Memorial Day Picnic

We've been planning our Memorial Day picnic for several days now. Several friends are coming spend the day at the beach, and the weather should be great!

The menu will include grilled lamb chops and kabob. On the side we'll have a nice potato salad, green bean and feta salad, and sliced fresh tomatoes. For dessert, strawberry shortcake with homemade vanilla ice cream - what a treat! We'll wash it all down with lemonade, beer, and red wine.

Here's the recipe for the potato salad:

Herbed Potato Salad

3 pounds small red potatoes
Coarse salt
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup good extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup good mayonnaise


Place the potatoes and 2 tablespoons salt in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender but firm. Drain the potatoes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the wine vinegar, garlic, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Set aside.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into quarters. Put the cut potatoes in a large bowl and moisten with some dressing. Add the green onion, tarragon, dill and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Add more dressing to moisten and stir in the 1/2 cup mayonnaise. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Strawberry Shortcake

This time of year fresh strawberries are plentiful, and what a treat! I love strawberries just on their own, or dipped in Nutella. However, for a wonderful dessert take the time to make delicious shortcakes, a tradition in my family for many generations.

Here's my Great-Grandmother's strawberry shortcake recipe. I know you're going to like it:

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

Six servings

4 1/2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup water, at room temperature

1. Wash, drain and stem strawberries.
   
2. Slice strawberries and sweeten with the 1/2 cup sugar, stirring to create juice. Set aside

For the shortcake

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar
3. Cut butter into flour mixture until the mixtur has a coarse, mealy consistency.
4. Stir together whipping cream and water. Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring just enough to moisten
5. Drop dough by heaping tablespoon on an ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart
6. Bake for between 12-15 minutes or until golden brown
7. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool

To serve: top shortcake with strawberries; garnish with sweeten whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Italian Regional Cuisine - Tuscany

Tuscany is arguably the most well known region in Italy. Movies and novels have captured its romantic rural landscape: golden hills planted with grapes and olives, dotted with stone farmhouses and pencil-thin cypress trees.

I had the pleasure of vacationing there recently and it was everything I expected and much more. Tuscany is a rare center of art and culture whose native sons shook up Renaissance art and architecture and whose literary works planted the seeds of the Italian language. Over the centuries, the region has developed a balance between its rustic lifestyle and its urban appeal.

What Tuscans eat today is remarkably unchanged from the meals of decades and even centuries ago. White beans, slow-cooked in a flask or simmered in thick ribollita soup, are so central to the cuisine that they have earned Tuscans the moniker mangiafagioli (bean eaters). Fresh leafy greens, such as Tuscan kale, and fresh herbs including thyme, rosemary and fennel add a distinctly local flavor to soups and crostini. Grilled meats are a revered treat, especially the much loved bistecca alla fiorentina, a two-pound T-bone steak quickly charred over a wood-burning flame, then doused with olive oil infused with rosemary and garlic.

Pork roasts and chops are also common, as are the famous pork sausages flavored with fennel (finocchiona) and melt-in-your-mouth herb-encrusted lardo (cured pork fatback).

Tuscan cuisine, unlike most other regions of Italy, includes lots of chicken. Pan-fried or stewed, or made into rich chicken liver crostini, it is used extensively. The saltless Tuscan style bread can come as a shock, but the locals insist that it pairs perfectly with salty wheels of pecorino, artisanal prosciutto and zesty green olive oil, all washed down with plentiful amounts of red wine. Along the region's coastal areas, seafood dishes like the fish stew, cacciucco alla livornese, are also typical for the region.

As for pasta, the pappardelle with meat ragu, also known as Bolognese sauce, is highly recommended. Pappardelle is a tasty, wide egg noodle that holds the sauce well. Penne is also used with a ragu as well. Here is one of my favorite Bolgnese sauce recipes that I learned while staying in Pisa:

Pappardelle Pasta

Ragu Bolognese

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground pork
4 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, run through the medium holes of the butcher's grinder
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat italian parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound pappardelle pasta

In a 6 to 8 quart heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic and cook until the vegetables are translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the veal, pork and pancetta, increase heat to medium high, and brown the meat, stirring frequently. Add the tomato paste, milk, wine, thyme, and parsley and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for at least 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Season the ragu to taste with salt and pepper, remove from the heat, and let cool if not using immediately. (Refrigerate the ragu for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 1 month).

Cook the pappardelle pasta as directed. Toss the cooked pasta with the ragu and serve. Garnish with cheese if you like.

Tags: italian food, tuscany, recipes, pasta, ragu

Why Food?

Let's face it - food is one of the most important things in our lives. Food not only nourishes, but also gives us pleasure. I love everything about food. Reading about food, preparing and cooking food, and of course eating it!

I plan to share my love of food with every post. I'll review restaurants when I travel. I'll tell you about what I'm preparing in my own kitchen. I'll give you menu suggestions, and much more including recipes, too.

About a year ago, we had the opportunity to travel to Italy. What a trip for a foodie. Unbelieveable extra virgin olive oil, pasta, wine. It was an incredible food adventure.
I'll tell you more about that trip in future posts, but for now here is a recipe for a simple, yet luxurious appetizer that we enjoyed in Rome. Enjoy Bruschetta with a nice glass of Fontanafredda Briccotondo Barbera 2006, a lovely red wine from the Piedmont region of Italy.

Bruschetta con Pomodoro

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 small ripe but firm tomatoes, halved, seeded and finely diced (roma tomatoes work well)
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/2-inch thick) slices Italian country bread
2 cloves garlic, halved
Sea salt

In a bowl, combine the olive oil, tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, cayenne, and salt. Set aside for at least 60 minutes to marinate.

Toast the bread in a 400 degree oven until golden; rub each slice of toast with the halved garlic cloves immediately upon removing it from the oven. Drizzle each slice of bread with additional extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

Top the bread with the tomato mixture, garnish with leaves of fresh basil and serve.

Bon appetit!

Tags: italian, food, recipes, bruschetta, wine