Even if you never use their recipes, cookbooks are valuable as history, anthropology and especially as keepsakes – particularly when such a book represents a collaboration between father and daughter. “Italian Family Dining” (Rodale, $27.50) is one such book, written by Edward Giobbi and Eugenia Giobbi Bone, who divides her time between Colorado and New York City, where her husband, Kevin, is an architect.
With subject matter broken into seasons, there are enough traditional Italian dishes to create a true Italian Christmas meal. Recipes are easy to prepare. A shrimp and artichoke salad would make a light appetizer leading up to, say, a capon stuffed with clementines followed by a Panettone bread pudding. And the dessert recipes will work at 5,280 feet.
“Many of them, based on fresh fruits, were developed on the Western Slope, so in general they’re just fine,” Bone says. “My dad has a long and distinguished career as one of the nation’s premiere advocates of seasonal cooking.”
So if you’re looking to re-create an authentic Italian Christmas dinner, look no further than pages 242, 274 and 299.
– Ellen Sweets
From “Italian Family Dining” (Rodale, $27.50), written by Edward Giobbi and Eugenia Giobbi Bone.
Shrimp and Artichoke Salad
Serves 4.
We are often served this wonderful, sassy dish as part of the first course of Christmas Eve’s Cena della Vigilia. You can replace the artichokes with sliced roasted peppers.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Place the shrimp in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, and cook until the shrimp turn pink, about 4 minutes. Drain the shrimp.
When the shrimp are cool enough to handle, peel and devein them. Cut each shrimp crosswise on the bias into thin slices.
Drain the artichoke bottoms and chop them finely. Put the artichokes into a mixing bowl and add the parsley and garlic. Blend well. Add the shrimp, oil and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss and serve.
Capon Stuffed with Clementines
Serves 10.
We vastly prefer capon – a moist tender bird – to the dry, bland meat of the grotesque commercial turkey. However, organic turkeys are becoming increasingly available, and they are delicious. You can substitute an organic turkey of the same weight for the capon in this recipe. We prepare this Christmas Day.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
With your fingers, loosen the skin from the breast and slip the garlic and half the rosemary under the skin. Rub the bird with salt, pepper, crushed fennel seeds, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary. Salt and pepper the cavity. Stuff the bird with the clementines.
Place the capon breast-up in a large roasting pan and pour about 2 cups of wine into the pan. Roast the capon for about 45 minutes, until it begins to brown. Add the figs to the pan and turn the capon over. Continue roasting until the back of the bird turns brown, about 30 minutes. Turn the capon back over, so it is breast-up again, and add the remaining 1 cup of wine. Continue to cook, basting often, for another 30 minutes or so, for a total cooking time of about 1 hour and 45 minutes, until the leg separates easily from the torso and the juices from the bird run clear. If the pan juices dry out, add some more wine.
Remove the bird from the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes. In the meantime, strain and defat the pan juices. Carve the bird and dribble the pan juices over the meat.
Panetteone Bread Pudding
We make this bread pudding during the Christmas season, when panettone are in abundance.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. with a rack set in the center of the oven.
Smear one side of the panettone slices with the butter. Lay them in a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan, butter side up. Try to fit the slices in the pan so that there are no empty spaces. Or tear the slices up and add the butter in dabs to the pan.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until light. Add the milk, Amaretto, and orange zest. Pour the custard over the panettone slices and let sit for a few minutes while you heat the water.
Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Place the loaf pan into a larger pan. Pour the hot water into the larger pan, to come about halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Place on the center rack in the oven. Bake for about 50 minutes, until a knife slipped into the center of the pudding comes out clean.
Remove the bread pudding from he oven and allow to cool slightly. You can flip the bread pudding over onto a serving platter, but it isn’t the most beautiful dessert. It’s better to bring out individual servings, garnished with confections’ sugar.
