09/10/08 Chicken Braised with Green Olives from OreganoFromItaly.com
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"Chi nasce asino non può morire cavallo." (Who's born as donkey can't die as horse.) Welcome to another recipe edition from Angela's Organic Oregano Farm!
This week's Italian recipes:
-Fusilli with Gorgonzola and Walnut Sauce
-Pollo con Olive Verdi
-Strawberry Tart
Here's wishing all our readers a healthy and productive fall season. Enjoy the recipes.
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Yours Truly,
Angela Reina
Recipe: Fusilli con Gorgonzola e Salsa di Noce
Fusilli con Gorgonzola e Salsa di Noce
Fusilli with Gorgonzola and Walnut Sauce
Ingredients:
12 ounces Fusilli (spiral-shaped pasta)
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
1 cup chopped fresh basil
Directions:
Cook pasta in medium pot of boiling salted water until 'al dente', stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
Melt butter with olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.
Add garlic and thyme; saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add pasta, cream, and cheese.
Toss until sauce coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if dry.
Mix in walnuts, then basil.
Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper and serve. Makes 4 main-course or 6 first-course/side-dish servings.
That's it!
Recipe: Pollo con Olive Verdi
Pollo con Olive Verdi
Chicken Braised with Green Olives
Ingredients:
An assortment of chicken legs, thighs and wings weighing about 3 pounds
8 ounces green olives, preferably Sicilian, julienned by cutting the flesh away from the pit
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
5 anchovy fillets
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions:
Put half of the olives and the anchovy fillets in a food processor and chop very finely.
Choose a lidded saute' pan large enough to accommodate all of the chicken in a single layer.
Put the olive oil and the garlic cloves in the pan and place over medium high heat.
Saute' until the garlic becomes golden brown then remove and discard the cloves.
Raise the heat to high and pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel and place them in the pan with the skin side down.
Brown the chicken well on all sides then transfer it to a platter and season it with salt and pepper.
Add the wine and vinegar to the pan and let it bubble away until it has reduced by almost half.
Add the chopped olives and anchovies and return the chicken to the pan, turning them in the sauce.
Lower the heat to medium low and cover the pan with the lid slightly askew.
Cook, turning the chicken occasionally, until it is very tender when pricked with a fork, about 35 to 40 minutes. If all the liquid in the pan evaporates before the chicken is done add a little water.
When the chicken is done uncover the pan and, if the sauce is too thin and watery, raise the heat to let it reduce.
With the heat on medium low, add the lemon juice, olive pieces and parsley and cook for 1 or 2 minutes longer.
Remove from the heat and serve hot. Serves 4.
That's it!
Recipe: Crostata di Fragole
Crostata di Fragole
Strawberry Tart
Ingredients:
For the Pastry:
11 oz (300 grams) plain white flour
Pinch of salt
5 oz (150 grams) unsalted butter, softened
4 oz (100 grams) superfine sugar
1 egg
3 egg yolks
Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
For the Filling:
10 oz (275 grams) strawberry high fruit content conserve
1 lb (275 grams) strawberries
Icing sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Put the flour and salt into a bowl with the butter, sugar, egg and egg yolks and lemon zest.
Using your fingertips, knead the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
Wrap in greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375° F. (190° C.)
On a lightly floured surface, roll out three-quarters of the pastry and use to line a 9.5 inch (24 cm.) loose-bottomed flan tin.
Spread with the strawberry conserve.
Roll out the remaining pastry, cut into strips and use to form a lattice on top of the conserve.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin.
Before serving, decorate with the whole strawberries and dust with sifted icing sugar. Seves 6-8.
That's it!
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Only In Italy!
"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates & reports on funny but true news items from legitimate Italian news resources in Italy. Each story is slapped with our wild, often ironic, and sometimes rather opinionated comments. And now, for your reading pleasure, a sample of today's edition:
Priests Preparing For Basketball Tournament
Rome – February 27, 2008 – Priests and trainee clergymen will soon be shooting hoops and slam dunking in the name of the Catholic Church as the Vatican gears up for a new basketball tournament.
On the heels of last year's Clericus Cup football championship comes the Clericus Cup basketball competition, open to all men of the cloth and anyone registered at one of the city's pontifical training colleges or universities. Philadelphia-born basketball star Marques Green, who plays for the Italian league's Avellino team, has sent his blessing for the presentation of the Catholic championship on Friday.
The new competition is organized by the Centro Sportivo Italiano, a Christian body that promotes education through sport and also masterminds the Clericus Cup football tournament.
The second edition of the Vatican football competition got under way in November, with 16 squads battling to take part in the final scheduled for May 3. The tournament follows most standard soccer rules but games only last 60 minutes and referees show a blue card to players who get a bit hot under the collar, putting them in a 'sin bin' to cool off for five minutes.
But ball sports are not the only competitive leisure activities getting a holy seal of approval. Earlier this month around 50 priests gathered at the Passo del Lupo ski resort in Sestola to show off their freestyle and slalom skills on the slopes for the ninth edition of the Priest's National Ski Championship, which has adopted the slogan "may the lord ski with you".
"Madonna Santa, Shoot!" Priests admiring the athletic prowess of other people. To them, anyone that uses the stairs is an athlete. 10 Commandments of Holy BasketballThou shalt not believe anything you read in glowing sports news reports about priests until thou hast seen it demonstrated with thine own eyes. Everybody is talented in a church.Thou shalt not believe that an obese priest who comes into camp can play well solely based on faith.Thou shalt practice on the Sabbath.Thou must think outside the confession box.Thou shalt taunt.Thou shalt accept responsibility and suffering for thy team's pathetic actions.Thou shalt not honor and respect the judgment of the officials.Loyalty to thy team is always compromised.Thou shalt win at all costs.Thou shalt rely on the Lord, the one big Scorer, to bail out the unworthy team.