My Fall

I know I am a little late to welcome the fall.  I am also lagging on posting here, but for good reason.  Wine and Food and Dogs.  I am really busy tasting wine, making food and working in rescue, and I have neglected my blog.  We just passed the grape harvest and the making of the new wines.  Right now we are picking olives for olive oil.  Here are some photos of what has been going on.

Picking grapes for the 2011 Roèt

I found her with no fur while taking a walk.  Now she is a jewel.  

2nd kitten of the summer Bon Jovi

Fall means TRUFFLES!

My South-West version of Mylène's Lentil Burgers:

LENTIL BURGERS

Ettore and I tried La Margutta a veg restaurant in Rome:  Great Food!

My Grilled Seitan at la Margutta

Sadly, this is one of two dogs we rescued this summer.  He is getting better but he is looking for his forever home.  TITO!

Picking Olives

I can't believe this comes from out land!

Ettore combing the trees

I am pretty happy with myself! This will be made into oil in a day or so.

Curing some of our olives

AWFUL tasting we attended

Bavetta the 13 year old grumpy lady we adopted.  We are twin souls

Bucatini al (non)Cacio e Pepe

Bucatini al (non)Cacio e Pepe

     One of the things I love about the Roman-Laziale kitchen is the use of simple ingredients that make amazing food that is full of flavor.  I could say the same thing about my own personal vegan kitchen.   I spend most of my kitchen time bringing out the best flavors of fruits and vegetables.    I don’t really do a lot of substitution cooking because I like to eat a mostly whole foods diet.  I do eat tofu, but that is because I really love the taste, texture and flavor of tofu, not because I am trying to substitute meat. 

     Most of my non-vegan friends in Italy tell me that the reason they are not vegan is because they love all the cheeses of Italy.  In fact there is an abundance of cheese made from the milk of sheep, goats, cows and even water buffalo.  Not for me, thanks.  In Rome, the cheese that is sprinkled on top of pasta is not parmigiano but pecorino and one of the most simple and tasty dishes is called Cacio e Pepe, cheese and pepper.  It is best with a long pasta like spaghetti, but if you want it to be really Roman, get some bucatini.  It is like tube spaghetti.  The word cacao is referring to cheese, even though in Italian, the word formaggio, is closer to the French.  Cacio is derived from the Latin word casio, which means cheese.  Cacio e Pepe is a very poor Roman dish, and it is VERY easily veganized.  All it consists of is olive oil,  pecorino romano,  and fresh black pepper. 

Ingredients for 4 people

For the( Un) Pecorino Romano

   200 g of blanched almonds

1 1/2 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast

1 teaspoon agar agar POWDER

1/2 tablespoon Celtic sea salt (NEVER table salt, not even cheap sea salt from the grocer)

3 tbsp olive oil

Black pepper to crush

One package of Bucatini or Spaghetti

Directions:

     In a food processor almonds, nutritional yeast, agar agar, and salt until blended very well with no chunks of almonds or salt.  In a large pot, boil water, add salt when water is boiled and add the pasta.  When the pasta is al dente, drain and place back into the pot.  Add the contents of the food processor, about 2 tbsp of crush black pepper and the olive oil, also about 2TBSP of the starchy water saved from boiling the pasta.  Stir all of the ingredients together until the pasta is covered in the sauce.  serve in small pasta bowls and add more crushed black pepper as desired. 

    Enjoy with a bottle of Lazio Malvasia. 

Buon Appetito!

La Panzanella-Bread and Tomato Salad

It has been over a month since we designed and ordered our kitchen.  A very long and frustrating month it has been.   I have hosted a lovely lunch outside under the Gazebo, had my first swim at Lago di Nemi, and enjoyed amazing strawberries at the Sagra delle Fragole.  At the same time, I have no place to put any of my kitchenware.  We have lived here since the end of April, but I do not yet feel unpacked or settled in.  There is a lot to do.  Most of what I want to do with this house and property are landscaping and gardening projects.  I am looking forward to the enormous potential of this place, the land, and I am forging a friendship with my neighbor down the road.  She is incredibly generous and kind.  I am blessed in this regard.  The apricots and figs are finally ripe which means summer has officially begun in these parts.  How great would this time be if I could make amazing meals for the people I love?   The terrace and the gazebo were the real selling points for the house, besides the enormous size of the kitchen.  I am so anxious to get started, to put my kitchenware away, and get cooking!
     Luckily, I live in the bread basket that is the Castelli Romani.  I have bread from Genzano or Lariano available to me, there are local veggie and fruit stands so I am buying the freshest produce.  Summertime, in this case, means we don't need a lot of prep to make a nourishing and delicious meal.
   I am always amazed by the plates of the region that have their roots in total poverty.  They were born out of the concept of making due with what we have.  Sometimes, these families might have only some stale bread and a few vegetables at hand.  Nowadays, people pay top dollar for these dishes in the priciest trattoria of Rome and beyond.  Panzanella is a great example of this food culture.  Ettore and I debate whether this is a true Laziale dish or if it comes from Campagna. For me it is from Lazio.  Irregardless, is there anything more heavenly than the sweet combination of ripe summer tomatoes and basil?  Panzanella is so simple, so filling, and utterly delicious.  I have made it a few times because all that I need are the following:  A cutting board, a bread knife, ingredients and a bowl.  There is no cooking involved, and it can makes a lovely lunchtime meal.  It is light, fragrant, and cool.
    Thank goodness for dishes like this!  Without them I would be still living on pizza and take-out.

Panzanella-Bread and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf of crusty, stale, rustic Italian bread, sliced into 2 cm pieces and then cut up messy into bite size pieces(about 10 slices from the loaf)
• 1/2 kilo ripe cherry tomatoes sliced into quarters
• 10-12 sprigs of basil broken into small pieces
• 6 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  I like the fragrant oil from Alatri
• about a 1/2 TBSP of coarse Celtic sea salt
• about three turns of the pepper grinder for pepper

Directions:

• In a Large Salad bowl, put the sliced tomatoes and basil and stir everything together
• Add the olive oil, salt and pepper
• Let this mixture stand without bread for at least an hour.  Room temperature is best, but also in the fridge would be fine.  This will ensure a much more fragrant salad as the tomatoes and basil will have time to marinate in their own juices for a time.  I also add about a TBSP of water.
• After and hour, add the bite size bread pieces, stir everything and let it sit for a few minutes so the breadt absorbs the flavors and juices.  If you need to add a bit of water and more olive oil and stir again.  The bread should be moist, but retain its bounce.

We enjoyed this with a lovely chilled Frascati, although I think it would have been nice with a Rosato

Buon Appetito!!

The Best Bruschetta in the World

The Best Bruschetta in the World

I don’t like to brag, but, I live in a town which is famous throughout Italy for two things. The first is the Infiorata, and the second is the Pane di Genzano. The bread of Genzano is one of the first in Europe to have a name place designation. That means it cannot be duplicated anywhere else, because it can only be made in Genzano, by Genzanese bread makers, using a specific set of ingredients. However, this posting is not a lesson on bread making, but on how to make the most delicious bruschetta with the bread that is available. Genzano’s crusty, fragrant, and enticing bread is perfect for bruschetta. Oh, and by the way, it is pronounced BRU-sKet-tah. NOT brushhhedda.

You only need a few simple ingredients to make it correctly

Ingredients

½ loaf of a very crusty Italian bread

10 diced cherry tomatoes

2-3 chopped fresh basil leaves

1 clove of garlic and a fork

Coarse Sea Salt, crushed

Olive oil

Directions:

1. First, you'll need to start out with a half loaf of good, crusty, Italian bread.

Chop/dice 10 cherry tomatoes and in a small bowl, mix together with fresh basil leaves(about 3, chopped) and some crush coarse sea salt(about a pinch)

Slice the bread into 1.5cm slices, and then slice those in half. Put in your broiler, wood fired oven, stove at high heat(about 180C) until lightly toasted.Take the one clove of garlic, peel in and slice off both ends. Stick one end into a fork, and let the other sliced side lightly brush against each piece of bruschetta
Put them all on a serving plate, drizzle olive oil over them and then sprinkle your sea salt over each piece.On half of the slices you will add the tomato/basil mix, and the other half you will leave with olive and sea salt.

Drink with a lovely glass of local Frascati

I learned this from the most traditional kitchens of Genzano, places like Carceri, Pellicione, Tigellino, and of course La Cucina di Mamma di Ettore