http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com food writing from a blogger and author of HUNGER & the NY Book Festival and the NE Book Festival award-winning novel THE MOSAIC ARTIST Fri, 24 May 2013 20:17:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/0270d6ebddaede4c8b9db3892804f05f?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/arrivederci/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/arrivederci/#comments Fri, 24 May 2013 15:52:14 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=7172 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/arrivederci/feed/ 4 IMG_0028 authorjaneward IMG_7661 IMG_7663 IMG_7664 IMG_7868 IMG_7865 IMG_7679 IMG_7683 IMG_7739 IMG_7742 IMG_7900 IMG_0031 IMG_7845 IMG_7846 IMG_7847 IMG_7851 IMG_7852 IMG_7855 IMG_7860 IMG_7859 IMG_7862 IMG_0023 IMG_0041 IMG_0044 IMG_0043 IMG_0038 IMG_7880 IMG_7878 IMG_8067 IMG_8122 IMG_8123 IMG_8125 IMG_8129 http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/bite-your-fear/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/bite-your-fear/#comments Sat, 11 May 2013 18:28:16 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=7154 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/bite-your-fear/feed/ 6 authorjaneward IMG_7999 IMG_8014 IMG_8109 IMG_7949 IMG_8072 IMG_8073 logo_large http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/ribollita-and-wine-at-the-farmhouse/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/ribollita-and-wine-at-the-farmhouse/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 22:16:05 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=7116 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/ribollita-and-wine-at-the-farmhouse/feed/ 2 authorjaneward Fog over the valley below San Gimignano Arriving at the vineyard, San Gimignano behind us Fausto greets us, with tour leader Nadia from Artviva Tours of Florence Rows of Sangiovese vines Hints of blue in the sky Approaching the olive grove The back of the farm house at Guardastelle Flowering rosemary in the foreground An outbuilding set into the sandstone terrain The wine is made behind these doors Various equipment Wine with lunch, surrounded by friendly folks chopped fennel, onion, celery, carrot, garlic use whatever kale you can find at your market vegetables, tomatoes, beans, broth in the pot to simmer IMG_8105 http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/bringing-florences-food-home/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/bringing-florences-food-home/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:18:16 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=7071 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/bringing-florences-food-home/feed/ 10 authorjaneward The dome of the San Lorenzo Basilica The door at the top of the steps, our meeting place Waiting alongside a group of school children. They were eating mortadella sandwiches, and I got hungry watching them eat The tour starts at the entrance to the San Lorenzo Market We had our morning marocchino The pasticceria's original ovens We watch as our bollitto (braised veal) sandwiches are being assembled at Nerbone A local salami with fennel (finnochiona) Cantuccini for dipping At Conti for several tastings Several aged balsamic vinegars to try Black truffles A piece of pecorino cheese topped with truffle paste and honey A jar of fennel pollen among all the olive wood In the cellars at the vinattieri At Perche No! and ready to sample. This gelateria is proudly part of Italy's Slow Food movement, using only the best ingredients they can find Only some of the flavors Not the real chianina but close At home we paired the steak with grilled asparagus And made bruschetta from slices of semolina bread Two kinds: arugula with prosciutto and shavings of parmigiano, grape tomato with salt and olive oil The finished plate IMG_8076 http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/market-life-in-florence-and-rome/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/market-life-in-florence-and-rome/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:18:12 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=6973 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/market-life-in-florence-and-rome/feed/ 0 authorjaneward Entering Florence's San Lorenzo market, full of leather goods and colorful scarves. Set apart from the market stalls in its own building is the Mercato Centrale, Florence's expansive food market. Vendors sell heads of broccoli and spiky Romanesco. Zucchini comes complete with flowers. Favas are known as Bacelli in Tuscany because in this area "fava" translates to a rude word. Soft fruits like pears are kept from overripening with a dot of sealing wax on stems. Several tripes and the local delicacy lampredotto on display in the meat case. Lampredotto is the prized lining of a cow's fourth stomach. The lampredotto's vegetarian antidote, spinach and ricotta cannelloni. On Sunday in Florence, a local growers' market popped up in the Piazza Della Repubblica. Set up started early and the crowds grew. Farmers came with many kinds of cheese. IMG_7886 Wheels of pecorino at various stages of aging. Finnocchiona is the local salami, flavored with fennel (finnocchio). I found other cured meats as well. Loaves and loaves of olive bread and several kinds of flatbreads, sweet and savory. Cantuccini, a very crunchy biscotti made for dipping in vin santo, overflowed baskets. Hazelnut chocolate, milk chocolate with farro, and dark chocolate coated candied orange peel somehow didn't melt in the midday sun. The window of Gilli on the corner, a place to stop for pastry, confections, and caffe after getting the day's groceries. Pistacchio gelato and fragola sorbetto from nearby Perche No! provided cool relief. In Rome's Campo dei Fiori, the selection of goods includes bulk spices, truffle-infused products such as olive oils and these spreads, and many shapes and flavors of dried pasta. One can buy salad mixes and mixed vegetables already chopped, a shortcut vegetable base for soups and stews. I was delighted to see one of my favorites, young rapini, and also to meet new favorites, like this agretti: a succulent grown in saltmarsh areas, eaten raw in salads or cooked minimally as a side dish or an addition to simple pasta preparations. Puntarelle are Catalogna chicory shoots, slightly bitter, traditionally eaten with the fried foods Romans love so well. My Roman guide, Esther Maurini, pointed out a tiny takeout food shop off the via Giubbonari that sells fried cod (filettaro) together with puntarelle. Fragrant lemons were not long off the trees. Displays were both practical and eye catching. Like this one, and this one, of zucca, leeks, and Treviso and Tardivo radicchio Here is more Tardivo alongside paler Belgian endive Next to those, another type of radicchio, the Castelfranco. The young greens - the cavolo nero, the bieta (beets), the mixed lettuces - whetted my appetite. I could taste this young chicory served fresh, dressed only with olive oil and salt. The wild straberries were about as big as my thumbnail. Juicing pomegranates for a refreshing drink on a hot afternoon. April begins artichoke season. There were large and small wheeled in by the barrow. Just outside of the Campo, this sweet shop specialized in glaceed fruits and marzipan. Cerdo is citron. Fresh, the citrus resembles a large, elongated lime. Between the Campo and the Piazza Navona is il Fornaio, one of Rome's lovely bakeries. Pear and walnut tarts shared a tray with pistacchio tarts. But the raviolo di ricotta had a special place all their own. You can get a sandwich at il Fornaio, with thin slices off this enormous mortadella stuffed in between triangles of chewy flatbread similar to focaccia. http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/mi-dispiace-goes-a-long-way/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/mi-dispiace-goes-a-long-way/#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:50:24 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=6858 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/mi-dispiace-goes-a-long-way/feed/ 0 authorjaneward IMG_7905 IMG_7917 IMG_7909 IMG_7906 IMG_7916 IMG_7913 IMG_7915 IMG_7910 IMG_7911 IMG_7918 IMG_7920 IMG_7922 IMG_7925 IMG_7926 IMG_7932 IMG_7935 IMG_7934 IMG_7938 IMG_7942 IMG_7951 IMG_7957 IMG_7958 IMG_7964 IMG_7966 IMG_7968 IMG_7969 IMG_7998 IMG_7999 IMG_8012 IMG_8014 IMG_8016 IMG_8017 IMG_8018 IMG_8024 IMG_8030 IMG_8034 IMG_8036 IMG_8045 IMG_8046 545959_473985799340193_1682170209_n IMG_8059 IMG_8063 IMG_0107 IMG_0109 IMG_0116 IMG_0119 IMG_0122 IMG_0123 IMG_0126 IMG_0127 IMG_0128 http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/three-tuscan-hill-towns-and-a-vineyard/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/three-tuscan-hill-towns-and-a-vineyard/#comments Sat, 13 Apr 2013 06:33:34 +0000 authorjaneward https://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=6701 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/three-tuscan-hill-towns-and-a-vineyard/feed/ 6 authorjaneward 20130413-085718.jpg 20130413-085742.jpg 20130413-085848.jpg 20130413-085906.jpg 20130413-090019.jpg 20130413-090036.jpg 20130413-090103.jpg 20130413-090124.jpg 20130413-090202.jpg 20130413-090243.jpg 20130413-090402.jpg 20130413-090442.jpg 20130413-090503.jpg http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/home-made-summer-italy-artichokes/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/home-made-summer-italy-artichokes/#comments Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:36:29 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=6673 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/home-made-summer-italy-artichokes/feed/ 2 IMG_7647 authorjaneward 2013-04-04-HomeMadeSummer90150J_11_9 IMG_7646 IMG_7648 IMG_7650 IMG_7651 IMG_7653 http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/never-too-many-cooks-in-this-kitchen/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/never-too-many-cooks-in-this-kitchen/#comments Sat, 30 Mar 2013 22:16:12 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=6648 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/never-too-many-cooks-in-this-kitchen/feed/ 6 IMG_7628 authorjaneward IMG_7639 IMG_7635 IMG_7630 IMG_7631 IMG_7627 IMG_7643 IMG_7629 IMG_7636 Lisa Sutton (third from left) with her daughter (second from left) and Open House helpers http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/a-sweet-finish/ http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/a-sweet-finish/#comments Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:38:21 +0000 authorjaneward http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/?p=6623 Read More →]]> http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/a-sweet-finish/feed/ 1 IMG_7613 authorjaneward IMG_7605 IMG_7604 IMG_7607 IMG_7608 IMG_7611 IMG_7617 IMG_7621 IMG_7624