KYFF, Grilling Italy

What to grill this weekend? How about some bread? Bruschetta is one of my most popular recipes and is so simple to prepare. It is an ideal snack to enjoy while you are waiting for the main dish on the grill to be finished. 

Ideally, use day old or very dense thickly-sliced bread. The addition of the smoke from the grill adds magical flavor to the crust and it’s toppings. There is no limit in toppings for your bruschetta, just let your imagination run free. Think of your bread crusts as an artist’s canvas. 

Join me for a bruschetta tour through Italy. Which, BTW, the variety in bruschetta toppings vary from region to region. 

When canal-side in Venice, I must have my bruschetta with Baccala' Mantecato, that is topped with whipped salted cod. This cod is making me thirsty! Vino prego!

While in Siena, I’ve enjoyed grilled toasts di fegato, that's made with garlicky chopped liver.

The southern part of Italy is the region to feast on the superior quality of fruits from Italy's fertile soil, particularly Naples. Ahh, delicioso pomodoro. This is the bruschetta most people envision - crowns of sweet ripened tomatoes, basil and olive oil.   

Before you take your first bite, let me transport you to my favorite place in Positano; Trattoria La Tagliata where Bartolo is the family's grill chef. He will take really good care of you - while you nibble on his bruschetta, enjoying the priceless view of the Amalfi Coast and await his grilled specialties.

Something wonderful happens to country-style bread when it’s brushed with olive oil and grilled. It’s smoky flavor adds another layer to olive oil, fresh tomatoes with lots of caramelized garlic, parmesan cheese, and capers. Dry day-old bread makes the best bruschetta, so this is a good way to use up yesterday’s loaf of Italian, French, or sourdough bread. Serve bruschetta with salad or soup, or as a snack with a chunk of sopressatta.

This recipe is from my first book, and to pass along just how much everyone enjoys bruschetta from the grill it’s my very first recipe in the book, page 14.

Bruschetta

From Grilling with Chef George Hirsch | The cookbook By George Hirsch with Marie Bianco © 1994

Makes 6 

3 cups seeded and diced plum tomatoes

24 cloves caramelized garlic

2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 Tablespoon capers, rinsed

Salt and pepper, to taste

12 slices round country- style bread, sliced 3/4 inch thick

1/4 cup olive oil

6 basil leaves, chopped

Grated parmesan cheese 

To make the topping, combine the tomtoes, garlic, parmesan cheese, capers, salt and pepper.

Brush the bread on both sides with olive oil and grill 10 to 15 seconds on each side. Press down on the bread with a spatula so that the bread picks up grill marks.

When the bread is grilled, top off the slices evenly with the tomato mixture and place them in a foil pan on the grill. Close the hood and heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan and sprinkle each bruschetta with basil and parmesan cheese.

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Savory and Sweet Brunch

In French it’s know as le grand petit déjeuner or big breakfast, literally "the big little lunch". Against the wishes of the Académie—the typical French person refers to the phrase "American's brunch". Whether you call it le grand petit déjeuner or just brunch, it's an ideal time of day to serve a mixture of savory & sweet dishes, like my baked ham & biscuits + muffins.

Start with sweet Blueberry Nut Muffins. Today is the savory portion; a Spring Easter time favorite, Ham with a Honey Glaze served with my Warm Biscuits.  

CLICK HERE for more ham glazes and sauces.

Antica Cuvée

This is a superb grappa I discovered while toasting with new my Venetian friends. As holidays such as Easter arrive I will be toasting with this same grappa but with prayers and wishes of health, peace and prosperity.

Nonino's hand blown bottle may have a bit to do with catching your attention, but the quality content inside the bottle speaks volumes for the grappa industry in Italy. The Friuli based Nonino Family changed the way the world views grappa. This fine grappa is made from a blend of 3 grappas from the varietals: Ribolla Gialla, Moscato, and Verduzzo. Antica Cuvee is aged for 12 months in limousin oak barriques and bottled with no additives. It is described as a rich, round and warm on the palate with a long and warm finish. The aromatics are spices, brioche vanilla and almond. 

Serve at room temperature in wide balloon-type glasses, sip as a digestive. Perfect with foie gras, dark chocolate or hot chocolate dessert.

Tuber Time

There is an upside to when the temperature dips into to chilly range; cooking up warming dishes with tubers. Prepared an infinite number of ways, tubers such as beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, taro, yams, and potatoes are prime ingredients to add to the soup pot for texture, thickening and flavor. What’s even better is each tuber can stand on it’s own or be combined with others. Considering they have a long shelf life tubers are perfect to keep on hand in your pantry for preparing a last minute dish. 

In this soup recipe I roasted the tuber to caramelize the natural sugars in the potatoes. A mixture of potatoes can be cooked, but I used the Yukon potatoes because of the golden, buttery-tasting waxy flesh that gives an earthy finish to the taste of the soup.  

Roasted Potato Soup
Recipe by George Hirsch | Makes six-eight servings 

3 cups Yukon, red or russet potatoes; scrubbed & chopped into 1/2 inch pieces 
4 Tablespoons pancetta, chopped
1 cup sweet onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled left whole 
Olive oil 
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups kale washed and chopped
Hot sauce to taste
Pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup half and half
* Arugula, spinach, or escarole may be substituted for kale

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees. 

In a sheet pan or low-sided roasting pan add chopped potatoes, pancetta, onion, garlic, olive oil, thyme, pepper and salt. Roast for twenty minutes and toss to evenly brown. After twenty additional minutes add kale and cook for ten more minutes. 

Remove roasted potatoes from oven and place in a large soup pot. Add about 1/2 cup of chicken stock to sheet/ roasting pan to deglaze all bits of food from bottom of pan. Scrape bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Pour drippings into soup pot. 

Add remaining chicken broth to soup pot.  Increase temperature, bring soup up to a boil, and then lower to a gentle simmer for 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender with a couple pulses to puree; or use food processor. Bring soup back to a boil, add nutmeg and additional broth if required. Just before serving, gently stir in half and half and hot sauce to taste.

Servings suggestions:

For a more elegant version, top soup with sour cream or creme fraiche; and cooked crab meat, or poached shrimp, or scallops, or oysters.

Going to County Limerick

You don't have to walk far to bump into a friendly face, make a new friend or be subject to true hospitality while in Ireland. I think every comic, storyteller and musician must have a bit of Irish in them. Join me and my friend Will for some authentic good Irish conversation, as we sample tradional pub fare.