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

“We do not remember days, we remember moments” once said Cesare Pavese-Italian author/novelist…

so create a special moment for Father’s Day..a meal ..a brunch  together..a picnic..a meal…time together ..created by you…create a moment to remember.

Ingredients for a Happy Father’s Day:
A recipe that uses local and in season ingredients

Your Dad or someone that is a Father figure to you

Time spent together… accompanied by great food, friends and family..

Strawberries are at their sweetest..try this dish accompanied by a Prosecco or Spumante:

Risotto alla Fragole (risotto with strawberries)

4 cups vegetable broth

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 leeks chopped finely

1 cup arborio or carnaroli rice

1 tablespoon butter (unsalted)

pinch of salt

1 cup Prosecco, Spumante or dry white wine

10 ounces fresh strawberries, washed and cut in half

Heat vegetable broth till boiling. Place olive oil in large saute pan. Place in chopped leeks and saute till leeks are just about golden. Place in rice and toast till rice is coated with oil and all liquid is evaporated. Add in wine or Prosecco. Stir till all liquid is evaporated. Place in ½ cup of vegetable broth and stir till all liquid is evaporated and repeat placing in ½ cup liquid til evaporated till rice is al dente (approximately 15 minutes).

Puree strawberries. When rice is almost done, place in strawberry puree. Stir in well. Remove from heat. Let stand for 2 minutes. Place 1 tablespon of butter on top and stir till melted. Serve ,top with grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese. Decorate plates with strawberry garnish.

Happy Father’s Day!

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

Hope to see you at the Hudson Valley Wine Festival in Rhinebeck, NY on Sept 9-12 at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds. As one of the selected  Celebrity Chefs for the event , I will be  on stage cooking demos of recipes from my latest book with some great wines from the event. For more info, or for sponsorship info email: info@marialiberati.com

Maria

www.marialiberati.com

where food meets art ,travel and life!

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

 A special thank you to everyone that braved the rain on Sunday and came to my appearance at the Great Grapes Event in Annapolis Maryland on Sunday, May 3rd.  The pasta dishes I made were especially for the Spring Season and as promised here are some suggestions for great whie wines to go with them  us for a wine pairing dinner on Wednesday, May 6th 

 Wednesday, May 6th, 7 PM- if you are in the Philadelphia area join me at Country Creek Winery in Telford, Pa. I will be making a 4 course authentic Italian sampler dinner and pairing it with 4 of their wines. Starting with crostini and Tuscan style bruschetta to risotto to chicken and a dessert course., all paired with reds and whites made there. A few places still left call 215-723-6516 to reserve your spot now

The Italians owe thanks to the Greeks, because if it weren’t for them, Italy probably wouldn’t have the luscious and ever-popular wines that it boasts today. When the Greeks settled in Italy centuries ago, they came bearing gifts of vines, hence the saying “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”. Today Italy is one of the top-producing wine countries and we should especially make note of the fabulous white wines that grow from the Italian soil. In addition to thanking the Greeks, much credit is due to the conducive climate and geography of Italy. The Appenine Mountains run through Italy and the beautiful hot Mediterannean conditions at the bottom as well as the colder climate towards the Alps foster the production of the various grapes. There are 17 different white grape varieties in Italy which equate to dozens of different wines to enjoy.

Perhaps the most commonly used white wine variety in Italy is a blank wine known as Trebbiano. Trebbiano is one of the most-planted grapes in the world perhaps because of the fact that the grapes can be grown so close together, in turn producing many of them. In other words, more wine for your buck! Some of the well-known varieties to Americans are Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. Pinot Grigio has had much success commercially since the 1970s even though it has been around for centuries in North-Eastern Italy. The Chardonnay in Italy is a bit leaner and crisper than the Chardonnay most of us are accustomed to, and has also been more popular in recent years.

Some lesser-known wines in Italy are often those specific to particular locations. On the Adriatic Coast, they are known for their Verdicchio. This lovely green-yellow tinted white wine holds delicate lemon and sea air aromas reminiscent of coastal Italy. Vernaccia, typically found in Tuscany and Sardinia, has a high acidity and is usually a dry, un-oaked wine. Vernaccia dates back to the 13th century, hence its name which is rooted to the Latin word vernaculus which means “native”. Tocai Friulano is usually light to medium bodied and has a crisp acidity to it but can also be seen as fuller-bodied jug wines.

These are some of the highlights of the fabulous white wines that Italy’s various regions have to offer. Stemming from the 17 types of , there ,are so many options to satisfy any Spring meal.

Join me at The Basic Art of Italian Cooking School in Italy

For More Recipes & Articles

June 4th-Join The Basic Art of Italian Cooking school for a Tuscan  Picnic cooking class at Foster’s Gourmet Hosuewares in Philadelphia. Call 215-923-0950 to register. $55 includes lesson and Tuscan picnic sampler dinner-4 courses.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

http://twitter.com/marialiberati

Italy has  always been considered the land of wine and rightly so. It was the Romans who further perfected wine for their use as a military strategy..great concept..no guns no ammunition….just use wine to conquer them.

Wine is so important and the perfecgt accompaniment to a great Italian meal. We have been including more and more wine pairings  in The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm Cooking Programs and visiting and tasting many wines here I wanted to post some interesting tips on wine and serving wines.

When you seeve more than one wine with a meal, since many of us today pair wines with each course of a meal, here is the correct progression form first to last wine:
The corrrect procedure is  so that the wine before the next wine does not over power its’ predecessor.

*Serve new wines before aged wines

*If you are serving both light and robust wines, start out with light ones and gradually progress to more robust wines

*If you are serving dry and sweet wines begin with the dry wines and progress to sweet ones

*If you are serving aromatic wines begin with least aromatic and end with most aromatic

*If you are serving white, rose and red wines begin with white then progress to rose then finish with reds

More on wines in my next posts..

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