Add These Tuscan Recipes to Holiday Dinners

With festive times at Thanksgiving and the December holidays fast approaching, you'll want some hearty, soul-warming dishes to serve your family, friends, and guests. You'll also want menu items that are easier to prepare and use healthy, fresh ingredients. Supermodel/celebrity chef Maria Liberati shares some great recipes and family cooking secrets with Design2Share. Her new book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions (PrimaMedia, Inc. 2009) features more holiday treats. This book just won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award, selected by a panel of prestigious chefs and culinary experts worldwide as The Best Italian Cuisine Book in America for 2009.

Fettunta

Fettunta is the Tuscan word for Bruschetta.

Here's what you'll need:

4 slices crusty Italian bread
2 cloves garlic
2 tblsps extra virgin olive oil
2 tsps Tuscan Picnic Spice Blend (see Maria's store for Tuscan Picnic Spice Blend)

To prepare: Grill or place slices of bread under broiler. Rub with garlic clove. Drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle on Spices.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

This recipe is for 2 people.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup rice for risotto
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 slice onion-chopped
2 tblsps extra virgin oilve oil
2 tsps butter
4 tsps grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese
2 ounces dried wild mushrooms

To prepare: Place mushrooms in small dish, pour in ½ cup warm waer, soak for 15 minutes. Heat broth until hot. In saute pan, place in olive oil and chopped onion, place in rice and toast for 30 seconds, then pour in white wine. When liquid is absorbed, pour in ¾ cup broth, stir, and when liquid is absorbed repeat. Place in mushrooms with their water and stir, then repeat with broth and stirring until al dente. Remove from heat. Top with butter and grated parmiginao cheese. Stir and serve hot.

Spinaci Alla Fiorentina

This is a Florentine-style spinach dish.

Here's what you'll need:

2 lbs chopped fresh or frozen spinach
1/3 cup butter
1 ½ cups milk
4 tblsps grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese
2 tblsps flour
salt and pepper to taste

To prepare: Place chopped spinach and 3 tblsps of butter in sauce pan. Stir until butter is melted.  Butter casserole dish, set aside.

In sauce pan, place in remaining butter, milk, flour, 2 tblsps grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese. Stir into a beschamel sauce.

In buttered casserole, place in spinach. Top with beschamel sauce. Top with remaining grated cheese and place in 360-degree preheated oven for 20 minutes.

(Recipes reprinted with the permission of Maria Liberati; copyright 2009.)

Exceptional Culinary Mold for Holiday Baking & Gifting

Think of the foodies on your holiday shopping list and consider this beautiful 1870 Large French Culinary Food Mold with Star Motif. We like to take the pulse of the antique and collectible furniture market with industry spokesman George Evans, the entrepreneur behind Bond & Bowery, a great online resource for antiques and fine art. When we asked him for holiday gift suggestions, he showed this to us. It's holiday festive with its star motif, and the gorgeous copper patina of this wonderful food mold is extraordinary.

Design2Share: Why did this food mold catch your eye, George?

George: This is a wonderful example of an antique, handmade culinary accessory, and it stands the test of time. The size (17 inches wide x 9 inches deep x 6 inches high) and star motif design aren't typical. Copper food molds are used for mousses, cakes, breads, pates, custards, and gelatins; and star-shaped molds are often used in European countries for Christmas breads and cakes like the traditional Panettone and Pandoro. But you know what? This mold is simply smashing to look at and would be fine retired from active duty and used just for decoration.

D2S: What do you think makes this mold collectible?

George: The unusual large size, the large riveted loop handles, and especially the design with the star top and the elongated “spear “sides make this mold noteworthy.

This piece comes from Bond and Bowery dealer Black Tulip Antiques of Denver, CO. The mold is of French origin and dates from 1870. It's hand forged from a template design, and it might have been used in a commercial baking operation.

D2S: Where and how would you like to decorate with this French culinary mold?

George: This piece would be a great addition to any culinary mold collection, and molds have become quite popular for people to collect. Copper pieces, particularly when they're allowed to age and gather a rich patina, look beautiful in the home. This mold would look great hanging off a rack or mounted on the wall of your kitchen. You can even find place this piece in the dining room as it's an exceptional example of well designed and expertly made 19th Century French metalwork.

The tin lining of this mold may need to be rehabilitated and the mold relined if you were to use it for cooking once again, but with that little extra work, you can hang this mold on the wall as decoration, then take it down when it's pressed into use. Very versatile to have an unusual mold that is both decorative and functional. Keep the patina looking warm and aged by cleaning the copper only with warm sudsy water (unless you like your copper shiny and looker new versus antique). And what a great holiday gift! Copper food molds make perfect collectibles, they vary in every size and shape, and have been made for over a hundred years. They add a sense of design mastery, culinary history, and warmth to any home. If the foodie on your list hasn't started a collection yet, this mold would make a stellar first piece.