copyright 2011 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc./Maria Liberati

After surviving another Feast of the Seven Fishes in Italy  last year (the meal typically celebrated in Italy and now all over the world for Christmas Eve with many seafood dishes) I wanted to jot down some quick tips on cooking seafood many different ways. Everyone always seems puzzled as to what to make and how to make it. These are some quick, easy tips to help, but not only for the Feast of the Seven Fishes but all year round seafood dishes too! These are the principal 5 ways to cook specific types of seafood.

Alla Brace (usually refers to cooking in a fireplace or wood burning oven -over wood or coal)

Fish that has firm meat inside like tuna, are perfect for cooking this way,not all fish can hold up to this cooking method.

You can add a sort of aroma and splash with white or red wine or seafood broth to reinforce the perfume of the herbs/spices added. Choose a double sided grill that will make turning the fish easier.

Alla Griglia (grilled)

If you are going to grill fish you shouldn’t scale it, the skin protects the delicate meat of the fish from the intense heat of the grill. Before placing on the grill, dry the fish well with paper towels, even if it has been soaking in a marinade. Don’t overcook the fish. For example, sardines cook for only 1 minute on each side, for a sea bass-10 minutes per side. A large fish should be cooked slowly and drizzled with oil every so often to keep it moist.

Alla Mugnaia (a la meuniere- a French cooking term that means lightly dusted with flour and sautéed with butter)

A whole fish or one that has delicate meat inside like Sole should first be sautéed in a sauté pan with butter, then cooked over medium heat. In general, most fish can be lightly salted and breaded before cooking. The cooking time varies from between 2-3 minutes per side.

Fritto (Fried)

Fish best fried are small fish or those cut into smaller pieces or those like cod and sole. Always dry the fish before frying, coat with flour and dust with breadcrumbs. Oil should be hot but not smoking and should also be in an abundant quantity. Avoid keeping the breaded fish in the pan for too long a time, after cooking remove and place on absorbent paper or paper towels to absorb the oil.

Al Forno (Baked)

Al Forno – best to cook medium or large fish this way. You can also flavor the fish with flavorful spices and/or herbs or herb butter, broth, white wine. And if the fish is big enough you can also bake it stuffed with bread crumbs or shrimp or crab meat. In the oven, you can also cook smaller fish in parchment paper

So many of you have emailed  asking about how to celebrate this feast. So for those of you that do, please share with readers your favorite Feast of the Seven Fishes traditions and recipes. Christmas Eve is almost here!

For more Christmas recipes get a copy of the Gourmand World Award Winning Cookbook The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays &Special Occasions-2nd edition

**December 10th- Join me at Wendell August (103 Woodcutter Dr) in Exton, Pa from 1:30 –2:45 for a book signing of the Holiday book and Holiday recipes. Hope to see you then. For more info email: events@marialiberati.com

Your email:

 

To Celebrate the Holidays I will be posting excerpts from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards and was selected as the Best Italian Cuisine  Book in the USA. (follow along if you have a copy of the book) It is also available on Kindle.

 

Memories of Rome

(excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition, page 54

Christmas and the holiday season in Rome has never been as commercial as it is in most large cities. For example, in the Eternal City, a lavish Nativity scene is more commonplace than a light up reindeer or glowing elf. Head straight to the Piazza di Spagna (The Spanish Steps) and you will see a rustic version of an 18th century presepio (nativity scene), scaled down and recon­structed on the second level. To make your own original presepio, head over to Piazza Navona for the Christmas Market and you can purchase anything: the figurines, mini light up pizza ovens, small working fountains, innumerable moving and light up items for your presepio, terra cotta tavern keepers, butchers, bakers, man­gers, paper with the picture of the sky above with stars, and any­thing else you can think of. To do it the easy way, you can get up early on a Sunday before Christmas and head over to that endless market, Porta Portese, and purchase an already created ceramic presepio handcrafted at Capodimonte in Napoli.

Tortini ai Funghi

(Mushroom Tarts)

Appetizer

Serves 4.

• 2 scallions
• ¾ pound fresh mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Pinch of salt and black pepper
• 1 large puff pastry strip, or 4 small strips
• 2 eggs
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 ounces grated Comté cheese
• 3 finely chopped leeks
• 4 small ceramic or glass baking cups; should be about four inches in diameter

Peel and finely chop the scallions. Carefully wash, clean, and thinly slice the mushrooms. Place 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan and sauté the scallions over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and let simmer until all liquid has been absorbed. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and let cool.

Use the remaining butter to butter the baking cups. Place puff pastry in baking cups and cover the bottom and sides of cups with pastry. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, pinch of nutmeg, pinch of salt, and grated Comté cheese.

Cover bottom of each baking cup with mushroom slices, then cover with chopped leeks. Pour egg mixture on top.

Cook in oven preheated to 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then for an additional 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Best served hot.

*Dec 10th from 1:30-2:45-  join me at Wendell August in Exton, Pa

Wendell August located at:

103 Woodcutter Street
Exton, PA 19341
Store Phone:610-363-2426

I will be signing copies of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition and serving recipes from the book on beautiful Wendell August pieces. For more info email:events@marialiberati.com

 

Join me for an all inclusive luxury cruise in Italy leaving from Venice Italy. Everything is included ,join me for the trip of a lifetime. Call Julie at Rosenbluth Vacations at 1-800-587-8279 or email:events@marialiberati.com Makes a great Christmas present for that special someone

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

Your email:

 

 

“Non si puo non mangiare, non si puo non amare”

One cannot live without food or love…

Ohh the necessities of life…food and love…

Torta Sbrisolana di Mantua (Crumbly Cake from Mantova)

excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:DaVinci Style

excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style

1 ½ cups(300)gr cornmeal flour

½ cup(100 gr) white flour

1 cup (200 gr) chopped almonds

¾ cup (150 gr) butter

2 egg yolks

½ cup (100 gr) sugar

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp (95 gr) pure vanilla

Confectioner’s Sugar for topping

In a bowl place flours, egg yolks, lemon zest,softened butter. Vanilla. Blend the dough till it is well blended but crumbly. Crumble or sprinkle the crumbly batter into a buttered cake pan and bake in oven preheated to 350F (180C) for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool before removing from pan. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

**Join me on May 3 2012 in Venice Italy for an all inclusive luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean, it is a trip of a lifetime, truly a luxury cruise but an all inclusive one too. A few places left, call Julie at Rosenbluth Vacations at 1-800-257-8279

Another Thanksgiving , another day to give thanks and  remember the  simple things that we probably take for granted.. ..if you can celebrate the Holiday in anyway then you should give thanks…

 

Food doesn’t make the Holiday, it’s the company you share it with…can turn a plain meal into a festive one…And if you don’t like turkey create your own menu..opt for something special or something that makes you feel special..your favorite dish….as simple or as elegant as can be..but let it be your choice! Some people look for an online culinary arts school when they love cooking

My Black Friday gift to all subscribers of the BLOG is a free Holiday mini-booklet.  An excerpted booklet from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition- the book that was selected as a Gourmand World Cookbook Award Winner. The book is filled with warm holiday stories ,recipes and tips..This offer is valid for November 25th for 24 hours (12AM to 12PM) only and is a special offer for subscribers to this BLOG only..  If you are not a subscriber just subscribe before you order. To get your free copy,send an email to:
info@marialiberati.com place FREE HOLIDAY BOOKLET in subject and you will get an ebooklet ready to download.

Join Me in Italy on May 3, 2012 for an all inclusive luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean. 10 days of all out luxury with everything included! Makes a great gift for that special someone! Only a few spots left, call  Julie Steinberg at Rosenbluth Vacations at 1-800-257-8279

Here’s Wishing a Happy day to give Thanks to all!!

Happy Thanksgiving

 

The variety of landscapes in the region of Abruzzo, Italy, in November are filled with subdued colors. Close to the sea, the fields that once were overflowing with  grapevines and olives are now scraggly fields  and make silhouettes against the oft gray skies. The new winter frosts have dimmed the once cheerful giardini (gardens). Sunflowers have closed and gone to sleep for most of the winter. The cold harsh winds drive the rains against terra cotta roofs. In the mountains, off in the distance the snow capped mountain tops , can be seen as a sign of things to come to the valley below.

 

The sheep still graze outside on the muddy hills with a sheepdog, known as an Abruzzese shepherd minds them  under a watchful eye.

Truffle and mushroom hunters roam the mountainsides. The open air markets provide a point of color on the brown landscapes, filled with colorful apples, oranges, pears, kiwi, pomegranates on display.

Vino Novello, the new wine that has just been produced from the ‘vendemmia’ in October can be found everywhere as people begin to prepare to gather items for the Holiday table.

As November wears on the harsh rains halt and I wake up to crisp morning skies with a sun as  brilliant as the sun of August, so harsh it hurts your eyes. It provides the perfect setting for local farmers to cut and cord the wood for fireplaces everywhere. Especially the kitchen fireplaces that will be used to grill meats and cheese or roast chestnuts for the Holiday meals to come.

Fall signals the time for certain foods ,especially pears in wine, and roasted chestnuts. Jars of white -flesh, preserved pears, now make a stark contrast next to the bright red  jarred tomatoes from  summer’s end. that decorate  many wine cellars or cantinas usually in home basements or separate small attached buildings. But it is time to think of the Holiday meals.

Although Thanksgiving is not officially celebrated here, meals leading up to the Holidays rival any Thanksgiving celebration. Panetone and Pan D’oro the sweet dessert breads of the winter Holidays line the windows of local bakeries and aisles of the supermarkets.

One of my favorite,elegant yet simple appetizers to make for Holiday  soirees or to start off a Holiday meal are these mushroom appetizers since mushrooms are in abundance.

An online culinary arts education is what some people pursue when they want to become a chef.

Tortini ai Funghi

(Mushroom Tarts)

Appetizer

Serves 4.

• 2 scallions
• ¾ pound fresh mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Pinch of salt and black pepper
• 1 large puff pastry strip, or 4 small strips
• 2 eggs
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 ounces grated Comté cheese
• 3 finely chopped leeks
• 4 small ceramic or glass baking cups; should be about four inches in diameter

Peel and finely chop the scallions. Carefully wash, clean, and thinly slice the mushrooms. Place 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan and sauté the scallions over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and let simmer until all liquid has been absorbed. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and let cool.

Use the remaining butter to butter the baking cups. Place puff pastry in baking cups and cover the bottom and sides of cups with pastry. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, pinch of nutmeg, pinch of salt, and grated Comté cheese.

Cover bottom of each baking cup with mushroom slices, then cover with chopped leeks. Pour egg mixture on top.

Cook in oven preheated to 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then for an additional 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Best served hot.

 

**Join me on May 2012 in Italy for an all inclusive luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean. There are a few more spots left, don’t miss out. This is all inclusive luxxury cruise with absolutely everything included. Call Julie at Rosenbluth Vacations now at 1-800-257-8279

 

 

I have been receiving requests from the media asking for recipes that are unique for Thanksgiving dinner. This  dessert that comes form Siena, Italy, is an interesting cross between a rice pudding and a cake. It’s not your typical Thanksgiving day dessert but one that will make it a memorable one and this will bring Siena, Italy close to your dinner table for one day…

And if you love to cook here is a resource for finding cooking classes

Torta Alla Senese (Siena Style Cake)

excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style

½ cup (100 gr) milk

1 ½ cups (300 gr) rice

1 cup (200 gr) sugar

3 eggs

1/3 cup(70 gr) raisins

8 hazelnuts

¼ cup (50 gr) pinoli nuts

1/3 cup (70 gr) butter

1 tsp baking powder

zest of ½ lemon grated

Boil milk. Add in uncooked rice and sugar. Cook till liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and cool. Add in eggs. raisins, hazelnuts, pinoli nuts, softened butter, baking powder, grated lemon zest. Blend all together. Butter and flour an 8” cake pan, pour in batter. Bake in oven preheated to 400 F (200C) and bake for 30 minutes. Serve chilled.

For more great recipes get your copy of

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci  Style

 

 

Join me in Italy on May 3, 2012 for an exicting all inclusive luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean. A few spots remaining, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to expereince the delights of the Mediterranean, including to onboard culinary events and visits to vineyards as wel as other excitign excursions. Call Julie at Rosenbluth Vacations at 1-800-257-8279 to reserve your spot now! Hope to see you there!!

copyright 2011 Art of Living,PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

“Take pleasure in your dreams, relish your principles and drape your purest feelings on the heart of a precious lover”

Giotto

A beautiful quote from a man who was also known for creating beautiful things. However, he,apparently had a sense of humor as well. In a fresco he was commissioned to paint in the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi , a faint figure of the devil was recently found in the middle of the clouds..possibly his way of getting back at one of the Popes who commissioned that painting…

Known for creating things of beauty, however his children were known to be very plain looking. When asked by  the famous writer Bocaccio, how  he could create such beautiful paintings but such plain children..Giotto responded “ I made them(my children) in the dark”.

Torta Alla Zucca (Pumpkin Cake)

(photo credits  www.tortaalcioccolata.com)

( recipe excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style

16 ounces(500gr) pumpkin mashed

2 lbs (250 gr) peeled, shelled almonds

1 ½ cups(300 gr) flour

1 cup (200 gr) sugar

4 eggs

4 juicing oranges

1 tblsp honey

Chop almonds. Place almonds, pumpkin in bowl, add in honey, juice of oranges, egg yolks and sifted flour Blend. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites till firm and fold into pumpkin mixture. Place in buttered 12” pie pan. Bake in oven preheated to 375F (180C) degrees for 30 minutes/

If you are interested in  finding  culinary arts classes, look into online schooling

**Join me in Italy on May 3,2012 for an all inclusive 10 day luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean.  Only a few more spots left, call Julie at Rosenbluth Vacations at 1-800-257-8279

copyright 2011 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,inc/Maria Liberati(except sorbet photo)

Cranberries are here..and these health filled beautiful red berries can be used in so many ways…. to dress up a meal, to accompany a poultry dish or in a dessert. One of my favorite desserts this time of year is a (very easy to make) cranberry sorbetto (sorbet). A dish that adds a lot of color to your table but also one that brings a lot of antioxidants your way

 

(photo from:countryliving.com)

Cranberry Sorbetto

• 1 pound fresh cranberries
• 10 cups water
• 5 ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin with 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 4 egg whites

In large saucepan combine cranberries, 1 cup water, 2 cups sugar.Bring to boil and cook just until berries pop open. Cool then place in food processor to puree. Add orange and lemon juices and zests to puree. In a deep saucepan, boil 9 cups water and remaining sugar for 20 minutes over medium heat. Dissolve gelatin in small bowl with 2 tblsps cold water. Stir gelatin into hot water/sugar mixture. Add in cranberry mixture and blend together.

Pour this mixture into two flat pans. Freeze till slushy consistency, approximately 30 minutes.

Remove from freezer and place slushy mixture into lareg bowl and break up. In a bowl beat egg whites till fluffy. Fold ½ of cranberry mixture into egg whites and blend together. Then ad this into the remaining cranberry slush. Pour this back into flat pans and freeze again for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, stir. Freeze again til firm. When completely frozen, serve and//or store in containers and freeze for serving. Garnish with orange peel.

For more colorful recipes that are truly a work of art, but easy to follow…..Get your copy of the newly released The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style and follow Leonardo DaVinci’s travels to some of Italy’s most delicious regions, including recipes from those regions.What recipe did DaVinci use for The Last Supper meal? Why did he only spend a short time in Bologna and quite longer time in Venice?? Find out why and get some great easy to cook recipes Get your print copy or a Kindle edition

Join Me in Italy on May 3 2012 for an all inclusive Mediterranean cruise starting in Venice going to Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Portofino, Sicily. Tuscany, Rome, Ancona, then to Monte Carlo, Corfu. Montenegro and Dubrovnik.I ncludes a  visit a vineyard in  Sicily and I will be doing onboard cooking demos and events.Everything is included from all your food, tips ,transfers, excursions to those beautiful cities, flights to and from, even your first night will be a stay at a luxury hotel in the city of Venice Italy before we board. Only a few spots left, reserve your place now, call Julie at Rosenbluth Vacations at 1-800-257-8279 or email us at events@marialiberati.com

 

 

 

When leaving Rome, Italy, in the airport there is always a holdup with tourists trying to smuggle jars of Nutella in their carry on luggage to take home. Not sure why they just don’t wrap the stuff well and put it in their checked in bags. Americans seem to have grown fond of this Italian staple.  My last memory of Rome, as I left last week was a half hour hold up in line because someone in front of me had 10 jars of  Nutella in their carry on luggage..10 jars!!!

I can understand bringing the stuff back from Italy since, the Nutella they sell in the USA is different and not as good as the one sold in Italy..but check in your bags..please…all 10 jars were taken away from them!!not because it is contraband simply because you can not bring that type of creamy substance on the plane…

However, it is one of the few things Italians are famous for that is processed and contains a lot of unhealthy for you fats..read the label and you will discover..however if you really love the stuff..there is a healthier way to get your Nutella fix by making it yourself.. Joy Johnson , a Canadian nutritionist came up with this healthy recipe..and I agree it is yummy just like Nutella, slightly less creamy, but healthy for you.. And if you don’t have an addiction yet to this creamy, heavenly mixture..try it on toast instead of jam..this is a real wake me up..have a cup of coffee with that toast and you are in for an ultra wake me up to get your day going..the caffeine in the cocoa plus the coffee make for the perfect morning ‘cocktail’.

Let’s hear from you if you try this..we worked up a batch in my test kitchen this morning and it went in a few hours…. Besides it is easier to whip up a batch at home than try to get the stuff past customs at the airport and carry the stuff all over the Eternal City..

Homemade  Chocolate/Hazelnut Spread

Ingredients

1/4 cup hazelnut meal*
1 tbsp raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
2.5 tbsp real maple syrup
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp of organic coconut oil

Method

*Take about 1/2 cup hazelnuts and food process them until they form a fine ground meal. This makes about 1/4 cup. If you can find hazelnuts already ground, more power to you!

Combine the ground hazelnut and cacao powder in your food processor until blended completely. Add the remaining ingredients, process until combined, and enjoy!

You won’t get a smooth finish like you get with processed hazelnut spread, but it will be free of refined sugar and additives.

Spread this dish on toast, add to a smoothie, slather it on a crepe or a pancake. Just be sure to use in moderation — this is meant to be a sweet treat!

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/27/hazelnut-spread-recipe_n_927201.html

* October 2, 2PM  The Basic Art of Italian CookingaVinci Style will be released on Oct 2nd at a presentation  for the Utah Humanities Festival at the Salt Lake City Library, downtown, 2PM> For further info go to www.utahhumanities.org- Hope to see you there

 

*Join me in Italy, May 3 ,2012 for an all inclusive luxury cruise to the Mediterranean leaving from Venice and stopping at many Italian landmarks. I will be doing culinary demos and dinners onboard and will  be hosting a tour of a vineyard in Sicily while cruising. Even your flight to Venice from wherever you are is included (from a key city). For more info call Julie at Rosenbluth Travel at 1-800-257-8279

*Oct 21-23rd see you at the Suburban Home Show at Greater Philadelphia Convention Center in Oaks, Pa..Culinary demos and book singings from my latest book on Friday at 1:30, Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 and 4:30 PM.

copyright 2011 Art of Living, PrimaMedia, Inc/ Maria Liberati

To quote Cezanne. “ I will astonish Paris with an apple”

and  recently I left Rome asotnished with  apples..

 

I was pulled out of line by a a security agent when leaving from Leonardo DaVinci International Airport ( Rome)..the culprit..a jar of homemade apple butter stashed in my carry on for on the plane snacking with crackers. I couldn’t figure out why I was being searched, interrogated, pulled out of line…ahh!! …until it was all over..when I asked why ..a small homemade jar of apple butter was held up by the customs agent.

Apple Butter is one of those foods that is still not possible to find in Italy and I do miss it so when there… though I set out to make it and preserve some jars to leave and one to take back ..an apple orchard filled with apples at our country farm..delicious, organic, pesticide free apples..just in time apple season had just begun..

Apple butter pairs well with a touch of mascarpone cheese on a slice of freshly baked crusty bread from the local forno in the morning for a true country farm breakfast…

Apple Butter

*7 cups of homemade applesauce (if you really must use store bought but homemade is best)

*2 cups of apple cider

*1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp allspice

Optional: 1 ½ cups honey

You need a slow cooker or crockpot for this. Mix all the ingredients and place in the slow cooker, cover and let cook on low heat for 14 hours or until the mixture is a deep brown color. While the mixture is hot, place into 4 pint sized jars that are hot as well. Place ina hot water bath. Once the water begins to boil after adding in the jars ,time for 10 minutes and remove jars. Cool jars upside down

t http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release-service/235980

See you at the Utah Humanities festival on October 2nd in Salt Lake City Utah

Join me in Italy in May 2012 on my all inclusive   luxury Mediterranean cruise