Dancing Spoon

Radicchio Crostini

Italy Delicious

by Ashley Bartner
What to do with radicchio? Sauteed with cherry tomatoes and piled high atop crostini!  

Ok, so what is radicchio? If you once thought it was just a purple lettuce, think again. Its an ancient leafy vegetable in the chicory family. Radicchio has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. Its commonly found throughout Italy and we grow it on our farm too! Radicchio is such as versatile ingredient — eaten raw, grilled with olive oil or in risotto.

Here's a quick and easy recipe to enjoy this under rated leafy veg, you can use this topping as crostini, atop grilled chicken or try it in a frittata.

Radicchio Crostini

Ingredients
Radicchio, core removed, sliced
4-5 Cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Clove of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Soft cheese (we use stracchino a soft cows milk cheese)
Toasty bread

Directions
1. In a frying pan heat 3-4 glugs of olive oil and gently fry the clove of garlic. Once brown, remove garlic.
2. Raise the heat, add radicchio, season with salt & pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes as the radicchio will cook down a bit.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes and lower the heat to medium-low. Gently cook everything down, letting the tomatoes wilt about 10 minutes. It may be necessary to add a spoonful or two of water if it looks like its drying out.
4. Taste and check your salt & pepper.
5. Turn off heat & allow to cool. Add a healthy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over top and mix in.
6. Toast your bread slices. Spread layer of soft cheese & spoonful of radicchio mixture.

Tutti a tavola — everyone to the table!

---

Ashley Bartner is living the foodie dream in Italy. Together with her Chef-husband Jason, they own and run La Tavola Marche  an organic farm, inn and cooking school in Central Italy's region of Le Marche.

---

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

---

Broccoli Summer Salad

Ordinary Out of the

OOO by Kate Krukowski Gooding
Summer is here and the weather is sultry. I don’t remember it being this hot in Maine for so long. “Take a jump in the lake” has been a term we have really taken seriously this summer. And, who would have believed you could swim in the Maine ocean?!

The more you can stay out of the kitchen and the longer a dish lasts, all the better. This dish is simplicity itself! Here is a tasty salad that can last a week in the refrigerator, as long as you don’t leave it on the table for any too long. Remember that mayonnaise is sensitive to heat. Enjoy!

Broccoli Summer Salad

Ingredients
6 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds
¾ cup raisins
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
7 slices crumbled bacon
1 ¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon smoked sea salt

Directions
1. Combine mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar.
2. Pour over broccoli and stir to combine. for 3-4 minutes as the radicchio will cook down a bit.
3. Add sunflower seeds, raisins, red onion and bacon. Mix well.

---

You can find Kate Gooding's book, Black Fly Stew - Wild Maine Recipes at Foodie's Emporium! Click here. Kate has published three cookbooks: Wild Maine Recipes and Simple Gourmet Lamb with Side Dishes and Wine Pairings. She is currently is working on her one in the Black Fly Stew series – which carries and an international flair.

More information at www.blackflystew.com

And visit Foodie's Emporium for Unique Kitchen items!

---

"Delicious Simplicity" Published

Tips Tasty

by J. Michael Wheeler

Delicious Simplicity
Dancing Spoon's contributors include its fair share of cookbook authors and we're pleased to let you know Anna Tourkakis, Tasty Tips, has just joined that impressive group.

Anna's new cookbook Delicious Simplicity is now available. It's packed with quick-and-easy recipes, Delicious Simplicity is your go-to cookbook for scrumptious meals. Save time and money while preparing delectable recipes that make nutritious eating in your busy life practical.

Inspired by the healthy ingredients of European cuisine, Anna brings old-world flavors to weeknight meals. She’ll help you create mouthwatering dishes with a Mediterranean flair to intensify flavors and aromas. The luscious, guilt-free desserts take the same approach. This is nutritious cooking at its best. Take pleasure in serving good-for-you food that nourishes your family’s health and bonds built at the family table.

Buy Delicious Simplicity.

---

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

---

Bermuda Fish Chowder

Chowder Simple

by J. Michael Wheeler
This Fourth of July Grill brought together friends, food, drinks, and even an impromptu bagpipe serenade! Joe, the piper, is also Joe the sailor, and he just recently completed the 2010 Newport (Rhode Island) to Bermuda (Sailboat) Race. It’s a 635 mile ocean race, most of it out of sight of land, and can last anywhere from three to six days. (If you’re into sailing, Joe sailed on a Hinckley 70!)

Besides his pipes, Joe also brought a big pot filled with a taste of the race destination: Bermuda Fish Chowder. It’s a locals’ recipe using local ingredients, but as with many fish stews, use whatever local, fresh fish is available. There are two very unique ingredients to this fish stew however: the local Outerbridge’s Sherry Peppers Sauce for kick, and Goslings Black Seal rum as a topper. 

Here are two tasty and similar recipes (Joe says use either one). The first recipe is from Outerbridge’s of the Sherry Peppers Sauce, and the second is from Gosling’s Rum.

Farm to Table Fava Beans

Italy Delicious

by Ashley Bartner
Fava Beans
We've picked nearly a TON of fava (or "broad bean" as our British friends call them) out of our garden/farm – most likely if you have stopped by in the past 2 weeks you have either been given a bag of fresh picked fava to take home, shelled 'em, and/or eaten them!

So what to do with a crate of fava? Lots of choices, from crudo (raw) to crostini to pasta. Here we share a few of our favorite "Farm to the Table" fava dishes:

Simplicistic Antipasta
With the sweet spring flavor of shelled (double shelled) fava we simply pair it with a hunk of fresh pecorino cheese for the ultimate in simplicistic antipasta and country/peasant cooking.

Another great antipasta is fava crostini – the color and crisp flavor on crunchy bread – how can you only eat one?! Here's Jason's fava crostini recipe:

Fava Crostini
Ingredients
Serves 4

1 cup of double shelled (outer pod & inner shell removed) fresh fava or broad bean
couple glugs of olive oil
garlic clove, skinned, whole
squeeze of lemon
water
shaved parmesan
salt & pepper
baguette or crusty bread, sliced & toasted

Directions

1. Throw the fava in a pan and cover with water and a little salt. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.
2. Cook a couple of minutes until the fava are tender. Drain.
3. Return the pan to the heat. Pour in a couple glugs of olive oil and the garlic clove. Fry the garlic until browned. Then discard garlic.
4. Toss the fava into the pan and sautee for a minute or two. Then begin mashing with the back of a wooden spoon until you form a paste. Add a bit of water if the paste is a bit too thick.
5. Remove fava paste from heat and season with salt and pepper add a squeeze of lemon.
6.Toast slices of good bread and rub warm fava mixture and top with shaved parmesan. You can drizzle a little really good quality extra virgin olive oil as well if you like.

Tutti a tavola — everyone to the table!

---

Ashley Bartner is living the foodie dream in Italy. Together with her Chef-husband Jason, they own and run La Tavola Marche  an organic farm, inn and cooking school in Central Italy's region of Le Marche.

---

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

---