Wishing everyone a wonderful and inspirational 2013! Am currently back in my home state of Florida but soon enough we will be off to “The Big Apple!” The highlight of 2012 was giving birth to our son Julian Nicholas, who was born in Turin, Italy last June. He has dual citizenship; what a lucky guy he is! I would like to thank everyone who has been following my blog the past few years. My next adventure, at least for now, will take place in NYC. Buon appetito!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 9,200 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 15 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

In Turin it can be a challenge to find sweet potatoes. Enrica tells me that in southern Italy, this kind of potato is very common. Turns out, sweet potatoes originate from Central and South America and they were brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus. Whereas the yam is said to have originated in Africa and Asia. The recipe for sweet potato pie goes back centuries, to the African slave trade. Blacks in America adapted their recipes from Africa using ingredients that were found in the “New World” of the south. Hence, sweet potatoes were substituted for yams and to this day, the same still holds true in Southern cooking.

Here in Turin, one can find patata dolce which literally means sweet potato. However, this is a completely different type of potato, similar to boniato, a tropical sweet potato or Cuban sweet potato. With that said, the only place I could find sweet potatoes/yams is just outside Porta Palazzo, the international open market of Turin.

My favorite recipe for sweet potato pie comes from O, The Oprah Magazine. I discovered it while I was searching for a special dessert recipe for Thanksgiving. The recipe is from Govind Armstrong who is an American chef with restaurants in Los Angeles and Miami. Years later, while studying at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary College in Miami I had the responsibility of organizing a fundraiser for Team Excellence, a competition team led by Chef Rami Cohen and Chef Morgan Nims during the Thanksgiving holidays. I chose this very same recipe for the fundraiser and was in charge of kitchen production for approximately 100 pies. The odds were against us in many ways. First off, we had to share a kitchen with another baking and pastry class during production time. Various members of the team worked diligently on production but I remained at school that day until 1 am along with 2 other colleagues, Brittney and Ricky. Yes, in the end there were only 3 of us working feverishly to finish while others had left hours earlier to work the night shift in various restaurants around town. But for those of us who work or have worked in the culinary field, the saying “make it happen” is what we stand by solidly and with whole-hearted integrity. In the end, we succeeded and then some!

Months later, while I was volunteering for one of Paradise Farms’ Dinner in Paradise series in Homestead, Florida, I had the honor of assisting with plating a meal that was presented by none other than Chef Govind Armstrong himself!! At the end of the dinner I had a chance to speak with him one and one and told him about the challenges I faced using his recipe for a pie fundraiser.  He chuckled, gave me a very welcoming smile and then gave me one of those priceless looks as if to say, “Not bad at all!”

Here is a link for Govind Armstrong’s recipe taken from the November 2004 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. Tips: If you are unable to find maple extract, use maple syrup. It’s okay to leave out the dark corn syrup but be certain to use organic oranges for the zest. Also, I added the pecan mixture on top of the sweet potato mixture before placing it in the oven.

For the pie crust, I used my all-time favorite recipe which is from the book Local Flavors by Deborah Madison, whom I met while participating at Slow Food Nation in San Francisco in 2008. Tip: Instead of using a food processor to make the dough one can use a pastry cutter. Make the dough ahead of time and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

If you would like to explore the above mentioned recipes in Italian, please visit Cervellifuori. Buon appetito!

Photos courtesy of Enrica Crivello.

Lago d’Orta is in the northern part of Piedmont, tucked inside the charming village of Orta San Giulio. This gem of a place is less than a two-hour drive from Turin and is the perfect romantic get-a-way where one can wander cobblestone streets, find treasures in Romanesque and Baroque architecture and bask in tranquility.

There were many cafes and restaurants to choose from in the town center. However, we knew that we would find some difficulty in finding a restaurant where the kitchen would still open at 2:40 pm, for most kitchens close at 2:30 pm. Denis explained to me that in Italy, generally speaking, when a pregnant woman presents herself at a restaurant the owners generally go out of their way to appease her. Well, two kitchens had already closed for the lunch shift but luckily we did find a hospitable outdoor cafe to have a simple yet memorable lunch.

The town square boasts a spectacular view of the lake and one needs to be patient in order to find a bench to sit on while tourists come to take a tour of  Isola San Giulio. In the town square I found a wonderful textile shop called Penelope that sells hand-made linens produced by Bertozzi. Bertozzi uses wood from pear trees to make the stamps which are hand pressed on luxurious fabrics. Bertozzi is known for implementing environmentally friendly techniques all the while ensuring quality and craftsmanship.

Nestled in Orta San Giulio, there is Villa Crespi. Cristoforo Benigno Crespi, a cotton merchant who traveled frequently to Baghdad, built this extraordinary villa in 1879. Today, Villa Crespi is a 4-star hotel with a 2-star awarded Michelin restaurant on the premises. We admired the villa from afar which to me seemed like a castle of dreams.

I enjoyed the scenery so much during our drive out of Orta San Giulio. Even though this village is north of Turin there were flowers in bloom most everywhere and what seemed like endless rows of tree foliage.

All photos courtesy of Denis.

Orta San Giulio with Lake Orta in the background

A bookstore under the fresco

Town Hall Garden

It couldn’t have worked out any better for me. My cousin lives in the 13th or Heitzing district and it turns out it is the district with the most greenery. My journey began with a stop in a local chocolate shop and then it was on to Schönbrunn (“beautiful spring”) Palace.

Schönbrunn Palace

I must have walked around for hours that afternoon, including a hike up the hill on the southern part of the palace so I could get an overview of the grounds. On my way back down I took the wooded path to relax in the shade a bit. It goes without saying that I worked up a huge appetite, with pictures to prove it!

About a 15-minute walk back toward Anna’s apartment I stumbled upon a biergarten or beer garden. I honestly can’t remember the name of the restaurant but instead will try to highlight some of my favorites of Austrian cuisine. Tafelspitz is a boiled meat dish. Thinly sliced meat is cooked gently in a beef broth with vegetables.

For a perfect pairing I opted for rösti, (crisp, potato pancake) served with apfelkren  (a sauce of apples and horseradish) and some sort of tomato-based mayonnaise.

And to finish my meal, kaiserschmarrn, the ultimate comfort food. In Austrian-German kaiser means “emperor” where as schmarrn has many definitions such as “mishmash, crumbs, rubbish or nonsense.” It’s basically a buttery pancake batter that is fried resulting in tiny, crispy puffs of delight served with powdered sugar and a fruit sauce such as apples and raisins or in this case plums.

To finish my meal I decided to have a Viennese coffee or melange at Cafe Dommayer. A melange is similar to a cappuccino but the coffee base is milder in comparison. Cafe Dommayer is famous for its cakes, pastries and it’s where we all had brunch together, literally only a couple of hours after the party ended from the night before. Ciao Vienna, until the next time!

The tomatoes are peeled, sliced and seeded. When they are left to dry in the sun, they are dried along with the addition of olive oil. This helps to naturally keep the tomatoes moist. After 3/4 days they are then finely diced or when made in large quantities they are put through a meat grinder.

To understand a part of Turin‘s history and culture, one must know that back in the 50s and 60s there was a huge influx of “immigrants” that arrived in Turin from Sicily, my husband’s family included. In fact, Sicilians arrived in Turin with the hope of finding work and a better way of life. Denis was born in Turin and remembers very well when he invited some of his friends from school over for dinner one night. His mom made pasta alla Norma, a typical Sicilian dish from Catania with fried eggplant, tomato sauce and ricotta salata, or salted ricotta. To his mom’s surprise Denis’ friends who were from Turin had never even heard of the dish!

If you love the flavor of sun-dried tomatoes as much as I do, here’s a recipe for spaghetti col capuliato. If you would like to read the recipe in Italian, click on Rosita’s blog: Questo mondo è una zuppa. 

Linguine con capuliato

And so when Enrica asked me to put some recipes together for her next blog post featuring recipes from foreigners in Italy, I thought that soul food cuisine would be the perfect match. Soul food is nowhere to be found here in Turin; that is, unless you happen to be a guest in our home! After Enrica and I finished our cooking set, some friends were invited over to partake in my culinary adventure. Soul food can tend to be a bit on the heavy side for those not used to it but Piedmont’s cuisine is also quite heavy in comparison with other regions in Italy.

The first stop on my soul food voyage brought me to buttermilk-fried chicken. There are lots of traditional recipes out there, but this one (http://norecipes.com/blog/best-buttermilk-fried-chicken-recipe/) appealed to me the most. One needs to plan ahead when preparing this dish.

Tips:

• If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, not to worry. For every cup of buttermilk needed, measure one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar and place into a measuring cup. Add enough milk to equal one cup and let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. When the milk has curdled, it’s ready to use for the marinade.
• The chicken should be marinated in a non-reactive container, such as glass, overnight.
• I adapted the recipe to suit my taste and because some ingredients simply aren’t available here. Meaning, I didn’t use any celery seed or onion powder and used fresh rosemary rather than dried.
• For frying, I used an iron-skillet (cast-iron is difficult to find here in Turin) because it evenly maintains heat. For those who haven’t worked with an iron-skillet before, here’s a word of caution: the handle also conducts heat very well so resist the temptation to touch it with your bare hands.
• To fry the chicken, I used a mixture of peanut and grape seed oils and brought the temperature up to 350°F before placing the chicken in the skillet, skin side down.
• Cook the chicken until done and one can finish the cooking process in the oven if the pieces are on the thick side.
• To serve the chicken, add a drizzle of honey on top!

If you are interested in brushing up on your Italian, here is Enrica’s Italian version. All photos are courtesy of Enrica Crivello.

The marinade

Prepping the flour

Double-coated and resting...

Into the iron skillet they go...

And so, a few days before Valentine’s Day, Denis surprised me with a fabulous idea: a day trip to Florence! Tren Italia was offering  a special: 2 tickets for the price of 1 on their high speed train.  This meant it would only take three hours to arrive in Florence from Turin. How could we possibly pass this up?

It was a gloriously crisp, winter day in Florence and unlike Turin, snow was nowhere to be found! Our first stop was The Duomo  and then it was Uffizi, which is one of the most famous museums in all of Italy. While we walked along the outer corridor of the museum Denis posed to take a picture with Niccolò Macchiavelli and I took one with Amerigo Vespucci, whom the Americas were named after.

At Uffizi with Amerigo Vespucci

One can walk practically all of Florence and so by this time we were ready for lunch. When Denis asked me to pick a place for lunch I knew right away where I wanted to go. Years ago, a former neighbor/chef  recommended Sasso di Dante. It’s a small restaurant so making a reservation is a must. Sasso means stone in Italian and it lies just next to The Duomo in the Piazza delle Pallottole. It is said that the great poet Dante used to go there to relax and watch the construction of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore or the Cathedral of Saint Mary’s Flower.

Sasso di Dante is the perfect non-touristy restaurant in Florence and then some! The food is outstanding, seasonal in typical Florentine fare and the price is exceptional for the value. I ordered their tagliata di maiale di cinta senese con cavolo nero e mela. Cinta senese is a special breed of pork that comes from Siena in the southern part of Tuscany. This particular type of meat makes for some good eats. The pork was cooked to perfection: crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. It came with due contorni or two sides; sauteed kale and apples.

Tagliata di maiale di Cinta Senese

Denis ordered the maltagliati alla chiantigiana. Maltagliati (mal-tahl-YAH-ti) in Italian refers to the shape of the pasta, almost like a free- form pasta which consists of thick strands that are cut in a random fashion. Braised slices of beef were cooked in a delectable red wine (chianti) sauce and the combination was simply devine!

Maltagliati alla Chiantigiana

Sasso di Dante, Piazza della Pallottole, 6r,             telephone: 055 282133

Jersey calf from Fontanacervo. Photo courtesy of Enrica Crivello

Friesian cattle at Fontanacervo, courtesy of Enrica Crivello

Fontanacervo has two breeds of cattle: Jersey which originate from Normandy, France and Friesian which originate from Denmark. The combination of these produce a rich and high-quality milk. I was immediately taken with amount of curiosity the cows demonstrated, even by the youngest of them. Enrica’s father explained to us that one can see a part of the well-being of a cow by looking into its eyes. They seemed very contented and were quite social with us. In fact, one of them (number 863 to be exact!) seemed particularly interested in Denis. She kept nudging him with her nose.

One can see the amount of care that is given to these wonderful animals to insure a tranquil life style. Any sudden or fast movements can scare the animals and for this reason the farm dogs aren’t allowed anywhere near the stalls.

Some breeds are highly susceptible to warm weather and fare better in colder climates. In January, their winter coats are nice and thick, whereas during the summer months their coats will become more compact and shiny. The cows are milked in a separate area to maintain quality control and are well-rested in between milkings; this is one of the many differences between industrial dairies and small dairy producers.

Fontanacervo not only produces artisan milk but also butter, a variety of cheeses, fresh cream, desserts and yogurt without any additives, artificial coloring or preservatives. I am a huge fan of all of their products including the gianduja cream, (made from chocolate, Piedmont hazelnuts and local honey) ricotta, (so delicately light and sweet) and the stracchino which is a semi-soft cheese made from whole cow milk.

So where can you find these quality products in Turin? Their products are sold at Eataly, M**Bun, (menu features Fontanacervo products; then you can pick up a liter of milk after your meal) and in various dairy shops around town. Or, you can buy them directly from their farm shop open Monday through Saturday, 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Cascina Fontanacervo

Via Poirino 7, Villastellone (TO).

Telephone: 011 9619295

Email: info@fontanacervo.it

Courtesy of Enrica Crivello

Villastellone with Monviso in the distance…

But before I divulge the recipe, I want to share the fact that when Enrica arrived at our place, we had a carton of milk on the table from Cascina Fontanacervo, a small dairy producer in Villastellone. Denis, my husband, had turned me on to the milk during one of our market trips to Eataly many months ago. Enrica immediately took notice and informed us that her family produces this very same milk! I was amazed and kindly asked if it would be possible to visit their dairy. A week later, we graciously accepted the opportunity to visit their farm for a chat and to meet the most curious and gentlest of dairy cows. The article will follow shortly.

Thank you to Enrica for giving me the opportunity to share one of my favorite recipes that has a personal twist.

If you would like to read Enrica’s post regarding my recipe, in Italian,  or if you are an expat in Turin and would like to participate in Enrica’s column please click here:  Cervelli fuori.

My suggestion is to take the time to roast the bananas in their skins. The roasting process heightens their flavor.

BANANA BREAD

Ingredients:

2 cups A/P flour, preferably unbleached

1 ½ teaspoon Baking soda

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup Raw cane sugar

4 Overripe bananas, roasted and cooled

¾ cup Unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 Large eggs

1 Vanilla bean, seeded

1 teaspoon Fresh espresso, cooled or coffee liquor

½ cup Pecans, finely chopped

1 teaspoon Cocoa powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine and whisk flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Remove banana pulp from their stalks and place in a medium-size bowl. Blend together with a whisk and then add sugar. Whisk until mixture becomes light and creamy-like. Add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla bean seeds and espresso. Whisk well and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gently fold in the dry ingredients. Place the chopped pecans in a small bowl and add the cocoa powder. Stir to evenly distribute the cocoa powder over the pecans and then fold them into the banana bread mixture. Pour the batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Smooth the surface and then rap against the counter to remove any air bubbles.

Bake for about an hour or until just done. To ensure even browning, rotate the pan halfway through baking. When finished baking, remove the bread from the oven and cool for approximately 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Hint: left-over banana bread makes a wonderful base for French toast!

Photo courtesy of Enrica Crivello

Photo courtesy of Enrica Crivello