NOTHIN SAYS LOVIN' LIKE SOMETHIN' FROM THE OVEN!

This past week was cold but not too rainy, which is a good thing for several reasons, the most important being that the more rain we get, the more problems we have with mold/mildew (as a result of the clogged up gutters)

I guess most days have been in the 30’s but today is MUCH colder, and we’ve been told to expect some snow! :( Tomorrow the forecast calls for a low of below 0º. It’s also very windy outside, and we’ve learned a lesson: when it’s really windy, DON’T have a fire in the fireplace because the downdrafts will smoke up the house!

I think we might pursue the idea of a pellet-burning insert for the fireplace. At least it would provide real, usable heat for not only the kitchen but also the entire house. Our problem will be finding one to fit in our rather small corner fireplace.
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Last week we paid our ACI, the Italian car tax, and I was surprised to find out that it was the same amount as last year’s tax. I later realized that this tax is based on the size of the engine, not the value of the car, so now it makes sense. We pay €135 per year, which is about $165.

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On Friday we had an email from Art and Shae inviting us to have lunch with them on Saturday in Orvieto. Shae had just returned from a hectic visit to the states, and after recovering from jetlag and the flu, Art had decided that a nice relaxing weekend in Orvieto would be a nice treat.

Unfortunately for Shae, she slammed her thumb in the door of their room on the way down to lunch, definitely taking the fun out of the afternoon. Additionally, I think what she had thought was the flu was actually something more serious, and her appetite just wasn’t there. Gracious as ever, you would have been hard pressed to know that she was in pain, but she was a bit quieter than usual.

After a pleasant lunch and a nice visit, we headed back to San Venanzo, hoping that a quiet, relaxing afternoon would help Shae to fee better. We were sorry to see that the sunny morning had turned cloudy for our drive back home, but we listened to one of our Pimsleur Italian CD’s on the way.

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I’ve been cooking up a storm this past week. We had Wendy, Anna, and Ramon for lunch on Sunday. We had invited Corinna and Maurizio but Maurizio is selling his glass figurines at some sort of market in Terni this weekend, so we invited them for Tuesday evening. Since they live so close to us a weekday works just as well as the weekend for them.

Anyway, back to Sunday. Knowing the lunch would be all Americans, I decided to mix and match a bit more than normal. Even though our Italian friends are all very eager to try everything I cook, sometimes I hesitate to be too “weird”. For a starter I decided to make some Mexican salsa. For tortilla chips I bought some piadini, a thin flat bread, brushed it with olive oil, cut it into triangles, and toasted it in the oven. Since I prefer flour tortillas over corn tortillas, this worked pretty well, at least for me!

For the main course we’d bought a boneless veal roast, and the butcher told me to cook it at a high heat, which I did. I sliced it thin and served it alongside a plateful of stuffed pepper rolls. This recipe is one we’d made in cooking school but I hadn’t made at home until last week. Art liked it so much he begged me to fix it for the Sunday lunch! Here’s the recipe:

INVOLTINI DI PEPERONI (SWEET STUFFED PEPPER ROLLS)


3 LG YELLOW OR RED PEPPERS
2 ANCHOVIES SOAKED IN MILK
HANDFUL OF PARSLEY
50 gr FRESH BREADCRUMBS
1 TBSP EACH CAPERS, PINE NUTS & SOAKED SULTANAS
OLIVE OIL

THE SULTANAS SHOULD SOFTEN IN WATER FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES AND THE ANCHOVIES IN MILK TO REMOVE EXCESS SALT, FOR THE SAME TIME.

ROAST THE PEPPERS TO BLACKEN THEM ON AN EXPOSED FLAME, THEN POP INTO A PLASTIC BAG & PLACE IN THE FREEZER FOR 10 MINUTES TO MAKE FOR EASY PEELING. PEEL, DE-SEED AND CUT INTO LENGTHWISE QUARTERS.

IN A BOWL MIX THE DRAINED & DRIED SULTANAS, THE CHOPPED ANCHOVIES & CAPERS, THE FINELY CHOPPED PARSLEY, THE PINE NUTS & THE BREADCRUMBS THOROUGHLY. ADD A FEW TBSP OF OIL TO HELP THE MIXTURE AMALGAMATE.

PLACE A SPOONFUL OF FILLING ON EACH PEPPER QUARTER AND ROLL UP TO FORM A LITTLE ROLL, THEN SECURE W/A TOOTHPICK.

PLACE THE FINISHED ROLLS IN A WELL OILED BAKING PAN AND BAKE AT 180ºC (350ºF) FOR 15-20 MINUTES. SERVE WARM RATHER THAN HOT. SERVES 6

What else did I serve? Oh, I roasted a large pan of potatoes, carrots, celery and onions. Everything turned out okay, and everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner. For dessert I made a pineapple upside-down cake in my iron skillet! I was so pleased when it came out of the pan without sticking…or leaving most of the “good” stuff in the pan!

We started off our lunch with a glass of Prosecco, had a glass or two of wine with lunch, enjoyed a coffee with dessert, then finished off with some homemade limoncello cream that our friend Marco (from Ternana’s) had given to us for Christmas. La dolce vita indeed!

During lunch Anna and Ramon were able to talk houses with Wendy. Right now they’ve found the right town without the right house, and they’ve also found the right house, but not in the right town! Knowing that they must be out of their apartment at the end of April has made them realize that they really need to get busy.

Giacomo had called us on Saturday telling us that he would be arriving home from Australia on Sunday. He’s going to start a new job in Milan and needed to return sooner than expected. He planned to take the bus from FCO to Todi, and we volunteered to pick him up. He declined our offer, saying that he planned to call someone else. We told him if he needed us, we’d be home.

The phone rang on Sunday morning and it was Giacomo, telling us that no one else was home, and asking if it would be possible for us to pick him up. Of course we said yes, and Art arranged to pick him up in Ponte Rio, just outside of Todi at about 3:45. For this reason Art had to leave, and Ramon went with him, leaving Anna, Wendy and me to have some girl time. Togetherness is wonderful, but everybody needs a break now and then!

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When the doorbell rang on Monday morning, Art and I both braced ourselves for the worst. When he opened the door and saw our mail carrier holding a paper to be signed, he cringed…..and then he noticed that a large white bag was sitting on the ground! Our second “M” bag had arrived, right on schedule! We had to sign for this one because it wasn’t strictly books, and we’d been charged a fee. The fee was only €5.50, and as usual, this could conveniently be paid at the post office.

In addition to the books and magazines, this box also held some blank CD’s, an expandable wire shelf, Crisco sticks, sesame seeds (for Belinda) and a few other odds and ends. The box hadn’t been opened….maybe they X-rayed it and discovered that it held more than just books. Whatever….at least it had arrived!

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We woke up to a light dusting of snow on Tuesday, but it didn’t last long at all. We had to drive down to Marsciano to pick up a few things at the grocery, and I had been worried that the expected snow might create a problem.

For our dinner with Corinna and Maurizio I had decided to slice the other piece of veal I had roasted on Sunday. I made a cold broccoli salad for a starter, in contrast to the Italian style of having salad after the main course. To the Italians salad means only greens, with or without tomatoes, etc. The idea of another sort of salad is not common at all, and I guess they use the salad, with an oil and vinegar dressing, as a way to cleanse the palate before dessert.

I had really planned to serve the broccoli salad along with dinner, as one of the vegetables. But because I had misread the directions for the potatoes, I used it as the starter. The directions for the potatoes Dauphinoise called to bake the dish for thirty minutes covered, then to bake it an additional thirty minutes uncovered….and I completely missed the line that indicated the second thirty minute period! Ooops!

I had some tomatoes au gratin to go with the meat and potatoes, and once everything was ready, we proceeded with dinner. Art had eaten the potatoes at Churchill Downs and had persuaded the cook there to share the recipe. This was (obviously) the first time I had made them, but they were wonderful…very simple, but rich, elegant and delicious. Here’s that recipe:

POTATOES DAUPHINOISE

5 lg russet potatoes, about 2 ½ lbs (1.25 kg) peeled
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped, plus 1 clove, halved
4 Tbsp unsalted butter (2 oz/60 gr) plus 2 Tbsp at room temperature
Salt and Pepper
1 ½ cups (12 oz/375 ml) heavy cream

Cut the potatoes crosswise into slices 1/8” thick. Place the slices in a large bowl and cover with COLD water. Let soak for at least 15 minutes, up to one hour.
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 325º (165ºC). Place a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips. Rub the bottom and sides of a 2 qt wide, shallow baking dish with the cut sides of the halved garlic clove, then grease the dish with the 2 Tbsp room temp butter.

Drain the potato slices and dry well with a kitchen towel. Cut the 4 Tbsp of butter into small pieces. Arrange a layer of the potato slices in the baking dish, sprinkle w/salt and pepper, dot w/pieces of butter and add a light scattering of the chopped garlic. Repeat layering until all the potatoes are used, finishing w/potatoes and reserving some of the butter for the top of the gratin. The potatoes should reach no higher than to within ½” (12mm) of the rim.

Pour cream evenly over the potatoes. Dot w/remaining butter and sprinkle w/salt and pepper.

Cover w/aluminum foil and bake until the potatoes are translucent and the cream is bubbling, about 30-40 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is crusty and the potatoes are completely tender when pierced w/a fork, about 30 minutes more. If the gratin seems dry, baste the top occasionally w/the liquid in the dish. Serves 4

I had made a very decadent chocolate dessert....and simple one-bowl recipe that's a cross between a gooey cookie and a brownie. Although you might think that working in a chocolate factory would have decreased Corinna's interest in chocolate, that is definitely NOT the case! She ate three pieces, and loved every bite!

We love having Corinna and Maurizio for dinner…they’re both so sweet and interesting. After their last visit, Corinna did some research for Art about getting his driver’s license. She had been shocked to find out how much it really cost for the classes and all the “other” charges.

I mentioned to Corinna that our friends Anna and Ramon would like to tour the factory, and she told me that now would be a great time to come….she said they could see the Easter eggs being made! In Italy they make hollow chocolate Easter eggs that contain a toy, designated for a boy or a girl. These eggs range in size from just a few inches tall to over three feet tall, and we’ve seen some really huge eggs.

Italian doesn’t use the “H” sound like we do in English for words such as “hot” or “hair. The “H” in Italian only serves to make the preceding letter, such as a “c” or a “g” hard, as in “bruschetta” (bru-sket-ta) or “spaghetti”. For this reason I always find it curious when Corinna says “Easter eggs” because she pronounces it “Heaster Heggs”. Where does THAT come from?

Anyway, we had a wonderful evening that didn‘t end until just past midnight. We took it as a complement that they chose to stay so late even though they both had to work the next morning.