Archive for the ‘food’ Category
italy’s government falls…again
Last night Prime Minister, er Former Prime Minister, Romano Prodi lost a confidence vote in Italy’s Senate after he had easily won in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house. You can read details about what happened here and read my friend Paola’s take (with which I happen to agree) on the whole thing here (in English).
FYI, the lead-up to the vote included spitting, fainting, and one senator being taken out on a stretcher. And yes, those are Prodi’s oh-so-mature opponents popping the bubbly just after the results were announced in the above photo. They were actually scolded on live television by Senate President Franco Marini who told them to put away the bottle as “We’re not in an osteria.”
So what does this mean? Well we could be looking at either an interim caretaker government (which just might be led by . . . Prodi) *or* a so-called snap election.
Because goodness knows what Italy needs is more elections. It’ll be up to President Giorgio Napolitano to decide.
As Eric Reguly notes in this article, this turn of events opens the door for the return of Silvio Berlusconi, Former Prime Minister, billionaire, controller of a large chunk of Italian media, and, in some political circles, the Anti-Christ, as the leader of the Bel Paese.
On a personal note, this could also mean that I’d get to vote for two countries’ leaders in one year.
Still, I’d prefer the interim government to give President Napolitano a bit of time to fix the electoral system so that fewer parties would be able to spit (literally as it turns out) and fight for control in Parliament. The last election put 40 different parties in there, which turned into a lot of power struggles, strange bed fellows, repeated confidence votes, and general chaos.
Ah, and a fallen government.
Kinda feels like déjà vu all over again, doesn’t it?
The last time Italy’s government fell eleven months ago, I posted this and suggested we all turn to alcoholic children’s snacks to ease our pain.
But I say we up the ante.
I hear that Hershey’s is making some mints whose packages resemble street packets of cocaine–although not for too much longer, so hurry and grab yours today! Talk about an Ice Breaker!
Click here for a photo on the off-chance that you, too, had no idea what a mint that resembles a street packet of cocaine might look like.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Buon weekend a tutti!
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[tags]italy, italian government, romano prodi, silvio berulsconi, confidence vote, giorgio napolitano, politics, hershey’s, icebreakers[/tags]
Blood Oranges: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
Wondering what blood oranges are, why you should eat them, where they grow, what they taste like, and where to find them? You’ve come to the right place.
Read on...what’s cooking wednesday: roasted peppers with garlic & olive oil
Just those words have your mouth watering, don’t they?
Well not if you don’t like peppers, but if you’re like me and could eat any kind of pepper–sweet, hot, red, yellow, green–at just about any given time, you probably love roasted peppers as well.
And there’s no reason why you can’t have them made at home whenever you want (provided that you can get peppers). My favorite are roasted red peppers because they’re oh-so-sweet, but you can use any kind you like.
There are a few different ways to prepare them, but to me, grilling them is best. We do ours over smoldering coals:
But if you use your broiler, the peppers are still going to be delicious. Check out this great tutorial from AllRecipes.com on how to roast peppers in the oven.
Yes these get a little messy (I’m spoiled in that P actually enjoys all the dirty work here), but they are so worth the effort–you’ll never buy pre-prepared roasted peppers again after you taste them homemade.
Perhaps some of you are already wondering what to do with roasted peppers. A simple Google search led me to this page from Prevention’s The Healthy Cook: The Ultimate Illustrated Kitchen Guide to Great Low-Fat Food.
Some of The Healthy Cook‘s suggestions are pepper and cheese canapés, pepper fritters, peppers and shrimp salad, antipasto, and peppers parmigiana. They all sound fabulous, as does this book in general now that I’m looking at it more closely. . . .
Some more ideas? Add them to sandwiches, salads, dips (great in hummus!), tomato sauce, or as a topping on pizza.
This is what we usually do with our roasted peppers: we like to dress them up with olive oil, garlic, and a touch of salt and then eat them with fresh, warm bread–even on toasted bread for a nice bruschetta with peppers.
Remember how great that bruschetta with tomatoes was? This is a great winter variation.
So without further ado, this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday:
Roasted Peppers with Garlic & Olive Oil
- Peppers–as many as you like, of the variety you prefer
- Enough good olive oil to cover them
- Clove of garlic, chopped (depends on your taste how much you want to add–do experiment!)
- Salt to taste
Wash and dry the peppers and then place them on the grill whole and intact.
In preparing the peppers, the most important thing to remember is to turn them so that all sides are blackened. Trust me, you want the sides BLACK as this makes peeling them a lot easier.
Here are the remnants of our last batch (with an unroasted pepper):
Once you take them off the grill and have given them a chance to cool off a bit, pull out the stems. Now peel the skin. P uses a small knife, but he uses a knife for everything (he *is* a southern Italian man). You can also do this with your bare hands of course.
Be sure to remove all the seeds, which you can do by squeezing the pepper from top to bottom between your index finger and thumb.
If there are any of the membranes left inside, scrape those out too.
Now you’re ready to do whatever you like with them. For the preparation shown above, slice and place in bowl and then cover with olive oil. Add as much chopped garlic and salt as you like and let them marinate at least an hour before eating.
I know it’s hard to wait, but you’ll thank yourself later.
Buon appetito!
**If you haven’t yet, remember to check out my welcome post and find out about how you can win a $30 Amazon.com gift certificate!**
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[tags]roasted peppers, roasted red peppers, peppers, cooking, what’s cooking wednesday[/tags]
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Bagels
I wasn’t going to post a recipe today since I honestly haven’t been cooking very much lately–we had Christmas dinner at P’s parents and we spent New Year’s Eve at a friend’s house. Indeed, it’s the same place we spent New Year’s Eve last year, so if you’d like to see some photos from 2006, you can check them out here.
More on the recent New Year’s Eve soon, but for now–bagels!
Michelle of Michellanea posted this bagel recipe a while ago for those of us in Italy dying for something, anything that we can smear some cream cheese on, and this recipe definitely delivers.
In my baking frenzy around Christmas, I finally decided to give these a go, and I will definitely be making bagels more frequently around here from now on. The recipe is easy to follow and carry out; the only time-consuming part is waiting for the dough to rise. And then waiting for them to cool off before you dig in.
The measurements are for those of us using metric, but everything is easily convertible these days online, for example at JoyofBaking.com.
Bagels
(makes 8 large bagels)
30 grams fresh yeast
2 tablespoons of oil
3 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon honey
500 grams of flour
Dissolve yeast in 250 ml of warm water and add oil. In large bowl, mix together salt, sugar, and flour. Make a well in the center and add in yeast mixture.
Mix together all ingredients, working in flour on the sides of the bowl in order to get an even mixture. Work dough into a ball.
Cover bowl with a damp towel for about 40 minutes and let dough rise in a warm place; it should double in size. Put a piece of wax paper on the baking sheet you’ll be using for the bagels.
Work the dough for about ten minutes. Divide into 8 little balls. Make a hole in the center of each ball and widen the opening until it begins to take the shape of a bagel.
Let the bagels sit on the warm towel for another 15 minutes while you heat the oven up to 200°C.
In the meantime, bring a large pan of water to a light boil (adding the 1 teaspoon of honey, which is a substitute for malt). Let each bagel boil lightly for about two minutes on each side and then remove and put them back on the damp towel.
If you are adding sesame or poppy seeds, at this point, sprinkle them on a plate and press each bagel down lightly over them.
After about five minutes, put the bagels on the wax paper-covered baking sheet and place in oven for about 20 or 25 minutes until they are golden brown (but not too brown – they will get a bit browner after they’ve cooled), flipping them after about 10 minutes to ensure even baking.
Buon appetito and thanks again to Michelle for the great recipe!
Weekend o’ Cookies II: Butter Cookies and Michigan Rocks
You’ve now seen four of the six types of cookies I made this holiday season. What? No you haven’t?
Well go here to see the thumbprints (with recipe!), here to see the kolaches, and here to see the chocolate chip and ricotta cookies.
Here are the final two starting with the scene of making the butter cookies:
And here they are after baking:
And, last but certainly not least, Michigan Rocks full of dates and walnuts:
And here’s a tray ready for delivery:
Well really a red plastic plate covered in blue plastic wrap, tied together with a gold bow. It’s easier to see the cookies through the wrap in person by the way.
And now I ask you:
can anything else say “AUGURI!” like a plate of American cookies?
I didn’t think so either.
By the way, if anyone would like recipes for these, just send me an email.
So is everyone ready for Christmas or what?
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
Recipes
