We’re on our way to Poland, via Firenze and Roma. We arrived in our overnight accommodation in Ciampino at 5pm, dumped the luggage and went back to see if we could see at least a tiny bit of Rome this evening. We did! We went towards Fontana di Trevi, very much enjoyed what we saw and then, when ready to eat, we sat in one of the touristy places and had- what else- cacio e pepe. With a good bottle of wine, which was needed after Elisabetta wrote that the offer we made on The House has been accepted (!!!).
Huge portions of pasta, I had not managed all of mine, but I was also helping Izzie with her very, very tasty margherita. Somehow after nearly 5 months in Italy this was my first ever plate of cacio e pepe. Very good indeed, almost too intense with pecorino romano and lots of freshly ground pepper, but it was very much enjoyed and the moods were excellent throughout the evening. Now off to Bozenka’s for 5 days of wonderful food!
After 3 months of living at Via di Poggio we decided it was time to resume our social life and get some nice people over for dinner. No one better than Laura, our Italian teacher, a fellow foodie and wine fan and her man Dennis we only met for the first time. In terms of food I decided not to cook Italian food for the Italians, I went with what I know and I can do well ( with limited ingredients, I realized I won’t do ponzu dressing for duck tataki, as I have no rice vinegar, but Chief Masaki came to the rescue again via messenger and told me to skip the vinegar altogether and use soy sauce, lemon juice and some honey, I did and it worked a treat, no surprise!).
So we started with prawn toasts, Marion’s, but simplified, again. On a thinly sliced baguette out of Conad I have thickly spread the blitzed mixture of king prawns, fresh chili, some coriander, spring onions, garlic, all well seasoned with salt and sesame oil( no fish sauce in my pantry currently). This sprinkled with black sesame seeds was then quickly deep fried, prawn side down first and then drained on kitchen towel and finished off with a drizzle of sweet chili sauce. I’m keeping this recipe, not a piece was left! Photos are by Dennis, skilled cook himself I hear.
After that the mentioned duck tataki, followed by char siu pork with basmati rice and broccoli. For dessert creme brulee, not caramelised due to no gas in the blow torch situation, but roasted plums did the job instead.
3 bottles of wine completed the picture alongside some mature cheddar Floro brought from England and a piece of comte.
One of the best ones I’ve ever made. Everything eaten, to the last grain of rice, all the Bankses were fed and happy.
Before Laura came over today for another productive Italian lesson, I had roasted my pumpkin with some olive oil and a some red onion for sweetness. I mentioned to her that I was looking for some Asian ingredients and condiments( that’s following a chat with Steve) and she directed me to a place in Lucca, where I could find some. So right after school we went home longer way, found a small Asian place and I bought a few things they have never heard of in my favourite Esselunga. I’m dying for some Chinese food, for some spice and some kick and tomorrow I’ll be making some char siu pork.
This evening however we had risotto. All the usual procedures while making a good risotto, good chicken stock, good Umbrian vermentino, excellent parmesan and that roasted pumpkin puree, which I kept adding every time I added more stock. I’m still in awe of guanciale ( sometimes we are low on milk, but there is always a pack of guanciale in the fridge), so I topped my risotto with some of this crispy, wonderful pork and pinoli, for texture. Very pleased with it. Also excited, as last time I made bao buns was a very long time ago. 🙂
As much as I love Italian food, every now and then I feel the urge to get my soy sauce out and my shaoxing vinegar and the long grain rice, dig up some ginger and make something Asian. This evening’s dinner was Marion’s recipe again, however I didn’t love it as much as I normally do anything she puts on youtube. The chicken was lovely, will double up the garlic next time though, the sauce definitely needs work.
One large chicken breast was chopped into quite small pieces and gently marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, a grated clove of garlic, some salt and an egg white. Set that aside and prepared the sauce- some chicken stock, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, all combined and gently reduced on the stove, then finished with some cornflour mixed with water, but not until the chicken was tossed in flour, liberally and then deep fried. My rice was ready, the sauce was reduced but when I tasted it I decided I will make it my way next time and add some fresh ginger to wake it up a bit. I also added some green beans and a red pepper for colour and nutrition. A good sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.
The dessert came from Gelateria Veneta, we picked it up on the way home after a 9km bike ride along the walls this afternoon. A tiramisu for us and a creamy, strawberry number for Izzie. Tiramisu had no booze in it, regretfully, but I also tried ( for science and research, naturally!) some of their gelato made of pine nuts, surprisingly delicious, but also peach, which was super fresh and yummy.
It’s been too long since our last risotto, so I bought a piece of pumpkin this morning ( what a lovely idea that you can buy them in pieces) and made us a lovely, creamy risotto this evening. I might have chucked in a few ingredients too many ( a handful of sweet peas for Izzie and 2 girolle mushrooms for the balance, I didn’t want it too sweet), but I took my time and it was worth it.
Started with roasting off the zucca, alongside a shallot and a few garlic cloves, while repotting a few plants. Then, for the risotto I first opened a bottle of white Santa Cristina and poured myself a lovely, chilled glass. Chopped a shallot, those girolles and sauteed them. 200g of arborio rice in, then, after a few minutes, a glug of wine in. Usual procedure, some wine, some chicken stock, I kept adding that roasted zucca and shallots, then the peas. Once I was happy with the texture, grated parmesan went in, a small knob of butter and we were ready to eat. Pumpkin soup next, sometime soon. 🙂
I ran back to that small grocery store this morning and sure enough- they had some lovely mushrooms for me. Not cheap, not cheap at all, but hey, I was deprived of this pleasure for 20 years while living in the UK, plus I won’t be buying them every day. I bought 6 large lovely ‘shrooms, one went to the freezer, 2 sliced up and dried on the windowsill, one made us a small bruschetta for lunch and 2 were turned into the most wonderful sauce in the evening, to accompany gnocchi.
For bruschetta I simply panfried a small chopped shallot, added thinly sliced mushrooms, generously seasoned with salt and black pepper and when on the bread, sprinkled some of that lovely fresh thyme I got given in the shop. An absolute delight.
In the evening I took a bit more time with the sauce, I’ve been wanting to do this for months. Chopped shallot, some garlic, butter, mushrooms. Chicken stock, lots of seasoning. Some fresh cream. Once cooked down, gently blitzed in, so that the texture was soother, thyme and gnocchi in.
Izzie kindly gave it 8,5 out of 10, for me it was a knockout.
Quite simply! What my mum grows in her small greenhouse on her allotment is also a force to be reckoned with, but the abundance of tomatoes I have here makes me very, very happy indeed. I took my time in Esselunga and had a good look at what Mutti have to offer to the lucky Italians and found this –
Wonderfully sweet datterini tomatoes that make a sauce out this world.
While in Garfagnana we had a supper of Conad’s lasagne with veal ( wow!), which then inspired me to run back for some minced veal to make ragu. They had none minced, sadly, so I ended up getting 4 small veal burgers and made my usual ragu, but- with fresh tomatoes and those datterini. Exceptional and will be made again very soon.
Ron has booked his tickets for early November, with lasagne being his most favourite thing to eat, I do wonder if he will love the veal version too.
Now it’s September and I’m looking out for fresh porcini mushrooms. First thing I’ll do when I get some will be mushroom sauce with some gnocchi, some porcini will be dried, a few will be frozen. The chap in a grocery shop in Via Santa Croce told me to come back tomorrow morning and I might be in luck. Fingers crossed!
So many things to get used to. I said goodbye to my spacious, comfortable kitchen in Winchcombe, where everything worked, nothing leaked, there was lots of space and it was spotless, including all appliances. Before I write any more – Florek would say- anymore moaning- I know this is a temporary place to live. But still, when on the same day I realize the sink is still leaking, the washing machine the landlord left for us is filthy and only 1 programme works decently and there is no way I can clean the mould off the shower cabin ( mould inside the glass, so to speak, even my trusty Dettol is helpless), it was hard to keep the straight face. So I had a quick and intense meltdown and it helped. We went to Brickocenter the next day and the sink got fixed. We dug deep and ordered a nice, new, awesome washing machine, another Samsung like the one left in the UK, but a new generation. The next thing will be a coffee machine- yes, we did the unthinkable and had to leave our beloved Krups behind, we gave it to Keava and Simon as it simply did not fit in the already full car.
Shopping for food here is a delight. Filling my own fridge ( so many people back in the UK thought I was insane taking my fridge to Italy, I love it!) with things like guanciale, now available anytime we fancy carbonara, like delicious Italian yoghurt, Sicilian grapes, truffle sauces from around the corner in Via Fillungo, this feels great. Izzie helped making truffle bechamel and then sat at the table and ate the pasta coated in it straight from the pot, that’s how chuffed she was!
Carbonara had to be made, no brainer. Also, when making a nice tomato sauce for gnocchi I fried some guanciale and when crispy, chucked fresh, skinless tomatoes in and cooked them down in this wonderful, flavoursome fat. Miky told me a few days later that amattriciana sauce is made that way, only a good handful of pecorino romano cheese needs to be added too and black pepper.
And at Grumpy’s recently I went for pizza Capricciosa, with the most amazing, soft and delicious artichokes and black olives.
Having written all that, the scales actually is quite kind to us both! We eat less, as it’s hot, but also carrying shopping onto the third floor and moving a lot more really helps. Good stuff!
My mom is a big fan of veal, I never have been, but this is about to change. In the UK it’s mega expensive and I’m not sure if worth it. But having chatted to Michele, my food buddy from Ubon days I felt like polpettini and Miky said veal is the way to go.
I bought some ground veal, added some grated parmesan, an egg, lots of chopped parsley, a grated clove of garlic, a white bread roll soaked in milk and seasoned it well, before combining. While the simple tomato sauce was bubbling away I quickly pan fried the meatballs and then finished them off in the sauce. Served with penne, as per Izzie’s suggestion, less messy than spaghetti and cooks faster!
All went down a storm with some local Vermentino- another winner, 6 euro for a bottle of wonderful, light, Italian wine. Thumbs up!
We have done it. We have sold the house, packed what was left into Tesla ( a painful experience) and drove to Italy. We’ve spent 4 days without the fridge, while waiting for our stuff to be delivered. But now it all resembles home. We’re rediscovering our favourite food places, so had to start at Piazza Anfiteatro and I must say that Grumpy now treats us like regulars and even addresses me as “cara” (!!). Grumpy’s real name is Marco, he seems to work in that restaurant 24/7 and when he happens to have a day off, this really is an event. And it turns out he does smile sometimes, he is grateful when complimented on their fantastic focaccia and has a nice, sharp sense of humour ( flipping a middle finger at one of the piazza’s regulars while taking order from customers :-).
Spaghetti alle vongole at Grumpy’s for me is one of the All Time Favourites. It is simple. They don’t bother with tomatoes or other seafood. Plus they fry the garlic to the point when it’s nearly burnt, but it’s not. The sauce is seafoody, with lots of parsley, simple and wonderful. A plate of vongole and a small cold beer is 10 out of 10. And the best thing is, we can now have it anytime, 10 minute walk from via di Poggio, where we now reside, until Casa Banks is found and purchased, hopefully sometime next year.
