Nice review. We will be back re-shooting this property in May. Part of our Tuscany villa rentals, inspection tour! http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/review.asp?n=2065

Will it ever stop raining! Really chugging along planning for our Tuscany inspection trip. One month to go, and way too much to do. Still working on the new website, and hopefull we will pick up a bunch of new properties along the way. Seems like and Alfa 159 wagon is going to be to small for the 4 of us, but we'll see.

Been awhile

Well, we are now in the process of planning our next Tuscan adventure! Will be in Cortona for 10 days, and then San Casciano dei Bagni, for one week, off to Tavarnelle val di Pesa for a week, final stop Cevoli, with a wedding in Ferrara in late May. Check out our new website if you havent already. www.italiantownandcountry.com

www.italian-villas.com


Italian town and country is pleased to announce our new web address
www.italian-villas.com while we will continue to use our old address as well www.italiantowndandcountry.com we hope this new site will be easier to remember.

The villa Acquavia has become one our most popular rentals in recent years. This Tuscan villa rental was renovated a few years ago and is furnished in a family friendly style. The location is fantastic for touring the many beautiful hill towns of Tuscany as well as many of the local wineries of the area that are famous for producing vino nobile di Montepulciano. The price is very reasonable,during the low season the cost per person per night is only $45.00.Please contact us if you have any questions.

http://www.italiantownandcountry.com/content.asp?ID=445

Oggi; Ribollita, and Pane Pugliesi

OK so I woke up this morning, on this crisp Fall day, and thought hmmmm... Ribollita. Of course you cant have good Ribolitta without good bread, so lets make Pane Pugliesi, too. Just so happens I have a good batch of Biga, (Italian bread starter, more on that later)
So lets start with the starter:
Biga, Poole, Starter, call it what you will, this is the good stuff that gets better over time, and adds that certain bit of "culture" not to mention mystic, to the quirky art of bread making.
I like to make the larger amount of starter, and then just add flour and water as needed to keep it to the same weight. I always weigh my ingredients, for better consistency.
BIGA
-makes about 750 grams-
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast or 2 grams of fresh yeast
1/4 cup warm water (use bottled or filtered water for all bread baking, I have a crazy feeling the chlorine in water can kill yeast bacteria)
1-1/4 cups plus 2 Tbs. water, room temp.
3-3/4 cups (500 grams) unbleached all purpose flour (King Arthur is my fave)

Stir the yeast into the 1/4 cup warm water and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining water, and then the flour, 1 cup at a time.
Mix with a wooden spoon for 3 to 4 minutes.
You can put in another bowl that's been oiled, but I usually just leave in the bowl I just mixed in. Cover with plastic, and leave it alone for 8 to 24 hours. Then you are ready to use the Biga in breads like the Pane Pugliesi to follow.
The Pane Pugliese will take about 200 grams of Biga, so once you pull out what you need, roughly refill the Biga bowl with more flour and water to make more Biga, recover with plastic, and use again the next day or 2, after that you can stick in the fridge, for up to a week. When you want to use it make sure it warms back up to room temp, and looks active, with lots of bubbles.
Pane Pugliese
-Makes 2 large loaves or 3 smaller ones-
1-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast or 9 grams of fresh yeast
1/4 cup warm water (filtered or bottled)
3 cups water room temp. (filtered or bottled)
1 cup or 200 grams of the Biga that you made previously!
7-1/2 cups (1000 grams) unbleached all purpose flour.
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. Salt ( I like to dissolve the salt in some of the water used in the recipe, so about 1/4 cup from the 3 cups)

The following directions are for a "kitchen-aid" mixer. If you do it by hand, just make sure you double the stirring time.


Stir the yeast into the warm water into the mixing bowl of the mixer until its
creamy about 10 minutes. Add 3 cups of water and the starter (and salted water) and mix with the paddle until well blended. Add the flour and mix until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 1 to 2 minutes. Change to the dough hook and knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes. The dough will be soft and elastic. If you want, and I would kneed by hand for about 1 minute on a well floured surface, but don't add too much additional flour, you want the dough kind of soft.

First rise:
Place the dough in a large well oiled bowl or plastic tub with tight fitting lid.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap if using the bowl and let rise until tripled about 3 hours.

Shaping and second rise:
Flour your work surface generously, and have a mound of flour on hand, flour a dough scraper. Pour the dough on to your surface, and flour the top and cut into to 2 or 3 pieces depending on how many loaves you want ( I do 3 loaves) flatten each piece of dough and roll it up length wise turn the dough 90 degrees and roll up again. Now make a tight ball out of each piece by rolling each piece with cupped hands and using the work surface to create tension around the dough.
Place the loaves on floured parchment paper, cover with a heavy towel and let rise again until doubled about 1 hour.

Baking:
30 minutes before baking heat the oven to 450 degrees, with baking stones inside if you have them. If not don't worry you can put the parchment lined dough on a metal baking sheet. Five to ten minutes before baking flour the tops of the loaves and dimple them all over with your fingers, the imprints will disappear but will keep the bread from rising too crazy in the oven. Let stand for five to ten minutes. Slide the loaves onto baking stone that has been sprinkled with cornmeal, the loaves can be baked directly on baking sheet as well.
I like to reduce the heat to 425, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is pretty brown. If you knock on the bottom of the loaf it should have a nice hollow ring to it. Let cool thoroughly on wire racks, and enjoy!!

Sorry for the long delay, here is the recipe that goes with the bread!!
Ribollita
This is a very basic, and rustic soup, that has become chic! (it's vegetarian too!)
-makes about 6 servings-

8 ounces (225 grams) White Cannellini beans or 1-1/2 cups canned Cannellini beans.
(if using dried beans, soak the beans overnight on water to cover, then drain. Heat the beans and fresh water to cover over high heat to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer covered until tender about 1 and half hours. Drain the beans and reserve the cooking liquid. Puree 3/4 of the cooked beans with a little of the cooking liquid, do the same if using canned beans in a processor or blender. Set aside the remaining whole beans.)
3/4 cup Olive Oil
2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
3 ribs celery, diced
4 carrots peeled and chopped
1 tsp. tomato paste
2 tsp. warm water
3 ripe medium size tomatoes chopped
3 bunches Swiss chard, (about 3 pounds, or 1-1/3 kilos) stems trimmed leaves chopped.
1 bunch Kale, or (Cavalo Nero if you can find it, this is Italian black Kale)
1/2 Savoy Cabbage, finely shredded
4 medium size potatoes peeled and chopped
1 fresh small chili seeded and chopped (Serrano or Jalapeno will work)
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
5 to 6 cups cold water (filtered if possible Brita works great)
Some of the left over bread you made above (more on that later)

Heat 1/2 cup of in a heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat (I like a large enameled pot)
Add the onions, celery, and carrots and saute until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Thin the tomato paste with the 2 tsp. water and add the thinned paste and fresh tomatoes, to the vegetables. Cook stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the chard, kale, cabbage, potatoes, and the whole and pureed beans, the chili, garlic and thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining bean cooking water or canned water, and enough of the cold water to cover the all the veggies. Heat to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer covered for about 2 hours.

Just before serving grill or toast some of the left over bread you made, 2 slices for each serving. Brush the bread with good olive oil (I like to rub a clove of garlic over the toasted bread first, but that's just me!!) Place the bread in the bottom of each serving bowl, and ladle the soup over the bread!
Most Tuscans do not sprinkle Parmesan cheese on this soup, but heck what do they know!
MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!