Life here in this ‘ little  town’ never fails to  keep me entertained .. from  the town priest that is an Elvis impersonator   ..to the dogs that insist on taking their walks in the piazza  at night just like everyone else does before and after dinner..

I never understood why our dog began to escape from our fenced yard at about 7 PM at night…”she likes to see people and friends in the piazza too” I was told ..that is why she insists on taking her own walk there at night if no one walks her.. I guess that makes sense… a dog in Italy wanting to meet friends also in the piazza at night.

It is a beautiful tradition…a walk in the piazza at night before dinner or after dinner.. a way to take a walk see friends ..and just relax….and you never know what you might find..an Elvis Presley concert by the town priest that is an Elvis Impersonator (and he does quite a good impression) ..a procession..a fashion show..a beauty pageant..or just people meeting and talking..dogs.. and children playing soccer …or riding their bikes..

After a spin around the piazza it’s time to go home and enjoy dinner and a light dessert..

Apricot Mousse with Chocolate Crumble

For Apricot Mousse:

* 2 lbs of fresh apricots-washed, cut in half with pit removed

*3 tblsps sugar

*3 tblsps butter (unsalted)

For crumble:

* 1-16 oz chocolate bar (containing at least 60%  cocoa)

*Almonds-3 ounces-peeled ,chopped

*3 tblsps butter (unsalted)

*4 tblsps flour

*3 tblsps brown sugar

*1 tablespoon powdered unsweetened cocoa

For Cream: Place halved apricots in a pan with sugar and butter, cook for 10 minutes over low to medium heat or until the apricots have lightly caramelized. Remove from heat, place in food processor till creamy.

For crumble:

Place butter on bowl until room temperature and softened. Place in flour, almonds,sugar, powdered cocoa. Blend together. Grate chocolate bar and mix in. Place in refrigerator till mixture has a firm  consistency. Remove from refrigerator and grate dough (using cheese grater with larger holes). Grate onto a piece of baking paper placed on a cookie sheet.

Preheat oven for 300 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, separate crumbles gently with fork or fingers. Let cool.

Divide apricot cream into 4 glasses and top with chocolate crumble,garnish with mint leaves and serve.

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

Be  A Guest Writer..do you havea Holiday story related t oa food memory you would like to share with our readers. In honor of the release of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition, whcihc is a celebration of recipes and food memories of Holidays & Special Occasions-we invite reders to share their favorite Holiday food memory. Stories should be 300-500 words, and emailed to sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

Each week from Sept 1 to Jan 1st one story per week will be slected and published on The Basic Art of Italian Cooking BLOG. Stories may be considered for an upcoming national publication also. Look forward to seeing your stories by Sept 30th.Email stories to: sharethejoy@marialiberati.com

Upcoming Appearances:Sept 10,11 at Hudson Valley Wine Fest,Rhinebeck, NY, Dutchess County Fairgrounds.maria Liberati & The Basic Art of Italian Cooking will be taking center stage from 12-1 PM both days with recipes, stories from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

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

Excitement is in the air here in anticipation of August the 15th…the beach resembles a large restaurant in the open with long tables set up everywhere and families and friends enjoying meals of large pizzas,fresh slices of watermelon and bottles of wine and Brachetto (A sparkling red wine) overflowing…the beach has become a piazza by the sea where people now linger from morning till sunset with food, friends, family..while the sounds of the sea keep the atmosphere relaxed..

I am keeping it cool and fresh…and in the morning..before getting to the beach, finding my local produce and creating recipes to use and share on the beach.. to use the fresh, local produce ..while it is still fresh and local..

Baked Fruit Kebabs with Gelato

4 tablespoons brown sugar

dash of freshly ground black pepper

small handful of fresh mint

4 apricots

4 fresh peaches

4 fresh strawberries

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pineapple in uneven rectangular shapes.  Peel peach and remove pit. Cut peach into quarters. Remove pit from apricots and cut in half, Hull strawberries, cut in half. Alternate fruit slices on four fruit sticks. After arranging fruit on them, place sticks on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper.

In a bowl place brown sugar and, finely chopped mint leaves and a dash of black pepper. Mix with wooden spoon.  Sprinkle on fruit sticks and place in preheated oven for approximately 7 minutes.. Remove from oven, place each fruit stick on a single plate accompanied by a scoop of gelato and a fresh mint leaf for decoration

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

It pays to listen to gossip and conversation in the town piazza at night..some more than others..from overheard conversations last night was a variety of talk about family riffs going on..to the latest couple breaking up in town because of a cheating husband and those disagreeing on whether the wife should forgive and take him back..and then the most useful piece of gossip was overheard at midnight a woman speaking in detail about the fresh parsley in her garden this year and how she used it to flavor roasted potatoes instead of Rosemary (which is the usual here) and how delicious they were..of course she mentioned how her husband did not like Rosemary much so she decided to substitute, This was my favorite piece of gossip and the only one I care to remember in detail…I knew I would eventually hear something of true interest!

Today’s lunch will be a variety of roasted vegetables including roasted potatoes with parsley and locally produced fresh mozzarella..the bread from our local baker or ‘forno’..it is bread made from potatoes..a specialty of this region where potatoes are cultivated..I guess we could think of this area as the Idaho of Italy. Potatoes from the Fucino valley are known throughout and even the headquarters of Micron for Italy (also in Idaho) is located here

Roasted Parsley Potatoes

1 lb of peeled potatoes

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 handful chopped parsley leaves

Boil potatoes for 5 minutes. Peel. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil on bottom of pan. Cut potatoes into quarters, place in pan. Drizzle remaining olive oil on top. Sprinkle on chopped fresh parsley. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees ,then place under broil for 2 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with a chilled white wine-Trebbiano D’Abruzzo

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

Visit OpenSky

Sept 9-12 Rhinebeck, NY, see you at Hudson Valley Wine Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds. I will be bringing the Basic Art of Italian Cooking on stage with recipes and stories from the book series and book signing event will be held all weekend. For more info or to sponsor the on stage cooking demos email: Info@marialiberati.com

Oct 29-30-Philadelphia Gourmet Food & Wine Show , Valley Forge, Pa. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking will take center stage throughout the event and book signing swill be held throughout the show. For more info or to sponsor on stage demos contact: info@marialiberati.com

copyright 2010, Maria Liberati

And so goes the summer..almost..one month left to summer..don’t let it pass you by without taking advantage of something ‘summery’..eat an ice cream or a gelato outside…al fresco…at the beach..taking a stroll..on the boardwalk…sightseeing..just relaxing..anyway to really enjoy that gelato/ice cream

I am getting ready to do our evening ‘passeggiata’ in the piazza with some friends and enjoy my first gelato for summer 2010..can’t believe I have almost let summer pass me by without taking time to do that.

Does anyone have a favorite gelato or ice cream place anywhere in the world they can share.. In Rome, one of my favorite coffee bars for artisan gelato is Giolitti. In the seaside resort of Pescara my favorite gelato place is out of the center and not very ‘touristy’ but it is delicious and will have you dreaming about it for many days after. It is simply called Bar Bologna-if you want to go there, just send me an email and I will tell you exact address.

Does anyone know of any homemade ice cream places anywhere? We all would love to know …

copyright 2010 Maria Liberati

Evenings here always include a walk in the piazza to chat with old friends, make new ones, catch up on town gossip, and share recipes. The best excuse to take a walk after dinner….going to the piazza. Last night, besides some fluff type conversation of ‘how are you doing?” and “how is the family?” we also caught up with an old friend of ours that runs a local trattoria and also has a small farm that produces many of the vegetables served there. He bragged about his  eggplant (melanzane) this year  and he shared a recipe for a specialty dish they are serving at the trattoria in honor of his successful crop of eggplants.

But even better yet, since I had such a ‘voglio’ to make this dish  for today’s lunch….this morning I was gifted with 3 fresh eggplants from Mario’s small farm…and am feverishly working on the recipe now….serve with a glass of Montepulciano D’Abruzzo and eat al fresco (if possible).

(So glad we went to the piazza last night!)  Please write and let me know if you get to try this easy recipe!

Pennette Alla Melanzane (Small Penne Pasta with Eggplant)

1 lb of pennette (small penne pasta)

1 lb of fresh eggplant-washed and cut into cubes

1 lb fresh plum tomatoes

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion-finely chopped

‘1 tsp of capers

1/4 cup black olives ,pitted and chopped

handful fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

Place pennete in a pot of boiling water and cook for time indicated on package-till al dente.

Place olive oil in saute pan, place in chopped onion, saute till just before golden, place in cubed eggplant, diced tomatoes, add in pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Saute for 5 minutes ,add in chopped black olives and capers. Saute for 15 minutes over low heat ,covered.  Uncover and stir with wooden spoon every 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from heat, place in drained pasta toss. Serve hot ,cold or warm with a sprinkling of chopped fresh basil leaves.

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

Looking for Guest writers to Share the Joy. Do you have a favorite food memory of a Holiday you would like to share with our readers? Stories are being selected now  for publication

Visit me at OpenSky

Sept 9-12 –see you at  Hudson Valley Wine Festival in Rhinebeck, NY.  Join me for onstage demos of recipes from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking series.  For more info or for sponsorship info email: info@marialiberati.com

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

January 31st has now been designated as “Le Arance della Salute in Piazza” (or loosely translated the healthy oranges in the square) Day by the AIRC or the Italian Association for Cancer Research.  Research has proven that this luscious gems provide a lot of strong antioxidants which have been found to help to prevent the formation of tumors..

So on January 31st many of the Piazze around Italy (2500 to be exact) will  have tables set up with volunteers  selling  bags of the oranges and proceeds go to cancer research in Italy.What a delicious way to help a great cause…

If you have never tasted a blood orange from Sicily you are really missing out on one of life’s wonders. They are worth a trip to Italy just to taste them or savor freshly squeezed juice..nothing like it…it is like eating orange candy..so sweet..and now is the season..

 I remember the first few times I had breakfast in a coffee bar here and began seeing the barristas squeezing thes oranges for fresh orange juice during the seaason. I decided to try a ‘spremuta’ (fresh juice) myself one day and became hooked. When assembling The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Kitchen here in Italy-that was one of our first appliances- a stainless steel  orange  juice squeezer..so that we could use the fresh juice in many recipes.

Everyone seems to be praising them and their virtues…

Here is a recipe to try, if you can’t get the blood oranges of Sicily-  navel oranges should do..

Braised lettuce with Oranges

For 4 people

1 head of romaine lettuce (1 pound)

1 can of chick peas

1 tblsp of extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

pinch of red hot pepper

4 fresh oranges

fresh coriander

salt and pepper to taste

Peel oranges and cut or break into sections or slices. Keep the juice that comes out of the oranges while cutting, in a glass.

Wash ,dry and chop the lettuce. Place 1/2 tblsp olive oil in saute pan, heat, place in chopped lettuce, pinch of salt,  2 cloves  of garlic and pinch of hot red pepper. Place chick peas in food processor with 1 tsp of olive oil, pinch of salt ,reserved orange juice and blend into a cream. Place cream on a flat dish.

Top with braised lettuce and top with orange slices, coriander leaves, drizzle with remaining olive oil adn a pinch of freshly ground black pepper.

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

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Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria