Raisin, caper, browned garlic and anchovy sauce

 

 

Having kids means you will hear a lot of funny and often embarassing questions being asked.

 

My son recently asked me I take my breasts off at night.

Say whaaaat?

It turns out he actually meant my bra, but it made for a pretty funny 10 minutes.

 

Yesterday he asked the new girl who helps us with the cleaning if she has a job. I immediately went in for damage control because I had a feeling where this was going. I explained that what she was doing was her job. So he answered he meant a real job, in front of a computer. I told him there are many jobs and only a small part entail sitting in front of a computer. I reminded him of our book that tells us about all the different jobs that people have, and how important each and every job is to make the world go around. She added that she has a computer but she is lucky enough to be able to use it to play instead of work.

 

Then, later, when we were at the supermarket at the cured meats and cheese counter, after listening to the girl who was serving us complain that she practically lives in the supermaket because she has been working so much lately, he asked her where she slept. On the floor or on the crushed ice of the fish counter (maybe he thought it was the coolest spot in the supermarket).

 

Recently we bumped into the father of a classmate of his and he asked him if he was her grandfather.

 

 

 

 

 

On the other hand, my kids never embarass me when it comes to food. Whether we are invited somewhere or in a restaurant, they eat pretty much everything they are served. I can experiment any new recipe and they will usually eat it without a problem. Of course there are things they are not crazy about, but they are not many and if they have to they will eat them.

 

When it comes to my husband, there is really only one thing he doesn't like: raisins. So even if this  simple, yet very tasty sauce made with capers and raisins had caught my eye on Lorraine's blog a while ago, I had to wait till his soccer night to try making it.

 

I set off with the idea of exactly replicating it but ended up making some changes and came up with a pretty different sauce altogether. Very good, if not promising in looks.

 

The first change I made was to fry the garlic slivers until golden brown because something about the idea of raw garlic simmering in water put me off. I then set aside the garlic-infused olive oil and blended it with the other ingredients instead of using plain olive oil as indicated. My last variation was to add anchovies. I felt the sauce could use a little extra savory punch and that the anchovies would nicely balance out the sweet and sour.

 

Lorraine's sauce was definitely more appealing to the eye, with its bright green and reddish brown flecks, but this one's flavor was good enough for me to insist you try it before I find a way to make it look more stylish!

 

We had the sauce with roasted zucchini, raisins and quinoa. Since we had some leftovers I ended up drizzling some on red peppers as an appetizer a few evenings later and husband grabbed one before I could warn him. Once he was chewing I didn't have the heart to tell him... but he really seemd to like it. Surprise honey!



 

Ingredients (makes a small jar's worth)

35gr capers, rinsed

35gr raisins

4/5 anchovy filets

1 small clove garlic, thinly sliced (but use more for a more pronounced flavor)

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

1 to 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

salt, if needed

 

Pour the olive oil into a small saucepan and when it is hot, fry the garlic slices until golden brown. Set aside the garlic infused olive oil for later, leaving the garlic in the saucepan.

Add in a cup of water, the previously rinsed capers and the raisins and bring to a low simmer for about 15 minutes (add some water if it gets completely absorbed).

When the raisins have plumped up nicely, transfer the ingredients to a blender. Add the garlic infused olive oil, the vinegar (I added it a tbsp at a time because I wanted to make sure the vinegar in the capers wasn't too strong), the anchovy filets.

Blend until it is smooth. Taste and add salt or vinegar if needed.

You can serve this on roasted vegetables or with raw vegetables as a dip, or any other idea that tickles your fancy.

 

 

Italian salsa verde

 

 

While we say that we are green with envy in English, the Italians associate positive feelings with this color, verde speranza literally meaning that green is the color of hope.

 

It makes perfect sense when you think of it: green is so vibrant, the color of all things fresh and new. Just looking out onto a green meadow or up at a canopy of leaves instantly relaxes our mind and brings peace to our soul.

 

Green in food is often associated to good health: green vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins and fiber (think leafy greens), not to mention healthy fats (avocado, olives). Green is the color of medicinal plants and herbs used for centuries to cure all kinds of ailments.

  

 

 

There is a very popular green sauce in Italy that derives from an ancient recipe, presumably first brought to the country from the Middle East by the Romans, who then in turn proceeded to spread it to the present day France, Spain and Germany.

 

Each country (and in Italy specifically every region, town and household) has its own version. I spoke to friends from different areas in Piedmont, famous for its "bagnet vert" (which literally means little green dip) served with tongue or mixed boiled meats, and their families all use different ingredients and preparation methods. Some add hard-boiled egg yolks, some use both lemon and vinegar, others like to mix in some gherkins. Some prepare it a few days in advance for extra flavor, others make it fresh and chop the ingredients by hand. I even came across some recipes that require the base to be heated in a pan with olive oil.

 

 

Traditionally this sauce is used to accompany boiled meats, but it works great on grilled vegetables, toasted crusty farmer's bread or fish (we had it with swordfish the other night).

 

It takes five minutes to make and can be stored in the fridge for days.

 

 

 

 

Does a form of salsa verde exist where you come from? If so, how do you make it?

 

 

Ingredients

3 anchovies
50gr red or white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp capers in vinegar
100gr extra virgin olive oil

80gr stale white bread, without crust
120gr flat leaf parsley
pepper

Cut the stale bread into cubes, after ridding it of the crust, and soak it in vinegar. Clean and chop the parsley using a knife, mezzaluna or food processor (although the traditionalists will be gasping just about now!) together with the garlic (it is a traditional ingredient, but I don't always use it), capers, anchovies, bread and olive oil.

 

 

Ok, I used whole baguette... it worked fine

 

  

 

Vegetarian ragù

 

 

Big changes at work these days again, not good ones for a lot of people involved.

Among the many bad areas to work in, the finance sector is still one of the worst these days. In a time of change and worry, it is reassuring that the level of conversation by the coffee machine is still incredibly low. We need these certainties in our jobs at a time like this.

 

Here are a few snippets of everyday convesations (thank me for editing soccer talk and dirty comments):

 

"You know those days when you just feel uncomfortable about how you are dressed, like your clothes are not matching, or your pants feel too short or you have a spot on your shirt that you didn't notice was there? That is how I feel this morning."

"Yeah, I have those days. And have you noticed how they usually coincide with bad hair days?".

 

***

 

"You do really good imitations, but your dance moves suck".

 

***

 

"Did you see xyz (boss) in the formal photo?"

"Yeah, the whole team looks good except for her".

"Well, what do you expect? I mean, she's turning 50".

 

***

 

"I won't be handing in that report on the 10th of May, because they will be letting me go before then..."

"Oh come on! Enough already! Dude, that is all you ever talk about!"

"I know, I realize I'm going out of my mind".

"No, you have always been out of your mind. Now you are going insane".

 

***

New father: "Little boys are much more energetic and physical than girls, right? My kid never stops moving."

"Yeah, they are pretty physical. How old is he? Three?"

"No, four months".

???

 

 

But on to food now, another one of those certainties in life we are so lucky to have.

 

We have been acquainted long enough for you to know I have no qualms about eating meat (or pretty much any ingredient) in most forms. I try to not to eat meat daily and try to limit my intake of red meat for health reasons. I also try to consume meat responsibly and ethically, as in I am a nose-to-tail kinda gal.

Although I (often unintentionally) make a lot of vegetarian recipes for our week-night meals, I have recently come to realize that when I am planning a menu for a dinner party, it usually involves meat/fish in one form or another.

As a result, I am trying to come up with more recipes catered towards my vegetarian friends, meat/fish free recipes with a little more effort put into them than the 10-minute vegetarian dishes I make on any given day of the week for my family.

 

I first saw this recipe years ago, way before Pinterest, on a vegetarian blog and filed it away in the deep recesses of my brain, where it got lost of course. After a google search I came up with a variety of similar recipes and borrowed a little from each to make my own version. I have made it twice in the past month for two different vegetarian girlfriends (hooray for large batches and freezers!) and both gave me a thumbs up.

The lentils and mushrooms give it the hearty richness and texture of a meat based sauce and although I still personally prefer a meat ragù, this sauce was a worthy meat sauce substitute and a tasty sauce in its own right.

 

 

As you may already know, Nuts about Food has moved to a new Facebook page (same name - see side bar), so if you befriended or liked me in the past, come on over to my new place and hit the "Like" button.

I have also set up a spam filter in my comments section because the problem was getting way too out of control to take care of manually. It'll just take a handful of extra seconds to comment, so keep 'em coming. I read and enjoy each and every comment you leave. Unless you are trying to sell me a used car or real estate in broken English.

Risotto al pomodoro and how to make risotto (and tomato sauce)

My in-laws are in town so we had them over for lunch yesterday.

You remember my mother-in-law? The Sicilian cooking goddess who made one more fabulous dish after another during our stay in Elba? The woman who has been cooking non-stop for the past 50 years and never writes down a recipe? The mamma of my DH?

Sunday lunch is a big deal in Italy, a family event, especially in the south. For years we had regular Sunday lunches with the family at my in-laws'. Then recently my sister-in-law moved to Rome and my in-laws spend less and less time in Milan. So, now that there are not so many of us and we are really the only milanesi, I have started inviting them over. It is still very new for me, hosting the Sunday get-together. The few times I have done it I usually played it safe and made something a little, er, exotic, just to  muddy the waters if you know what I mean. So m-in-law couldn't really judge my cooking skills because she was eating something she had never tasted before. But the time to cook Italian had come: there are only so many curries, meat pies and Marrocan lamb you can serve your Italian in laws. The day comes when your mother-in-law will find out if her son and grandchildren are eating decent Italian fare...