The Wolfe Widow (A Book Collector Mystery) (28 page)

T
HE
S
IGNORA
’
S
R
USTIC
R
OAST
C
HICKEN

With a salad and a glass or two of Tuscan wine, the signora’s version of roast chicken is like a mini-vacation in Italy!

Half a loaf of rustic Italian bread, cut in 1-inch thick slices, enough to make a bed for the chicken

4–6 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 chicken, about 4–5 lbs

½ to one whole garlic head (rub off outside papery skin and slice in half horizontally through all the cloves)

Half a lemon

Half a lime

Sprigs of fresh rosemary or two tsp of dried

½ bunch fresh thyme, coarsely chopped or two tsp dried

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place bread slices in center of a metal roasting pan.

Drizzle 2 to 3 tbsp of olive oil over bread and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Season cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff with prepared garlic head, lemon, lime and herbs.

Rub outside of chicken with remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place chicken, breast side up, on bread slices.

Roast chicken for about 1½ hours, until it is very brown and crispy and pan juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. Internal temperature should be 165 degrees F.

Remove from oven, cover with foil and let chicken rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with slices of the fabulous bread from the pan.

S
MOKEY
R
OAST
P
EPPERS
IN
O
LIO

The signora grows amazing peppers in her kitchen garden at Van Alst House. In the late summer and early fall, you can smell them roasting. Uncle Kev has been commandeered to roast them on the charcoal grill which gives them an amazing smoky taste.

6 red, yellow or orange peppers

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and slivered

¾ cup very good quality extra virgin olive oil

Squirt of lemon juice

Sprinkle of sea salt

Place peppers on the charcoal grill or over a medium gas flame. Let them roast for 15 to 30 minutes, using tongs to give them a quarter turn every few minutes, till the peppers are charred, soft and collapsing. Once they’re blistered, remove and place them in a brown paper bag. Close the bag and leave for 30 minutes to an hour. This will steam off the skin.

When the peppers are cool, remove from the bag, and peel off skin. This will be easy but a bit messy.

Once they’re peeled, remove the stem, cut in four and remove the seeds and the white membrane. This is messy too and there’s no way around that. Never mind. It’s worth it.

Slice peppers about ¼-inch thick. Place in a shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Cover with your best olive oil.

Add the garlic slivers and sprinkle a bit of sea salt.

This is a wonderful side dish for meat or chicken. It keeps very well in the fridge.

P
AN
DI
S
PAGNA

Pan di Spagna is a traditional sponge cake. Signora Panetone has at least three different Pan di Spagna recipes as far as we can tell. This one has a bit more sugar and flour than the other two, but it is Jordan’s favorite. The signora might serve it with whipped cream and fresh fruit, or she might slice it into layers and put jam and custard in between each. Or she might drizzle it with a lemon icing sugar glaze. Jordan likes it all by itself with a light dusting of icing sugar.

6 eggs at room temperature, separated

½ cup water

2 cups white sugar

2 cups white flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp good quality vanilla

Icing sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour an angel food pan.

In a bowl add water to yolks. Beat until thick and fluffy.

Add sugar gradually, beating until very thick and glossy.

Combine flour and baking powder. Gradually add to yolk/sugar mixture, beating until well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold egg whites into yolk mixture gradually, being careful not to overbeat. You should still see streaks of white.

Bake for about one hour until a tester comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack and carefully remove from pan. Serve plain or with whipped cream, lemon glaze or any other tasty addition.