Stallings Class Blog

I am back.

2010-07-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

So this may not have been the bast travel blog ever, but I will try to get some things up here now that I'm back in Bloomington. Italy was amazing! I learned about Italian cooking, bee keeping, organic farming, olive oil production, and much more! Here is one of the good recipes I was taught while there...

Minestrone di primavera
Springtime minestrone

A slow-cooked minestrone made with fresh seasonal ingredients and served with good bread is a healthy and delicious dinner or lunch.
The winter version has more potatoes in it, and denser, richer vegetables such as cavolo nero. Its springtime cousin is altogether lighter and fresher.

Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 2 hours | Servings: 6

Ingredients

250g/8 oz dried cannellini beans
2 cloves garlic
Sprig of sage
3 small tomatoes
Extravirgin olive oil
1 onions
2 leeks
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
1/2 savoy cabbage
1 or 2 potatoes
3 skinned tomatoes (can be canned)
Other seasonal vegetables (chard, spinach, peas…) a handful of each
Several sprigs of thyme
1 litre/2 pints vegetable stock
Salt, pepper

Directions

The previous evening, soak the beans in plenty of cold water.
TheChange the water and bring slowly to the boil, with the garlic, sage and small tomatoes. Cook slowly for approximately 2 hours, until the beans are tender.
TheDiscard the garlic and sage, and purée half the beans.
TheWhile the beans are cooking, wash the vegetables well. Cut the carrots into discs or cubes, the tomatoes into large chunks, and the rest into fine cubes or slices.
ThePut all the vegetables into a large pot to fry for 5 minutes in a good swirl of olive oil.
TheAdd the herbs, salt, pepper, the whole and puréed beans and the stock. The quantities should be such as to end up with a thick soup, but remember that the cabbage will release a lot of water.
TheCheck the seasoning and cook with the lid on for about an hour and a half on a low flame.
TheAdd the thyme towards the end of the cooking process.
TheDress with plenty of olive oil and black pepper. Soup is often served in Tuscany in a bowl which has toasted farmhouse bread placed in it, rubbed lightly with raw garlic and drizzled with olive oil.

Notes

Minestrone is often served in Tuscany in a bowl which has toasted farmhouse bread placed in it, rubbed lightly with raw garlic and drizzled with olive oil.

Leaning Tower

2010-06-19T13:15:00.002-07:00

We have a very slow internet connection here in Tuscany, but I will try to post pictures of us in front of and on top of the leaning tower of Pisa soon!

Leaning Tower

2010-06-19T13:15:00.001-07:00

We have a very slow internet connection here in Tuscany, but I will try to post pictures of us in front of and on top of the leaning tower of Pisa soon!

Italian Posts/Pics Coming Soon

2010-06-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I hope your summer vacation is going well and no one is missing school too much!

I plan to start updating this blog daily in about a week. Please e-mail me or leave a comment here if you have any questions/comments about the blog. I've already had a few requests for pictures from students. Keep them coming!

-Michael (Mr. Stallings)

Summer Vacation

2010-06-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone's summer vacation has started off nicely! This will be my first attempt at keeping any sort of regular blog, so keep that in mind as I work through the glitches.

I invite all students/families to post and comment here. And please let me know if you see any way to improve your blogging experience. I'll try to keep up with it during the school year if all goes well!

Test Blog Entry

2010-05-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is the first entry on our class blog.