Tomato Passata sauce, part 1
Tomato Passata sauce, part 2
|
 Poached egg served with truffles and homemade bread
During the last weeks of summer Nicks mum Jacky came to stay. On her arrival we noticed she was wearing a bandage on her wrist. Had she damaged it dragging her suitcase through the airport , we thought… or had she been injured delivering a devastating Karate chop to a north London mugger !
As it turned out neither of these scenarios were correct , in fact the cause of this injury was Knitting . Not any old kind of knitting ,but knitting jackets for Hens. Having seen an advertisement asking for help , Jacky began knitting jackets for liberated battery farm hens who no longer had any feathers .
The condition of their previous life had led them to pull out all their feathers in desperation . So , an army of kindly knitters was needed to make winter jackets for them. The charity involved in this saintly task is called “Little Hen Rescue “ ,based in Norfolk ,England . So , if anyone out there can knit, it might be worth contacting them.
On returning from Malta , our good friends Fumo and Eva, who run a fantastic Agriturismo ,asked us if we would like to have three of their Hens, as they had too many. I was very pleased and drove over on Saturday to pick them up . They were very beautiful and on bringing them home I could see straight away that I wasn’t the only one who thought so .
 Working girls
Big Boy , our noisy Rooster immediately started strutting his stuff. Chest all puffed out and singing at the top of his voice , he had obviously decided to give the ladies a show. Not content with that he also decided to trough in a few dance moves as Well , to be honest with you , the whole thing reminded me of when I first met Nick.
 Big boy strutting his stuff
 Who says the funky chicken is out !
 The Crooner
Anyway ,I don’t think these girls were all that impressed . After looking at him and then at each other and obviously thinking , “Bloody Nora , we’ve got a right one here” , they went straight to work. No messing around and the following morning there were three new eggs . So , to celebrate I made a poached egg with truffles and homemade bread . Fantastic !
 Rabbit cooked in red wine and prunes
Coming out from a routine is what a good break is all about . Waking up and realizing that it isn’t your turn to make a cappuccino, feed the chickens , cats, dog or goat is what I call a HOLIDAY.
Short but sweet: we had a couple of days in La Valletta, the Maltese capital . Walking around the center, Nick was attracted to old shop fronts and me busy in a beautiful vintage cloths shop Blush&Panic! We enjoyed two fantastic meals whilst there , but the one that Stole my heart was at the GUZE bistro . We loved it! It Wasn’t just about great food , good wine and really friendly service in a romantic location. The point was that during the evening we realized we had only eaten out three times together this year !!!!!!!!!!!!! SO FAR I LOVED MY HOLIDAY.
The morning after we took a short boat trip to Gozo , Malta’s sister island. Nick did a lot of research about this place and I must say he did a good job! We had three beautiful days by a lovely bay , where we swam in the deep blue water and toured the island on the local busses . Nick was sure there would be sharks and was delighted when he saw a fin bopping up and down far out to sea . I assured him it was more likely to be a Dolphin , but after that I did notice he was a little more hesitant about jumping in .
During our stay we managed to try a few local dishes , including a very tasty rabbit . Rabbit is very popular there and cooked in a variety of ways . The one we particularly liked was gently cooked in red wine with prunes. Simple and delicious. It was so good that the day after we came home , suffering from a little post holiday blues , I decided to cheer myself up and give it a go. I must say, it really did the trick .
So , here we are , refreshed and revitalized , back in the Umbrian hills . Today wasn’t my turn to make the cappuccino , but it was to feed all the animals. As they gathered round for their breakfast , the sun shining and the scent of autumn in the air , I thought to myself, how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place !!!!Ciao.
 Cacio & Pepe
Cacio e Pepe is a real traditional Roman pasta dish . Most Italians have heard of it , but very few know exactly how it’s made. Quick and simple it uses only 3 ingredients , Extra virgin olive oil , pecorino Romano cheese and of course black pepper. A real example of good Italian cooking , where less means more . A family favorite , perfect for an Autumnal evening .
Yes , ladies and gentlemen , Autumn is well and truly here. The mornings are much fresher and once again we no longer eat our evening meals outside. Soon it will be time to bring in the firewood ( beautifully stacked by our friends ) and light the fireplace. The surrounding fields are again green and pomegranates burst with goodness on the trees.
For us it’s time for a short break . After a busy summer we’ve decided to spend a few days on the island of Malta . A last chance to catch some serious sun in a place that apparently combines Mediterranean and British cultures. It’s a good time for us to relax and pamper our selves before this seasons olive picking begins ( Help ! ).
I’m really looking forward to walking on golden sands , swimming in crystal Maltese waters and eating beautiful meals in romantic settings.
Nick , on the other hand, is really looking forward to walking into a pub , eating fish and chips and visiting the Maltese war museum . O MAMMA MIA !!
See you when we get back, ciao.
They came from everywhere, America ,Ireland ,Israel, the Uk ,Brazil ,Italy and even Columbia to answer a call for help. Their destination was Allerona and their task ,to pick 4 tons of grapes .
It was the fastest harvests we’ve ever done!
Saturday morning in our vineyard in Umbria, Allerona , there were more humans beings then bunches of grapes waiting to be picked! The weather was beautiful and more and more people continued to arrive, the atmosphere was just like a party. My job, after collecting a group of American students from the University of Arizona Orvieto Study Abroad Program and a couple of new friends who travelled by train from Rome to the Orvieto station, was to make sure everyone had a good lunch after they had finished all the hard work. Nick’s job was to explain to everyone what to do, carry and load all the full bins of grapes into the container and of course take a lot of photos.
Every now and again I would stick my head out from the kitchen just to check at what stage the harvest was at and every time Nick would say “it must be an early lunch, its only 11 o`clock and we`re working so fast out here more than half of the vineyard has already been collected”. Meanwhile, my phone kept ringing and ringing with more and more people on their way from Rome and Orvieto coming to give us a hand.
Never before have we had such a response to our call for help, plus I have to say, that even if in the opinion of some farmers in the area our group were not the most super professional team, we certainly had the BEST group of beautiful, lovely people and smiling faces . What I maintain is that the harvest should be a day of celebration and fun, and to quote one of the students it seemed to him that the harvest in Sagraincasa is very much like THANKS GIVING IN THE USA! I loved it!
But back to the vineyard, at 12am the harvest was over, the sausages were cooking , lunch for 40 people was almost ready but needed about another 40 minutes before it was ready to serve!!!
For our guests this was not a problem , in fact I suddenly realized that there was no one in the vineyard ,and then I saw a large number of people had moved on to our mountain of firewood which had just been delivered and were stacking it for us in the dry storage place!! Incredible.
8 tons of wood stored in 40 minutes, I was so shocked, but In their opinion they had not done enough to earn lunch, so they went straight onto the wood! My God, I felt so much pressure on me, I had to return such generosity with lot’s of good food at the very least.
Menu:
Focaccia with Mortadella
Savory cake with radicchio, gorgonzola and walnuts
Red onion quiche
Lasagna Beef
Sausages gently cooked in our red grape juice
Spelt salad with cherry tomatoes from my vegetable garden , mozzarella and handmade pesto
Mediterranean Beans
Potato salad and fresh herbs
Green leaves salad with fennel and carrots dressed with our Extra Virgin Olive oil
All this to be washed down with vast quantities of wine . Ladies and gentlemen, EVERYTHING was eaten and drunk!
I am so very happy with how well the day went, a real party day. So from the bottom of our hearts we want to thank you all for participating in this year’s harvest, it was such a great pleasure for Nick and I to have you here. Thank you,thank you , grazie a tutti.
 Nigella Lawson's Chocolate pasta with Pecans & Caramel
A few days ago I was contacted by a Daily Mail journalist, her name was Jan and she was calling from London. She had this idea to organize a culinary day in my kitchen here in Umbria with myself and a local housewife/ nonna (nana),cooking 8 ITALIAN recipes just coming out in a new book by Nigella Lawson, called: Nigellissima
After giving some deep thought as to who had plenty of the right experience(family cooking ) to deal with this challenge, the answer came to me in a flash : Mariella!
Mariella is a lovely lady from the Village of Allerona , she has taught me many skills, how to kill and clean chickens , how to make a traditional pasta dish using only the innards from a chicken , including the hart , gizzard and intestine (yummy ) ,plus other traditional Umbrian dishes . A year ago she also showed me how to find and pick wild cicoria (wild dandiloins) in the green hills of Umbria …Well Mariella was certainly the right woman to cook Nigella’s recipes.
“Do you know anything about the release of this book ? “Jan asked me when she arrived “ NO” I replied. “And the lady from the Allerona village does she know anything about it?” “ NO she doesn’t “ “ Do you know about Nigella ?” “ Yes, of course I’ve heard about her, but I don’t think Mariella has any idea who Nigella is!”
So I explain to Mariella that Nigella Lawson is a super sexy Lady , famous in the Uk for her books and T.V. shows on cooking . At the end of her programs she always comes down in her a negligee in the middle of the night to eat the leftovers straight from the fridge ,at this point Nick always starts to look very impressed…..and shouts BRAVA BRAVA at the TV screen !!!! Nigella is also famous and very popular for her quick and easy to follow recipes .
So, after placing all the necessary ingredients on my kitchen table, Mariella and I started to analyze what to do and where to start. Cream, butter, lard, chocolate, sugar, liquorice, a huge turkey breast, sausage and then finally something green: beans and radicchio! So our first impression was that at the end of the day we would need an Alka-Seltzer or even two!
Any way it was a real challenge for us, we started cooking at 10.30am and ended at 4.30pm. In the middle of all the activity we also had to make some homemade chocolate tagliatelle , yes one of the recipes required pasta made with chocolate , served with American nuts , butter and sugar and cream …. Mariella and I looked at each other and after a few (private) comments we decided to go ahead and make this pasta even though there was no recipe for it in Nigellas’ book and because we couldn’t buy it here. But honestly this was not a problem for us, once you know how to make pasta, even if it’s green from the basil or black from chocolate or coffee…it’s always pasta! In short it is like riding a bicycle, once you learn … keep pedaling. I must say we were all very pleased with the result, but we all preferred it plain without the nuts etc.etc.etc.
 homemade chocolate tagliatelle
 smelling of tuna
 stuffing the turkey
Anyway, the real drama was having to give a verdict on our results of these recipes in that whether they ALL tasted like Italian food. Mariella and I tasted and we brainstormed a rating …. but you can read all about that in the newspaper directly. So follow the link and enjoy Jane article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2210216/Nigellas-taking-pizza-What-Italys-mammas-think-TV-chefs-chocolate-pasta-lashings-double-cream.html.
 meatzza, the first bite
 Mariella, the judgement.
I must give a big thank you to Mariella for all her help and hard work and also say what a pleasure it was to have met Jan, finally I would like to send my best wishes to Nigella for every success with her new book, I am sure it will sell very well.
 Nigella Lawson's yellow spaghetti
 Nigella Lawson's meatzza
 Nigella Lawson's grean beans with pistachio pesto
 Nigella Lawson's liquorice pudding
I would also like to thank my husband Nick for doing all the photo’s .You can have a look at his pictures on http://nickcornishphotography.com/
 Chicken breast with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herbs wrap in DOP mortadella. Gentely sous vide cooked.
This year the vineyard has done very well, we have lots of big, beautiful grapes. The maturation is complete , so now it’s time, like every year, to harvest. In fact, even the wild boar have realized that our grapes are very sweet and ripe, so during the night they are starting to eat them. Every year the farmer tries to convince us to put up a sort of electric cable around the vineyard to stop the wild boar stealing our grapes but as always the answer is NO thanks. We just hope that these sweet toothed animals will not be too greedy and leave something to us to collect!
The initial plan was to organize the harvest for the weekend of the 22th and 23th September. Harvesting over the weekend gives us a chance to have more people happy to come for a day out in the Umbrian country side who are willing to help . But now things have changed, the Cantina where the grapes are to go , have informed us that there is NO WAY that they will be open on these dates. SABATO E DOMENICA CHIUSO! SATURDAY AND SUNDAY CLOSED !
So now we have plan B in the hope that by 29th we will still have some grapes left on the vines (remember the wild boar!)……our next problem is that on Saturday 29th all the harvest MUST also be be delivered . So now the problem is WHO WILL BE AVAILABLE TO COME HERE AND WORK A FULL DAY on SATURDAY 29TH??!! HELP and we really do need HELP. AIUTO. There are 26 rows of vines so an average of 4500 kg of grapes …. in one day to pick!!!!! AIUTOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!HELP
There is no way out, we have to work hard this year, and we need YOU.
For those of you who participate in this good deed ,we can’t guarantee you’ll be rewarded in the afterlife . But , you will be rewarded here with a feast of Umbrian cooking and as much wine as you can drink . Now , that can’t be bad !
So even if you have never done it before please come along and give it a go .Send me an email or book your scissors and gloves by FaceBook or Twitter . We really hope to see you here.
Ciao
 Paccheri with Amatriciana fish
Once upon a time in the hills of Umbria there was a “young” lady called Simona who every springtime worked very hard on her land preparing it for her vegetable plants .This year she planted many things including: 6 cucumbers plants, 10 zucchini 9 eggplants and 80 tomato plants. She spent hours weeding and tending these babies.
The results were demoralizing. Not even half cucumber for a salad or two zucchini flowers for deep frying as for the eggplant, so small and full of seeds. Even the tomatoes only produced enough for 60 jars of passata for the winter instead of 260. What a disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!
The reason for this sad story is that in Umbria, my dear friends, this year we had five months of constant sunshine but not a drop of rain at all, NIENTE,NOTHING. The ground is super dry and despite Nick watering the vegetable garden every evening, the water seems to evaporate straight away .
Nick was so determined the vegetable garden was going to survive every couple of days he took 6 big containers to our local spring, filled them with water and carried them back to empty them into our well which was almost dry by June.
It is thanks to this hard work that the tomato harvest wasn’t so bad, some plants produced fairly well but others have been badly attacked by pesky insects. So all in all it has been hard but on the plus side tomatoes this year seem to be especially sweet , what can I say, it is as if they had been kissed by the sun!!
Every morning we hear in the distance the farmers cockerels bringing in the new day. Unfortunately we have one that doesn’t know the rules and all day long all we can hear is COCK-A-DOODLE DO. It is terrible. Now one of the chickens has disappeared we think a fox has taken it , but the strange thing is Hilda the goat did not come to the house to warn us which makes us think she was fed up with his noise and hoping he was the one that had been taken.
And now back to the food , yes because let’s not forget that this is a FOODBLOG. As you have noticed the picture today is another pasta dish using fish . But this time I decided to make a tomato sauce (with my tomatoes kissed by the sun) by combining monk fish and smoked pancetta. A variation of the famous Amatriciana! So full of flavor. If you want to try it too, let me know I will be happy to share the recipe.
Last night Nick told me the vegetable garden was too dry to save so we must wait for next year. And just after guess what he rushed into the kitchen to tell me it’s raining, I dropped everything and rushed out into the garden to find NIENTE ZILTCH NOTHING. If I hadn’t seen a few wet spots on the stone steps I would have thought he had finally cracked and was hallucinating. Mama Mia what next ????????????
 Spaghetti from Gragnano cooked in Amalfi’s lemon zest, fresh squid and Bottarga
It’s official, the summer is over I’m not saying this because the constant forty degrees temperature has finally dropped here in Umbria, nor do I say this because there is ONE cloud in the sky, but because Ladies and Gentlemen, the swimming pool in Allerona closed for the winter on the 1st of September, so for me, that is that, the summer is over !!! . Every morning at 9:30 am during the hot months I was there to swim my 40 lengths (my dedication was such that the lady at the entrance asked me if I was getting ready for the Olympics!?)…any way after that treat I then started my day of food shopping in Orvieto, then driving back up the mountain where the small village of Allerona is located and from there straight to my kitchen . Chopping, grilling, cooking and mixing …. Well I must say that it all went really well, I only burned myself twice and cut my left fingertip just 4 or 5 times .
But I had so much fun during these months, I created new dishes and with the help of wild flowers I was able decorated at least 30 types of finger food. In the Villas, where I worked as a private chef, and during the cooking classes I met so many lovely people from all different parts of the world, Poland, Russia, UK, America , Sweden ,and of course Chaty and her family from Canada who wrote some wonderful comments regarding our culinary experience in their blog.
But in my heart I hold this sweet young couple Gemma and Columb from Dublin, Ireland. I had the great pleasure and honor to be part of their dream wedding here in Umbria.
We decided to organize something simple and not too fancy. An Italian country style wedding , in short like a SAGRA. Tables and benches, a few simple accessories for the table, food and wine in abundance, lots of fun and a relaxed atmosphere! 50 guests, friends and family, all wonderful people that I am so happy to have met.
 Columb and Gemma wedding in Umbria I am very proud and happy to share with you a few of their comments after the wedding:
Gemma: Thank you so much for helping create the exact type of wedding that I had dreamed of and more. It was the informal relaxed atmosphere that i wanted and couldnt have done it without you. You helped us so much and I can’t thank you enough. Everyone loved the food and getting to meet you and talk to you, and have asked me for your website.
Simona you have been a great friend to us and testing to know you was fantastic!
Columb: Thanks so much again for everything over the last few weeks and months! You really helped to make our wedding day completely prefect and unforgettable for us and all of our guests! I hope none of it was stressful for you. Everyone was so happy to meet you too and thought your food was delicious!
This experience for me was absolutely fantastic. To have been instrumental in planning a wedding where there was no need to spend excessive money to enjoy the happiest day of a couple’s life was wonderful. It was very much the same type of wedding that Nick and I had 15 years ago, UNA BELLA SAGRA!
Anyway, in the next story I will tell you more about what has been going on in our country lives. Just a little hint: 6 cucumber plants in our vegetable garden and the only ones I ate came from the COOP Supermarket! Ciao
PS The dish mentioned above, has been one of the top dishes of the month : Spaghetti from Gragnano cooked in Amalfi’s lemon zest, fresh squid and Bottarga di muggine. If you are interested and want to try I will be happy to give you the recipe.
Ciao .
 Paccheri pasta with a monkfish and zucchini sauce, squid ink and thyme
I know it’s been a while since my last update so I thought I’d better give you some news of what’s been happening here.
Thankfully my pans have been constantly bubbling away on the cooker and my remaining free time has been spent in the vegetable garden making sure my 80 tomato plants grow beautiful and strong this summer! Honestly that’s the truth, 80 of them ..
However, while I am waiting for my cooked spelt to get cold, the pesto to finish blending and my sabayon mousse to reach the right consistency … I must tell you this story .
A couple of days ago my brother Riccardo, who is currently working part-time in a seafood restaurant in Fregene, near Rome, came to Umbria to do some culinary experiments with me . Riccardo has also very kindly offered to give me a hand when I have large groups to cook for and, all in all ,I must be honest, I do think we make a great team. Perhaps we share a common passion in the kitchen or perhaps like all the members of my family we just love to eat good food! However on this occasion, as gastronomic critics, we decided to call Rome for backup ( not the Pope ) but my father and mother to test 4 different types of pasta with seafood………. Believe me we looked like a crazy family!!!!
There were those who loved one type but pointed out that because we are not totally in the tomato season yet, the sauce was a little acid ,but it was still devoured in about 2 seconds flat, and then the texture of the fish was discussed and was considered very good but of course that was because it was fresh and so connected well with the pasta, in fact my mamma considered it to be” bene bravi ” But best of all was my father’s reaction, who every time we came out with the next dish looked very excited and ready with his fork, a bit like Oliver Twist, but instead of a very meek “please can I have more ” it was.. .. “Ok guys, it’s all very nice but can I please have BIGGER portions now???”
Anyway Nick did managed to get home just in time for the final dish….I must admit. I was a bit concerned that having a long excited conversation with me and 3 members of my family about pasta would be a bit too much for him …… but I must say he managed very very well , he opened a bottle of wine, light the BBQ. and then we were all ready for the next course !!
Ok ciao for now .
 Wild fennel foam and Baccalà
Ciao thought I’d keep you updated on a few things that are happening here in Umbria and specifically in my little farm house.
Firstly ,after having to deprive our goat Hilda of the company of two out of three of her room mates ( the chickens ), we decided to take on another two chicks and two more hens. So at the moment this adds up to six running around made up of: two chicks, three hens, 1 cock, 1 goat, a dog and three cats ….and last in the pecking order of course Nick and I !
What is wonderful is the hens are laying lots of eggs which I am using in my cooking, anything from pasta to tiramisu . The taste is amazing and this special touch is much appreciated and loved by many of my clients .
As for my vegetable garden ,it’s starting to look very appetizing with many salads ready to eat, the onions nice and sweet and the tomato plants growing taller every day.
The Umbrian hills are bright green at the moment and in the fields you can still find lots of tasty wild fennel. I have in fact used some of this to create my recipe of :wild fennel foam served with Baccala fish cooked in milk…very yummy! So if anyone is interested in the recipe I’m happy to send if required.
Still talking about food, for the first time in years I managed to persuade Nick to come on one of my ‘ locally produced food ‘ tours which I organize. So last week not only did we have the pleasure of eating the delicious cheese produced by Danilo and his son Francesco, but thanks to Nick I’m happy to be able to share this experience with you with a few photographs.
 Danilo and Francesco making pecorino cheese
 Pecorino cheese
 from the left Claudia, Francesco, me and Danilo
I hope you enjoy these pictures and one day you will come to Umbria and join me on one of these wonderful tours. Amazing cheese and a generous cheese tasting made by these lovely people , a real foodie experience.
Ciao a presto !
 Lasagna shape pasta with tin sardines and fresh fennel
After almost ten days I am finally feeling better. I’ve had a bad dose of flu, but for this year ,at least, it’s over. That’s because ( fingers crossed), I happen to be sick only once a year and when it happens it is always such a nightmare for Nick,( so he says). Poor man, he has to do everything (so he says) …… anyway, I’m ready for action now.
I have a thousand ideas flying through my head, I want to try new recipes, I have seeds and seedlings to put in my vegetable garden, I want to test a couple of new wines from the area and create a couple of nice menus for my next customer … Definitely … ready for action, Infact, I feel so positive that yesterday when I realized that the fridge was completely empty (WHY), I decided to create this lasagna shape pasta using tin sardines, fresh fennel (collected in the garden) and the juice of half a lemon (I found at the bottom of the vegetable box under lots of garlic and onions). The result was superb, a few ingredients are enough to create a good dish, the important thing is to put love and enjoyment into creating it!
Outside the garden is really beautiful, poppies and flowers are everywhere ( although the grass hasn’t been cut….it must be so happy I’ve been ill), the hills are deep green and the air is fresh and clean. Today I have finished taking the antibiotics so I think by tomorrow I can enjoy my first glass of wine at sunset…… I love it all, spring is here and I’m ready for it! Ciao from Umbria.
 Bruschetta Ricotta Scante and chopped tomato
Exercising and playing a sport gives you a wonderful healthy feeling, taking time off to take care of yourself works wonders and also, if like me ,you love food, it can help burn off those extra calories. But it doesn’t end there.
Twice a week I try to attend a spinning class held at the local gym which is under a food store about 20 km away from my house .After a while I began to notice that the main topic of conversation in the female changing room was FOOD , not just exchanging recipes but also keeping up to date with what and where the new local food event will be !!
But then it got even better …..just before Easter , the conversation moved onto cheese …. I was talking to a nice lady called Pamela and it turned out she was originally from Puglia. The first thing that came to my mind was…………RICOTTA SCANTE CHEESE (a lovely strong cheese that you can only get in Puglia) Yes, said Pamela, I love it too, would you like me to bring some back for you the next time I go? YES, please, I said. So as good as her word a couple of weeks later Pamela arrived at the gym with a big jar of Ricotta Scante cheese, which she said came from a local dairy in her home village .
As soon as I got home the first thing Nick and I did was to prepare the ricotta in one of the traditional ways they eat Ricotta Scante in Puglia .This is to spread it over toasted bread ( bruschetta) with chopped tomato and Evo oil . ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THIS WORLD
I couldn’t wait to thank Pamela, so the next day I returned to the gym with a jar of pure truffles (made by a small family business in Abruzzo, near the small village where my father was born). She and her husband set to and made some tagliatelle with them, she said it was really lovely.
Last week Pamela and I met up again at the spinning class ,and she said the next time she returns from Puglia she will bring me some of her Mammas hand-made Orecchiette pasta,” it’s amazing” she said. I have had to think long and hard about what I can barter for this Orecchiette and have decided on my very good (so I’m told ) homemade peach jam this time………………… MY GOD, what can I say …..except I love going to the gym, wouldn’t you?
 chocolate ice cream with a cappuccino cream
So , let’s talk about the weather again . After the spring coming in like a Lion ,it’s definitely going out like a Lamb. I was so ready for the summer that I decided to make some ice-cream. Always the optimist…. Because of the unusual warmth before , we decided to not order any more wood to keep our fires going and I started to put all my winter cloths in the attic . Big mistake.
Even tonight , we are trying to decide whether to put the heating on or climb back into the attic and get some jumpers down. Sounds easy , but climbing into our attic is a death defying act . pitched high above the staircase we need a ladder and a piece of rope tied around my waist . I say my waist because Nick refuses to go up there. Like a trapeze artist I climb the ladder saying “ have you got me “ , only to look down and see he’s texting a friend!!
Anyway , with all the rain we’ve been having , I have to say that these green hills of Umbria are looking more beautiful than ever. Thankfully , the vegetable garden is already starting to grow and the vineyards are flourishing.
 Allerona village
Tomorrow is a bank holiday in Italy and the forecast is a little bit of sun . So , rain or shine , we will be eating ice-cream in the garden… After all , a holiday is always a holiday !!
 Risotto with Oysters and Spumante wine
Yes, it`s the sort of dish you dream of, Risotto with Oysters and Spumante wine (Italian version of Champagne)!! Mamma mia What Bliss!!!!!!!! And what , I can hear you say,were you and Nick celebrating ,well the answer is NIENTE !(NOTHING!) We were just making the most of a wonderful opportunity
So let’s explain how things went …Nick was recently taking pictures for a winery where they had found and are still finding the shells of marine oysters in the soil where the vineyards now grow ….. Well he had the wonderful idea of using some fresh oysters in the photos. So once the job was done …… with great sadness (hehe….) in the name of waste not want not and helping out we made a supreme effort, and we ate the oysters! Some we had straight from the shell, as an aperitif (divine), and the rest I used in the risotto. Honestly, if you ever have oysters at home YOU MUST match them with a bottle of good Spumante …. Well my dear friends ,what a fantastic evening that was, very yummy!
So if anyone needs to have pictures taken of things such as: lobsters, black truffles, caviar etc etc please let us know ….. I’m sure Nick will help you out and find the time to take some very good pictures, but I`m afraid I `m unable to guarantee that the produce will be returned to you!
 Tomato jelly with parmesan mousse and pumpkin seeds.
Unfortunately Sunday was not particularly warm, so although the Supper Club started with an aperitif in the garden we decided to continue on the large table in the house. As a surprise for my guests I planned to greet them on their arrival with a small glass of tomato jelly with parmesan mousse and pumpkin seeds ,a finger food to be tasted while sipping a glass of Spumante wine. I am happy to say that they really enjoyed it.
There were 10 people, a mixture of old and new guests who had decided to join with me in the spirit of our little Supper Club project ,which is intended to share my passion for food with other people . The Supper Club is not a restaurant and for this reason the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. On Sunday there was yet further evidence of the beauty of this idea. The morning had gotten off to a bad start when i realized that the dish washer wasn’t working ( i don’t mean Nick ) . As a result of this i was running behind schedule. Whilst I was preparing and placing the pork tenderloin in the oven, some of my guests relaxed in the kitchen drinking a glass of wine. Despite my concerns that all would not be cooked and ready to serve on time , my happy visitors gave me great encouragement and helped me to not worry so much. Any tensions I had felt vanished because I realized the beauty of a Sunday lunch is to be in good company, eat good food and for me, to also enjoy the cooking . So thanks again to everyone, especially Brian, Antonella, Susan and Alan, it’s always a BIG pleasure for me to have you here.
|
|
Funky Chicken.
Poached egg served with truffles and homemade bread
During the last weeks of summer Nicks mum Jacky came to stay. On her arrival we noticed she was wearing a bandage on her wrist. Had she damaged it dragging her suitcase through the airport , we thought… or had she been injured delivering a devastating Karate chop to a north London mugger !
As it turned out neither of these scenarios were correct , in fact the cause of this injury was Knitting . Not any old kind of knitting ,but knitting jackets for Hens. Having seen an advertisement asking for help , Jacky began knitting jackets for liberated battery farm hens who no longer had any feathers .
The condition of their previous life had led them to pull out all their feathers in desperation . So , an army of kindly knitters was needed to make winter jackets for them. The charity involved in this saintly task is called “Little Hen Rescue “ ,based in Norfolk ,England . So , if anyone out there can knit, it might be worth contacting them.
On returning from Malta , our good friends Fumo and Eva, who run a fantastic Agriturismo ,asked us if we would like to have three of their Hens, as they had too many. I was very pleased and drove over on Saturday to pick them up . They were very beautiful and on bringing them home I could see straight away that I wasn’t the only one who thought so .
Working girls
Big Boy , our noisy Rooster immediately started strutting his stuff. Chest all puffed out and singing at the top of his voice , he had obviously decided to give the ladies a show. Not content with that he also decided to trough in a few dance moves as Well , to be honest with you , the whole thing reminded me of when I first met Nick.
Big boy strutting his stuff
Who says the funky chicken is out !
The Crooner
Anyway ,I don’t think these girls were all that impressed . After looking at him and then at each other and obviously thinking , “Bloody Nora , we’ve got a right one here” , they went straight to work. No messing around and the following morning there were three new eggs . So , to celebrate I made a poached egg with truffles and homemade bread . Fantastic !