When summer hits, we are also hit with a glut of vegetables from the garden. Actually not MY garden. We learned that we just cannot keep up with raising and eating as much as a few plants produce and we don’t have a big freezer or a lot of storage space for jars. I buy…
Summer Rosso
Today we are celebrating! Our first tomato is ripe. I am celebrating #Summerrosso on FB and Twitter. What most people don’t know is that Italians enjoy green tomatoes. Not hard unripe tomatoes, but as in this photograph, not fully ripened tomatoes. Green tomatoes are used often in salads as they have a nice tang to…
Artichoke Season
One of the things I love most about living in Italy is eating seasonally. It isn’t always easy waiting, but we are always rewarded with exceptional flavor and joy. Spring comes in with a bang, artichokes, asparagus, fava beans and peas. When you get the first products, we tend to enjoy then raw. Raw Artichokes?…
Out of the Kitchen into the World- Sicilian Artichokes
I began my culinary professional life in the kitchen of a 5 star hotel in San Francisco, the Stanford Court Hotel. They were open to training me for the position when I told them I wanted to be a pastry chef. While traveling, I always found a job in a restaurant, either waiting tables or…
Sicilian Flavors: Zucca Gialla- marinated pumpkin
When I get ready to leave for a trip, I always leave my husband some of his favorite dishes. This marinated pumpkin is at the top of the list.The market inspires what I cook and this week at my farm shop Francesca had zucca gialla, pumpkin. Francesca is Sicilian and often gives me great recipes…
Artichokes- Leaf to Stalk
I hate waste. We often talk about nose-to-tail cooking meat, but as an ex-vegetarian, often what we clean away from a vegetable is wasted. Last spring, while cleaning fava beans, the bag of the pods was much larger than the bowl I had of the tiny fava beans. I began to do research. In one…
Trattoria Mario’s Ribollita
Trattoria Mario’s is a home away from home for almost all the students that come to the study abroad programs in Florence. This tiny family trattoria began as a fiaschetteria 4 generations ago. These small family trattorias, passed from one generation to another, are national treasures.In 2013, they celebrated 60 years of their opening. I…
Tuscan Beans- A Bean for all Seasons
My friend Samin has declared January #beanmonth. In Tuscany, every month is bean month. Tuscans are called mangiafagioli, bean eaters for their large consumption of beans. In Florence, dining out, you mostly find the cannellini beans or if you are lucky the rare zolfini bean. Heading out to Lucca, you really start to see a…