Parents, parents everywhere!

I love my children, but after 8 days with the boys I couldn't wait for Shane to get back. I also missed him terribly of course, that much goes without saying. So as he is due to arrive back from Spain at 11.30pm at Roma Ciampino airport, I happily leave the boys with Helena and Danilo next door to watch copious amounts of TV and drink juice and eat lollies, jump in the car at 8pm and start the ignition for my 2 hour drive to Rome. Surely there will be shops or seats for me to sit on and read my book while I wait, I think to myself. Without GPS and with my newly honed manual driving skills, I print out the directions to Ciampino (which isn't just next door to Fiumicino), and head off. I wasn't ready for it to get dark so early, so looking at my printout wasn't really on the cards, especially driving 120km/hr on the autostrada. Luckily 'the force' and the roadsigns are enough for me to go by and I make it with time to spare. Unluckily for me, there are no seats, Ciampino looks like a local police station and Shane's plane is delayed. Luckily there is a Soul2Soul special on the radio and this keeps me amused for the 2 hours that I end up waiting.

We get back to Monte Castello di Vibio at 2am, and Shane heads of at 5am to pick up his parents who are coming in from Australia. It's great to see Lyn and Bas, and the boys are so excited to see them and tell them all about what they've been doing.

The next few days we head to Spoleto (winding roads, air-conditioning only goes so far on a 40 degree day when there are 4 people in the backseat and one of them is sitting on your lap), Orvieto (Etruscan wells, underground cities and amazing roast pork panini) and Todi (eyes bigger than your stomach Mr Heslop ordering what seemed like the entire menu and then stopping for gelati on the way home - how could I refuse?!)

ORVIETO

A few days later, my mum, dad and nanna arrive from Perth after a day in Rome. Despite detailed instructions, they got terribly lost and my mother with her amiable style befriended a very helpful lady who chaperoned them to Monte Castello Di Vibio. The next few days we hung around the house in Monte, went to Massimo's restaurant where I did cooking lessons with all the parents, headed out to Montefalco for wine tasting (famous for Sagrantino), and I got to reminisce by going with mum, dad and nonna by going to Siena for the afternoon, where I ended up running into the lovely Chiara who used to run the internet cafe that I went to when I was studying there 13 years ago...you wouldn't read about it :)

DINNER AT MASSIMO'S

Aperitifs in the piazza

Ok, Sam's had enough 

Charlie taking photos of the grandparents

BBQ AT HELENA AND DANILO'S

My one contribution to the meal with much help from my mother in law...special mention also goes to my mum's amazing red wine pears with marscapone, amazing.

SIENA

MONTEFALCO

How cute are these colored pots?

Running off lunch

Shane is in Spain for 8 days - single parenting in regional Italy

Shane lives his dream and heads to Spain to ride part of the Vuelta on the 13th August. We drive him to Rome and successfully find our way back to Monte Castello di Vibio for a week of slow food, and looooots of TV for the kiddies.

8 days of near 40 degree temperatures get absorbed swimming, making gnocchi with Helena next door, the boys sneaking over to Helena's house to watch tv, and hanging out with Isla and her dad Ken in the  pool, and a trip to Citta della Domenica, a rundown fun park from 30 years ago that looks like it has had no money spent on it since it was opened.




MAKING GNOCCHI

I pull the boys away from the TV to sort cherry tomatoes for the tomato sugo for lunch that will go with the gnocchi.
















Helena's friend, Gemma, comes over to help us do the gnocchi.

The boys get busy rolling the dough

 Sam's a master with a knife

The finishing touches so that the sauce sticks to the gnocchi better

Dressing the gnocchi

Dessert...sugar melon from the garden

WHAT ELSE DO WE DO?

During moments of boredom I flick through one of Helena's cookbooks, very famous book with very famous painting on the cover

We go on a couple of car trips, mainly to the supermarket, one of the two playgrounds in a 30km radius of our town, and into Todi trying to get some clothes for my little niece, where I take a wrong turn and end up driving through the historical part of the town which is meant only for locals, end up having to navigate the narrow streets past throngs of pedestrians....we get out of the town and go straight home, empty handed.

Jetpack, game downloaded onto iPhone. a lifesaver for me and the boys.  

Boys getting bored and taking photos of the kitchen with my phone....about 5 minutes later the phone drops and I lose viber for 4 days = mummy very unhappy

Citta della Domenica funpark on a 39 degree day....

 Hooray, daddy is back, and not a moment too soon!!

MUMMY NEEDS A REST!

Castelluccio and medieval festival in August

We had some family friends staying with us during the week of the cooking course, the Duncan's live in Biella and have 3 kids. James is about Charlie's age, Willem is Sam's age, and baby Amy-Joy is 8 months old. They come and stay with us for the week. We head off to Castelluccio, which is famous for an amazing wildflower display in June. The road is torturously windy and long. Surprisingly Charlie doesn't get sick, but our friend, Federica does and has to head home early. Casteluccio is also prime lentil country and so incredibly remote.

The last of some of the wildflowers in August

Buying lentils from an old lady

Norcia for dinner

During the week, we're also lucky enough to be able to experience the Medieval festival of Monte Castello di Vibio. The photos below tell the story, enough said.

Medieval festival starts with a falcon demonstration

Then a parade of traditional dress by the townsfolk

Then a four course roving dinner with each course served in different parts of Montecastello di Vibio

The boys waiting patiently for dinner

Thank God there's wine to fill the empty belly while we wait

Nice face Sammy

Amy Joy, always happy

Excellent drumming action

Shane happily heads off to the Vuelta in Spain

Anyone for sweets?

DOLCI DOLCI DOLCI

I've never had cake for lunch before and I felt like I was channeling Marie-Antoinette when we sat down to taste the food I had made on day 4 of my cooking course. When I started the course I thought to myself that 3 hours over 4 days wasn't really much to learn how to cook a lot of typical Umbrian dishes and I had wished it was a bit longer. By the Friday (day 4), I was ready to hang up the apron and go and detox. I didn't of course which is why my jeans are now punishingly tight, but the thought was there. For you Facebookers out there, you might recall my post a few weeks ago of NO...MORE...FOOD! Well, that was posted a few hours after the tasting of day 4 of the cooking course.  See the recipes below and you will understand why.  After this I also realized why dessert is great sometimes, but you certainly can't eat dessert as a meal, and certainly not four or five different types at the one time, I feel sick writing this just thinking about the amount of sugar consumed on that day and how I was becoming the pin-up girl for boombah (I could see Jane Kennedy waving her skinny little finger at me as I went for another piece of the apple torta)

Charlie and Sam were a little confused as they sat down to a 'lunch' of cake...is this a joke mummy?

Crostata di marmellata (Jam tart)
Ingredients
2 eggs (1 whole egg plus one egg yolk)
100g butter soft at room temperature
130g caster sugar
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
Lemon peel of half a large or 1 small lemon
Jam of your choice  1 small jar (the standard jars that you get at the supermarket should be fine)

Method
Butter and flour a pie dish (this is a round dish like one that you use for making tarts)
On a clean bench or wooden surface, make a well in the centre of a heap of flour with baking powder mixed at the edge
Stir in the egg, and the sugar and mix them together in the centre
Add very small dabs of butter and use your fingers as a 'whisk' to gently soften the butter and work it in with the eggs/sugar
When fairly smooth, begin to work this into the flour, blending from the centre outwards, together with the grated lemon peel
Mix until you have a smooth homogenous ball
Knead until the board/surface stays clean as you work
Divide the dough into a big half and a small half! (Best to do this recipe when it's cooler so the dough doesn't break, Spring would be the perfect time for all you Melbourners!)
Press the big half of the dough into a disc, place in dish, and begin to press it out to meet the edges, ensuring that the pastry base is uniform thickness
Spread the base with jam
With the remaining pastry, form thin strips, by rolling with both hands (using fingers close to palms) to elongate gently
Lift these over the filling, 5 in one direction, and 5 more at a diagonal to produce diamond shapes. Use the rest of the dough to make thicker strips which you place at the edge to form a border. Don't press it down just push it gently into place.
Using a lightly floured spoon, press the tip all round the border to create a pattern, and then press it gently at each intersection to create the appearance of weaving.
Back at 180c for 20 minutes. Allow to rest 5 minutes before inverting from pan, then invert again onto serving platter, or just serve in the dish you baked it with if you're a big chicken like me and don't want to see your hard work go 'splat' all over the floor.

Tiramisu (for ten ppl)
Ingredients
Cup of espresso coffee cooled
3 eggs
3 lightly heaped dessert spoons of caster sugar
Pavesini or equivalent biscuits (savoiardi) enough to cover the base of a square or rectangle serving dish (about 15-20cm in length)
250g marscapone
square of good quality cooking chocolate
Dash of milk

Method
Dip each side of the biscuit into the coffee mixture and layer the base of the dish
Separate the eggs
To the yolks, add the sugar and beat with electric mixture for 2-3 mins until you have a foamy zabaglione, then mix in the marscapone
While the yolks are being beaten, start to beat the whites in another container, until they are really solid
Gently fold the whites into the zabaglione with a spatula to incorporate gently without losing the texture
Gently spread mixture over the biscuit base
Melt chocolate with a dash of milk and then spoon over the tiramisu
Enjoy!

Semifreddo all'amaretto
Ingredients
200g cream (the type of cream you can whip)
40g sugar
3 eggs
40g amaretto biscuits
40g good quality cooking chocolate
Amaretto di Saronna (40g)
Dash of milk

Method
Beat the egg yolks and the sugar
Add the crumbled amaretto biscuits together with the chocolate coarsely chopped
Whip the cream and add to the mixture
Add the amaretto liquor
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and blend gently
Fill small containers with the mixture and place in the freezer
Just before serving, melt a little chocolate with milk, turn the semifreddo upside down onto a plate and drizzle with chocolate

Luisa adding the finishing touches to the Semifreddo all'amaretto

Torta di mele caramellata (the best of the bunch)

Ingredients
150g butter
100g sugar
5 apples, peeled
1 cup rum
Shortcrust pastry (bought or homemade)

Method
Preheat oven to 160c (top and bottom element only)
Cut the apples into quarters and then half again
Place a layer of sugar and some dabs of butter into an ovenproof skillet, and spread the apple pieces over it
Put this over a brisk flame to caramelize the apple
Add a small glassful of rum to the pan and light it so it flames
Remove from the heat, and cover with a sheet of pastry
Place in the oven at 160c for 40 mins
Remove from the oven and press flat gently if it has risen too  much
Allow to cool somewhat, then immediately invert it onto a serving dish. If you forget about it and the caramel hardens (like you could with such yumminess almost ready to be eaten), you can put it in the oven a little to warm
Serve it warm with ice-cream.

Secondi - Game, game, game

It's been a while since I've posted so apologies for the delay in updates. I thought that while Shane was away in Spain I'd be a bit more organized but looking after the kids had me tired by nighttime and I didn't do much after they were in bed other than drink my medicinal dosage of wine.

So, after a delay of several weeks, here is the follow up to the antipasti and primi post, with the meat dishes and my favorite accompaniment from my Umbrian cooking course...

My teachers were a bit surprised on the first day of the course when I told them I wasn't really interested in learning how to cook crumbed chicken breast or Umbrian hamburger and asked instead to learn how to cook wild boar and rabbit but being the good people they are, they happily obliged and on day 3 of my cooking course I learnt what to do with wild boar and a bunny.

The dutiful Italian wife serving Mr Heslop

Cinghiale (wild boar)

Ingredients
Wild boar cut into pieces about 2x2cm but roughly cut, not into cubes (apparently wild boar gets exported from Australia to Italy, so we should be able to get it in Aust) - if you can find it, ask for the pancia (stomach?)
2 Onions finely sliced
3 Rosemary sprigs tied tog.
Mixed herbs, finely chopped (thyme, oregano, rosemary, wild fennel which tastes a bit like dill, you can use the leaves of a fennel if you can't get anything else, and a tiny bit of mint)
EVO Oil
Butter
3 cloves wrapped in muslin
White wine
Tomato pulp/passata
1 tsp juniper berries

Method (keep lid on unless it asks you to uncover) - this needs to cook for a couple of hours to be tender
Cut cinghiale into pieces, put it in a bowl in the sink and fill with water and let the water run gently for half an hour (this is to remove the gamey flavour from the boar, if you are using pork you don't need to do this)
Put the cinghiale into a saucepan with oil and some water, 1 onion and rosemary sprigs. Keep it on a low flame to allow it to form a water (remove the first water which is the watery juice that comes up after it has simmered for a while)
Prepare another saucepan with the herbs finely chopped together and the remaining onion. Let it cook on low heat with some EVOO, butter and water. When the onion is cooked, place the cinghiale pieces with sale, pepper, chill pepper (not much), the sprig of rosemary, cloves onto the layer of the onion
and herbs. Add juniper berries. Cook on low heat.

When the juices have absorbed, add white wine sufficient to cover contents of the pan. Remove lid to evaporate alcohol and then cover with lid again.

If it is not cooked when the liquid has reduced, add some water or stock (any type - vegetable, chicken), and cover with lid again. When it has almost cooked, add tomato pulp, not too much, just enough to thicken the sauce.

Coniglio arrosto morto (Dead roast bunny)

Coniglio (rabbit) sung in the pot

Ingredients
Rabbit (farmed rabbit is better because wild rabbit is too tough and doesn't have any fat)
Pork cheek/lard
Pork fat for frying (cheek again is fine)
Rosemary
Wild fennel
Garlic
Oil, salt and pepper
1 Lemon,
White wine, 2 cups

Method
Prepare the frying mixture - pork fat, rosemary, garlic clove squashed, wild fennel, salt, pepper and olive oil. Dice pork fat and then chop everything together so it forms a paste.
Divide rabbit into 5 pieces: 2 hindquarters, 2 shoulders and centre (or you could ask the butcher to do it for you). Place the rabbit in water until it's ready to use or it will dry out and not be very tasty. This also prevents it from discoloring. Ask the butcher to keep the liver and heart in, and check the liver appearance - apparently, fat on the liver is evidence of a healthy rabbit. After 8 weeks in Umbria, my liver is looking pretty healthy too.

Bathe the meat in lemon juice, and spread the pieces of pork mixture over the rabbit. Also keep a bit of the frying mixture so that you can place some in the pocket of the rabbit's shoulder (or femoral muscle for those more medically attuned). Add salt and pepper, and place in the pan with the pieces of poor and more oil. make sure the centre is folded over so it doesn't dry out and cook before the rest of the rabbit. Use a pot/pan that means the rabbit is snug.

Place on low heat on the stove to allow juices to leave the meat.

When the meat is gently browned on both sides, add white wine; uncover and increase flame to max to bring back to the boil, then place the cover half over on lower heat to allow the wine to evaporate. When the smell of wine has gone, replace to cover and continue to cook on low heat for around 1-1.25 hours.

If necessary, add some water at the end of cooking. Allow the rabbit to cool, and then cut into small pieces. Put the sauce that has formed through a sieve and then pour over the rabbit.

(You can swap this recipe for chicken if you want)

Verdure Gratinate (Vegetables with breadcrumbs)

Ingredients:
1 red capsicum sliced lengthways into quarters and then halved again
1 eggplant cut into 1cm slices
3-4 tomatoes cut in half
Zucchini halved then sliced lengthwise
Salt
EVOO
Garlic
Parsley
Breadcrumbs

Method:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees (use top and bottom element, not fan forced)
Cut the vegetables
Salt the eggplants for 30 minutes to get rid of the bitter juices
Scoop the centers out of the tomatoes and keep separate
Place all vegetable pieces on an oiled shallow baking tray (or you can use baking paper)
Prepare the breadcrumb mixture - squash a clove of garlic with finely chopped parsley and add to breadcrumbs. Add salt and oil.
Drizzle oil over the vegetables, this helps the breadcrumbs stick to the vegetables, then a bit of salt for good luck.
Put a portion of the breadcrumb mixture aside to use for the tomatoes and add the sees and juices that were kept, squashing any solid bits to a pulp, and removing any part that doesn't pulp easily.
Spread the breadcrumb mixture over the vegetables, taking care with the tomatoes not to pack the mixture down too much.
Place in oven and cook for 25-30 mins, serve at room temp.

The finished product...Front centre verdure gratinate, middle left rabbit, middle back wild boar