Last week Charles and I taught cooking and wine classes aboard the Crystal Serenity on a 12 day cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean.  This magnificent cruise ship, which has often been named the best in the world, has everything you could want — great accommodations,  activities, classes, entertainment, a spa, restaurants, bars and amazing food. I say the food was amazing because I read somewhere that during the course of one voyage, as many as 10,000 meals are served!  

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Mark your calendar for The Roger Smith Cookbook Conference from February 9 to 11, 2012 for a fascinating program of workshops and panel discussions on cooking and cookbooks, past, present and future.  The conference will be held at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City.  Your favorite authors, food writers, historians,  journalists and bloggers will be there, as well as editors and agents.  Whether you are writing your own cookbook or cooking blog, or just love to read about cooking, this conference is sure to be one of the most exciting events this winter.

I will be on the panel called “Cookbooks and the American Immigrant Experience.”  Hope to see you there!

For more information or to sign up, visit the website at  www.cookbookconf.com.

A big bell pepper with a ding in it, half of a large tomato and a handful of small ones, an eggplant, miscellaneous potatoes, and a couple of onions — I’m cleaning out my vegetable supply and it’s a perfect occasion to make ciambotta.  

Don’t be surprised if you have never heard of ciambotta (sometimes spelled giambotta or cianfotta).  You won’t find it on many restaurant menus, but you can find versions of it in just about any home kitchen in Southern Italy.  It is a vegetable stew made from whatever vegetables are in season.  Though you could eat it hot, it really tastes best when it is just warm. Like a lot of stews, the flavor improves the next day.   I can make a whole meal of ciambotta, but it’s good as a side dish, too, with sausages or chops or chicken.  Eat it plain, sprinkled with basil, extra virgin, or grated cheese, or mixed with scrambled eggs.  Stuff it in a crisp hunk of Italian bread for a great sandwich or toss it with some cooked pasta.  It’s all good.

Ciambotta (pronounced something like giam-boat) isn’t fancy or fussy and it is easy to make.  In fact, in the Italian dialect of the region my family was from, to say that something is a “big giamboat” is to say that it is a big mixed up mess.

Trim  all of the vegetables and cut them into bite size pieces.  You can salt the eggplant if you are concerned that it may be bitter and want to drain off the juices, but I don’t often do that anymore.  Saute the onion in some olive oil, and add garlic if you like.  When the onion is tender, you stir in the remaining vegetables.  Quantities or varieties are not really important and one more or less pepper, onion or potato won’t be a problem.  Sometimes I add zucchini, or green beans.  Some cooks add a hot chili to the mix.  You can put in parsley or oregano if you like, but I think fresh basil, added at the end of the cooking time to protect its delicate flavor, is best.  Fortunately, my garden still has some small basil leaves.

If you are one of those people who likes your vegetables crunchy, this is not the dish for you.  By the end of the cooking, the eggplant and tomatoes will pretty much melt into a sauce and the potatoes will absorb the flavors of the other ingredients.  Ciambotta is nothing if not comforting and rustic — I’m always amazed at how good it turns out.

This recipe is one that appeared in my book, 1,000 Italian Recipes, (John Wiley & Sons).

CIAMBOTTA

Serves 4 to 6

1 medium onion

1/4 cup olive oil

4 plum tomatoes

2 potatoes, peeled

1 medium eggplant

1 medium red pepper

1 medium yellow pepper

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil or freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or   pecorino romano

Trim the vegetables and cut them into bite size pieces.  In a large skillet, cook the onion in the oil over medium low heat until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant,  and peppers.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are tender and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 40 minutes.   If the mixture becomes too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water.   If there is too much liquid, uncover and cook 5 minutes more.

Serve warm or at room temperature plain, or drizzled with olive oil, or sprinkled with basil or cheese.

Variation:  Ciambotta with Eggs:  When the vegetables are ready, beat 4 to 6 eggs with salt until blended.  Pour the eggs over the vegetables.  Do not stir.  Cover the pan.  Cook until the eggs are set, about 3 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Of all the regional cooking styles of Italy, none is so misunderstood as Tuscan.  Traditionally,  Tuscan food is as simple as can be — a handful of good ingredients and simple techniques add up to memorable eating.  I was reminded of that last week at a dinner hosted by the Sada Family of Fattoria Carpoli with a menu prepared by Emanuele Vallini of Ristorante La Carabaccia in Bibbona, Tuscany.

We began with a passed fritto misto of coccoli, fried bread dumplings, zucchini flowers, and sage leaves accompanied by the Sada family’s fresh and citrussy Vermentino Toscana IGT 2010.  The fritti were perfectly fried and charmingly presented in cones of brown paper, so they were easy to enjoy as we stood around and sipped our wine.

In the dining room, Davide Sada told us about how he founded the winery in 1998 in the beautiful coastal region of Tuscany known as the Maremma.  He spoke with pride about the food of the region and introduced the first course, pappa al pomodoro, a thick soup made with stale bread, ripe tomatoes, basil, and extra virgin olive oil.  He explained that in Tuscany, stale bread was either fed to the chickens, or used to make pappa.  The beautifully orangey-red soup was delicately spicy and also matched well with the Vermentino.

Farro della Garfagnana, spelt cooked with pancetta and leeks, was molded into a disk and served on a sweet bell pepper cream and topped with frizzled leeks.  The smoky bacon flavor complemented the sweetness of the peppers and crisp leeks.  With it we drank the Integolo Toscana IGT 2009, a blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% Montepulciano, which Mr. Sada said he had developed as an everyday drinking wine.  At under $15 per bottle, I could see enjoying this wine with a wide variety of foods.

Tuscans are great soup eaters, so our next course was another classic of the region.  According to Signor Sada, Caterina di Medici brought the recipe for Florentine onion soup with her to France and taught the cooks at the French court to make this classic dish.  I think I’ve heard that one before!  The slow cooked red onions were sweet and tangy.  The crowning touch was an egg yolk in its shell to add or not, as you preferred.  It brought a creamy richness to the  luscious soup.  With that we drank the Baldoro Toscana IGT, a robust wine meant for aging.

The filet of pork in an an herb and walnut crust was the next course.  Pork filet is not the tastiest cut, but the flavorful crust enhanced it and the meat was cooked to rosy perfection.  It went beautifully with the Carpoli Toscana IGT 2006.  This was Mr. Sada’s Super Tuscan wine, and it had big ripe red fruit flavors.

Dessert was a masterpiece of simplicity:  a luscious cream of mascarpone, blended with crumbled cantucci, the classic Tuscan almond dipping cookie and a few berries.  The finishing touch was a glass of espresso to pour over the dessert as you wished.  I loved the combination with the sweet and concentrated Vermentino Toscana IGT 2008, a late harvest dessert wine.  What could be simpler, or more elegant?

Signor Sada told us that this is the kind of food they eat and wine they drink in Tuscany every day.  He added that he firmly believed that if you work in quality, you will be happy.  After a dinner as good as this one, I think that he must be very happy indeed.

Tuesday morning in Vaison, Sunday at L’Isle sur La Sorgue, the farmer’s market every evening at Vallerons — each day in Provence is a market day where you can buy anything from tapenade and olives, to fresh fruits and vegetables, to roast chickens, ribs and quail.  It was hard to resist buying too much.

Fortunately our rented house had a well equipped kitchen and with so many good ingredients available, it was easy to put together great meals.  In fact, we all agreed that our home cooked or assembled meals were the best we ate.  Every evening, we drank an apero poolside and watched the sunset.

Listen in to Food Talk on Sirius XM Satellite Radio Channel 110, Martha Stewart Radio on Monday August 8, 2011 at 12:15 PM when I will be chatting with my old friend Sandy Gluck about ravioli and baked pasta.  Tune in and give us a call–we’d love to hear from you!