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Summer Vegetable Ratatouille

June 10, 2019 By

A Ratatouille is a beautiful summer excuse to transform humble ingredients like onions, garlic and herbs in to a glorious and delicious  dish. This recipe is very healthy but packed with big flavors. I use zucchini but you could add eggplant, peppers and thin slices of potatoes for a more powerful version.
Summer Vegetable Ratatouille
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Recipe by Silvia Baldini
Ingredients
  • 3 medium ripe plum tomatoes
  • 1 medium shallot, peeled and chopped
  • 1 small peeled and roughly chopped carrot
  • 1 small peeled garlic clove
  • 4 tablespoons virgin olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons 3 tsp fresh thyme, basil, parsley finely chopped
  • 3 medium zucchini
  • 3 medium yellow squash
  • fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. In a food processor add the chopped tomatoes, shallot, carrot and the garlic. Chop all the vegetable but stop before they become a puree', leaving a rough texture.
  3. Pour the chopped vegetables, 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and half of the chopped fresh herbs into a medium baking dish. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Using a mandolin, or a really sharp knife, thinly and evenly, slice the vegetables. Make the slices thin, about 1/8’ (3mm) thick.
  5. Make mini-stacks of about 20 slices in sequence. Arrange a few stacks at a time into the prepared baking dish in a concentric spiral from the outer edge to the inside, fanning them out a bit so that you can see the top 1/8” of all the slices. “Stand” them up a little, so you can it as many vegetable slices in as possible, but you may still have some leftover veggies. Save the smaller rounds for the center of the dish.
  6. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and season with more salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining chopped herbs. Cover the dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to it just inside the dish rim, directly on top of the vegetable arrangement.
  7. Bake for 40 minutes -1 hour
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Citrus Salad with a Peach and Lime Dressing

October 12, 2018 By
Citrus Salad with a Peach and Lime Dressing
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Recipe by Silvia Baldini — A gorgeous end of fall and wintery salad, generous in flavor and packed with immune system busting vitamins. The peach and Persian lime dressing ties this simple dish together with an infusion of sweet and sour aromas redolent of the Mediterranean. You can find the ingredients for the dressing at www.thesecretingredientgirls.com
Servings Prep Time
4 people 20 minutes
Ingredients
  • 1 pink grapefruit
  • 2 oranges
  • 1 lime
  • 3 tangerines
  • 1 fennel
  • 1/4 cup Peach Balsamic
  • 1/4 cup Persian Lime Oil
  • sea-salt
  • ground black pepper
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. Peel and section all the citrus. Discard seeds and pith. Slice the fennel thin with a sharp knife or a mandolin. Arrange the sliced fennel on a serving dish then add the citrus slices.
  2. In a cup whisk the Peach Balsamic and Persian Lime Oil with the salt and pepper. Drizzle 3 or 4 tablespoons on top of the citrus. Serve immediately. Reserve the remaining dressing for later use.
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COOKING DEMO AND COUNTRY LIVING FAIR IN RHINEBECK TICKET GIVE AWAY.

May 29, 2018 By

COME AND SEE MY COOKING DEMO ON THE MAIN KITCHEN STAGE AT THE COUNTRY LIVING FAIR IN RHINEBECK, NEW YORK, JUNE 1ST AT  2:30PM
I’LL BE MAKING A FRESH GREEN GODESS GAZPACHO AND A GORGEOUS OLIVE OIL CROSTATA

PLUS YOU WILL GET AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF SOME OF THE WHOLESOME PRODUCTS WE WILL BE OFFERING ON THESECRETINGREDIENTGIRLS.COM

 

BEST PART!

I’m giving away two pairs of 3-day weekend passes to the Country Living Fair.

To enter your name in to the raffle simply share this post and leave a comment here or tag me and share on my Facebook page or on my Facebook StrawberryandSage page or on my  Instagram

The contest starts on May 29th and ends on May 30th at 8pm.
The winners will be chosen by draw and they will be notified on May 31st.

The Country Living Fair brings the magazine’s content to life and gives readers access to a unique shopping experience featuring more than 200 vendors from 25 states, including antiques sellers, food purveyors, artists, furniture makers, crafters, and more. Guests will also have a chance to meet Country Living editors and their special guests; attend cooking, crafting, and DIY demonstrations, workshops, and book signings; sample locally sourced, artisanal food; and shop the Country Living General Store.

Don’t miss out on this fabulous three day event!  Come And Meet Me On:

Friday, June 1 @ 2:30 pm on the Kitchen Stage

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New England Lobster Roll

March 23, 2018 By
New England Lobster Roll
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Recipe by Silvia Baldini— As an Italian chef living in New England I fell quickly for lobster rolls and while I'm all for creativity I learned there are few rules to follow. The lobster meat should include pieces of tail, claw, and knuckle. The bun should be smeared with butter and griddled. The lobster should be coated in mayonnaise and served chilled or lightly sauteed in butter and served warm, I personally like the mayo version best. Celery and other ingredients are tolerable but ultimately superfluous; Simple is best when it comes to lobster roll heaven.
Servings Prep Time
4 people 30 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Ingredients
  • 4 1 1/4 pound whole lobsters
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup minced celery
  • fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 top-split hot dog rolls
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon chopped chives
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and fill a clean sink or very large bowl with ice water. Cook the lobsters, covered, in a large pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Plunge them into the ice water to halt the cooking.
  2. Remove all of the meat from the tail, knuckle and claw and cut into generous bite size pieces.
  3. Gently toss the lobster meat with the mayonnaise, lemon juice and celery. Season to taste with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  4. To serve, cut the inside of the hot dog on each side at an angle to make a wider roll. Butter the hot dog rolls on the outside and toast them on a griddle or skillet until nicely golden brown.
  5. Taste the lobster salad again to see if it needs more seasoning and divide the lobster salad among the four rolls, over stuffing them. Garnish the lobster with the chives.
Recipe Notes

A quick side note. Hellman's mayo is a must for a true New England lobster roll. But I cannot resit making my own home-made mayo. It's an italian thing. If you want to try you can follow my easy recipe for blender mayonnaise. Just remember to omit the lemon juice when tossing the lobster salad.

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Spring Peas, Snow Peas and Prosciutto Salad

May 1, 2017 By

This bright, green and crunchy salad is a take on the classic italian side dish of Peas and Prosciutto.  I like this nutritious salad, it makes a very yummy power lunch or a delicious side dish and since I care about what I eat but I don’t want to lose sleep over –the past 100 days have been enough of a snooze disruptor — I’m happy when a recipe this balanced takes less than 15 minutes to throw together.
Spring Peas, Snow Peas and Prosciutto Salad
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Servings
4 people
Cook Time
15 minutes total
Ingredients
  • sea salt for boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups cups shelled fresh green peas (from about 1¼ pounds pods), or frozen peas, thawed
  • 12 ounces snow peas, trimmed and washed
  • 8 slices prosciutto, sliced medium-thick
  • 1/2 cups shaved parmigiano
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. Cook green peas and snow peas in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 5-7 minutes per batch. Immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water then drain and dry on paper towels.
  2. Whisk lemon juice and mustard in a large bowl. Gradually add oil, whisking constantly until emulsified; season vinaigrette with salt and pepper.
  3. Add green peas, snow peas, and mint to a bowl with vinaigrette and toss until well coated with dressing;
  4. Arrange salad on a platter and top with prosciutto. Add the shaved parmigiano.
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