Liquore di Fichi d'India - Cactus Pear Liqueur

Southern Italians use the fruit of the prickly pear cactus in sweets and desserts where they are called fichi d'india - literally, India figs. They also make (typically at home) a liqueur with them by infusing the fruit in alcohol, similar to how limoncello is made. In Calabria it is called liquore di fichi d'india. The original home of the prickly pear cactus, by the way, is the desert states of the United States and Mexico! They were brought to Italy by the Spanish explorers in the New World and found a perfect new home in southern Italy which, at the time, was ruled by Spain. The explorers also brought tomatoes and peppers and potatoes. 
Mille grazie, Cristoforo Colombo!!!

Liquore di fichi d'india recipe

15 ripe cactus pears
4 cups 151 proof grain alcohol 
2 cups sugar syrup

Use the amounts above as a base. They can be adjusted for different quantities of cactus pears.

Procedure -  

Peel cactus pears and cut in half. I wear rubber gloves when doing this because sometimes there are hair-like almost invisible thorns left on the surface of the pear that can get into the skin on your fingers and drive you crazy with itching. 

Let the cut fruit steep in the grain alcohol in a large sealable glass container for 10 days. The solution will turn a dark orange to red color. 

After 10 days, remove fruit and add sugar syrup. Age for 20 days.

For the sugar syrup

2 cups water
2 cups sugar

Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and take off the heat to let cool. Pour into the glass container with the liqueur and reseal.

After 20 days, pour the liqueur into sanitized bottles through a fine mesh sieve and funnel to remove any remaining bits of fruit. Seal or cork. Keep in the freezer or in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

My family's ancestral home, the town of  Vazzano, in Calabria, Italy, holds an annual Fichi D'India Festival. Here are some videos of the event.  

Stuffed Shells

Stuffed jumbo pasta shells with roasted cherry tomatoes and an Italian sausage link. So freakin' good! Take a look. Nothing else needs to be said.

Oven roast the cherry tomatoes in a parchment paper lined cast iron skillet with olive oil, garlic and herbes de provence at 475 for 20 minutes.

The filling for the shells is ricotta cheese, sauteed garlic, parsley, lemon zest and red pepper flakes.

Boil the shells until they are just pliable enough to work with about 4 - 5 minutes.  Drain in a colander.

Make a simple tomato sauce with chopped tomatoes and onion. We used a combination of red and yellow tomatoes. Put half the sauce in a casserole dish.                          

Stuff the shells with the ricotta mixture and place on top of the tomato sauce.

Top the shells with the rest of the tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh oregano - not dried. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake covered at 375 for 20 minutes, then take the foil off and bake for 10 more minutes or until the cheese looks nice and golden.

Serve with the roasted cherry tomatoes and a side of grilled Italian sausage. 

Mediterranean Chicken with Tagliatelle

"Beautifully juicy chicken basted in a thyme and basil oil and layered over fresh pasta in a roasted tomato and garlic sauce. Simple ingredients that are bursting with flavor", is how Jamie Oliver describes this wonderful dish. I watched his video below and knew at once we had to make it and share with you all. The video may sound a little complicated at first look, but after thinking it through and watching it again, it's not that difficult and I'll give you some tips that will make this easier without affecting the end result and I will list out the ingredients and amounts. This is so worth making. 

Tip #1 - It would be great if you can find cherry tomatoes on the vine, but don't worry about that. If you can't get them/find them, use off the vine cherry tomatoes. 

Tip # 2 - If you don't have the time or inclination to make homemade pasta, use a good brand of dried - DeCecco brand is very good and you can use their linguine or fettucine.

Tip #3 - Use fresh herbs, just like in in video. Don't use dried herbs. We are fortunate in that we grow a lot of different cooking herbs in our garden. 

Getting The Most Out Of A Humble Backyard Vineyard - 2015

Our little vineyard - 2015

In February of 2012 we planted four one year old Norton wine grape vines. They grew well but didn't produce any grapes that year, we didn't expect any. 

2013 produced enough grapes for us to be able to make almost a gallon of wine. 

The 2014 vintage gave us 2 gallons - a good rich red and a rose'. The rose' was a second wine or a second run wine made by reusing the grape must - the left over grape skins and pulp from the first pressing.

This year, 2015, the vines produced a bumper crop of grapes but they ripened inconsistently - some grape bunches were ripe enough to crush but others still green. So we divided things up and made Norton grape marmalade and grape liqueur with the early ripeners and later when they were ready,made wine with the late ripeners. Maybe we'll get just a gallon, but having fun and it's damn rewarding.

Norton Grape Marmalade 

Norton Grape Liqueur

Norton Grape Wine

Herbed Cherry Tomatoes Roasted in a Cast Iron Skillet

How can you not want to make these roasted cherry tomatoes after seeing how cool they look, how easy they are to make, how versatile they are and especially how delicious they are. Roasting these tomatoes low and slow concentrates their flavor and marries the herb seasonings to them. Plus you will fill your house with a wonderful aroma.

You can play around with the herbs substituting rosemary or thyme for the herbs de Provence, adding some lemon zest or some basil when the tomatoes are done baking.

Ingredients:

2 pints cherry tomatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. herbs de Provence 

1/2 tsp. ground (or 1 tsp whole) fennel seeds 

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions:

Line a large cast-iron skillet with parchment paper

Add cherry tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with herbs de Provence, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes

Bake at 275 for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally

What can you do with them - 

One way, we sliced some leftover strip steak, put them over arugula, squeezed a little lemon juice, added these wonderful olive oily herby tomatoes, some blue cheese crumbles and toasted bread crumbs. YES!!!!  This was so good!

Or......

Use them in a pasta sauce or as a pasta sauce

Use on pizza t

Use on grilled bread as a bruschetta topping

Spoon over grilled fish or chicken or a steak

Put in a sandwich

As a side to scrambled eggs

As part of an antipasto plate

Eat out of hand

Caponata

Caponata is a southern Italian eggplant relish/side dish. The base typically includes eggplant, celery, onion, olives, tomatoes, olive oil, of course, and red wine vinegar and sugar which gives it its signature agrodolce (sweet and sour) flavor. Other ingredients can include pine nuts, sweet peppers and raisins. The Sicilians sometimes throw in tuna. It is always served at room temperature. 

It is perfect as part of an antipasti plate or side dish along side chicken or fish or on grilled country bread as bruschetta or on polenta or with pasta. Nice stuff! I think you will like it. The amounts in the recipe below are approximations. You might need to make it a few times to get the amount of ingredients and the timing right to suite your own taste. Like a lot of Italian food, this gets better over the next few days, so you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator. Don’t re-heat it though, just let it come to room temperature by itself.

Caponata alla Fuscà 

2 large or 3 medium size eggplants  

1/2 - 3/4 cup of olive oil
2 cups of celery, sliced thin on a bias
3/4 cup of onions, chopped
2 cups of drained canned Italian plum or chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
9 - 11 large green olives, pitted and cut in half - use the good ones: Cerignola or Castelvetrano. In a pinch Kalamata olive will be OK but NOT grocery store green olives stuffed with a pimento.

2 tablespoons of capers – rinsed
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar, mixed with 2 tablespoons of sugar

Handful of golden raisins
2 tablespoons of pine nuts – toasted
PInch + Hot red pepper flakes (optional)

Basil – nice handful torn into pieces

salt and ground pepper to taste

Cut eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Sprinkle cubes of eggplant with salt and set them in a colander in the sink to drain. After 30 minutes, rinse them and pat dry with paper towels and set them aside.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in heavy non-stick skillet, saute the eggplant in it, stirring and turning for about 8-10 minutes until they are lightly browned but not mushy. You might have to add more olive oil. With a slotted spoon transfer the eggplant to a bowl.

  

Using the same skillet, add about 1/4 cup oil to the oil that’s left in the skillet and add the celery and onions. Cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until celery and onions are soft and lightly colored. 

Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until caramelized and almost evaporated, 1–2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes and continue cooking for 10 minutes. 

 

Stir in the olives, vinegar & sugar, raisins, capers and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

 

Take off heat and add back the eggplant, add the pine nuts and basil. 

 

Stir it all together. Serve at room temperature.