Porcini Red Wine Risotto

If you're not from here I'd like you to know that  San Francisco gets its Summer weather the last week in September or in early October. We're in it now, so are wearing skirts with no tights, but the sun is going down as if it's Fall. It is always an odd time of year for me because the light is changing and I expect a chill in the air, just like when I was little in NY.

This time of year (no matter what the weather) always makes me want to have warm, satisfying rice or pasta dishes. The other day I decided to break out my stand by risotto recipe. It's fairly simple, and oh-so-satisfying.

Just a note, I don't eat cheese, so the only dairy product in this recipe is butter: I can't seem to remove it completely from my repertoire. There's just no replacement for the flavor andcreaminess butter brings to rice. But, if you'd like to make this completely vegan, replace the butter with Olive Oil, it works just fine.

Ingredients:

• 4 Bouillion Cubes (I use Porcini cubes, but you can use whatever type you like)
• 4 Cups Water
• 1 bag Dried Porcini Mushrooms
• 1 cup Red Wine (or enough to fully cover the Dried Porcini Mushrooms)
• 3 tbsps Butter
• 2 tbsps Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Cups Arborio Rice
• 4 Fresh Sage Leaves, minced (or 1/4 tsp Dried Sage)
• Salt, Pepper and Red Pepper to taste

Make the Stock:

• Heat the Bouillion and the water in a large saucepan.
• Bring to a boil, making sure all the cubes dissolve completely.Lower to a simmer and stir occasionally until it is time to add the liquid to the rice.

I love Porcini mushrooms. When I discovered this boullion, I just about fell over in glee. It is amazing how strongly the mushroom flavors comes through. In general, I'm more of a chicken stock kind of girl, and I do not care for veggie stock. It usually tastes way too much like celery for my liking. But these cubes make it possible to have the best of a non-meat based boullion and a well flavored broth all in one.

Soak the Dried Porcini

• Pour the cup of red wine into a small saucepan.
• Add the Porcini mushrooms, making sure there is enough wine to completely submerge them.Bring the wine to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• Keep simmering for about fifteen minutes, until the mushrooms are soft.Pour the wine and mushrooms through a sieve or strainer, making sure to capture all of the liquid in a bowl beneath the strainer.
• Chop mushrooms coarsely and set aside.Startthe Rice:

Again, Porcini is my favorite. Any chance I have to add them to a dish, I take it. The dried ones are usually what I have on hand, and they work well.

In San Francisco, there is a whole mushroom booth at the giant Ferry Building farmer's market. We're lucky enough to get frozen fresh Porcini there. It costs an arm and a leg, but the flavor is so intense you don't need to use that much, so a bag lasted me for a good six months in the freezer.

The red wine makes the depth of the earthy flavors shine through. If you can afford to use a higher quality cup of wine here, you'll taste the difference.

Start the Rice:

• Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.
• Add butter and allow to melt, then add the Olive Oil.• Lower heat to medium-low and add the minced garlic.
• Saute garlic until almost opaque.• Add rice, stirring to cover all the grains in the butter/oil mixture

Quite simply, you are trying to get the rice to cook slowly so that it will toast somewhat in the beginning and then take its time absorbing all of the lovely stock and wine you are going to add to it.Take your time here, and if it seems things are starting to stick or burn, lower the heat and relax. If you like a glass of wine, now's a good time to grab one, as you get ready to stir for a bit.

Cook the Rice:

• Using a 1/2 cup measure, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice pot, stirring constantly.
• As soon as the stock has been completely absorbed, add another 1/2 cup and stir until absorbed.
• Alternating 1/2 cup of stock and wine, continue adding liquid and stirring to absorb until all the liquid has been added.
• The rice should be soft and ready to eat once all the liquid has been incorporated.
• Remove the pot from the heat and add the sage, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to the rice.

This is the most time consuming step, but again, just take it slow and don't worry, you'll be eating soon enough.

Make sure that all of the liquid gets absorbed before you make a move to add more. It's tough to wait, I know I've rushed it before and regretted it after the fact. The rice needs time to soak it all up before it takes another breath and is ready to drink up some more.

It'll be well worth your effort (and the number of pans you'll have to clean). It's a great Fall dish, especially if you live somewhere where the weather has actually started to shift to coolness.

Enjoy and eat up!

Scones on a Sunday

I maybe gluten-free, but my daughter, Ms Iz, certainly is not. She is very good about eating my versions of baked goods and pastas. But, every now and then, she wants the real deal.

Her request this weekend was for some "gluten-full" scones, please. I happily made them for her.

I've used the NY Times recipe for Tea Scones for years. I wonder, too, if this is Gran Fran's scone recipe of choice. It's a nice recipe, very simple and when you take your time with it, the results are great. Very fluffy and satisfying.

Ms Iz loves lemon curd on her scones, and not too much butter. As you can see below, I made half a batch with chocolate chips. These were well received, but the orignal ones went over big.

So, get your paper, a cup of tea and some berries and settle in with these wonderful scones.

Click on this link to the NY Times online to get the recipe.

Enjoy!

Caternia, Maria and Francesa

Growing up, Gran Fran spent many hours in the kitchen with her mother (Mary aka Maria, depending on whether or not she was more Italian or American that day) and her grandmother, Caterina. Below is a little bit of history on Gran Fran's grandparents. Recipes will follow! xoxo Gran Fran, we love ya!

My grandfather Francesco Sabato Natale Sansone was born in Santa Barbara, Cerasso, in Salerno, on a Saturday, Christmas, December 25. (Look at his name, girl!).His family was extremely poor; as one of the oldest sons, he had two brothers and a couple of sisters, he was expected to provide for them. With that in mind, he set off in steerage; compared with the retelling of his experience aboard ship (and later that of his wife, my grandmother,), the journey portrayed in the film The Golden Door seems like a walk in the park. In the U.S., he found “rooms” near his paesani—they were all from what each called bella paese mia--(he lived above a live poultry market on 20 St. near Fourth Ave. in what was then known as South Brooklyn, but is now considered Park Slope South or Greenwood Terrace). He bought a shovel and set out to do construction work—as a day laborer. Mostly, he worked on building the subway.Francee (fran-chee) was considered a man of letters—having completed the fifth grade in Italy-- and was an avid reader of Il Progresso, one of Generoso Pope’s newspapers.He enjoyed reading the paper while sitting outdoors and smoking a DeNobili cigar. His greatest achievement—besides being a father to his six kids—was his role in organizing and collecting money for the Mass, the parade, and the feast of St. Michael. His good grey suit, with the committee button pinned on, was saved for the occasion.

My grandmother Caterina “Ninuccia” DiFiore was born in Rutino, also in Salerno, on October 15. The family was dirt-poor. Her oldest brother had emigrated to the U.S. and lived —where else-- on 20St.across the street from the live poultry market. She came to the U.S., when she was 17, accompanied by her second-oldest brother, Angelo, Zi Angelo. Ninuccia, a diminutive of Caterina, had no education at all, and could neither read nor write. Until she died at age 94, she had mastered only her own signature, which herkids and grandkids taught her so she could sign her unemployment checks—she was a seasonal worker, a seamstress, working doing pieceworkat home and in a factory. When she came to the U.S. she was fleeing not only poverty, but also, a persistent suitor whom her folks wanted her to marry. On the pretext that she would return, she left Rutino wearing a locket, he had given her. She wore the locket when she married my grandfather in 1916.

Both were hard workers who were deeply devoted to their children and would still try to better the situation for those “over there.”They sent packages of clothing, Mass cards when a relative died, and money whenever possible.But there was one void in their lives. They never saw their parents again.

And at my grandfather’s feast, they and their friends cried unashamedly when one of the of the would-be sopranos would begin to sing; “Mama, solo per te, la mia canzone vola…”