There is so much that has happened since my last post. We hosted a truly amazing group of participants at Masseria La Selva for our very first culinary tour in beautiful Puglia, Italy.
Bill and Judy, Pat and Leigh-Anne, Jill and Victoria, Vivian Grace, Sheryl, Lorraine, Ross, Stephanie, Lynn and Adrienne, Joanne, Max, Lisa and Paolo. Every single person came with an open heart, an open mind and a real desire to cook, eat, learn and share.
I wanted to share a beautiful series of short videos that my sister Lisa took over the course of our 8 day adventure together. The brief interviews that accompany the images were done by my sweet son Max. He asked each of the participants as well as two of our amazing Italian colleagues, Santina and Francesco, what was their favourite moment of our time together. The beauty of the images and words fill my heart with gratitude and make me miss each person and the magic we shared as a group.
After months of planning we have arrived at Masseria La Selva in Puglia and are busy getting ready to welcome our 15 participants for our first culinary tour in Italy.
So excited to show everyone the beauty of this region and to tie on our aprons to cook, eat, and share some amazing meals together.
I have been meaning to spend some time here on my site. I have been meaning to put up a recipe, to tell you what I have been up to on the cooking front. I have been meaning to share some news about a couple of amazing opportunities to do some cooking and learning and teaching in Europe this summer.
Somehow it just never happened. Now I am literally sitting at the airport waiting for my flight which leaves in 2 hours that will take me to Bari, Italy.
I am so excited about the next couple of months. Maybe that is why I never wanted to post about it here. I still can’t believe the people I will be cooking with and the places I will be travelling to. Perhaps I might have jinxed it had I written about it.
Now, the adventure is about to begin and since I am hoping to share the journey here through a few words and more photos I better fill you in on what is happening.
For the next two weeks I will be going back to Italy to volunteer with my good friends at Messors for their culinary tour at the Masseria La Selva in Puglia. You can read about my love affair with this place that started when I volunteered last July.
After the Messors tour is complete I will be scouting locations and activities and meeting people who bake and make cheese and grow grapes around Puglia for my own culinary tour this September. I love this part of Italy and the amazing people so much. To be able to take people with me and introduce them to this inspiring region is a dream come true.
In mid June my husband will join me in Italy for eight days of eating, drinking and exploring before we meet our son in France. We will spend some family time in Paris before we make our way down to the Midi Pyrénées to go on another culinary adventure.
Once again, through the fine folks at Messors, I have been given an opportunity to learn and grow and be inspired as a cook. Messors is hosting their first ever, outside of Italy, restoration workshop. It is to be held at a chateau near Toulouse called Chateau de Gudanes. I can’t even begin to explain the beauty of this place, or the history or the rather extraordinary undertaking of one Australian family to restore this historically fascinating structure. You can learn more about the Chateau itself here and about the upcoming workshop here. I will be working hard in the kitchen to provide meals for participants and have been busy in my Vancouver kitchen recipe testing dishes that celebrate this region of France that I will be visiting for the very first time.
As I sit here, waiting for my flight to be called, I have such a mix of emotions. I already miss my family so much. I am nervous and excited in equal measure. I can’t wait to see my friends in Italy. I am trying not to think too far ahead but to remind myself to enjoy the moments on each of these adventures as they come. I’m looking forward to meeting new people, eating new things, stretching myself in kitchen, cooking with love, exploring new regions and making some beautiful new memories.
Sometimes it all comes down to a pot of beans. A simple pot of beans.
My cooking over the last few years has become more and more simple. Gone are the days of fussily-plated, multi-course meals that took days to prepare for, days to clean up from and would, more often than not, leave me exhausted. Nowadays, I am more likely to invite friends and family over a day or two in advance, plan a menu that can be prepared a few hours ahead of time and allow people to give me a hand. As I have gotten older I feel less pressure to impress my guests with complicated food and fancy wines. I no longer try to pull off extravagant dinner parties all by myself. There is just too much pressure for both the cook and those gathering around the table. Allowing people pick up a knife to help chop the garlic, or a dishtowel to help wash the dishes or a corkscrew to open the wine is just more fun. For everyone! These days my food reflects this sense of sharing.
Simple food can be deceiving. Back in my twenties, when I first started cooking and heard older (wiser?) cooks talk about their love of “simple” food I all but rolled my eyes. What could be interesting, challenging or exciting about something like a roasted chicken or an apple pie or a pot of beans. Yet! Think of roasting a chicken. In my mind, it takes years (years!) of practise to really master it. Same thing with pastry crust. I am still working on turning out my idea of a perfect pâte brisée consistently. I just keep trying.
One thing I feel like I have mastered over the past year or so is a very good pot of beans. Sure, it is easy to open up a can but there is something so satisfying about simmering a pot on the stove for a few hours. Plus they really do taste way, way better.
There are many variations of how to cook a pot of beans. To soak or not soak, boil or not boil, add sodium bicarbonate? Herbs, onion or tomatoes?
My version is, well, simple. Pre-soak the beans. Then drain and rinse. Into my old cast-iron enamel pot they go. Add water, sage leaves and some good olive oil (this is key). Bring to a simmer, never a boil. Cook over a low flame until the beans are cooked through but before the skins split. Drain and season generously with salt, pepper and plenty of good olive oil. I could happily eat these beans every day. I have made these beans (and pots of flageolets and garbanzos and navy beans) for many, many dinners with family and friends who also seem to love them. Simple and perfect.
Cannellini Beans with Sage
Make sure you use a good quality extra virgin olive oil and plenty of it. Beans and olive oil, plus salt are a match made in heaven.
2 cups of dried cannelloni beans that have been picked over to remove any small stones or debris and then soaked overnight in water to cover
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil, divided
6 to 8 sage leaves
Fine grain sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Drain the beans from their soaking liquid and rinse in cool water. Place in a medium pot that will hold the beans and about 3 litres of cold water. Add in 1/4 cup of olive oil and the sage leaves.
Cover the pot and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil. When the beans have reached a simmer turn the heat to low and cook the beans, occasionally stirring until they are cooked through but have begun to split. This should take about an hour but the time will vary depending on how old your beans are.
Drain the beans and season generously with salt, pepper and the remaining olive oil. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Hello again. It has been a busy few weeks with classes and supper clubs and especially with the planning of our upcoming culinary tour in Puglia!
Things are really starting to come together and we have been working hard on the 8 day itinerary which I am very, very excited about. Trips to local bakers to learn the art of making a true Altamuran loaf (the only D.O.C. bread in all of Europe), pasta making workshops, wine tastings and visits to local vineyards to see the vines and talk to winemakers. There will be plenty of time for informal, hands-on cooking classes in the Masseria La Selva kitchen to learn the simple, authentic, vegetable based cuisine of southern Italy. Long, leisurely outdoor lunches, picnics at the beach and exploring the art and cultural scene in nearby towns of Gravina, Matera and Alberobello. I am so excited to go back to Puglia and introduce our group to the beauty of the landscape, the amazing people and culture, the incomparable food and overall magic of this very special place.
If you would like any additional info about our September tour please email us at events@kitchenculinaire.com We currently have 5 spots remaining.
Also in the works is an opportunity for me to spend three weeks in France, just outside of Toulouse, cooking for an art restoration workshop. The food in that region is some of my favourite in all of France. Think duck confit and cassoulet and garbure and Toulouse sausages. I will be posting more about this adventure in the coming weeks, especially as I spend more and more time in my kitchen testing recipes and planning menus. So many ideas are swirling around in my head right now and I can’t wait to translate them into recipes one dish at a time.
Before I head back culinarily to France I wanted to leave you with a recipe that reflects all of the recent focus on bella Italia. This dish is decidedly Roman but artichokes are found all over Italy and beloved in the south as well. A simple dish that is perfect when the first baby artichokes start showing up at the local greengrocers as they recently have in my neighbourhood. A jumble of artichokes placed in a bowl or on a pedestal platter on the kitchen counter is just so beautiful to my eye. So much more beautiful than a bouquet of flowers.
As I pass by them over the course of a day or two or three I dream about what they will become. A soufflé with a bit of Gruyere? Sautéed with some garlic and pancetta to serve alongside a roasted chicken? Sliced very thin and served raw as a salad dressed with good olive oil, lemon juice, Parmigiano and celery, or as a tapenade with rosemary oil to spread on toasted bread. But honestly, this slightly spicy, garlicky pasta that gets a hit of saltiness from the Pecorino cheese is my go-to and very favourite way to feature the humble, yet beautiful artichoke. Let me know if you agree…
10 – 12 small artichokes, trimmed and cut in half or quarters and placed in a bowl of acidulated water
3/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
Fine grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (or more to taste)
1/2 cup of water
1 lb (454 g) spaghetti
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiaino-Reggiano
1 tablespoon butter
Freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano, plus more if desired
In a very large skillet warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the artichokes and season with salt. Cook until the artichokes are starting to brown, about 5 minutes and then add in the garlic. Cook for another minute or two until the garlic is golden around the edges and the artichokes a little soft and nicely browned.Add the chili flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the water and let simmer until the artichokes are very soft, about 2 minutes. There should be some liquid remaining in the pan. Remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of well-salted boiling water, cook the pasta according to the package directions, until it is 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water and then drain. Set reserved pasta water aside.
Toss the spaghetti into the skillet with the artichokes. Add the parsley, Parmigiano, butter and pepper and cook until the pasta is just al dente about 1 to 2 minutes. Add a bit of the reserved pasta water to the sauce if it seems dry.
Divide the pasta among four warmed plates or bowls and finish each with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of the Pecorino Romano.
Exciting news to share! Kitchen Culinaire is going to Puglia and you are invited.
Located in southern Italy, Puglia is renowned for its stunning landscapes and local produce. Last summer I spent three weeks volunteering with Messors, an organization that runs art restoration and culinary workshops in the region. I fell in love with the landscape, the people, the culture and especially the food. Learning to make orecchiette by hand, foraging for wild edibles, picnicking in olive groves, visiting local cheese makers. Everyday there was a new and amazing culinary adventure. I was so inspired by my time at Messors, I couldn’t wait to start planning a Kitchen Culinaire Puglian adventure for September 2015. Sarolta and I have been hard at work putting together a food-centric itinerary to showcase the magic of this region.
Our 8-day journey will include walking tours of markets in nearby villages where the freshest local, seasonal food is enticingly displayed, visits to the shops of artisan bakers, butchers and cheese makers, stops at vineyards and olive groves, and of course plenty of cooking classes to make the most of all of our delicious daily discoveries.
Accommodations will be at the Masseria La Selva, an elegantly rustic 18th century hunting lodge. This magnificent location will be our home base for the cooking classes, wine, cheese and olive oil tastings, and al fresco dining under the stars. An experience not to be missed!
Dates are September 10th to 17th. Autumn in Puglia!
It is cold, dark, rainy and nearing the end of November. It is a month today until Christmas. How did this possibly happen?!
This week is a busy one, filled with dinners, classes, parties, fundraisers and beloved family visiting from out of town. I am already beginning to feel stressed and stretched and the holiday season has yet to begin. Then, I stop and think and remember what is the thing that always makes me feel calm and happy and centred. Cooking of course. But nothing complicated. Something simple and warming and filled with good things. A pot of soup.
Nothing is as comforting as a bowl of soup. Here is one of my very favourites of late. Kale and chickpeas with lemon and Parmesan. Perfect for a solo lunch, a family dinner rounded out with some good bread, a salad, some cheese and fruit. Perfect too for a lazy afternoon when you feel like inviting good friends over but don’t want to cook anything too fancy.
This, like most of my cooking lately, has a decidedly Italian bent and comes from a cookbook that I have been cooking from a lot (A LOT) lately: Franny’s – Simple, Seasonal, Italian. Pizza, pastas, salads and soups. Might just be the way that I get through the upcoming crazy holiday season.
Speaking of Italy, I have some very exciting news to share. It has to do with travel, a certain Masseria in Puglia, and cooking, eating, and wine drinking. Full details will be available here in the next few days. To say I am excited and thrilled would be an understatement!
2 cups dried chickpeas
1 carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 celery stalk, cut into large chunks
1 onion halved
11 garlic cloves
5 strips of lemon peel
1 sprig of rosemary
Fine grain sea salt
3 1/2 litres (14 cups) water
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon chill flakes
2 bunches Tuscan black kale
Fresh ground black pepper
Lemon wedges
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Soak the chickpeas in a large bowl, covered with water for at least 8 hours and up to overnight. Drain.
Wrap the carrot, celery, onion, 3 garlic cloves, lemon peel and the rosemary in a large square of cheesecloth and tie with kitchen twine securely.
In a large pot, combine the sachet of vegetables, the drained chickpeas, salt, water and 1 cup of the olive oil. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to a medium-low simmer and cook until the chickpeas are tender, about 1 hour.
While the chickpeas are cooking, finely chop the remaining 8 garlic cloves. In a small skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and chill flakes and cook until the garlic is fragrant but not golden, about 1 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Remove the centre ribs from the kale and coarsely chop the leaves. In a large skillet, heat the remaining 7 tablespoons of olive oil over medium- high heat. Add the kale in batches and cook, tossing occasionally, until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
When the chickpeas are cooked, combine the kale, garlic oil, 2 cups of the chickpeas and 1 cup of the cooking liquid in a food processor and puree until smooth. Return the puree to the pot and cook over medium heat until hot. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle the soup into heated bowl and finish with a squeeze of lemon, some grated Parmigiano and a drizzle of olive oil.
As many of you already know, this summer I spent an inspiring three weeks in Puglia volunteering at an art restoration workshop hosted by Tonio Creanza with his organization Messors. I have used the words “magical” and “life-changing” to describe my time at the Masseria La Selva and even after being home for close to three months these feelings have yet to fade.
I have spent the last twenty years of my life cooking. Going to cooking school, cooking in restaurants, working at catering companies, hosting cooking classes, leading culinary tours and cooking for family and friends. I figured I knew quite a bit about good food and how to make it.
And then I went to Puglia.
I’m still not sure how to explain it. In 21 short days I learned so much about food and cooking and how to take simple yet beautiful ingredients and make them taste so very good. I wonder if the way the Italians prepare food and gather people around the table just perfectly reflects where I am at right now in my journey as a cook and that is why the experience felt so powerful. That simple food is really what I love to make and to eat and to share with others.
Images courtesy of Melissa Quantz
Orecchiette and tomato sugo. When I think of all of the dishes I learned to make in Puglia this is the one that represents everything that is meaningful to me about my time cooking and learning in the kitchen at the Masseria la Selva.
I learned how flour and water can be transformed into something that is so much more than the sum of its parts. That it takes some real muscle to make a decent pasta dough and plenty of patience and perseverance to roll it and form it into the shape of a little ear, known as orecchiette. That care, attention, years of experience and certainly love are the most important ingredients in making this typical Puglian pasta by hand. That I learned all this from Tonio’s mother, Grazia Berloco, who has been making orecchiette for close to 70 years, is a gift that I will cherish forever.
Image courtesy of Melissa Quantz
But what about the sugo? It is so dead simple I feel a bit embarrassed to call this a recipe. Still, when I first made this in Italy it was a real revelation to me. How can some tomatoes, garlic and plenty of good olive oil be transformed into something so magical, so delicious? I have been making this tomato sugo a lot since I have been home and each time I teach it at a class or serve it at a dinner party people seem as surprised as I am by the depth and complexity of the flavour from such a simple combination of humble ingredients.
Images courtesy of Melissa Quantz
A few weeks ago I asked my sweet friend and talented photographer Melissa Quantz if she would be willing to come by and visually document the process of making the orecchiette by hand. It is one thing to read a recipe but I know that making orecchiete can be a bit tricky and I thought being able to see each of the steps could really demystify the process. Always enthusiastic, Melissa readily agreed and we spent an lovely, light-filled afternoon together kneading dough, rolling and shaping the orecchiette and preparing the sugo. All of the beautiful photos in this post are Melissa’s.
Image courtesy of Melissa Quantz
Over the next weeks we will be collaborating with Tonio Creanza to host some Puglian dinners here at Kitchen Culinaire headquarters in Vancouver. Tonio will lead us through a comparative olive oil tasting, I will be doing a demonstration of how to make orecchiete by hand and together we will be cooking up a five course menu of traditional dishes from Puglia. Dates and details to follow but if you would be interested in attending one of these evenings please drop us a line at events@kitchenculinaire.com
There are still some wonderful early fall tomatoes out there – happy sugo making!
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 3/4 cups semolina flour
1 1/4 cup tepid water
Place both types of flour on a clean work surface and using your hands or a small whisk combine well. Make a well in the centre of your mixed flours and add the water at little at a time, stirring with your hands until a shaggy dough is formed. Depending on the humidity of your kitchen, you may need a little more or a little less water.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured work surface for 8 to 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Cover the dough and allow it to rest for at least 40 minutes and up to overnight in the fridge.
When you are ready to start forming the orecchiette slice the round of dough into 1-inch thick slabs and roll each slab on a clean, dry work surface into a tube 1/4 in ch thick and set aside. Dust the work surface with flour and return the tubes to the dusted surface. Use a knife or a bench scraper to cut the dough into 1-inch long pieces, discarding the misshapen ends.
Dust a baking sheet lightly with semolina. Dust a plastic cutting board or other slightly textured surface very lightly with flour. Place one segment of pasta on the cutting board with the cut end facing you. With the ridged side of a table knife, gently press on the end of the segment furthest away from you and continue pressing toward the other end of the segment, flattening the dough into a small disk (about 1/4 inch thick) in the process.
Pick up the disk and invert it onto your index finger so that the side of the dough you pressed is facing down. Use the fingers of your other hand to pull the edges of the dough around the index finger, forming a cap-like shaped ear. Place the “little ear” on the prepared baking sheet and repeat, shaping the remaining dough segments in the same way.
Use the orecchiette right away or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to one day.
To freeze, place the baking sheet in the freezer until the pasta is firm to the touch. Dust off the excess semolina flour and transfer to plastic freezer bag or an airtight container and freeze for up to two weeks.
To cook bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orecchiette and cook for 6 to 8 minutes until al dente. Serve with a tomato sugo or the sauce of your choice.
Makes 2 lbs/1 kg of dough. Enough for 6 to 8 people.
Tomato Sugo with Wild Arugula
In Puglia there was plenty of wild arugula to be foraged from our hikes through archeological sides and even just by the side of the road. Amazingly, a very similar variety popped up in my Vancouver garden this year. This arugula has a distinctive peppery bite but you could, of course, substitute baby arugula leaves for the wild ones.
2 1/4 lb (1 kg) ripe tomatoes (I have been using cherry tomatoes this summer)
2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1/2 cup good extra-virgin olive oil
Fine grain sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 generous handfuls of wild arugula leaves, washed well
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano to serve
Coarsely chop the tomatoes and place in a medium saucepan. Add in the thinly sliced garlic cloves, the olive oil and some fine ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Place over a medium flame and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer the tomatoes for 30 to 40 minutes until they have broken down and become soft. Add in the arugula leaves and simmer for a minute or two more until they have wilted into the sauce. Check and adjust seasoning and ladle the sugo on top of freshly cooked orecchiette and top with some Parmigiano. Serve at once.
