All Posts By: NANCY DeLUCIA REAL

Homemade chili is always so comforting, especially with some freshly baked cornbread and a nice glass of red wine. This one-dish meal gets its “buzzz” from chipotle ahumado powder which will definitely warm you up in autumn weather. The flavors of this dish are enhanced when the chili is made a day ahead. This means that leftover, warmed-up chili tastes great up to three days later – and there’s no need to cook for a while!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Inactive prep time: 30 minutes (for cooking)
Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients:
4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, boiled, cooled and peeled
One 14.5-ounce can Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Chipotle
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds extra lean ground beef or organic, grass-fed extra lean ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle ahumado powder or regular chili powder
2 cups cooked kidney beans, drained, or one 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1. Purée the boiled tomatoes and canned tomatoes together in a blender and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a 4-quart saucepot. Add the ground beef and the onions and, with a wooden spoon, stir fry on medium-high heat until meat is broken up and turns gray, about 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Pour in the puréed tomatoes and stir. Cook on medium-low heat, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Stir in the salt, sugar and the lesser amount of chili powder and cook 2 minutes.

5. Stir in the kidney beans and cook for about 2 more minutes. Taste and adjust the chipotle ahumado powder or chili amounts.

Serve immediately in individual bowls accompanied by Columbus Day Cornbread (previously published on this blog).

Wine suggestion: Pinot Noir – this red wine pairs well with chili.

Note: You can find chipotle ahumado powder online at gourmetsleuth.com.

Text and Photographs ©2013 Nancy DeLucia Real

Not in the mood to cook for an hour? The only ingredients you need are two steaks, a couple of bell peppers, an onion and jalapeño. After minutes in the kitch, you can both sit down and enjoy this no-frills fajita lunch or dinner (our featured photo is also a no-frills photo). After a long day, make sure to accompany this dinner with a good vino!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 7 to 8 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and sliced
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and sliced
1 medium-large white or yellow onion, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped (optional)
1/3 cup (equivalent to 6 tablespoons) olive or vegetable oil
Two 8-ounce New York or Sirloin steaks, fat trimmed and meat cut into strips (3/4-inch wide X 3 inches long)
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch skillet.

2. Add the peppers, onion and jalapeño; stir-fry for about 2 minutes or until onion is translucent and begins to turn light golden brown.

3. Transfer the cooked pepper-onion mixture to a plate; set aside.

4. In same skillet heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil; add the meat.

5. Stir-fry the meat for about 2 to 4 minutes. After 2 minutes, taste one fajita strip. If needed, cook fajitas for 1 to 2 more minutes.

6. After 1 to 2 minutes, stir in the cooked pepper-onion mixture. Heat through and serve immediately.

Note: The bell peppers can be substituted with pasilla peppers or a mix of both pasilla and bell peppers.

Text and Photograph ©2013 Nancy DeLucia Real

I still have lots of chard sprouting like weeds in my vegetable garden.

Here’s a simple, but fine-tasting recipe with limited ingredients. This means that if you’ve got to buy chard to make this dish, your cost won’t break the bank. I know this is a good thing, since many of us are aiming for bargains at those end-of-summer sales.

Enjoy Chard and Tomatoes as a healthy and delicious side to grilled meats, poultry or seafood dishes.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 (as a side dish)

Ingredients:
2 bunches (about 8 cups) coarsely chopped fresh chard
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or more, depending on your taste)
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 yellow or red tomatoes, deseeded & cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1. Rinse, drain and spin dry the chopped chard in cold water about 3 to 4 times (this will remove dirt particles). Set chard aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring a 5 to 6-quart sauce pot filled with water to a boil.

3. When water is boiling, add the chard.

4. Cook chard about 2 to 4 minutes or until it is wilted and tender, but not overcooked.

5. When chard is cooked, drain it in a colander and let it cool slightly, for about 5 minutes.

6. Drain the chard very well and transfer it to a serving bowl.

7. Stir the oil, salt and pepper into the chard. Add tomato pieces and stir once more.

8. Taste, adjust seasonings and serve immediately.

Text and Photograph ©2013 Nancy DeLucia Real

As my summer canning classes wind down, I’m transported to my upbringing in Italy. As I reminisce on how I came to master these wonderful canning techniques, I simultaneously feel joy and pain.

Between the ages of 9 and 13, I lived in the province of Avellino which is in the Campania region of Southern Italy. My family and I were living in my paternal grandparents’ home. At birth, my father decided to name me after his mamma, Annunziata Falco DeLucia.

Yes, I am Annunziata DeLucia, aka Nancy DeLucia Real (“Real” is my married name). Annunziata means “Announced” or “Annunciation” – my name commemorates the Annunciation of Mary. Here’s my favorite depiction of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico. In this scene, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive by the Holy Spirit and become the mother of Jesus. In almost every depiction of the Annunciation, Mary always looks either scared or annoyed with the enormous task she’s been given.

That’s exactly how I felt in the summer of 1970 – annoyed at what a terrible summer I was about to have. During the school year I had really looked forward to hanging out with my friends in our paese or village.

However, after giving me just a few days of summer freedom, my Nonna escorted me to greet the workers of her 100+ hectares of land. They laid out truckloads of peaches and plums all over the courtyard. I was told that we had to convert all those kilos of fruit to preserves.

My maestra or master was Nonna Nunzia (that’s her nickname and mine, of course). She told me we had to fill a few hundred jars with our homemade delicacies. Dio mio (this means, “Oh my God!”)! Would I ever be free to see my amici or friends in the village piazza?

I was so good all year, reciting all that text about Alexander the Great, Emperor Hadrian and the majesty of the Roman Empire by memory, each day in front of a whole class. Why couldn’t I join in the fun and go with my friends to Paestum – a beautiful beach at the Tyrrhenian Sea?

My friends and their families were all headed there, except for me. I could just imagine everyone going to visit the 6th-century B.C. Greco-Roman temples dedicated to Poseidon, Hera and Athena, also located at Paestum.

But not me. My reward for being the best student of the year was to get stuck in a canning project with Nonna. She’d make sure I was smorta or dead tired for the next month. And then, with the excuse that “it’s too dark for you to go out,” I knew I was in a jail kitchen!

Early in July, we worked on fruit. My daylight hours were spent washing, cutting and pitting plums and peaches. We cooked the fruit, canned and labeled it. For the next year, our family members would be spoiled with delicious homemade jams and preserves.

In August, Nonna’s farmers brought us the tomato bushels. I could see all the pomodori or tomatoes, but no hints of freedom, cinema or ragazzi – these are sexually-charged Italian boys with Dante-like poetic skills. With their cool looks and smooth, romantic tactics, all of our defenses went through a rapid meltdown!

Back to the tomatoes for now. They were grown from natural seed (hailing from the previous years’ crops) – and they were not “GMO’s”. I boiled the tomatoes for a few minutes and thought this was the last step in our canning project. In reality, sorting through those tomatoes would take days.

Eventually, our truly “vine-ripened” tomatoes were transformed into food ingredients for winter cooking. Our finished masterpiece took the form of whole peeled tomatoes and tomato puree – all canned and ready for the pantry shelves.

The orto or vegetable garden produced a bounty of eggplant, zucchini, onions, garlic and bell peppers. These ingredients went into our stufato di verdure or ratatouille for canning.

I finished all my work by mid-September. And then, my freedom finally arrived – school! The class benches we sat on seemed to be remnants from the Middle Ages – not deeper than 8 inches. This was not great for us annoying and complaining adolescents! As for me, the discomfort was heavenly compared to all that summer work in the courtyard!

Although it has been a “no pain, no gain” education for me, here I am, Maestra Nunzia, happily sharing my passion for canning techniques, international gastronomy and art history with all my sous-chefs!

Nonna Annunziata, if you can hear me, mille grazie per tutto cio che mi abbia insegnato! This translates to, “A thousand thanks for all that you taught me.”

Nunzia:)))

Text and Two Photographs (canned preserves & Nancy in kitchen with
sous-chefs) ©2013 Nancy DeLucia Real

A few weeks ago, one of our friends on Facebook/The Kitchen Buzzz asked us for a gluten-free recipe. Here it is – rice cookies with a hint of cinnamon, allspice and a drizzle of chocolate. Please make our Rice-Spice Cookies and let us know how they taste with coffee, tea or cappuccino!

Prep time: 25 minutes (cookies and chocolate drizzle)
Bake time: 12 to 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1-2/3 cup white rice flour (preferably organic)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash ground allspice
1/3 cup granulated, unbleached sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
2/3 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (for chocolate drizzle)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a 2-quart mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, sugar and vanilla.

3. Using a fork or pastry cutter, mix in the oil and raisins.

4. Add 2/3 cup water and mix again. If mixture is too crumbly, add 1 tablespoon water and mix again. If mixture is still crumbly, add the remaining tablespoon of water; mix until a dough is formed.

5. After dough is formed, pull off a piece of dough to form a one-inch ball. Place ball on a 18X12-inch baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Continue forming dough balls, spacing them one inch apart from each other on baking sheet.

6. Using a fork, flatten the cookie dough tops slightly.

7. Place baking sheet with cookie dough balls on rack positioned in center of oven.

8. Bake cookies 12 to 15 minutes or until undersides are light golden brown.

9. After cookies are done, transfer the baking sheet to a counter; cool the cookies completely.

Note: Due to the consistency of the rice flour, these cookies have a grainy texture.

Make the Chocolate Drizzle:

1. When cookies are cool, set the chocolate chips in a double boiler and melt. When chocolate has melted, set the upper portion of the double boiler on a trivet, away from heat. Cool the chocolate for 2 to 3 minutes.

2. When chocolate is still warm and melted, but cool enough to handle, transfer it to a pastry bag fitted with a narrow tip.

3. Holding the pastry bag with both hands, squeeze it to drizzle the chocolate over cookie tops.

Cool and serve Rice-Spice Cookies with coffee, tea, milk, cappuccino or other favorite drink.

Text and Photographs ©2013 Nancy DeLucia Real