Panettone |
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!
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2013 Culinary Tours |  |
2013 Tuscany week:
May 18-25
May 25-June 1
September 28-October 5
October 5-12
November 2-9
Taste of Tuscany mini tour:
May 12-16 and Oct 15-19
Bologna & Tuscany
September 12-18
Campania /Naples tour:
June 6-12
Puglia: June 17-22
In our culinary tours, you will get an insider's view of Tuscany and see the things most people don't see on their own in Italy. Your days will be filled with area delights - great food, wine, history and culture!
to FIND OUT MORE... |
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Vacation Villas
& Farmhouses | 
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Great accomodations for either a night, a week or month - sizes range from one bedroom apartments to large 20+ people villas. Contact Mary @ 972-342.8308
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Happy Holidays!
The holiday season can be so hectic with what we're going to eat, how we're going to prepare it and what gifts we haven't bought yet....we loose sight of what the holiday is all about.
We both wish you all a peaceful, healthy and bountiful Christmas and Hanukkah season!
Buon appetito e Buon Natale! See you in the New Year!
God bless,
Gina and Mary |
Italian Christmas Traditions
I'm constantly reminding people of the diversity of Italy and the Italians. The country is made up of many different regions and people, and it's difficult to generalize their customs and traditions, especially when it comes to food. This is widely apparent in Italian Christmas traditions.
In northern Italian regions like Emilia Romagna and Lombardy, stuffed pasta in a rich broth is traditional and a Christmas Eve dinner isn't complete without it. The stuffing is veal, pork, prosciutto and mortadella, very tiny and cooked in chicken/beef broth.
Panettone is a must for our Christmas breakfast table. The tall brown loaf cooked in a golden paper crown and studded with raisins and candied orange peel is moist and spongy. Spreading fresh butter on a slice is overkill, but then it is Christmas! The traditional tall sweet domed cake Pandoro is widely available throughout Italy but originally from the Veneto. While Panettone is easily found in the U.S., Pandoro is less so.
Often times the Feast of the Seven Fishes is mentioned as being a particularly Italian Christmas Eve tradition. It's actually from the coastal towns of southern Italy and Sicily, especially Naples. My grandparents were both from mountainous towns in southern Italy and even though we always had fish on Christmas Eve, which was a fast day, we didn't have a tradition of seven fishes. Usually, there was a whole baked fish or huge scampi cooked in a garlicky sauce, and for a few years when we were in college, Mom went through a rock shrimp spaghetti phase. I'll never forget the year we all drank so much wine while we were cleaning, cooking and eating the pounds of rock shrimp, we had to take naps after dinner and missed midnight Mass!
Whatever your traditions, you can make them more Italian by spending more time at the table, talking, enjoying a good bottle of wine, cracking some nuts or finishing the meal with a little cheese, and in general just relaxing with each other to honor this special time of year. |
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Mom's Rock Shrimp Pasta
Serves 8
3lb rock shrimp
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
Hot pepper flakes, to taste
1 tbsp parsley, minced
1 teas dried basil (it's my mom's recipe)
1 teas dried oregano
1 teas sea salt
1 lb spaghettini or 1 � lb angel hair pasta
Clean the rock shrimp: take each tail and cut it lengthwise through the legs, taking out the sandy vein. Butterfly each tail, it's okay if you cut all the way through as long as the halves are joined at the tail. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the garlic and hot pepper and take it off the heat. Add the remaining ingredients and stir.
Taking each rock shrimp by the tail, dip them one at a time into the butter and oil, then lay them in a single layer on a sheet pan. Pour the remaining sauce onto the tails. Broil for 5 minutes until done. Meanwhile, cook spaghettini or angel hair pasta until al dente and place in a large pasta bowl. Pour the rock shrimp directly onto the bowl of pasta and toss, drizzling additional olive oil to finish.
If you can't find rock shrimp, substitute regular shrimp, shell and devein. Heat the oil in a saut� pan with the garlic and hot pepper, add the remaining ingredients and then the shrimp. Toss and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes until cooked through, toss with pasta and serve. |
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Gina's Winter Tour Schedule
Once again Gina will be in the U.S. this winter. She has several private events in the cities she'll be visiting, if you'd like a private class or dinner please contact Mary and we'll try to work you in!
Dallas/Ft Worth area: Market Street cooking schools: McKinney: January 9, Colleyville: January 14; (Register)
Balsamico tasting: January 5, Italian Club of Dallas: (Purchase tix)
Pop-Up Restaurant: January 13, Italian Club of Dallas. (Purchase tix)
Houston markets: Private classes only at this time. January 16, 17, 18
Dayton: Dorothy Lane Cooking School, February 7 and 8. (Class sign up)
Denver: The Kitchen Table, February 26th, Wine dinner at University of Denver, February 28
Aspen: Wine dinner Aspen Glens Club, March 2
Kansas City: A Thyme for Everything cooking school: March 9, 12. (Class sign up)
Jasper's Restaurant, March 11 (Tuscan dinner)
San Francisco area: Early April - winery dinner, cooking school venues in the planning!
Check our website for dates and times on classes...and new classes are being added. |
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Ecco La Cucina Cookbook
Still looking for a Christmas gift? There is a new, revised edition of The Ecco La Cucina cookbook by Gina Stipo. It is a collection of traditional Tuscan cooking, featuring dishes of the Siena area. The new edition includes many new recipes! Its a perfect Christmas gift!
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