Three Simple Things, Cooking with Massimo & Friends Part 1

Bread is Gold: Extraordinary Meals with Ordinary Ingredients

When a Cookbook calls you to contemplate more than just the food..........

Lets see what happens, 400 pages and approximately 170 recipes to discover

In truth, I have never tasted Panzenella.  I may be nutty for Italian things but I have been oblivious to the wonders and intense flavours of this magical dish. At a time when tomatoes are laden and sun bathing on windowsills and a loaf of Pane di Casa is half eaten it was time.  It made sense but in truth I wasn't that excited about it.  

I was like okay, lets just make this, it’s in the book - Bread is Gold (Cooking Project I have committed to) I have the ingredients on hand, it is autumn and the tomatoes are finally good to go, it has been a frustrating summer for fruit of all kinds.  Last spring the fruit trees were hit hard with a late frost and then the whole crazy fire season and up and down weather cycles did not proliferate in me picking many vegetables, well not for a while anyway.

Now however there are possibilities.  This likely will not last long as cool mornings are with here now as I write this.  And so I smashed up a piece of garlic, I pulled some tomatoes, a black Russian and some of the small cherry variety.  I splashed some white vinegar on the torn bread I had placed in a bowl.  I squeezed out some tomato juice mixed in the hearty olive oil and found some capers somewhere in the back of the fridge and voila some green sunshiny basil and we were good to go .  
We had a fine bowl of salad and stale bread peasant style dish, a little ‘cucina povera’ for the taking.  I poured a glass of ‘Vinology’ a cheap and cheerful wine I have discovered recently that prides itself on being organic, biodynamic and sustainable.  I like that. I may not have some Chianti on hand but this little Mc Claren Vale number is a fine substitute no less.

1. Guiseppe Palmieri's Panzanella P.218

I had myself a taste test and suddenly all of these sweet and sour flavours were competing to out do one another.  Hello Happiness on a plate.  They do know what they are doing these Italians....I read some where the cooks may add anchovy and red onions were preferred.  I used white soaked in a bowl of water they were absolutely fine and since I didn't have a pepper on hand that was neglected too.  Add in more tomatoes and no worries.  So there we are a true delight in the kitchen and a wonderful starter to any meal.  See this is why a little push and shove into cooking solidly from one cook book is a golden thing. 

If you were to take on such a project it is wise to do a few simple things first.  

1. *Clean out the fridge and pantry

2. *Create a menu for the week ahead

3. *Write a detailed shopping list

This keeps things simple then, you only purchase what is necessary, you know what is in the fridge, what fresh things need topping up and things more importantly do not get wasted.......

It is obviously weird times and some of us have more than necessary due to the Big C-19 causing us to think about the possibilities of not leaving the house for a while........I have been in the strange head space wondering do I really need it, should I buy anyway?

I have stocked up on flour and baking goodies because that is what I like to do when we are all hanging about the house not because of ensuing health and social dramas.  And taking notes from Italy more recently their grocery shops are still open regardless.  So no need to go nuts just be discriminating and mindful I say.

‘Bread is Gold’ - Here we go, I wonder how far this will take me…

2.  Banana Peel Chutney P158

Who can resist trying this when we always eat bananas?   So good and quick to make. I used peaches as we had no grapes on hand and that was a perfect substitute all around.  This chutney is great on flavour packing a punch with lime, chilli, coriander seed, clove and star anise, a winner for sure.  Richard cannot stop eating the stuff straight out of the glass jar.  See Photo from the first blog page.  

3. Baked Pasta Alla Parmigiana P.126

If you are the pasta and cheese sort of person then you will love this.  A combination of rich tomato sauce, fried eggplant, pasta and mozzarella is the perfect combination of ingredients.  Summer eggplants are on target right now for us in Australia.  I have made this a second time just the other day and is a great recipe when you need to cook for a bunch of people, the leftovers are sublime.

4.   Hamburgers with Eggplant and Homemade Ketchup P40

This was a great experiment because I did try and make the brioche burgers which was close to a fail, edible yes, yet mine turned out more like a scone.  I am not sure if a scone can replicate a burger but I used them anyway.  I believe I over did it on the flour in the recipe and they didn't really rise.  

There is a hint on the page to use purchased bread rolls instead if necessary and perhaps a good idea as the brioche does need a stack of eggs.  Make if you have too many eggs on hand and a whole day for the brioche to do its thing.

However the rest of the burger was super tasty and a really nice change.  We have been eating a lot of Jamie Oliver's Black Bean burgers lately from his recent Veggie Book so this was great.  Ode to the simple ketchup sauce, that I would definitely add to other recipes if needing a flavour filled tomato sauce for a burger or whatever on the side.   

5.  Reffetorio Sourdough Bread and Active Sourdough Starter P.88

This started out well but did not exactly end well.  Five days of feeding a starter is new to me and I think I may need to explore the making of the sourdough bread much more.  Making sourdough bread is an art that is for sure.  

It smelled sour but went a little gray so I am thinking some thing went astray.  So this did end up in the compost bin as the bread was like a hard sour loaf - not so friendly.  I wasn't sure if I should actually eat it, I will try again in the coming weeks as I take on more recipes that tempt me in the book.  

6. Roast Vegetable Gazpacho - P150

I have only eaten Gazpacho at the local French Restaurant as a little Amuse-Bouche, a little tempter to get your palette going and an added bonus before the entree lets say.  I didn't realise it has French origins, perhaps a little bit on the Spanish border I wonder?

My friends at the restaurant do a tasty Gazpacho, I am pretty sure loaded with garlic and a touch of chilli.   This particular recipe came from Chef Mark Moriarty and was a great way to toss together the last of the summer vegetable I had on hand.  

Perhaps next time I make it with the soda bread he made that day in the Reffetorio kitchen.  This time I took it to work for lunch in a glass jar and that was a fine thing too.  

7. Penne with Zucchini, Poached Egg, and Speck 

On a mission for zucchini style recipe I found this beauty.  I decided that in Australia ‘speck’ was also known as prosciutto, possibly maybe?  It was a fine substitute no less.  I got busy with this recipe one lunchtime a few Sundays ago.  Too many zucchinis, actually how dare I say such a thing.....Many zucchinis on the table, I went looking for a recipe that celebrated them, endorsed them.  

I found this little recipe and had a fabulous hot lunch, not so common for me unless it is leftovers.  The egg on top left me content to take on the next part of the weeds in my garden.  

(Shhh, don't mention I was lazy and fried the egg, not poached)

Since this recipe belongs to a Michelin style of Chef Luca Fantin I will next try his Panzanella (now that I have crossed over) when I can get my hands on a fennel bulb or two.  P  130

8. Caramelized Peaches with Mascarpone P105

Why I have not caramelized peaches before is a true mystery to me, I really loved this recipe for its simplicity and use of the summers bounty.  The chocolate mascarpone was an interesting combination and one the kids couldn't stop going back to the bowl for more of.   

I am currently working on.......... 

1. Saving my parmesan rinds for autumn and winter soups

2. Enjoying the last of the yellow and white peaches

3. Praying that the figs on my tree will go dark and moody 

4. Picking the last of the zucchinis and tomatoes

5. Making tomato sauce and storing in glass jars for winter preserves

6. Planting broad beans, also known as fava, they are a great way to put more nitrogen into the soil for future crops..

7. Clearing out the cherry tomato beds that sadly did not give me much this year

8. Finishing some abstract art on canvas I started a while back

9. Loving the roses in bloom in my garden, after the rain finally turned up it has turned into a cracker of an autumn and plus is great for decompressing from the crazy stuff happening in our world at the moment.  

10. Richard has to finish the fence below for our new chicken and duck space in the orchard, giving the one up in the paddock a rest for now.

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