Ultraviolet Café : Albany, NY, (518) 434-0333

Classic French Recipes -  Chicons (Endives) au gratin

Endives called “chicons’ in Belgium, can be eaten raw, chopped as a salad or cooked. They are most popular cooked and prepared “au gratin”.

This dish made of endives wrapped in ham, covered with a white sauce and cheese is a winter favorite. It is usually served with potatoes (boiled or mashed).

Ingredients (for 4 people)

4 endive leaves

4 slices of ham

Grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Ingredients for the White Sauce

1/3 cup of flour

2 Tbsp of butter

2 cups of water or milk (or you may use the juice of the cooked endives)

juice of  ½ lemon

Yolk of an egg (optional)

Salt, pepper to taste

A dash of nutmeg

Steps

1. Steam the endives until they turn light green.
2. Prepare the White Sauce
   1. Melt the butter
   2. Mix in the flour
   3. Stirring constantly add the water, milk or endive juice
   4. Stir in Egg Yolk (optional)
   5. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice

1. Roll the cooked endives one by one in a slice of ham (if the endives are big, you may have to cut them in 2 lengthwise.
2. Pour the White Sauce over the endives so as to cover them entirely.
3. Sprinkle the dish with grated cheese.
4. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. The dish is ready when covered with a light brown crust.

Note:

This recipe serves only one endive per person. If you plan on using this as a main course, you need to double the proportions so as to have at least 2 endives per person.

© December 2010, The Language Learning Institute, LLC. All rights reserved.

Panettone, a round tall sweet bread filled with raisins, candied citron and orange peels, is prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year around Italy.  There are many legends regarding its origins; the only undeniable fact is that it was definitely created in Milan, in the central-northern region of Lombardy.

The word “panettone” derives from the Italian word “pane,” a loaf bread. The augmentative Italian suffix “-one” (pronounced “o-neh”) changes the meaning to “large bread.”  Though the etymology of the word ‘panettone’ is rather mundane, many more fanciful legends have arisen.

One of the oldest stories is a love story that gives the date of birth of this cake as the 15th Century at the court of the Duke Ludovico Maria Sforza, known in history as Ludovico il Moro; when Ughetto degli Antellari, Milanese Cavalier, fell in love with Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker named Toni.  The bold young man was burning with such a passion that he pretended to be a baker’s apprentice to get into the bakery of his loved one’s father to conquer her heart. It was really because of his passion that he invented this sweet bread. This cake met with such success that Ughetto conquered the heart of not only his beloved but the whole family as well and they got married and new cake-like bread: Pan de Toni (or Toni’s bread) was born.

And yet another tale takes us again to the Court of Ludovico il Moro, where the duke offered a royal feast for Christmas Eve. This charming legend has it that during the course of a big Christmas banquette, the court cook burned the planned dessert. The day was saved, however, by the enterprising kitchen boy, Toni, who had prepared a sweet loaf of bread with butter, candied fruit and leftover dough. This improvised cake was such a hit with his guests that the Duke asked what it was called and when Toni replied that he hadn’t yet thought of a name, the Duke proclaimed that henceforth it would be called pan del Toni.

Another legend, narrates that a young nun living in a very poor convent, called Sister Ughetta, to celebrate Christmas, enhanced the usual bread dough with a little sugar, butter, candied fruit and raisins (in Milanese dialect the word for raisin happens to be ughetta), carefully making the sign of the cross with a knife on the top of the cake, by way of blessing it.

But the real history of this cake is a little different. In fact from the time of the Roman Empire, the families from Lombardy gathered together around a burning log and the head of the family sprayed the fire with wine and juniper and then broke the ‘pan grande’ into pieces. A small portion of this cake was then put away until the following Christmas. Specially prepared for the occasion with great care, the Christmas cake also served as a token of family bonds. This rite was repeated time and again over the centuries until 1300 when, on the occasion of the Holy Christmas, a large bread made of white wheat flour alone was prepared. This bread was most luxurious and was thus called ‘pan de ton’(rich).

In the early 20th century, two enterprising Milanese bakers begin to produce Panettone in large quantities to the rest of Italy. In 1919 Angelo Motta started producing his eponymous brand of cakes.  Motta was the first person to put a tall cylinder of thin paper in the baking tin, forcing the dough to expand vertically rather than spilling over the side and allowing the dough to rise three times, or almost 20 hours, before cooking, giving it its now-familiar light texture. The recipe was adapted shortly after by another baker, Gioacchino Alemagna around 1925, who also gave his name to a popular brand that still exists today. The stiff competition between the two that then ensued led to industrial production of the cake-like bread.  Italian bakers produce some 117 million panettone and pandoro (sweet bread without candied fruit) cakes every Christmas.

Long and complicated, the traditional preparation process involved in making true Panettone is still lovingly practiced in many, non-industrial kitchens like a sacred ritual.

Ingredients:
1 cup raisins (dark, golden or a combination)
1 cup mixed peel or other chopped dried fruit such as apricots, figs or cranberries
1/2 cup brandy
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 envelope (2 1/2 tsp/7grams) active dry yeast
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick/4 oz/113g) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Instructions:
Combine dried fruit and brandy. Cover and let fruit soak at least 8 hours or overnight.

In a medium bowl, stir together milk and yeast until yeast starts to dissolve. Stir in the 3/4 cup flour until a sticky batter forms. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one by one, then beat in vanilla and salt. Beat for 5 minutes.

Add yeast mixture and 1 cup flour and beat until a smooth mixture forms. Attach a dough hook to your mixer and begin beating in 2 1/2 cups remaining flour. If you don’t have a dough hook, mix in flour with your hands. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Add soaked fruit and continue to knead for another 3 minutes. Dough should be soft and slightly sticky.

Shape the dough into a ball and place in a well buttered large bowl. Turn dough over so surface of dough is lightly greased. Cover with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until dough is doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough and shape into a ball. Place in a well greased panettone pan or a deep 8, 9 or 10-inch round baking pan (I use a souffle dish). To make smaller loaves, divide dough into 6 portions and place in smaller souffle or cake pans. Brush with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 C) for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For small loaves, bake 25 to 30 minutes.

Brush with remaining melted butter and let cool 20 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Makes 1 large panettone or 6 small panettone loaves.

http://www.dianasdesserts.com

www.barilla.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panettone

Ultraviolet Café : Albany, NY, (518) 434-0333

Lombardia – More than just Milano

History and Tradition

Bounded by the Po River to the south and the Alps to the north, Lombardy is a rich plain. It’s home to Italy’s fashion capital, Milan, as well as the tourist areas of Lake Garda and Lake Como. Lombardy is also home to Italy’s best sparkling wine, Franciacorta and some lesser known, but interesting red wines, including Valtellina, crafted from Nebbiolo grapes.

First inhabited by Gallic tribes, what is today Lombardy was conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C. and became part of the Cisalpine Gaul, which in Latin means “Gaul on this side the Alps.”  In A.D. 569 the area became the center of the kingdom of the Lombards, an ancient German group that gave the region its current name.

After many more centuries of unrest and changing leadership, the region was under the rule of Austria as a part of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom from 1815 until 1859, when they once rejoined Italy as a part of the united Italian Kingdom under the rule of the House of Savoy. At the end of WWII, the Savoy family was expelled from Italy and the Italian Republic was born. In 2003 the provision exiling the former royals was revised to allow the members of the Savoy family free entry onto Italian soil as private citizens.  Today, Lombardy is considered the industrial and commercial capital of Italy.

The Wines

Although most agriculture in Lombardy focuses on food production rather than grape growing, and its grapes and wines have a difficult time when compared to the surrounding northern regions, Lombardy is a respectable wine producing area.  The wines of this region come from six main noble grape variety zones.

The Oltrepò Pavese, which means beyond the Po River, has a long tradition of excellent wine. Only recently has its wines acquired a well-deserved recognition that goes beyond the national borders.

The Valtellina DOC zone, centered around the province of Sondrio, produces some of the most appreciated regional wines based largely on the local version of Nebbiolo, the Piedmont noble grape known here as Chiavannesca. The Valtellina Superiore DOCs, which are usually differentiated by the area where the grape was grown, are especially good.

The province of Brescia, which includes the Franciacorta zone with its rich reds, excellent whites, and outstanding sparkling wines, is the third major wine producing area. There are about 70 wineries within the Franciacorta zone, and some of them, such as the Berlucchi, producers of arguably the best Italian sparkling wines, and the Ca del Bosco, are recognized national leaders in quality and prestige. In addition, there are two more DOC zones, the Cellatica and Botticino, which are closer to the city of Brescia; and other notable wines, such as the Trebbiano di Lugana, are produced on the Brescian shores of the Garda Lake.

The three other main producing areas, though less noteworthy, create some respectable wines such as the Valcalepio DOC in the province of Bergamo, the Lambrusco Mantovano, produced around Mantova near the border with Emilia-Romagna and the tiny zone of San Colombano al Lambro, in the province of Milan.

For more information about the wines of Lombardia visit:

· http://winecountry.it/regions/lombardy/

· http://www.suite101.com/content/docg-wines-of-lombardy-veneto-and-campania- a174119

· http://www.made-in-italy.com/winefood/wine/regions/lombardia.htm