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Posts Tagged ‘fish’

  1. Thursday fish (?) – Scabbardfish rolls

    November 1, 2012 by Giulietta

    Maybe the title puzzled you.. wasn’t it “Friday fish“? Yes, but what can you do if I decided to make these rolls for a Thursday night?

    I admit it… I don’t cook enough fish, so every time I feel the need to cook something that moved its flippers so swim is a good occasion.

    And this time, the occasion was the combination between food and wine. The wine I talk about is the Erbaluce from Caluso, a dry white wine from Piedmont, very well known here. I was given the opportunity to taste some wines produced from Erbaluce grapes by Orsolani, and today I propose to you one of their wines in combination with an easy and yet very tasty fish dish: scabbardfish roll with green olives and capers, a “lighter” version of the Sicilian rolls, that often involve raisins and pine nuts.

    I preferred, however, to eliminate these two sweet (or sweetish) elements, to obtain a stronger stuffing. The fish itself is very delicate, and it perfectly marries with with an intense and unequivocally savory stuffing, and it needs a wine so strong to bring out the contrasting qualities of the dish, but not so strong to cover the flavors, and “La Rustia”, Erbaluce from Caluso DOCG, proved up to the task, both during cooking and to accompany the dish.

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    Category Fish, Italian cuisine, Second course, Wine | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  2. Swordfish carpaccio in pink

    May 8, 2012 by Giulietta

    In the last post I told you about spring, about sensations that this season full of life gives me and about cravings that arise in me during springtime. Well, meanwhile I satisfied the desire for a road trip .. 5 wonderful days on the roads of Provence and Camargue, many stages, so many beautiful places that still fill my eyes, so many colours and scents, so many steps I took and so many yet to be taken.

    After all this, I admit it, the coming back to reality was very hard for me, and the desire to cook went to take a ride. But I definitely wanted something fresh and fragrant, something that could go with the season that just started and possibly give a boost to summer, so that it will come soon (inevitably making us feel nostalgic for autumn and winter… it's a spinning wheel, uh?). So, I had the idea of ​​a swordfish carpaccio with a "pink" dressing, a tribute to the beautiful "La vie en rose" by Edith Piaf, a song that accompanied (along with a thousands other songs) my French trip. And the result, a recipe-non recipe with fresh intense and citrus scents.

    But before leaving you the recipe (if you can call it that), I want you to realise the terrible post-holiday effect through an image, a set of photos that contains some of the fascinations of those fantastic days I spent in France.

    How could I not be nostalgic? And I'm ready to leave again, next week, flying to Brussels (so if you have any advice/ suggestion/ idea, don't be shy, my ears are always wide open). There's nothing to do, my wanderer gene grows and grows every day.

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    Category Appetizer and Finger food, Citrus, Cold dishes, Fish, Fresh fruit, Marinade, Second course | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | 3 Comments

  3. Mediterranean riz rouge de Camargue salad

    July 15, 2011 by Giulietta

    Ok, I admit it, I invented this recipe's name … but I invented the recipe, so I can claim the right to name it, or not? But I chose this name not by accident: both the rice and the ingredients I used for this recipe smelled like the Mediterranean, in my humble opinion, so why don't give the recipe the name of this sea and of this enclave of Countries that, somehow, contributed to its genesis?

    I was looking for a cold first course for one of my birthday parties (yes, I chose to make a cold dinner and, of course, the night I celebrated there were more or less 20° C… typical!) and I didn't want to make my classic rice salad, which is a bit banal …. so, starting from the beginning, ie rice, I made a replacement, and instead of "normal" rice I chose a more special, refined one, the riz rouge de Camargue, which is perfect for salads, 'cause it stays firm after cooking, and 'cause is very crisp.

    Reading here and there some information about this colorful and crisp rice, I read that one of the recommended combinations was with fish, so … why don't make a sea rice salad?! And so appeared shrimps and tuna/mackerel filets. But I had to put some vegetables (I love them) … and so I put some crispy celery, sauté zucchini and, for a real Mediterranean taste, sun-dried tomatoes and black olives -with their stone (I know that olives are not strictly vegetables, but grant me this unfair allocation). And yet something was missing … herbs, maybe Occitan ones … and so I added oregano, thyme and marjoram. Add some dressing (lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, a few tablespoons of dried tomato patè), et voila, you're done! This was more or less my thought process that, from the first choice (rice) led to the creation of a brand new rice salad, very tasty and crunchy, perfect for a dinner with friends (you can serve it in single portions, putting 3 or 4 tablespoons of rice salad in a pudding mold, and then turning it upside down, as you see in the first two pictures) or for a picnic (blessed be the Tupperwares) in good company.

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    Category Cold dishes, First course, Herbs, Pasta rice and cereals salads, Sea first course, Shellfishes, Single course, Vegetables | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,, | 12 Comments

  4. A dish for the summer: octopus carpaccio

    June 10, 2011 by Giulietta

    In spite of the term carpaccio (in Italy carpaccio is a a dish where thin slices of raw meat or fish are seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice and, for meat, Parmigiano cheese flakes), this is not a crude preparation, as some of you might already know. The final dish, however, is fresh and light: also, you could dress it as you prefer, and it would always look great on your summer table.

    In fact, besides being a healthy light and, in my opinion, very good dish, it practically prepares itself (but it'll need 24 hours) and it's also pleasing to the eye. For all these reasons, therefore, it's a perfect dish.

    Before trying, a few years ago, the octopus carpaccio, octopus for me meant octopus and potatoes salad (I don't deny it, 'cause I love it): but then carpaccio conquered me and, after eating it (and appreciating it) on several occasions, I decided I had to try this recipe, and the result was above my expectations.

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    Category Appetizer and Finger food, Cold dishes, Fish, Second course | Tags: ,,,,,,,, | 17 Comments