The excitement of summer is almost gone for most of us..with about a month to go..but here in Italy the excitement of summer has been re-ignited with the anticipation of the summer’s biggest crescendo.. August the 15th. A holiday that dates back to the Ancient Romans.

August the 15th reminds us that summer is almost gone and this is her last hurrah!! to celebrate the brilliance of the sun..the food.the sea, the beach ,the carefree relaxed feeling..

Today starts the anticipation with just a week to go..the beach has become one big block party..children running all over..people congregating in small groups everywhere on the beaach, taking a passeggiata from one beach to the next while taking in the fresh sea air and meeting friends along the way… talking, laughing,sharing recipes, making plans for the 15th..smiles abound everywhere..it is as almost as if Christmas is coming in the  Summer..well of course watermelon has replaced panettone (at least for this for season).

One of our favorite dishes to bring to the beach is Eggplant Parmigiano. It travels well, we can leave it in the glass dish it is baked in, slice it before taking it to the beach. Bring some paper plates, napkins, plastic forks, one spatula. And no need to worry about refrigerating leftovers..there are never any leftovers.. Slice up a watermelon for dessert, a bottle of mineral water and you have a great meal

Eggplant Parmigiano

2 lbs fresh eggplant-cleaned, sliced

1 lb scamorza cheese

1 lb red ripe plum tomatoes

3 leaves fresh basil

2 cloves garlic

1 fresh carrot, cleaned,peeled, cut in two

1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1 slice fresh onion

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Filet fresh tomatoes. In saute pan, place 3 tblsps olive oil,  whole garlic cloves, slice fresh onion. Saute for 2 minutes, place in tomato pieces, carrot pieces let simmer for 20 minutes.

In glass baking dish, layer, eggplant slices with tomato sauce, sliced scamorza cheese, sprinkle of parmigiano cheese. Top with scamorza cheese and grated parmigiana reggiano cheese and a sprinkle of breadcrumbs,. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven, when cool, slice, and it is ready to go-wherever your lunch will be.

For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

I always think of myself as a ‘gastronaut’- ( gastronomy + astronaut=gastronaut) someone that travels and explores through food..and I think there are many of you out there! 

Sundays in the center of Rome are my favorite way to spend a lazy summer afternoon,  exploring as a gastronaut..while many flock to nearby beaches I prefer to ‘sweat it out’ walking through the cobblestoned streets and admiring  the view and  some of the simple foods special to this city..gelato, pizza,cornetti, tramezzini..

You can find these in other places in Italy..but you will find the best of them here,in Rome.  And on Sundays if  lunch isn’t eaten at home in grand fashion,it is a casual lunch while making my way through this living art museum they call Rome. A tramezzini is my usual choice for lunch..I call it the elegant sandwich (If you have a favorite food from your trips to Rome, let us know!)

Tramezzini are beautifully decorated sandwiches usually placed in front in the glass cases at the coffee bars at lunchtime,sometimes even for breakfast and during happy hour eaten with aperitifs. When I’m not in Rome but longing for my days there, I make a tramezzini on a lazy Sunday afternoon-wherever I am and reminisce…

Tramezzini are great to bring to the beach or a picnic or even to the office. Who thought Italians use sliced bread? crusts are removed to make this an elegant sandwich

Tramezzini

serves 1

3 slices of thinly sliced white or whole wheat bread (crusts removed)

1- 3ounce can of tuna packed in water

*1 chopped celery stalk

*1 small tomato sliced

*1 tsp chopped red onion

*1/4 cup shredded romaine lettuce

*4 large green or black olives hulled and chopped

*2 tsps extra virgin olive oil

Drain and flake tuna, place in bowl. Add in chopped red onion, chopped celery,olives. Drizzle one tsp olive oil on top and mix.

Cut bread slices in quarters- triangle shapes. Brush both slices with olive oil, place in oven under broil for a minute to toast. Remove from oven. Make small sandwiches by placing tuna mixture on top of one slice then place a triangle on top, then place a slice of tomato, drizzle with olive oil, cover with another triangle. Now stick a toothpick through to hold it together. Place a grape tomato or olive on top of toothpick. Make 4 of these. You can use the same fillings for your sandwiches that you use for almost any sandwiches-cheeses, meats, roasted veggies

Garnish with parsley leaves,serve. No passport needed!

Any foods that take you back to a special place? Share your summer food memories here..or foods that bring you back to a special place…we would love to hear about them!

More on tramezzini

For more recipes get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holiidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition –selected as the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA

Sept 9-12-Hudson Valley Wine Festival- Maria Liberati and The Basic Art of Italian Cooking take center stage for cooking demos and book signings. Held at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, NY. For more  info to attend or to sponsor the cooking demos, email us at : info@marialiberati.com

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Just about half over..summer that is…and just about time to recharge your summer before it is all gone. Here are some fun things to do to put the spark back into (what is left of) Summer:

*Eat a meal (or two) al fresco..there is nothing like it. Keep it uncomplicated, make it fresh!

*Purchase fresh produce at a local farm market. Summer gives us fresh produce like no other season..don’t forego the taste of freshly picked summer blueberries, strawberries, peaches, tomatoes, corn. The fresh taste will dazzle your taste buds.

*Visit one of the summer county fairs held throughout the country. A great way to experience local food finds and local regional specialties.

*Get an ice cream maker and make your own fresh ice cream or gelato! Nothing like it. I just made a fresh strawberry gelato with local strawberries..all I can say is mmmmmmm!

*Try berry picking at a local farm..it is a fun but also educational thing to do with the kids.but you can do it yourself or friends as well.

*Make a blueberry or strawberry pie or crostata with those fresh berries. If you make a vanilla ice cream or gelato this makes the perfect accompaniment

Tours To Italy

For more recipes get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

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copyright 2010, art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc, Maria Liberati

Mint, another flavor of Spring and Summer…a flavor we want to remember all year round..

….that the mounds of ices, and the bowls of mint-julep and sherry cobbler they make in these latitudes, are refreshments never to be thought of afterwards, in summer, by those who would preserve contented minds.”
Charles Dickens, while traveling in America (1842)

Mint syrup is has become ‘de rigeur’ or a something we can’t do without in my house during  the warmer months..to refresh..cool down and create all sorts of drinks and desserts..

Mint Syrup

3 lbs of fresh peppermint leaves (no stems)

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 fresh lemon

1/2 cup water

Wash and clean peppermint, remove leaves from stems.  Dry carefully. Pass leaves through  a potato ricer..  Place  this compost with juice from  the mint in a ceramic or glass bowl with juice of one lemon and peel of one lemon.. Let  sit ,covered for approx 2 hours. Place water and sugar in a saucepan and let bring to a boil, remove from heat let cool and before it thickens, pour into mint juice and stir. When syrup is cool, sieve out the peppermint leaves,  remove lemon peel and place in jars, top.

For more recipes get your copy of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Winner- The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions

April 14th-Book signing at Free Library of Philadelphia

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Editor: Laura D’Alonzo

copyright 2010, art of living, PrimaMedia,Inc

See the Fiorano vineyard here (click the link below):

DSCN1059

Upon hearing “Pecorino,” you may immediately think of an Italian staple- Pecorino Cheese. However, in the Le Marche region of Italy, in a town called Ofida, Pecorino has quite a different meaning.

Pecorino is a crisp white wine made from the Pecorino grape. These grapes are mostly grown in Le Marche, a region neighboring Abruzzo.

 On my last culinary tour through Le Marche, a stop was at the   organic vineyard named Fiorano, I hosted  a wine tasting there  and  sampled  some of this magnificent wine. Walking around the rolling vines and olive groves that make up this vast, but artisan style property, truly makes you feel as though you are a part of nature. Tasting the  organic Pecorino wine enhances this earthy experience, since the wine  is made organically. The wine goes well with so many main dishes, and is not your typical white wine. it goes well with meat dishes since it is more robust than many white wines.

If you like what you see and can taste the wine and olives already you may want to join my culinary your there in October 2010. Email: events@marialiberati.com

Spaces are limited and will include cooking classes and truffle hunting!

For more great recipes to go with Pecorino Wine get your copy of the Gourmand World Cookbook Award winner: The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions

Hypnotized or somewhat like Pavlov’s dogs..embarrassingly I am always making bowls of Macedonia (an Italian style fresh fruit salad)  for  an after lunch and dinner dessert…. I didn’t realize how much of the stuff I was always making..until my better half suggested that “we should maybe just have some pieces of fresh fruit after dinner once in awhile”

I realized my dilemma there..Macedonia..which is a fresh fruit salad..was the way we always ended dinner at my grandmother’s house when I was younger and my mother did the same..

Not that I am complaining..I love fresh fruit and because of them I am conditioned to always have fresh fruit after my meals…but it has become more than that is almost as I have been conditioned to end a meal this way.

When dinner was over.. nonna (grandmom) would automatically get up from her seat and everyone knew she was going to the little cool wine cellar in back of the kitchen (the kitchen was under the house) and would come out with a bowl of freshly made macedonia..to the “oohs” and “ahhs” of everyone at the table.. since it was much anticipated after a full meal..something sweet but light and something that seemed to help digest the meal…made with whatever fruits were in season. It almost seems that being in Italy I am now conditioned to feel that my meal is not complete without a dish of fresh macedonia.. Dinner was always filled with opera and singing and freshly made plates of pasta,artisan cheeses, freshly made breads, wine and well here in Italy meals are the same..and the feeling that they are not complete without the grand ending of a bowl of fresh macedonia..

In Italy the tradition is to end the everyday meals with fresh fruit and nuts..and that is a healthy habit..but the macedonia..I think I am hypnotized..anyway here is a recipe for a winter macedonia..see if it becomes one of your after dinner favorites..In the meantime, I am going to make the same for lunch today..I can’t help myself……macedonia obsessed it seems…..

Macedonia

(from the winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards- The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays &Special Occasions)

*1 whole fresh lemon

*1 whole fresh pineapple

*1/2 lb of red grapes-washed

*2 fresh oranges

*2 bananas-peeled and sliced into 1″ thick slices

*4 fresh kiwi-peeled and sliced

*1 tablespoon sugar

Peel and cut fresh fruits into chunks. Place in bowl. Cut lemon in half and squeeze both halves over fresh cut fruit. Sprinkle with one tablespoon of  sugar. Stir, let marinade covered in refrigerator for 1 hour. Serve with a sprig of fresh mint.

Hope to see you on Saturday May 8th at the Borders Store in Warrington,Pennsylvania.

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Get more recipes in The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Holidays & Special Occasions

Coming up..a culinary truffle hunting trip to Italy in October 2010

My trip to Terni, Italy -(where Valentine’s Day gets it’s origin from St Valentine-who lived there) was not filled with decorations of hearts and flowers  as I had imagined. ..just a  simple town with signs that lead to the church once  led by St Valentine. So what would Valentine’s Day be without hearts and flowers and chocolates  and presents? just a day as it was originally intended -filled with love..

For Valentine’s Day gifts there are so many to choose from..well here is a recipe  to enjoy while opening those gifts..

This is  one of my favorite cocktails made with  Santa Margherita Prosecco and keep your Prosecco cool by using the VinoTemp champagne cooler. Nothing makes a meal more festive than a sparkling fabulous wine.

Valentine’s Day Cocktail

this cocktail is similar to a Bellini but the blood red orange juice gives it a Valentine’s Day twist.

3 ounces Santa margherita Prosecco

1 ounce of blood red orange juice

1 ounce of  regular orange juice

Blend juices together. Divide into two champagne fluted glasses. Pour in Prosecco and stir gently. Garnish with a slice of blood red orange.

Get more recipes for Valentine’s Day and Holidays in the Gourmand World Cookbook winner : The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions

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Thanks to everyone who watched and assisted  at my appearance on NBC the !10 show on February 2nd. A special thx to makeup person-Cathy Lee Carpenter & Hair Person- Kamilla Florczak and my assistants Patricia Bontempo and Frederick Cohen for your assistance in making the appearance a success!

Follow me on twitter for other recipes and traveling tips

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

Fine music and fine wine make the perfect pair and so the Rossini Cocktail was born..make it with Santa Margherita Prosecco and you have the perfect opening to a dinner or a party..

The Rossini is another version of the Bellini cocktail. It began to become popular in the last century. Prepared with puree of fresh strawberries and Prosecco. Serve this cocktail in a fluted glass and you will have an elegant and refreshing drink. This cocktail is named after the composer Giacomo Rossini.

The Barber of Seville , The William Tell Overture penned by Rossini make perfect background music while serving and sipping….

Recipe for the cocktail is 1/3 fresh strawberry puree to 2/3 cold Prosecco or Champagne. The preparation consists of the simple union of the ingredients in a glass with some ice.

The most complicated part of this (if you can call it that) is making the strawberry puree. The only way to do this is to put washed, cleaned strawberries in a blender or small food processor. Once pureed, mix with a few drops of lemon juice and some sugar syrup (made by mixing water and sugar over low heat till sugar is melted

If you are in the Philadelphia, Pa area tomorrow -February 2nd tune into the !10 show in the morning I will be cooking up a lasagna with porcini mushrooms and truffles..Santa Margherita Prosecco pairs with this dish for a a festive dinner.

More recipes in the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions that just won The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Maria

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http://marialiberati.theopenskyproject.com

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati 

Last  night ended with the best refresher of all..a slice of locally produced watermelon…

Not a fan of air conditioning and at home there is not one in sight..the month of August you will always find a watermelon in our refrigerator..our natural way of cooling down from a hot August day or night or both.

August is always hot and temperatures ranging from hot to sweltering..with a beautiful sun. ..almost everyday. But the sun is so vibrant and alive in August and is rumored to make people do some crazy things..from political decisions to happenings..in the month of August when someone does something unusual or unexplicable the heat of the sun is always to blame.  In the month of August an important politician has decided that alll dialects (in Italy ) should be taught in the schools along with the regular language classes..blame it on the sun…

Really fresh, chilled watermelon is great by itself..but if you want to try another way to use watermelon before the  fresh ones disappear ..here is one of my favorite refreshing appetizers combining Japanese and Italian (wasabi and alici or snchovies) healthy for you also..

Watermelon Sushi  & Fizz Cocktail

*1 lb fresh strawberries

*rind of one lemon for decoration

*8 ounces plain seltzer water (gazzosa)

*2 lbs fresh watermelon

*8 anchovies marinated in extra virgin olive oil

*wasabi sauce

*leeks

Wash watermelon and cut ‘meat’  into 8 square slices, remove rind on each piece. Place some wasabi on each slice and on top of wasabi, place 2 marinated anchovies.Cut leeks into small rings and decorate top of anchovies with leek rings. Wash strawberries. Set aside 4 whole strawberries. Hull the remaining strawberries and place in a food processor with a cup of chopped ice.  Blend till thick liquid. Divideinto 8 glasses and add seltzer to each glass.Top each with a strawberry on a toothpick. Add in some ice if desired and some lemon rind for decoration. Serve with your watermelon sushi…Italian style..

For the  digital magazine edition of August/Sept 2009 The Basic Art of Italiain Cooking    ezine go to

Gelato-The Perfect Summer Dessert

Travel Column: “The Florentine Tradition”

Q&A with Aida Mollenkamp  from CHOW.com

Finger Food Italian Style Recipes 

**For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking : Holidays & Special Occasions before the mad Holiday rush..great for your own kitchen for recipes ideas or for gifts..140+ recipes ,menus, short stories on Holidays spent in Italy..

Spend Christmas in Italy..don’t need a passport for this one.  Spend a weekend of cooking classes,. culinar yh tours, wine pairings with recipes from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions at the Harvest Moon Bed & breakfast in Lancaster, Pa.  Places are limited..email :events@marialiberati.com t oreserve your spot or for more info..

Mangia Been, Vivi Bene,

Maria

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

Life seems to be broken up into chapters that could be described in tastes–sweet, salty, bitter..think of all the experiences in your life that can be described  per  these tastes..

Now that you have had some food for thought..here are the recipes I promised from some of the cooking programs and book signings in the past  few weeks.

Insalata di riso con rucola e pomodori

2 cups of short grain brown rice

8 red, ripe plum tomatoes-chopped with seeds removed

4 ounces arugula chopped

1/4 cup shelled pistachios chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tsps balsamic vinegar

4 ounces parmigiano-reggiano cheese, shaved

Place chopped tomatoes, chopped arugula, olive oil, balsamic vinegar in bowl and let marinate for 30 minutes.

Boil rice till al dente as directed on package. Add to tomato mixture. Add in pistahchios, shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese. Stir serve.

Tuna & Beans Tuscan Style

1 6 oz can albacore or yellow fin tuna packed in water

1 can  cannelini beans drained, rinsed or 1/2 cup dry cannelini beans soaked over night, cooked till tender

1 fresh lemon

4 tblsps olive oil-extra virgin, cold pressed

2 slices of red onion finely chopped

Drain tuna and place in bowl, flake with fork and drizzle approx 2 tsps on top and blend in. Add in cannelini beans, chopped onion and remaining olive oil, Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.

Ricotta e Frutta

3/4 cup freshly made ricotta

3 tblsps sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tablespoons dark semi sweet chocoalt e chipps or shaved chocolate

1 lb fresh strawberries hulled ,washed and quartered

8 ozs fresh blueberries  washed

Place fruit in bowl, sprinkle 1 tblsp sugar on top, stir gently. Place ricotta in bowl. Place in remaining sugar, cinnamon. Divide fruit into 8 serving dishes, top with a dollop of ricotta cream and 1 tblsp chocolate chips or shaved chocolate and serve .

June 15th  Willngboro Library, Willingboro, NJ 7 PM- Cooking on a Budget with The Basic Art of Italian cooking. Join me for a fun book signing and cooking demo. Open to the public. Call library for info or email events@marialiberati.com

Get a copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at www.marialiberati.com

Mangai Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

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