Carmelita's Cookitaly

Fennel and Orange Winter Salad

I was only in Bologna's Mercato del Mezzo to take photos for my Facebook Cook Italy page when it hit me,  the fragrance from the Tarocco oranges I was shooting.

Instant decision: I just had to make an Insalata di Tarocco e Finocchio, my absolute favourite Italian winter salad, the fennel and orange salad from Sicily.  When the weather conditions are right to produce a thermal shock -  very cold nights after relatively warm clear sky days -  the Tarocco oranges turn from "blond" to red, and these were just turning, judging by the two sliced orange halves in the display.

Making this winter salad is a simple matter. Remove the first leaf of the fennel bulb and slice as much of it as you like in the way that you prefer. Peel the oranges to remove skin, pith and the membranes enclosing the fillets, here's a nice Link to The Kitchn that shows you exactly how . Finely chop some flat leaf parsley, assemble and drizzle with olive oil.

There are a few traditional additions of which I sometimes add one or more: finely sliced green leek tops, black olives, or very tiny slivers of salted herring or anchovy, the winter fish for days when the sea was too rough for the fishermen to go out.

Simple but spectacular to look at, and it is also very refreshing with that crisp crunch from the anise flavored fennel. Let me know if you like it or if you have other orange salads you enjoy.

Pork chop with sage and scallions, fennel and potato puree

For a quick, simple and very tasty lunch today I cooked lovely juicy shoulder pork chops, delicately fat marbled and always more tender than loin chops. These were especially good as they came from Sadurano, a wonderful farm on the hills above the historic town of Castrocaro Terme (Forli' & Cesena province) that has been completely organic since 1982.

First I made a bulb fennel and potato puree by cooking a sliced fennel bulb in boiling salted water in one pan, while in a separate pan I cooked two unpeeled floury potatoes starting them off in cold water. This made enough puree for 4 servings. When both were very soft I peeled the potatoes and then squished everything through a potato ricer, to hold back all the stringy parts of the fennel and make the puree nice and lump free. I used a little of the already salted fennel water to soften them, so no extra salt was needed, and kept the puree warm on very low heat while I cooked the chops. I had intended to add some milk and butter to the puree but it tasted perfect just as it was so I left well enough alone. Good decision!

For the pork chop, I shredded a few sage leaves that survived the snow, and thinly sliced four scallions. I warmed up a tablespoon of good olive oil in a large non-stick skillet and then browned the chops in a single layer on both sides, a few minutes per side. The beautiful chops shed very little fat and absolutely no water during this process, wonderful. I then added the scallions and sage to the pan and seasoned with salt and just ground white pepper, and after a minute or so I deglazed the pan with white wine from Tenuta Godenza, a local winery - I love it when I can be really local in my cooking!

Then I covered the pan and left the chops to simmer covered for about 10, maybe 12 minutes while I set the table. There was still quite a lot of liquid so I took the lid off and let the pan juices reduce to a beautiful creamy glaze and the chops were ready. I served them with a little mound of soft and fluffy fennel potato puree on the side, home made bread, and a glass of young red Sangiovese from the wonderful La Zerbina estate.

Buon Appetito!

Polenta, Sausages and Broccoli Rabe

It was lightly snowing most of today in Bologna. The snow was melting as soon as it hit the ground, but it powdered the roof tiles, trees and statues, very pretty and Christmas-y. It also covered the bikes for the human pedal power energy that lights up Bologna's Christmas tree in the Piazza - wonder if anyone will be keeping warm by pedalling hard there tonight?

On to food matters. After my Skype interview with Carli in Tasmania, I put on my coat, gloves and hat and went to the market to see what looked good. I came back with pork Luganega sausages, which are narrower and leaner than the usual kind, some pre-cooked polenta, a bunch of lovely fresh Cime di Rapa and a bag of  Tarocco oranges.  Cime di Rapa is translated as mustard greens, turnip top greens and/or broccoli rabe. You get the idea. At this stage it is still very leafy and there were just a couple of early florets in among the leaves.

Back home and I made my purchases into lunch. I cleaned up the greens removing the tough stems. I cut up the sausages and the polenta and made up a couple of skewers alternating polenta and sausage, and then put them to cook in a little ceramic lined  pan with a little olive oil as they take longer than the greens.

I decided against garlic and shelled 3 lovely Lara walnuts to go with my greens which  I squeezed out a little and put in a larger pan, and then I broke up and added the walnuts. Once the greens had lost their water I added just a touch of olive oil. The greens seemed ready before the nuts were properly toasted through so I moved the pan off to one side leaving only the walnuts over the heat, then when I was happy with them I mixed the two back together. No extra salt, I'd put enough in the cooking water for the leaves.

I nursed the skewers turning over them regularly, adding a little oil, picking up the nice crusty bits that stick to the pan and sticking them back on the polenta cubes. Only one polenta cube broke, really pleased it was only one!

And I peeled an orange " to the quick" as they say in Italian, and put the juicy fillets on a plate for dessert.

Nice lunch: the polenta was crispy crunchy, the sausages juicy and tasty. My contorno was but not enough,  I wish I'd made more of it! And my lovely unadorned fresh orange was the perfect finish to a delciously simple little Italian meal.