Instant Sunshine

It's that time of year again...March. My least favorite month of the year. My husband likes to joke that I feel that way because it's his birthday month. So, my apologies to all of you March babies! But trust me, it's nothing personal.

It's just that by the time March rolls around I have had it with winter. I am all fed up. I don't want to see any more rain or fog or snow or grey days. I am ready for spring. Unfortunately, spring is never quite ready for me in March. It's still wool sweaters and heavy coats time while I'm dreaming of wispy dresses and high heeled sandals. Grrrr...

Luckily, with a little imagination, I can find a sunshine substitute right in my own refrigerator. It's orange season. Besides your plain old orange orange, the stores here are also full of these fantastic Sicilian red blood oranges, also known as Tarocco oranges. They are sweet and seedless and, besides making fantastic OJ, can be used to make a delicious Sicilian Orange Salad.

This combination of fresh seasonal flavors is fast and easy and can be served as a side dish or a snack. 

INGREDIENTS

• 6 large navel or blood oranges, peeled and sliced
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 8 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

DIRECTIONS

On a serving platter, alternately arrange orange and onion slices, with the slices slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with basil. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with pepper. Yield: 6 servings.

A tip: soak the sliced red onion half an hour in a bowl of water. This takes a bit of the sharpness out of the onion's flavor. Of course, if you like sharpness forget I mentioned it!

As with all recipes, variations are allowed and even encouraged. Do you like olives? Throw some in.

 Want to try it with some sprigs of rosemary? Why not?

A plate of instant sunshine!

Top 5 Puglian Recipes

Italian cuisine is famous around the world for simple, fresh ingredients and lovingly prepared home-cooked meals. But did you know that what you consider "Italian" food might only be one version, eaten in only one particular area of the country? Regional variety is what makes the Italian take on the Mediterranean diet even more exciting. While you can get pizza from the tip to the toe of the peninsula, the local definition of "pizza" may vary from place to place.

Wondering what we eat down here in the heel of the boot? In an article for Charming Italy I choose the 5 recipes I think most clearly identify Puglian cooking and give you the recipes!

Orecchiette con le cime di rape (Orecchiette Pasta with Rabe Broccoli)

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• Patate, riso e cozze (Potatoes, Rice and Mussels)
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• Braciole (Meat Rolls in Tomato Sauce)
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• Fave e cicorie (Fava Bean Puree and Chicory Greens)
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• Bari Focaccia (Pizza Bread)
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Follow this link to discover all  the recipes in my article! 

Chiacchiere - A Carnival Treat

One of the things I love about Italy is how every holiday has its traditional sweet. I have a real sweet tooth and love to eat any kind of cake, cookies, candies, you name it! That's gotten a lot harder since I discovered that I'm intolerant to both gluten and lactose. There are some commercial products available without those ingredients, but for the most part I think they're pretty blah, taste-wise. So, if I want something sweet, I pretty much have to make it myself.

Luckily there are lots of sites on the Internet offering recipes for people with dietary limitations (see my sidebar for some I love). But, it's not always easy to reproduce my Italian holiday favs. As it's Carnival season I've been craving the light, crispy, sugar-coated delights called "Chiacchere." Well, they're called chiacchiere down here in the heel of the boot, in other areas they have all kinds of different names. 

I got lucky and found a great gluten and lactose-free chiacchiere recipe and thought I'd share it with you.

First of all, for any of you who don't know what "Chiacchiere" are, take a look at these yummy creations . . .

Photo from Flickr

Ingredients:

• 300 gr gluten-free flour 
• 60 gr sugar
• 2 large eggs 
• 25 gr vegetable margarine
• 1/2 glass of liqueur (for example: Martini bianco) 
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Sift the flour and add the sugar, eggs, softened margarine, and liqueur.

2. Blend well until the dough is smooth and compact. Add more flour if necessary.

3. Wrap in a soft cloth (a clean, dry dish towel will do fine) and set aside to rise for about 30 minutes.

4. Roll a section of the dough out to a thin layer, then use a pastry wheel to cut it into the shapes you desire. (I found my dough to be a bit sticky. It helped to roll it out on floured waxed paper.)

5. Fry the pieces of dough in plentiful hot oil. Be careful not to let the oil get too hot, or the chiacchiere will darken too quickly.

6. When golden, lift the chiacchiere out of the oil with a slotted spoon and lay them on blotting paper to absorb the excess oil.

7. Finally arrange them on a serving dish and sprinkle with powered sugar.

8. Enjoy!

For more info on chiacchiere read my article at Charming Italy.

By the way, besides being the name for these delicious sweets, "chiacchiere" means "chit-chat" or "small talk" in Italian!

Photo from Flickr