With some water moisture the bread and put it in
a bowl. Finely cut the cucumber, the tomatoes, the basil and the
onion. Add and mix everything to the bread, add olive oil, salt
and pepper and keep in a cool place.
ACQUACOTTA (Speciality of Grosseto)
Recipe for 4 people:
500 gr.of mushrooms
200 gr.of tomatoe
1 clove of garlic
3 eggs
8 slices of stale bread
Salt and pepper
Clean the mushrooms from the soil, wash and cut in
pieces. In a pan heat up 3 spoons of oil, brown the garlic and
then add the mushrooms. Add salt and pepper. Peal and cut the tomatoes,
then add them to the mushrooms when they are half cooked. Pour
a liter of boiling water on it and continue to cook. In an oven,
toast the bread and put two slices on each plate. In a serving
bowl crack the eggs and add 2 spoonful of grated parmesan cheese,
mix thoroughly before adding the bouillon,mix and serve.
RISOTTO NERO ALLA FIORENTINA
(BLACK RICE FIORENTINA STYLE)
Recipe for 4 people:
400 gr. cuttle-fish
300 gr. of rice
1 clove of garlic
1 onion
1/2 glass white wine
Olive oil
Salt
Clean the cuttle-fish, take out the bone,the mouth
and the eyes and leave the ink bags aside. Wash them in a lot of
water until white then cut in small pieces. In a pan pour 1/2 a
glass of olive oil add the garlic and onion finely cut.After browning
add the cuttle-fish. When they will have managed a nice colour,
add the wine and let it evaporate. Cook on small fire for 1/2 hour.
Heat one and a half liters of salted water. Add the raw rice to
the cuttle-fish and mix.Little by little add the hot water, waiting
for the rice to absorb it. At the very end add the ink bags.
TONNO BRIACO ALLA LIVORNESE
(TUNA LIVORNESE STYLE)
Recipe for 4 people:
600 gr. of fresh tuna
100 gr. of olive oil
1/2 glass of Chianti wine
Garlic
White flour
Parsley
Salt and pepper
In an oven plate put a little garlic (pressed), onion
and the minced parsley. After browning everything, add the pieces
of tuna, salt and pepper. Cook one side then the other. Half way
through the cooking add a spoon of flour diluted in water and after
put the wine. Finish to cook and serve.
ARISTA ALLA FIORENTINA
(LOIN OF PORK FIORENTINA STYLE)
Recipe for 6 people:
1,5 kg of loin
1 clove of garlic
Rosmary
Salt and pepper
Finely cut the rosmary and garlic, add salt and
pepper. In small cuts opened in the meat add the above mixing.
Add salt and pepper to the meet. Cook the meat in an oven at
170 degrees for 2 hours. From time to time soften the top of
the meat with some of the cooking oil from the base. At the last
minute it is possible to add some potatoes to go with the roasted
meat. Serve it hot or cold, cut in slices.
N.B.: This recipe is very old. It is said that the loin was
tasted by some Greek bishops in 1430 in Florence, they found
it "aristos" (very good), hence the name.
LEPRE IN UMIDO
(HARE CASSEROLE)
Recipe for 4 people:
1 hare
80 gr. of lard
50 gr. of butter
1 lemon
Olive oil
Thyme
Laurel
Bouillon(meat)
Salt and pepper
Clean the hare, take out the liver, wash the hare
and let it macerate in lemon juce, 1/2 glass of oil, laurel, thyme,
salt and pepper for four hours. In the casserole heat the lard
and oil, when ready add the hare. Continue to cook adding the bouillon
from time to time. When ready cut the hare and put it on a serving
plate. In a little casserole melt the butter, adding the finely
cut liver, cook for 5 minutes. Pour this on the hot hare and serve.
FAGIOLI COTTI AL FIASCO
(BEANS COOKED IN A FLASK)
Recipe for 6 people:
1,5 kg of white beans,fresh.
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Salvia
Salt and pepper
Free the beans, wash and introduce them in a flask
of Chianti, having removed the straw around it. Add 1/2 glass of
oil, salvia, garlic (pressed) and 1/2 liter of water. Close the
flask with a cloth so as to let the steam out and lay it on hot
ashes. During the 3 hours cooking, the water will evaporate and
the beans will absorb the oil. When done add salt and pepper. The
beans are excellent hot or cold.
BISCOTTI DI PRATO
(BISCUITS OF PRATO)
1 kg of white flour
1 kg of white sugar
250 gr. of whole almonds
3 gr. of bicarbonate
8 eggs
Salt
Butter and flour
Prepare the almonds by pealing and putting them
in an oven for drying for 10 minutes, then cut them finely. On
a working area in the kitchen, pour the flour and make a hole
in the middle for putting the 8 eggs, the sugar, the bicarbonate
and a pinch of salt. Work the dough and make it into rolls, then
put them on a buttered oven plate, and into a pre-heated oven
at 150 degrees. Half way trough the cooking (7-8) minutes take
them out and diagonally cut one centimeter thick slices, and
back into oven to finish the cooking.
P.S.: These biscuits will keep many months if kept in a tin
box.
A glass of Vino Santo (sweet white wine) is the best complement.
BUCCELLATO DI LUCCA
400 gr of white flour '00' type
150 gr.of milk
125 gr. of sugar
50 gr. of bread dough (yeast)
50 gr. of Vin Santo
40 gr. of butter
15 gr. of lard
2 eggs
Salt
Bicarbonate
1/2 lemon
Pour the flour on a working plan in the kitchen,
add the sugar, the peal of half a lemon and a pinch of salt.
Mix the ingredients and make a hole in the middle, add the eggs
(keep some egg-white), the softened butter, the finely cut lard
and the bicarbonate diluted in a little milk. Make the whole
into an homogeneous patè by adding the remaining milk
and Marsala. At last add the dough. Work everything well so as
to get a fine paste. If needed add a little water. Make a ball
of it and place it into a cooking vessel hollowed in the middle.
Cover with a napking and leave for about an hour in a fresh place.
Next cover the surfice with the remaining egg-white and place
in a hot oven (180 degrees) for 45 minutes. Dish out of the vessel
when tepid.
P.S.: It is tradition on the day of "Communion" for the god-father
and god-mother to offer a "buccellato" to their nephew or niece.
The winner will be the one that has made the biggest "buccellato",
at times the size is almost that of a cart-wheel! There are different
recipes for this cake: simpler or richer (500 gr of white flour,
200 gr. of sugar, 50 gr of beer-yeast, 40 gr.of olive oil, 2
eggs). The recipe that we have shown is the most traditional
one.
Wallpapers
Windows 95/98/NT
Click on the image that you choosen and in the new window right-click
your mouse on the image. Select "Set as Wallpaper" from the menu.
Macintosh MacOS 8-9
Click on the image that you choosen and in the new window drag
the image to your computer desktop. Next drag the image in the
folder "Appearance", open the "Appearance" control panel, click
the Desktop" tab, then click the "Place Picture" button. Locate
the image in your Appearance folder and click "Choose." Click "Set
Desktop" to apply the wallpaper.
