Cooking with Julia: MAY is for Artichokes

 Posted by at 6:03 pm  3 Responses »
May 072012
 
Cooking with Julia: MAY is for Artichokes

“Cooking with Julia”  ||  MAY 2012 This new feature on my blog called “Cooking with Julia” offers a recipe every month for ingredients in season. I’d might as well begin with artichokes, now in their prime, because I love them, probably more than any other vegetable I can think of. Perish the thought of pickled artichokes, frozen artichoke hearts, or the canned variety. You’ll ruin your recipe if you substitute them when the ingredient list calls for fresh. While artichokes can be tedious to clean–what’s required is snapping off the hard part of the leaves and whittling away the tough […more…]

On Broccoli Rapini: When Bitter is Sweet

 Posted by at 9:03 pm  7 Responses »
May 192011
 
On Broccoli Rapini: When Bitter is Sweet

Cime di rapa (“turnip tops”), broccoli di rapa, broccoletti di rapa, and colloquially, rape or rapini are the Italian terms for what the Americans call “broccoli raab.”  The vegetable was virtually unknown when I was growing up in the States. Today, the pleasingly bitter greens the southern Italians love have become mainstream but they are rarely cooked correctly. Whether prepared in restaurants or carry-out shops, I find they are often too bitter–the result of not  par-boiling first, or undercooking.  This is not a vegetable to cook al dente! This is the Italian way to prepare rapini: Using a sharp paring […more…]

CARNEVALE! Gnocchi Friday in Verona.

 Posted by at 1:08 pm  4 Responses »
Mar 072011
 
CARNEVALE! Gnocchi Friday in Verona.

Carnevale, the gaudy week-long party that erupts in February all over Italy has its roots in the Roman festival that honored the pagan god Saturn. No effigies of saints or madonnas here: Carnevale is a farewell to winter and banishment of the dreary; a delirious celebration of spring and all things delicious, coveted, and forbidden.  Every indulgence is permitted and tradition calls for eating mountains of meat and sausages, rivers of wine, and sweets, sweets, sweets.  Each region, town, village, has its festival foods.  Naples is devoted to lasagne, Ivrea (Piemonte) to fagiolata (bean and pork stew). Tossignano (Emilia-Romagna) bakes […more…]

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