recipes from the tuscan sun cookbook by frances mayes

8/3/2019 Recipes From the Tuscan Sun Cookbook by Frances Mayes

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Copyright © 2012 by Frances Mayes

and Edward Mayes

Photographs copyright © 2012 by

Steven Rothfeld

Al l rig hts reserved .

Published in t he United States by

Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint

of the Crown Publishin g Group, a

division of R andom House, Inc.,

New York.

ww w.crownpubl ish ing.com

ww w.clarksonpotter.com

Clarkson Potter is a trademark and

Potter with colophon is a reg istered

trademark of Ra ndom House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-

Publication Data

Mayes, Frances, and Edward Mayes.

The Tuscan sun cookbook / Frances

Mayes and Edward Mayes; photographs

by Steven Rothfeld. — 1st ed.

1. Cooking, Italian—Tuscan style.

2. Cookbooks. I. Mayes, Edward

Kleinschm idt. II. Title.

TX723.2.T86M394 2012

641.5955’5—dc22 2011013195

ISBN 978-0-307-88528-9

eISBN 978-0-307-95386-5

Printed in China

Design by Mar ysarah Quinn Photograp hs by Steven Ro thfeld

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

first edition



50 [ the tuscan sun cookbook

FRIED ARTICHOKES

As a Southerner, to me the words “deep fried” are an enchanting combination. We never met an

artichoke, when I was growing up, except the kind that was marinated in a jar. Still, carciofi

fritti seem like soul food.

At the Thursday market in season, vendors, many of whom have driven their tr ucks all night from

Puglia, sell five sizes of artichokes. For stuf fing with bread, herbs, and tomatoes, I buy the largest

ones. For frying, the smallest, purple-tinged violetti or morellini are best. Tiny violetti, sliced raw and

dressed, make an astr ingent crunchy salad, which exemplifies the Tuscan preference for bitter tastes.

For these fried beauties, remember that the stem is as tasty as the heart. Sometimes four or five

inches long, the stems can be peeled with a vegetable peeler. Cut each artichoke in half, leaving the

stem attached. If they’re small enough, fr y them like this. If not, slice each in ha lf again, paring off any

choke. Be sure to remove all tough outer leaves.

Matching wine with ar tichokes is daunting, but we’ve tried fried artichokes with Friulano, formerly

called Tocai, the darling of the province of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. The usual suggestion, however,

is a Gewürztraminer.

SERVES 4

batter for frying (page 49)

2 cups peanut or sunflower oil, for frying

15 very small artichokes

coarse salt to taste

lemon wedges, for garnish

Prepare the batter and let it rest for 20 minutes.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil to 350°F.Strip all tough outer leaves from the artichokes and cut away the top third. Trim off

any sharp tips from the lower leaves. Halve or quarter the artichokes.

Dip the artichokes in the batter, and then slide them into the oil. Fry the artichokes in

batches until crisp and browned, about 4 minutes, depending on size. When done,

remove them to paper towels to drain, salt immediately, then pile them on a board and

pass with wedges of lemon.




Giusi’s RAGÙ

Slow and easy—long-simmered ragù is the quintessential Tuscan soul food. There are as many

ways with ragù as there are cooks. This is ours, learned originally from Giusi, who’s made it a

thousand times. By now, I think we have, too. On many Saturday mornings, Ed makes a huge pot of

ragù —tripling, qu adrupling the recipe—and another of tomato sauce. We consider these our natural

resources. For lunch, while the pots are still on the stove, we spoon ragù over bruschetta, add some

cheese, and run it under the broiler. By afternoon, we’re ready to fill several glass containers of

different sizes and freeze them. We’re then free to pull one out during the workweek.

Serve ragù in lasagne or over spaghetti and, as you eat, you know you’re participating in a commu-

nal rite that’s being enacted all over the Italian peninsula.

SERVES 10

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound ground lean beef

1 pound ground pork

2 italian sausages, casings removed

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried

1 to 2 cups red wine

1 cup soffritto (page 20)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

16 to 20 tomatoes or 2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes, juice

included, chopped

Pour the olive oil into a 4-quart heavy pot with a lid. Over medium-high heat, brown themeats, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Add the salt,

pepper, thyme, and 1 cup of the red wine. After the wine has cooked into the meat, about

10 minutes, add the soffritto, and stir in the tomato paste and tomatoes.

Bring the sauce to a boil, and then lower to a quiet simmer. Partially cover, and

continue cooking for 3 hours, stirring now and then. Along the way, add the remaining

cup of wine if you think the sauce is too dense.



secondi \ 117

CHICKEN with OLIVES

and TOMATOES

This is the little

black dress in a

cook’s repertoire—

always right.

Take Querciabella,Chianti Classico DOCG,

a biodynamic wine, off

the shelf for this olive-

studded chicken.

SERVES 4

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, cut into 8 pieces, dredged

in about ½ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper ½ cup red wine

1 cup mixed black and green olives, pitted

1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 cup chopped oven-roasted tomatoes (see page 42)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and brown the

chicken pieces, 2 minutes on each side. Season with the salt and pepper. Add the

wine, raise the heat to high for 1 minute, and then transfer every thing to a 9 x 13-inch

baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix the olives, parsley, and tomatoes, and pour this over the chicken.

Bake uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces, turning the

chicken once.

Combine the garlic and parsley in a small bowl with the zest,

2 tablespoons of the olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the marinade ingredients. Lay the chicken flat, skin side up, on

your work surface. Stuff the garlic mixture under the skin and place the chicken in the

marinade. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or, even better, overnight. Turn it two or

three times.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heatproof cast-iron pan large

enough to hold the chicken. I use a 14-inch cast-iron skillet. Place the chicken breast side

up and weight it down with two clean bricks wrapped in foil. Cook over medium heat for

10 minutes, and then place the pan and bricks in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the

weights and turn the chicken over, cooking another 20 minutes or so, until crispy and

richly browned, about 50 minutes total. Remove the chicken to a platter and cut into

serving pieces. Deglaze the pan with the wine and pour the juices over the chicken.




STRAWBERRY SEMIFREDDO

Not gelato, not

sorbetto—semi-

freddo occupies a niche.

The light and creamy

texture melts fast in your

mouth, leaving the

essential freshness of

the fruit. It’s easy, too,

since you need no ice

cream machine. Semi-

freddo keeps well in the

freezer for a week.

SERVES 8

1½ pints strawberries, hulled

1 tablespoon orange juice

1¼ cups sugar

4 eggs

¼ cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup (4 ounces) mascarpone

1½ cups heavy cream

Purée the strawberries (reserving and refrigerating several pretty

ones) with the orange juice and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Chill the

purée in a large bowl until ready to use.

Bring water almost to a boil in the bottom of a double boiler, then

lower the heat to a good simmer. In the top, beatthe eggs with the remaining sugar, the milk,

and vanilla. Whisk continuously for 10 to

14 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and

forms trailing ribbons. Reserve ¼ cup of the

strawberry purée, then whisk the egg mixture

into the purée. Cool the mixture in the fridge

about 1½ hours.

Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap,

leaving a few inches overhanging the sides. When the strawberry-egg mixture has

cooled, whisk in the mascarpone. In a separate

bowl, whip the cream until firm peaks form.

Fold the cream into the strawberry and mascar-

pone mixture.

Pour the semifreddo into the pan, and freeze

for at least 4 hours. Unmold by loosening the

plastic wrap, then inverting the pan onto a

serving dish. Add the reserved strawberries tothe remaining ¼ cup strawberry purée and

spoon this over the semifreddo in the dish or

over individual servings.



http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9780307885289

http://books.google.com/ebooks?as_brr=5&q=9780307885289

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307885289

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tuscan-sun-cookbook-frances-mayes/1103850023?ean=9780307885289&isbsrc=Y&cm_mmc=Random+House-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link%2c+AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-VD9*lkiWNd8-_-10%3a1&

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307885283?ie=UTF8&tag=randohouseinc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307885283

recipes from the tuscan sun cookbook by frances mayes

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