March 8, 2011
To celebrate International Women’s Day, I’m giving away Treasures of Sicilian Cuisine.
To be eligible to win the book (published in Palermo and translated into English), just write a comment on this post or on one of my previous three posts between now and March 13. (I’ll randomly draw a name from a hat. You need to have an address in the U.S. or Canada.)
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I concocted the very last recipe in the book: almond semifreddo with chocolate sauce. Semifreddo is what I always order for dessert in Sicilian restaurants so I was leery of a homemade version, but indeedy it measured up and sweetened my mood.
 Below is the recipe; the adjustments I made are noted in italics. I actually ended up with 12 good-size ramekins of semifreddo, so unless you are feeding a tableful of Sicilian stallions, I’d recommend cutting the recipe in half.
Almond Semifreddo (Italian Soft Ice Cream), serves 8
12 oz shelled blanched almonds (I used less for a full batch, more like 8 oz)
2 cups whipped cream
1.5 cups fine sugar (I used less, knowing how teeth-achingly sweet Sicilian recipes can be)
4 eggs
7 oz dark chocolate
1 tbsp butter (I omitted this)
3 tbsp milk (I omitted this)
Salt
Pour 7 ounces (=1 cup, but I used a lot less) sugar in a saucepan with one (healthy) tablespoon of water and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the almonds and stir until the sugar coats the almonds. Put on a greased marble board (I used a plastic cutting board without grease and it worked fine) and separate the almonds and let them cool. Separate the eggs. Beat egg whites stiff with a pinch of salt. Beat egg yolks and remaining sugar (=1/2 cup–I used a little less) until smooth. Mince the almonds (I put ‘em in a plastic bag and smashed ‘em) and add to the eggs, keeping 4-5 tbsp aside for the decorations (I forgot so I added a few chopped walnuts on top instead). Combine the whipped cream and the egg mixtures. Pour into a mold or several little molds (I used ramekins) and keep in the freezer for at least 8 hours (I took them out after 4 hours). Dissolve the chocolate, in a bain marie, in the butter and a few tablespoons of milk and simmer until smooth (I skipped the bain marie part, as well as the butter and milk and just melted some good chocolate with a dab of water in a heavy enamel pan). Remove semifreddo from mold (I dunked the molds in a little hot water to help release it) and top with the hot melted chocolate and minced almonds.
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See my Ode to Sicilian Women here.
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February 8, 2010
Here’s an easy Sicily-inspired recipe for you, courtesy of Karen Covey, a Boston-based food blogger, recipe developer, and creator of Gourmet Recipes for One, a website featuring simple, healthy, luscious recipes focusing on cooking for 1.
 Karen Covey Why did you start your website?
Karen: Out of necessity. I was going through a divorce and I’d stopped cooking, something that I’ve loved to do since I was a child. The idea of cooking for myself didn’t seem as appealing as cooking for someone else, and paired with the emotional place I was in, I simply stopped cooking altogether. One day I woke up and realized I needed to start again, and so the idea for the website was born. It was really my way of creating recipes for myself and documenting them. I hope to publish a cookbook later this year.
You took a trip to Sicily recently. What impressed you the most about Sicilian food?
Karen: I went to Sicily last fall and absolutely fell in love with it. I was staying in a private villa surrounded by lemon and olive trees and it was simply magical. I loved experiencing the food culture: going to the markets every day to see what was fresh and trying all the local ingredients like pistachios, olive oil (my favorite), gelato and granita and capone (the local white fish I based this recipe on). Everything was so fresh and delicious.
The Recipe (1 serving)
Roasted Puttanesca Sauce
5 cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped capers, drained
5 pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon minced flat-leaf parsley
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Cooking spray, for greasing
6 ounces fresh white fish (cod, scrod or haddock)
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
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1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Place tomatoes and red onion on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally until vegetables are softened. Remove and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
3. Spray baking pan with cooking spray and add fish. Season fish with salt and pepper and bake for 10-12 minutes, until fish is firm and cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, chop tomatoes into smaller pieces and transfer tomatoes and red onion to a medium bowl. Add garlic, vinegar, capers, olives and parsley and toss together to combine.
5. Transfer fish to a serving plate and top with sauce. Serve warm.
***Enjoy!***
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January 8, 2010
This sunny isle bursts with lemons. They roll around the streets with abandon, and nobody even bothers to pick them up (except me, that is—I perfume my house with big bowlfuls of ’em).
So it’s no surprise that Sicilian kitchens are redolent of lemon. Islanders are either marinating fish in lemon, squeezing a big fat lemon over a salad or just-roasted pork, or whipping up a batch of lemon gelo or granita.
I’ve slightly adapted this recipe for lemon chicken from Giovanna Bellia La Marca’s Sicilian Feasts (Felice’s Lemon Chicken), full of great old Sicilian recipes. This one’s easy, but you have to think ahead for the salt-water soaking and the marinade.
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut into pieces (free-range/organic is best)
1/8 cup coarse salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, crushed and skin removed
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, thinly sliced
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1. Pre-soak the chicken in water to cover and the coarse salt for 30 minutes. Rinse well, dry with paper towels, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, make the marinade: place the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper in a jar or bowl with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously to blend.
3. Place a layer of the chicken pieces in a glass bowl, spoon the marinade on top, and continue until all the chicken is used up. Pour leftover marinade on top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Remove the chicken from the marinade, place it on a rack in a roasting pan, and bake for 1 and 1/4 hours or until browned. Brush the chicken with the marinade as it bakes.
5. Now this is where I simplify. Giovanna adds the remaining marinade to the pan juices after the chicken is done. Then she puts the pan on two burners, adds the lemon slices, and simmers for 3 minutes, finishing the sauce off by adding a cup of water, stirring, bringing it back to the boil, and pouring it over the chicken. I, being a Lazy Bum (un barbone pigra), use up all the marinade as the chicken bakes, and then just pour whatever sauce has accumulated in the pan directly over the chicken. (I have also been known to not bother using a rack at all, and to just bake the chicken pieces directly in a glass or a roasting pan.)
6. Serve hot or at room temp, garnished with lemon slices.
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Oct 27, 2010
Here’s a good chilly-weather recipe. It takes only minutes to prepare (plus an hour in the oven). Light a crackling fire, pour a tumbler of wine, and cozy up.
The recipe comes from Giovanna Bellia La Marca’s Sicilian Feasts, chock-full of simple home-style recipes. This one may remind you of something from Northern Italy or Bavaria, but I can vouch that baked sausage and potatoes is a very typical dish in southeast Sicily.
Ingredients (for 6-8)
2 pounds Italian hot or sweet sausage, or a combination
6 baking potatoes cut in wedges (I used fingerlings instead)
2 bell peppers (red or yellow) cut in wedges
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
sprinkle of dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
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Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Separate the sausage links. Place the sausages, potatoes, and peppers in a large baking pan. Add the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Bake for an hour, stirring the contents of the pan twice during baking to be sure nothing sticks to the pan. Serve with a good crusty bread.
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September 13, 2010
September mornings are fresh as white sheets snapping on the line. I take long walks up and down stony, ringing steps.
Branches drip with overripe figs. I lean over derelict garden walls and push my arm through tangled vegetation to get at them, then bite into the crunchy redness like you’d suck a juicy orange wedge.
A confession: I didn’t really know a fig from a kumquat until a few years ago (only those gluey Fig Newton atrocities that turned up with some regularity in my school lunchbox). But I love them now. They’re high in fiber and potassium (which will bring your blood pressure down).
Go get figgy, folks! Tis the season. Pair them with a dollop of lush goat cheese and drizzle a blossomy honey on top. Oh, what a nice sticky mess.
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Here are links to other fresh fig recipes from the New York Times:
Fig tart with caramelized onions
Braised chicken with figs
Grilled figs
What’s your favorite way to eat figs?
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