By Lauren Birmingham Piscitelli
April 2014
Showing posts with label cooking vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking vacation. Show all posts
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The Magic of Majani
By Lauren Birmingham Piscitelli
April 2014
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
A Note From Michele McPhee...
Michele
McPhee is the author of several best-selling books, Emmy-nominated
investigative reporter and award-winning columnist...but as she shares
in the following story, it didn't all happen overnight. Learn from her
inspiring tale and on June 22 to 27 join
her and writers like you in one of the most beautiful places in the
world, Positano, Italy - let Michele give you the tools to navigate the
publishing world like a pro. You're not alone...take the plunge!
My Positano
By Michele McPhee
His voice was as
sweet as the summer night. His hand grabbed mine and pulled me just
enough so my eyes met his. "In bocca al lupo,'' the stranger whispered
as his lips brushed my cheek.
The stranger's whisper
is one of my greatest memories of Positano, Italy, the remarkably
romantic city with so much to remember - clams in spaghetti vongole
sweet as plums, people living their lives as passionately as play
actors, views so luscious I fear a blink might make it all disappear -
it's amazing that I could recall his words at all.
Perhaps the words
stayed with me because of the splendid setting in which the phrase was
uttered. But the writer in me believes it was the translation that left
the brief encounter emblazoned in my mind.
In bocca al lupo literally means go into the mouth of the wolf.
You want me to go into the mouth of the wolf? Get my head eaten by a beast? What?
Who is the writer who used such potentially dangerous, dramatic imagery like that?
Even now every time I hear an American say "break a leg" I wince at its lack of beauty.
These are the questions that help make me a writer, an investigative journalist, a poet, an artist. It is visiting places like Positano that give me inspiration. It is the company of other writers that sparks the real magic.
I got my first book published by accident.
I was stuck in my identity as a crime reporter. Just a crime reporter.
Sure, I was
dogged, willing to go anywhere and do almost anything for a scoop, and
have built up an impressive slew of cocktail party stories like I snuck
into John Gotti's wake in Queens, New York. I got whacked by a woman
wielding a patent leather purse in London after Princess Diana's
untimely death and I posed as a mob moll with an undercover NYPD
detective targeting fight fixing in Las Vegas. I was at the scene
of the largest mass murder in our country's history: the terrorist
attack on the World Trade Center towers that killed 2,996 people and
wrote about the 343 firefighters; 23 NYPD cops and 37 Port Authority
police officers who made the ultimate sacrifice while rescuing the tens
of thousands who survived that terrible day.
But it was the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace that helped me get that acci dental book deal. I was sent to South Beach, Miami by the New York Daily News hours after Versace was killed going into his beachfront home. His blood still stained his marble steps when I arrived; his killer still on the loose. When spree killer Andrew Cunanan was finally found dead in a Miami houseboat, I interviewed the owner of a nightclub where Versace had spent his last hours. That club owner was Chris Paciello. And his name would cross my desk years later on an indictment that listed mobsters charged with racketeering, extortion, assault, and murder.
It turned out that Paciello, who had dated Madonna and Sofia Vergara of Modern family, was in fact a killer on the run from his past. My coverage
in the Daily News led to a magazine story in Maxim. That Maxim piece
got me a call from an agent. The agent asked me to write a book
proposal. I had no idea how. So I bought a book, "How To Write A Book
Proposal" and followed the directions.
To my amazement, I
got a deal. The four other crime books I have written were not as easy,
believe me, but the experiences have given me insight into the secret
world of publishing. And my Writers' Studio will reveal those secrets to
save you a lot of heartache.
So, brave fellow
writers, I urge you all to go into the mouth of the wolf...to take a
chance, invest in yourself and your inner artist, to write every day in
the most beautiful place on the planet. You can be an accidental author
too.
|
Michele McPhee
Positano, Italy~ June 22 to 27
For more celebrity writing and cooking programs go to...
Monday, February 25, 2013
The Secret is in the Fondi with Cooking Vacations in Milan
Lend a hand to prepare a six-course menu including meat and fish specialties then take a seat and watch the Chefs work their magic in finishing and presenting each course. The greatest take-home lesson of this class, even if you will never make another Quenelle in your life, is the importance of the bases, fondi in Italian, that include broths, sauces or glazes. Whether it's a monkfish fumetto or a caramelized chicken fondo, these base sauces are what make the foods so delicious in this 5-star kitchen and are easy to make at home.
For more information visit
Executive Chef Cooking ~ 1 Day Class In Milan
or
www.Cooking-Vacations.com
Monday, January 28, 2013
Ciao Carnevale!
We have great things cooking in our kitchen: a hot new cookbook review, new www.Cooking-Vacations.com programs in the Verona countryside, recipes to warm up your winter kitchen and so much more!
Find it all here: Ciao Carnevale Newsletter!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The Rolling Hills Of Tuscany in Taste Of Italia
Cooking in harmony with the four seasons in the Tuscan village of Montespertoli. Find out more in the latest issue of Taste of Italia!
Travelers follow well-worn paths to the town of Montespertoli, south of Florence, seeking splendid wines and traditional dishes like tagliatelle and risotto.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Christmas Sleigh Ride At Cooking Vacations
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Hop on the www.Cooking-Vacations.com sleigh as we travel from the North to the South around the boot for an Italian Christmas dinner that will dazzle your table!
Find it all here:
Friday, November 2, 2012
Honoring the Past on Il Giorno dei Morti
Although they fall on different dates, both Halloween and All Saints Day originate from the same Celtic traditions. For the Celts, the new farming year began on November 1st. It marks the transition from the season of life and harvest to winter, when nature sleeps. On the night of October 31, also known as Samahain, spirits were said to walk the earth. Once Christianity took over Pagan cults, the Samahain celebrations were turned into the Christian feast days of November 1st and 2nd. In Italy, many pay tribute to the dead with a visit to church and to the cemetery. Families are reunited at the table with meals of seasonal foods of pumpkin, polenta with squash, or gnocchi dei morti, made with squash or sweet potato dressed in butter, cinnamon and grated cheese.
As ancient tradition held that fava beans were a means of communication between the living and the dead, the appearance of these fave dei morti on the 2nd of November should be no great surprise. Other almond based sweets include ossa dei morti or dita dei morti, shaped like bones and teeth! And remember, while the name Il Giorno dei Morti might sound a little macabre, for Italians it's another celebration day!
Makes about 35 small cookies
100g (1/2 cup) Hazelnuts
150g (3/4 cup) blanched Almonds
350g (1 3/4 cups) Sugar
30g (2 1/2 tbsp) Flour
2 Egg Whites
Pinch either of Anise Seeds or Cinnamon or a little Lemon Zest as preferred
Place all dry ingredients into a food processor and work until ingredients are very finely ground. Slowly add the egg whites and process until mixture comes together. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap and leave to rest in a cool place for at least two hours. Now you're ready to form the dough into small cookies. Generously flour a work surface and roll out thin sausages of dough, then cut into gnocchi-sized pieces. Cover a cookie sheet with oven parchment, roll the pieces of dough in flour, flattening them ever so slightly, and place on the cookie sheet and leave to rest for a further two hours. When you're ready, bake at 150°C / 300°F for 15 minutes.
Be sure you make extra! It is said that between the nights of November 1st and 2nd, the deceased relatives return to the places they did when alive. It is common in some parts of Italy to leave out an extra plate at the dinner table. Buon Appetito!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
DIY: Drying Italian Herbs & Spices
We naturally grow high quality basil (basilico), parsely (prezzemolo) marjoram (maggiorano), oregano (origano), rosemary (rosmarino), sage (salvia), thyme (timo) red chili peppers (peperoncini) which can all be dried either by air or oven.
Another alternative is to pick off the leaves and leave them to dry on clean, dry racks allowing air to circulate. Drying on racks is best for large-leaved herbs such as sweet basil or bay leaves.
Oven drying: Start by setting oven on low heat, 150° F or lower. On a metal rack or screen, layer fresh herbs and leave in oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until dry.
When herbs are crisp, remove the leaves from the stems and crumble them into clean, glass jars.
Or leave the harvest to us, and visit our Marketplace page, where a full line of spices and olive oils are available. The natural herbs and spices are simple to use, healthy, and compliment any pasta, sauce, soup, toasted bread, fish or meat recipe.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Truffles - The Diamond Of The Kitchen
Precious truffles, coming in two varieties white, tartufi bianchi and the black, tartufi nero, are those ever so delicious tubers that improves any humble meal. The white truffle, the higher priced tuber, boast a bigger pungent flavor and scent. While black truffles are relatively subtle and earthy. 
As we come into the season from October to March, the highly prized tubers are hunted down by dogs in Italy and pigs in France. Growing predominately in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Abruzzo and in Piedmont, truffle experts say, the best and biggest are said to rest in the countryside near Alba, not far from Turin. They grow near the roots of trees in forests, and are only detected by the trained nose of the truffle dog and guidance of his master, the trifulau or truffle hunter.
Truffles are almost always eaten raw, sliced very finely with a slicer or mandolin over risotto, cheese, or most egg dishes like a frittata. If you can get a black truffle, try lightly sautéing with a few slices in unsalted butter on very low heat for 2-3 minutes, then add tagliolini or tagarin into the pan and toss with Parmesan cheese.
Tips for handling
- Fresh truffles need to be cleaned with a soft brush, never was with water!
- Its best to consume them with a few day of being unearthed. They can be stored in the fridge in a small jar with eggs. The eggs take on the flavor of the truffles and later made into a light truffle souffle that keeps the wonderful earth flavor.
- Truffles can be stored immersed in oil and frozen up to 3 months in a sealed, air-tight bag
Join our own truffle hunger, Alberto as he takes you through the forests near Bologna for an unforgettable truffle hunting adventure and cooking vacation!!
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