A Florence Italy Dinner At Home
I
was watching the food network yesterday and Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa,
had been Inspired
by her recent trip to Florence, Italy.
Ina re-created a fabulous Florentine feast for
friends back home in East Hampton.
We don’t
live in the Hamptons and we cannot afford to use all the fabulous ingredients
that Ina uses. Does that mean we cannot have the same meal on a budget we can
afford?
No of
course not. We can have just as good a meal and enjoy it just as much as Ina’s
guests did.
I was Inspired
by this show and wanted to make this meal for myself and if it turned out well
share what I made with you.
I did some research in cook books and on the internet
to come up with suitable recipes that would look and taste like what I saw on
this show.
For the
first I will admit I used cod. The store had these fabulous fresh Cod fillets I
could not resist and bought one for my dinner today.
I should
have felt guilty about buying this cod fish since I do have several frozen tilapia
fish filets in my freezer but not being good at guilt I bought the fish I
wanted and continued on with my shopping.
I then bout
six olives at Price Chopper at their olive bar. This cost very little and I got
what I wanted. This is always a good way of saving money when you are buying
more expensive items like these plump Italian olives.
One
other thing I did get on my shopping trip that perhaps I shouldn’t have gotten
was instant Polenta. It was three dollars a box but it will give me six or more
servings in the future and is easier to use and make than corn meal. I know
myself well enough to know the only way
I would make polenta again is if it was instant. I also know I am better at
standing over the stove for two minutes than I am standing over the stove for
ten. You decide what you want to do. If your good with the ten minutes buy the
corn meal by all means it is far more authentic, if not get the instant as I
did.
It’s up
to you of course. This is about you not me and what you want to do.
If you
have never had polenta before don’t be afraid to try it.
It is a lot like mashed potatoes with lots of
flavor you and I think will enjoy
polenta.
If you
make nothing else from this dinner please make the fish.
I have
had fish dinners in many places from Northville, NY, to Paris France and never
and I mean never have I had a better fish than the one I made tonight. The
flavor is mild punched with the flavoring of the olives. I could have made a
meal of just this fish that’s how good it was but that being said I enjoyed the
whole meal.
I may
not be in the Hamptons but when I had dinner today. I felt like I was.
I
really enjoyed this meal and I will make it again. It was easy, affordable, very
little cleanup, and really good to eat.
Creamy Parmesan Polenta
Ingredients
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon minced garlic
(2 cloves)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
sea salt
freshly ground black
pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra
for serving
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter
Directions
Place the chicken stock
in a saucepan. Add the garlic and cook over medium-high heat until the stock
comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and very slowly whisk in the cornmeal,
whisking constantly to make sure there are no lumps.
, add the salt and
pepper, and simmer, stirring almost constantly, for 10 minutes, until thick
stir in the Parmesan, cream
cheese and butter.
Taste for seasonings and serve hot with extra
Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.
Celery and Parmesan
Salad
Ingredients
Tablespoon lemon juice
Tablespoon of olive oil
Sprinkle with Italian dressing
enough to make a little moist but not drowning the celery
chopped anchovies ( omit
if you don’t like anchovies)
Sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper to taste
Center of bunch of
celery. That is the heart the sweat part of the celery .chopped
¼ cup of Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle with walnuts or
what you have on hand.
Directions
Let
marinate at least an hour before serving. Then top with some parmesan cheese
and a few nuts and serve.
Ingredients
For each serving:
8 ounces boneless fish
fillet, such as snapper or cod
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly
squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon good olive
oil
1 large sprig fresh
thyme
6 large green olives
with pits
Extra-large egg
Directions
Preheat
the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the
fish fillet on a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle it with the salt and
pepper. Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil over the top of the fillet. Lay
the thyme on top and place the olives next to the fillet.
Beat the
egg together with 1 tablespoon of water for an egg wash. Brush the egg wash
around the edge of the parchment paper and fold it in half. Carefully fold the
edge of the parchment paper under and around the fish to make a package. Place
the package on a sheet pan and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the fish is
cooked through. Serve hot in the parchment paper.
Ingredients
For each serving:
boneless fish fillet, such as snapper or cod
(I used cod)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly
squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 large green olives with pits
Extra-large egg
Directions
Preheat
the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the
fish fillet on a piece of parchment paper or in a brown paper bag (I asked the
butcher to put mine in brown paper and reused it) to bake the fish and sprinkle
it with the salt and pepper. Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil over the top
of the fillet. Place the olives around the fish then.
Beat the egg together
with 1 tablespoon of water for an egg wash. Brush the egg wash around the edge
of the parchment paper or brown paper and fold it in half. Carefully fold the
edge of the parchment paper under and around the fish to make a package. Place
the package on a sheet pan and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the fish is
cooked through.
You can serve the fish
right In the paper you cooked the fish in. It gives it a real Italian flare.
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