18.6.12
Tuscan Cookery Class with Lisa Banchieri
The first thing we did on Monday morning was review the content of Lisa’s shopping basket! She had – as always – returned from the Mercato Centrale with a host of pretty fruits and vegetables, gorgeous pungent matured cheeses and additionally some wonderful aromatic herbs.
Leslie and Barbara smell the fresh herbs
Our cooking area is air-conditioned – no small benefit in the 39c heat that was burning up the tourists walking around outside the restaurant!
Our menu this week was:-
Lisa’s bruchette – 3 varieties
Porcini fungi flan
Chicken with frittata and fontina cheese
Valerin with peach and yogurt
As always Lisa laid out the ingredients so they were easy to access – these are getting ready to become toppings for the bruscette.
tomatoes, zucchini and eggplants for the bruschette
The melanzane, eggplant, aubergine – or “whatever you will” is cooked in the pan with a little salt – no oil – so it doesn’t become too greasy – or use up too much oil in the cooking process – it is just mixed together at the end with a little extra virgin olive oil!
creamy aubergine topping
The aubergine (eggplant, melanzane) topping was just divine with a topping of pecorino – the courgettes (zucchini) were delicious with a topping of parmigiana (parmesan) .
Next it was the turn of the fungi porcini (mushrooms) to be lightly peeled, any nasty pieces cut off and the rest cut ready to be cooked.
preparing porcini mushrooms
Porcini mushrooms are now in season until the end of October – and even as a non-fungi eater I have to admit that these – baked in a flan – with yet more parmigiana- were absolutely delicious.
porcini mushrooms in pastry case
Then the chicken breasts – helpfully already flattened by the butcher at the market! The frittata was as light as a feather and the herbs extraordinary – and our tomatoes – (finally!) – have come to their proper taste fruition!
Chicken, frittata with herbs and fresh tomatoes
No room for dessert but we had cooked it so we ate it – or took it home – cookies, cream and yoghurt and woodland fruits and fresh peach!
Another gastronomic tour de force – followed by an evening at Lisa’s friends villa – where she cooked some more ………………scales watch out – be afraid …. be very afraid!!
pud
