Appetite 4 Life - Camilla's Blog

The joys of a fresh food and vegetable market around the corner

Once again, I am struck with joy at how much I enjoy shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables here in Italy. While we were still living in city center, we would often trot down to the outdoor market for today's bargains, but somehow the time does seem a bit more precious these days. 

So ogni tanto (every once in a while) one of us heads down to "Martini Ortofrutta" in the village to stock up on all things fresh and primarily local. It was our favorite place this winter to get the Sicilian Taroc blood oranges, and deliciously crisp apples. 

Yesterday I discovered to my joy that the slender asparagus had arrived, and finally the precious datterini tomatoes are as sweet as they come! That's just a small sample of treasures to be found, and for me - this is really such a bonus to living here. And of course, before I get in line at the cash register, I have to get some tasty olives, maybe a small schiacciata (focaccia the local way), and some freshly ground beef and tasty chicken. 

When I was pregnant with Sofia, I couldn't cook for the first few months - the smell of food and the thought of putting ingredients together were just too much for me. This time around, I have trouble exercising and doing physical chores, but standing up and cooking in the kitchen is just fine - so maybe that's is why I felt the need to wax lyrical about food tonight.

A great day for baking

 

Roll it out

Shape it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sofia had a wonderful experience baking with Mommo the other day.

It took her a while to get into it, as the rolling and patting is something that she is just getting the hang of, using play-dough. But as you can see she really got into it! But once we experimented with putting some raisins on them, we quickly discovered that they disappeared quicker than they brought out!

Needless to say - she loved the finished products too, as did all the families we had over on Sunday afternoon! Thanks Mommo.

Pat a cake...

 

Mexican Fiesta!

Something that Livorno is badly lacking are good ethnic restaurants. So when I go away someplace, I make a point of trying some food beyond the Italian palate. Don't get me wrong - I love Italian food, especially the REAL Italian food, not the American greasier, cheesier version of it. But every once in a while, I start craving other foods... Indian, Persian, Thai, Mexican, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean.... my mouth is watering, yum yum. 

In Claudia & Andrea's lovely new home

 

Yesterday our dear Columbian-Italian friends decided to invite us for a real treat: una fiesta Messicana!! Yum, yum. Homemade refried beans, homemade guacamole, homemade salsa... you get the picture, right?

Menu: tacos for starters and then fajitas. And just to make sure we finished on a high note: lemon cheesecake with raspberries, and some bubbly and coffee (it was a housewarming party after all!). And no, this pregnant mamma stayed away from all the lovely drinks.

 

Sunset on Piazza Mascagni, Livorno

 

And yes, you guessed correctly: no dinner needed after that lunch! Just a lovely stroll lungomare in Livorno to try to digest some of the goodies, together with everyone else in town it seemed!

Sofia is practicing standing on the back of the stroller, just in time to be the good big sister!

This weather inspires cooking and baking...

Or perhaps it's really just the allure of turning the oven on, and enjoying a warm kitchen despite the wind whistling outside that draws me in? Regardless of the motive, yesterday I made a mushroom, onion and broccoli quiche and some cardamom & walnut cookies that I toasted and oven-dried for a crunchier bite. 

This morning I defrosted a nice chunk of beef chuck I bought the other day, and I fell for this recipe online. If I start now, it should be ready for dinner... yum! Click the link below if you want to know more. 

Simple Beef Pot Roast Recipe

Chutney!

Now into my third year here in Tuscany, it finally hit me - apple season here is much later than further north. Which makes January the perfect time to pick up cheap apples for sauce and pickling at the market!

As we often look for some kind of condiment to go well with chicken or even barbequed meat, I thought I'd try my hand at a chutney.

I often combine recipes, and add my own two cents to them, based upon my experience, my taste buds, and quite often simply what I have at home - so here's my chutney with apple, tomato, carrots and red onion.

 

Ingredients for 2 smaller jars:

3 crisp apples
3 big tomatoes (the beefy kind)
2 carrots
1/2 onion (yellow or red recommended)
1/3 - 1/2 fresh chili OR 1 tsp chili paste (e.g.sambal oelek)
1 1/2 dl (1 cup) apple cider vinegar 
3/4 dl (1/2 cup) sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp canola oil 

Preparation:
Dip the tomatoes in boiling water to loosen the skin, making it easy to peel and chop them. Peel and cube the apples, the carrots and chop the onion. If you are using fresh chili, cut into tiny pieces for a blending of flavor. You know your limits best. 

Fry the chili in a little canola oil to let out the flavors, add the fruit and vegetables and stir to blend. Add the vinegar and let it all cook under lid till soft, about 20-30 minutes. Note carrot pieces will remain a bit chewy, if you want to avoid that: shred them instead of chopping.

Now add the sugar, the salt (max 1 tsp), and any pepper (black, allspice) you might like to taste. You can also add some curry or similar. I actually had tikka masala spice mix, which I added for a bit of flavor. Bring back to boil, this time stir regularly and leave the lid off for another 20 or so minutes. The objective here is to reduce and thicken the juices, and get the right chutney consistency. 

Scoop up the beautiful chutney straight from the pan into hot, sterilized glass containers and close immediately. Let cool and store in a cool place. 

 

Planting hawthorn bushes

Mommo and Moffa brought three hawthorn plants with them down from Finland at Jeff's special request. This is a different kind from what is found in the US, he says, as there no one would eat the berries.

The Finnish kind, however, is very healthful and extremely high in vitamin C content. The berries are a yellow-orange, about the size of a blueberry. Eaten fresh they are quite sour, so we usually keep them in the freezer and pop a few for an extra vitamin boost during the flu season.   My mom also makes a nice juice of them. 

We have two females and one male, just as it should be, so we hope to be able to harvest some berries in a couple of years, provided that these Finnish bushes like the Tuscan climate... chissa? 

The actual planting was planned long in advance, as it had to wait until it was starting to cool down a bit here, and even better would have been to wait until after the rains, but the plants really needed to get into real soil, so the compromise was made on December 2nd. 

At that point Jeff and Giorgio had sought out the best spots for them, through several consultations, and we also put down the apricot tree next to them. Giorgio seemingly has plans to eventually take out all the vines and slowly populate the slope with fruit trees, so we feel that we've kind of started the process with these additions now. Put down some roots so to speak. 

Sofia enjoyed the experience a lot, helping pappa dig in the dirt. Of course mommo and moffa as the expert growers and godparents of these plants, were there to offer some good advice too.

Mamma stayed inside doing other things, figuring that four pairs of dirt-clogged shoes by the door afterwards were enough for one afternoon.

Now let them grow, let them grow, let them grow...

I'm a big girl now...

 

No more sitting on my own in a high chair at mealtimes now, I've moved on to a booster seat so I can sit at the table like all the grown-ups do. 

It was about time too. I mean, after all, I'm the one that instigates all the toasting around here (chin chin), and who else would prompt Mamma and Pappa to pray for the meal, and I always close the prayer with my Amen too!

Easy Recipe: Red and Golden Beets with Feta on Arugula

A festive version of a cold vegetarian salad suitable as a side dish for the holiday dinners, but also as a lighter lunch or dinner on its own anytime during the colder season, perhaps with some lovely warm and crunchy bread? The recipe below serves at least 6 people as a side dish. See the bottom of the recipe for a nice warm version with goat cheese and toasted pine- or walnuts...

Ingredients
6 fresh beets - preferably both red and golden
8 oz (225 g) Greek feta cheese
4 oz (125 g) fresh arugula leaves
rind of 1 lemon

Dressing
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 
2/3 cup canola oil, or really good mellow extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste 

Preparation
Wash and trim the fresh beets, boil them in slightly salted water until soft they are soft when you prick them with a fork. This usually takes an hour or so, so be patient and use a lid and low heat.

Mix all the salad ingredients together. I usually end up adding a little bit of this or that to get it just right in my mouth, so don't feel like you have to be religious with the proportions here. Seasoned rice wine vinegar will give more flavor, but of course more calories/sugar too...

When the beets are done, pour out the water and when your hands can handle the heat, peel the beets. The warmer they are, the easier they are to peel. I use rubber gloves for this, as the red juice really stains. Cut them into cubes or slice them if you prefer.

This bizarrely is a cultural thing, I discovered at Thanksgiving in the US: they are prettier sliced, but easier to eat without a knife if cubed into bite-sizes. But if you're in Europe - slice them! Pour some seasoned rice wine vinegar or some of the dressing itself over them before chilling them in the fridge. I recommend keeping the golden beets separated from the red ones, to keep their pretty color.

Up to this point, you can easily prepare the day before. And if you want to, you can of course just use vacuum-packed ready-boiled beets, but please avoid the already seasoned kind in the jars. 

As the table is being set, place the arugula in a shallow dish, add the beets in a pretty pattern, and sprinkle or chop the feta cheese on top. Pour over the remaining salad dressing, grate over the rind of a lemon and some freshly ground black pepper, and voila'. 

A nice variation on this salad is to use the beets warm, just putting them in an oven-safe dish together with the dressing, sprinkle over some goat cheese, toasted pine- or walnuts, lemon rind and pepper and grill in the top part of a hot oven until the cheese starts melting and turn color. Serve the arugula on the side, or dish up the beets on it just as you are ready to eat. Yum this way too!

GM hitting Italy? The black tomato has arrived!

 

Just when I think I've finally got a handle on the tomato situation here in Italy, I'm in for another surprise: enter stage left the BLACK tomato! Whatever is next?

Backtracking just a second, well actually about two years, which is when I discovered there is more to the tomato world than just plum, cherry and ordinary tomatoes. The Italians LOVE their tomatoes. Much like potatoes seem a staple food in Northern and Eastern Europe, tomatoes frequent pretty much every meal the Italian eat - in one shape or another. 

 

And there is a tomato for each occasion, and for each dish. You want the meaty ones, like a San Marzano or perhaps a Cuore di buoie (the wrinkly ones, two ripening ones seen in the picture above) for your tomato sauces, and for your bruschetta - like mine pictured here with toasted pinoli (pine nuts) on top. If you just pick at the tomatoes or make a finer insalata, you'll look for the sweeter Datterino, or the Sicilian Piccadilly if you don't want to spend the euros. And you'll be looking for a big beefy round one for slicing and alternating with your buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil under salt, pepper and drizzled extra-virgin olive oil. 

 

So where exactly does the black tomato come from? Well according to the local grower (i.e. our landlord) it arrived in Italy last year as a novelty, so he decided to give it a try this year. The size of a cherry tomato, apparently it has more melanine in it (didn't know tomatoes did?). Much unlike giant Florida strawberries or the square Japanese watermelon (I kid you not, google it!) - it is not at all a watered down GM copy of the original fruit - the black tomato is literally bursting with flavor. 

Keep 'em coming, Giorgio!

 

 

Spring Break in Bavaria

We have just come back from a lovely week in Bavaria, Southern Germany where the snow on the tallest peaks of the German Alps is just starting to melt. Unfortunately the melting glaciers forced the temporary closure of the main local attractions a couple of weeks earlier; the Partnach Gorge. And since I have seen the "mad" Bavarian King Ludwig's castles and the beautifully frescoed Oberammergau on previous trips to this region, we decided to stay locally this week, and just enjoy a change of scenery from Tuscany. And what a scenery! 

We stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a name that even for the locals is a mouthful, so they just abbreviate it to Garmisch. It turns out that the two towns Garmisch and Partenkirchen were forced to become one by decree of Adolf Hitler in order for Germany to be eligible to host the Winter Olympics in 1936.

It is still very much evident that there are two centra, and the more quaint is certainly Partenkirchen, nestled up against the "hill"side, and sporting (mainly) pedestrian only King Ludwigstrasse with its colorfully painted and decorated housefronts.

The winter sports tradition is still very strong, and which Finn doesn't remember cheering for Matti Nykänen during the annual ski jumping week in G-P?

 

We had wonderfully sunny spring weather and enjoyed some lovely walks with the alps looking down on us, breathing in the freshest of fresh air. Sofia is, as always, on a road of discovery; the life of a one-year-old!

She made some fun discoveries daily, like the sensation of walking barefeet on the carpet in our room, or running down the long corridor, getting entangled in the long curtains, the Sofia-sized rocking chair in front of the giant fireplace in the lobby, and how great it is to be first in line for the mid-afternoon snack at daycare!

 

 

I managed a couple of "creativity outlet" sessions at the local Arts & Crafts center, and realized afterwards that I completely ignored the beautiful mountain scenery outside the windows, in favor of a warm sunset scene from Africa... I wonder what that was all about?

But I was happy to try a new technique and discover how the paints flow together on the silk, and I wanted to put together a motif that I would be pleased with afterwards. And for a first try, I was quite pleased with the outcome, which you can see here, however still stretched out and unwashed.

Now I've got to make time to get it framed too! 

 

I had the obligatory Wienerschnitzel, potato Knödel (a sort of a giant dumpling), Weissbier (wheat beer) and Apfelstrudel at a local Bräuhaus on King Ludwigstrasse in Partenkirchen while being entertained by traditional Tyrolean dancing and accordion music.

Thankfully Sofia was quite mesmerized by the entertainment, moreso than any of us by our barely average run-of-the-mill food unfortunately. So we enjoyed the locale and the company!

Prost & Grüss Gott!