ITALIAN FOODIES

I think I'm going to complain about the weather more often as every time I do the next day ends up being really hot. So all together "THANK YOU LORRAINE"! I accept all gifts, I'm not that fussy - Gucci, Armani, D&G - I'll leave it up to you:)

I was delighted to see an ad on TV the other night about Jamie Oliver's new programme starting Aug 7 called "Jamie at Home" which seems to be all about simple cooking that we all can do. I think there seems to be a big shift in eating habits especially here in Ireland to more casual dining using simple ingredients. It's taking it's time getting to Limerick mind you but there seems to be a big craze in Dublin judging by all the reviews I've been reading lately. Fine dining is great for a special occasion but there is a huge gap between this and the fish and chip shop. I think the Gastro-Pub seems to fill this gap in the UK but this concept is a bit slow to take off here unfortunately, I don't know why?? There has been a lot of complaining regarding a drop in business in the pub trade since the smoking ban so serving good, home-made food would probably be a step in the right direction - a few good cocktails wouldn't go astray either. How hard is it to find a good Mojito in Ireland??

I know I go on about how wonderful everything is in Italy but when it comes to food and drink there is nowhere better than it, they do have their negatives too especially with the economy, politics and bureaucracy etc but to me food is more important so I always look at it with my rose tinted glasses plus I don't live there! Take the local bar in Atina, it's a tiny place serving the locals and you'll get a better cappuccino or alcoholic beverage than in a lot of expensive restaurants in Ireland. When they serve their gin and tonic there are no measurements and they squeeze some fresh limes in front of you and the fresh lime juice adds a great twist. I don't know how many times in various pubs I've had to ask for a slice of lemon and after the look and reaction I get I wonder was my little slice of happiness worth asking for?? In Italy just take such pride in all aspects of food and drink as they are just so passionate about it!!

So on the subject of passion here is a really easy and tasty vegetable dish to go with anything, we had it with some aged fillet from Superquinn! 

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 1 aubergine -  chopped in big chunks
• 1 courgette -  chopped in big chunks
• 1 red onion - chopped in big chunks
• 1 sweet red pepper - optional
• 5 cloves garlic- leave skin on
• 1 tin Italian cherry tomatoes or good quality fresh cherry tomatoes
• olive oil
• basil- 10 leaves, you can add some thyme or rosemary if you like.
• sea salt and black pepper.

WHAT TO DO:

 - It's so simple, just put everything into an oven dish, season with salt and pepper and pour over some olive oil!!

 - cook for 30 - 40 mins in the oven at 200 degrees and serve.

BUON APPETITO!!!

p.s. I found a new blog through Deborah's site recently and have been meaning to add it to my blog list for ever but of course I haven't until now. I wouldn't mind but Rob always leaves really nice comments and you know how much us self absorbed bloggers love comments so forgive me Rob;) Check out Rob's blog one voice in cyberspace!

Italy are having one of their best summers ever, it's over 30 degrees everyday, low humidity, little rain, they're all having a smashing time - doesn't that just brighten your day! To add to our misery we watch the Italian news and weather every evening, they seem to know we are watching because they seem to be doing a bloody feature every evening from some beach, yesterday they were at some huge pool with about a hundred bronzed Italians of all ages dancing in the pool, they're mad into this in Italy, they always have summer songs and everybody dances in the swimming pools following a group of people on a stage. We've never joined in I'm afraid, a bit too cheesy for us cool, white people with a little extra grip on the hips from Irlanda.

Bruno's sister went for 3 weeks and has decided because the weather is so nice there and so bad here she might as well stay another week, Bruno's nephews are having a ball, they are going to a summer school where they take them on excursions in the local area and feed them good home-made Italian food and they learn some Italian too. Bruno used to go to Italy every summer from June until September,  he went every year until he was 18 - lucky thing. The furthest we got was a mobile home in Tramore or Salthill and a ride in the Twister Cups at the carnival, the future is bright for the princess.

The only thing that's keeping us going in this weather is "HOPE", the hope that because the weather has been so bad, it has to get better and we're going to have a scorching August and September. I have never watched the Irish weather forecast so much in my life, I tune in every night praying for some good news. Has anyone else noticed how much smilier the weather forecasters have become, maybe they think if they have a cheesier grin it might make the blows to come easier on us - IT DOESN'T!!!

SO, in this weather all that's left to do is eat and drink to console ourselves. We haven't had risotto since my last post on risotto with asparagus. I'm going to repeat myself and say once again how easy it is to make. It is perceived as being really difficult and time consuming but it really isn't. It takes about 20-25 minutes and involves a bit of stirring but the end result is so good it's worth it. I will have both Carnoroli and Arborio rice in stock in La Cucina next week. I have a lot of new products coming including Polenta so I will do a post on them when they are in.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 300g risotto rice - we used Arborio.
• 1 small onion
• 30g cold butter
• 1lt vegetable stock - we used fresh stock from La Cucina but you can use a stock cube if you don't have fresh!
• sea salt and black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 200ml white wine
• 50g dried porcini
• 5 mushrooms chopped

WHAT TO DO:

 - soak your porcini in boiling water for about 15 mins.

 - bring the stock to the boil and switch off.

 - heat the oil and half the butter in a pan, add the onion and cook over a low heat for about 5 mins.

 - add the rice and cook until the grains are covered in fat.

 - turn up the heat, add the wine and cook for a couple of mins until it has evaporated.

 - add a ladle of stock and cook, stirring until it has been absorbed. Keep repeating this until you have used all the stock and it has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 mins. The rice shoukd always be moist but not swimming in liquid.

 - halfway through add the porcini and the liquid.

 - in another pan heat up a little olive oil and cook your sliced mushrooms for a few minutes and add to risotto when ready. Season with salt and pepper.

 - remove from the heat and add your cold butter and parmesan.

We went all out and had a Bruschetta Al Pomodoro to start!

BUON APPETITO!!

At long last I have returned, my wireless still isn't working so I'm sitting on the stairs in the hall connected with my life saving yellow cable! We (me and my buddies at BT) still don't know what happened as it transpired that there was no cable fault after all that so now we are going to try a new modem at a cost to myself of course and see what happens!!! Anyway at least I have access, I wish I had better news on the dishwasher situation , I'm sure you're all mad interested to know, it's still not working, you wouldn't believe how much  I miss it, two words people  - BABIES BOTTLES !!! I'm literally chained to the sink, a sight Bruno loves to see for a change:)

It was a sad week in the Italian Foodie household as the best programme ever to grace our screens came to an end. We have been big " Soprano" addicts from the first episode and rarely missed one. Ivonne spoke about the final episode on her blog which finished a while back in Canada and I was terrified reading it that someone might give away the ending but they didn't. Like everyone else the ending took us by surprise, the build up was great I had butterflies in my stomach (ADDICT), myself and Bru were getting all excited - will Tony die?, O my god what's going to happen to Meadow? and then NOTHING???? We must have sat there for at least 2 minutes in silence with our mouths open and then we both went "WHAT THE FXXX?????? All that we could do was crack open a couple more bottles of Peroni and sit there and try and figure out "DID TONY GET SHOT OR WHAT????  Nothing left but "Lost" now which drives me crazy every time I watch it but I still never miss an episode!!

I was a bit lazy on the cooking front last week without my blog, my menu planning went out the window but don't panic I'm back on the straight and narrow or else Bru will just move back in with his mother:). She's actually off to Italy today for 5 weeks so no big Sunday lunch or dinner Wednesday and sometimes even Friday. I know, I know but she's just the best cook and you would take advantage too if you had a personal chef who loves nothing more than cooking for the family. Since I started the blog she's pulling out all the stops as I'm always asking her questions and have started to take more of an interest in everything she makes. It was pasta with lobster last Wednesday with lobster salad and an antipasto of parmesan and sliced mushrooms with a lemon and oil dressing, on Sunday it was home-made pasta with tomato sauce followed by roast rack of lamb with roast potatoes - DELICIOUS!!! Now you see why I will miss her!!

This rustic recipe is from last month's Taste Italia and is very easy to prepare with simple and clean flavours.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• chicken pieces - I used organic drumsticks and thighs -4 of each
• 1 lemon sliced
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 whole garlic - skin left on, press down on cloves with a knife to release the flavour.
• olive oil
• dry white wine
• plain flour
• sea salt and black pepper

WHAT TO DO:

 - season your chicken pieces and dip into some flour and shake off the excess.

 - heat some olive oil in a pan and cook your chicken pieces until golden brown.

 - add your herbs, lemon slices and garlic, cook for a couple of mins on a high heat and then turn down, cover and leave to cook for 20-30 mins until chicken is cooked.

 - remove your chicken and add a good splash of white wine and let the alcohol burn off and simmer for a couple of mins until liquid becomes a sauce consistency.

- serve with some patate arrosto and asparagus with parmesan(next post) on the side.

BUON APPETITO!!