Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

Ahh! Ribolita. Tuscan comfort food. I crave soups in the fall and this has to be one of my all-time favorites. My friend, Ombretta, made Ribolita and sent it home for us one day when I was a little under the weather. My friend, Char, had recently passed away and I wasn't my usual adventurous self. Still a little weepy I stayed closed to home and was pretty quiet for most of our visit. A beautiful basket of food was waiting for us one rainy day. I can still remember the aroma wafting up from the basket. What an incredible dinner we enjoyed that evening-along with a wonderful bottle of Enzo's chianti. There was Ribolita, Ragu with Polenta and wonderful bread and cheeses. Ombretta had prepared all these delicious foods for a group of us that were to gather for a trek up a mountain with a picnic to follow. I'm sorry now that I missed it because our outings were such memorable occasions. I have a pot of white cannelini soup of the stove. It's missing the black cab...

    This ancient Estruscan recipe is a fun way to liven up roasted chicken. The chicken is butterflied with the breast plate removed. A simple marinade of olive oil, herbs and chiles provides loads of flavor and generally takes a quick hour. I prefer to add sea salt as the chicken cooks. The translation is simply "chicken under brick". How easy is that? Since I had no bricks on hand, I wrapped a heavy iron skillet in foil and placed the chicken on a slab of preheated marble. This recipes is sometimes done on the stove top frying the chicken in 3 tbsp or so of olive oil and flattening with the brick. I like using my infrared grill to keep the summer heat out of the kitchen. The recipe cooks in under an hour. Just be sure to cook it through. The rising dough is a Lavash bread recipe that I have added parmesan cheese and dried chives. Next I intend to put the dough through my pasta maker for extra thin strips of flatbread. I will sprinkle it with sea salt after it bakes. If...