All the time in the world

A beautifully prepared lunch leisurely eaten (versus McDonald's at your desk) is one of the true bonuses of being in Italy. Italians simply know no other way to spend their day than taking a three-hour break at lunch time, dining at around 1 in the afternoon and returning to work about 4. With everything closed at that time, there's really nothing to do but follow their excellent example. Many days, Tom and I have a full-course lunch and today was no exception. I prepared a whole fish, Orata or gilthead bream according to my Italian dictionary. I roasted it the oven with new potatoes and fried up some artichokes which we enjoyed with a beautiful Maremma wine. It was excellent and so easy to make. Here's the recipe:

Orata
Oven Roasted Bream with Potatoes

1 whole bream, cleaned but with head on (about 1 pound, serves 2)
1 lemon, sliced thin
1/2 cup of chopped fresh Italian parsley and garlic (three cloves)
Salt and pepper to taste.
2 slices of fresh fennel bulb
Olive oil
Small potatoes (like Yukon gold), cut in quarters
Red pepper flakes

Set oven at 375 degrees F.
Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of the pan.
Place fennel on top of oil, then place fish on top of the fennel.
Put garlic and parsley mix inside fish cavity with several slices of the lemon and salt.
Place the potato slices around the fish; dust with salt and pepper flakes
Lightly drizzle fish and potatoes with olive oil.
Place remaining lemon slices on top of fish.
Cook for approximately 40 minutes.

Serve with artichoke hearts that have been dredged in a mixture of egg and flour and fried in olive oil. Serve with lemon juice on top and a sprinkling of salt.

On breadmaking days, Tom gets up early and stokes the woodburning stove. He lets the dough rise in the bottom of the oven. I wait long enough in our warm bed before rising, going downstairs, and looking forward to the wonderful crepes he cooks on the top of the wood burning stove for our breakfast. He does this about twice a week, depending on how fast we go through the bread. Inside the crepes we put yogurt. One yogurt I especially like has chocolate pieces in it and is flavored lightly with orange. The chips melt in the crepe and its fantastic. Another personal favorite is plain yogurt with locally-made honey from Chestnut trees. Here's Tom's recipe, but you will need sourdough starter.

Crepes

1 cup starter
1 egg
1 egg yolk (he uses the white for the topping on the bread)
Enough milk to make the batter runner.

Pour into a pan and tilt to spread out thin.
Cook quickly turning to brown on both sides.

While we are at it, when the stove is really stoked, I use it to cook pasta sauce, soup, beans, pasta, or stews. Anything that needs a long cook, it helps to conserve the gas for our stove top which, if we run out, will mean a trip to Montiano to fill our canister. Here's my version of Ribollita, a popular Tuscan soup.

Ribollita
Tuscan Soup

A liter of water
1 can Borlotti beans, drained
1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 leek, 3 stalks celery, 2 potatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Bunch of Italian parsley
Bunch of fresh arugula
2 sausages, cooked and cut into pieces
2 bouillon cubes
1 tbl of tomato puree

Cook for 2 hours, approximately

Serve with a thick slice of Italian bread on the bottom of the bowl and scoops of soup on top.
Top with Parmesan cheese.

Walking (and hugging) in Italy

Our grandson sent us this picture and we tried to comply with his vision--Nonna & Grandpa on a walk (hugging) in Italy (with mountains and sun).

Caccia e finita

Since arriving here we have woken to the sound of gun shots. Except on rare occasions when there is a group hunt, just guns popping here and there. We are surrounded by woods, apparently loaded with birds, wild hare, and wild boar. The best part of hunting season is that hunters bring their catch or a portion of it to local restaurants and trattorie serve them in traditional ways, stewed, roasted, fried, and in sauces to serve over pasta or polenta. We also find it very entertaining to watch groups of hunters whooping and hollering to drive the wild boar towards hunters on the other end of the forrest glade. We can view them on the hill above us, the one directly below us or on this property to the south. BUT, we do not venture into the woods and we have had to be very attentive to the dogs during the season.

January 31 was the last day of hunting season and we are looking forward to walks in the woods. This weekend, we had two beautiful, warm, sunny days and took a walk up to the top of the pasture to take the photos above. Here's a couple of recipes of the winter Maremma.

Cinghiale Alla Maremma
Stewed Wild Boar

3 tbl olive oil
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 springs fresh sage
1 1/4 pounds wild boar, cubed
Salt and peper to taste
1 cup red wine
1/4 pound fresh or inned tomatoes
25 black olives, pitted (look for imported Italian olives if possible)

Heat the olive oil with 1 sprig of the rosemary and 1 sprig of the sage
Brown the cubed meat on all sides
Salt and pepper.
Add red wine.
Simmer until liquid is reduced to about half.
Add the tomatoes and cook over low flame for about 1 1/2 hours.
Add the olives at the last minute.

Try substituting pork cubes for wild boar if it isn't available.

Pappardelle Alla Lepre
Pappardelle with Hare Sauce

1 onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small bunch parsely leaves, chopped
3 tbl olive oil
2 ounces pancetta, cubed
Boned leg meat of 1 hare, cut into strips
Leaves of 2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tbl flour
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/4 pound pappardelle
1 cup Parmesan, grated

Cook the chopped onion, celery, garlic, and parsley in the olive oil, add the pancetta, and cook for a few minutes.
Add the hare piecers and thyme and cook until the hare is browned on all sides.
Sprinkle the flour over the hare, mix well, cook for another minute, and add the wine, mixing well.
Allow the wine to evaporate and add the chicken stock.
Cover and cook over a low flame for about an hour, until the meat is cooked throughout, and the sauce is a nice thick consistency.

Prepare the pappardelle in a big pot of boiling salted water.
Once cooked and drained, pour the sauce over the pasta and mix in half of the Parmesan.
Serve with remaining cheese.

Crema Di Castagne
Chestnut Cream

1 pound peeled cooked chestnuts
Milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brandy
Whipped cream

Put the chestnuts in a saucepan and add milk to cover about an inch.
Cook slowly until the milk has almost evaporated, about 15-20 minutes.
The chestnuts should be soft enough to puree in a blender or food mill.
Put the puree back into the saucepan with the cream, sugar, and brandy.
Cook over a low heat until the sugar has melted.
Mix well and pour into a serving dish to cool.
Serve with whipped cream.

Note: This was my favorite dessert when I lived at a pensione in Florence many years ago. The recipe is simple but it is truly delicious.

Note 2: When we went up to Mt. Amiata we saw chestnuts laying all over the ground everywhere. Turns out, you cannot take chestnuts without a license. So people just leave them.

The recipes above are from the already dog-earred copy of A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany, Exploring & Eating off the Beaten Track by Beth Elon. A terrific book with great recipes, travel itineraries, and food and restaurant recommendations.

Podere 414

As I've said before, discovering the wine of Maremma is as easy as walking up our road to our neighbor's winery. So whenever we are running low on our supply we try to stop at a new winery along Poggio La Mozza. So far, we think Podere 414 is the best wine we've tried in the Maremma. The young couple who owns 414 started the winery two years ago. They met at the University of Florence where he studied enology. His father is a consultant to the olive oil industry and spends time in California helping their nascent olive oil industry. In any case, I have already written our source of Maremma wines in Seattle, Steve Brown of 12th and Olive Wine Company (www.12thand Olive.com). He has wonderful Friday night tastings. If you live in Seattle, check it out and ask Steve to import Podere 414 and other wines from the Maremma.

Siena

Beautiful Siena is only 45 minutes from where we are living in Italy. We took advantage of a sunny day to head to this jewel of a city. We visited the Duomo, a spectacular testament to the determination of the Sienese to build an impressive church to rival Florence, their arch enemy of the time. It was begun in 1200 and has work within by many of the most famous of artists of the times--Michelangelo, Donatello, Dell Quercia, Bernini, Pisano. Everywhere you look, from the blue and white striped columns, to the star studded indigo ceilings, the marble floors, and high altar and Piccolomini Library, it is awe inspiring. Described as a virtual treasure box, it is.





The first thing we did is make a beeline for the best pasticceria (Nannini - La Conca d'Oro, www.grupponannini.it) to purchase Panforte. Siena is really the only reliable source of this wonderful confection. Here they have many different flavors; we indulged in a slice each of dark panforte (which has candied melon instead of citron, cocoa and chillies, and white or and Margharita (in honor of the Queen of Italy who attended the Palio in Siena in 1879). As legends go, I always heard that panforte was made popular during the Crusades as a dense and satisfying type of power bar that sustained crusaders on their long rides, hence pan forte or strong bread. I've read other versions of its origin but I'm sticking with this one. We also bought Ricciarelli, almond cookies but really little ovals of heavenly flavor, Sienese candied fruit cookies called Cavalucci and Copate, delicate discs of nougat. To wash it all down: Vin Santo, nectar of the gods. Note: I have recipes for all of these tasty treats in a book I purchased here, Tuscan Desserts Pastries, Cakes and Sweets. If anyone is interested, let me know. I can put the recipes in a future blog.

Siena is unique in that the tiny city, covering just 2.5 square kilometres, has 17 distinct neighborhoods or contrade. These are self-governing entities that survived from the classical times and the Middle Ages to today are thriving as a kind of social and dining club, neighbourhood improvement association, religious confraternity and mutual assistance fund. More importantly, these contrade become rivals in the famous Palio. The Palio is a yearly horse race that takes place in the Campo, a large square in the center of the city. The contest dates back to at least 1283, the earliest record of the race. Each of the 17 contrade are represented by an animal. The one below is the district of the snail which is represented throughout the neighborhood. You can see these totems throughout the city.
Jack, a regular Houdini, gets rewarded for his wayward ways and hasty escapes by accompanying us on all of our excursions. On our park walk in Siena, Jack got lots of attention from two little girls who, when I looked over at the group, were talking away to a confused Tom.


We stopped for lunch at a great spot in the Terzo di Citta section of Siena, I Maestri. We sat next to a couple from London whose children had given them a week in Italy for their Christmas present. We quickly struck up a friendship as is often the case when you meet other visitors (who also speak English). The owner of the restaurant was proud of his faire and hovered over us when he presented each plate to see if we liked it. We did. Tom had a wonderful plate of Pici (earlier blog), bistecca (steak) and fried carciofi (artichokes), I had chicken cacciatora that was superb. In these enormous glasses we drank a bottle of red wine. The large bottle was a prop that the proprietor (behind me) insisted in including in the photo suggested that we drank a very big bottle in our very big glasses.

Skiing, a stone's throw away

Mt. Amiata rises above Grosseto provence so it is in constant view wherever we venture here. Mt. Amiata is a dormant volcano that sports a vast, but not very steep or challenging, ski area. One can ski from any number of ski areas that almost circle the top of the mountain. Our trip to the mountain brought us to numerous Medieval hilltop villages and in several we stopped to enjoy the view (Montenero), peeking into a vast sculpture park in Seggiano (created by Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri but closed for the winter) and hoping to buy their famed, fragant olive oil from olivastra olive trees that has been produced in the region since Roman times. On the way up the mountain we saw the famed chestnut trees. Chestnuts are dense in calories, nutritious and can be used in many ways, including ground into flour for bread, pastries and a type of polenta. Here's what a Beth Elon says in her wonderful guide, A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany: Chestnut flour is best after mid-December, the moment when stone grinding begins. Hearty chestnut polenta is served with simple game ragu, fresh ricotta cheese, or sausages. There's also a chesnut bread--fiandulone--flavored with rosemary, and a puree made from boiled chetnust, la pichiona. The nuts are also prepared here like those sold on city streets, roasted on the ashes of an open fire in a long-handled hole-punched pan. In fact, when I was a poor student living in Florence all those many years ago, chestnuts played an important part in my sustenance. Coming home from art class on cold winter nights, I would purchase a cone of hot chestnuts and step into the bar and get a hot milk. This warm, siimple meal filled me up for easily less than $1, a real deal.

After stopping at the mountain and eating lunch, we headed down through Santa Fiore. Santa Fiore is known for its moutain water, the first fish farm (which we visited), its Roman church where you can see fish swimming under the floor (lit for a Euro) and its wonderfully intact frescos, and finally a church with the most impressive Della Robbias I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the photos from Santa Fiore are trapped in my new Blackberry as my camera battery suddenly died. Santa Fiore is a welcoming city and I mean that in historical terms as it was the one of the only places that accepted Jews escaping Nazi Germany when everywhere others were turning them away.

Rich Tuscany

Investigating a very long drive lined with cypress and pine trees we came upon beautiful L'Andana. L'Andana is on the way to Castiligone de Pescaia, a little gem in itself. This fully restored estate with guest rooms, spa, restaurant, vineyards, olive trees, winery and olive oil plant was once the summer palace of Duke Leopold in the 16th century. As we approached we saw a helicopter pad, a clue to the prices requested here and the clientele, which their promotional brochure described as: Bored sheiks, Don Juans with PDAs, amazons pursing a career, lawless lawyers and others of that sort. Not being any of those sorts we hightailed it to Punta Ala. But, oops, this huge marina is another one filled with large, beautiful--read:expensive--yachts. After a car picnic of Cinghale sausage, cheese, bread and beer we headed home to contemplate the splendor that is Tuscany. (www.andana.it)