copyright 2011 art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

Scarpediem…has become one of my favorite new stores in the center of town here..okay,it has nothing to do with food or the kitchen but is a play on words for the Italian word for shoes-scarpe and the Latin Phrase Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)..all of the Italian designer shoes in one place makes you want to ‘seize the day’ and purchase all the shoes or better yet ‘seize the shoes’….

Italian have an artistic penchant for creating new words to express clearly an idea like

*Capri Diem-(instead of Carpe Diem) expressing love of enjoying the island of Capri

*Cinepanettone ( Combining cine for cinema or movie and panettone-the traditional Holiday bread at Christmas time) to describe films that are released for Christmas.

*Decembrini-to discuss things that are’ December-ish’..for instance a fruit that is not totally mature yet in December can be described as Decembrini or the weather that is typical for December,

*Settembrini-something that may come out in September or is ‘September-ish’. For instance fig trees bear fruit in August  and September..those figs of September  can be described as Settembrini or even the change of the weather or coolness that usually begins in the air to describe the weather as Settembrini.

and there are many others…

 Today I am preparing a chocolate-orange cake..my own version of a Sacher Torte for a dinner on Sunday. The Austrians combine apricot with chocolate in their traditional cake. But Italians love the combination of chocolate and orange..and if you taste them together you will quickly understand why..

Here’s the recipe

Torte di Cioccalata all’Arancia (Chocolate and Orange Cake)

from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition 

*8 ounces baking chocolate with at least 60% cocoa content

*3 tblsps milk

*3/4 cup butter

*3/4 cup sugar

*5 eggs

*1 tsp baking powder

*grated zest of 1 orange

*1 cup flour

Filling:
*1 ½ cups orange marmelade

*1 tsp brandy

Topping:

*8 ounces baking chocolate (at least 60% cocoa)
* 1 cup powdered sugar

*1 cup whipping cream

In a double boiler, melt chocolate with milk, stirring with a wooden spoon. When melted remove from heat and cool. Place softened butter in a bowl and whip with electric beater till creamy mousse consistency. Add in sugar and beat it until you get a creamy blend. Add in cooled, melted chocolate, and flour and baking powder a spoonful at a time. Mix till well blended. Add in eggs, one at a time. Blend well after adding each one. Then add in orange peel. Butter and flour an 8 inch pan. Bake for 25 minutes in an oven preheated to350 degrees. Place toothpick in center to be sure cake is done. Remove from oven. Remove cake from pan and let cool. When cool, slice cake in center in half so as to get tow layers.

Warm orange marmelade with brandy. Remove from heat. Spread mixture on one half of cake. Top with other half., Spread orange mixture on top of cake. Let sit.

In double boiler melt chocolate for topping, add in powdered sugar and a few spoons of water. Mix with wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Let cool to warm. Spread on top of marmelade on top of cake and cover sides and entire cake with chocolate mixture. Let cool and chocolate harden. Whip whipping cream and serve each slice with a spoonful of whipped cream

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

The book was selected as Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards

copyright 2010, art of living, PrimaMedia,Inc 

Today, January 4^th, is the Birthday of Isaac Newtown.. so today, I am inspired, in honor of Isaac Newtown, by the thought of apples..even while here in Italy.. why where would the research of Isaac Newtown be without the apple.

With all the local apples in abundance, even here in Italy, there are so many things to do with them.  Torte di Mele (apple pies)  are everywhere..but you can also make biscotti (cookies) with apples…the fragrance from these little gems wafted through the house this morning and I hope will probably remain throughout most of the day..the best way to perfume a country house here in the mountains of Abruzzo..

Apple, Raisin & Pinoli Biscotti

(from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition)

(Biscotti con Mele, Uvetta, Pinoli)

 4 cups unbleached flour

1 cup brown sugar (fine)

½ cup butter

½ lb of peeled, grated apple

1/3 cup raisins (place in hot water for 3 minutes, drain and squeeze water out to dry)

3 tablespoons pinoli nuts

4 medium eggs

1 tsp baking soda

Zest of 1 organic lemon

¼ cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

water 

Place the flour on a wooden board or work surface, Make a well inside the flour and place inside softened butter, sugar, pinch of salt, grated zest of lemon, egg yolks and pinch of salt. Work all ingredients in by  hand. When ingredients are well blended add in grated apple and raisins. Mix by hand, until all ingredients are well blended in. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper

Separate dough into small balls, size of a quarter. Place on parchment paper, leaving some distance between each biscotti. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Place powdered sugar in a small bowl, mix with enough warm to hot water to make a glaze. When biscotti are cool, drizzle glaze on top and sprinkle each biscotti with pinoli nuts. Let glaze dry for 15 minutes, serve.

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

COPYRIGHT 2010, Maria Liberati/art of living PrimaMedia,Inc

As we are enjoying our evening meal alfresco with fireworks bursting below us…patriotic thoughts of one of my favorite signers of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson….he was so inspired by his travels to Italy that he gave a Tuscan winemaker some land contiguous to Monticello to cultivate. He also hired many vintners from Italy to cultivate his gardens..he illegally  ‘smuggled’ rice in his coat pockets on one trip back from Italy and he also carefully researched the olive production in Italy and recommended their cultivation to acquaintances in South Carolina.

So inspired by the works of architect Andrea Palladio that he consulted his books as bibles for the construction of Monticello.   Palladio was an admirer of ancient Rome as was Jefferson and he said that   “Roman taste, genius and magnificence excite ideas”

Also inspired by the Italian language ,he taught it to himself while a student at William and Mary but he made sure it was included in the languages studied at the University of Virginia in 1764.

While Ambassador to France he toured much of Italy-especially the north and spent some time finding out how Parmigiano-Reggiano was produced,he even looked for a machine to make macaroni to bring back to the US..

One of Jefferson’s favorite wines was a Montepulciano.So who would have thought that this pasta dish served with a Montepulciano could be considered patriotic? it is if you are  celebrating the Fourth with Jefferson in mind!

Pasta with Fresh Zucchini

2 ounces ricotta

2 cups white flour

1 ½ cups cold water

pinch of salt and pepper to taste

2 zucchini

10 cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons plain tomato sauce

Preparation:

Place flour on wooden board and shape into a well. Place water and salt in center of wekk. Blend by hand and work the dough till smooth and well blended. Let rest for 2 hours covered with a clean towel.

Divide pasta ball into 4 portions. Roll out each portion on well floured board. Cut into noodles that are ½ inch thick with the help of a pasta machine or by hand.

Cut each noodle into smaller strips. Sprinkle with flour, let sit.

Place olive oil in saute pan with the zucchini that has been cut into quarters. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes. Place in tomatoes that have been cut in quarters with the plain tomato sauce. Let simmer together for 5 minutes. Add in salt as desired. Turn off heat.

Boil water ion pasta pot. Place in fresh pasta, cook for 2 -4 minutes (taste after 3 minutes do not overcook). Drain. Place in saute pan with zucchini, toss, serve with grated dried ricotta

In honor of our founding fathers, serve with a Montepulciano and don’t forget the fireworks

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

Visit OpenSky

Sept 9-12 ,see you at the Hudson Valley Wine Festival in Rhinebeck, NY

Maria

copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati, The Basic Art of Italian Cooking  

Today, (here in the mountains of Abruzzo, Italy) while I was enjoying my colazione (breakfast )with radio station centocinque (105) and listening to Betty give her gossip and advice I began to plan out the recipe for today..sacher torte…

While  the conversation on today’s radio program was about the new website in Japan that talks about places around the world that have memorable aromas (good and bad)  I began thinking of the great perfume of chocolate that will soon be filling The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Kitchen here (in Italy).

Yes that’s right..the famous Austrian  Sacher Torte.. I learned this scrumptious dessert while studying a bit of Austrian delights in Austria a few years back and have been promising to make this for Alfonso’s birthday for a few too many years.

 Now that The Basic Art of Italian Cooking kitchen is here in Italy also and I have some extra hands to assemble everything ..well I decided to begin this experience.. This morning we made and baked the cake, and tomorrow we willassembled the cake.. The smell from the ovens were heavenly…. if you love the odor of melted butter and rich dark chocolate. I am guessing that many people do since we had some locals come by and ask what was ‘in the oven’ today?

Sacher Torte was ‘born’ in Vienna, Austria but is loved all throughout Europe and why not.. it is just as beautiful as it is delicious a dessert and made primarily with dark European chocolate ,butter ,eggs and apricot marmelade and of  course some sugar and flour. No preservatives, chemicals just real ingredients..

It has been awhile since I had my culinary classes in Austria and have not made a Sacher Torte for awhile and almost forgot how laborious a dessert this is..but well worth it.

First to locate ‘farina di frumento’ the flour that will give the cake some substance. Not an easy flour to find, but after a trip to the local shop for professional baker’s in town…I found it..

 Next the measuring out of all ingredients with our scale, then the melting of the dark chocolate on the ‘bain-marie’ (double boiler). Then the creaming of the butter and melted chocolate, then half the sugar. Then beating the egg whites till peaks form.. gently folding in the egg whites and flour and …almost there…..butter and flour the spring form pans, place in batter and cook for about 1 hour at 180 degrees centigrade or 360 degrees fahrenheit.. Well in our oven here they took less than an hour to bake. But the whole process took up all morning into afternoon..

This more than filled our day and by 2 PM we were ready to sit down and eat ‘pranzo’ (lunch). Stay tuned for tomorrow and the assembling of the Sacher Tortes. … and my recipe for the Sacher Torte

For more great recipes get your copy of my best sellling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria