Blood Oranges, Town Crier and my childhood - Arance Sanguine, Banditore e la mia fanciullezza

I ricordi, vivono con noi, non ci abbandonano mai, un piccolo gesto, un profumo, un'immagine puo' portare la mente lontano....

Ecco ieri ho comprato delle arancie rosse.  Il colore e il profumo delle arance, come una scintilla, mi riporto alla mia fanciullezza e la vendita delle arance di Sicilia in piazza.

Nel dopoguerra, non c'era la TV, ne la radio e I giornali erano un lusso....esisteva il Banditore!

Prima dell'avvento dei mezzi di comunicazione di massa, quando molti non sapevano leggere, molti annunci erano fatti dal banditore (lu bannitor). Il banditore con la sua tromba a corno ottonata, girava tutte le strade del paese annunziando il prodotto in vendita. In questo caso, arance rosse della Sicilia.

“Attenzione, attenzione; è arrivato il venditore con le sue belle arance sanguine (rosse) dalla Sicilia.” Correte tutti in piazza…”.

                                  

Quante mangiate io e mamma ci siamo fatte!

AMAZING POTATOES

We LOVE potatoes, and why not?  They are a great source of vitamins and minerals.  We fry them, boil them, and bake them, but rarely celebrate them.  While many Americans load them with cream and butter, here are many ways that I let their earthy goodness shine through.

white, gold yukon, yams and red potatoes

Mix all types of potatoes with skins on, add chopped red onions, sprinkle with rosemary, add salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake at 400 until crisp.

Oven roasted potatoes

Potato Pizza:  Potato pizza has a special place in my heart. This simple rustic pizza made with just a few basic ingredients (no tomato sauce) is pretty impossible to find in restaurants. It’s thin, crispy, crunchy and addictive.

Mixed with vegetables (Swisschard and potatoes)

Potato salad

Potato skins and roasted peppers

Roasted Chickpeas - A Nutritious Snack for Children and Adults

Chickpeas - Ceci - Garbanzos

 

As a child in Italy, the long winter evenings were spent around a large fireplace (only method of keeping warm) with family and friends.  In front of the crackling logs we would munch on dried fruit, roasted chestnuts and chickpeas. 

There were two methods of roasting chickpeas:  

-- one utilizing sand and salt in a very large pot where the chickpeas would roast

    until turning white;

--the other utilizing a large pan with a little olive oil.   

Today, it's still our family snack choice.  We prefer the pan method as the chickpeas are crunchy but not hard, therefore kinder to the teeth.

All photos -  ©2012 - La Casa e Il Giardino – picasaweb

Ingredients

1 lb. dry chickpeas (alternate 2 cans of cooked beans).*

4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Place the washed chickpeas in a large pot.  Add water (3 times the amount of the chickpeas), and bring to a boil.   Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour.  The chickpeas should not be not be fully cooked.  Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

*If canned chickpeas are used - Drain and rinse chickpeas under running water. Pat dry with a kitchen towel and proceed as follows.

Place oil in a large cast iron skillet over the cooktop.  Spread chickpeas out.  Add salt and pepper and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until the chickpeas are brown and crunchy.

Roasted chickpeas - Ceci arrostiti

According to the NY Times "US Children:Generation Snack", children are snacking on cookies, chips and other treats.

This snack satisfies children and adults snack cravings without the guilt.  Enjoy!

You may also like:

Ceci alla Pignata

Chestnuts are not just for Roasting

ZUCCHINI AND POTATOES - Zucca e Patate

With an abundance of zucchini or zucca in our garden, the first dish that comes to mind it's Zucca e Patate.  This is an old peasant dish which, in my childhood, was served as the first and only dish accompanied by crusty bread.

All photos - Copyright - ©2011

Ingredients

1 large zucchini (or 3 small ones)
3 potatoes (red or white)
1 large onion
4 fresh chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
Fresh celery leaves
Few sprigs of basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

Wash and cut zucchini into chunks. Peel and cut potatoes into chunks.  Saute' onion in olive oil.  When golden, add tomatoes, potatoes, celery leaves, basil, salt and pepper. 

Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, then add zucchini.  Stir occasionally so that vegetables cook evenly.  Cook until potatoes and zucchini are tender.

 

On occasion, I add sliced Italian eggplants -

 

Slice the eggplants.  Briefly saute them in a little olive oil 5 to 10 minutes.

 

sautéed eggplants

 

 Add to the zucchini and cook an additional 5 to 6 minutes.

 

Zucchini, potatoes and eggplants