To Slow Time Down

While we live surrounded by a dairy farm, our closest neighbours are actually a flock of sheep (white-faced Leicesters and dark-faced Suffolks) living in a blue barn and the adjacent field. This is a very busy time of year in the sheep barn - almost all ewes lamb in February and March.

However, on a hot July evening in 2007, I was working in my garden, when I heard a couple of plaintive bleats in the field on the other side of the fence. I climbed over and discovered two newly-born lambs lying in the grass beside the ewe. My friend, the owner of the sheep was very surprised when I appeared at his door and told him about my discovery.

One of the two lambs is now an excellent ewe, one of the best in the flock. She gave birth to two lambs this evening. Below is a photo taken a very few minutes after the birthing process.

I was not a volunteer on the Pomodori e Vino blog. Rather, I was conscripted by Deborah in May 2010 when an original member had to drop out. I had already made comments on the blog revealing that I possessed a copy of Marcella's book, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. I was intrigued by the project; had already met Jerry, Sandi, Jan and Palma at Slow Travel GTGs in Toronto and North Carolina; and thought it would be a great way of expanding my culinary horizons.

But I must confess that I was a bit intimidated. I had only prepared one of my assigned recipes previously and several of them called for unfamiliar ingredients or implements. I would never consider myself more than an enthusiastic cook and I knew that at least some of my cohorts are very accomplished and expert in the kitchen. Plus, I wasn't really a great fan of Italian cooking. Most of my travels in Europe have been based in France, that most civilized country - and my culinary interests, such as they were, centred around French cooking.

Early on, I decided to conclude my account of preparing each recipe by addressing three issues:

1. What I liked about the recipe.
2. What I didn't like about the recipe.
3. Would I make it again?

I thought such an approach would keep me honest about the recipe and might be of some assistance to followers of the blog. It was the best decision I could have made.

How is my life different from having participated in this project?

• I don't skip over a recipe because it might seem a bit complicated or call for a novel ingredient.
• I am a familiar face in some specialty food stores in the Ottawa area.
• I do more shopping at butcher shops.
• I assemble all the ingredients for a recipe in front of me before starting.
• I plan my garden with specific recipes in mind.
• I prepare many more meals than before.
• I seldom use the "Defrost" setting on the microwave.
• I am much more confident in the kitchen.

Those are a few of the more obvious changes, but I know it goes deeper than that.

Recipe prepared most often:

Stuffed Spaghetti Frittata with Tomato, Mozzarella and Ham. This is a great recipe, a favourite with friends and family - quick and easy and delicious. Everybody asks for the recipe.

Biggest surprise:

Sunchoke and Spinach Salad. I had difficulty obtaining the sunchokes - Jerry came to my rescue. I have planted sunchokes on my property. This simple recipe was my favourite salad.

Forever favourites:

Shrimp with Tomatoes and Chili Pepper. Easy to prepare with my favourite shellfish as the main ingredient.

Fricasseed Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon Juice. Now I much prefer starting with a whole chicken, fresh from a butcher shop, rather than parts wrapped in plastic and laying on a styrofoam tray.

Veal Scaloppine in Parchment with Fontina Cheese. Sure to impress, this is the first recipe I prepared that I thought approached a professional standard.

Tuscan Meat Roll with White Wine and Porcini Muchrooms. A big leap up from the humble meat loaf - economical, easy to prepare and a great result.

Crisp Fried Zucchini Blossoms. A seasonal treat not to be missed. The main reason to plant zucchinis in my garden.

Eggplant Patties with Parsley, Garlic and Parmesan. Another summer treat using fresh produce from my garden.

Diplomatico - A Chocolate Dessert with Rum and Coffee. A great dessert, as good or better than the best you can recall. Guaranteed.

Frozen Tangerine Shells Filled with Tangerine Sorbet. This takes a while and requires an ice cream maker, but the final result is well worth the time and effort.

When I joined this group I owned Marcella's book, but I had never really heard of her. I had no idea of the place that Marcella Hazan occupies in the pantheon of cooking icons. A couple of weeks ago I read her memoir, Amarcord and got a better understanding of the person behind the inspiration for this project and her generally positive comments on this blog.

Thank you, Marcella, for your faithful attention to our efforts.

And thank you to all those who have contributed comments.

And thank you to Beth, Irene, Cindy, Sandi, Jan, Jerry, Palma, Kim - my fellow travelers on this journey.

And thank you, especially, to Deborah who invited me along for the ride.

Just over a year ago, I never would have read this book. A memoir/autobiography by a person, Marcella Hazan, totally unfamiliar to me - a person who wrote some Italian cookbooks. I don't think so.

But, I was invited to take part in an interesting online blog - Pomodori e Vino.
- in which a group of geographically disparate people cook their way through Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by the self-same Marcella Hazan.

So having prepared over fifty recipes from her book and having been on the receiving end of many comments from Marcella over the past year plus, I decided to read what she had to say about her life.

I think Marcella has been very candid in this memoir - about her sensitivity to a physical issue; her relationship with her husband, publishers, and many other people in her life; her business success and failures; the important decisions she made at several times in her life.

The book is full of surprises. I had no idea that she spent a large part of her life in the United States (she now resides in Florida), how widely known she was in some circles or that operating cooking classes could be a career. The biggest surprise for me was her main reason for moving back to the United States after being based in Italy for several years. She was attracted by the U.S. health care system, which suggests that she had many more business successes than failures.

I can recommend this book if you already are familiar with the name Marcella Hazan. It is a very well-written and informative account of her life.

OK Marcella, you got me again.

I've made non-breadmaker bread many times, albeit a few years ago. So I wasn't expecting any glitches in making my ultimate recipe for this project - figured I could whip it up the day before, take a few pics, post my report the evening before & schedule it to appear early the next morning. Easy peasy.

Pretty simple ingredients - unbleached flour, olive oil, olives, salt, yeast. Well, after all it is bread. What could be simpler?

OK, gotta make a starter - called a biga - some yeast, water, flour, olive oil. Oh, oh, it's supposed to rise 14 to 18 hours - so that's why this recipe didn't appear earlier today. Also there's a big mystery concerning the biga, which I will explain later.
The risen biga below:

The bread dough below, including water, yeast, half the biga, some of the flour, the salt, the rest of the flour, some water & the olives. I used a wooden spatula to mix the ingredients together.

One of Marcella's directions calls for occasionally lifting the dough out of the bowl with the spatula & slapping it back in. I liked that part.

After rising for a few hours, the dough is flattened and lightly kneaded. Then it is shaped into a ball and allowed to rise again under a bowl. before baking in the oven at differing degrees for about an hour.

The final result. Best olive bread I've ever made - also the first.

The biga mystery? Well, the directions call for using half of the starter at an early stage, but no mention of the other half. I read & re-read Marcella's directions several times to see if I missed something. So the final result is a very good loaf of olive bread & half of the biga.

What I liked about this recipe:

It's been a long time since I've made bread - enjoyed the experience. Also, I liked using my wooden spatula, keeping the hand kneading to a minimum.

What didn't I like about this recipe:

Two days to make a loaf of bread?

Will I make it again?

Perhaps. The final result is very good.

#192 blood donation in Ottawa today - able to do a large volume apheresis - woo!, woo! Pre-donation, over to Nicastro's on Merivale Rd. for some chorizoo sausage & Italian cheeses; then David's Teas on Richmond Road. Post donation, Bulk Barn on Hazeldean & Costco in Kanata. Home by 3:00 to work in the garden. Finally some warm weather. Planting potatoes tomorrow.