Strawberry Rhubarb Cake

Tis the season of rhubarb and strawberries and I must say, it does my heart good. I love the luscious red aroma of strawberries just waiting to be gobbled up and enjoyed with wild abandon and the contrast of tart rhubarb. I like to add rhubarb for contrast and balance when you find you have started to have eaten your fill of strawberries as themselves and have moved on to the next stage of strawberry enjoyment. I have three rhubarb plants that give my stalks through out the whole summer and are yet seldom ready when the strawberries are. Fortunately for me, there is an abundance of berries in the market to indulge the perfect marriage of these two fruits, in this simple and yet extravagantly flavorful cake. 
Rhubarb is not found in much of anything here, except in the use of its roots for the famous digestive bitter elixirs Italians are so crazy about. My in laws are always mildy puzzled with my love of this lowly stalk and even more suspicious when I remind them every year that yes, the leaf is poisonous and yes the stalk is quite edible. Perhaps they are uncertain of my intent. They have politely tasted everything say that it is tasty, and yet, they are not completely convinced. I maintain my love of rhubarb and am convinced that you will find this combination a winner. The addition of the rhubarb to the batter adds moisture and cuts through the sweetness to make for a delicious combination. The cake is great with only the addition of strawberries on top, but I think you'll find the rhubarb will elevate the cake with that little something extra and well worth adding. Let me know what you think.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart


(86g) 6 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
(190g) 1 c granulated sugar (I use raw cane sugar like turbinado/demerara but fine grain )

1 large egg

1/2 c yogurt, ( or buttermilk)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

(140g)1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c farro/spelt or all white
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
(100g) 1 c rhubarb, cut into small slices or cubes if stalks are large

(450g) 1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced in half if not too large or smaller
(24g) 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top of cake

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F degrees. 
Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan or other type removable bottom pan or line a pan with baking paper.  I like to make small individual cakes sometimes.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Set aside.
Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  I mixed this by hand with a flat wire whisk with good results.
Add in egg, yogurt, and vanilla extract. 
Mix until combined.
Gradually mix in flour mixture.
I begin to mix and then add the rhubarb and continue mixing, being careful not to over handle but thoroughly combining.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. 
Arrange strawberry slices on top of batter. 
Sprinkle turbinado sugar over berries.
Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 170C/ 325 degrees. 
Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 50-55 minutes. I have a convection oven and it took a lot less time. 
Let cool in pan. 
To serve, cut into wedges. 
Store cake at room temperature, for up to two days.
Serves 10

Damanhur, Torino's secret 8th Wonder of the World

At last, I have finally laid my own eyes on the actual spot here in Torino province, what has been called by London's Daily Mail, the 8th Wonder of the World.  You can read the story of how the temples of Humanity came to be in the Daily Mail's 2007 article on Damanhur on the above link. Having said all that, I didn't actually get to see the actual sight itself. Quite the shame, but it means we'll just have to return another time. We arrived late in the afternoon after having been a little further up the road to visit a cantina in Carema, that is part of our Strada Reale dei Vini Torinese associtaion. We're visiting our greater neighborhood of Torino Province while we stock up on some of our small wine producers goods for our summer season to delight our guests and tickle their taste buds. That part of the trip is a different story coming soon. 

Probably not surprisingly, it took a bit of an effort to locate the actual site. We're pretty good with directions, but these are small country roads and there isn't a yellow brick road leading to the temples. After a few fits and starts and getting some interesting stories about working with Damanhur from people  that live close by whom we stopped to ask directions of, we arrived to a fairly modest welcome point. Modest, although abundant colorful paintings and flowers did help you realize that you had indeed arrived. When the friendly woman at the entrance enquired what it was that I was seeking. I found that I hadn't really thought about it enough to give a non stammering answer, especially in Italian.  Well, ah, umm, ah, hum, I don't know and finding it pretty difficult to articulate. 

Damanhur Welcome Center and Forestiere

I had read about Damanhur a a couple of years prior to the 2007 Daily Mail article when I was searching for something on the internet, and found it all quite intriguing. A while later I met some people in London whom had actually visited it and I didn't realize until the Mail article that it was so close to us. We had guests a couple of years ago who visited while they were here as they were from Findhorn community in Scotland and were interested in Damanhur, as it is an intentional community. In their own words, "Damanhur, is an eco-society based on ethical and spiritual values, awarded by an agency of the United Nations as a model for a sustainable future." Their web site is here. It is quite an extensive site now compared when I first ran across it when I was searching out organic foods and other types of food that were difficult to find when I first arrived in Val Chisone.  After chatting with the welcome lady, we went on up to the Crea, which is a kind of community and business center further up the road. I have been fascinated by this community and it was wonderful to place it in my minds eye. They are a multifaceted community that have fit themselves into a part of Torino province, that at one point, was abandoned due to local dynamics of the Olivetti plant all but shutting down and people moving on to find work and livelihoods somewhere else. I didn't know what to expect, but we were delighted to be greeted by Kiwi, a local resident who was the greeter at the door to the Crea. Walmart greeter she was not, "Hello and Welcome".  She explained what the center was about and invited us to join in on a evening of Spanish food and dancing if we'd like and have a look around. Unfortunatley we arrived too late to go into any of the shops, but the window peering was interesting and the €10 plate of Spanish themed organic food was tasty and fun. We sat out doors where we were eventually joined by Kiwi and another visitor from Holland and the people who ran the natural food store and a former Carabiniere and his son who is currently a working officer for a lively and animated dinner. There was a crowd of people all scattered about on a casual Saturday night out with food and friends. A small gang of small fry tore about making good use of all that energy. We took our leave just as the dancing was about to commence as we still had a journey home, arriving at midnight, we did. I really would have loved to have stayed and joined in as it really was a pleasant atmosphere with a number of languages spoken. We noticed in the parking lot on our way out, that there were a variety of nationalities represented on the license plates, Germany, Spain, Slovenia. Fabrizio and I both enjoyed the people and the place and look forward to visiting again one day, as I really would like to see these temples and learn more about their life there. There truly was a peaceful, pleasant welcoming spirit to a place that seems to always be welcoming strangers that turn up at their door. Perhaps that is why we felt so at home. 

One of the underground temples
Photo courtesy of Hotel-Erbaluce

Anise and Dried Fig Bread..... and a small tribute to my mother

Spring Orchids and Lily of the Valley from our garden

Today people are celebrating their mothers by many varieties of tributes, thoughtful gifts and gestures. My mother has been gone a long time now, but never far away in my thoughts and always carried closely in my heart. She was a great lady, poised and graceful. One of her most enduring qualities, that many people remember her for, was as a wonderful home maker, cook and hostess. No, she never worked outside of our home, but she never stopped working to keep all four of us, her children and my father too, clothed, fed and educated in so many ways other than just what one learns in school. As a partner to my father, she was tireless with her support of his work as a minister, ever the wife looking after many details and leading the way with so many church projects and endlessly opening our home to many people along the way that found a nights rest or an outstanding meal and a kind word of support when it was needed. She was usually over shadowed by my father, whose personality and profession kept him in the spotlight, but naturally she could hold her own and did regularly. I'm fairly confident my love of cooking and cuisine is directly related to my mothers determination to have the best fried chicken and apple pie on the over burdened potluck tables at the church dinners of my youth. And it probably didn't hurt that my father was her best sampler and always sang her praises when it came to her cooking. His waistline was proof of that. But I think back to when she started to make bread on a regular basis and I think it really struck a chord for me, as she began with refrigerator rolls, like angel biscuits, that her mother gave me the recipe for and I still like to make on occasion, and whole wheat loaves. It really caught my interest because, well, because, it just plain tasted good. Store bought bread growing up was no treat and I had always felt indifferent to bread unless it was home made. When she got going on the whole wheat bread I was hooked. I soon was out of the house and on my own and started to make bread too, as I found that it really satisfied some basic yearning within me. I love the feel of the different textures of flours and the smell of the levito madre, or sour dough as we call it in the states, and the feel of the liveliness of the dough when it comes together. I always have a catch in my breath when the dough just has a feel of life to it. I don't know how else to explain it. Then there is the satisfaction when it comes out of the oven all brown, aromatic, and crackling as it cools and the crust starts to soften a little. The pride of a well made loaf is second only to eating it fresh or even better when given away to an appreciative receiver.

Mom and me with her 70th birthday cake I made her

This mothers day I made a couple of Fig and Anise loaves to great approval. We almost devoured one loaf this morning with a thick slathering of my apricot and rosemary jam on it. I was fearful that the other loaf wasn't going to make it to my mother in law, but it did. I think my in laws enjoyed it almost as much as we did. It's always a delight to see their eyes light up when I come over with a fresh loaf of bread. They are appreciative bread eaters and that makes a bakers heart dance. All these years later, it's still an endless journey and even though I have made thousands of loaves of bread over the years, there are still so many flavors and combinations  yet to discover. I have a few bread books that although I seem to use them frequently I never seem to exhaust all the possibilities. I find that I will use one book relentlessly for awhile, sometimes repeating the recipe several times in a row to try and get it to my satisfaction and then will move on to one of my other bread bibles and keep jumping around and some times just keep making my simple "daily bread" version endlessly.  This bread is Nancy Silverton's recipe and is really just about perfect. I might increase the anise slightly next time and if I had read the directions a little more closely I wouldn't have pureed all of the figs and would have left a few for a bit of flavor spikes here and there, but it is a delicious bread that would go great with prosciutto crudo and goat cheese as well as for breakfast with jam. Anyway you slice it, I think you will like it and do your mom proud. Thanks Mom for teaching me to be fearless in the kitchen and many other valuable lessons that have come in handy over the years. I wish I could share a slice with you right now, but will enjoy sharing it with some of the people that I love.

Anise Fig bread,
with an olive loaf on the right side

This is Nancy Silverton's recipe. I highly recommend buying the book for complete instructions and a full understanding of baking with a natural starter. I will give you the basic instructions and it helps if you are familiar baking with a sour dough starter. 

Anise Fig Bread

2 smallish loaves approximately 1 pound or 500g

10 oz (1 1/2c ) dried figs

4 T hot water

4 oz (1/2c cool water 70*F

2 tsp instant dry yeast (.6oz /or 1 cake fresh yeast)

9 oz (1c) white sour dough starter (mine does not have a sour taste to it)

12 oz (3 c) white bread four

3 3/4 (6T) sugar, I used brown Demerara

1 1/2 tsp  sea salt

1/2 tsp anise seed, I think I would go 1 tsp next time

2 T polenta or corn meal

oil, I used olive

Cut up the dried figs into small pieces, placing about  1/3- 1/2 of the figs in a small food processor with the hot water and blend till smooth. ( I actually didn't really read this correctly and blended all of the figs and the bread turned out fine)

You can mix the bread up in a stan mixer, but I did it by hand with good results.

Place the flour, yeast, sugar in a bowl and lightly mix together. Then add the cool water, white starter and mix till smooth and pliable.

Add the salt, and mix till fully incorporated and smooth again.

Add the pureed figs, the fig pieces, anise seeds, and polenta. MIxing until it is smooth and very pliable. 

Lightly oil the dough, place in a covered plastic container and let rise for a couple of hours before putting it into the refrigerator overnight.

The next day remove fromt he refrigerator and divide into 2 equal pieces. Lightly pull the sides down and into the middle of the dough. Lay the dough rough side up on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into either a round boule or a slightly oblong loaf. I have a variety of baskets that I used lined with   canvas/ light cotton muslin that I line the baskets with, then sprinkle it generously with flour and place the bread in the baskets to let them rise. I turn them completely around on all edges to lightly cover them with flour so they don't stick to the material while rising. The top of the loaf is down in the bottom of the basket, the rough bottom is facing toward you and then I fold the extra material loosely over the dough and place both of the loaves in a roomy plastic bag and leave them in a warm room to rise.  It can take 3-4 ours to rise till there is a light feel to the dough when you poke it with a finger to see if it has risen. 

Preheat your oven to as high as it will go and just before putting your loaves in pour some water in the bottom to create steam. Close the door and let the temperature rise again. Bring the dial down to 200*C or 450* F. 

Flip your dough out onto a sheet pan. I usually use a silicon pad or baking paper to insure it doesn't stick to the pan.  Slash the tops of your with a razor if you have it or a very sharp knife with an x for rounds and long slashes for oblong loaves or any way that you like and put in the oven. Take another bit of water and throw it int the bottom to create some steam and then leave it shut for at least 20 minutes before checking it again to insure a good rise.  Check on it rotating the loaves if necessary for an even browning and cook for at least 35 minutes. This loaf gets quite dark but that is a good thing. I used regular light colored dried figs and it was quite dark due to the sugar and natural sugar of the figs. If you use black figs, it will get even darker, so don't be afraid that you are burning it. It will taste great really.

Anise Fig Bread

Pasqua, Pasquetta, and Primavera musings

Our wild cherry trees in bloom

Springtime in Italy's northern mountains is well and truly underway. As always the weather is a source of conversation and speculation. We had summer like temperatures in the early part of April tricking our wild mountain cherry trees into thinking that they were late for an important date and beginning to bloom before most of the trees had even thought about leafing out and almost a month earlier than usual.  A few day trips around in the valley and plains where fruit production is one of the main farming endeavors we saw blossoms galore, cherry, pear and apple all just a wee bit early for comfort. Mountain weather can be most unpredictable at best and down right heart breaking at times. So far so good. We have weathered a couple of cold snaps and our fruit trees haven't been nipped in the bud, so we'll revel in all this primavera glory. 

Staffarda Abbey with Monviso in the background

Easter has come and gone now and what a week it was. It seemed everyone had spring fever and an itch to get out of the house and go somewhere, anywhere, even if, just for the day.  Our SerreMarchetto neighborhood was bustling with activity with all of the extended family up for Easter lunch. 

Easter lunch with friends and family

Peasant Bread, Easter Egg bread and Chocolate Torte
My contributions to lunch

We did our part to make a group passeggiata after pushing away from the remnants of the epic holiday lunch to do the ciao ciao with our neighbors and survey what was new in our surrounding woods. We caught up with who had been chopping wood on their property, what was in bloom, what already had berries, the wild blueberries, very surprisingly, who was fixing us their property or putting out some replacement flowering shrubs and on and on till we stumbled back home to face a couple of drops of grappa and coffee before we put together some of the leftovers and a smal bollitto misto, before the dispersal home. 

Friends from New York looking towards home

Passeggiata photo at our SerreMarchetto overlook

Then comes Pasquetta, or little Easter, the Monday after Easter is national picnic day. It seems sometimes to almost be more important to Italians than Easter. Everyone heads to the hills or seaside or flees from the family to picnic with their friends. 

Fair Fare

This year was triply interesting because Pasquetta also happend to fall on April 25th, which is Liberation Day, when the allied forces freed Italy in WWII and it happened to be the last Monday in April which happens to be the ongoing Pinerolo semi annual fiera or fair. 

Italian Liberation Day WWII

If you couldn't find something to do Monday, it wasn't for a lack of offerings. We managed a couple of the offerings. We drove to Pinerolo to take in the fair and see if there was anything we couldn't live with out, and were rewarded with a couple of hand painted platters, one decorated with olive branches and the other with local favorite icon, porcini mushrooms. On our way there we stopped for the town marching bands and military displays. I could have stayed longer at all of the different festivities, but we had a bbq to attend and the ribs were calling our name. The show rolled on. 

Master bar b que chef cousin Paolo

Italian ribs and sausage

We hadn't been to our cousins place before and it is a nice oasis in the fertile flats of the Po river valley. The grass was tall, the weather warm with a gentle breeze and apricot trees that had fruit big enough to start thinking about ripening. 

Green apricots April 25, 2011

Incredible. 

They are at least a month or so early. I was truly astonished. 

Pasquetta Picnic

Another round of eating, and some family tales and fellowship before heading home with the holidays being truly over. Well, at least until May 1 when there is yet another  holiday, the Italian equivalent of Labor Day. 

Whew, these holidays are hard work.  

Focaccia Ripiena and Shaved Fennel Lemon Salad

Bread in all it's many forms is one of my enduring passions.  I am so completely fascinated by the fact there are so few ingredients and yet endless possibilities. I generally keep  a back up of bread dough in the fridge for unexpected times when the need arises to have fresh bread on the table. As a general rule, the longer a dough ferments, the tastier the bread is as it has time for al the natural sugars and proteins to break down and develop flavor. That is not to say that bread doughs will last indefinitely, but most people don't realize that you can hold a variety of bread doughs in the fridge and bring it out and bake fresh bread a lot m ore easily and frequently than you would think.  It can be challenging at times with refrigerator space and varying room temperatures, but eating the results are so worth it. If you are new to making bread or the concept of holding dough in the refrigerator to use as needed, I would recommend the very delicious book, "Artisan Bread in Five minutes a Day", by Jeffery Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. The premise being that you mix up a batch of dough, usually two loaves, and bake them off on the day you want to eat them after arriving home from work and have them ready to consume in time for dinner. The recipes work beautifully and there are enough basic dough formulas that can be easily varied, that it really is a good starting point for busy people that appreciate fresh quality bread. Your bread is a good as the ingredients that you use. I have made quite a few recipes out the book and find them accurate and  delicious. They scale up well if you are cooking for a crowd and have the refrigerator space to hold the dough.  I do however have two personal cautions as a general rule for all the recipes. The salt content is way beyond my taste and I systematically cut the amount by about half and the amount of yeast for me is excessive as well. You are able to bring the dough from the refrigerator to the oven in about 20 minutes, so they have boosted the amount of yeast that, for me, it has a too yeasty of a flavor to it. I consistently either cut way back on the amount of yeast, use a combination of my natural sourdough starter and commercial yeast or leave it out completely and  use my sour dough starter only. I am not usually in that big of a hurry that I need to use that amount of yeast and the result, with less yeast, is full flavor bread without  the delicate notes of the bread being overwhelmed by the yeast.  

I didn't start out to do a book review here, but I do think this is a solid starter bread book worth adding to your library and helping novice and more experienced bakers get into the routine of making your own daily loaf.  I see that they have a new book out called "Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day" with 100 new recipes, whole grain and  some non gluten ones as well. I imagine it is an excellent one as well.  I found their recipes to be tried, true and delicious, noting my aforementioned personal preferences in regards to adjusting the yeast and salt.  I vary most of these recipes with whole grains and variations as the spirit moves me. I would encourage you to do the same after making their basic formula a few times to get a feel for them.
I said all of that to get to my filled focaccia recipe.  I adapted the "Olive Oil Bread" recipe from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day? for this focaccia as a starting point. I had already made the dough a few days previous for rosemary focaccia for an impromptu dinner with friends and knew I need to get this dough out of the refrigerator and on to our table. I rummaged around and found that we had some Cima di Rapa, also known as broccoli rabe, and some fresh pecorina ricotta that was begging to be used. It didn't take long to have this greens and ricotta filled focaccia on the table rising and baked off in time for  lunch. I added an incredibly easy shaved fennel and lemon salad that I found over at Val's "More than Burnt Toast" blog and we were feasting like royals in nothing flat. Ok, maybe more like the royals contadini (farmers), but very happy contadini.

For the
Focaccia
This is the original amount for 4- 1 pound loaves. (4 - 500g loaves, more or less)
I used a little less than half of the dough for a 25cm/10" round, with a removable ring.
It will work  with just about any kind of pan.
Oil your pan generously. I use olive oil.
I have adjusted the salt and yeast. I used instant granulated Saf yeast

6 c flour, bread or all purpose variety
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1T yeast, dry instant, a light tablespoon, 1 package
2 tsp sugar
1T salt
1/4 c olive oil
 2 3/4 c tepid water

Mix the flours, yeast, sugar, salt together in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and water, mixing till a a rough dough is formed. Knead lightly till smooth and return to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
I mix by hand, but you could use a stand mixer with the dough hook or a food processor. Mix till it just comes together ad finish with a few light kneads till smooth.  Don't over mix or knead the dough too vigorously.  A light hand is good.  Let rise in a warmish spot for a couple of hours  or until the dough has risen to about double and begins to flatten or collapse on itself.
You can use the dough immediately or refrigerate in a lidded container. It is easier to handle when cold. I tend to use some immediately and then use the rest of the dough a few days later. I made this from the dough after several days in the refrigerator.
Use half of the dough, making sure that comes to room temperature. After the initial rise, I usually try not to handle it too much and don't knead it again. I cut the dough in half again with  one half being slightly larger than the other. The larger half I use for the bottom. I flour the table and gently coax the dough in to a circle to fit the bottom going up on the sides slightly. I flatten the top part the same using my fingertips to dimple the dough and stretching it to the right diameter to cover the bottom half.

For the filling

1/2 onion, sliced in to lengths
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1# (400-500g) cima di rapa, washed and chopped into 1 inch lengths
You can use whatever greens or combination that you prefer. Broccoli rabe, is similar to mustard greens in that they have a bit of a bite, so consider using them or a mix of your favorite combo of greens.
Olive oil to saute the vegetables
200 g ricotta, a pecorino with a bit more flavor is good, you could use cottage cheese too
100 g parmesan or ricotta salata
These are the cheeses I had on hand. A combination of a soft mild cheese with a more potent salty style cheese is what you are looking for.
Salt and Pepper
pinch of peperoncino or hot pepper

Saute the onions in a small amount of oil till the soft. Add the garlic and  continue to cook adding your clean chopped greens. Add some water after the greens have wilted, cover and cook until the greens are soft but not all the way cooked. Season with salt and pepper.  let cool enough to handle.
Prepare your baking pan with oil and stretching your dough to cover and up the sides.
Spread your cooled greens around on the dough. Sprinkle with a pinch of hot pepper.
Distribute the ricotta cheese around the disk of greens and generously sprinkle your grated parmesan cheese over all.
Cover the top with the other piece of dough.
I let it rise about 1/2 hour, more if it seems like the dough hasn't really risen enough. You want the dough to be light, so let it rise as long as you think is necessary.
Drizzle some olive oil on top  of the dough.
Bake in the bottom shelf of a preheated 350*F/180- 190*C oven till the dough reaches a golden brown.
I have a convection oven so it only takes about 25-30 minutes.
In a conventional oven I think it will take 40- 50 minutes to get the bottom of the crust done.
Cool slightly, remove ring around the dough or flip out of your pan and serve warm.

I served it with this simple

Shaved Fennel Lemon salad

2 bulbs of fennel, the rounder bulb variety are less stringy and good for salads
1 lemon, organic is good as you will be eating the peel. Plump and firm, not one that is tired from languishing around waiting to be used.
4 tsp lemon juice, optional for me. I found it didn't really need it as my shaved lemon made it zippy enough, your call
Olive oil 
Salt 
Pepper if you like, I didn't bother

Use a mandoline or slicer on the thinnest setting that you can.
Shave the fennel and then the lemon into a bowl big enough to be able to toss the salad
Sprinkle a bit of good sea salt to season
Dress with enough olive to lightly coat the salad but not drown it.
Serve immediately.
You could shave the fennel and lemon and refrigerate until just before serving and then dress with oil and serve.