May, 2006

Update on the garden–one one zucchini plant survived the crash. The tomatoes are starting to take off now. I went on a mad weed-uprooting spree the other day in the backyard and discovered several large vegetable plants! In Italian, they’re called “coste” I have no idea what they’re called in English…sort of like…swiss chard with bigger, whiter stalks. Anyhow, I feel I’m making progress.

I bought my favorite stand-by workout videos in European DVD format last week and finally started using them a couple of days ago. (Tae-Bo: Get Ripped and Cindy Crawford: Shape Your Body). I’m enjoying them immensely. I’ve also started my mom’s money back guarantee workout which involves eliminating from your diet alcohol, dessert, and all foods eaten standing up. Plus you need to eat a little something healthy every three hours or so and work out. She guarantees that you’ll see results right away! I hope so because I also bought a scale yesterday, and though my weight in kilos doesn’t mean that much to me, I’m pretty sure the numbers are higher than they should be. I’m enjoying my first 3 hour mark snack as I write this (mint tea and sugar-free whole wheat chocolate cookies. Oh shoot. I guess cookies could be considered dessert, couldn’t they? Damn. I was really enjoying the chocolate-mint combination too…)

I don’t know if Spring is here or not. One day it’s beautiful and the next it’s cold and rainy. I’m convinced that I have allergies either way because my face is full of gunk, I can’t hear anything, and my eyes hurt. I seem to be getting these sinus symptoms ever since I lived in Napa. The last three years in a row I’ve lost my voice. This year, things are looking a little better, but keep your fingers crossed for me?

I got my hair cut yesterday! Luca’s mom and I go together every month and a half or so. It’s fun! I wish I could take a video of the salon. There are three 30-something women who work there and tons of old ladies getting rollers put in and their hair styled. Everyone speaks Piemontese, and there’s constantly at least a dull roar of gossip going on. The shop is always really busy and it’s fun to watch the women work–one washes hair, one cuts, and one blow dries and styles. I also enjoy it because my favorite grissini (breadstick) shop is around the corner and I always manage to sneak away and pick up a couple eti (a couple hundred grams). Yummers! (But shoot! Now that I’m on the famous Janet McConologue “Works Wonders” Diet that means I can’t eat grissini on my walk from the bread shop to the hair dresser. Man!! These sacrifices better be worth it in the end, Mom!!

In other news, our work on the new apartment is going along swimmingly! The kitchen arrived yesterday (though it has not been installed yet) and Luca’s practically finished varnishing the beam ceilings. At this rate I’d say we’ll be ready to move in by July sometime…We’ll see.

Last Spring while I was out hunting for wild mint I came across a water nymph. I told her that I was looking for some fresh mentuccia (peppermint) to use in a zucchini fritatta and to serve as the base for a nice batch of mint chocolate chip ice cream and she told me the story of the origins of spearmint:

“My sister Minthe was a beautiful water nymph like me. Unfortunately she started hanging out with a bad crew of kids in high school and ended up having an affair with a married man.

Well, it turns out this married man was acutally the ruler of the Greek underworld, Hades (whose street name was Pluto), and he was married to the goddess Persephone. Minthe never was much of a liar and it turns out she wasn’t very good at being clandestine either. One night, Persephone discovered my big sis with her husband…ahem…in the throes of passion if you will.

Naturally Persephone was not all too happy about her husband’s affair and began to stomp all over my sister and kick her too! Magically Minthe turned into a plant (now known as mint), and with each of Persephone’s kicks and stomps, like a moan, Minthe let out a delightful aroma. And that’s why mint is called what it is to this day.

Obviously, I’m not going to tell you where to find my sister because then you’ll pick her and cook her, and, well that just wouldn’t be very nice at all–would it?!”

Confessing My Love for Cooked Prunes: Part II

It was during breakfast at our hotel on Lago di Como (Lake Como) last weekend when I was reminded once again how much I love cooked prunes. The breakfast buffet had a lovely platter of stewed prunes, which in my opinion are even better than raw prunes because they’re more succulent and easier to digest. (As we were travelling I felt especially appreciative because the prunes do a nice job of keeping everything regular–a nice security when you’re on the road eating new & strange things…)

Anyways! Luca reminded me that I hadn’t yet posted his infamous recipe for Roasted Pig with Prunes. I highly reccomend you make this at home, because it’s so freaking good.

Luca’s Splendiforous Pork Roast With Prunes
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 Piece of Pork that’s good for roasting 700g
Onions 2 1/2 ea.
Carrot 1 ea.
Celery 1 stalk
Salt & Pepper
Rosemary 2 3″ long branches
Bay Leaf 2 ea.
Large Marine Salt
Juniper 6 berries
Whole Cloves 2 ea.
Cognac 1 cup
Red Wine 4 cups
Prunes in Syrup 1 jar/can (it’s important that they’re in syrup because the liquid is a big part of what makes this dish soo good. Check the canned fruit department in your grocery store)
Prunes, not in syrup (the regular dried fruit) 10 or so

Method
Note: For this dish we’re using the same type of pot that we used for the previous Sausage in Red Wine dish–in Italy it’s called a casserole dish–in the USA it looks like a wide, deep frying pan with medium-high sides. Make sure that the sides are nice and tall (about 4 inches).

1. Finely chop half of the carrot, half of the celery and two whole onions (The rest of the veg we’ll chop differently later on). Place olive oil, chopped onion, carrot, celery, and a pinch of large sea salt into the pan over medium-high heat. Cook the finely chopped vegetables, stirring often. Don’t be afraid to let them color. Color=Flavor. (Stirring will help the veggies color evenly instead of burning).

2. When the veggies are nice and brown, and the flame is lively (these are Luca’s words! AKA You want the pan to be nice and hot), sprinkle the pork roast with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and place it in the hot pan. Add the rosemary and bay leaf. Cook, turning occasionaly for about 15 minutes. **Helpful Hint** You want to let the meat brown before turning it. That is, in order to have good flavor, the meat needs to caramelize on the outside, fond (the crusty stuff on the bottom of the pan) needs to form before you turn the meat. So let the pork cook for a few minutes before turning and allowing it to cook on the other sides.

3. After about 15 minutes, add the cognac and lower the flame; let simmer for 2 minutes. While the cognac is simmering, chop the rest of the celery, carrot and onion into roughly 1 inch pieces. Add the big vegetables, juniper, cloves, and 1 glass of red wine. Let the wine reduce.

4. When the wine has reduced by about half, add half the jar of prunes (reserve the liquid for later) and 1 glass of red wine. Let reduce for about 10 minutes (still over a low flame). When the wine has reduced to very little, add the dry prunes and another glass of red wine. Cover and let cook over a low flame for at least 20 minutes.

5. Finally, add the remaining prunes and their syrup and the last glass of red wine. Cook just until the meat is cooked to the doneness you like and serve hot! Bon Appetito!