Italian Linguine with Clams at Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California by Ruth Paget

Italian Linguine with Clams at Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California by Ruth Paget 

For a family mini trip, my husband Laurent, my daughter Florence Paget, and I went to San Luis Obispo, California which is about 2½ hours south of Salinas. 

The landscape changes dramatically along Highway 101 going south. We saw longhorn cattle grazing on the hillsides by the freeway and oil rigs in San Ardo. We passed San Miguel Mission with its whitewashed stucco architecture and compania bell tower that is typical of many Spanish churches with its open towers that allow bells to swing wide and freely and resound over the vineyards. 

The Salinas River is underground here, but you can trace its course by looking at trees that sinew along the countryside. Vineyards and olive trees rise up the hills that become browner the farther away they are from the Salinas River. 

The landscape looks like Spain with its patches of white sheep grazing along the way. English road signs remind you that you really are in the United States. (I did ask Laurent if Gibraltar is like this. His Navy ship passed by there when he did a Mediterranean deployment.) 

San Luis Obispo is also named for it mission church that honors San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (1274 – 1297). Tolosa refers to Toulouse, France. San Luis Obispo sits on a plain like Toulouse, France despite going through some mountains to get to it. San Luis Obispo is the home of California Polytechnique State University, which is highly respected for its engineering, business, and architecture schools. 

Our dinner destination in San Luis Obispo was the Lure Fish House. This family-owned California chain also has locations in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Camarillo, West Lake Village, Porter Ranch, and Scottsdale (Arizona). 

Menus at Lure vary by location to take advantage of seasonal and local produce and seafood. As an appetizer, 

I started with deep-fried, crispy calamari (squid) that came with two excellent dipping sauces. The first was a chipotle aioli (garlic mayonnaise with chipotle peppers blended in). The second sauce was a cioppino dipping sauce. This light sauce did taste like tomatoes and white wine cooked with seafood and garlic. Both sauces were delicious. 

I ate all the sauce and all the calamari. Fried calamari are served all around the Christian Mediterranean and have a happy, devoted following in California. 

For an Italian Mediterranean Diet dinner, I ate a specialty of Naples, linguine with clams, as my main dish. The clams were steamed with white wine, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley.  

The meat from about two clams was chopped into the sauce and poured over the linguine. Six large clams were arranged a mound of linguine for this dish. I enjoyed every bite of this dish, too! 

I drank a home-made agave vanilla cream soda with this Mediterranean meal. Agave is a natural sweetener that comes from agave plants that grow well in the soil and climate in San Luis Obispo. 

Back at the hotel (a Marriot Courtyard), I took a hot shower followed by bursts of cold water to cool off and luxuriated in the air-conditioned room as I looked outside the room window at three kinds of trees: a rubber tree, a California magnolia tree, and a palm tree. San Luis Obispo has a city-wide initiative to develop a tree canopy that is recognized by the Arbor Foundation.

For a great health, culture, and history recharge, San Luis Obispo, California might just be the vacation town for you. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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(Note: View from hotel window.  To better see the trees, place two of your fingers on the photo and move them apart to enlarge the image.  The tree in front is a rubber plant that can be used to make tires.  The pollen from the magnolia tree can be used for honey.  The palm trees produce coconuts that can be used for food and coconut milk.)

Foods of Italy Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Foods of Italy Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Foods of Italy by Giuliano Bugialli honors Italy’s everyday foods eaten by Italians in their homeland and covers recipes from lesser-known regions especially those regions on Italy’s eastern Adriatic Sea coast. 

I have made the following recipes over the years for flavor and economy even while using premium, high-quality ingredients like prosciutto, parmesan cheese, and pecorino cheese in moderation: 

-bell pepper salad: made with tomato, garlic, chopped basil and mint, capers (optional for me), and strips of baked sweet green and yellow peppers that have had their skins removed and that are sliced. A simple oil and vinegar dressing is used with this salad. This salad is refrigerated before serving. 

-marinated zucchini salad: great when zucchini explodes in summer gardens. This dish is not as straightforward as you would think. The zucchini is first baked and then sautéed in garlic-infused oil before marinating in the refrigerator. 

-squash soup Mantua style: Mantua is the adoptive city of the famous Renaissance art patron Isabella d’Este. I have mostly made this soup with butternut squash. Basically, you bake the squash and then boil it in broth to make the soup. I purée my soup with the seasonings. Mantua style calls for making seasoning with prosciutto. 

-cannellini beans with rosemary: for this dish, white cannellini beans are boiled and then baked with rosemary, garlic, and olive oil to make a tasty and not-too-expensive side dish in Italy. 

-bean paste crostini: this dish calls for a purée of cannellini beans, garlic, and olive oil on toast rounds as an hors d’oeuvres. I use canned, rinsed beans to make this Italian hummus. 

-tagliatelle with creamed prosciutto sauce: this dish is all good! Cubes of prosciutto are added to hot pasta with cream, butter, and parmesan cheese. I use thin strips of sliced pasta to make this dish.

-pasta and beans Puglia (Apulia) style: this dish from Italy’s boot heel on the Adriatic Sea mixes cannellini beans with puréed red onions and celery as a sauce for hot pasta that is probably sprinkled with grated pecorino cheese, the parmesan cheese of southern Italy. 

For a glimpse into what Italians really eat everyday, Foods of Italy by Giuliano Bugialli is a great introduction. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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New York Meal at Pub's (Growers Pub) in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

New York Meal at Pub’s (Growers Pub) in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

My daughter Florence Paget took me out for a New York dinner at Pub’s in downtown Salinas, California for a daughter-mom outing before the big weekend with the Java House Grand Prix Monterey at Laguna Seca and the Obon Festival (July 27) at the Buddhist Temple in Salinas.  

We started our meal with Monterey Bay deep-fried calamari. The calamari were lightly coated in polenta corn meal with a piquant dipping sauce and lemon wedges for squeezing. I really enjoy eating this dish in cool-weather Salinas with a sweet Meyer lemon lemonade. 

Salads came with our main dishes. I chose Thousand Island dressing for my New York-themed crispy and chilled romaine lettuce salad with a juicy tomato wedge on the side. Life is good in America’s salad bowl capital. (Blue cheese dressing is available for diners who would like calcium and protein to go with their salad.) 

Florence ordered a medium-rare prime New York steak with a baked potato along with steamed carrots, zucchini, and broccoli. The steak was juicy and perfect Florence said. 

I ordered chicken fettucine Alfredo. The fresh pasta was bathed in a rich creamy sauce that tasted as if it had been made with cream, butter, mascarpone cheese, and Parmesan cheese. That sauce was so good, it would make garlic ice cream taste good. (Gilroy about 20 minutes up 101 makes garlic ice cream in America’s garlic capital.) 

The cubes of chicken breast and thigh meat in the fettucine Alfredo were moist, tender, and flavorful. This delicious dish can also be made with shrimp and salmon at Pub’s. 

To complete our meal, we had some elegant New York desserts – cheesecake for Florence and tiramisu for me. 

For tiramisu, you line the bottom of a casserole with sponge cake lady finger cookies, pour espresso coffee over the lady fingers, spread whipped mascarpone cheese (similar to whipped cream) over the lady fingers, and dust the top of the mascarpone with cocoa powder. You then chill the tiramisu and serve it with raspberry sauce. Pub’s makes their tiramisu like this and it is a fantastic finish for a New York-themed meal. 

For New York steak and Italian-American meals, Pub’s in downtown Salinas, California offers great food and a full bar. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Amazon Italy is carrying my book Marrying France posted by Ruth Paget

Thank you Amazon Italy for carrying my book Marrying France.  Molto Grazie!

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Always Great Pizza at Gino's in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Always Great Pizza at Gino’s in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

My go-to pizza place in Salinas, California is Gino’s located between Wise Music and Nob Hill Supermarket on Main Street (Highway 68). 

For the 4th of July holiday, this is the pizza my daughter Florence Paget and I have been ordering to go along with mangonadas and sundaes from Baskin-Robbins: 

-sweet pepperoni flavored with red pepper that tastes like sweet paprika from Hungary 

-chopped onion that is sweet like Vidalia onions from Georgia 

-beefy-tasting wild mushroom slices that be locally sourced from the mountains around Monterey County 

-melted but not stringy tangy tasting mozzarella di bufala chesse from the Campania region around Naples, Italy 

-sweet tomato-basil sauce to tie everything together 

-firm crust baked to a caramel brown made from 00 pizza flour that was like a soft German pretzel 

Pizza like this one from Gino’s in Salinas, California sets a standard for artisanal pizza.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tasting Rome Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Tasting Rome Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavors and Forgotten Recipes by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill provides armchair travelers and cooks with a salty, sweet tour of the city’s culinary offerings. 

The book covers the following traditional Italian course offerings: 

-aperitivi – salty snacks to go with cocktails 

-primi - first course dishes that are usually pasta or soup 

-secondi – second course dishes or main course offerings 

-contorni – vegetable course 

-dolce – sweets 

My favorite recipes in the cookbook include: 

*Aperitvii

-deep-fried suppli rice risotto balls made with radicchio (purple-red lettuce) and gorgonzola 

-deep-fried cacio e pepe suppli risotto balls made with crushed black pepper and pecorino cheese 

-crostini con burro e alici – toast rounds with butter and anchovies 

*Primi 

-carbonara pasta made with eggs, pecorino cheese, and guanciale pork jowl “bacon”

-spaghetti alla gricia made with guanciale “bacon”, white wine, and pecorino cheese  

-bomboletti pasta all-amatriciana made with tubular ridged pasta, guanciale, shallots, tomatoes, and garlic 

-cacio e pepe pasta made with just crushed black pepper and grated pecorino cheese 

*Secondi 

-pollo alla Romana chicken stew made with onions, bell peppers, cloves, and tomatoes  

-porchetta slow-roasted pork roast made with pepper, salt, garlic, rosemary, pepperoncino, and fennel seeds 

*Contorni 

-baked vegetables with bread crumbs 

-shaved artichoke salad 

-baked tomatoes stuffed with rice 

*Dolce 

-peach and wine sorbet 

-coffee granita

-panna cotta - solid milk pudding flavored here with mint 

Readers who might enjoy Tasting Rome include: 

-Italophiles who want to learn more about the country and Roman cuisine 

-cooks 

-servers

-travel writers 

-restaurant reviewers 

-young families 

-childcare workers 

People wanting to add a little Roman brio to their lives would also enjoy reading Tasting Rome by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill for the recipes and cultural notes. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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The Italian Baker Reviewed by Ruth Paget

The Italian Baker Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

I enjoyed armchair traveling through Italy as I read Carol Field’s recipes for bread, grissini bread sticks, panzanella bread and vegetable salad, pizza, focaccia, sweet Italian croissants, tarts, cakes, and cookies in The Italian Baker. 

The recipes are sophisticated but Field provides nonna (grandma) STEAM education activities for baking as well such as: 

-coiling a bread string to make a pair of eye cookies 

-rolling out a band of dough and making two slits and pulling the dough at the end to make a crown 

-rolling out a band of dough and making slits every inch and then rolling the band up to form a bush 

More conventional items that families could make from the book on weekends include:

-panini bread roll sandwiches 

-ciabatta bread loaves from the Lake Como region in northern Italy 

-Olive bread from Liguria 

-chopped red pepper bread 

-Parmesan and pecorino bread made with cheese from Northern and Southern Italy 

-Parmesan grissini bread sticks 

-sweet croissants (kids are always fascinated to see rolling up a triangle into a croissant shape and the puffing up of the croissants overnight from proofing)

Field taught me that chewy texture and nutty flavor of many Italian breads come from the use an already fermented biga or starter that is mixed with dough to create a double fermentation in the dough in addition to the two risings of the dough. 

People in the following professions might enjoy The Italian Baker by Carol Field: 

-baker 

-childcare worker 

-Girl Scout troop leaders 

-restaurant owners 

-servers 

Italophiles, childcare workers, and restaurant workers might all find something to make in The Italian Baker by Carol Field. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Galateo - Renaissance Italian Etiquette Book reposted by Ruth Paget

The Renaissance Italian etiquette book, The Galateo, still rules for restaurant dining and training children to have nice table manners:

Galateo Etiquette Book

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Renaissance Diplomatic Handbook Reposted by Ruth Paget

The Book of the Courtier by Baldesar Castiglione, a Renaissance diplomatic book, has been translated many times and is still considered useful for its insights on conversation.

Book of the Courtier Info.

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Italy in Small Bites Cookbook Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Italy in Small Bites Cookbook Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Italy in Small Bites by Carol Field introduces readers to seasonal and regional snacks with recipes for easy to complex delights that pair well with fruity white wine or lemonade. 

Six of the merenda, snacks, that I think should be in everyone’s Italian go-to dish repertoire include:

-frico – cheese melted in butter and allowed to cool.

-bruschetta – toast rubbed with fresh garlic and olive oil 

-focaccia, flat bread pizza, with red peppers, garlic, and olives 

-polenta bars (Italian corn meal that has solidified) served with Parmesan and grilled purple and crimson radicchio lettuce 

-wild mushroom condiment for topping toast made with tomatoes, rosemary, sage, garlic, and pepper 

-baked frittata omelets with Parmesan and herbs 

Readers who might find Italy in Small Bites by Carol Field useful include: 

-bartenders 

-winery tasting room workers 

-caterers 

-servers 

-event planners 

-resort managers 

-cruise directors 

General readers might enjoy learning about the history of merenda, which is also part of Italy in Small Bites by Carol Field. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool) Soup at Olive Garden in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Italian Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool) Soup at Olive Garden in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Pasta e fagioli soup is stand-by dish at the Olive Garden in Salinas, California that is not too expensive and full of protein. Pasta e fagioli is similar to the chili mac that I made as a teenager in very cold Detroit (Michigan) with the difference that chili is made with all red kidney beans and flavored with smoky cayenne red pepper. I credit chili mac with being to withstand subzero walks to school in Detroit. 

Pasta e fagioli is soup with a thinner liquid base than a chili, but is loaded with lots of nutritious ingredients. 

I consulted a recipe for one similar to Olive Garden’s at wellplated.com that calls for: 

-olive oil

-ground beef

-salt

-carrots 

-onions 

-garlic 

-chicken broth 

-crushed, canned tomatoes 

-red kidney beans 

-cannellini beans 

-seasonings – bay leaf, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and red pepper flakes 

To make the soup like the one at Olive Garden, you brown the ground beef till it is no longer pink. You add chopped carrots, onion, and garlic and cook them till soft. Olive Garden might also use chopped fennel stalks for a slight licorice or anise flavor in their soup. 

Once the vegetables are sot, you add the crushed tomatoes, canned red kidney beans, canned cannellini beans, and pasta such as elbow macaroni. 

The seasoning in pasta e fagioli is savory not spicy hot, which I like. 

The pasta e fagioli at Olive Garden is tasty as we would say in the Midwestern US. My daughter Florence Paget and I ordered ½ gallon of the soup that cost $19.79. We also ordered mozzarella sticks (8 for $9.99) and garlic bread sticks (12 for $7.49). Grated Parmesan cheese came with this meal for the soup. 

For a weekend lunch, I think these prices are reasonable for the taste and nutrition content of the food we ate. 

Busy parents might especially like pasta e fagioli soup, mozzarella sticks, and garlic bread at Olive Garden in Salinas, California (on North Main Street). 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Rachel Ray’s Italian cookbook deal today by Ruth Paget

I am not sure how long the deal will last, but I saw that Rachel Ray’s 1,000+ page Everyone is Italian on Sunday cookbook costs $1.99 on Kindle today.

I always liked her show for using canned beans and tomatoes instead of doing everything from scratch, especially when these items were basic ingredients in a larger recipe.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Italian Frittata Omelet at First Awakenings in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Italian Frittata Omelet at First Awakenings in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Italian frittata omelets are claimed to have been around since the time of ancient Rome. I do not know if that is true, but I certainly like them. 

When I saw the Heartland Frittata on the menu at First Awakenings in Salinas, California, I told the server, “That dish is talking to me. I have to have it.” 

Frittatas are beautiful “ladies who lunch” dishes. They are omelets that are baked not cooked on the stovetop. At First Awakenings, the final dish comes to the table in a round ceramic baking dish with hash browns served next to it. 

The Heartland Frittata is what I would have called “fancy” as a child. The omelet is thick with sautéed spinach and 1-inch strips of cooked and chopped bacon. Once the frittata is baked golden, First Awakenings blankets the top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and places it back in the oven till it melts. Then, chopped and seeded tomatoes are scattered on top of the melted cheese.  

The spinach-cheese-tomato flavor dominates with an occasional salty burst of bacon. This frittata was delicious with coffee and real cream and side of bacon. (About $30 per person) 

The reason I said the dish was talking to me was all the nutrients I could get in this nice breakfast: 

-eggs – protein and Vitamins A and D 

-cheese – calcium and protein 

-spinach – Vitamin C and potassium 

-bacon – protein and selenium 

-tomatoes – antioxidant lycopene and Vitamin A 

(Nutrition information source: Verywell.com) 

For the flavor and nutrition, I thought the Heartland Frittata at First Awakenings in Salinas, California was a good buy for me.  Other diners might like it as well for the same reasons.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Mushroom - Cheese Pizza and Greek Salad from Marco's Pizza in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Mushroom – Cheese Pizza and Greek Salad from Marco’s Pizza in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

One of my travel rituals when I go to the East Coast of the US from California is to order a large mushroom – cheese pizza and a large Greek salad from a local pizzeria to perk up after several airline flights.

In Augusta (Georgia), the pizzeria my husband Laurent and I order from is Marco’s Pizza, a local Georgia chain. They use high quality ingredients and deliver late at night, which pleases a hungry traveler like me. 

While waiting on the pizza delivery, I open the room window for fresh air, put away clothes, wash my hands and face, and brush my teeth. 

When pizza delivery arrives, I start dinner with the Greek salad. I am a Californian from Salinas, who can tuck into a family-size salad and easily eat the whole thing. 

At Marco’s, they make their Greek salad with a combination of crunchy, chopped Romaine lettuce and baby greens. On top of the lettuce, they place about 1/3 cup chopped yellow banana peppers, 1/3 cup chopped tomatoes, 1/3 cup chopped red onion, 1/3 cup sliced black olives, and 2/3 cup of diced, salty feta cheese. 

I add tangy, Greek lemon-oregano vinaigrette on top of the vegetables and feta cheese and toss everything together. This tart and tonic salad chases away any germs I may have encountered on the plane it seems and gives me the strength to finish organizing the room and take a shower. 

Once I am all squeaky clean, I leisurely eat two or three slices of mushroom-cheese pizza. At Marco’s, they use a mozzarella cheese that melts yet is firm and salty, which I like. The tomato sauce is savory and tastes great with the meaty mushrooms that probably come from the forest around Augusta. 

Marco’s uses protein-rich semolina flour in their pizza crust, which I also like for the rough finish on the crust edges. 

With tip, delivery of our large artisanal pizza and large Greek salad was $36. We ordered Marco’s several times during our stay in August, especially on NBA game nights when we watched the New York Knicks play teams from around the country. (I love games decided by 2 or 3 points.) 

Marco’s Pizza was a delicious, enjoyable, and convenient part of our stay in Augusta, Georgia. If you like pizza, it is definitely worth a try. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Italian Sausage and Linguine at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Italians Sausage and Linguine at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

One of my favorite places to eat lunch in Georgia is the Italian Oven in Stockbridge about thirty minutes south of downtown Atlanta. 

On my most recent visit to the Italian Oven, I tried several dishes that I could make at home with a little planning even if I do not have the restaurant’s secret seasoning mix. Every southern restaurant seems to have a secret seasoning mix, which makes it only possible for reviewer’s to give an approximation of a dish’s flavor. However, it is worth describing dishes for their nutritional and economical value. 

The first dish I tried at the Italian Oven is a perfect example of these values: sautéed slices of yellow Italian squash with lemony yellow horseradish mayonnaise. The squash slices were very thin from being cut with a mandolin. Squash is a little bland without a coating of horseradish mayonnaise that clears your sinuses and makes you feel healthy from all the Vitamin C in the horseradish 

My main dish was sautéed Italian sausage with strips of sweet red peppers sautéed in olive oil with garlic with linguine added. This dish requires two sauté pans in addition to a pot of boiling water for the linguine.

In the first pan, you sauté slices of Italian sausage until they render fat. The sausage they use at the Italian oven is pork from an acorn-fed pig. The sausage is dark colored with a nutty flavor. When the sausage is sautéed, it has a beautiful aroma of anise (black licorice flavor) from the fennel that is used to season it. This pan’s contents cook while the second pan also has items cooking. 

In the second pan, you sauté strips of sweet red pepper with garlic and olive oil until they are soft. Then, once the linguine is cooked, you add the drained linguine to the sweet peppers and toss them together. After that, you add the sliced cooked sausage to the linguine as toss them together. 

This aromatic combination arrives at the table sizzling hot at the Italian Oven where they grate Parmesan cheese over it. This dish is delicious for someone like me who likes pork. 

For dessert, I at a classic layered tiramisu dessert made with Savoiardi lady finger cookies, mascarpone cheese, stiff whipped cream, espresso coffee, coffee liqueur, and cocoa powder dusted on top. This dessert is a luscious treat for coffee lovers. 

Without reservation, I would say that this was another superlative meal at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia that I would recommend to other diners. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe Created by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-1 pound bag of cleaned lettuce 

-6 medium Campari tomatoes 

-1/2 red onion 

-black, pitted Kalamata olives (optional)

-4 chicken breasts (about 1 pound all together)

-3 tablespoons olive oil 

-oil and vinegar dressing or lemon juice and oil dressing 

Steps: 

1-Rinse 1 pound lettuce in cold water and drain it to perk it up and chill it. Mound lettuce in a large serving bowl. 

2-Rinse tomatoes. Cut them into sixths. Place tomato slices in a separate bowl. 

3-Peel red onion and slice it thinly. Place onion slices in a separate bowl. 

4-Place black olives in a separate bowl.  

5-Cook chicken for 5 to 6 minutes per side. Cut to verify it is thoroughly cooked. The flesh should be white not pink when it is cooked. Cut the chicken into cubes and place in a separate bowl. 

6-Place on all bowls on table with serving utensils, so diners can personalize their salad.

If possible, sprinkle fresh chopped chives or parsley on the salad.

(Note: You can substitute tuna, canned black beans, sesame seeds, or cheese cubes for the chicken or offer all of them for an eclectic dinner party.) 

(Note: Table wine can easily be turned into vinegar to use in vinegar and oil dressing - 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard for 2 to 3 people.  Maille or Pommery Dijon mustards are both good.  Sunflower oil can be used for a true Burgundy vinaigrette.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pasta Champion San Francisco (California) by Ruth Paget

Pasta Champion San Francisco (California) by Ruth Paget 

Thanks to doing the supplemental reading listed in my health and nutrition textbook at Cass Technical High School in Detroit (Michigan), I learned that several grains have very good protein and fiber content. 

Being a teenager in recession-era Detroit, I was very interested in inexpensive proteins with a high-fiber content, which made them an attractive way to stretch money and still be healthy. 

These grains with good protein and fiber content include:

-buckwheat 

-whole wheat 

-oatmeal 

-brown rice 

-pasta made with semolina flour, which comes from durum wheat 

(Quinoa was probably mentioned too, but I might not have noted it due to expense. Quinoa, originally from the Andes Mountains in Latin America, is now grown in Rockies in Colorado.) 

I ate tons of oatmeal as a child and teen in Michigan to brace myself for winter mornings. Later when I moved to Monterey County California, I made tons of refried rice to save money. Sacramento, California’s capitol, is an important rice growing region like that along the Mississippi River Valley. 

I have made use of California’s Asian markets and bulk rice buying at Costco and Foods Co (owned by Kroger) to make my beloved refried rice with cooked shrimp, peas, corn, carrots, and scrambled eggs.

I consider pasta made from semolina flour to be a gourmet treat, especially if you combine it with organic vegetables like those you can find in Salinas, California. 

I like to tinker in the kitchen and have cooked several recipes from The San Francisco Cookbook Volume II edited by Michael Bauer and Fran Irwin. These recipes are so loved that you can find them on many restaurant menus now. 

I think making them with children is a fun family activity that teaches self-sufficiency and nutrition at the same time. 

I like the following pasta recipes from The San Francisco Cookbook Volume II: -creamy lemony spaghetti with olives and basil 

-spaghetti with marinated fennel, tomato, and olives 

-papardalle with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and bread crumbs 

-jalapeño macaroni 

-crab pasta 

-pasta with saffron-scented cream, peas, and prosciutto 

-oven-baked quinoa loaf

 -lemon-asparagus rice pilaf 

I love it that San Francisco has encouraged the development of so many pasta dishes made with organic vegetables that the whole country can enjoy. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Italian Focaccia Flatbread Economics by Ruth Paget

Italian Focaccia Flatbread Economics by Ruth Paget 

Even if you buy fresh herbs and produce like garlic, onions, and tomatoes at the supermarket, making focaccia (Italian flatbread) is relatively inexpensive. However, if you use herbs that grow at home to make focaccia, the savings increase exponentially. 

Carol Field provides many recipes in her cookbook Foccacia: Simple Bread from the Italian Oven that can save a family a lot of money, if it is eaten once or twice a week. It can also be used as a teaching moment with children as the French royal tutor Fénélon would say. 

Field writes in her introduction that the most famous focaccia comes from Genoa located in the coastal Liguria region between the French border in the north and Tuscany where Florence is located in the south.  

The basic dough for Genoa’s focaccia flatbread is made with flour, water, yeast, and sometimes olive oil and white wine. The yeast dough rises twice before being brushed with olive oil and baked. Field counsels home cooks to use a baking stone to generate high heat for crunchy crust. 

Field writes that Italians often use a dough starter called a biga in Italian made of water, flour, and yeast that is allowed to ferment before mixing it in with the regular dough. The biga gives the final product extra flavor and a chewy interior. The Genoese often add white wine to the dough and dimple it, so they can form little pools of warm olive oil, sea salt, and chopped herbs. 

Some of Field’s recipes are so easy and delicious that you want to ask yourself, “Did I really not know how to make this bread before?” 

The easiest recipes make a nice meal with salad and vinaigrette dressing, cheese, fruit salad, and white wine like pinot grigio or homemade lemonade. 

Several recipes that families might like follow:

-basil topped focaccia 

-focaccia with rosemary, oil, and salt 

-focaccia with garlic and tomato topping 

-focaccia with garlic and herb topping 

-schiacciata covered in caramelized onions 

(schiacciata is the word for focaccia in Florence) 

-schiacciata with slices of tomato and shredded basil 

Carol Field has recipes for more elaborate focaccia, but the ones listed above illustrate what I consider the Italian genius for living well on a budget thanks to being highly skilled, organized, and well educated.

Field’s Focaccia: Simple Bread from the Italian Oven belongs on every kitchen bookshelf. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Refettorio Ambrosiano Recipes from Milan, Italy by Ruth Paget

Refettorio Ambrosiano Recipes from Milan, Italy by Ruth Paget 

After attending an expo on world hunger in Milan (Italy), chef Massimo Bottura and other world famous chefs used the surplus food available in Milan to make meals for the homeless at the city’s Refettorio Ambrosiano that qualify as no food waste, delicious, nutritious, and economical to make. 

The Milan Refettorio Ambrosiano can operate thanks to help from markets and farms that provide: 

-less than perfect looking, but still good produce 

-produce with 2 or 3 days left to sell that cannot keep for a long time 

-organizing food in crates for storage and delivery at the donor site 

-people to drive the produce from the donor site to the refettorio 

-refrigerated pantries to deal with Milan’s heat at the refettorio 

Five of the stand-out, no food waste recipes in the Bread is Gold cookbook are economical to make with fresh ingredients for the home cook as well: 

*Summer vegetables with bean broth and croutons – The broth is made with water and boiled Parmesan cheese rinds that are removed before the beans are added in. The beans and broth are puréed. Place a variety of sautéed summer vegetables on top of the bean broth. Scatter seasoned croutons made from hard bread on top of the vegetables. 

The boiled Parmesan rinds could be fed to pigs as part of a circular economy around the cheese.

*Chilled cauliflower soup – Boil cauliflower with milk and salt. Purée the soup and refrigerate. Add cream and serve. Use less liquid to make a creamy sauce for warm vegetables or dressing for salad.

Other winter vegetables could be used in this recipe: broccoli, carrots, celery root, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, or a combination of these. For extra flavor, you could boil the vegetable with a sautéed onion. 

*Chilled yogurt soup – Mix yogurt, vegetable stock (I make mine from reconstituted dehydrated mushrooms), canned chickpeas, canned lentils, salt and pepper, and olive oil together. (I would purée everything and then chill the soup.) 

*Green bean salad – Mix green beans, fresh cheese (mozzarella, but burrata could also be used) and charred Savoy cabbage together and drizzle it all with Balsamic vinegar. 

*Panada bread soup This simple soup is made by boiling Parmesan cheese rinds with water and removing them before adding cubes of hard bread. The bread and cheese broth are then puréed and served warm. 

Massimo Bottura and other famous chefs put together Bread is Gold recipes to solve hunger in Milan, Italy by reducing food waste. In the process, they put together recipes that everyone can use to stretch money, making Bread is Gold a good book to buy. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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The Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget

The Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

On a visit to joint base Clay-Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta (Georgia), my husband Laurent and I headed south of Atlanta to meet my sister and brother-in-law for a meal at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge.  

I knew I would love the Italian Oven when we entered and good scents of baked garlic and luxurious, warm Parmesan cheese wafted out from the kitchen. 

As soon as we sat down at our maroon colored booth for six, the waiter brought a large bowl of homemade bread with warm, grated Parmesan cheese on the edges and a plate of olive oil for dipping the bread in. 

I ordered meatballs as a starter. They were made with chopped sirloin, pork, Parmesan breadcrumbs, and eggs to bind it all together before baking. The meatballs were served in a marinara sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, and basil with mozzarella melted on top. Those were over-the-top good. I highly recommend them. 

Next, I had a Caesar Salad with a sharp dressing made with crushed anchovies, coddled egg yolk, and white wine vinegar. The salt in the anchovies tasted great in the sultry 90-degree Atlanta heat. This salad is highly recommended as well. 

I was pretty full by this time, but still ordered Mushroom Fettucine Florentine as my main dish. Florentine in a title signals that there will be sautéed spinach in a dish. The spinach and beefy mushrooms in this dish came with a sauce made with tomatoes and cream and juicy shrimp. This was another winner. 

I enjoyed this delicious meal in a friendly atmosphere. I would love to go back to the Italian Oven in Stockbridge on future trips to Atlanta, Georgia. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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