The Passionate Olive by Carol Firenze Read Free Book Online Page B

but do not let them soak
Dry thoroughly after each washing
    You can lightly rub a lemon wedge on the wood to help keep it free from bacteria, rancidity, and other germs. In addition, once a month or so (depending on use), you may wish to lightly sand the board with a fine-grade sandpaper to keep your wooden cutting board smooth.
11) RESTORE ANTIQUE FURNITURE
    I doubt if you will get a hundred-year-old rolling pin, made from an oar, from your great-grandfather, but you may find it useful to know how to preserve your great-grandmother’s precious dining room table. Or you may see a fabulous sideboard on The Antiques Roadshow and wonder how such pieces maintain their beautiful glow. Here is oneof the secrets … olive oil. It can remove stains and restore the shine and natural color of the furniture. When applied regularly, the wood will maintain a beautiful luster.
Restore Antique Furniture Formula
     
Mix 1 cup of olive oil and ½ cup of lemon juice in a bowl
Whisk ingredients together until emulsified and completely blended
Pour solution into a spray bottle
Spray onto wood and wipe with a clean, dry cloth
NOTE: If you wish to make less—it’s 2 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice
12) SAFEGUARD FRYING PANS
    Our family life has always been centered around food and the kitchen. However, as I look back, the actual number of cooking utensils we had were few. Today, there are countless kitchen retail stores with voluminous numbers of designer cooking utensils and products. It almost seems that what you have to cook with is more important than the final result. If a product or tool doesn’t quite meet our culinary expectations, we tend to buy a different one. Not the case in my family. My mother’s favorite frying pan, the one that she still uses to sauté onion and zucchini for her famous frittata, is a well-oiled old cast-iron frying pan that was her father’s. She claims the frittata always tastes better using that pan. Why? For years, she has treated this pan with love, respect, and olive oil.
    You can prevent rust and the loss of luster, as well as enhance a pan’s cooking life, by lightly oiling the inside of the pan after each cleaning. Of course, never put these frying pans in a dishwasher. Even though my mother has had a dishwasher for many years, she taught us to hand wash this pan, towel it dry, and then quickly wipe the inside with a small amount of olive oil on a paper towel.
Firenze’s Famous Frittata
    1 chopped white onion
    2 tablespoons extra virgin
    olive oil
    1 clove garlic
    5 medium-sized green zucchini (slice zucchini lengthwise into quarters and then coarsely dice)
    5 large eggs (ratio: 1 egg per zucchini)
    ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
    ½ cup seasoned bread
    crumbs
    Salt, pepper, Italian seasonings to taste
HOW TO PREPARE
     
Sauté onion in olive oil; when onions become clear, add garlic and continue to sauté for a minute
Add zucchini and sauté until zucchini are soft (cover for fast cooking)
Remove from heat
In another bowl, beat the eggs
When zucchini mixture is cool, add to eggs
Then add the grated Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs and mix
In oiled frying pan, place zucchini mixture and cook over medium heat until the mixture becomes firm
When the mixture reaches this stage, your frittata is half finished
Place a dinner plate over the pan and carefully invert the frittata, letting it slide back into the pan to cook the other side
When the frittata is golden brown and the egg mixture is congealed, slide onto a plate and serve warm or cold
NOTE: If you do not wish to try to invert the frittata, you can put it under the broiler in the oven until it is firm and golden in color; or if you travel to Italy, you may find a girafrittata— “turn the frittata”—pan for easy flipping .
13) PRESERVE KNIVES
    Also in the cucina , olive oil can be used to preserve knives and to enhance the knife-sharpening process. My mother rarely uses a knife sharpener but rather slides two knife blades