Pbenjay's Blog

GOOD MORNING and WELCOME

Raffaella greeted us warmly over coffee in the garden and introduced us to,each other. Today there would be five of us to start and by lunch time we could expect another member of our crew.  Besides Barbara and me, there was Sue, a lovely young woman from South Korea, and a couple from Australia.

Raffaella described the menu which would be five courses, five courses! She divided us into teams and we marched into her kitchen. Not knowing what to expect I was surprised to find out we would be cooking in Rafaella’s family kitchen.  Have you ever seen an orange refrigerator?

Pretty Raffaella with her bright orange refrigerator

We sat around a long rectangular table covered with two smooth wide boards, wearing our Let’s Cook in Umbria aprons.

The key to good cooking – Mise en place! Making Apricot Galette

Five courses seemed like a daunting task to me!  However, organization, excellent prep work before you begin and Raffaella had an assistant who constantly removed bowls and washed and replaced utensils.  We started this morning with dessert – an apricot galette.  Not just dessert, the galette is considered breakfast food! Each team had a task; slicing apricots, making and kneading dough, creating the frangipane cream.  We even ground the almonds to make our own almond flour. When all the parts came together, it went into the oven and we cleaned the tables for the next project.

The next course we worked on was a fresh tomato sauce which would complement the potato gnocchi we would make later on.  I don’t think I ever found out the name of the tomatoes we used that day, they were not San Mariano which she explained would need to be skinned and seeded.  They looked like large cherry tomatoes.

I am a quintessential tomato 🍅 lover and this photo is making my mouth water!

On the farm so aptly named  La volpe e l’uvo ( the fox and the grape), Rafaella and her family grow olives and grapes as well as a large vegetable garden.  The olive oil we are using has been pressed from their olives, the basil grown in her garden, I’m not sure about the tomatoes.

First course coming up: we’re going to make Millefoglie di melanzane, which when they were finished looked like mini eggplant/tomato volcanos.  I know that’s hard to picture so I’ll describe the construction:  You thinly slice eggplant on the diagonal and bake them in the oven till softened but not browned. Then you cut cherry tomatoes in half equatorially,squeeze and juice them and cut in quarters, add salt and olive oil and toss. Now you create the volcano – Take a thick slice of eggplant, pile tomato pieces on it, spread some scamorza cheese (mild soft cow’s milk cheese lightly smoked)over the tomatoes, sprinkle some torn pieces of basil and a pinch of Parmesan. Then  put a second slice of eggplant on top and gently press down and repeat the process. Top it off with a big pinch of grated Parmesan and a basil leaf.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  They were cute and they were good and you can make them ahead of time.  I think they would make a great first course at a dinner party. I don’t have a photo of ones that we made but here’s a couple of variations, so you’ll get the idea.

A few more layers than we made – Where’s the Parmesan?

I don’t think using sliced tomatoes is classic.

Time to make the main course, Chicken Cacciatore or Hunter’s Chicken.  Rafaella explained why this dish is called Hunter’s Chicken;  She explained that it is made with what the hunter could bring and/or find to add to his chicken while cooking it. She  listed the ingredients : chicken, herbs:sage,rosemary,thyme,fennel, garlic, white wine, 2 anchovy fillets, wine vinegar.  There always has to be one smartass in the class, so it might as well be me who asks, where did the hunter find the anchovy fillets?

Chicken Caccitore Hunter’s Chicken

The morning hours pass much more quickly than I thought they would.  We have sliced, diced, peeled and kneaded, measured and weighed grams and listened to some beautiful music along the way.  Rafaella’s husband is a professional musician, her daughter sings and composes piano music.

The last thing to make were the gnocchis, because you can’t make them way beforehand, and once they’re cooked, time to eat.

Gnocchi and fresh tomato sauce

A morning’s work deserves a delicious reward and so an alfresco lunch with the fruits of our labors awaited us in the garden.

And home made wine too!

There’s always room for dessert!

Apricot and blueberry galette

About an hour’s rest and we will be off to Deruta to a famous ceramic factory and then a winery!

To Be Continued…