Click here to keep up with the latest in world food and wine news.
Related articles
|
|
Sicilian Orange and Fennel Salad
//
Sicilian Orange and Fennel Salad Recipe
As fall slips into winter, the open air markets in Turin, Italy push nature’s seasonal fruits and vegetables to make early appearances in the crates and boxes stacked inside each bancarella, or stand. Oranges, grapefruits, and clementines from Calabria and Sicily showed their waxy globes in the middle of October; bitter turnip tops called cime di rapa were available by the end of September; spiky artichokes, still not technically in season, have been around for weeks.
The sweet, crispy finocchio, or fennel, one of my newly-discovered favorites, entered the scene two weeks ago at the beginning of November. Last year’s discovery that I’ve waited impatiently for since the end of September is the sweet, soft kaki vaniglia, the persimmon, which has a designated corner in my refrigerator. These bombs of juicy, fruity sugar are an after dinner treat that could almost replace autumn pies. Almost.
According to the illustrated and finely detailed wheel of seasonal fruits and vegetables that I bought at Eataly, citrus fruits have just begun their yearly cycle in November. I pat myself on the back, since I resisted buying these until a few days ago. There was one mysterious exception in the form of yellow-green skinned citrus fruits, easy to peel and sour-sweet inside. They came from Calabria, and the hulking, big man that sold them ensured me they were sweet and ripe, never mind their greenness. The man who sold them seemed to have been plucked from another time and place, where people can and still do pick oranges in the fields all day for decent wages, the weakening winter sun warm on their backs. His nails were dirty and his accent thick (presumably Calabrian).
Once at a food photographer’s studio in Emilia-Romagna, the chefs and food stylists there prepared a tangy, salty, sweet salad from the South. It had been inspired by the chef’s Sicilian roots. It’s now one of my favorite meals, and I have to wait for these seasonal fruits and vegetables before I can enjoy it. It evokes flavors from a land where the sun shines across fields with rows and rows of citrus trees, bright orbs decorating the branches in a warm Christmastime.
The traditional olives to pair with this are black ones, but I had green, which I might actually prefer. Being the salt queen that I am, a shot of capers hits the spot, but I don’t know how “traditional” that is. Also, blood oranges knock the pretty factor up a notch for this already aesthetically-pleasing plate.
Recipe
Sicilian Orange and Fennel Salad
For 2-4 people (depending on if using as a light lunch or as a side dish)
Ingredients
1 large fennel1 medium orange
¼ red onion, sliced finely (or less)
¼ cup black or green olives, pitted and sliced thinly
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Optional: 1-2 Tbsp capers, hot pepper
- Slice the fennel in half, and then core each half by cutting out the tough triangular sections at the bottom.
- Trim the ends, reserving green fennel leaves for garnish. Trim any bruised parts. Slice finely and set aside. Note: I also slice the very end green stems, because they’re strong in flavor and very crunchy. They may be too astringent for some tastes.
- Peel the orange. Setting it on its side, slice it very thinly so that each piece is divided into segments. Keep them as full round slices, or break them into halves or double segments.
- Layer the fennel, orange, and onion, then scatter the sliced olives over the top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and garnish with the fennel leaves. Add a dash of hot pepper and a sprinkling of capers if you so choose.
Related articles
|
|
Culinary Chemistry: On the Technique of Brining
Culinary Chemistry: On the Technique of Brining
by Jenn Oliver
Hello and welcome to the first post of Culinary Chemistry with Jenn! I am Jenn, your resident scientist with a gluten-free husband who is curious about all things related to the how and why of cooking. Today, we’re going to talk about brining, but each post will explore a different technique or phenomenon related to cooking/baking in the kitchen. Do you have questions or are curious about a particular aspect in the kitchen? Feel free to send me an email at jennoliver@theramblingepicure.com or on our online chat to the right of the screen, or join our Community and follow the Culinary Chemistry group and forum.
This past holiday season, families and friends gathered to share in their holiday traditions of a meal together — many of which surely included an oven-baked roast. Mine certainly did, as my husband and I celebrated our first Christmas abroad, a cozy romantic weekend together, marking our one-year anniversary since arriving to Switzerland, our current home. But just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean you have to swear off making roasts until next winter’s festivities roll around.
|
|
Beef Brisket Recipe: Bookmark This
Beef Brisket Lover Recipe: Bookmark This
Chicago Tribune‘s Bill Daley interviews Daniel Rose in Paris about how the French make beef brisket. Rose, who runs , formerly in Chicago and now in Paris, shares his beef brisket recipe.
Related articles
|
|
Rosa’s Musings: Beet Salad with Cottage Cheese & Soft-boiled Egg
Rosa’s Musings: Beet Salad with Cottage Cheese & Soft-boiled Egg
by Rosa Mayland
Some people are not afraid of the cold and others regard it with utter contempt. Even though I can’t say I savor every season or mid-season of the year, I nonetheless definitely prefer the fresher season as I hate sweating excessively or getting sunburned like a shrimp on a barbie.
Sometimes I wonder if those predispositions are linked to my DNA or whether is it just a personal preference. What if our genes influenced our manner of conducting ourselves and our traits of character? Hmmm, that is quite a difficult question to answer, but I believe that if our health can be defined by our bloodline, then there are chances that our emotions, temperament and identity are also outlined by it.
You see, my father’s ancestors were Swiss mountaineers who might have had Danish or English origins (my family name is NOT Swiss at all). Then, on my my mother’s side they came from the rugged areas of Northern England where Viking settlers made themselves at home and also from European Russia, a place which is known for its dreadful cold.
|
|
What we’re reading: food sculptures, hugging carrots, revolting cakes, Salone del Gusto 2012, 100 best American cakes
Recipe: Kids in the Kitchen: Making Homemade Halloween Treats with your Children
by Jonell Galloway
American Jack-o’-lanterns. Photo courtesy of Nosajanimus.
Have you ever thought of making homemade Halloween treats, and getting your kids into the kitchen to help out?
Sharon Bowers’ book Ghoulish Goodies: Creature Feature Cupcakes, Monster Eyeballs, Bat Wings, Funny Bones, Witches’ Knuckles, and Much More! (Frightful Cookbook) arose out of her lifelong love affair with Halloween. Epicurious has featured some of her recipes and ideas in its weekly newsletter.
|
|
Day of the Un-Dead
by Alice DeLuca
The Day of the Dead and Halloween are nearly upon us and I am frantically digging for recipes that can protect the living against the Un-dead. Books and papers fly as I paw through shelves and piles, seeking something to ward off the Zombies, Vampires and Werewolves that may be lurking outside the door, or that may invade my kitchen at any moment. They all have highly specialized dentition designed to make swift work of the main course – me!
I’m calling on restaurateurs — please, this time of the year, an amuse-bouche for the living might be just the thing to calm the customer’s nerves. Could chefs please get a little creative, and instead of offering me a puddle of olive oil, or herbed olive oil, or olives in a lake of olive oil with obligatory bread (that I don’t eat anyway), could they provide something that will protect our table from monsters? Let’s get our priorities straight please; safety comes first!
|
|
What we’re reading: Prerna Singh food photography, best new hotels 2012, lemon garlic ginger carrots, etc.
What we’re reading: healthy food, happy cows; history of chocolate chip cookies; Russian organic food, etc.
What we’re reading: healthy food, happy cows; history of chocolate chip cookies; Russian organic food, etc.
Click here to keep up with the latest in world food and wine news.
Related articles
|
|
