Comfort Me With Apples

Actually the lovesick bride in Song of Solomon requests that her bridegroom:

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love.

Song of Solomon 2:5

KVJ - 1611

It looks like God's Secretaries weren't quite as temperate as other translators of holy writings.  Several other versions of this passage from Song of Solomon insist that it's raisins or raisin cakes that offer strength.  Myself I rather like the First Cambridge Company of translator's idea that ferments and bottles the grape of the vine rather than just drying it then using it in cookery.  It's more like the Anglican tradition I was brought up in.

That first apple harvest as imagined
by the wonderful Emanuele Luzzati.

 When it comes to those apples it's fascinating how many translations of this verse think of them as being a source of refreshment rather than comfort.  Given that the apple became known as the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden it's a wonder that anything so representative of sin was asked for on a wedding night - or not!

The apple - which at one time was the name given to anything that was not a berry - has figured as a symbol in the mythology of most world religions from the Abrahimic to the Norse.  In many of these myths it seems to have been the cause of sin, strife, envy, discord and greed.  However its reputation is saved in both the Song of Solomon and in world culinary traditions where the apple does indeed become a thing of refreshment and comfort.  What could be more of a comfort food than apple pie - well okay apple pie with ice cream - or a baked apple?

So why this ramble about the Malus domestica which is appearing in abundance in the markets these days?  Well exactly that!   At the moment the market stalls have a remarkable variety of apples available and I've been madly searching for ways to include them in the recent spate of cooking I've been doing.  While looking for a recipe I had for slow cooker apple butter I came across an Apple and Almond cake that my friend Ben made for a Rosh Hashanah dinner he attended last year.  The tradition of that holiday is to eat apples dipped in honey to represent a sweet beginning to the New Year.  

The act is accompanied by a prayer:

Blessed are you Lord, our God, Ruler of the world,
Creator of the fruit of the tree.
(Baruch atah Ado-nai, Ehlo-haynu melech Ha-olam,
Borai p'ree ha'aitz.)

An apple slice is dipped in the honey and eaten.

 May it be Your will, Adonai, our God and the God of our forefathers,
that You renew for us a good and sweet year.
(Y'hee ratzon mee-l'fanekha, Adonai Elohaynu v'elohey avoteynu sh'tichadeish aleinu shanah tovah um'tuqah.

Though there is no honey in this recipe I can vouch that it has just the right amount of sweetness for the New Year.

Apple and Almond Cake - serves 12

3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped roughly - Braeburns or Granny Smith
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp sugar
8 eggs
1 3/4 cup superfine sugar
3 1/4 cups ground almonds
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup flaked almost
1 tsp confectioners' sugar

Put chopped apples, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tsp sugar in a sauce pan and bring to boil over a medium heat.  Cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes or until you can mash the apple to a rough puree with a wooden spoon or fork.  Leave to cool.

Preheat oven to 350º F - 175c.  Oil a 10" spring-form pan with almond oil or flavourless vegetable oil and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Put the cooled puree, eggs, ground almonds, sugar and tbsp of lemon juice into a processor and blitz to a puree.

Pour and scrape into the prepared pan, sprinkle the flaked almonds on top and bake for 45 minutes.  Check after 35 minutes as ovens vary and see if a knife comes out clean when inserted.  Adjust timings accordingly.

Put on a wire rack to cool then remove the sides of the pan.  It is best served warm though it's still good cold. (Beyond good - warm or cold Laurent assures me.)

Before bringing it to the table push a tsp of confectioners' sugar through a fine sieve to give it a light dusting.

Many thanks for the recipe Ben - it's a winner.  And L'shanah tovah tikatevu.

September 26 - 1973:  Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.

Spaghetti Frittata - From Our Christmas Pot Luck

The gang at work did a pot-luck lunch today so I thought I'd bring a touch of Italy to the festivities with a spaghetti frittata.  I first had this quintessential Neapolitan dish at Leon d'Oro, a quintessential Neapolitan trattoria in Piazza Dante.  My friend Wendy loving and accurately described this friendly family run restaurant, that she visited last month,  over at Flavor of Italy.

This is a great way to use up left-over spaghetti, vegetables or whatever catches your fancy.  Its a good buffet dish, a lunch/brunch dish with a salad or as a primi for a more elaborate dinner.

1/2 lb of spaghetti*
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Other ingredients can be added - almost anything that you would normally use with spaghetti - bacon, cooked zucchini, roast peppers, basil, canned tomatoes or left-over tomato sauce. 

1. Cook spaghetti until just slightly al dente - it will undergo further cooking later.
2. Drain and toss while still hot with butter, Parmesan and parsley and allow to cool completely
3. Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl with salt and pepper
4. Add the beaten eggs to the spaghetti and mix thoroughly
5. If you are using other ingredients they should be added and thoroughly mixed in at this point.
6. Spray a 11-12 inch non-stick skillet with Pam or 2 tablespoons of butter and heat over a medium burner until foam subsides.
7. Pour mixture into skillet and spread to an even thickness over the bottom of the pan.
8. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes without touching the pan.  The tilt the pan slightly and bring the edge closer to the centre of the heat.  Cook for  minute or so and then rotate the pan about a 1/4 turn and cook for another minute.  Continue until a full circle has been completed.  This will make sure it is cooked evenly. Lift the edge with a spatula to see if a nice golden crust has formed on the underside.
9. Place a platter slightly larger than the pan upside down over the pan and turn it over.  Let the frittata plop onto the plater.  Grease the pan again and side the frittata back into the pan.  
10. Repeat the cooking process above until the second side has formed a good golden crust.
11. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into wedges.  

It can be served hot, lukewarm or at room temperature but never just out of the refrigerator.


23 dicembre/decembre - San Giovanni da Kety

A Postal Quiz

This time of year most government departments are involved in charity campaigns.  What was once a simple canvasing of colleagues for donations has given way to some very elaborate ways of raising money for various local and national charities.  I was working briefly at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) the past few weeks and their bake sale included one of the most delicious Niagara Grape pies I've ever tasted.  And the bon-bon skewers that the Candy Ladies sold later in the week were a visual and taste delight.  

The good folk over at CIC International Region (the section Laurent is part of) came up with the idea of a cookbook with recipes contributed by Officers and their spouses who had served in Embassies around the world: Chefs without Borders/Chefs sans frontières.

You may recall that this past April I tried my hand at making Pasteria using my friend Marco's mother's recipe.  Marco had helped his mother make this Napoletane Easter dolce since he was a child so he gave me it to me not from a book but from memory.  Deciding exactly how much "a little but some is required" actually was became an adventure which I shared at that time - and thank god I did because Marco saw the photo of the ingredients and immediately sent me an SMS just before I added enough orange flower essence to make 20 pasterie!  Well after all he had said 3 bottles - he just didn't say what size!  Fortunately the end product met with everyone's - including Marco's - approval so I must have done something right.

So I decided it would be a great recipe - even in its slightly unscripted state - to submit from our household.   Once it was published I felt it was only right that Marco get a copy of the book that included a recipe that I'm sure will be followed this coming Easter in many Foreign Service quarters.

So last Friday - October 21st - Laurent put it in a large envelope and consigned it to the tender combined mercies of Canada Post and PosteItalia.  The big question was "how long would it take to get there?"  Well today marks the 5th day since it was stamped and sent on its way.  Marco has been forewarned and is on the lookout for it.  In the meantime I thought I'd take a little poll of my faithful reader.  How many days do you think will fly by before it reaches his doorstep?

How many days will it take for the cookbook to reach Marco?

We were asked to share any culinary secrets we had learned in our posting abroad and I shared the lessons I had learned during our four years in Italy:

Four years in Italy taught me that simple is better and fresh is best; and the eye, the nose, the finger and the mouth are the best tools any cook can have in the kitchen.

25 ottobre/October - Santi Crispino e Crispiniano

Food Fail!

When I look over recent postings I realize that I really have become obsessed with food. But it is so difficult to live here and not be. And though many of the things I once regarded as exotic have now become everyday I am constantly discovering new tastes and ways of preparing things.

And once again I stress the seasonality of things - Kaki are now back in the market, those great orange, squishy balls of custardy goodness that I will gorge myself on until late October. And just last week watermelon or anguria season was here and I discovered a wonderful Sicilian desert while having tea with my friend Simonetta and our Ballet magazine publisher Alfio. We had stopped in at Dagnino, the place to go for Sicilian sweets and goodies. As we cast our gaze over the incredible array of cannoli, cassati, biscotti and torte my eye was caught by a pinkish coloured desert flecked with bits of chocolate. At the same time Simonetta let out a delighted, "Oh look they have Gelo ri Muluni!" "What the hell is Gelo ri Muluni?" was my immediate response. "Its Sicilian for Gelatina di Anguria," she replied in a tone that suggested that anyone who could translate the latest reviews for Ballet2000 should really have known that.

Watermelon jelly? Hmm this didn't look like any watermelon jelly I had seen in those canned fruit studded moulds so beloved of the ladies at Alderwood Presbyterian Church dinners. Or the wobbly, shinny cubes of sugary day-glo stuff they fed us at the school cafeteria. It was shiny but had a creamy look to it and definitely wasn't going to glow under black lighting. So as Alfio and Luca indulged in Cassata we tucked into our Gelo ri Muluni.



And it was wonderful - so wonderful I bought several to take home for after dinner that evening. Then, even though it was going to possibly involve gelatin, that most difficult to work with ingredient, I went searching for a recipe in several Italian cookbooks but without success. A quick search on the Internet turned out one recipe and ... no gelatin! Over at Sicilian Cooking there was a recipe that was pure simplicity itself.

The ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs watermelon (without skin)
1/2 lb sugar
1/2 cup chocolate shavings or chips
1/2 cup toasted pistachio nuts
1/3 cup corn starch
1 pinch of cinnamon

Not a gelatin leaf in sight, just some things everyone has laying around the kitchen. So I got everything together and thought I'd try my hand at making some with an eye to including it as a dolci at Thanksgiving (Canadian) dinner this weekend.


What's that you say? There's an ingredient missing! Oh you mean the watermelon! Well yes, you remember how I keeping going on about seasonality? Well guess what? Watermelon season is over and there's not one to be had in any of the markets!

The Gods do like their little joke don't they?

But here's the recipe anyway just in case there is still watermelon in your part of the world: Gelo ri Muluni (Watermelon Jelly). And I shall arise bright and early tomorrow morning and head to the market just in case there is one - even one - left for ready money.

08 ottobre - Santa Reparata di Cesarea di Palestina

Oh Look We're Having Tuna Salad

Some how or other I never got around to posting this - and given the Saint's name day how could I have forgotten. Anyway better late et al. And it was a great, though sadly our last, evening with Yves, Rolando, Joe and Peter. That's the way of life in the foreign service as people move around from post to post.

Well yes we are - tonight as we say goodbye to two of our colleagues at dinner - we are starting with tuna salad. But not just any old Tuna Salad. Back in March when I was in Barcelona I had THE TUNA SALAD! It was around 1400 and we were heading up to the Gaudi Parco Guell. The old tummy was suggesting that food was in order but the pickings for sustenance were a bit scarce in the area - a sandwich shop appeared to be the only thing open, that and a hole in the wall bar.

Well that old saying about books and covers definitely applied - that hole in the wall was only the entrance to a very small but homey restaurant: la Pousada Caballito Blanco. The waiter, an older gentleman, seemed to have a bit of an attitude but the menu looked inviting with all manner of tapas and the omni-present paella. I went for the tapas including THE TUNA SALAD. What the waiter, now a bit more friendly, place in front of me was a small piece of culinary art: a tower of tuna. As I scrapped up the dressing with a piece of (forbidden) bread I told him how good it was and asked what was in it. At that point he became all smiles and affability. Nothing really unusual he assured me: tomato, tuna, caramelized onion, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Why you could make it at home.

And indeed I can and have. It is a great starter or could be a main for summer lunch.

The Tower of Tuna: this was how it ended up for last night's dinner (July 29) - along with a salad of thinly sliced finocchio, celery and cucumber (all white and crunchy)sprinkled with parsley then liberally dressed with gingered olive oil.

Here's my re-creation, sorry but measurements are pretty much by eye on this one.

The Tower of Tuna (serves 4)

4 large ripe tomatoes
2 cups or more caramelized onions (click for recipe)*
Canned tuna (preferably packed in olive oil)
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil (from tuna with additional if needed)

Slice each tomato into thick slices and drain on paper towel - make sure you put the slices in order so you can reconstruct the tomato.

Place the bottom slice on a plate - you may want to drizzle a bit of balsamic reduction on the plate before hand if you want to go all fancy.

Crumple a generous amount of tuna on top of the tomato slice, salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar then a spoonful of caramelized onion.

Alternate tomato with tuna/onion/oil/vinegar layers and cap with the top slice.

And that's it.

*I like the idea in this recipe of deglazing with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

If you have some extra caramelized onion you might want to scatter them around or save them for the next night's hamburgers.

The biggest chore in all this is the onions. I've taken to doing a whole pile at once - they can be frozen and used on hamburger or around roasts.

The rest of tonight's menu: Saltimbocca alla Romana (here's a link to GBs recipe over at Italian Notebook), roast potatoes and spinach, a green salad and peaches in red wine.

A great way to say goodbye to a great colleague and his partner.

Written on: 09 luglio - Sant'Agostino Zhao Rong e i 120 martiri cinesi

Posted on: 30 luglio - San Pietro Crisologo

Get Your Fresh Faggots

In response to overwhelming requests here's the recipe for Faggots just in case you should decide to make your own. Okay so nobody really asked but its late and I'm still trying to get over seeing the Zeffirelli Tosca and the fact that there was a fire in the apartment across the hall from us while I was away. Everything is okay here and I'll write a bit about both the love fest/circus that was the Rome Opera tonight and the after effects of the fire tomorrow.

Ingredients
25g/1oz unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
175g/6oz minced pigs' liver
2 lamb or pigs' heart, trimmed and cut into chunks
450g/1lb belly of pork, trimmed and rind removed
½ tsp mace
4tbsp freshly chopped chives
1 tsp freshly chopped sage
1 egg,beaten
salt and freshly ground pepper
115g/4oz fresh white bread crumbs
25g/1oz beef dripping or 3 tbsp olive oil

For the gravy
4 red onions, peeled and each onion cut into 8 wedges
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
900ml/1½pt fresh beef stock
290ml/½ pint red wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the onions. Cook until soft and transparent. Cool slightly
2. Place the belly pork onto a chopping board and cut into portions.
3. Place the minced pigs' liver into a large glass bowl and place under the blade of a mincer. Using a fine blade of a mincer, mince the pork belly and lambs heart directly into the bowl with the pig s liver. If you do not have a mincer at home ask your butcher to mince all your meat for you.
4. Add the cooled chopped onions, mace, chives, sage, beaten egg and salt and
pepper. Stir in the breadcrumbs.
5. Using your hands shape the mixture into 12 patties. Place on a plate and chill for about 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. 7. For the gravy: place the onion wedges into a large roasting pan or ovenproof dish. Add the thyme and drizzle over the olive oil. Place in the oven and roast uncovered for 40 minutes until the onions are
caramelised.
8. Meanwhile heat the dripping or olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the faggots until golden brown on both sides.
9. Place the stock and wine in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by a third.
10. Remove the roasted onions from the oven and lay the faggots on top. Pour over
the gravy liqueur. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook the
faggots for 40 minutes.
11. Place two to three faggots onto a plate. Top with a spoonful of the onions and pour over the gravy. Serve the faggots with mashed potatoes and green vegetables.

Recipe courtesy Chef Antony Worrall Thompson on the BBC website.

Personally I think I'll stay clear of any food that lists amongst its ingredients 2 lamb or pigs' heart, trimmed and cut up into chunks. Though that onion gravy sounds like it could be good.... on roast beef!

20 gennaio - San Sebastiano

Nonno Willym's Minnestrone

There's been a decided chill in the air over the past few days and in a concrete apartment with marble floors it is more noticeable. So what better way to ward off an Autumn chill than a hot bowl of Minestrone liberally sprinkled with grated provolone, a loaf of crusty bread, a plate of spicy olives and a nice robust Chianti. And maybe some spiced cold meats as an antipasti to get the appetite in shape. Follow that up with some of those late season pears and a chocolate biscotti and Saturday night should be just fine.

What we have here are the fixin's for tonight's dinner: a Neapolitan Minestrone. There are as many types of Minestrone as there are regions in Italy and as may variations on those types as there are Nonne (Grandmas) in the regions. Guess this is going to be Nonno Willym's version.

The recipe I'm using is from that classic of Italian Cooking Il cucchiaio d'argento (The Silver Spoon). Thankfully this 1200 page bible of Italian cooking has been translated into English and published by Phaidon in 2005 (back then the price in Euros was exactly the same as the price in USD - oh how times have changed.) Originally published in Italy in 1950 Cucchiaio was an attempt to preserve old recipes which were fast disappearing from household kitchens. Now in its 8th edition, some of the recipes have been updated to cater to current tastes but many of the old recipes remain - I know I'm just going to run out and get the ingredients for Brain Sauce*. The book is still a traditional wedding gift for an Italian bride (I know, I know but in many ways they're still in a time warp here, hell women didn't have the right to vote in Italy back in 1950.)

I've tried a few of the recipes and like most Italian recipes they are simple and quick but depend on the ingredients being fresh, preferably local and tasting the way they should.

*Brain Sauce
1 bay leaf
1 small lamb's brain, membranes and blood vessels removed (I should hope so) and soaked in water for 1 hour
2 eggs, hard-boiled
olive oil, for drizzling
1 baby onion, chopped
1 fresh parsley spring, chopped
1 tablespoon of capers, drained and rinsed
juice of 1 lemon, strained
salt

Fill a large saucepan two-thirds full with water, add the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Drain the brain, add to the saucepan and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain the brain, place in a bowl and crush carefully with a wooden spoon. Shell and halve the eggs and scoop the yolks into the bowl. Stir the mixture, drizzling in the olive oil to obtain a pouring consistency. Stir in the onion and capers and season with lemon juice and salt to taste.

Service with boiled meats.

Unfortuantely I don't like boiled meat.

20 ottobre - Santa Irena