Thanks to all of you that joined us on Athena Isle on Second Life last week.-for my appearance in the theater venue there. If you missed the interview,check out this info here, and be sure to visit:
Ciao for now,
Maria
be sure to check out
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
San Valentino and more....
Thanks to everyone that attended my roundtable interview and discussion on Athena Isle at Second Life. That was my first experience on Second Life and a fun one!!
In honor of San Valentino, here are two more recipes from my upcoming book
The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays and Special Occasions (copyright 2008 Maria Liberati) to be released later this year..
Let me know how you celebrated your Saint Valentine's Day. San Valentino represented love, so you can celebrate this day with any one special in your life-your friends, your parents ,siblings, somoene that is special in your life..
Cocktail di Mare (seafood Cocktail)
*6 jumbo shrimp(steamed)
*12 large scallops (steamed)
*2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce
*6 tablespoons of olive oil
*1 tablespoon of vodka
*2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
*6 hot red peppers
*10-12 leaves of romaine lettuce
*1 tsp of powdered red pepper
*2 tsps of salt
*6 shish kabob type wooden sticks
Place on sticks first-one scallop then one shrimp (vertically) then one scallop. Repeat using all 6 sticks. In small bowl place vodka, salt powdered red pepper, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce , olive oil. Beat wit ha fork until all ingredients are blended.
In tall glass, arrange a few lettuce leaves on side of glass. Alternate in each glass, 3 hot red peppers and 3 shish kebabs. Drizzle sauce on top and serve.
Cuori di Pane
*Pre made pizza dough-1/2 lb (uncooked)
*3 tablespoons of flour
*2 tablespoons of dried tomatoes
*1 tsp of Sapori D’Italia Spice Blend or Rosemary
*4 dried red peppers
*3 tablespoons of olive oil
*2 tsps of chopped scallion
*
Drain dried tomatoes and chop into small squares. In separate bowl, crush 3 dried red peppers with wooden spoon, place in chopped dried tomatoes, chopped scallops. Blend. Place ball of pizza dough in bowl and work in mixture. Knead pizza dough for 5 minutes until all ingredients are blended into dough.
Dust wooden board with 1 tablespoon of flour. Place pizza dough on top. Flatten dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter in shape of heart.
Place sheet of baking paper on cookie sheet. Place hearts on baking sheet. Crush remaining pepper in small dish, mix with ½ tsp of Sapori D’Italia or Rosemary. Drizzle hearts with teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle remaining crushed pepper mix on top. Let hearts sit for 30 minutes. Then cook in oven preheated to 450 degrees or until crisp and golden (about 15 minutes).
*6 jumbo shrimp(steamed)
*12 large scallops (steamed)
*2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce
*6 tablespoons of olive oil
*1 tablespoon of vodka
*2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
*6 hot red peppers
*10-12 leaves of romaine lettuce
*1 tsp of powdered red pepper
*2 tsps of salt
*6 shish kabob type wooden sticks
Place on sticks first-one scallop then one shrimp (vertically) then one scallop. Repeat using all 6 sticks. In small bowl place vodka, salt powdered red pepper, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce , olive oil. Beat wit ha fork until all ingredients are blended.
In tall glass, arrange a few lettuce leaves on side of glass. Alternate in each glass, 3 hot red peppers and 3 shish kebabs. Drizzle sauce on top and serve.
Cuori di Pane
*Pre made pizza dough-1/2 lb (uncooked)
*3 tablespoons of flour
*2 tablespoons of dried tomatoes
*1 tsp of Sapori D’Italia Spice Blend or Rosemary
*4 dried red peppers
*3 tablespoons of olive oil
*2 tsps of chopped scallion
*
Drain dried tomatoes and chop into small squares. In separate bowl, crush 3 dried red peppers with wooden spoon, place in chopped dried tomatoes, chopped scallops. Blend. Place ball of pizza dough in bowl and work in mixture. Knead pizza dough for 5 minutes until all ingredients are blended into dough.
Dust wooden board with 1 tablespoon of flour. Place pizza dough on top. Flatten dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter in shape of heart.
Place sheet of baking paper on cookie sheet. Place hearts on baking sheet. Crush remaining pepper in small dish, mix with ½ tsp of Sapori D’Italia or Rosemary. Drizzle hearts with teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle remaining crushed pepper mix on top. Let hearts sit for 30 minutes. Then cook in oven preheated to 450 degrees or until crisp and golden (about 15 minutes).
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
San Valentino and dinner pe due
Romantic Dinner Menu for Two
Copyright 2008- Maria Liberati, art of living, PrimaMedia,Inc.
THE BASIC ART OF ITALIAN COOKING, Holidays & Special Occasions
Cocktail : Tintoretto
½ cup Prosecco Spumante (or a Spumante)
¼ cup pomegranate juice
Divide Spumante-evenly- among 2 champagne glasses. Top each glass with pomegranate juice –evenly divided among two glasses. Don’t stir- two colors of each liquid will provide two different colors or layers.
Antipasto: Bruschetta Gratinate
¼ pound of reduced fat fontina or Swiss or baby Swiss cheese
3 leaves of fresh arugula
1 large or 2 small very ripe tomatoes
4 slices of crusty Italian bread (can be day old)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tsp of Sapori D’Italia herbs- Tuscan Picnic blend (by Maria Liberati’s The Basic Art of Italian Cooking)
Cut fontina or Swiss cheese into small slices or small cubes. Wash and dry tomatoes, cut into small cubes and eliminate seeds. Wash and dry arugula and chop finely. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread slices on cookie sheet, drizzle with 1 tsp of olive oil and sprinkle spice blend on top. Place in oven till slices begin to get crusty and turn golden- for about 1 minute.
Remove from oven. Layer remaining ingredients in this way: First place cheese cubes or slices, then chopped arugula, then tomatoes. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and remaining ½ tsp of spice blend. Place under broiler of oven till cheese begins to bubble. Broiler times vary- should be 1-4 minutes depending on broiler.
First Course: Linguine alle Vongole
(Clams with linguine)
1/3 box or 1/3 pound of linguine.
2 tblsps of extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil
2 clove of garlic-whole
½ lb of fresh steamed clams
½ lemon (to squeeze over finished pasta)
Handful of fresh parsley
Fill pasta pot with water and small handful of kosher or gross salt. Place on medium heat.
Place olive oil in large sauté pan. Place in peeled, whole clove of garlic (if you leave garlic in whole pieces the garlic will give the clams a flavor but the flavor will not be an extremely intense one-‘if you don’t want to have garlic on the breath’. If you don’t care about garlic odor then by all means chop it finely). Sate garlic over medium low heat until oil starts to form bubbles and garlic begins to get golden color. Place in clams and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring the clams every so often to distribute the flavors. Remove from heat. Sprinkle in the freshly chopped parsley. Stir for about one minute.
Place pasta in boiling water according to package directions (about 10 minutes). Taste before draining to be sure pasta is done to your liking. Drain in colander. When water is drained off place in saucepan with clam sauce and toss with pasta pincer till pasta is coated. Squeeze ½ lemon over pasta and toss. Place in individual serving dishes
Can be served with dry white wine – 1small glass
Second Course : Pepperoni Imbottiti
(Stuffed peppers)
1/4 cup cannelloni beans
1 tables minced onion
2 taps of fresh garlic minced finely
1 cans tuna (6 ounces)
1 tblsp of extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
Juice of ½ small lemon
¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
½ tsp Sapori D’Italia spice -Tuscan blend
Drain tuna can. Place tuna in large bowl and flake. Then add in beans, 3 tsps olive oil, garlic, onions, spice blend (leave a pinch behind to bake peppers), lemon juice. Toss.
Take whole peppers, cut of tops and clean out seeds and inside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place peppers standing on glass or ceramic baking baking dish. Drizzle with 1 tsp of olive oil and a pinch of the spice blend. Place in oven for approx 20 minutes or until tender.
Remove from oven, let cool and scoop in tuna mixture. Divide evenly between both peppers. Serve cool or while peppers are still warm. In the summer you may want to try serving this with raw peppers. This makes a wonderful picnic dish also.
Dolce : Fragole con Limone
(Dessert course: Strawberries with Lemon)
1 pound of fresh ripe strawberries
1 fresh lemon
1 handful fresh mint
1 tblsp sugar or 3 packets artificial sweetener
(Optional- 1/4 cup red wine)
Make this dessert about 1 hour before dinner so that the lemon juice and sugar have a chance to marinade the fruit>
Wash and hull strawberries. Cut each strawberry in quarters. If you are using the baby strawberries (fragolini- little strawberries) you can leave them whole.
Place in serving bowl. Cut lemon in half, with fork incised into lemon half (use both halves). Squeeze juice over strawberries- taking out any seeds. Sprinkle sugar on top. If you want t add in red wine-do so now. Stir and toss so strawberries are coated well with juice and cover bowl, refrigerate for about 1 hour.
When ready to serve, garnish with mint leaves on the top of the individual serving dish.
After Dinner Drink: Caffe Dolce e Speziata
(Spicy Dessert Coffee)
2 cups hot espresso coffee
2 tsps artificial sweetener or sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of cinnamon
2 tblsps of light whipped cream
Place hot coffee in individual espresso serving cups
Stir in sweetener, top each cup with pinch of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg and then 1 tblsp of light whipped cream.
Other useful tips:
*Even though olive oil is very good for you, you may want to lessen the calorie content of some of these dishes by substituting Enova oil for half or 1/3 of the olive oil in the dishes. Always use some olive oil so you still
Capture that flavor in each dish. Enova oil is a ‘good for you oil’ but you do not absorb all of its fat content.
*In any of the dishes that use sugar- even though my recipes don’t generally use a lot of sugar- so the sugar calories are minimum- you can still substitute an artificial sweetener.
*This meal contains a lot of good for you ingredients, Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, pasta, seafood, olive oil. However, I have included a small amount of alcohol in the form of spumante (sparkling wine) because this is meant to be a dinner for a special occasion. But remember alcohol does add calories- even thought there have been health benefits found- you should limit your alcohol consumption to special occasions so as not to load up on unnecessary calories, etc. I also recommend that if you drink the cocktail (Tintoretto) –you serve that with your appetizer. You should never drink alcohol on an empty stomach. And you don’t want to munch away on salty pretzels and peanuts to add more calories with your cocktail.
*If you drink the cocktail before dinner and still want to drink wine with the meal be sure to drink a small glass only with the meal. Alcohol-even wine does add calories
*Since this is meant to be a romantic meal for two- you may want to partake in a small square of dark chocolate (should be minimum of 70% cocoa to get the health benefits) with your after dinner drink.
for more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com and recieve $5 off retail price and free shipping for a limited time only..
Copyright 2008- Maria Liberati, art of living, PrimaMedia,Inc.
THE BASIC ART OF ITALIAN COOKING, Holidays & Special Occasions
Cocktail : Tintoretto
½ cup Prosecco Spumante (or a Spumante)
¼ cup pomegranate juice
Divide Spumante-evenly- among 2 champagne glasses. Top each glass with pomegranate juice –evenly divided among two glasses. Don’t stir- two colors of each liquid will provide two different colors or layers.
Antipasto: Bruschetta Gratinate
¼ pound of reduced fat fontina or Swiss or baby Swiss cheese
3 leaves of fresh arugula
1 large or 2 small very ripe tomatoes
4 slices of crusty Italian bread (can be day old)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tsp of Sapori D’Italia herbs- Tuscan Picnic blend (by Maria Liberati’s The Basic Art of Italian Cooking)
Cut fontina or Swiss cheese into small slices or small cubes. Wash and dry tomatoes, cut into small cubes and eliminate seeds. Wash and dry arugula and chop finely. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread slices on cookie sheet, drizzle with 1 tsp of olive oil and sprinkle spice blend on top. Place in oven till slices begin to get crusty and turn golden- for about 1 minute.
Remove from oven. Layer remaining ingredients in this way: First place cheese cubes or slices, then chopped arugula, then tomatoes. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and remaining ½ tsp of spice blend. Place under broiler of oven till cheese begins to bubble. Broiler times vary- should be 1-4 minutes depending on broiler.
First Course: Linguine alle Vongole
(Clams with linguine)
1/3 box or 1/3 pound of linguine.
2 tblsps of extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil
2 clove of garlic-whole
½ lb of fresh steamed clams
½ lemon (to squeeze over finished pasta)
Handful of fresh parsley
Fill pasta pot with water and small handful of kosher or gross salt. Place on medium heat.
Place olive oil in large sauté pan. Place in peeled, whole clove of garlic (if you leave garlic in whole pieces the garlic will give the clams a flavor but the flavor will not be an extremely intense one-‘if you don’t want to have garlic on the breath’. If you don’t care about garlic odor then by all means chop it finely). Sate garlic over medium low heat until oil starts to form bubbles and garlic begins to get golden color. Place in clams and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring the clams every so often to distribute the flavors. Remove from heat. Sprinkle in the freshly chopped parsley. Stir for about one minute.
Place pasta in boiling water according to package directions (about 10 minutes). Taste before draining to be sure pasta is done to your liking. Drain in colander. When water is drained off place in saucepan with clam sauce and toss with pasta pincer till pasta is coated. Squeeze ½ lemon over pasta and toss. Place in individual serving dishes
Can be served with dry white wine – 1small glass
Second Course : Pepperoni Imbottiti
(Stuffed peppers)
1/4 cup cannelloni beans
1 tables minced onion
2 taps of fresh garlic minced finely
1 cans tuna (6 ounces)
1 tblsp of extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
Juice of ½ small lemon
¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
½ tsp Sapori D’Italia spice -Tuscan blend
Drain tuna can. Place tuna in large bowl and flake. Then add in beans, 3 tsps olive oil, garlic, onions, spice blend (leave a pinch behind to bake peppers), lemon juice. Toss.
Take whole peppers, cut of tops and clean out seeds and inside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place peppers standing on glass or ceramic baking baking dish. Drizzle with 1 tsp of olive oil and a pinch of the spice blend. Place in oven for approx 20 minutes or until tender.
Remove from oven, let cool and scoop in tuna mixture. Divide evenly between both peppers. Serve cool or while peppers are still warm. In the summer you may want to try serving this with raw peppers. This makes a wonderful picnic dish also.
Dolce : Fragole con Limone
(Dessert course: Strawberries with Lemon)
1 pound of fresh ripe strawberries
1 fresh lemon
1 handful fresh mint
1 tblsp sugar or 3 packets artificial sweetener
(Optional- 1/4 cup red wine)
Make this dessert about 1 hour before dinner so that the lemon juice and sugar have a chance to marinade the fruit>
Wash and hull strawberries. Cut each strawberry in quarters. If you are using the baby strawberries (fragolini- little strawberries) you can leave them whole.
Place in serving bowl. Cut lemon in half, with fork incised into lemon half (use both halves). Squeeze juice over strawberries- taking out any seeds. Sprinkle sugar on top. If you want t add in red wine-do so now. Stir and toss so strawberries are coated well with juice and cover bowl, refrigerate for about 1 hour.
When ready to serve, garnish with mint leaves on the top of the individual serving dish.
After Dinner Drink: Caffe Dolce e Speziata
(Spicy Dessert Coffee)
2 cups hot espresso coffee
2 tsps artificial sweetener or sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of cinnamon
2 tblsps of light whipped cream
Place hot coffee in individual espresso serving cups
Stir in sweetener, top each cup with pinch of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg and then 1 tblsp of light whipped cream.
Other useful tips:
*Even though olive oil is very good for you, you may want to lessen the calorie content of some of these dishes by substituting Enova oil for half or 1/3 of the olive oil in the dishes. Always use some olive oil so you still
Capture that flavor in each dish. Enova oil is a ‘good for you oil’ but you do not absorb all of its fat content.
*In any of the dishes that use sugar- even though my recipes don’t generally use a lot of sugar- so the sugar calories are minimum- you can still substitute an artificial sweetener.
*This meal contains a lot of good for you ingredients, Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, pasta, seafood, olive oil. However, I have included a small amount of alcohol in the form of spumante (sparkling wine) because this is meant to be a dinner for a special occasion. But remember alcohol does add calories- even thought there have been health benefits found- you should limit your alcohol consumption to special occasions so as not to load up on unnecessary calories, etc. I also recommend that if you drink the cocktail (Tintoretto) –you serve that with your appetizer. You should never drink alcohol on an empty stomach. And you don’t want to munch away on salty pretzels and peanuts to add more calories with your cocktail.
*If you drink the cocktail before dinner and still want to drink wine with the meal be sure to drink a small glass only with the meal. Alcohol-even wine does add calories
*Since this is meant to be a romantic meal for two- you may want to partake in a small square of dark chocolate (should be minimum of 70% cocoa to get the health benefits) with your after dinner drink.
for more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com and recieve $5 off retail price and free shipping for a limited time only..
Ciao for now!
Maria
Maria
Hope you will join me....
Contact: Lauren Scher
1-800-581-9020 x100
primamediapublicity@yahoo.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE………
Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati Appearing Live in the Virtual World Second Life
Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati will be a special guest of the Second Life Writers Club in an interactive 3-D event on the popular virtual world Second Life on February 13th at 3pm EST, 1 PM PST. Audience members can participate by setting up a free Second Life account at http://www.secondlife.com then going to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Shores/51/50/23 to access the live event.
Ms. Liberati or M1 Dreamscape, her Second Life moniker, will be discussing her bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking as well as her life in Italy and healthy Mediterranean recipes. The interview will take place on Athena Isle owned by Second Life personality Cybergrrl Oh and will be conducted in a text format which allows Ms. Liberati to answer questions posted by Second Life residents in attendance. The event format will be an intimate roundtable discussion with a 40-seat capacity to give attendees unique access to converse with Ms. Liberati.
A former supermodel, Maria Liberati's passion for fashion gradually switched to food and the Italian way of eating while she traveled the world modeling. Missing the simplistic and natural recipes of Italy, Ms. Liberati began formally studying the Art of Italian Cooking in Italy. She regularly consults with food companies, does special guest appearances at culinary events, TV programs, magazine interviews and features throughout US and Italy, as well as consulting for many food companies. Today, she shares her love of Italian foods through numerous public appearances, her blog, podcasts (www.marialiberati.com), and best selling books, which are a compellation of recipes and heart-warming stories from her life. Currently Ms. Liberati divides her time between Italy and the United States and is working on her second book.
END…………………….
1-800-581-9020 x100
primamediapublicity@yahoo.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE………
Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati Appearing Live in the Virtual World Second Life
Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati will be a special guest of the Second Life Writers Club in an interactive 3-D event on the popular virtual world Second Life on February 13th at 3pm EST, 1 PM PST. Audience members can participate by setting up a free Second Life account at http://www.secondlife.com then going to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Shores/51/50/23 to access the live event.
Ms. Liberati or M1 Dreamscape, her Second Life moniker, will be discussing her bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking as well as her life in Italy and healthy Mediterranean recipes. The interview will take place on Athena Isle owned by Second Life personality Cybergrrl Oh and will be conducted in a text format which allows Ms. Liberati to answer questions posted by Second Life residents in attendance. The event format will be an intimate roundtable discussion with a 40-seat capacity to give attendees unique access to converse with Ms. Liberati.
A former supermodel, Maria Liberati's passion for fashion gradually switched to food and the Italian way of eating while she traveled the world modeling. Missing the simplistic and natural recipes of Italy, Ms. Liberati began formally studying the Art of Italian Cooking in Italy. She regularly consults with food companies, does special guest appearances at culinary events, TV programs, magazine interviews and features throughout US and Italy, as well as consulting for many food companies. Today, she shares her love of Italian foods through numerous public appearances, her blog, podcasts (www.marialiberati.com), and best selling books, which are a compellation of recipes and heart-warming stories from her life. Currently Ms. Liberati divides her time between Italy and the United States and is working on her second book.
END…………………….
Monday, February 11, 2008
Saint Valentine's Day #1
Food and Romance go so well together like pasta and tomato sugo (sauce) so I felt compelled to post a few blogs this week in honor of this special Saint and his legacy of romance.. Of course I will be posting some recipes this week.
For my first post..a quote by Romano Battaglia.
"If you asked me what was the most important thing in life..I would respond..first, last and forever- it is love..."
Stay tuned for more recipes and sayings for San Valentino..
Ciao for now..
Maria
http://www.marialiberati.com/
http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2
http://mliberati.diaryland.com/
Don;t forget to check out the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking for more recipes and romantic stories of life in Italy. Purchase your copy at http://www.marialiberati.com/ and rec`eive $5 off retail price and free shipping.
For my first post..a quote by Romano Battaglia.
"If you asked me what was the most important thing in life..I would respond..first, last and forever- it is love..."
Stay tuned for more recipes and sayings for San Valentino..
Ciao for now..
Maria
http://www.marialiberati.com/
http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2
http://mliberati.diaryland.com/
Don;t forget to check out the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking for more recipes and romantic stories of life in Italy. Purchase your copy at http://www.marialiberati.com/ and rec`eive $5 off retail price and free shipping.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Today's souvenir I am sendng to you,while here in Italy, is not a recipe but is a town-Sora.
It is one of my favorite towns to take an aftenroon 'passegiata'. It happens to be the birthplace of a talent synonymous with Italian cinema-when it was the real Italian cinema-Vittorio De Sica and also made famous by an award winning film with Sophia Loren- known in Italian as La Ciociaria- which in dialect means the women of Sora. (By the way when you are there you will notice how many coffee bars and establishments are called "La Ciociara"). I still love to just walk up and down the streets and enjoy the scenery where some of the film was made. At that time Sora was just mainly fields and not much around.
But today we enjoyed a stroll incenter of town and in the piazza where the children were throwing colorful paper confetti in their costume for Carnevale. A quick stop at the only coffee bar open in town for a shot of espresso to go with freshly made 'bugie' ( a fried pastry traditional for Carnevale).
Enjoy..
Ciao for now..
Maria
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Happy Carnevale!!!
copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati
I could not let this colorful festive Holiday pass us by without a noble mention on my blog. Here is an excerpt from the book to be published in late 2008-
The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays and Special Occasions, copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati
Did you know that Carnevale originated in Rome?
It began in ancient Rome, the term comes from the latin word “carnem levare”. This referred to the period of fasting from meat. The feast lasts for about 10 days But the ancient Romans celebrated it for about 180 days of the year. It was their way of celebrating their victories. After the fall of the Roman empire, Carnevale was still celebrated by the Roman people. It always included a period of fasting, and joy
Carnevale is made up of some any colors- from the beautiful fireworks displays to the costumes to the colored papers and streamers used during this Holiday. To stay in the Carnevale spirit, keep your foods, tableware colorful and festive.
In the spirit of the decadent Romans a masked ball with decadent desserts is the perfect way to celebrate.
Dolce Cioccolata
6 eggs
½ cup sugar
16 ounces of unsweetend baking chocolate (at least 60% cocoa)
2 /12 cups whipped cream
¼ cup Cointreau
Fresh raspberries for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a pie pan and coat with baking paper. Dip finger tips in olive oil and oil baking paper.
With electric mixer, beat eggs with sugar of 5 minutes – until creamy and well blended. Melt chocolate in glass dish in microwave (approx 2 minutes depending on settings).
With rubber spatula, fold melted chocolate into egg mixture. Im separate bowl whip cream, fold in Cointreau. Gently fold this into egg/chocolate mixture until well blended.
Place pie pan coated with baking paper in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Place water in baking dish to reach half height of pie plate.
Bake for 30 minutes this way in oven. Take out. Place sheet of baking paper on top and bake for another 30 minutes this way. Remove from oven, Uncover and let cool. When cool, refrigerate overnight. Serve garnished with fresh raspberries and dust with powdered cocoa.
Form ore recipes and info on Carnevale:
http://www.notecook.com/Desserts/Carnevale-in-Italy-and-a-Recipe-to-Celebrate-This-Holiday.66860
http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Italy/Winter-in-Italy-with-Winter-Recipes.66858
http://www.notecook.com/Desserts/Carnevale-in-Italy-and-a-Recipe-to-Celebrate-This-Holiday.66860
http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Italy/Winter-in-Italy-with-Winter-Recipes.66858
For more recipes, go to the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking, copyright 2005,2006,2007,2008, Maria Liberati . Purchase at http://www.marialiberati.com and receive free shipping and $5 off retail price.
Ciao for now!!
Maria Liberati
Maria Liberati
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Today's Souvenir is...
copyright 2008, Maria Liberati
Take a clay pot, a pound of speckled beans (borlotti beans), 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 200 grams of fresh short pasta, can of plum tomateos, pinch of salt, 1 celery stick with leaves and you have a great pasta and fagioli meal.. Add a glass of Chianti and you have an even better meal. My clay pots are my favorite pots to cook with, but I usually take them out only in winter to make hearty bean soups or stews,etc. They are made in Italy from clay produced in Italy. They are somewhat cumbersome, and, of course, you do have to be extra careful not to drop the pot or the lid. I would never even attempt to take them on my flight back to the US-they would probably never make it back in one piece..
But if you want to experience a true pasta and fagioli soup -there is nothing like making one in these specially made clay pots.
Besides taking in the sparkling sunshine today on my stroll around town to get the beans and celery at our little farm store in 'centro'- most of the beginning of my day was spent on making the bean soup -a recipe that will also be in one of the upcoming books.
And that is my souvenir and my special memory to share with you for today, sunshine in a small mountain town and speckled bean soup with fresh pasta, and a glass of chianti...
don't forget to read all about more foods at my other blogs at:
http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2
http://mliberati.diaryland.com/
http://www.marialiberati.com/
and our new site all about coffee at http://www.yourcoffeeguide.info/
More recipes in the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking, order your copy online or get a free chapter at http://www.marialiberati.com/
Friday, January 25, 2008
Good Food + Great Friends = Winning Combination
Just wanted to remind everyone before the week ends that I have heard from one of my good friends, cookbook author-Frankie Imbergamo- in Boston (most of you probably remember him from his appearances in Emeril Lagasse's TV show. His Italian meatball recipe is famous-especially throughout Boston.
He reminded me and sent me best wishes for National Friendship Week. Since great friends are such an important part of enjoying great food-I wanted to wish you all Best Wishes for National Friendship Week!
He reminded me and sent me best wishes for National Friendship Week. Since great friends are such an important part of enjoying great food-I wanted to wish you all Best Wishes for National Friendship Week!
Here is a link for an article on Frankie Imbergamo:
http://www.northendboston.com/dining-meetchef.htm
http://www.northendboston.com/dining-meetchef.htm
By the way the photo above are two bears (Orsi) that are Marsican -a bear from this region ( Marsica-a region in L'Aquila) this picture is from Scanno in L'Aquila and is in part of the famous National Park of Abruzzo (Parco Nazionale D'Abruzzo)..even bears know the importance of good friends!!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Oranges to Your Health....
Here in Italy we are getting ready for the Appointment with Oranges for your Health (L’Appuntamento con L’arance della Salute). This is held every January 26th to emphasize the health benefits of eating oranges, but not just any oranges these are the ones that are produced this time of year in Sicily.
I have been enjoying their benefits for over a month now, it is hard to have a day go by without eating an orange or two-so sweet and luscious.
But these oranges are rich in antioxidants, thanks to their vitamin C content which is 40% higher than the other citrus fruits. But their benefits don’t stop there- they help fight free radicals, are also rich in vitamins A and B and flavonoids- all the substances necessary to maintain your immune system.
In celebration of these wonderful little packages of delight, the association for prevention of cancer here in Italy jointly will be offering cases for sale in all the piazzas in Italy. A percentage of the profits go to the Cancer Society here in Italy.
And as the Cancer Society reminds us that colorful fruits and vegetables provide many health benefits and the health benefits are doubled when you eat different fruits and/or vegetables together.
If you can get your hands on an orange from Sicily it may be well worth a try. But you can use any orange for the recipe below; by the way another ingredient with many anti-aging properties is also included-sardines....
Hope you enjoy it, this will be today’s ‘pranzo’ (lunch)
Orange & Sardine
2 lbs of fresh sardines, cleaned
½ cup of green olives, pitted
2 tblsps of pinoli nuts
1 large organic lemon
2 oranges
1 small dried hot pepper
2 tblsps of extra virgin olive oil
½ cup plain bread crumbs
1 small handful of fresh Parsley (leaves only no stems)
Pinch of salt
In a small food processor or chopper place olives, pinoli nuts and half of small handful fresh parsley, hot pepper. Chop finely.
Cut lemon into thin slices.
Drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of round pie pan.
Place one layer of cleaned sardines, pinch of salt, remaining parsley chopped finely, cover this with thin lemon slices. Repeat with another layer of sardines, but cover this layer with juice of one orange, then drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and top with the bread crumb mixture.
Place in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Let cool before serving. Cut second orange into slices and serve with orange slices as decorations. If you would like more recipes from Italy in the winter go to:
http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Italy/Winter-in-Italy-with-Winter-Recipes.66858
http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Italy/Friuli-Venezia-Giulia-The-Overlooked-Region-Of-Italy.60609
http://www.gomestic.com/Cooking/Traditional-Italian-Feast-of-the-Seven-Fishes.58592
http://www.notecook.com/Bread/Panettone-for-Christmas.57131
Check out my new blog at:
http://mediterraneandiet-healthy.blogspot.com/
Get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking http://www.marialiberati.com and get $5 off retail price and free shipping.
I have been enjoying their benefits for over a month now, it is hard to have a day go by without eating an orange or two-so sweet and luscious.
But these oranges are rich in antioxidants, thanks to their vitamin C content which is 40% higher than the other citrus fruits. But their benefits don’t stop there- they help fight free radicals, are also rich in vitamins A and B and flavonoids- all the substances necessary to maintain your immune system.
In celebration of these wonderful little packages of delight, the association for prevention of cancer here in Italy jointly will be offering cases for sale in all the piazzas in Italy. A percentage of the profits go to the Cancer Society here in Italy.
And as the Cancer Society reminds us that colorful fruits and vegetables provide many health benefits and the health benefits are doubled when you eat different fruits and/or vegetables together.
If you can get your hands on an orange from Sicily it may be well worth a try. But you can use any orange for the recipe below; by the way another ingredient with many anti-aging properties is also included-sardines....
Hope you enjoy it, this will be today’s ‘pranzo’ (lunch)
Orange & Sardine
2 lbs of fresh sardines, cleaned
½ cup of green olives, pitted
2 tblsps of pinoli nuts
1 large organic lemon
2 oranges
1 small dried hot pepper
2 tblsps of extra virgin olive oil
½ cup plain bread crumbs
1 small handful of fresh Parsley (leaves only no stems)
Pinch of salt
In a small food processor or chopper place olives, pinoli nuts and half of small handful fresh parsley, hot pepper. Chop finely.
Cut lemon into thin slices.
Drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of round pie pan.
Place one layer of cleaned sardines, pinch of salt, remaining parsley chopped finely, cover this with thin lemon slices. Repeat with another layer of sardines, but cover this layer with juice of one orange, then drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and top with the bread crumb mixture.
Place in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Let cool before serving. Cut second orange into slices and serve with orange slices as decorations. If you would like more recipes from Italy in the winter go to:
http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Italy/Winter-in-Italy-with-Winter-Recipes.66858
http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Italy/Friuli-Venezia-Giulia-The-Overlooked-Region-Of-Italy.60609
http://www.gomestic.com/Cooking/Traditional-Italian-Feast-of-the-Seven-Fishes.58592
http://www.notecook.com/Bread/Panettone-for-Christmas.57131
Check out my new blog at:
http://mediterraneandiet-healthy.blogspot.com/
Get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking http://www.marialiberati.com and get $5 off retail price and free shipping.
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