soften. Continue cooking while you or one of your children or one of your friends continues to cut the leaves into strips.



After about fifteen minutes of cooking add the leaves of the chard.



At any time add water or wine if the chard looks like it may become dry. We don't want our chard to stick to the pan.

Cook for about five more minutes after adding the leaves, and it should be done!



Taste and see if the chard is tender. If not, continue cooking and tasting until it is how you like it. Before removing to a serving platter, add salt to taste.

Move to a serving platter and add a drizzle (about one tablespoon) of olive oil on top of the chard. Next sprinkle with the pine nuts. It is done, ready to serve along side an entre of your choice. Buon Appetito!



 Our youngest wild thing ate lots of chard leaves too, although not enough to constitute his dinner, making happy ummmm sounds between bites! Yay, he is a happy veggie eater, at least for now. And since my eldest wild thing helped prepare this dish, he ate a couple of bites too. Meanwhile the middle son wanted to graze on the rest of the pine nuts. He is obsessed with pine nuts- and they are expensive!

Wild Things At Play!

Please excuse the blurriness- sometimes my technical technique suffers in order to be quick and catch the moment!



My youngest wild thing is just recently finding his equilibrium as a new walker, and the boy who was my baby for so long and who is now after 10 years the middle child, were playing peek a boo through the glass door to our outside patio area. Can you see the dirty glass? That's 'cause they were also kissing each other through the glass! Fun!

I Love Gnocchi

Gnocchi. It's what's for dinner. Or lunch. Or at least it is the primo piatto (first course). I wanted to show you how very easy it is to whip up a bit of gnocchi. I also plan to show you how to make gnocchi (which is a kind of pasta) from scratch, completely home made- but that is for another day. Today our gnocchi comes from the refrigerated section of a supermarket. This is a particular brand that I have never tried before... let's see how it goes!



Put some water on to boil and add a good amount of salt- gnocchi like all pasta tastes better if it is cooked in salted water.



Add the gnocchi to the boiling water... now here is where I ask you to become adventurous! Trust me. No matter what the directions say, when the gnocchi float to the top- they are done. Remove promptly with a slotted spoon, and place in a serving dish.



If you cook them longer, they become mushy gooshy and we want our darling gnocchi to be just right!

Now add a dash of extra virgin olive oil.



Stir, and then add the pasta sauce of your choice. It can be as simple as olive oil and a bit of grated cheese like pecorino or parmesan. Here I used a very simple tomato sauce.



Mix.



Now you can add freshly grated parmesan.



As you can see, I believe in lots and lots of parmesan! And we're done! It is really that simple!

Buon appetito!

Coffee on a Fork!

Caffe` in Forchetta! I don't know about you, but I can never get too much coffee! This baked custard is so great because it tastes like coffee, yet you Eat it with a fork! It is a dessert traditionally served after a meal, (possibly to wake people up after eating too much)? But I would eat it for breakfast. Or for a snack. Or for a light lunch... and definitely I would eat it for dessert. Coffee lovers everywhere will appreciate this sweet treat.



The truth is I should really feel guilty showing you all this thing of beauty, coffee on a fork, when just recently we made biscotti! But on the other hand, if I didn't show you this delicious treat then I would be a big meanie. And I would rather feel guilty than be mean! So here it is then, Enjoy!

Starring:



Almond oil
8 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
3 & 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup of strongly brewed coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C)

My mom calls these things cackleberries. Cute eh? Crack them,







add them to the bowl and if you have cracked them on a paper towel, you have easy clean-up! Whisk well.

Add the sugar, and whisk well.



Next add the milk and whisk well.



Coffee, yes indeed! The star. Add and whisk well.



Now this is where I deviated from the way this luscious baked custard is usually prepared. Usually you oil a 9-inch by 11-inch pan and pour in the egg mixture. But I could not help myself! How cute is coffee on a fork, served in coffee cups! So that is how I made this recipe to the delight of my wild things.

Place the cups after brushing them with the almond oil, in a large baking dish that can easily accomodate all the cups with a depth of at least one inch of water for the water bath.


Add the mixture to the cups.





Place in the oven and bake for twenty minutes, then cover with foil. Now all you have to do is wait for an hour to make sure the custard sets.

Remove from the oven and let the custard cool a little. This dessert tastes divine when it is served still warm.

Grab yourself a fork, and if you feel frisky, add a little powdered sugar, and sit back, put your feet up, and say "Aah! I am worth it!" Ok, you don't have to say that, but you do seriously have to close your eyes and groan "Mmmmmm."



And please don't remind me of the richness of this dessert... all the eggs and sugar. I prefer to stay in denial.