Sacra San Michele.....at last

They say the 3rd time is the charm,, so the 5th time ,must really make it special, no? Finally after several attempts to have our timing right to visit this imposing monastery and back drop for the cult movie classic, "The Name of the Rose", based on the book by Umberto Ecco, ( See my Amazon selections in the side bar for links to both the book and movie),I finally make it inside with my 3rd sibling. One of our guest this summer had sort of panned it as they said it has been restored from being heavily bombed during WWII. That may be true, but it is truly an imposing structure stuck high on the hillside and overlooking the entrance to the Susa valley and the lakes of Aviligiana. The views are stunning and the monastery interesting , perhaps a bit austere, but then I thought that was part of monastic life. There are several of the Savoy royal family crypts here, making for an interesting tour . Sacra San Michele is also one of 2 symbols of our Province of Turin, with the Fortress of Fenestrelle being the other over in our valley and both are about the same distance from us with the Fortress being slightly closer and yet another reason to come visit our area and have a look around.

Neighborhood Tour

View of Grandubbione from the end of our road

Agnelli Fiat Family Private Church in Villar Perosa

When friends and family come to visit for the first time we usually do some sort of variation on a tour of the neighborhood. Actually whenever any of our guests arrive for the first time we usually recommend some variation on the neighborhood tour. Of course timing and transportation or the lack there of has everything to do with what variation gets taken. Seasons, day of the week,(don't get me started on the "low cost tour of Italy/Europe on Monday" rant as that is another blog entirely) time of day, siesta time, August, and all of the variables that makes sightseeing in Italy a challenge for the average tourist. As one of our guests said, you have to be very organized to see and do what you would to do, other wise, "Domani", tomorrow or next time...a familiar phrase, which doesn't always work for our guests, but perhaps it keeps people coming back to Italy, because you just can not fit it all in. Well perhaps not, but them again, it might be the food. I know the food culture is for me one of the reasons I feel so at home here.

Then we moseyed through our "Abitare in Valle" valley museum open on Monday contrary to the rule that all Italian museums are closed on Monday (Rome & Florence excluded). So it was a fun day's outing here in Val Chisone neighborhood

Ghironda or sometimes known as a Hurdy Gurdy

Hannibal's bridge and the Dubbione river with Egret

Legend has it that General Hannibal camped here somewhere around 218 AD with his men when he passed through the alps with his elephants. He was recruiting the local tribes to make up for some of the purported 15,000 men he lost whilst making his 15 day march through the alps on his way to conquer Rome.

Not Quite a Figgy Pudding

I'm done playing tourist for awhile, but still have lots of photos and stories to tell, but thought I would put in a fig cake recipe that I have been wanting to share for awhile. I had the perfect opportunity to add it to "Cream Puffs in Venice's" hosting of Sugar High Friday # 35 if only could keep up. Oh well, even if I don't end up in the list of offerings, I will at least have added this delightful cake to the blogosphere. This torte features a couple of my favorite foods, hazelnuts and fresh figs, two ingredients that weren't so readily available where I lived in the US, but have come to deeply appreciate their availability here in Europe. I can almost reconcile myself to the fact that pecans aren't available here when hazelnuts are. Living in Piedmont/Piemonte, Italy, with nearby Alba, home of Ferrero Rocher's famed Nutella , hazelnuts are readily available and an welcome addition to many of my baked treats. Although we are right on the border of the fig growing region, we still have had a good season this year, enough for tortes and fig jam too. I found this recipe a few years ago thumbing thru an Italian magazine and photographed the page as it wasn't mine, and now have forgotten which publication i got it out of. More than likely it was Cucina Italiana.
So make a great cuppa of your favorite brew and enjoy this light and nutty fig treat.

Torta di Fichi Neri (o Verdi) e Nocciole
(Black or Green Fig and Hazelnut Cake)

150 g butter, room temperature
120 g sugar, granulated
120 g pastry flour
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp Vanilla
pinch salt

120 g Hazelnuts, whole, very lightly toasted, then chopped fine*
8 whole fresh figs, green or black, (more if you like) washed and cut in half length wise

If you need to convert this to your measurement, try using Bron Marshall's very helpful
Cookery Unit Converter

Butter and flour a 26cm or 10" cake or spring form pan.
Use 40 grams of your chopped tasted hazelnuts to liberally sprinkle around the bottom and sides of the pan. I usually hand chop the nuts and use the finer crumbs for the pan and the coarser pieces for the cake later on. *My personal preference is a coarser chop so that the nut is recognizable later when you sprinkle it on top. They will toast more as they bake, so don't toast too far in the beginning.

In a medium to large mixing bowl, whip the butter with the sugar till lightened in color and texture. The whipping is what is going to make your cake rise without any other help from baking powder or soda.
Add the egg yolks and whole eggs and continue whipping till homogeneous and fluffy, being care not to over whip so that it starts to break down and separate. Add vanilla and a pinch of salt and blend. I add the flour to the butter/sugar/egg mixture by sifting it in through a large strainer, and gingerly hand mixing it with a whisk or rubber spatula, to insure a light cake.
Handle as little as possible and turn the batter into your prepared pan and smooth out. Place your cut side figs down in the batter in a ring, with the marrow part towards the middle of the cake. Sprinkle the rest of your chopped hazelnuts on top and bake in a preheated 160C or 300* oven till lightly brown and the middle is set. Cool before removing from the pan.

Off to Play Tourist

Well, I have family in town or rather up here in little Serre Marchetto, the name of our little borgata, which is just a cluster of houses, inhabited by a handful of us hardy few and other wise weekend villas and baite (cabins). When the family makes a trip for the first time it's time to do the Val Chisone meander. We'll go up the valley to check out the Fenestrelle Fortress , making a variety of stops to enjoy the beauty of our upper valley, Usseaux for a bit of mural gawking, perhaps Lago Laux for lunch or just to see the huge stocked trout swim around in the very clear mountain lake a peek at the Pragelato Olympic ski jump on up to Sestriere World cup and Olympic venue, for a panoramic view of the upper Cottian Alps and impressive Chamberton peak, with a variety of other stops tucked away to discover. The drive up is impressive as you pass by the edges of 2 regional nature parks and a glimpse of mountain living, unvarnished and still maintaining itself in a changing world. Lined up tomorrow is Bra Cheese Festival, so we need to save room for all that tasting tomorrow and hopefully meet up with Rowena and Maddie from Rubber Slippers in Italy
as she makes another addition to her quest to visit 100 Italian sagre and festivals this year. She seems to be making good progress. We hope to make as much progress seeing as much of Piemonte and Val Chisone as possible too. I'll be sef ourom adventures later on.

Do not forget the Herbal Vinegar

End of the summer around here is a busy time as I am always trying to make sure to put up all the delicious things that are coming in fast and furious. We had red and yellow bell peppers and peperoncini, lots of blackberries, elderberry, and not enough mushrooms. It has been a beehive of activity around all the coming and goings of our always interesting guests. So I thought I would just mention herbal vinegars to add to the list of things to put up for the winter before all of your herbs have finished up for the season. It always makes ordinary vinegar a bit more complex and intriguing when you dash a bit on your average salad. We eat a lot of salads and use a few marinades, so a variety of herbal vinegars add a bit of zip to things and uses up a bit of those excess herbs. I started out with a mix which came to mind, Parsley, sage, rosemary and time and it came out rather nice. I always have an abundance of marjoram, so a combination with some chives, hot pepper and of course garlic, is a staple around our house. One of my other favorite vinegars is to make a cilantro vinegar to add to my Mexican salsa in the winter as fresh cilantro is almost impossible to find. I always grow some in the summer and long for it all winter. When I'm mot eating it fast enough I end up with coriander seeds and that is not too bad of an option as well.
The main thing to keep in mind is to thoroughly dry your herbs after washing before stuffing a wide mouthed jar full of your favorite herbal combinations, add white wine vinegar and let them set for at least one week or two weeks so all the flavor of the herbs are leached out of the plants. Strain the herbs carefully discard the herbs and let your vinegar age for about 6 weeks for the flavors to develop. Fruits can be nice addition as well.
Experiment with different combinations. The flavors improve as they sit for awhile.

• Cilantro, garlic, hot pepper, lemon or lime peel
  
• Chives, oregano, thyme
• Basil, Garlic, Bay
• Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
  
• The combinations are endless

I came across a site called Gardens Ablaze who has a fantastic list of suggestions of herbs to match with different types of vinegar, if you have the interest. Next it's on to flavored oils to use up a few more of those overabundant herbs. Stay tuned....