Mixing Food  Politics..today ,Thursday and Friday there is a G8 summit happening in Abruzzo  ..specifically in L’Aquila the city that suffered  the powerful earthquake this past April.

Word is that Obama was so cusious to know what the Guerriero di Capestrano is that the Premier of Italy-Silvio Berlusconi took the statue from it’s home in Capestrano to a place in L’Aquila. The Guerriero (warrior) of Capestrano dates back to many years before Christ and also symbolizes Abruzzo and it’s strength it put up agains the mighty ancient Romans.

Also interesting to note is the invention by a ‘fornaio’ or baker named Mimmo  in L’Aquila of the G8 Pizza.- especially for the G8 summit of World Leaders. So what makes the G8 pizza-a topping of alll the specialties of Abruzzo- potatoes, zuchini, peppers, pepper and extra virgin olive oil from L’Aquila

Here’s a photo of the G8 Pizza http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Cronaca/?id=3.0.3508371115

See you tomorrow at Whole Foods, Jenkintown at 6:15 PM for the Outdoor Kitchen cooking class.

July 16th at Whole Foods, Annapolis

July 18th at Whole Foods, Fairfax Virginia for a Tuscan Picnic, and wine pairing

July 31-August 2nd Atlantic City food and wine festival

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

 copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

Editor: Erin Kuhns

Easter Sunday is usually a never ending meal, like all holiday meals in Italy. This
year in Abruzzo, still stunned by the earthquake the week before, families managed
to pull together whatever they could. All whilst knowing that the aftershocks could
hit at any moment.   Unless you were in the city of L’Aquila the aftershocks
(luckily) did no physical damage  and were just constant reminders of the
devastation they caused to the beautiful historic city of L’Aquila.

But fear is an awful thing and unfortunately occupied the minds of everyone during
Easter dinner.

While usual Easter dinner banter is about what everyone is doing for “Pasquetta”
(Easter Monday holiday), conversation was filled with ‘what were you doing when the
quake struck?” and all the precautions to take for the coming week..just in case..

Pasquetta plans were curtailed. While this is one of Italy’s biggest Holidays that
marks the start of Spring and people usually to take to the mountains, the sea or go
for a picnic..most in Abruzzoo stayed close to home Most took ‘staycations’ at home.
Automobiles parked outside in the open fields  dotted the landscape.. automobiles in
an open field can provide a safe refuge in case of an earthquake.

Through it all,  the meal began with a Holiday lasagna, traditional easter lamb and
Pizza di Pasqua (Easter bread made with candied fruits and a light touch of
cinnamon) and dark chocolate easter eggs.

To start off the meal, an aperitif -the Rossini cocktail..yes that is Rossini… as
in Giacomo Rossini-the famous composer.   Of course..how could you begin a meal with
a Rossini cocktail without breaking into songs from The Barber of Seville…. at
least those of us that are ‘opera diva wanna be’s'….  could only hum the William
Tell Overture… but at least a fun way to lighten up the conversation… . Here’s
the recipe .

(Keep the city of L’Aquila in your thoughts and prayers, I will be posting more info
on how you can help and the rebuilding of this art filled city in near future posts)
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 or
Champagne. Serve this cocktail in a fluted glass and you will have an elegant and
refreshing drink.
 
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 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)
*Wine Pairing Dinner-Join me on May 6th for a wine pairing dinner at Country Creek
Winery in Montgomery County,Pa. I will be preparing an authentic Italian sampler
dinner, 4 courses, and pairing it with 4 of their wines. Reservations required and
spots are limited. Call the winery at 215-723-6516 or email at
events@marialiberati.com for info
*May 11th- 7PM I will be bringing The Basic Art of Italian Cooking School from Italy
to  Whole Foods, on Pennsylvania Avenue in Philadelphia, Pa We will be doign a
sampler picnic in Tuscany-recipes from the best selling book The Basic Art of
Italian Cooking and cooking school in Italy. To reserve your spot email us at
events@marialiberati.com
Get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at
http://www.marialiberati.com
Join me in Italy at The Basic Art of Italian Cooking School and Experience Italy at
our villa in Umbria/Tuscany on Sept 23-Oct 6th. Spaces limited. Includes all cooking
classes, your stay at the villa, all meals, excursions and transport to and from
airport. Limited to only 12 participants. Call 1-800-581-9020 to reserve your spot
or email: events@marialiberati.com 
For more recipes and articles
Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,
MariaLink to the post: http://marialiberati.com/blog2/?p=594Link to Maria Liberati:
http://marialiberati.com/blog2

 copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati

As  I was thinking back to almost 3 weeks ago, and the wedding celebration I attended in the beautiful, medieval city of L’Aquila, my mind became filled with all sorts of flavors. Besides the beautiful occasion, the sights and tastes of the sumptuous banquet make for unforgettable memories.The wedding was held in one of the 99 churches that populates the city. The reception at a small farm with hotel and banquet hall on the top of a hill. The view down to the city was just as memorable as the food.

The meal began outside with 2 large tables filled with any appetizer you can imagine and more, the Prosecco  was overflowing. You can imagine our surprise when a waiter  announced that we would need to go inside and sit at our assigned seats for dinner.(wasn’t this 25 course buffet table our dinner??).

Inside we found place cards at our seats listing the courses for this 8 course dinner to come.  All of a sudden, when we began to eat this magnificent dinner made up of all the local flavors, nothing seemed to have any importance but the flavors that seemed to attach themselves to my memory forever, flavors that are memories that still linger on.

The  friends and  family sitting around me seemed to have disappeared and the food commanded all of my attention to savor each and every morsel..

One of my favorite dishes  was the antipasto, the opening act to this ‘cena’:

Crespelle con funghi porcini  served with  a saffron vellutata’ (velvety) sauce. The saffron is locally produced in that area.  Crespelle is the Italian version of the French crepe.  The  crepes were made into delicate, little pouches filled with this incredible beschamel sauce.

The recipe and the memory are yours to share:

The pouch is made of a crepe (crespelle):
1 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon melted butter

Heat small crepe pan and when hot enough pour 1/4 cup batter onto pan, coat pan with batter, when cooked on one side ,turn over and cook on other side. Set crepes aside on plate, stacking them on top of each other putting a piece of towel paper in between each one.

For filling, a type of beschamel sauce:
1 -2 ounce package of  dried funghi porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1/2 cup warm water for 15 minutes.

1 cup milk

2 tblsps flour

2 tbsps butter

pinch of salt

1 tblsp parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Place butter in saucepan and melt. Quickly remove from heat. Sift  flour into the butter , a little at a time, mixing in well with wooden spoon or whisk. When well blended, whisk in milk. Place over heat and add in mushrooms and their liquid, then parmigiano-reggiano cheese.  Stir mixture continuously till it becomes a thick sauce, remove from heat.

When beschamel sauce is cool, take a flat plate, oen ata time, place crepe on plate and place 2 tblsps of mushroom sauce in center of crepe. Gather ends of crepe and tie like a puc hwitha long strand of fresh parsley. Repeat using all ingredients.

Place finished  pouches on baking sheet and place under broiler for 2-3 minutes, just until top becomes golden.

Vellutata Sauce:
1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

3 cups vegetable broth

pinch salt

pouch of saffron

Place butter in sauce pan and melt, then add in flour a little at a time whisking or stirring wiht wooden spoon till well blended.  Whisk in cold vegetable broth, a cup at time. When well belnded add in next cup, then repeat. When al lbroth has bee nadded in, continue stirring till liquid is consistency of a light sauce. Whisk in saffron quicly and remove from heat. Serve on side of pouches.
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 fritte miste              San Silvestro 

Weddings in Italy..you can only think of one thing when you hear those words-’never ending food’ or endless buffet, and this was no exception… 

This past weekend I had the ’uber’ pleasure of attending the wedding of a prominent person from our little town here. But the wedding was held in one of the 99 churches of the city of L’Aquila. Imagine, the center  of this city that dates back to the 800′s contains 99 churches. The church we went to was San Silvestro, it was constructed in 1350 and has many frescoes that decorate the walls as well as contains many famous works of art. The wedding ceremony was a long one, as usual. But I just kept thinking about the wonderful 8 hour meal we were going to partake of  once the ceremony was over.

And the meal was a long one- but well worth the wait. The reception was at an agriturismo in L’Aquila called Casa Signorile and they produce eveything in house . The event began with a huge buffet outside that contained everything one could imagine from fresh parmigiano-reggiano cheese to smoked salmon to bruschetta, to fritte miste being made right before your eyes. For wines,paired perfectly were the Trebbiano D’Abruzzo  and Prosecco- to  overflowing.

The buffet seemed never ending and as we all thought the dessert was ready to be served, we were told to go inside and sit at our assigned tables for the dinner. Dinner? what..I thought we just ate dinner. But no that was our appetizer we were told. The dinner was a five course one:

*Fagottini di porcini mushrooms served with a vellutato sauce made with the saffro nproduced locally in the nearby town of Navelli

*Fettucini with melanzane and vongole

*Oven baked rombo (type of fish) with fresh steamed cozze (mussels)

*lemon sorbetto (to clean the palate)

*Porchetta (a typical pork dish made with a lot of spices)

*Oven Baked Potatoes

*Salad

All served with a locally produced heirloom wine-Pecorino

Then it was outside to the dessert buffet tables. Fresh fruits, exotic fruits, sliced watermelon, tiramisu, Italian cream cake, apple pies, creme caramel, panna cotta, meringue and the torte nuziale (wedding cake).

Espresso to finish..

Oh, I think I am losing count… it is not 5 courses but 10 and counting.

I am too full for any more food talk but I will be posting the recipe for the wonderful fritte miste I had at the wedding reception  in the next few days and may I say it was  Buonissimo!!! Stay tuned..