Holiday Decorations began coming down, today, at the country house.. the 6th of  January is the official end of the Holidays here…our tree was ‘stripped’ of its’ tinsel and home made garland..but it is being planted outside  so it will be close by….

What to  do  after the Holidays..see more friends that you were not able to catch up with during the Holidays…for light cocktails and Finger food at home… a nice, relaxing way to have a get -together..a welcome change after those elaborate Holiday meals.

My organic rosemary is still growing heartily in our giardino (even in January) and the country house was decorated today with bouquets of fresh rosemary and lavender from our bushes and the caminetto (fireplace) filled with logs..an elegant but simple way to fragrance and decorate.. Tonight’s cocktails will be non-alcoholic.. it is so flavorful you won’t even notice…here’s one that is exceptionally healthy..

Mango Passion

*3 tsps of assam tea or 3 teabags of black tea

*1 mango (about 1 lb)

*2 bananas (1/4 lb)

*16 ounces unsweeetened pineapple juice

*crushed ice

Bring to almost boiling-2 cups water. When almost boiling place in tea bags or loose tea in filter. Cover and let cool. Squeeze out the tea bags or remove filter. Place tea in refrigerator.

Peel mango, cut 4 small pieces from whole mango and set aside.  Place remaining pulp of mango, banana, pineapple juice, tea  in a food processor, blend. Divide int o4 tall glasses, place in crushed ice and garnish with mango slices.

Finger foods are in ‘fashion’ here in Italy! If you want to invite over a lot of guest but don’t have time to prepared different courses, ask each  guest to bring a finger food of their choice….makes a great casual buffet or supper.

Bruschetta  di Pollo & Curry ( Bruschetta with Chicken & Curry)

*1 lb chicken cutlets-boneless ,skinned

*1-2 tsps curry

*pinch of salt

*pinch of pepper

*juice of 1/2 lime

*2 tsps olive oil

*3/4 cup whipping cream

*2 ounces Cream or farmer’s cheese-lite or regular

*30 crostini or round crackers or melba toasts or bruschetta slices

*handful of fresh basil leaves

Wash chicken filets, dry.  Cut into small cubes. Place cubes in a bowl and add in curry, salt and pepper, lime juice and let marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Place oil in saute pan and palce in chicken,  fry for 5 minutes or until golden brown, constantly stirring. Remove from heat, let cool.  In another bowl, place   in softened  cream cheese and cream and mix till well blended. Add in chicken. Place mixture on toast or crackers and garnish with finely chopped basil. Serve.

For more recipes get your copy of the Award Winning Book selected as the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards- The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

copyright 2009, art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc and Maria Liberati

Hope you enjoy our continuing posting of  yummy Holiday recipes. Share your favorite Holiday recipe with us here or email to us at editor@marialiberati.com

 Here is the perfect main course for one of your Holiday meals, thanks to Fred Cohen of J & A Culinary Arts School in Philadelphia, the recipes use   Sempre Sapori-Tuscan Picnic  Spice Blend,all natural spices with Tuscan flavors, that  I developed in Tuscany, you can still get them for the Holidays here    and enjoy our Holiday Gift Guide, products that were selected by our staff for their exceptional artisan quality and for the experience  they provide consumers. Find a special coupon offer for the open sky store on the last page!

Holiday Gift Guide 2009

Tuscan Roasted Chicken with Savory Herb Bread Pudding and Buttered Cauliflower

*Bread Pudding*:
Serves 6:
One large crusty loaf bread (crust removed)
1 t Sage leaves chiffonade
1 T chopped parsley
2 t chopped chive
1 egg yolk
3 oz chicken stock
1 oz heavy cream
1-2 oz milk
2 t Tuscan spice mix

*Tuscan Spiced Chicken*:
2 Cornish Hens, halved, serves  2 – 4:
2 oz butter
1 T Tuscan Spice Blend

*Procedure*:
-Remove the crust from the bread and cut into small dice. Place into a deep
dish container. Combine remaining ingredients to form a creamy batter. If
batter seems too thick, thin it down with a little bit of water, stock, or
milk to reach a creamy but not heavy consistency. Place mixture over the
bread and mix well. Allow to soak for 1 – 2 hours.
-In the mean time, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
-Create a compound butter by mixing the spice mixture into raw butter. Smear
the mixture over and under the skin of the Cornish hens.
-Place the chicken onto a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 35 – 40
minutes.
-Pack the bread pudding into ramekins that have been lightly sprayed and
bake for 20 – 30 minutes, depending on how brown you want it to be.
-To plate, take the bread pudding out of the ramekin and center it in the
middle of the plate. Lay the chicken on the side and on the opposite side,
lay some buttered cauliflower. Drizzle some parsley oil (or any oil of your
choosing) onto the side of the plate.

UPCOMING EVENTS

See you on Saturday December 12th in Somerset NJ at the Franklin Township library at 2 PM.. Cooking demo and book signing will feature my latest relaese The Basic Art of  Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions- winner of The Best Italian Cuisine Book of 2009 from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati

Editor: Erin Kuhns

Do you ever contemplate the perfect combination for a bouquet of flowers? Simple sunflowers with a few sprigs of baby’s breath add a spot of sunshine to even the dreariest room. A collection of lavender, daisies and poppies will certainly liven up your dinner table. But have you considered a bouquet of fresh thyme, rosemary and Italian parsley?

Another type of bouquet is a bouquet garni: gather a variety of fresh herbs together and instead of standing them in Grandma’s favorite vase, fasten them together with a string and plunge them into your next pot of soup. That’s right—you drown them.

A bouquet garni is a unique way of flavouring your favorite soups, stews or hot drinks. It works particularly well when your creation is one that demands the flavours of fresh herbs and spices without the small bits swimming around. Traditionally, a bouquet garni is fashioned out of fresh parsley, thyme and a bay leaf. But the real beauty of a bouquet garni is that you can be as creative as you wish when putting one together.

There are two popular ways to create a bouquet garni: tie a string around the stems, steep the herbs in your pot and tie the other end of the string to the pot’s handle; or bundle your herbs in a piece of cheesecloth—you could add garlic and peppercorns, too—and pop it into your creation. Either way, the essence of the herbs seeps into your dish while it simmers.

Some ideas for bouguet garni:

Chicken soup: Parsley, lovage & basil

Beef consommé: Basil, thyme, savory & Italian parsley

Hot apple cider: Cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, orange peel & whole cloves

The combinations of herbs you can use in a bouquet garni are endless! There are no set rules to creating a bouquet garni so have fun inventing your own concoctions. And when it is serving time, complement your table with a beautiful spread of flowers—propped up in Grandma’s favorite vase, of course—and your meal will be complete.

Get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

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

 After our cooking program in a little town called Baschi, right outside of Orvieto (more on that tomorrow) and meeting with my good friends there Domenico and Paola at Borgo le Fontanile and Velia & Gianluca at La Champagnerie in Orvieto we headed for the Autostrada to continue our visit in Umbria..We headed in the direction of  Todi- to  a nearby little village called Sismano. A ‘piccolo paese’ of only 300 residents. Most of the land is still owned by a Contessa. part of the town is a beautiful natural reserve that has been preserved for truffles and hunting. Some of the old buildings are being renovated into private villas.

 As I was there to visit a friend of mine Susan Evans at her villa- La Veranda, once owned by an Italian Contessa. Susan is an American who fell in love with the beautiful scenery of Umbria. She is the real life version of the ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ story of finding an old building and renovating it into a beautiful villa.

Needless to say my stay at La Veranda this weekend was wonderful…we  could only visitifor 2 days but they were filled with everything possible..cooking in the beautiful kitchen at La Veranda to relaxing outside and taking in the view of the Umbrian Hills on a warm January day to a walking tour of a natural reserve and a  view of wild cinghiale (boars)  to a tour of the castello of Sismano and its’ renovation  and getting a taste of local foods.

But my visit was also to map out the site of The Basic Art of Italian by Maria Liberati tm Cooking school.  La Veranda not only has a large open kitchen for the cooking classes but also a wood burning oven outside in the courtyard  perfect for cooking pizza, chicken, bread.  The setting is perfect for giving anyone an experience of eating outdoors in Umbria at night or under the Umbrian sun for an afternoon picnic.

The villa is a perfect way to experience living in a true Italian villa and getting the full experience of the beauty of not only cooking Italian food but eating at  home (and a beautiful one I might add)..

Our last lunch was held at on Osteria de la Posta..that was opened by a former postman (hence the name  ’de la posta’) that loved to cook. But while waiting for our lunch we were entertained with some history about the ‘Osterie de le Poste’ that were once typical places to be found throughout Italy. They were places that you would travel to in horse and carriage- to get your mail, send your mail and also get feed and water for your horses but also stop to have a meal. And sometimes ,yes, the mailman might also have been your chef…

Umbria is famous for Tartufi (truffles) my favorite dish this weekend there  was a plate of Fettucini al Tartufi.  This recipe is sometimes made with a pasta that is traditional to Umbria (known as Strangozzi) because there is an Umbrian legend connected to it.

Legend has it that during medieval times, in a castle in a town called Pissignano, the conqueror Barbarossa was there because he was planning to destroy Umbria. But legend has it that the cook in the castle served Barbarossa a plate of Strangozzi al Tartufo so good that it convinced him not to destroy Umbria (or something like that)…

Here is the recipe, but if you can’t find trufffles- use a drizzle of truffle oil to add some truffle flavor..

Fettucini al Tartufo

*1 lb of fresh fettucine pasta

*1 black truffle-(finely chopped)

*3 tblsps olive oil

* 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

*1 clove garlic (whole)

Place extra  virgin olive oil in a saucepan and heat, place in cloves of garlic. Saute garlic till just about golden. Remove garlic. Place in chopped truffles and let saute for approx 3 minutes. Remove  from heat. Toss in cooked pasta. Serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

And for a perfect accompaniment-serve with Orvieto Classico white wine.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria

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