Romanesco is in the market.

Some call it  broccoli, others call it cauliflower and there are those who call it broccoflower.

I call it gorgeous.

Individual curds, that’s what the florets are called, are smaller versions of the whole. Each curds is composed of even smaller versions of itself. In mathematical terms, it is a logarithmic spiral or recursive helical arrangement of cones.

I steamed this tasty, mathematical delight until it was tender and then seasoned it with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Tonight we are having pasta with Romanesco and garlic. Wish you were here.

Everything, except cafe’s and the sea seems to be closed today because it’s Easter Monday. We moved from one flat to another yesterday, and emptied the fridge as well. An empty fridge and shuttered markets presented a bit of a challenge at lunch time. fortunately we were able to get a loaf of bread from our favorite cafe on Via Roma.

Charles sliced the bread, I toasted it in a bit of butter in a frying pan, (we are ‘roughing it’, making do without a toaster or an oven), and then we had to decide between wild berry jam or  honey blended with hazelnuts. I chose some of each.

Although Palm Sunday has come and gone I thought you might like to see the handmade palm decorations that are sold in the piazza on the Sunday before Easter.

Check back, I’ll be posting more interesting bits soon.

Dear Friends,

I can’t believe it’s been more than a week since Charles and I left Vermont. We started our Italian holiday staying with our friend Fleur who lives, works and eats in Rome.

We are now in Ortigia in Sicily, where we are continuing to live, work and eat. I’m not writing about a meal I cooked because I haven’t! Rather, I want tell you about some of the lovely sweet and savory dishes I’ve had in Rome.

Paving in Rome

On our first day, after walking to the Pantheon, we had a nap while Fleur made dinner. She sauteed thin veal cutlets, each topped with a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf, and made a sauce by reducing a bit of white wine in the sauté pan. She explained that what we were eating was called saltimbocca, which translates as “jump in mouth”. (It did.) Chicken or turkey cutlets, a thin slice of ham and fresh sage leaves would make a successful New England version.

Bakery Breakfast

Colazione is breakfast in Italy. It is a modest but sweet meal. Eggs and bacon are saved for pasta carbonara, (spell check suggested that I spell it coronary), cornflakes are for American exchange students and oatmeal is for the horses. At the corner bakery, we chose pastries layered with apple, oozing ricotta, and others filled with chocolate and hazelnut and shared them as we walked to the cafe for cappuccino. A New England version might be a slice of apple pie, a cheese Danish or toast slathered with Nutella. I suggest serving a pot of tea because no one makes cappuccino like the Italians.

Spaghetti Sculpture

We found a small restaurant near the Forum for lunch. There were four of us so we ordered two pastas – penne with a tomato sauce flavored with pancetta, (Italian bacon), and gnocchi in a simple tomato sauce – and two salads – one, a bowl of fresh mixed greens flavored at the table, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and the other, thin slices of aged, dried beef, called bresaola, with radicchio and wedges of lemon. To recreate this meal, pick up some fresh pasta, tomato sauce and mixed greens at the market, tune your radio to the broadcast of the Metropolitan opera and forget about the bresaola.

After more walking, we found the mother of all gelaterias, Italian for ‘heavenly ice cream store’. There were at least fifty customers, some friends, some Romans and many countrymen (tourists). The cases were filled with an overwhelming variety of creamy, frozen goodness. It was easy to resist ‘The Standards’ – strawberry, chocolate, coffee, and pistachio, and even the less familiar melon, pineapple, mango, and raspberry. We met our match in the exotic section. I got four flavors in two scoops – dark chocolate with hazelnuts and walnut with figs. Alison outdid us all with one scoop of strawberry dark chocolate on top of a scoop of pear and cheese gelato. Did I mention that she’s pregnant?

After another nap, we put on our walking shoes and crossed the Tiber. Fleur took us to her favorite restaurant in Trastevere for a six-course dinner after she had extracted my promise not to reveal its name, (jet lag made that an easy promise to keep.)

We began with sea bass carpaccio topped with white truffles, and a pasta with fava beans and more shaved white truffles. Then, we were served a steaming platter of Matthew’s favorite – pasta all’amatriciana. That’s pasta topped with a tomato sauce flavored with guanciale – un-smoked Italian bacon made with cured pig’s cheeks. Then came the steak, a thick cut of chianina beef served rare and topped with a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of olive oil and accompanied with grilled red endive.

Ancient Corner

After devouring a bowl of Romanesco broccoli that had been steamed and then sauteed in olive oil with garlic we were ready for dessert. Fleur insisted that we try her favorite – gorgonzola semifreddo. Gorgonzola is soft blue cheese and semi-freddo is similar to soft serve ice cream. Blue cheese ice cream sounded pretty strange to me, until I tasted it. It was scrumptious!A small mountain of almond and lemon flavored Italian cookies accompanied the bill for dinner. We staggered home to bed. The only way I can imagine re-creating this meal is to fly to Rome, phone Fleur and offer to treat her to dinner at her favorite restaurant.

I’ll write more when I can. Sipping cappuccino in the morning, finding sandwiches in the market mid-day, watching the sun set over the sea and enjoying dinners prepared by others is taking most of my time.

Love to you,

Carol

I’m reposting last years list of favorites for a few reasons, first because I’ve been busy working on my first eBook Bread and Crackers that is for sale on  Amazon – Here’s the link.

Second because there are free prints in this post that you can download and print as a little gift from my studio to you; and the third because this is still a list of my favorite things.

This is the time of year for lists, not shopping lists, but lists of virtually everything else – lists of the most important world events, top fashion trends of the year, the biggest storms, the sexiest man, the best movies, the most popular celebrities, the most reviled despots, the biggest disasters, the best selling books, and even a list of  top time-wasters.

Print Winter Tree

With these lists as inspiration, I’ve compiled my top ten list of food favorites for 2010, and in a nod to Mr. Letterman, they are listed in reverse order of delight. To celebrate the New Year, I’ve created four prints that celebrate the seasons of the year. They can be downloaded and printed by clicking on the links below each image.

#10 Butter Poached Rhubarb – Combining the best of Julia Child, butter, and the best of James Beard, cream, I melted a stick of butter in a skillet, sprinkled in one cup of granulated sugar and cooked it for about five minutes. When the sugar had begun to caramelize and turned a light brown, I added four cups of rhubarb, cut in two inch slices, shook the pan vigorously to coat the rhubarb and cooked it until it was starting to fall apart. I took the pan off the heat, stirred in two tablespoons of dark rum, and transferred the rhubarb to a bowl set in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Topped with List Entry #4, whipped, it made a gorgeous dessert. This would be closer to #1 if fresh rhubarb were available from my garden year round and if this recipe were not loaded with sugar, butter and cream.

#9 Carrots – I’ve been eating lots of carrots this year, in soups, salads, in fritters, cakes and muffins. Organic carrots, scrubbed and slow roasted with salt, pepper and olive oil complement most any meal. Any leftovers can be mashed with a bit of mayo and garlic and spread on toast for lunch or a rustic hors d’oeuvre.

Print Spring Tree

#8 Cappuccino – Alas, this is one thing on my list that I don’t make in my kitchen; but, the adventure of searching for a café and finding a perfect cappuccino with just the right amount of foamy milk on top merits a place on my list.

#7 Recipe Police – When I wrote about the absence of fish in my pot of chowder I boldly proclaimed that the recipe police would not come to my kitchen to give me a ticket. Little did I know that a Recipe Policeman, in the form of a phone call from an anonymous reader, would phone me and issue a warning that I had neglected to add thyme to the pot. I got away with a warning but I have been careful to add thyme to chowder since then.

#6 Pasta with Raisins and Pine Nuts – So simple, so quick, so delicious! While I waited for the pasta water to come to a boil, I sauteed one clove of garlic in a large frying pan with one tablespoon of unsalted butter and one tablespoon of olive oil. When the garlic had softened but not browned, I added a quarter of a cup of pine nuts. When the nuts where toasted, and the pasta was al dente, I drained the pasta, reserved a quarter of a cup of pasta water, added the pasta, generous handfuls of chopped flat leaf parsley and raisins, and a splash of the pasta water to the pan. I topped the pasta with the mere suggestion of ground cinnamon. Finito!

#5 Chickpea Flour – I discovered that I could make a crisp flatbread by baking in a 450º oven a batter of one cup of chickpea flour, one and a half cups of water and a teaspoon of salt in a cast iron skillet with three tablespoons of oil. Seasoned with salt and a bit of curry powder, an ho-hum soup and toast dinner was transformed into a praise-worthy meal.

Print Summer Tree

#4 Heavy Cream – My favorite comes from local dairies and is not ultra-pasteurized. I like it on oatmeal with brown sugar, whipped, with no sugar added, as frosting on deep, dark, moist chocolate cake, and as a cold topper for broiled apricots, (a treat I learned from my dear friend Didi).

#3 The Open Air Market in Ortigia, Sicily – Chatting with Angelo Cappucio about fish for dinner, choosing blood oranges, smelling the smoky roasted artichokes, sampling wild strawberries, olives, salami and chocolate from Modica is the best way to figure out “What’s for dinner?”

#2 Making Cheese in Sicily – Near the top of my list is the morning I spent in the cheese shop in Ortigia, making cheese with Andrea Borderi. I was welcomed into the small kitchen in the back of the shop, wrapped in an apron and put to work. I learned how to cut, ladle and knead curds as we made ricotta and mozzarella. I make a simple breakfast of a bowl of ricotta cheese, topped with a drizzle of Vermont honey and slices of orange when I’m wishing I were in Sicily.

Print Fall Tree

#1 Contact from Friends – I am cheered and delighted when I hear from friends, whether old or new, by email, telephone and even snail mail. It doesn’t matter if the message is lavish praise, a complaint, or a correction – you are there, reading what I write, cooking what I cook, improvising, improving recipes and sharing your discoveries. You bring me joy. Thank you and please stay in touch.

A recent trip to England reminded me that America and England may have a common language but there are times when we don’t understand each other. I know that a lift is an elevator, a flat is an apartment, and although lorry may be a momentarily confusing term for a truck, those differences are inconsequential, compared to what I found on British dessert menus and in cookery books.

There are many desserts, called puddings in Britain, with names that are charming and inscrutable enough to require translation.
Here’s my guide to British Puddings: … read more