Pane al formaggio (Cheese bread)

I found myself with a half bag of mixed grated Gruyere and Swiss cheeses. I remembered a recipe I had seen in "From the Art of the Medicis to the Tables of Today" (Carla Geri Camporesi and Barbara Golini, Maria Pacini Fazzi Editore).  I used Pane al formaggio/Cheese bread on page 17.

This cheese bread was easy and tasty, with the texture of a light cake. Next time I'd try using a muffin tin to make individual rolls.

Cheese Bread

2 1/2 t yeast granules
360 g (3 C) flour
150 g ( 5 oz) Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana cheese, grated
150 g ( 5 oz) Gruyere cheese, grated
3 eggs, beaten
150 g butter, melted
1/3 C milk

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk and wait until bubbles begin to form.

On a pastry board, place the flour and form a well in the center of the flour.

Pour yeast/milk mixture into the flour well.  Mix and knead in the butter, eggs and the finely grated cheeses.  Knead well and put into a well buttered cake tin, lined with parchment paper.  (The dough will be sticky.)

Let rise for two hours.

Bake in preheated oven 320 F (160 C) for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

May add olives, nuts or crumbled sausage to the dough.

Gnocchi di zucca (Butternut squash gnocchi)

This is the last recipe I've marked to try for this Italian cookbook. The measurements seemed at first glance to be ok. 

I made only half a recipe. Using a full sized squash would have made eight dozen!

The recipe had been translated to pumpkin gnocchi, but I decided to go with the word squash, which is more accurate. Even the picture accompanying this recipe shows squash.

I tracked down the current location of the painting "Grapes and Pumpkin" which was formerly in storage in the Palazzo Pitti in Firenze but now on display at the Museo della Natura Morta. (Still Life Museum) at Poggio a Caiano, a former Medici family villa. 

http://www.alinariarchives.it/internal/?photocode=SEA-F-000332-0000&languageID=en

I cooked the squash yesterday and stored it still peeled in the fridge overnight. It took about one hour today to make 4 dozen gnocchi.  

I served myself two platefuls: one with browned butter sage as suggested in the recipe and the second with gorgonzola-butter sauce, as I normally would eat potato gnocchi in Italy.

I found I had cut the first batch of gnocchi into pieces which were too large.    

I cut all the remaining gnocchi in half. I will freeze them (uncooked) in a freezer bag. 

I preferred the gnocchi with the gorgonzola sauce. For dessert I had a fresh pear.
 

I would make these again, but only served with the gorgonzola sauce. Very yummy. It seemed like I was eating gnocchi in Italy. 

Gnocchi di zucca (Squash Gnocchi)

1/2 pound (226g) fresh butternut squash

1 C (124 g) white flour, sifted 

1/2 beaten egg 

Nutmeg, several pinches

Butter 

Gorgonzola cheese

Cut the squash into segments, scrapping out seeds and fiber. 

Place squash, skin side down in an oven proof dish. Cook for one hour at 350 F or until tender. 

Let the squash cool. Remove peel. Pass pulp through food mill. (Approx. 141 g of pulp). 

If purée is too watery, let it dry out on the stove. 

Add egg, nutmeg and most of flour to pulp. Put the mixture on a pastry board and knead into a smooth dough, working in the rest of the flour. Only add enough flour to allow handling of the dough. 

Hint from Letizia Mattiacci (Madonna del Piatto): only add enough flour to hold the dough together. Test cook several gnocchi. If they don't fall apart, you've added enough flour.

Cut dough into thirds and roll one third  at a time into a long rope. Cut into small pieces. If desired, roll along the tongs of a fork to make ridges. 

Place pieces onto parchment paper and dust with flour. 

Bring a generous amount of water to boil in a saucepan. Salt water. When the gnocchi float to the surface, let them cook a additional 30 seconds. With slotted spoon remove to a pan containing gorgonzola melted with butter.  Toss gently and serve in pasta bowls. 

May freeze uncooked gnocchi. 

Gratin di pere e mandorle (Baked pears and almonds)

The recipe as printed had a huge error. In the end, the dessert did turn out nicely. The recipe called for 500 grams of ground almonds. I corrected it to 50 grams. Also I would serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or gelato. 

Gratin di pere e mandorle (Baked pears and almonds)

2 small William pears

1 vanilla pod or 1/2 t vanilla 

1 stick of cinnamon

2 cloves 

50 g almond meal

30 g sliced almonds

2 T honey

50 g butter 

1 egg

Wash pears and cut on half. Remove cores. In a saucepan, bring water (enough to cover pears) cinnamon, cloves and vanilla to a boil. Add pears and gently simmer on very low heat for 5 minutes or until tender. 

Melt butter and add to almond meal. Beat in egg and honey.  Butter a baking dish and spread in the paste of almonds. 

Strain the pears out of the liquid and place pear halves onto almond paste. 

Top with slivered almonds and a spoonful of sugar. 

Bake 350 for 20 minutes. 

Scorzette di arancia al cioccolato (Orange peel with chocolate)

Tonight I can finish making Scorzette di arancia al cioccolato (Orange peel with chocolate) pg 91.

Orange peels from two large oranges have been soaking for three days. 

Cooled down, they are gorgeous.  I'm watching my weight, so I will not be dipping them in chocolate.   They are delicious plain. I worried I had left too much white on the peel. These are just right. 

I would use half the called for sugar next time. 

Scorzette di arancia al cioccolato (Orange peel with chocolate)

2 or 3 organic oranges, washed thoroughly

Sugar

Plain chocolate

Peel the oranges, discarding all the white pith. Soak the peel in cold water (in the fridge), for three days, changing the water twice each day. 

At the end of this time, cut into strips and boil the peel in one half liter of water for 15 minutes. 

Weigh the strips, then add an equal amount of sugar. Add just enough water to dissolve the sugar. 

Cook until the sugar turns white around the peel. Stir every few minutes. 

Turn the peel out onto parchment paper, keeping the pieces well separated from each other. 

When cool, drip each piece into melted chocolate, which should not bee too hot. Spread them out again on parchment paper. 

Will keep well if stored in an airtight container. 

Tortino di pere (Pears in batter tart)

It's Saturday morning and I've made Tortino di pere (Pears in batter tart) on page 99 of  'From the Art of the Medicis to the Tables of Today.'

I've read through the entire 129 page book, which was translated from Italian to English. I wish I had the original in Italian. I've noticed some ingredients mentioned in the text which were not listed. My trust level has dropped a bit.

This morning I was a little worried about this recipe which called for a tablespoon of sugar for the batter. Then, one tablespoon of butter seemed to be only for buttering the pan, but it was not clearly stated. 

So I went on-line and checked for a similar recipe in Italian.
 

Torta di Pere

I notice she's added more spices to a recipe which seems almost identical to the one I'm using. I decided to follow the book recipe exactly. 

I was surprised! It looked a little pale when I removed it from the oven. The sprinkle of powdered sugar dressed it up perfectly. 

This is a nice delicate custard. Not too sweet. I ate a piece warm out of the oven, as suggested. Tonight I'll try it cold from the frig.

The generous butter was definitely for greasing the pan.

Tortino di pere (Pears in batter tart)

4-5 Kaiser pears (600g)
250 g  (1 cup) milk
2 large eggs
80 g (3/4 c) flour
1 T sugar
1/8 t. vanilla
15 g (1 T) butter, for greasing the pan
Powdered sugar

Use whip to mix eggs, flour, sugar and milk into a smooth batter.
Generously butter and then flour a 24 cm oven dish (9 inches).
Peel and core the pears.  Cut them into segments and arrange them in a tightly packed circle in the buttered pan.
Pour the batter over the pears.
Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 50 minutes.  Test for doneness with a toothpick.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Serve lukewarm or cold.
 

Peasant or Stingray?

How could I have thought to discard this book from my library? That's actually why I chose this cookbook first.  It was in giveaway stack. 

It has been difficult to chose three more recipes to try. Some call for exotic ingredients like stingray or peasant. I also have to pass over the cardoon, pigeons and thrushes. 

My choices are:

Tortino di pere (Pears in batter tart) pg 99

Gratin di pere e mandorle (Baked pears and almonds) pg 84

Scorzette di arancia al cioccolato (Orange peel with chocolate) pg 91

Cavolfiore aromatico (Aromatic cauliflower) pg 26

Gnocchi di zucca (Pumpkin gnocchi) pg 51 

Cavolfiore aromatico (Aromatic cauliflower)

Using "From the Art of the Medicis to the Tables of Today," on Monday for dinner I made:

Cavolfiore aromatico (Aromatic cauliflower)

This is meant to be served as an accompaniment to boiled meats or roast. It was good but spicey hot! Too hot to serve to guests. It might be best to leave that chili whole. I used a dried red Tuscan chili. 

1 cauliflower

2 T finely chopped rosemary

2 whole cloves garlic, peeled

1 small red chili pepper, cut into very small pieces

3 T olive oil

3 T tomato purée 

1/4 C water 

Divide up the cauliflower tips, wash and rinse well. Do not dry them. 

Put the cauliflower into a cool saucepan with the oil, garlic, rosemary and chili. 

Brown for 10 minutes. Add the tomato purée, diluted with the water. 

Continue cooking for 20 minutes. Discard garlic cloves before serving. 

Italian Cookbooks Cooking Project 2014 -- Book 1

I'm in the process of organizing my books. In my bookshelves, Italian cookbooks have gotten mixed in with Italian novels and grammar books. I love bookstores in Italy and have frequent buyer cards in both Edison and Feltrinelli. With each trip and as my Italian improves, I add to my book collection.  

 

I've gotten disorganized in the past two years. I can feel the fog of mourning lifting a bit. 

I always carry an Italian language novel in my purse. In my work bag, I bring along a grammar book. I've decided I need to also focus on the cookbooks. I have an idea to pick a cookbook and put it aside for a two weeks, browse it cover to cover and try four interesting recipes. I don't believe it's an overly ambitious goal.  

To start, I've chosen "From the Art of the Medicis to the Tables of Today," a book published in Lucca (http://www.italbooks.com) (1999) and translated into English in 2001. The contains a series of Tuscan recipes which have been matched or inspired by still life paintings. 

~~~.~~~

From:  http://www.eyeitalia.com/

This volume is a creative interplay of art and cooking, placing 46 gorgeous, full-color reproductions of still life art from the Medici collections beside the authentic Tuscan recipes which they inspire. For example, near Bartolomeo Bimbi's picture of "Plums" we find the recipe for Petto di Tacchino Farcito alle Prugne (Turkey Breast with Prune Stuffing), and beside Giovanna Garzoni's "Plate with Cherries" we find the recipe for Torta di Ciliegie (Cherry Tart). This beautiful book contains 128 recipes, including Antipasti, First Courses, Main Courses, Side Dishes and Vegetables, Desserts, Sauces, and Preserves and Jams. Whether your taste runs to game dishes or seafood, or pasta to soup, this unique cookbook has something to please every palate. Authors Carla Geri Camporesi and Barbara Golini - both native Tuscans - combine their shared passions for gastronomy and art in this elegant and unique collection. A perfect gift for the Italian cook - an EyeItalia exclusive.