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Filtering by Tag: amalfi coast

"Frizzy" Wines, the Perfect Antidote for the Summer Heat

Beth Ribblett

Guido from da Ferdinando
Spending a lazy afternoon with our new friends Guido, Marco and Ferdy at da Ferdinando on Spiaggia di Fornillo became a blissful habit.  We would start in the morning with a little time on the water, renting a kayak or pedal boat from them with the later becoming our preferred vessel due to the minimal amount of effort it actually took to move it. After an hour or so of swimming and cruising in the cool blue waters,  we'd meet friends on the deck for lunch at our table in the corner.

One of our favorite appetizers, grilled mozzarella on lemon leaves
Lunch would begin with our favorite antipasti of prosciutto e melone (prosciutto draped over honeydew or cantaloupe), mozzarella alla griglia (grilled mozzarella on lemon leaves), insalata caprese, alici fresche al limone (fresh anchovies with lemon), just a little something to hold us over 'til our main courses arrived. Needing to wash all of that food down with a local beverage, the sheepishly grinning Ferdy would bring the first of many pitchers of our preferred drink to the the table, the house white wine. 

Kerry pouring us the favored vino bianco in Portole, Italy
Vino Bianco della Casa in Italy is really everything one wants in a summer wine and during one of those dreamy afternoons, many pitchers later on the beach a da Ferdinando, the name "frizzy" wine seemed most appropriate. Usually served in small ceramic pitchers or glass carafes with a subtle amount of spritz or frizzante, it is light, palate cleansing, refreshing and much too easily drinkable by the litre or two or maybe three ...And while we most enjoyed it during those lazy afternoons on the Amalfi Coast, it was our drink of choice from Rome to Cortona and everywhere in between.  

They call it VinhoVerde in Portugal, Txakolina in Spain, Frascati in Roma, Greco in Greece, Falanghina on the Amalfi Coast, but no matter the grape or the name, it's one of those highly quaffable beverages that when served with the local food makes for an unforgettable experience.  So in trying to recreate those moments for us and our friends I'm putting together a collection of "frizzy" wines at the shop.  And if you've been to any of those places I mentioned above, you know what I'm talking about.  Usually inexpensive and always easy to drink at any time of the day, best experienced by pouring them into a ceramic pitcher and envisioning yourself sitting on the Amalfi coast gazing into the crystal clear waters...

Our time on the deck at da Ferdinando would end with fuzzy heads from frizzy wine, so Guido would set up our umbrellas as we take our spots on the colorful beach chairs for a nap and a last dip in the aqua blue waters.  Once our heads would begin to clear we stop back at the bar for espressi and maybe a limoncello, say our good byes to the guys and local cats before we took the walk back into town in search of gelato, leaving another hard day on the coast behind us.
Spiaggia di Fornillo, Positano


Current selection of frizzy wine:
Fontana Candida Frascati, Riondo Soave, Anjos Vinho Verde, Arca Nova Vinho Verde, Ameztoi Txakolina, prices range from $8-$17


Antipasti for Nic's Birthday

Beth Ribblett

Our friend Nicole celebrated a birthday yesterday and we were lucky enough to be invited to dinner.  Other friends in from Atlanta were doing the cooking, so I offered to bring some appetizers and of course, the wine.

We've been eating so much Indian food lately, I was happy to dive back into Italy and do some real traditional bites.  All of these are simple and take little preparation but pack a lot of flavor.  The key, as in all good cooking but especially Italian, is fresh, good quality ingredients.

Fichi con Formaggio e Speck

The first was Fichi con Formaggio e Speck (figs with cheese and speck).  Speck is a smoked, cured meat from the Alto Adige region of Italy that looks similar to prosciutto as it is from the same cut of meat, the hind leg of the pig.  To make speck, a boned pork leg is cured in salt, and spices like laurel and juniper, then intermittently slow-smoked, using pine or juniper wood for several months. I get it from St. James Cheese, but I'm sure Whole Foods probably carries it as well.  If you can't find it, you can substitute Prosciutto, but be sure it is freshly sliced.

Take fresh figs and slice in half length wise.  Add a small spoonful of a fresh goats cheese, I used one of the Cypress Grove Chevre from the shop, a sprinkle of chopped, fresh rosemary, a dollop of honey and short piece of speck (about a third of a slice) scrunched up and sat atop the cheese. A wonderful bite of salty, sweet, creamy deliciousness, I served these with the Avissi Prosecco for a nice little starter...
Grilled lemon leaves with mozzarella, Da Adolfo Positano

Next up was our first attempt at recreating one of our favorite appetizers from our trip to the Amalfi Coast.  Due to the abundance of lemon trees and the fact that Campania is THE home of the Mozzarella di Bufala DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta, or Protected Designation of Origin), Foglie di Limone alla Griglia con Mozzarella (Grilled Lemon Leaves with Mozzarella) is on the menu of almost every restaurant in the region, but really never seen elsewhere in Italy or anywhere for that matter.


As simple as this is, the key is fresh lemon leaves and good quality mozzarella.  When grilled for a quick 30 seconds, give or take a few, the lemon leaves impart the most delicious citrus flavor to the mozzarella.  But the older the leaves, the less flavor you are going to get.  We have a Meyer Lemon tree in the backyard so I picked a handful of the biggest leaves I could find just an hour or so before we would use them.

Hand tossed mozzarella and fresh lemon leaves

 I got some really nice hand tossed mozzarella from Whole Foods that was not as good as the buffalo version, but the fact than it was handmade gave it a really nice flavor.  The cheap, stringy, everyday mozzarella you buy in the grocery will just not give you the same outcome.  Again, the food you make is only as good as your ingredients...


All you do is cut about 1/4" thick slices of mozzarella, place it on a lemon leaves, and then put over indirect heat on a grill using a grill pan to place the leaves in.  It literally takes about 30 seconds for the cheese to start melting.  But be careful, our fire was too hot and our first attempt, while still tasted delicious, did not get to spend enough time on the fire.  Guess I'll just need to practice this one more...

San Marzano tomatoes on the vine @ Villa Le Sirene, Positano
We also needed the grill for our Bruschetta al Pomidoro (Tomato Bruschetta), another staple on the Amalfi coast since Campania is also the DOP of San Marzano tomatoes.  You know, those delicious, deeply flavored plum tomatoes that we are only fortunate enough to get in cans.  But a quick lesson on bruschetta; it is pronounced bru-SKE-ta and bruschetta refers to the bread, not the topping.  The best bread for bruschetta is a stale, dense loaf like a sour dough or country style bread. The bread is cut into slices, grilled, and brushed with good quality olive oil then rubbed with fresh garlic cloves.  There are many recipes you can make to top your bruschetta, but the pomidoro is a classic.

To make the topping:
-4 medium sized ripe tomatoes cut into 1/4" dice
-2 cloves of garlic minced
-10 fresh basil leaves torn into small pieces
-1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarse salt
-few turns of the pepper grinder
-a pinch or two of peperoncino
-2 tablespoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil

For the bruschetta:
-12 slices of dense, stale bread, no more than 1" thick, and about 3-4" long
-olive oil 
-1 clove of garlic cut in half

Mix the topping ingredients, stir to combine and set aside.  Using indirect heat on a grill (again ours was a bit too hot...) quickly toast the bread slices until the edges get slightly dark.  Remove from heat, brush on some olive oil and rub with the clove of garlic.  Add the topping and consume immediately!

I served the lemon leaves and bruschetta side by side and poured the perfect wine, the Caggiano Devon Greco di Tufo.  An unbelievable wine that brought our all the best flavors of the dishes!

Now the Atlanta cooks were at the grill and in the kitchen, making a fabulous beef tenderloin, gorgeous salad of avocado, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, rosemary roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus.  We brought the 1997 Manzoni San Stefano Barolo to have with the meat, and they were about as perfect together as a pairing could be! 

We ate like Italians, slowly, taking time to savor each delicious bite of food, sip of gorgeous wine and enjoy each other's company.  A truly delightful evening, thank you Nic for inviting us to celebrate your birthday!

Cooking Like Locals

Beth Ribblett


One of the things we really enjoyed about our recent trip to Italy was cooking the local fare at our villa using only the freshest ingredients as all good Italians do.  On the Amalfi Coast seafood is king and you eat in every which way from raw to marinated, grilled or stewed, it is the star of every meal.  So much so that we got a little meat craving one night and decided to cook at home.

Enoteca Cuomo, one of our favorite stops.
 Not wanting to do anything that would take too much time, we stopped at Enoteca Cuomo on our walk up from one of our forays to da Adolfo.  They sell many different cuts of meats and meat products, so we opted for their house made sausage and also some parmigiano cheese and a few bottles of wine.  Next stop was the alimentari (small neighborhood grocery) where we picked up fresh veggies for our insalata and some locally made pasta.

Fresh veggies brought in daily at the alimentari
Now for the most important ingredients we had to look no further than the garden at the villa.  Chiara and Giuseppe, the wonderful owners, have a beautiful vegetable garden that they allowed us to pick from for our meals. We gathered up fresh San Marzano tomatoes, lots of basil, lemons and lemon leaves for the meat preparation.  I had decided to try to make a version of a typical southern Italian dish, meatballs wrapped in lemon leaves. I didn't have a recipe, but kind of pieced on together from different versions I found and was very happy with the results.

San Marzano tomatoes in the garden
One of many lemon trees in the garden
One of the things that made this work was the simplicity of the sausage; it was only pork, white wine, salt and white pepper, so I'm not exactly sure how it would be with our version of Italian sausage, but it is definetly worth trying to find out!  Also, since I didn't have a recipe, these are not exact measurements, but it would be pretty hard to mess up if you follow what I did...


I also made a fresh tomato sauce using one of Lidia Bastianich's tried and true recipes that was absolutely delicious and very quick once you peeled the tomatoes.  This recipe will follow the meatballs.

Meatballs on Lemon Leaves
Serves 6

Ingredients
2lbs Pork Sausage casing removed
1 egg lightly beaten
2 1/2 handfuls of plain breadcrumbs (I grated some day old ciabatta bread we had left over)
Grated peel of 1 lemon
1-1/2 handfuls of grated parmigiano cheese
salt & pepper
2 T. chopped parsley
24 lemon leaves washed and dried completely
olive oil

-Pre-heat over to 350 degrees
-Combine sausage, egg, bread crumbs, lemon peel, cheese and parsley, mix with your hands until everything is well incorporated.
-Heat a little olive oil in a pan and make a small patty to test for seasoning (the amount of salt you add will depend on the saltiness of your cheese and sausage).  Quickly fry it, taste and adjust accordingly.
-Roll the mixture into small cigar shaped patties, wrap with a lemon leaf and secure with a toothpick.
-Brush the leaves with olive oil and put on a baking sheet.
-Bake for 20-30 minutes, check at 20, you want the meat to be moist but not pink.

Fresh Marinara Sauce
Serves 6

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled
3 pounds ripe fresh plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded (click here for instructions on peeling fresh tomatoes), or one 35 ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), seeded and lightly crushed, with their liquid
Salt
Crushed red pepper
10 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Parmigiano cheese for garnish
1lb cooked pasta

-Heat the oil in a 2- to 3-quart nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Whack the garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife, add it to the oil, and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
-Carefully slide tomatoes and their liquid into the oil. Bring to a boil, and season lightly with salt and crushed red pepper. Lower the heat so sauce is at a lively simmer, and cook, breaking up tomatoes with a whisk or spoon, until sauce is chunky and thick, about 20 minutes.
-Stir in the basil about 5 minutes before sauce is finished. Taste sauce, and season with salt and red pepper if necessary.

5 Reasons to Eat at Ristorante Da Adolfo

Beth Ribblett





When I told importer Marco di Grazia that I was coming to Campania he said that I had to go to his friend Sergio's restaurant, the best on the whole Amalfi Coast. While I haven't eaten at enough places here to make that claim, I can tell you that Da Adolfo has been my favorite so far, and for many reasons other than the delicious food!





Reason #1 -  access from the road to the restaurant is difficult, so a handsome, suntanned Italian guy picks you up in a little wooden boat at the dock in Positano and takes you a few coves over and drops you on the tiny beach that Da Adolfo shares with a hotel.





Reason #2 - you sit in an open restaurant right on the beach, so the dress code is about as casual as it gets, bathing suits!





Reason #3 -since there is no storage, seafood is brought in by boat daily and you are served platters of the freshest mussels, clams, octopus, the catch of the day plus all locally produced





cheeses, wines, fruits, pasta and vegetables prepared simply with traditional recipes of the region.










Reason #4- no menus, just let the crazy Italian guys who work there pick for you. Trust me, you couldn't go wrong with anything they bring you!





Reason # 5 - when you are finished eating you have to wait for the handsome Italian guy to take you back in the boat and since you are dining in your bathing suit, you step down to the beach and take a swim in the crystal clear, sea foam green waters. Kids, adults, tourists and locals hang out, snorkel, swim, jump from the rocks and enjoy the moment.





Kerry and I snuck off by ourselves here the other day, so today, sadly our last, we're bringing the other girls. I can't wait!!





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Dinner at Trattoria Il Ritrovo

Beth Ribblett




This time we all took a motorized vehicle to Monte Pertuso, as the next item on our agenda is dinner at Il Ritrovo, one of three restaurants near the tiny piazza. Recommended by slow food's guide, "Osterie & Locanda d'Italia" it was the only restaurant in the vicinity they felt truly captures the areas cultural and culinary traditions.



Located high on the mountainside above Positano, they make it easy for you to get there by sending a complimentary car to pick you up and take you home from the restaurant. This allows you to drink copious amounts of wine and still safely make trip down the winding twisty roads to your villa!



Far away from the nice but touristy places on the beach, Salvatore and Teresa Barba's trattoria is casual and humble with most of the vegetables and white meats come from their own land, farmed by father Domenico. Chiara's brother, Francesco, is the wine guy and we had a great conversation about local wines while I was waiting for the girls to come up on the bus earlier that morning.

They have a few set menus with multiple courses at varying prices and amounts of food or you can or items alla carte. Francesco recommended the $35 euro per person menu, so we all decided on that and I asked him to pick all local wines based on the menu.




I can't tell you how much I've been enjoying the white wines from the region! Refreshing, clean with great minerality from the volcanic soils and mouthwatering acidity, they beg for the fresh regional seafood dishes! Tramonti is one of the local doc's so we began with that; a blend of falanghina, biancolella and ginestra by Colle Santa Marina.




We had this with the antipasti, three platters full of grilled tuna and octopus;




fresh tomato bruschetta with fried shrimp and;




an assortment of different vegetables from their garden.




Next up was Francesco's favorite Greco di Tufo by Benito Ferrari paired with our primi piatti,




platters of freshly made pasta with porcini mushrooms, langoustine tails, housemade ravioli in a fresh tomato sauce and their local clams in butter and garlic.




Lastly we had the Bechar Fiano di Avellino that has by far been my favorite wine of the trip!




And our secondi was a beautiful local redfish poached in a light tomato and garlic broth.




Then there were the two platters of house made desserts accompanied by local liquors also made in house, but by this time I've eaten so many things that I can't even remember what we had!

Needless to say, we rolled out of the restaurant and back into the van that picked us up, miserably but deliciously full, and fell into bed!


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The View from Above

Beth Ribblett




Our day of hiking in the Lattari Mountains above Positano proved to be even more challenging and rewarding than anticipated! I had bought a book by Julian Tippett that was a great guide for adventure and helped us plan our day away from the tourists and into the forest.




This series of stairs, alleyways and stone pathways line the coast, connecting the countryside to villages and towns, and provides an amazing look into how the people of the region have historically moved themselves and supplies from place to place. They are extremely well made, but not well marked and you may find yourself walking straight up a hundred or more stairs only to end up at the gate of a residence!




Using the book as our guide, the plan was to take a bus from Positano to a small hillside town above called Monte Pertuso where we would start the hike. But I was so anxious to begin that I decided to instead also do the hike up the mountain to meet the bus in Monte Pertuso. After a few wrong turns I found the right set of stairs to begin my ascent. Now I have been challenging myself by running these steep stairways since I got here, but this climb definitely took my heart rate to new heights and left me having to stop and catch my breath between segments. Not many switchbacks, just ancient stairs heading straight up from sea level to 1200 ft!



Already dripping with sweat at 10am, I waited for the bus to arrive with the rest of the girls. We had decided on three hiking segments that would takes us deep into forest to different landmarks and towns and eventually back to Positano.



Something we all learned from the book is that if it says strenuous, they mean it! The first segment was labeled as such and provided an hour and a half's worth of climbing up another height gain of 1300 feet. Rock lined stairways, cliff hugging paths and sensational coastal scenery made for quite an adventure as we wound our way up the mountain to our first destination, Caserma Forestale, literally an old stone house in the woods perched atop a cliff that gave us place to rest for a minute while we prepared for the next segment.



The 1.5 mile walk from there to the village of Santa Maria de Castello, was a much easier trek, traversing across the mountain side, threading it's way through beautiful cypress and pine trees dotted with wild rosemary. The village consisted of a few homes, a bar, restaurant and of course a church, so we ordered a few panini and rested a bit before we headed down a dizzying descent back to Positano.



The 1700 ft descent here was very steep and difficult and the rough condition of the pathways made it quite the challenge.



And the fact that it was in the hottest part of the day with no shade didn't help, so needless to say we were ready to finish! We made our way down through town and decided to go straight to the beach, with a dip in the cool clear water offering the perfect reward!



A little gelato, a shot of espresso and all of the sudden it was 4:30 and we had to get ready for our next adventure, dinner at Il Ritrovo, but that is an entry of it's own....

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An afternoon on the Amalfi Coast

Beth Ribblett




I awoke to another clear morning and sat on the balcony with my coffee, this time accompanied by slice of that delicious almond cake Chiara gave us. I took a different route for today's run, starting my ascent at the Fornella beach and climbing straight up an ancient set of steps to the top of the town, then winding through the tiny alleyways to the main road. There is an amazing network of pathways, steps and streets here built centuries ago into the steep hillsides to give the villagers access the sea.



We hired a boat and driver today to take us up and down the amalfi coast. Mauro and his young son Aldo picked us up at the main pier and gave us both a history lesson as well as our best slice of the dolce vita since we arrived. We slowly made our way in and out of coves and crevices, viewing the stunning coastline from Mauro's perspective, someone who has been here all of his life and knows full well that he lives in paradise. We checked out the cave of the emerald grotto, stopped to swim in the sea foam green waters of the shoreline, ate our homemade panninis, drank some local wine by one of my favorite producers and basked in the southern Italian sun. We even got to see Sophia Loren's villa, perched atop a cliff near the town of Amalfi. As we were sitting there a helicopter touched down on her private helipad, leaving us fantasizing about what famous visitors were arriving.



We needed a little snack so they let us out at the beach where we wondered up on to the deck of one of the snack bars. The contrast between what would be served at the same sort of place in the US and what was served here says so much about the difference between our two cultures. Instead of the normal beachside fare of hamburgers, hotdogs and French fries, we oohed and awed over fresh melon and prosciutto, grilled mozzarella on lemon leaves, insalata del mare, fresh figs and cured meat. Healthy, local ingredients prepared freshly and simply that were absolutely divine!



Around 4pm we said goodbye to our captains and wandered up the beach for one of the other Italian specialties, gelato. Vowing to eat it daily due to all of the calories we were burning with walking around this beautiful place, it is served on most street corners and is always delicious. As we made our way back to the villa we picked up a few things for a simple dinner, a caprese salad, some leftover Pannini, olives and salami and spent the evening on the balcony enjoying the view and each other's company.



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A Day in Positano

Beth Ribblett


View from my run this morning
With the help of a little lunesta (thanks Elizabeth!) and a lot of potent espresso, I've manages to adjust to 7 hour time difference pretty well. After that lovely cup of morning coffee on the balcony I decided I would go for a run around the village. Coming from Pennsylvania, I've done a bit of running in the hills, but the steepness of the roads here is literally breathtaking! But absolutely with the effort!
Spiagga del Fornillo

After a little breakfast Kerry and I went to spiaggia del fornillo, the smaller beach near the town where all of the locals go. To get there you first take around 300 steps down an old stone staircase to the main beach and then a gorgeous tree lined pathway along the coast takes you to this small pebbly beach. The water is a stunningly clear pale blue green, so silky on your skin, and with a buoyancy like I've never experienced. After a quick cool dip and some great people watching we trekked back over in to town and stopped at Bar Mulini for a quick macchiato and the best pistaccio gelato I've ever eaten!

We decided to eat lunch at the villa today and stopped at the little alimentari for freshly baked ciabatta bread. Add some delicious prosciutto, local ricotta salata, basil and tomatoes from the garden at villa le sirene, a little olive oil and you have lunch made in heaven!
local cheese stuffed with olives and smoked

Naps were next on the agenda followed by a little grocery shopping for the dinner that we were cooking for everyone. We picked up locally grown veggies, some pasta and cheap vino for the main course, but needed a little something to hold us over. We found this amazing local cheese that is stuffed with green olives then smoked that was just crying to be put on some bruschetta. A little day old focaccio, some crema de pomodori topped with that cheese was a delicious slice of local life!
I made a simple pasta with the veggies and Kerry did a rucola salad with cherry tomatoes but Chiara, who owns the villa with her husband Giuseppe, provided the finale, a gorgeous almond cake that she baked herself. Both beautiful and delicious, it sent us to bed completely satiated and anxiously awaiting what Monday would bring.
Beautiful cake from Chiara

We've hired a boat and driver for the day to takes us around the coast, how great is that!
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