For one of our last lunches in Italy, my husband wanted to have an authentic seafood anti pasto.  We chose a restaurant called La Baraccia (named I think for the ancient Northern Italian Village of Baracca) in Monterrosso, CinqueTerre. 

It was busy with both tourists and locals which we thought was a good sign.  We sat outside on the big covered deck and were placed very close to our dining neighbours so we could see what menu decisions they had made.  I bet they were stunned if they watched the food that D and I put away at that lunch.  The cost was 18 Euros each and the minimum order was for two persons.

We thought that perhaps we had misordered when the first 6 cold plates came out.  They were very delicious but we thought that the seafood feed had concluded too soon.  Then when the hot dishes came out and kept coming out, we felt silly about our mistake and had to admit that we were blown away.

There were three couples assembled to relive the details of our separate trips to Italy.  One couple had kept a similar itinerary to ours and the other had spent extensive time in Tuscany.  The host served Mario Bateli’s Osco Bucco (recipes in link)–a regional Italian dish that I have never attempted.  She made her decision from five different recipes-an indication of the care that she puts into her cooking.  It was perfection-“fall off the bone” and yet did not tasted “stewed”.  She also prepared his Risotto Milanese (with Saffron)  but admitted that it tuckered her out and decided to forgo her dessert course of poached pears and Carmel sauce.  We had a delicious tiramisu instead.

The wines were beautifully paired and we took over limoncello for after dinner sipping.

Our hosts in Amalfi-who served their own Limencello in their cozy bar

Limoncello

• 750 ml bottle of grain alcohol
• 7 or 8 large lemons (make sure they’re organic and not sprayed, you’re using the peel!)
• 5 cups water
• 3 cups sugar

Directions:

• Wash the lemons thoroughly – scrub them clean of all residue.
• Using a peeler, take off the skins being careful not to get any of the white lemon “pith” onto your peelings or it will add bitterness to your limoncello.
• Put the peels into a large, open-mouth jar with the alcohol and seal the lid tightly. Put the date on the bottle.
• Put the jar in a cool, dry place for one week – once a day, shake the contents well to remix everything. You’ll notice the color of the liquid changing to yellow and the color of the lemon peels fading.
• One week later, dissolve the sugar completely in water by heating it on the stove. Then cool the sugar-water mixture to room temperature.
• Strain the lemon peels out of the alcohol and then mix the alcohol with the sugar-water. Usually the color of the alcohol changes from clear yellow to cloudy yellow when it’s combined with the sugar-water.
• Pour the mixture into bottles which can be sealed tightly and store them in the freezer. If the limoncello is kept “frozen” until serving it becomes thick and syrupy.

These make great gifts; just get some small, pretty bottles and label them yourself and you’ve got a great taste of Italy to hand out to friends and family.  I’ve not tried this yet, but this same recipe can be used with any citrus fruit – orange, lime, grapefruit, etc.

We also took over the antipasto.  It was a recreation of our favourite one while travelling.  Antipasti are very regional depending upon the local ingredients available.  Our favourite was in Ravello and it was primarily a selection of vegetables that had been cooked, marinated and served cold.

The restaurant was called Cumpa Cossismo and it has been run by the same family for decades.  All the dishes served were Netta’s recipes and she still supervises the cooking, greets all the guests and then it appeared that her most important role is collecting everybody’s euros before departing.

Netta has hosted the likes of Jacqueline Onassis and Mariah Carey.  Having been caught in the rain on this morning-I don’t feel much like a diva in this pic.

A Portable Cheese Store in Catalafimi, Sicily

Is it silly that I am dreaming of picnicking when the view out my window is of 3 feet of snow?  No it is not-it is is one of the coping skills of hardy Winnipeg folks.

On a bench in Prairiano

Olive Choices in Nice (France) Market

Let me begin at the beginning.  My husband and I met in the hospitality business and so it is no surprize that we’ve been self-professed foodies before the word was invented.  We became a couple when D was home for his summer break between University semesters.  He had an amazing summer placement, working alongside Chef Tony of the St. Charles Golf and Country Club.  He was attending Ryerson for his degree in Tourism and Hospitality and when I went to visit him for the first time, he was living the life of a poor out of town student-“borrowing”  toilet paper from the pub and filling his grocery shelves with yellow generic labelled food.   I on the other hand was already working as Marketing Director for a local restaurant so I had some cash.  But because we have always tried to do more with less, we even spent that money wisely.  So instead of dining out…we picnicked!

On a bench in Nice (France)

D lived in residence next door to the Eaton Centre and at one time Eaton’s was THE place for gourmet food offerings.  We prided ourselves in being very adventurous in those days, even though our selections are now purchased during our monthly shops.  We would buy little tastes of dolmades, cottage pate, spicy olives, pickled herring (now we always choose Elman’s), smoked mussels and oysters, creamy Havarti cheese and crisp red grapes.  Then we would go across the mall to the LCBO and select a Alsatian white wine.  Each bite was savoured and we dreamed that one day we would have a six babies (we settled on 3) and travel (we have) and cook together (we do) and grow old together in rocking chairs on the front porch.  So dreams do come true (except that we’re not quite at the rocking chair part)!

Over the years we have modified the picnics to take the kids when they were little to Assiniboine Park and roll and wrestle on the riverbank and then walk across the bridge to Sargent Sundae. We also love having love happy hour on the beach with cocktails and appetizers.  We also have an end of summer cook which is a much loved tradition.

When we were travelling in Europe this September some of our favourite meals were our picnics.

So even if you can’t spread a blanket on the lawn, shop for a picnic supper.  Take little bites, savour and dream.

Last night my friend (honourary sister) instant messaged me about the book that she was just finishing.  It is called The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister.  I replied with the cliche that great minds think alike as I had already reserved it the library (a) to save paper b) because I’m frugal).  I messaged back with a title for her Hungry Woman in Paris by Josephine Lopez.

One of our fav Paris pics- Sacre Coeur from the Musee D'Orsay

Then there all the Maeve Binchy tiles:  Quentin’s (about a restaurant), The Scarlett  Feather (about a catering business) and The Night of Rain and Stars (about a restaurant and Inn on a Greek Island).  I have also read the entire Isabel Dalhousie Series by Alexander McCall Smith including Friends Lovers Chocolate .  Isabel’s niece owns a gourmet deli in Edinburgh and Isabel and her partner are always cooking up herb and leek omelets with crisp chardonnays.  So too: The Number One Ladies Detective Agency Series including The Full Cupboard of Life where Precious Ramotswe often starts her day with cup of red bush tea and a  sit on the porch to watch the sunrise and then a walk around her little garden.  Ah-a woman who truly knows what pleasure is.  The series is so food focused that there is now a accompanying cookbook.  “In Mma Ramotswe’s Cookbook: Nourishment for the Traditionally Built you can sample the sumptuous stews for sharing, fabulous fruit cakes for eating under shady trees, with red bush tea of course, and the spices, traditions and culture of Botswana that make every meal together special.”

Everyone thinks that Under the Tuscan Sun is about weekends in Positano and sexy Italian men because of the movie adaption.

Me Perched in Positano

When in fact it was an amazing non-fiction depiction of Frances Mayes’ love of celebrating with food.  She even included recipes at the end of many chapters.  Her next  book Bella Tuscany included not only her favourite recipes but the dining excursions that she made around Italy with her new husband.  In her not yet released book Everyday in Tuscany “she’s stirring the reader’s gastric juices with luscious tales from the table or tendering a descriptive nugget that holds fast in the mind’s eye.”

I also love Marlena de Blasi who has worked as a chef and as a food and wine consultant, and also lives in Italy, where she plans and conducts gastronomic tours of its various regions. I’ve read four of her  memoirs—That Summer in Sicily, A Thousand days in Venice, A Thousand Days in Tuscany and The Lady in the Palazzo

And last but not least:  Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and her just released Committed which is also on my list.

Seafood Pizza

Another of our family traditions (we are a family who loves traditions) is Friday night pizza night.  We’re rarely order in-if we are heading up to the cottage we may stop and pick one up at Sobey’s on the way out of town or we also love the Oetker thin crust pizzas.  When our kids were young we would make ham and pineapple or triple cheese (so called because even when our kids were very young they were impressed with “gourmet” names to everyday food) it would have mostly mozzarella, a little but of cheddar and Parmesan.  Nowadays we love to experiment.  My husband has mastered a traditional margarita pizza with a homemade sauce: raw mozzarella and fresh basil leaves.  Last night we had a fruita de mare pizza because we searched in Cinque Terre when we were there this fall for the best that my husband had tasted on a previous trip but were unsuccessful.

Disappointing Pizza in Riomaggiore

We bought a frozen seafood mix which included mussels, shrimp, squid and octopus and let it partially thaw.  When the pizza was almost baked we put it under the broil to ensure that the fish was cooked enough but not too much.  The moisture in the fish spread around the pizza top and that makes all the difference in taste.  All it needed was a dash of pepper and a good glass of white wine.

I have a bread maker and make our pizza dough out of the basic white bread recipe on the dough setting.  I actually never bake anything in our maker as I find the shape too odd and also find that the bread sweats in the chamber.  We love our bread to be crunchy on the outside and light and soft on the inside so we have a tendency to make two long skinny loaves out of one batch. There are all kinds of other recipes that I use this basic dough for including submarine and hamburger buns, along with braided breads and pull-apart recipes.  My families’ favourite bread variation is this one:  from one batch of bread dough, roll out two long and skinny loaves.  Along one edge cut the dough with kitchen scissors every ½ inch (but not right through) so that it resembles a comb.  Then pull one piece of dough in one direction and the next in the opposite direction.  It doesn’t really matter what it looks like because the goal is just to create lots of uneven bread surface.  In the mean time melt ½ cup of butter with liberal amounts of dried herbs (fresh are to delicate for this robust taste) we like rosemary, oregano and basil and LOTS of garlic salt.  When the bread comes out of the oven, move to a platter.  Then pour all of the butter sauce directly onto the bread.  Encourage people to pull off a chunk and mop up the additional butter that will have pooled onto the plate.  In our house whenever I make this, my son says it smells like Christmas.