The Winds of Change

The title of this website is now highly misleading. I no longer live in Italy but in the country of tulips, clogs, Gouda and bicycles and also the home of legalized prostitution, tolerance of cannabis use and Sinterklaas (the less said about latter the better), yes, you guest it: Holland!

It has been a very interesting journey so far, after having lived in Italy for 12 years, I realize just how Italian I've become. Would the Dutch feel as foreign as they do to me now if I had come directly from the UK? It's hard to say but the fact is the people here seem so different: there's less touching, less spontaneity and dare I say it, less style. So far in the fashion stakes and in terms of general self-preservation, the Italians really do it better.

However, my British upbringing as faired me well in this move as there's something reassuringly familiar in the weather, the food, the landscape and even the language. Now I'm busy getting to grips with a different yet familiar land and trying to learn a language that isn't quite music to my ears. Watch this space.....

Flavour of the month: "Il Lesso"

A SIMPLE CLASSIC ITALIAN RECIPE

If like most you're feeling the effects of the credit crunch, don't despair! Try embracing the spirit of the times; it's about making do with what you have and making what you have last longer. Living frugally doesn't have to mean living miserably. Instead, focus on getting the best quality within your budget and eliminte the superfluous.

There seems to be a trend towards going 'back to basics' and enjoying simple, family driven activities such as cooking hearty meals and entertaining at home. The credit crunch has given us a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves of what's important and get back to a lost era of enjoying the simple things in life.

My Italian mother in law, who's 65, grew up knowing how to make things last. She hates throwing things away and always finds a way to 'rescue' an item I'd deem fit for the rubbish bin.

She taught me a tasty recipe that's emblematic of her frugal approach, that I'll share with you. It's wholesome, genuine Italian food that's easy to make, too. Most of all, it's a perfect example of an old classic that let's you get the most out a dish. This recipe uses fresh cuts of meat cooked with vegetables and herbs slowly over a low heat (or quicker with a pressure cooker). The delicious broth that's created is then used to make a hearty risotto the next day.

'Il Lesso'

Ingredients for 4 people:

1kg selection of meat; choose between fatty and lean cuts. Hen, beef and pork are good choices.
1 large carrot
1 potato
1 celery stalk
1 large onion
A handful of parsley
2 bay leaves
1 tsp of salt

Method:

Rinse the meat and place in a deep casserole dish or pressure cooker.

Wash the vegetables and herbs, peel the onion and cut the ends of the carrot and celery, place whole in the pot.

Add salt.

Fill the casserole dish with cold water so that the meat is completely covered (or up the line indicated with the pressure cooker).

Bring to the boil and then cook, half covered on a low heat for 3 hours, or until the meat is tender (45 minutes from when the whistle blows with a pressure cooker).

'Il Lesso' can be accompanied with the vegetables in the broth and a light salad.

The broth remains in the pan, covered overnight. The next day the fat on the surface can be skimmed and thrown away. You can then filter the broth using a sieve to eliminate any debris. The broth is now ready for the 'Risotto'.

'Il Risotto'

Ingredients

70-100gm of Arborio rice per person. You can also use wholegrain rice. If you get the hard variety, to shorten cooking time you can soak it for 4 hours before use.
½ tsp of salt
1 big onion
1 small dried chilli pepper
4 tbsp of olive oil
Small glass of red wine
The broth. Double the quantity of the rice, so for example 400 grams of rice will need 800 ml of broth

Method:

Rinse the rice under cold water, set aside.

Peel and finely chop the onion.

Add olive oil to a deep pan, heat, add the onions and chilli, cook and stir continuously until the onion begins to become transparent.

Add the rice and stir, add the wine and turn up the heat, stirring continuously until the wine evaporates.

Add the broth and salt, cover and cook on a low heat for the length of time indicated on the packet of rice or until the broth is absorbed (if using a pressure cooker, follow the cooking times indicated).

Buon appetito!

Flavour of the Month: Hummus

Now that Spring is officially in full swing, people seem more inclined to eat together outside in the open air. I'm hoping that barbecue and picnic invitations abound from this point on; I just love a barbecue. I know about the documented carcinogenic effects of barbecued meat but it just tastes so good- even those slightly burnt parts where the bad stuff supposedly lurks. What's better on a sunny day than being outside enjoying a chilled beer and grilled meat in good company? Now, I usually focus on Italian inspired recipes owing to the nature of this blog but the recipe this month I think is a perfect antipasto or accompaniment to a barbecue or a picnic. Every time I have brought hummus along to a gathering it has always gone down a treat so it's my staple contribution. The Italian contingent seem to love it because it's not commonly eaten here and the non-Italian guests seem to enjoy eating a familiar dish that perhaps hasn't been eaten in a while. Besides, it takes a mighty confident Brit to rock up to an Italian barbecue with a cold pasta dish! Another reason that Hummus is my friend is because it's so easy to prepare: you can rustle up something that'll taste good and impress the people in 2 minutes, literally. As far as ingredients go, this months recipe is very seasonal: it uses garlic and lemon, so spring season fruit and veg. We know this stuff must be good for us: vitamin C and citric acid from the lemon and allicin and potassium from the garlic. So maybe a little hummus on your bread can help you stave off a cold and keep your cholesterol levels down.

What you'll need:

1 lemon

1 tin of chickpeas

2 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of Tahini paste

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

 A pinch of salt

Method:

1) Drain the chickpeas and retain around a third of the water from the can.

2) Squeeze the juice from the lemon.

3) Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves.

4) Place all the ingredients on the blender, apart from the olive oil. Blend until smooth.

5) Add the olive oil and blend again very briefly.

6) Transfer to a dish and place in fridge to cool before serving.

You can pour olive oil and place black olives on the hummus before serving just to give it that aesthetic touch. It's great on bread and crackers but also works wonderfully inside burgers, on top of salads or grilled meats and for dipping cruditè.

It's a Dog's Life

I think this is the most tired I've ever felt. What was I thinking? Two kids, a full time job and a dog. I must have some kind of deluded sense of how much I can handle. I have actually wept from the exhaustion. On the plus side and what stops me from throwing myself off the nearest balcony, is the fact that I think my body is getting used to all this exercise. I no longer arrive at work sweaty and dishevelled and I've knocked five minutes off the time it takes me and Jodi to get to work and back. Also, my long standing insomnia has magically abated....could it be the exhaustion or the love of my new four legged friend? Whatever the reason, this is a welcome perk of dog ownership I wasn't expecting. On balance, when I think about what I've gained with Jodi in my life (aside from muscle fatigue), I can see that he's helped my self esteem. With him I have to get out and focus on something else; I just don't have the time or the psychic energy for dwelling and dredging anymore. It's also really gratifying to see him respond to us and gain confidence in people and his new surroundings. He's also come leaps and bounds physically: his muscles have developed so much and his coat's shiny. I'd say he's content. Despite all the hard work, I feel glad we have Jodi in our lives.

And Along Came Jodi

We have a new addition to our family, a sweet, old individual: Jodi. Jodi is a mutt we adopted from the dog pound. I've been wanting a dog for a very long time but I was never in the position to be able to look after one until now. I didn't see the point of getting a dog just to leave it on its own all day, every day whilst I was at work. Then, as fate would have it I happened upon a work situation where my boss LOVES dogs and this meant I could bring my dog with me to work. I put the idea of adopting a dog to my husband and he wasn't very enthusiastic. Not because he doesn't like dogs, quite the opposite. He just felt scared about the commitment involved. When I explained in detail how owning a dog was doable and compatible with our lives, he agreed to accompany me to the pound and there we met the new member of the family. It was love at first sight. From the moment I saw him, I couldn't stop thinking about him and I just wanted to get him out of the pound and with us as soon as possible. The amazing thing about Jodi, well amazing to me anyway, is that he had been languishing in the pound for 8 years. How could people have missed the opportunity of getting such an incredible dog? I posed this question to the workers and they told me that most people want puppies and small dogs. Well, Jodi's neither of those things: he's old and huge. I suppose it's just as well for us that out tastes go against the grain. Having Jodi has definitely been an upheaval and my brain still needs time to assimilate my dog duties with my day to day existence with full time work and kids: I've left my house keys in the door 4 times and completely forgotten about an important appointment.  Things which are really not like me but they do say having a dog is a life changing experience. From a social point of view having a big, dark dog certainly opens your eyes to how many people are petrified of them. People cross the street to avoid Jodi and I or veer away as we pass. Dog phobia seems to be rampant in my work building where the porter, a harpy at the best of times, took it open herself to shout at me and threaten me for bringing a dog into the building. Her partner in crime, another old witch from the coven who lives in the building, verbally abused me other other day, telling me: "go back to where you come from!". Oh, the joys of postmenopausal signore. Anyway, I'm not deterred; sticks and stones as they say. Me and Jodi are bigger than that. I'm just happy he's fitted in so well at home and at work and that he seems content, he deserves to be.