And now, about food!

The food in Northern Italy is fantastic. It tends to be simpler, with three to five ingredients in most dishes. Some typical items are Tortelloni, tortellini, polenta, risotto and of course a lot of different pastas.

Typical or "tipico" dishes would be Tagliatelle with ragu, tortellini con brodo, tortellini con burro e salvia.

The ragu is a mix of ground beef, ground pork and spices with olive oil (no tomatoes).  Tortellini comes from one place locally-Valegio- unless you make your own. Valegio makes amazing pasta and imports their Tortelloni and tortellini into the city fresh daily. All the small markets carry it in bulk and you can buy it by the serving. You have to be able to describe how you will serve it, with broth (con brodo) or as a primi (first course) with butter and sage. Both are local specialties. 

A disclaimer on the photo below.  It is not a typical dish with Tortelloni. It was explained to me after I sent this photo to our friends, that you are only to use the tiny tortellini in soup. It sure did taste good as pictured though!

Lamb is very prevalent here in spring. We have had it several times in several dishes. I'm looking forward to braising some lamb shank soon.

The fresh fruit and veg is just amazing.  There is a huge selection in the various markets here- there are three I shop from all within half a mile of our apartment.   I'm also growing fresh herbs on our terrace and using them daily on whatever dishes I come up with.

 There is a lot of condiment use here, all from local produce.  Sun dried tomatoes in oil, black olive pate, olives, pepperoni (here it means roasted red and yellow peppers in oil).

My first experiment was with reconstituting sun dried tomatoes.  I had tried many times at home to do this with mixed results, usually too salty or too leathery.  I followed the instructions of a local and came up with the best marinated sun dried tomatoes ever.  The secret is to cook them briefly in a mix of white wine and water (50/50), then lay them out to dry on paper towels for about an hour.  After that you layer them in a jar with your choice of herbs, thin slices of garlic, capers etc.  The finished product is ready to eat in 24 hours and after the tomatoes are gone, the oil is divine for dipping crusty bread.

One evening we were invited upstairs for dinner with our friends parents (they live just above us).  It was a Calabrian meal- her father is from the south.  The antipasti included a black olive spread they called pate.  I asked our friend Chaira if she could give me the recipe and she says "my mother will teach you".  Two days later the doorbell rings- here is Chiara's mum with a big jar of black olives in hand.  She gestures upstairs and I follow her up.  In the kitchen she takes out a blender and two paring knives. We sit in companionable silence as we pit the entire jar of olives into the blender jar.  She then adds three large cloves of garlic, peeled and quartered.  She gets a bottle of olive oil from a cabinet full of bottles- all different sizes and shapes- the oil comes from a local collective they belong to so no labels.  Into the blender goes a big glug of the oil- probably at least a cup.  Pulse, pulse, whirl- add more oil from the top.  Pulse, pulse, whirl and by the time we are done she has added about 1/2 liter in total.  The pate is smooth as silk and fragrant from the olives and garlic.  She spoons some of into a small jar for me and sends me back home.  Since she doesn't speak English and my Italian is still very bad we don't converse much, but the companionship was wonderful and the cultural exchange will be a bright memory for me.

Every day I look for something new or an old favorite with fresher ingredients.  I'm sure there will be more food posts in the future.

Sunday Dinner in Italy- with a minimalist kitchen!

Our cuchina (kitchen) is a tiny galley space with very little equipment in it.  The place we are staying is a B&B with a shared kitchen so there is stuff to make coffee, tea, toast, etc. and there are plenty of beer and wineglasses.
We have purchased some additional items like sharp knives, good corkscrew, veggie steamer and grater but it still is very much a minimalist kitchen.
Inspired by all the "one pan dinner" recipes on Facebook, I decided I would try my hand at making one with fresh Italian ingredients.  Here is the result, and the recipe to go with it.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin Medallions, Roasted Mushrooms and Fennel, Brown Butter with Sage Pasta and Tomato & Basil salad.

Use 1/2 tbs fennel seed, toasted in a dry frying pan until just browned and fragrant.  Be careful not to burn them.  Grate or finely mince 2 cloves of garlic.  Place the fennel seed, garlic, salt and pepper to taste and 1/2 C olive oil in a small bowl.

I used about 3/4 lb Pork tenderloin cut into 3/4" medallions. Pat dry with paper towels and place in a large plastic bag with the fennel seed mixture.  Using the outside of the bag knead the meat until the spices adhere and the olive oil is absorbed.  This can be done ahead of time or just before cooking.  I added a fresh sprig of rosemary.

I used a disposable foil baking pan (because it what I had!) with olive oil spread liberally on the bottom.
Then I cleaned and trimmed fresh button mushrooms cut to approximate size and sliced a small fresh fennel bulb.  Toss these with more olive oil, salt and pepper.  The fennel bulb is all the spice you need.

Put the veg on one side of the pan and the meat on the other.  I added a float of red wine to the bottom to keep the pork moist at high temperature.  We have a convection oven so I preheated it to 450 and put everything in at the same time.  Cook 15 min or until the veggies are browned and the meat is at 140 using a meat thermometer.  It will continue to cook after you take it out so don't leave it in too long.  You can also grill this or saute it in separate pans if you want to brown the meat.

While the meat is cooking, halve cherry or grape tomatoes, tear a liberal amount of fresh basil and combine with salt and pepper to taste.  Dress with Balsamic vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Set aside.

Boil the water for the pasta as you make the salad.  Cook 100 grams of pasta per person.  I prefer to use pasta that will hold onto the sauce like Rotini or Farfalle.  Heat a frying pan with a good size blob of butter.  At least 1 tbs.  Bring the butter to brown swirling it to keep it from sticking or burning.  Add fresh sage leaves or dry sage.  The sage will quickly absorb the butter, pull the pan before the fresh sage turns brown.  Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the frying pan with the brown butter, stirring to coat.

Pull the meat from the oven, plate the meat, veggies and pasta and serve with an Italian red wine.  I suggest a nice Ripasso.  Buon Appetito!!!

The morning coffee ritual

I could buy an electric coffee maker, or get an espresso machine like I have at home.  I'm not going to do that-yet. I've learned how to use a mokachino stove top Italian coffee maker. It's a little complicated, and if you don't pay close attention it makes a mess, but it makes really good coffee.

Step one- gather the parts of the pot and any other supplies.  I love the little steel milk warmers. 

You do have to use Italian coffee, everything else is ground too coarse. 

The coffee goes loosely into the filter basket. If you pack it, it will explode!  It's all about steam pressure. 

Get the flame just wrapping the bottom of the pot. I leave the lid open until the chamber is half full just so I am in control. I think I will eventually learn the noise it makes and won't have to do this anymore. The down side to the open lid is distraction. If I go off chasing a squirrel the coffee splutters out in every direction making a ginormous mess. As a veteran squirrel chaser, I know this all too well.  

When the pot gets to half full, lower the lid and turn off the gas.  The built up pressure will finish the pot.  Now to steam the milk. 

A teeny tiny flame is all you want. Unless you like milk skin in your coffee. (Gross).

About the time the coffee finishes, the milk will be warm. Now for the tricky part. Both pots will have hot handles. One potholder per hand. Pick up the coffee and the milk and our them together into your cup until your coffee reaches the color you like your coffee to be.

Now, this process takes about 15 min total. And it's a lot to ask of someone who hasn't had their coffee yet, but it's traditional and yummy. 

Shopping for groceries Italian style

Here is a story about my first night in Verona. We arrived at about 3:30 pm. Our friend Ivan picked us up and brought us to our apartment. He said he was going grocery shopping for his family at 5:30- did I want to go? He was going to the big grocery up the hill. I said sure and after he left we did our best to come up with a list. Here's what it looked like: a Walmart/Target super center. After work and before dinner so it was crowded. Ivan shows me how to read sale signs and weigh produce and we're off!!!!
Ever see the game show where you get an empty cart and have just so much time to fill it?! That was me! Racing up and down aisles trying to finish quickly not to be an inconvenience. At one point I was trying to turn a corner and my cart went sideways in a skid. I'm sure it was hilarious to the other shoppers! Plus I'm trying (haha) to read Italian labels and make good choices. In the end, my cart was overflowing. I had to hand carry two 6 packs of 1 liter bottles of water. I wish I had been with it enough to take a picture of that cart!
As exhausted as I was, I'm amazed I didn't miss more than I did on the list!

Everyday we walk down the hill or around the corner to get supplies.  The apartment kitchen is rather small and is set up for B&B traffic, not daily living so we needed a lot of things.  There are two grocery stores near by and down the hill there is a vegetable/fruit store and a bakery.  Most things we need for everyday can be bought in these four stores.  There is a "supermarket" about .5 miles away that we went to once and the big grocery store where I went with Ivan the first night.  I'm going to sign up online for delivery of groceries from the big store which will help a lot with the heavier items like bottled water, basics like pasta and hopefully canned cat food.
What we have not been able to find so far is Oatmeal.  Today we are heading to the fancy grocery in town- they have an international selection and I'm sure we will find it there.  We will also pay three prices for it....  Oh well, gotta have what you gotta have!

I went to three stores trying to find ice cube trays. Granted Europe is not famous for using ice, but the cocktail culture is creeping in. There is a cocktail bar now in Verona (you heard right A cocktail bar). So I figured ice isn't far behind.
Finally yesterday as I was unsuccessfully looking for Ziploc bags I found these! And they work! Whoopee!! In fact they are great, the ice stays sealed so it picks up no odors and you just cut off each cube as you need it!

One hour to drive 5 miles....The Italian travel visa adventure.

How hard could it be?  We discovered we need travel visas to live in Italy for 7 months.  There is a visa called Elective Resident, so we thought that would fit the needs of Robb's sabbatical.  Next we contacted our usual Visa Travel service and they inform us they can't issue visas for Italy.  We have to go "in person" to the Italian Consulate for our region which turns out to be Miami. 
This begins to resemble Dante's Inferno and all the different hells.
First we had to find the right link on the internet to get us to the Miami Consulate.  Then after several tries and emails back and forth with them because they do not answer the phone- ever, I finally get an appointment window from 9:00 am to 11:45.  They are open from 9:00 to noon so I'm not thinking this is a great step forward.  We fill out the most arcane form for the application.  It seems that this form of visa is primarily used for weddings, family reunions and mission work...none of which apply so we end up leaving half of it blank.

Next comes the drive to Miami from Jacksonville.  We reserve a hotel room 5 miles from the Consulate so we can be there early.  As we drive into Miami the traffic becomes incredibly dense.  We decide to go to the Consulate first to make sure we can find it the next morning.  We locate the building and find where we would park and then hit the GPS for the hotel.  We have to take surface streets, but it's only 5 miles away- should be about 15 minutes according to Google Maps.  Hahahahaha.....the longest 5 miles of our lives- it takes over an hour.  Good thing there was a bar at the hotel. 

Next morning, we head out and it takes 15 minutes to get to the Consulate.  in the morning light with no traffic it's almost pleasant.  Arriving 45 minutes early we end up in the first group to go up for our interview.  The first two people are picking up their passports with their new visa.  The guy in the office digs around in a huge white bin and fishes out their paperwork.  Now we are up.  We tell him what we are applying for and he takes our passports and checks the photos.  Then he explains he will quickly review our form and after that it will go into the queue to be analyzed and researched.  "When do you leave?" he asks.  We tell him and he says well....it could take up to three weeks..to process.  He then gives us back the forms and has us complete some sections under the family reunion part.  He tears everything into parts and staples things together.  He collects $250.10 and says "OK- you are done."  The whole thing takes about 10 minutes.  Now we have the 5 hour drive back home, but at least there is no real traffic. 

We get in the car and look at each other- 10 minutes?  All that driving and frustration.