A Meal From Four Regions of Italy - the Veneto, Piedmont, Tuscany, and Umbria

My wife and I recently hosted a lunch for friends with whom we had enjoyed a wonderful trip to Italy. We decided to serve a meal with one dish from each of the Italian regions we had visited with them. The wines we served were from some of the same regions. The dishes we served were:

- Shrimp with Pancetta and Rosemary (Gamberi al Rosmarino) from Venice
- Tilemakers' Beef Stew (Peposo dei Fornaciari dell'Impruneta) from the small town of Impruneta in Tuscany. (This can be made a day in advance.)
- Asparagus, Peas, and Basil (Piselli con Asparagi e Basilico)
- Walnut Cake with Zabaglione (Torta di Noci con Zabaglione)

My wife learned to make the dessert in a cooking class at Verduno Castle (Castello di Verduno - http://castellodiverduno.com/) where our group stayed in the Barolo area of the Piedmont. 

I served two red wines and one white wine. The reds were from two wineries we visited during the trip:
- Fiulot Barbera d'Asti red from the Prunotto Winery in Asti in the Piedmont
- 2007 Poggio Antico Altero Brunello. from the Poggio Antico winery which we visited during our trip and which is near Montalcino, Tuscany. This is a very special red, deservedly rated 98 points by James Suckling.
- Cren del'Ape Cortese white wine from the Piedmont.

I highly recommend a visit to the Poggio Antico winery. The wines are incredible and the views of the Tuscan countryside are superb. There is also a very nice restaurant located there. The owner, Paolo Gloder, is terrific. When I sent the winery a short-notice request for a fact sheet on the wine just 12 hours before the lunch, the response was immediate.

I have posted the recipes for the appetizer, the main dish, and the side dish.

A Menu of Local (Mostly) American Dishes

When we have friends for dinner, I often pick a theme. The most recent, was local dishes from around the U.S. The only exception was the appetizer because I couldn't find something that was easy, and fast, and that I hadn't already made - so I substituted a Levantine appetizer. I was very happy with the results. The menu was:

Appetizer - pita bread coated with olive oil and za'atar spice, and toasted - from the Levant

Salad - curried Waldorf salad - from New York

Main dish - Shrimp de Jonghe - from Chicago

Side dish - Maque Choux - Cajun from Louisiana

Dessert - Blueberry - Strawberry Sonker from Surry County, North Carolina

I was very happy with everything except the dessert. The dessert tasted ok, but was not great. I'll try that again some time to see if I can figure out if I can do better.

A French Dinner at Home with Friends

We recently enjoyed a French dinner at home with two other couples with whom we share an appreciation for French food and France. The emphasis was on Provençal cuisine, but not all of the dishes were unique to Provence. Each of the other couples brought dishes, and I prepared dishes.

The menu was:

Appetizer: Baguette with a Provençal tapenade, which one couple had brought from Provence. The baguette was a Fresh Market artisanal baguette

Soup: Soupe au Pistou, a Provençal soup, which I made with an excellent Ina Garten recipe.

Main Dish: Daube, a Provençal stew, which one friend made. His was much tastier than the daubes I have tried in Provence.

Side Dishes:
1. Pâté de Campagne (country pate), a terrific Epicurious.com recipe, which I made.
2. Champignons à la Grecque (Greek mushroom salad - a French recipe. I made it, but thought it was nothing special.)

Dessert: A delicious home-made vanilla ice cream, which one of our friends made. She brought delicious two provençal toppings - chestnut (marrons) and cassis (blackcurrant)

The wines I served were:
- Parallele 45, a Grenache-Syrah Côtes du Rhône by Paul Jaboutlet Aîné - with the appetizer
- 2009 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe "La Crau" Châteauneuf-du-Pape with the soup and main dishes. This elegant wine is a mixture of Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah, and Cinsault. It deserves its 94 point rating from Wine Spectator.
- 2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel - with the main dishes (This outstanding wine is from Paso Robles, Ca from a winery with roots in the southern Rhone area of France. The grapes are all French types - Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache, and Counoise. California wineries that produce such wines are known as, "Rhone Rangers." I strongly recommend visiting this winery if you are in the Paso Robles area. The winery is great and the countryside where it is situated is beautiful.)

A Tuscan Menu with Florentine Focus

Last Sunday, I prepared a Tuscan meal with Florentine focus for 13 members of our family, including three visitors from the frigid north. (Given the warmth of our visitors' personalities, I'm surprised the north is so cold.)

The menu I created was Tuscan and Tuscan influenced. Three key dishes were Florentine style. I chose dishes which were relatively easy to make and delicious. I also chose several I could make in advance.

The following is the menu I created:

Appetizers / Antipasti ("Antipasto" means "before the meal." The plural form is "Antipasti.")
- Crostini with soft goat cheese, fig jam, prosciutto and basil leaves.
- Crostini with olive "pâté" (a mixture of chopped black olives, lemon, and olive oil - prepared a day in advance.)

Primo (First course)
- Carabaccia - Florentine Onion Soup, which some say is the predecessor of French Onion Soup. (Prepared the previous evening.)

Secondo
- Arista alla Fiorentina - Florentine-style pork roast

Contorno - vegetable
- Carote in Stufate - braised carrots with pancetta

Dolci - Dessert
- Semifreddo alle Fragole - Strawberry Semifreddo (Prepared several days in advance.)
- Schiaciatta alla Fiorentina - Florentine-style cake

Formaggio - Cheese
- Tuscan pecorino cheese from Vicchio in the Province of Florence. I found it at the fantastic cheese department of Mazzaro's Italian market in St. Petersburg, FL.

The wines I served were
1. Red
- 2012 Redi Argo et Non Briareo Rosso di Montepulciano (from Montepulciano in Tuscany, not Montepulciano d'Abruzzo)
- 2011 Vecchia Cantina Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (The same winery which produces the first wine.)
- 2011 Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico
2. White
Michele Chiarlo Le Madri Roero Arneis (This white is from the Piedmont. If I'd have given it some thought, I would have picked up a Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Tuscany.)

The coffee I served was an Italian roast from Mazzaro's Italian supermarket.

A Nice Tuscan Dinner

When our niece and her boyfriend visited us from Ontario in January, my nice and I prepared a mostly Tuscan dinner for them and our family. The reason I chose Tuscan is because she accompanied my wife and me on a trip to Tuscany and Umbria several years ago. In addition to sharing our love for food and wine, she has a sparkling, exuberant personality which made our trip a fun, unforgettable experience.

During her visits, she and I love to cook dinner together.

Four of the five dishes were Tuscan, but the dessert was a cheesecake gift from a family member. the wines were also Tuscan. I'll post each of the recipes separately, but thought it would be useful to post the menu:

- Crostini with Prosciutto, Goat Cheese, Fig Jam
- Three types of Tuscan pecorino cheese from Pienza
- Carabaccia (Florentine onion soup - I have previously posted this terrific dish.)
- Pork Chops with Apples - Costolette di Maiale alle Mele
- Potatoes Braised in White Wine - Patate all'Umido

When many Americans think of pecorino, they think of Pecorino Romano, which is used for grating in many dishes. However, pecorino simply refers to cheese from sheep milk. There are many types of Tuscan pecorino, aged with a variety of flavors. Pienza, Tuscany produces terrific pecorinos. Our niece, my wife and I stopped at a small restaurant in Pienza and had a fantastic lunch with an assortment of pecorinos.

Tuscan pecorinos are generally not easy to find. However, I found these at the terrific cheese department in Mazzaro's Italian Market, St. Petersburg, FL.

The wines were:
- 2012 Vecchia Cantina Chianti with the appetizer and pre-dinner chatting
- 2007 Poggio Antico Madre, 50% Sangiovese & 50% Cabernet Sauvignon

I chose wines from these two wineries not only because they worked perfectly with the meal, but because we visited both wineries during our trip with our niece. Both wineries treated us wonderfully. I have been to Poggio Antico three times. They produce some of the very best Brunello, which is one of my favorite Italian wines.

For those looking for a reliably good everyday red wine, the Vecchia Cantina Chianti sells for about $7.99. Vecchia Cantina, which is a coop in Montepulciano, produces a nice variety of quality wines.