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Recipes in English

2006-08-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

For recipes in English, please visit my Italian blog which now features also an english version.

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Cream of butternut squash and golden apples

2006-06-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Another butternut squash summer recipe for the joy of Gloria and Franci. To be eaten warm or at room temperature but not cold otherwise the squash smoothy flavour will be lost.

Ingredients: 1 medium butternut squash, 1 onion, 2 golden apples, 800ml vegetable stock, 1 Tbsp sultans, 1 Tbsp chopped walnuts, 1 Tbsp natural yoghurt to garnish, oil, salt and pepper

Chop the butternut squash and put it on a baking tin in the oven at in 250 C for 20 minutes or as long as it takes to soften the pulp and roast the exterior. In the meantime fry the chopped onion with a bit of olive oil. Add the chopped apples and stir to brown them. Put the sultans in a couple of spoons of boiling water to soften. Take the butternut squash out of the oven, remove the skin, and put it in the pan whit the onion and the apples. Mix well for a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper. Mix everything with a blender or an electric mixer adding the stock to obtain a smooth cream. Serve it by garnishing with yoghurt, sultans, chopped walnuts and golden apple slices.

Caring Oranges

2006-06-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

They take care of you and you should take care of them. That's how caring oranges are. A moment of tenderness, a way to care for yourself and for the ones you love. Very easy to prepare, for breakfast, for lunch, tea time or dinner. Choose your favourite fruit, the freshest one, the one you prefer, the one in season.

Ingredients: 2 oranges, 1 banana, few strawberries, few cherries, 50gr dark chocolate, a splash of orange liqueur, few pistachios, 1Tbsp sugar, the juice of 1 lemon juice, few mint leaves

Half the oranges and with the help of a knife and a spoon, take the content out and put it into a bowl. Add chopped strawberries, chopped banana, unstoned cherries, lemon juice and sugar. Mix very well. Melt the chocolate in a double saucepan splashing with orange liqueur. Finally, arrange the mixed fruit into the orange bowls, add the melted chocolate and garnish with some chopped pistachios and fresh mint. Serve immediately.

Butternut squash Ice Cream

2006-06-15T01:03:00.000-07:00

I know I have been too lazy these past weeks! Too many recipes behind to be translated but perhaps it's never too late! You can always have a look at my Italian blog for all the recipes. But for now, I am coming back with this beautiful ice cream which I would never imagine to eat one day. Butternut squash is one of my favourite vegetable, and one of my favourite among all squashes. Easy to handle and cut, versatile, you can do so many things with it, great flavour and last but not least the color! It speaks for itself! Very summertime and very unusual, not only for its shape! With this I'd also like to remind you of a Summer Ice Cream Event hosted by Sam. Have a look and be ready to start making your favourite ice cream!

Ingredients: 300gr butternut squash flash, 3 eggs yolk, 75gr sugar, 80ml maple syrup, 300ml double cream, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp powdered vanilla essence

Cut the butternut squash, remove the skin and cook it in a small pan with little water, otherwise steam it until soft. Work it with a fork quickly until smooth and let it cool. In another bowl whisk eggs and sugar with an electric mixer, until creamy and thick. Gradually add maple syrup and finally the butternut squash flash. Transfer the mixture into a bigger bowl. Beat the double cream with nutmeg and vanilla, then fold it into the squash mixture. Pour it into a plum cake stamp and freeze for at least 4 hours. After four hours, remove the stamp from the freezer, break it with a spoon and process the mixture again with a blender or a mixer until smooth. Freeze again until ready to serve.
Alternatively use your own ice cream maker and follow the instructions.

Squash soup with sage and honey

2006-04-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from a restaurant in Dartmouth which I have been over last weekend. I will talk about it when I return and have a few pictures to show as well, as it's really worth a try. In the meantime, this is one of the dish I ate. The recipe I am giving it's not the original, I have been inspired of course and although Paul had been very friendly to me, I didn't dare to ask for the recipe! The original recipe is called butternut sqash soup with sage and honey but I have used a big mama squash for mine and done a bit of improvisation on the quantities. The result is delicious, very much similar to the original.

Ingredients: 800gr big mama squash flash or butternut squash flash, 1lt vegetable stock, 10 leaf fresh sage, 4 Tbsp honey, dry sage, extra virgin olive oil

Cut the squash flash in big pieces, add them in a big saucepan with the vegetable stock. Cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. In a small saucepan, heat a bit of olive oil, add the sage and fry until crisp. Put both the sage and the squash in a mixer and blend well until smooth. Add more or less stock accordingly to your taste. Pour the soup back into the saucepan, add honey and simmer until dissolved. Serve hot sprinkled with dry sage if you have it.

Nettles tart

2006-04-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

Springtime is the best moment to go out and enjoy the first wild food available for free. Nettles are one of those things you see all over the places but only few people dare to pick them and eat. It's one of the best greens available in nature, and contain lots of mineral and vitamins. You just need a pair of thick gloves and that's it. Pick the best leaves on top, which are tender and younger. Avoid paths where dogs walk or choose nettles that grow higher. They are most delicious cooked in many ways, this is just one of those.

Ingredients for the brisée: 500gr flour, 125gr butter, 2 eggs, 1 pinch salt
Ingredients for the filling: 300gr nettles, 1 small leek, 2 eggs, 240ml single cream, 4 Tbsp grated cheese, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, salt, pepper

Prepare the brisée adding all the ingredients in your mixer and mix until they stick all together. Add a bit of cold water if necessary. Pour the brisée in a round cake 25cm tart pan or other of your choice. Work with your fingers to smooth the dough in the pan. Let it rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling by beating the two eggs in a big bowl. Add the lee finely cut, grated cheese, nutmeg and cream. Wash the nettles carefully and boil them in salted water for about 2 minutes. Drain them well, pour them on a plate and cut them roughly with a knife. Add the nettles to the rest of the filling and mix all the ingredients together. Finally add salt and pepper to taste.
Take the tart pan from the fridge and pour the filling over it, helping yourself with a spoon. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 190 C for about 40/45 minutes or until the borders of the dough become golden. If the tart starts burning too quickly, cover it with aluminium foil. As usual times vary accordingly to your oven. Mine is a gas oven. Let it cool well before cutting.

Ginger Tea

2006-03-31T04:54:00.000-08:00

Springtime has arrived in many countries, except here, in Devon where it's still cold and windy and too cloudy to be true. This is the perfect drink for those, who like me, are not only in the cold, but have a cold. Wheter the ginger, wheter the weather, the cold has gone after drinking it. Give it a try!

Ingredients: 2 cm fresh ginger, 1 tsp brown sugar, 250ml water

Bring the water to a boil. Add greated ginger and let it stand for 3 minutes. Add sugar and drink when it's still very warm. If you don't like how ginger tastes, filter the tea before drinking it

Rice biscuit with cocoa and cardamom

2006-03-27T04:52:00.000-08:00

These lovely biscuits have been made by using a biscuit maker, one of those thing similar to a gun, but more useful and less destructive. Making biscuits has never been so easy! The trick is in the dough. It requires a bit of more butter, as it has to slide perfectly in the machine, in order to allow the "gun" to "shoot" the biscuit perfectly. First time for me with it. Sometimes the shape isn't exactly how it looks on the box but it doesn't really matter! Rice flour makes them even more crumbly, perferct with tea.

Ingredients: 300gr rice flour, 170gr butter, 70gr sugar, 1 egg, 1 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp powdered cardamom, 1 pinch salt

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and the sugar together until you get a soft cream. Add the egg and keep mixing. Then add the flour 1 Tbsp at the time, and finally the cocoa and cardamom or another spice of your choice. Take the dough out and work it in your hands quickly to remove the air so when you push the dough in the biscuit maker, it doesn't creat empty spaces. Cook the biscuits in a pre-heated oven at 180 C for 15 minutes or until golden. Let them cool well before serving.

Clams and potatoes soup

2006-03-21T04:49:00.000-08:00

This is my personal variation of the famous New England Clam Chowder. What I have done differently is basically removing the bacon and adding the pancetta instead, removed the cream and only used milk, so that the soup it's lighter. I have also added a bit of white wine, which always goes well when it comes to fish and seafood.

Ingredients: 500gr clams, 2 medium potatoes, 1 celery stalk, 50gr pancetta, 1 glass white wine, 2 Tbsp flour, 500ml milk, 500ml fish stock, olive oil, salt, pepper

Let the clams open in a saucepan with a couple of Tbsp of water. Remove the shell, filter the water and set aside. In another pan, fry the pancetta with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, add the chopped potatoes, celery and clams with their own filtered water. Mix well with a spoon, pour the glass of white wine and let it cook for a few minutes until the alcohol has evaporated. Add fish stock, cover and cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Wisk flour and milk in another pan until no lumps are formed. Add it to the other pan with clams and potatoes and keep mixing until the soup has reached a good consistency. If you want it more dense, add more flour or else, more milk. Serve hot.

Pan fried scallops with traditional balsamic vinegar

2006-03-20T04:31:00.000-08:00

Scallops aren't certainly the cheapest of the seafood, but they are so gorgeous that you can indulge sometimes. The best way to eat them I think, it's always the simpliest. Lightly coat with flour, lightly fried with butter and guarnished with balsamic vinegar, better if it's The traditional balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients: scallops, flour, butter, aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena, a few leaf of salad or baby spinach

Lightly coat the scallops with flour. Melt a bit of butter into a frying pan. Fry the scallops lightly about 2 minuts each side or until golden, not brown. Arrange them on a plate or in their shells, where you previously put some fresh salad leaves or baby spinach leaves. Guarnish with some drops of balsamic vinegar and serve immediately while still warm.

Hazelnut and white chocolate cake

2006-03-17T04:35:00.000-08:00

This is a very simple but effective cake. It can be made with white chocolate or if you want a richer taste, with dark chocolate. The chocolate metls in the middle of the cake, so when you cut it, it's like a surprise. A sweet one! I dedicate this cake to my friend Frank, who celebrates his birthday today! Happy birthday Frank!

Ingredients: 200gr flour, 175gr sugar, 175gr butter, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1 egg, 200ml milk, 100gr white chocolate, 2 tsp cinnamon, 50gr hazelnuts

Beat all ingredients together except chocolate and hazelnuts. You can use an electric beater or a manual wisk. Beat well until no lumps are formed. Pour half of the mixture into a greased cake tin. Break the white chocolate into pieces and put them on top of the mixture. Pour the other half of it and spread well with a spatula. Sprinkle with roughly chopped nuts. Bake for 1 hour or until well cooked inside and brown on the outside in a preheated oven at 180 C (Gas 4, 350 F). If the top starts to get too dark cover it with foil and continue baking. You can also use a thootpick to make sure it's cooked inside before removing it from the oven. Once is ready, switch the oven off and let it cool inside the oven with it's door open.

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena - Taste the difference

2006-03-15T04:32:00.000-08:00

A while ago I had a post about the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena thanks to Omar which sent to me a little home made sample, made by him and his family in Modena.

Some of you have wished to have the same opportunity of tasting such a unique product. Omar is now giving you the chance! He has prepared 5 little 50 ml bottles of ABTM, such as the one you see in the picture above.

This specific ABTM has been tasted and appreciated by a local expert, who is in charge of tasting all the ABTM samples of the "San Giovanni Palio" and is becoming a "certified taster" of the ABTM consortium which requires a few years of classes kept by the consortium.

Omar is now proposing a "tasting the difference", giving you the chance to buy a 50 ml bottle for just 20 Euro. This is a very "friendly" price which also includes shipping fees (within Europe), well below the market price. You can pay online by using Paypal. The ABTM will be shipped by Omar once the payment is received.

The first five persons who book through the link in the comments window will receive in the same window Omar's address so you will contact him directly to agree about payment and delivery details.

If you want to know more about ABTM you can read the previous post. If you are still not sure I can tell you that this, is completely different form the commercial balsamic vinegar you buy. It is a unique product that is difficult to describe, you have to try it!

The same opportunity is given in my Italian blog. If some sample will not be sold there will be moved here and viceversa. Happy ABTM!

(photo ABTM by Omar)

Spiced lentil soup

2006-03-14T04:51:00.000-08:00

Spring seems to have changed completely it's direction this year. I don't know where it is at. It's freezing cold out there, much worse than it was in January. So while we wait for the spring time, and even better summer time, we cuddle ourselves with hot soups, good for the health and for the heart.

Ingredients: 150gr lentils, 2 medium onions, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tomatoes can, 2lt chicken or vegetable stock, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp hot paprika, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin, olive oil, salt, fresh coriander leaves

Chop onions and crushed garlic, fry them in a big saucepan with some oil. Add lentils, tomatoes, stock, spices. Adjust with salt. Bring to boil and simmer for about 1 hour or until lentils are tender. Reduce the time and the stock, accordingly to the type of lentils you are using. Some don't require such a huge amount of cooking, so refeer to the instructions you have on your packet of lentils.
Transfer some of the lentils in a blender and process until smooth. Return to the pan, warm it up again with the remaining lentils and serve hot guarnished with fresh coriander.

Steamed tuna dressed with soy and chilli sauce

2006-03-13T04:39:00.000-08:00

This is one my favourite dressing to go with fish. It can be used with tuna or other fish. Simple and easy to make, perfect if you are on a diet as it doesn't require much effort and does not contain many calories. If your diet is really strict, you can easily remove the oil, it will taste delicious any way.

Ingredients: 4 pieces of tuna, 2 Tbsp oyster sauce, 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp and a half rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 small red chilli

Line steamer with baking paper or with some cabbage, whatever you like or prefer, so to avoid that the bamboo steamer gets dirty afterwards, it will be difficult to remove traces of fish. Although you can clean the bamboo steamer, it will be more hygenic to put something in between fish and steamer.
Cook covered for about 5 minutes or until tuna is just cooked.
Put all other ingredients in a bowl and mix well, cut the red chilli in small pieces and add to the sauce.
Serve tuna drizzled with chilli dressing and if you like with with steamed vegetables.

Lime and dried Figs Marmalade

2006-03-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

I really like limes, not just for the color, but also for the fact that you can use them in a variety of dishes, raw or cooked. I had some organic figs I had bought a while ago, so I thought that one of the best way to eat them would be converting into a marmalade. The taste of this is slightly bitter which goes very well with the sweetness of figs. Excellent spread on bread and butter or even with cheese.

Ingredients: 1kg lime, 250gr dried figs, 1.5kg sugar, 2lt water

Remove rind from limes cutting them into stripes and put them in a pan. Cut limes in half, remove the flesh. Put the flash in the pan as well and tie pith and seeds in the musling bag. Combine rind, lime, flash and muslin bag and the water in the pan. Bring to boil and cook slowly for 1 hour.
Discard musling bag. Add sugar and figs sliced thinly, and stir well until dissolved. Bring to boil again and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes or until it reaches the desired consistency. Pour hot marmalade into hot sterilised jars. Put them upside down and cover with a blanket until almost cold. Turn them again to prevent the marmalade stick on the wrong side!

Sweet potatoes Focaccia with cherry tomatoes and oregano

2006-03-09T04:40:00.000-08:00

This is what Italians call focaccia. It's similar to pizza but as you can see much thick and softer. Like pizza, there are many different ways to make focaccia and many different toppings and filling. Infact you can find plain focaccia, focaccia with toppings like this one, or stuffed focaccia. This is just one of them. I have used sweet potatoes although the "original" recipes requires white potatoes, but I do like the orange color so I used them. This kind of focaccia it's typical in the south region of Puglia (Apulia) in Italy, which is where I come from originally, but you can find it all over Italy nowdays. You can make this thicker or slightly thinner and you can fill it with mortadella or Parma ham as I have done, or just eat it as it is. The potatoes make the dough softern than usual and of course also reacher than a normal dough, although you won't taste potatoes.

Ingredients: 250gr durum weath flour, 250gr white flour, 400gr sweet potatoes, 4 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp dry yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 100gr cherry tomatoes, oregano

Prepare the yeast accordingly to your favourite brand. I usually diluite 1 Tbsp of dry yeast into 600ml of warm water, add 1 tsp sugar, mix well and leave in a warm place until it forms bubbles. Boil potatoes and mash them well. Sift flour, add salt, 2 Tbsp olive oil and mashed potatoes. Work it well for about 10 minutes or until you get a soft and smooth dough, adding only as much water (with yeast) as you need. Leave it to leaven in a warm place for 1 hour. Work it again on your work surface for a couple of minutes, put it into an oven well oiled pan. I used a 24cm squared pan but you could use a round one. Shape the dough in the pan very well with your hands, pour 2 Tbsp olive oil and spread it on the surface. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and arrange them over the focaccia pushing them in slightly. Sprinkle with salt and oregano. Leave it in a warm place to leaven for another 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven at 220 C. Cook the focaccia for 30 minutes or until golden, making sure the tomatoes don't burn. Serve warm or cold and if you like, filled with ham or mortadella (if you can find it!).

Stew of new potatoes in white wine, with mortadella and mozzarella

2006-03-07T04:49:00.000-08:00

Mortadella is a finely hashed/ground heat-cured pork sausage with lard pieces, delicately flavored with garlic and anise seed and optionally with broken pieces of pistachio. Traditionally the pork filling was ground to a paste using a large mortar (mortaio) and pestle. Mortadella originated in Bologna la Grassa, the "fat" city overflowing with bounty, though it is made elsewhere in Italy, and a similar commercial product, called "bologna" often omitting the lard.
Of course it has been impossible for me to find mortadella in Devon! This has been sent to me by my dearest friend Terry directly from Italy. You could substitute it with a few slices of a good ham. Terry also sent me this recipe and of course I couldn't resist trying it straight away! Thank you Terry!

Ingredients: 500gr new potatoes, 70gr scallions, 2 garlic cloves, 1 Tbsp butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 glass and a half of dry white whine, 1 small branch of rosemary (fresh or dry), 70gr mortadella, 125gr mozzarella, salt, pepper

Wash the new potatoes well without peeling them. Peel the scallions and cut a couple only, leave the others whole. Peel the garlic and cut it into small stripes. Warm up butter and oil in a large pan, add scallions and garlic and fry for a few minutes without letting the garlic burn, then add new potatoes, fry again for a few and adjust with salt and pepper. Add rosemary, mix well and pour 1 glass of white wine first. Cover and stew for about 30 minutes checking now and then that it doesn't need more wine. Cut the mozzarella into small cubes and the mortadella into stripes. Add them to the new potatoes, toss covered for about 2 minutes until the mozzarella melts. Serve warm guarnished with more rosemary.

Potato and Parsnip Puree

2006-03-06T04:50:00.000-08:00

Parsnip is a root similar to a carrot, although brown on the outside and white on the inside. I never had this in Italy, I actually don't think I have ever seen them in Italy or tested them. That is the beauty of travelling I guess, to discover what you would never think it even exists. In Italy we have vegetables that don't grow in England as well, and although I sometimes miss them, I still like to experiment with the things I have here. This is just a simple puree with potatoes. Goes well as a side dish or by itself.

Ingredients: 250gr parsnips, 400gr patatoes, 30gr butter, 4 Tsbp grate parmesan cheese, milk, nutmeg, salt

Boil potato and parsnip separately until tender.

Mash them and add milk, butter, salt.

Add grated cheese and milk accordingly until you get a smooth puree.

You can add nutmeg at this point, or sprinkle it at the end.

Serve warm.

Rhubarb meat sauce

2006-03-05T04:44:00.000-08:00

This is one of my first attempts with rhubarb. Probably unusual, or maybe not. I have used it as I would use celery, only added a bit more of it. While it cooks, the rhubarb melts completely and makes a nice mixture with the meat and the spices. As always it is very difficult to tell if this works as it depends on your testes. So there is only one way to know it. Try and let me know.

Ingredients: 400gr mince meat, 1 medium red onion, 4 or 5 carrots, 350gr rhubarb, 50gr sugar, 125ml water, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, olive oil, salt, pepper

Fry the sliced onion into a bit of olive oil and let it cook until it soften. Add the meat and fry until brown, then add the rhubarb cut into about 2cm pieces, sugar, spices and a bit of water. Finally add salt and pepper and let it cook for about 1 hour. You can serve it with pasta, rice or even cous cous. The choice is yours.

Pizza with Basil Pesto and Ricotta cheese

2006-03-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

Green, green and more green! I love the color green but most of all I really like basil. I like basil so much that I even eat it raw like I would eat a salad. I am not sure it does well to me, but if I am still alive and kicking it surely can't be that bad. Home made pesto is much better than the one you buy, as most home made food. I have added some ricotta cheese to it, to give a bit of extra flavour. You could make the same pesto to eat with some pasta or for a Vegan version, use tofu instead.

Ingredients for the dough: 500gr white flour, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp dry yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
Ingredients for the pesto: 1 big bunch of basil, 2 garlic cloves, 50gr pine nuts, 3 Tbsp parmigiano reggiano cheese, 200gr ricotta cheese, 150ml extravirgin olive oil, salt, pepper

Follow the instructions of your favourite yeast brand. I usually diluite 1 Tbsp yeast and 1 tsp sugar into 600ml warm water. Put it aside into a warm place until bubbles are formed.
Put the flour on your working surface. Make a hole in the middle and add olive oil, salt and the water with yeast. Add more warm water accordingly. Work the dough until you get an elastic one, not too dry. Let it leaven for 1 hour or until it has doubled the size.
Prepare the pesto by putting all the ingredients into a mixer or a blender. Mix them all until a smooth paste is formed, adding more or less oil accordingly to the amount of basil used. Add salt and pepper.
When the dough has leaven, put it back on your working surface and roll it into a thin sheet. With this amount of flour, you will get 1 rectangular pizza and 1 round pizza. Pour the pesto over the pizza and add a couple of Tbsp of warm water to the pesto if it's too difficult to spread. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and cook in a pre-heated ove at 220 C (425 F - Gas 7) for about 20 minutes or until gold.

Seville Orange Marmalade and chocolate Tarts

2006-03-01T04:46:00.000-08:00

We really don't need to make tarts to eat this delicious Marmalade, but chocolate and orange it's a combination that works really well, however you put them together, you'll never go wrong. Easy to make tarts, perfect for kids and just great for adults!

Ingredients for 6 tarts: 150gr white flour, 90gr butter, 30gr sugar, 1 pinch salt, 1 egg, 2 Tbsp cold water, 300gr seville oranges marmalade, 6 small chocolate squares

Mix all the ingredients (apart from marmelade and chocolate) in a food processor. Mix until it resembles fine crumbs and the dough comes together. Wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
Lightly coat 6 stamps or 1 big stamp, with your fingers work the dough inside towards the edges to form the borders. Fill with marmelade and put a square of chocolate in the middle.
Bake on a pre-heeated oven at 180 C (350 F - Gas 4) for about 35 minutes or until golden.

Chiacchiere

2006-02-27T04:46:00.000-08:00

We call them "Chiacchiere", literally translate it into "Chats". In Italy we made them for the Carnival feast, which is celebrated all over Italy before Easter.

Ingredients: 250gr white flour, 50gr butter, 4 Tbsp white dry wine, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt, 1gr vanilla powder, 1 pinch salt, frying oil, icing sugar to decorate

Sift the flour on your working surface, work it with the egg, butter, vanilla and sugar.
Pour the wine slowly and add more if necessary until you get a soft and round ball.
Divide the dough into 4 and work it with your pasta machine to obtain rectangular sheets. Work it until smooth using the number 5 thikness.
Cut them into rectangular stripes with a wheel cutter such as one you see on the left.
Fry them in hot oil, about 10 seconds each side, or until golden and lay them on a plate covered with absorbent paper. Let them cool completely and serve sprinkled with icing sugar. Only put the icing sugar when it's time to serve them.

Cacao and vanilla Cream

2006-02-26T04:41:00.000-08:00

There is always a good excuse to drink, better if what you drink tastes of chocolate. This is a cream you can make with a few ingredients and can be drunk soon after. The problem is that it is so good you drink one, then another, then another and forget that this contains alcohol. So better be careful!

Ingredients: 250ml vodka, 500ml water, 500gr sugar, 100gr cocoa powder, 1/2gr vanilla powder

Pour the water in a small saucepan. Sift in the cocoa powder and mix well with a wooden spoon until completely dissolved and without lumps. Stir in the sugar slowly until dissolved. Let it cool. Mix the vodka with the vanilla. When the cream is completely cold, pour in the alcohol and mix well. Pour everything into your favourite glass bottle. This is also good mixed with milk. If you like you could also keep it into the fridge. Shake well before use.

Delicious Potatoes Pizza

2006-02-24T04:48:00.000-08:00

Delicious because it is delicious and with potatoes yes, self explanatory. Some might argue this is a bit too dry and the combination doesn't really work well together but as usual it's all about tastes. I have also added some sweet potatoes as they give a bit of color. You could also add tomatoes and mozzarella so that it's reacher and less dry. Up to you!

Ingredients : 300gr semolina flour, 100gr white flour, 1 Tbsp dry yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, rosemary or oregano, 2 big potatoes, warm water as needed

Make the dough by mixing the yeast directly with the flour. Add sugar, salt and olive oil and work the dough adding as much water as needed to get a soft and round ball. Put the ball into a big container and let it leaven for at least 1 hour or until it has doubled the size. Then re-work the dough on a floured surface and make it the shape of your oven griddle. Cut the potatoes very thin and put them on the pizza one by one. Salt and drizzle with oil each of them. At this stage you could also add tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Guarnish with oregano or rosemary and cook in hot oven for 15 minutes at 250 C (480 F). It really depends on your oven how long it needs to stay in. Make sure the potatoes don't burn by checking the pizza now and then.

Seville Orange Marmalade

2006-02-23T04:41:00.000-08:00

As every week, also last week I received my box of organic vegetables and fruit from Riverford Organic. Each week I choose if I want a small or big box, accordingly to what I have left in my fridge. Last week I also ordered an extra product called "Marmalade kit" which I though it would give me a kit to make marmalade, but I didn't think I would get fruit! So that is what it was. A bag of beautiful Seville's Oranges with the recipe to make this delicious marmalade. It was a great surprise for me because this, is the only marmalade I really like to eat, the others are always too sweet for my tastes. This kind of oranges are only to be found in January and February, so this is the best time to look for them. Unlike other oranges, a true Seville has a very rough skin and has a beautiful deep orange color. These are impossible to eat as they are very bitter, so Marmalade is the best way to make use of them.

Ingredients: 1.5kg (3lbs) Seville oranges, 2.8 litres (5 pints) water, juice of 2 lemons, 2.7kg (6lbs) sugar

Scrub the oranges and cut them in half. Squeeze the juice and pips into a basin. Cut up the peel into thin strips or chunks, as preferred.
Put the peel, any soft pulp and the water in a large heavy-based pan. Strain in the juice. Put the pips in a muslin bag and tie it to the pan handle so that it hangs well down in the water. Cook the fruit gently for 2 hours, or until the peel is tender.
Lift out the bag of pips and squeeze it between two spoons over the pan before discarding. Add the lemon juice andsugar, and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Bring to the boil, and boil rapidly until setting point is reached. Remove from the heat and skim the scum, cool for 5-8 minutes and then stir well to distribute the peel.
Pot and seal as you would with any jam or fruit jelly. I personally fill the jars, previously sterilized in hot water, seal them well and put them upside down. Cover with a blanket until the marmalade is cold.

Orecchiette with pumpkin and vodka sauce and turnips

2006-02-21T04:44:00.000-08:00

Another personal experiment. While I was making the sauce I realized I had no more white wine, which I would have liked to use. There was a bottle of vodka in my kitchen, which I use for making liqueurs, not for drinking. So I thought "Why not?". And that is how it went really. The vodka doesn't give a big flavour to the dish but the pumpkin cooks really well in it and it doesn't taste bad at all. Finally, I had some small turnips in the fridge so I roasted them and used to decorate the whole dish.

Ingredients: 350gr orecchiette, 400gr pumpkin, 1 glass of vodka, 1 glass of water, 1 medium onion, 1/2 tsp red dried chilli peppers, 200gr small turnips, 1 Tbsp extravirgin olive oil

Fry the onion with a bit of oil for a few minutes until it softs. Add the flesh of the pumpkin cut into cubes. Mix well then add the vodka and the water. Cook for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and well cooked. Add the dried chilly and mash the pumpkin as you would do with potatoes. Clean the turnips, put them on a baking dish, dress with a bit of oil and salt and cook in hot oven (240 C - 450 F - 8 G) for about 30 minutes.
Cook the pasta in salted water. Drain it leaving just a little water in the pan. Pour it into the saucepan where the pumpkin is and toss it until all the ingredients are mixed well. Sprinkle with dried hot chilli pepper and guarnish with roasted turnips.

Cream of roasted peppers with ginger and wild fennel

2006-02-20T04:51:00.000-08:00

The weekend is usually the best time to stay in the kitchen without being worried about this and that and experiment with new recipes, only using what the fridge is offering. Which usually it's not that much at the end of the week. When I really don't know what to do with peppers, I simply roast them on the barbecue if the weather allows, or in the oven, most often. I dress them with olive oil, garlic, anchovies and cappers and serve them as appetizer. This time I have wanted to do something different and I came up with this idea of adding a bit of ginger and the wild fennel I had picked and dried from last summer. I have used double the amount of ginger you will find in this recipe, but that is why I really love ginger. Change the amount accordingly to your taste.

Ingredients: 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 250ml vegetable stock, 1 clove garlic, 1 small onion, 1 piece of ginger about 2cm, 1 Tbsp tomato purée, 2 Tbsp olive oil, dry wild fennel to decorate, a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven at 250 C (480 F - Gas mark 8). Roast the peppers for about 25 minutes. Leave them to cool then peel them removing the internal seeds. In a small saucepan, fry the garlic, onion and grated ginger for a few minutes until the onion softs. Don't let it burn. Add the roasted peppers, tomato purée, the vegetable stock and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes. Transfer everything into a blender and mix until smooth. Reheat the cream if necessary and serve sprinkled with whild fennel or any other herb of your choice.

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena

2006-02-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

Omar is an Italian guy who comments now and then on my Italian blog and knows everything about Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena (ABTM). I had never tried the real ABTM before and I now understand that what I usually buy as Aceto Balsamico is just little more than brown water compared to the real one. He kindly volunteered to send to me a sample of the ABTM that he and his family make in Modena.
As he suggested we tried it with Parmigiano Reggiano, although the 12 years old that he was suggesting couldn't be found in Devon so we had to have it with the commercial version of Parmigiano Reggiano.
The ABTM is very thick, full-bodied and dark. It tastes completely different from the "standard" version. It has a fantastic flavour which is so unique that it's even difficult to explain. So, I leave space to Omar to explain how his family makes the ABTM and the differences with the standard Aceto Balsamico.

The Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena is made by acetificaition of boiled grape 'must' (unfermented juice). Cold winters and hot summers, typical of the Po valley, are very important factors which make the acetification process possible. The base material is the white "Trebbiana" grape, although Lambrusco grape is sometime used. As soon as the fermentation begins the must is filtered and boiled over open fire. The must is concentrated from 30 to 70 % depending on the sugar content. Stronger flavours are obtained by higher concentration.
The boiled must is then filtered and put to rest in barrel batteries. A barrel battery is made by 6 barrels of different woods: 1. Mulberry 20 lt - 2. Ash tree 30lt - 3. Cherry tree 40 lt - 4. Chestnut tree 50 lt - 6. Oak tree 60lt. The biggest barrel contains the youngest vinegar. The oldest is kept into the smallest barrels. Each barrel has an inspection hole covered with a cotton patch kept in position by a river stone which is corroded with time by the vinegar vapours. With time vinegar concentrate even more and each barrel is topped with younger vinegar from the next bigger barrel. This is usually done in springtime whereas during the rest of the year the vinegar rests and is inspected regularly. It is experience and time which brings this product to the right equilibrium and flavour. The ABTM must be aged for at least 12 years to be called Balsamico Tradizione di Modean. Before it can only be called semi-balsamico. Because of the long time it takes to make the ABTM it is traditional to start a new battery for every new born in the family. After 25 years ageing the ABTM is called "Extra-Vecchio" (extra old). The 12 years old ABTM is perfect with cooked vegetables and the Extra-Vecchio for cheese and cooked meat.
For all these reasons ABTM experts often say that the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena can be made but can't be produced. Just like Parmigiano Reggiano.

As a last curiosity, Omar real name initials are A.B. as all the rest of his family.

A big thank you to Omar for this precious gift. I'll find it really hard from now on to buy Aceto Balsamico! (barrels's photo by Omar)

Beetroot and cocoa cake

2006-02-17T04:35:00.000-08:00

Ok maybe I should have said this was also the beetroot week. I didn't know what else to do with my left over beetroot, so I remembered I had this recipe and I guess this was the time to try it. I wasn't sure at first, the idea of beetroot cake didn't sound very appealing to me. But, I have to say this is probably the softest chocolate cake I have ever had. I think the softness is given by the beetroot although if you are afraid that you'll taste beetroot in this cake, don't! The cocoa really does it all and you won't taste any beetroot at all. So what is the point of making a beetroot cake if you are not going to taste any? I don't know! I guess it's different and you can still enjoy a wonderful vegetable in sweet cake like this. So with this cake, I officially close my pink week and I open the brown week.

Ingredients: 200gr flour, 300gr cooked beetroot, 50gr cocoa powder, 2 eggs, 150gr sugar, 125ml olive oil, 2 Tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven at 180 C (350 F). Cook the beetroot in water or use already cooked ones which are available at most food store. Put them in a mixer and reduce in puree. Add a couple of Tbsp of water to allow the mixer to work properly. Add the eggs and beat in the mixer as well. Finally add the olive oil and vanilla extract.
Into a large bowl sift the flour and the cocoa powder and mix well. Add sugar and baking powder. Add the beetroot mix to the dry ingredients and mix well with a woodeen spoon until there are no lumps. Lightly butter a 20cm cake pan. Pour the mixture and cook for about 40 minutes or until well cooked inside. Use a toothpick to check if it's well cooked inside. Switch off the oven and let the cake cool inside with the door open.

Go Vegan: For a vegan version, just substitute the eggs with 40gr of egg replacer and 160ml of water adding the dry ingredients to the dry ingredients and the water to the liquid ingredients.

Strawberry and raspberry mousse in Chocolate glasses

2006-02-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

Since Valentine's day comes only once a year I think it's best if it lasts longer than a day only. So here is another sweet sweet to celebrate the week of love.

Ingredients for the chocolate glasses: 150gr fondant chocolate
Ingredients for the mousse: 300gr mixed strawberry and raspberry, 120gr sugar, 2 Tbsp orange liqueur, 250ml whipping cream, 2 egg whites

To make the chocolate glasses wrap some kitchen foil around a glass. Deep the glass with the kithen foil in melted fondant chocolate. Make the excess of chocolate leak from the glass then put the glass on a serving plate. Remove the glass carefully and leave the foil to stand on the plate with the chocolate. Put it in the fridge for 1 hour and let it solidify. Remove then the kitchen foil carefully and you will get the chocolate glass. Its best to give it a few try perhaps with different glasses sizes as well. Also remember that once the chocolate is set, it will be impossibile to remove it from the plate. If you want to use another plate for serving the chococlate glass, put a layer of kitchen foil between the plate and the chocolate glass.
To make the mousse beat the egg whites with an electric mixer. Sprinkle in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. Wash the fruit, blend them with the orange liqueur or other liqueur at your choice. Whip the double cream until soft and add the fruit to the cream. Then add this to the white eggs and incorporate it slowly. When the chocolate glasse are ready, fill them with the mousse and decorate with strawberry or raspberry.

Beetroot Dip

2006-02-15T04:33:00.000-08:00

The pink week continues with this beetroot dip which is pink, of course. If you dont like the taste of beetroot stay away from this, as their flavour doesn't change even though there is tahini. But if you like beetroot like me, then go for it! This is good eaten with bread, crackers or raw vegetables.

Ingredients: 400gr beetroot, 2 Tbsp tahini, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 200gr soft cheese

Boil the beetroot until they are soft. That will take about 30 minutes. Let them cool, put them in a blender and mix them with all other ingredients until reduced to a smooth and creamy paste. If you want to save time, use already cooked beetroot, available in many supermarkets.

Go Vegan: for a vegan version you could substitute cheese with tofu

Love's meringue

2006-02-14T04:53:00.000-08:00

The first time I made meringue in my life was a few months ago. I had in mind to do some little mushrooms meringue, with chococlate. Something really nice and cosy that I had had in mind for a long time. So the day arrives and I set everything up, put it in the oven and switch it on. After about 10 minutes the house starts smelling like something was burning. In my oven!! I had confused centigrades with firenights and set the oven at one of the highest temperature I have ever needed! So Valentine's day has made me try again with this romantic and soft (and pink) recipe, which is very easy to make, once you know how not to confuse F with C! Happy Valentine everybody!

Ingredients: 120gr icing sugar, 2 egg whites, 4 drops red colouring (optional), mixed berries such as strawberry, raspberry and blackberry, orange liqueur, sugar

Preheat the oven to 100 C (200 F). Beat egg whites with an electric mixer, add the colouring at this stage. Sprinkle in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. Cover a baking tin with parchment paper. Use a heart shaped mould if you have one or use a pipe to shape it the way you like. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes without opening the oven.
Wash the berries, mix them with orange liqueur and sugar, let it stand in the fridge for a few hours (or less if you are in a hurry) and pour it over the meringue adding more liequeur accordingly to your taste.

Pink Tagliatelle with courgette pesto

2006-02-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

Love is in the air... la la la la la la laaaaaa! This is the week of Love, the week of lovers! Valentine's day has always represented for me the day of love, not only love for your loved one, but a more universal one. Love for the nature, love for friend and family, love for live and why not, love for food!

This week goes pink! After the success with the Green Matcha Tagliatelle which surprisingly Rob really liked, I said why not going pink? I have always loved betroot, most times I have them boiled and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (better if is Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, which I'll tell you about in a few posts), but betroot aren't just good boiled, so here is one idea on how to use them. The pesto I made is simple and greenish. That is to contrast with the pink and also because I wanted something simple to enhance better the home made pasta flavour. As usual, you can try with different sauces, choosing between many kind of, along with your personal tastes.

Ingredients for the tagliatelle: 500gr durum weath flour, 100gr cooked and pureed betroot, 2 glasses of water
Ingredients for the courgette pesto: 3 medium courgettes, 50gr parmigiano reggiano, 60ml extravirgin olive oil, 5 basil leaves or more, 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp salt, a pinch of pepper

Use cooked betroot or buy raw ones and cook them. Put them in the mixer and reduce them finely. Sift the flour and add the pureed betroot. Add water bit by bit and make a round soft ball. Divide the dough into 4 and work it on the pasta machine into layers of pasta first. I start with number 3 and then go to 4. If you like it thinner than go up until 5, but its best if tagliatelle remain thicker so when you cook them they don't stick. Let the tagliatelle dry on a clean table cloth or on a pasta dryer.
To make the pest I have put all the ingredients into a blender and mixed until smooth. Add more or less oil according to the size of your courgettes and your taste.
Boil some water in a big saucepan, add some salt then add the pasta and let it cook for 3 minutes starting counting from when the water starts boiling again. Drain but save some water (about 6 Tbsp). Return the pasta on the gas, mix it with the pesto and toss well to blend all the ingredients and to make a nice sauce. This is very important in order to avoid sticky pasta. Add a drizzle of oil if the pasta sticks.

Hope's Nose Sunday Meeting

2006-02-12T04:41:00.000-08:00

Rob, my husband, has finally decided that "It's no fair to live at the sea side if you can't go fishing!" It was about time he realised it! We have been living in Devon for 2 years now, but moved in the Torbay area only a month ago. Today we decided to go for a walk, just across the road where we live and here is what we found at Hope's Nose. One of the best place to go fishing in the Torbay area, favoured by many local fishermen. In fact we found many of them, young and older, all happily fishing!
But what we really enjoyed was the unusual encounter with this beautiful seal. She came on the surface all of a sudden, I was so excited I couldn't believe it, I kept pressing on my camera but couldn't really take nicer pictures than these. She was moving too quickly and I was shaking!
A fisherman fed her with a squid to attract her attention, she ate it, then went fishing for something bigger than that! This picture on the left shows Hope's Nose from the top of the hill. The place is also known as the Cardiac Hill as its really easy to go down but very steep to come back! Luckily we are fit enough for that, nevertheless it was quite tiring.
So thinking of having a place like this so close to us, has also made Rob finally realise that this is a beautiful place to live in and he will have to stop nagging about "going back to Milan". It has also made me realize that its about time I learnt to swim. The plan for now is to buy a good rod and that we keep on trying. Well, Rob will, perhaps. I vision myself in a couple of weeks on the small bay, setting up the fire for a nice barbecue, wearing only a shell's skirt while Rob is on the other side fishing patiently. As if we were Adam and Eve. To complete the vision, I can only think of having some good friends around and a few bottles of white wine. Anyone?

Minervinian Lampasciones

2006-02-11T04:33:00.000-08:00

This is a gift from my mother who leaves in the south of Italy, now dated a couple of weeks back. Fortunately, these can last long by storing them in a dry and cold place, maybe on the terrace, considering these days’ temperatures. The Lampascioni are for all Apulian a delicious treat. The scientific name of this flower bulb, because this is what it is, is Muscari comosum, a wild flower which grows all over Italy. I am not sure if this bulb is used for cooking in other Italian regions but in Apulia they are never missed on the table, particularly during winter time. The Lampascione looks a bit like a little onions or shallots. They can be cooked in a few different ways, the most common being: boiled and served with olive oil, fried, with tomatoes, with dry salted cod (Baccalá) or preserved in oil. They must be cleaned as an onion and left in cold water for some time to remove all the remaining soil. In the Murgia, the wildest Apulian region, they are often cooked under hot wooden ashes then dressed with olive oil and salt. That’s the best way to maintain their wild taste. If you know where to find these in England, please let me know!

Ingredients : Lampascioni, extravirgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper

Peel the lampascioni as you would peel an onion, removing the external side covered by earth. Soak them in water and leave it overnight. Boil them in hot water from 20 to 30 minutes, until they are soft.Drain them, put it in a dish and crash them with a fork one by one. Drizzle with lots of extravirgin olive oil, a bit of vinegar, salt and pepper.

Matcha Tagliatelle with tomatoes, tofu and soy sauce

2006-02-09T04:45:00.000-08:00

Est meets West! Its been a long time since I wanted to try making some pasta with green tea Matcha! So here it is, the time has come, and what best dish to start my new english blog! The pasta has a slightly bitter taste, typical taste of green tea Matcha, but it goes really well with the sauce which is sweet. Definitely a dish to try again perhaps with different shapes of pasta and different sauces...maybe even sweet ones!

Ingredients for the dough: 300gr durum wheat flour, 1 Tbsp green tea Matcha (抹茶) , 1 glass of water
Ingredients for the sauce: 1 small red onion, 200gr canned diced tomatoes, 80gr silk tofu, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 piece of ginger, about 2cm

Make the tagliatelle with your pasta machine as you would make normal ones. Sift the flour and the green tea on your working surface. Add water bit by bit and make a round soft ball. Divide the dough into 4 and work it on the pasta machine into layers of pasta first. I start with number 3 and then go to 4. If you like it thinner than go up until 5, but its best if tagliatelle remain thicker so when you cook them they don't stick. Let the tagliatelle dry on a clean table cloth.
Prepare the sauce by frying a red sliced onion into 1 Tbsp of oil. Add grated ginger and tofu, mashing it with a fork. Add canned tomatoes, soy sauce and cook for about 10 minutes. The sauce doesn't have to cook dry. Boil some water in a sauce pan, add about 1 Tbsp of salt and cook the tagliatelle for 3 minutes counting from when the water starts to boil again. Drain the tagliatelle, transfer them into the pan with the sauce, toss the pasta to mix the sauce and that's it!

Guiness Bread

2006-01-12T04:34:00.000-08:00

This recipe takes ispiration from a recipe of my friend Terry, which uses beer instead of water. My variation is in the type of beer, which in this case is Guinness, my personal queen of all! I am not crazy about beer really, but Guinness is the one I would choose if I really had to have one. I usually prefer wine you know, as it is not really in my culture to drink beer at all. This bread tastes a little bit of Guinnes then, also looks a bit dark inside and it's really good eaten with cheese and chutney. If you want something lighter, you can use a lager instead.

Ingredients: 350gr white flour, 1 Tbsp dry yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 250ml Guinness, 1 tsp salt, olive oil
Set the beer at room temperature. Sift the flour on your working surface and make a hole in the middle.
Add dry yeast, sugar and Guinness slowly. Work the dough for about 10 minutes, adding more beer until you get a smooth and soft ball.
Put the dough in a floured container, cover it with a clean cloth and leave it to leaven in a warm place for 1 hour or until it has doubled the size.
Preheat the oven at 180 C (350 F, 4 Gas Mark).
When the bread has leaven, work it again on your working surface to remove the air in the dough.
Lightly oil a round oven proof pan, put it the dough and cook for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and well cooked inside.
Cooking times may vary accordingly to the type of oven you have.
Let it cool well before cutting it.

Seabass with saffron sauce and Samphire

2005-10-10T04:39:00.000-07:00

The Samphire is a succulent, smooth, much-branched herb, woody at the base, growing freely on rocks on the sea-shore moistened by the salt spray. Best picked between May and September. Usually served with butter and/or with fish plate. Boil them in unsalted water for approximately 5 minutes.

Ingredients: 2 sea bass fillet, clams to guarnish, butter
Ingredients for the sauce: pinch of fresh saffron, 1 Tbsp flour, 300ml milk, butter

Melt a bit of butter in a saucepan and fry the sea bass 3/4 minutes each side.

In another small pan, prepare the sauce by melting a bit of butter. Add milk, flour, saffron and a pinch of salt. Bring to boil, then cook for approximately 5 minutes until thick.

Serve the seabass with a bit of sauce, clams opened in a covered saucepan, and samphire previously boiled in water.

Pine nut, hazelnuts and honey tart

2005-10-06T04:53:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for the filling: 40ml olive oil, 75gr caster sugar, 1 Tbsp honey, 20gr Ener-g (or 1 egg), 80ml water (only if you use Ener-g), 65gr ground hazelnuts, 20gr flour, 1 pinch salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 100gr pine nuts

To make the pastry put the flour, salt, oil and sugar into your food processor. Mix until it resembles fine crumbs. Keep mixing and add the Energ (or eggs), and water accordingly if you are using Energ or not. Process until the dough comes together. Wrap and chill for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the filling, using the processor mix. Add oil, sugar, honey, Energ (or eggs), water (only if you are using Energ), ground hazelnuts, flour, salt and baking powder.

Mix for a couple of minute until you get a smooth cream.

Heat the oven at 190 C (375 F)

Lightly coat a loose-based flan tin with oil, with your fingers, work the dough inside towards the edges to form the borders.

Spoon in the filling and spread with a spoon smoothing the surface. Bake for 10 minutes.

Genly remove it from the oven and scatter the pine nuts on top of the filling. Bake for another 15 minutes and thats it!

Note: although no chocolate or cocoa is in the ingredients of this tart, it tastes of chocolate nevertheless. Hazelnuts must remind me of Nutella, I dont know, but its interesting! :)

Soufflè Valisa

2005-10-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

Here we are! I have called this Soufflè Valisa, in honor of the Euro Blogging by Post and especially for Valisa, who sent this cumin cheese. It was about time for me to try making soufflè and now that I had received this cheese I thought the time was right! The result is what you see and the cumin really gives a different taste. For me it has to be served as a main course for the high content of cheese, but if your stomatch is stronger you can eat it as a side dish! ;-)

Ingredients: 125ml milk, 35gr flour, 25gr butter, 50gr cumin cheese, pinch of nutmeg, 2 eggs yolk, 3 eggs white. Four the sauce: 100gr cumin cheese, 30ml milk, pepper.

Before you start, make sure you have all your ingredients ready and the right amount of soufflè dishes. Coat them lightly with butter and sprinkle with a bit of flour so that the soufflè won't stick.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour and cook for a few minutes, wisking to eliminate lumps. Add cold milk and nutmeg and keep whisking until you get a soft cream. Let it cool for a few minutes then add the eggs yolk, grated cheese and eggs white previously well beaten until stiff and creamy. Fill your soufflè dishes for 3/4 and bake at 200 C for 25/30 minutes until golden brown.
For the sauce simply melt the cheese with some milk, add pepper and make sure the cheese doesn't stick to the pan until you get a soft cream.
Instead of milk you could use cream but that is up to you and the cheese you use. Serve the soufflè with a bit of sauce and there you have it! Note: The Soufflè has to be served almost immediately to avoid losing the puffy shape, also avoid cold hair to avoid the "relaxation" effect!

Euro Blogging by Post comes from Valisa!

2005-09-30T04:38:00.000-07:00

Ah! I really dont know where to start this from! It has arrived and its here and its beautiful!! First of all I would like to thank you Valisa for what you sent and how you sent it. I have to say it feels like Christmas has arrived today, just much better than Christmas!
I always think that cooking for someone or giving food to someone is infact an act of love and that is how I felt today, loved by someone I didnt even know the exsistence before and really made my day!
But lets see what's inside :
- volkoren koek. Dutch classic for breakfast good with eat or just plain.
- another Dutch classic Valisa says. chocolate and fruit flavour, can be eaten with bread or use on sweets. (hmmm ideas..!)
- a packet of mie konde noodles!
- little brownies with walnuts and almond that Valisa made with her own hands and a box of chocolate and almonds shortbread! (Already tasted as well and delicious too!)
- chrysanthemum chinese tea (which I never heard of it before, looks very interesting!)
- Dutch cumin cheese (Oh god! never had this one either, I have got an idea for tonight already :-)
- home made apple chutney! (cant wait to try this one)
- and last but not least, a lovely chinese cute little box of beauty powder. Very similar to borotalco, at least it smells like so and its not for eating! :D , though it looks lovely and Lisa spotted my asian addiction as well. I am styding japanese and soon I will be able to read whats written on the cute box too ;-)
- mixed Dutch sweets.
Well as you can see its all good. I will talk about the ingredients more as I try to figure out what to make out of them !

Thanks again to Andrew for this lovely idea and for the coordination.

Fagottino with Provolone cheese

2005-09-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: provolone cheese dolce, fillo pastry, honey, walnuts, leek to tie, butter

Brush the fillo pastry with melted butter. Put a bit of provolone cheese in the middle of each. Make a little bag and close it with leek. Bake at 200 C (390 F) for 4 to 5 minutes until the cheese melts and the little fagottino gets brown. Decorate with honey and walnuts and serve hot or the cheese will become hard and it wont be as soft as it should.

This is good eaten as an appetizer or after an important main course.

And my parcel goes to...

2005-09-26T04:38:00.000-07:00
Nathalie from Cabbage and Kings!
At the very last minute Andrew kindly managed to "squeeze" me in the Euro Blogging by Post. My parcel is in the post already travelling to Nathalie but I am not revealing any of the content. Surprise!

Hope she will like it. I am a bit nervous as I dont know Nathalie but I hope to have guessed some of the ingredients! We shall wait and see ;-) Meanwhile I will wait for mine to arrive !

Coconut and Pistachio Muffins

2005-09-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 300gr flour, 400ml soya milk, 150ml vegetable or olive oil, 100gr sugar, 20gr Ener-g (or 1 egg), 1 grated lemon rind , 50gr desiccated coconut, 50gr chopped pistachio nuts

Pre heat the oven at 180 C (350 F). In a bowl mix flour, sugar, ener-g, lemon rind, coconut and pistachio nuts previously chopped.
Mix well then add oil and slowly the milk until smooth.
Pour into muffin containers or your favourite pan and cook for 45 minutes. Let it cool and sprinkle with caster sugar.

Lemon and poppy blue seeds cakes

2005-09-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 180gr flour, 1 Tbsp baking powderd, 60gr Ener-g (equal 3 eggs), 170gr sugar, 150ml vegetable or olive oil, 250ml water, 2 bio lemon, 1 Tbsp poppy blue seeds, 1 pinch salt

Pre heat the oven at 180 C (350 F). Wash the lemons and grate the skin. Squeeze the lemons and put the juice aside. In a bowl mix all dry ingredients. Flour, baking powder, Ener-g, sugar, grated lemon and poppy seeds.
Mix well and then add oil, juice of lemons and water. If the mixture is too dry, add some more water until you get it smooth.
Mix well and then pour the mixture into muffin containers without filling them too much (approx. 2 Tbsp each) so that they dont grow big during the baking. Bake for 45 minutes let it cool and sprinkle with fine caster sugar.

If you decide to use eggs, do not add water.

Note: this must be the best lemon cakes i have ever had. If you like the taste of lemon this will surprise you! Especially if you use organic lemons.

Fusilli with wild fennel, pine nuts, tuna and capers

2005-09-13T04:45:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for 2 : 300gr fusilli, 1 tuna can in oil or water, 1 little bunch of wild fennel, 50gr pine nuts, 1 Tbsp capers, 1 garlic clove, 1 small onion, half glass dry white wine, dried or fresh hot cilly, oil, salt

Wash the fennel and boil it in salty water for about 4 minutes. Drain it and chop it finely. Keep the water aside as it will be used later.
Chop onion and garlic and fry gently in a saucepan with a couple of Tbsp of oil. Add the fennel, capers and pine nuts. Let it cook for a few minutes then add the tuna and the white wine. Let it evaporate by turning the gas mark a bit higher. Add a bit of salt, dried chilly and a bit of water. Let it cook for about 5 minutes.
Cook your pasta in the same water you cooked the fennel in. Drain and add it to the sauce to mix it well with it. Serve immediately and Buon appetito!

Note: for a Vegan/Vegetarian version, just remove the tuna ;)

Hazelnuts and Walnuts Muffins

2005-09-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 300gr flour, 200gr sugar, 6 Tbsp unsweetneed cocoa powder, 2 Tbsp baking powder, 40gr chopped hazelnuts, 40gr chopped walnuts, 1 pich salt, 500ml water, 190ml vegetable or olive oil, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp vanilla extract

Pre heat the oven at 180 C (350 F). Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl first (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt, hazelnuts and nuts finely chopped with a mixer). Add then the oil, vinegar, vanilla and water. Mix all well together until smooth.
Pour the mixture into muffing containers and bake for 40/45 minutes.

*Inspired by the Bakingsheet

Bananas and hazelnuts cake with raspberry cream

2005-09-11T04:35:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for the cake: 2 bananas, 40gr chocolate cips, 40gr hazelnuts, 180gr flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 120ml vegetable oil, 120gr sugar, 40gr Ener-g (or 2 eggs), 1 tsp vanilla extract, 240ml soya or rice milk

Ingredients for the raspberry cream: 150gr tofu, 100gr sugar, 100gr raspberry, soya or rice milk as needed.

Pre heat the oven at 180 C, 350 F. Chop the hazelnuts with a mixer and blen d the bananas with a fork or with the mixer until smooth.

In a bowl mix all dry ingredients. Hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, Ener-g, sugar. In another bowl mix the banans with the oil and vanilla and mix this with the dry ingredients. Add milk and blend all ingredients together. Finally add the chocolate cips and stir.

Pour into a grased baking pan for 45, 50 minutes and serve with raspberry cream. To make the raspberry cream simply blend all the ingredients together in a mixer and add milk as needed to reach the desired consistency. It should infact be like a cream and taste delicious :-)

Note: keep the cream refrigerated until you have to serve it.

Tofu and walnuts Ravioli

2005-09-09T04:45:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for the dough: 300gr flour, 60gr Ener-g (equal 3 eggs)
Ingredients for the filling: 150gr tofu, 50gr walnuts, 15 basil leaves, 10 mint leaves, olive oil, salt

Drain the tofu from its own water, put it in a bowl and smash it with a fork. Crash the walnuts with a mixer along with mint and basil and add this to the tofu. Adjust with salt and let it rest while you prepare the dough. Mix the flour and Ener-g. Add enough water and work the dough until it becomes soft and elastic. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Have your pasta machine ready to get a few sheets of thin pasta. Use number 5 on your machine.

Cut approximately 8cm squares from the sheets and put about 1 tsp of filling in each. Fold them in a triangle and push well the borders in order to avoid the filling to slip out while cooking. Have a big saucepan ready with boiling salty water. Add the ravioli and let it cook counting 3 minutes from when the water starts boiling again.

Dress it with a simple tomato sauce made by frying a bit of garlic in oil and canned tomatoes. Garnish with fresh mint and serve immediately.

Note: the heart has come out there absolutely by chance, but it must mean something! :)

Pumpkin preserve

2005-09-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

The garden is full of yellow pumpkins and soon it will be as well of red ones. Preserving its a useful way to not waste vegetables or fruit and enjoy them during winter time...

Ingredients: 1kg pumpkin flesh, 1 pinch ground cinnamon, half tsp chopped ginger, 1 pinch powdered cloves, 1 pinch grated nutmeg, 6 tbsp lemon juice, 1kg jam sugar

Cut the pumpkin flesh into cubes and pass through a mincer using the finest disk. Stew the minced pumpkin in a pan with a small amount of water if necessary and cook for about 10 minutes. Stir then the cinnamon, ginger, powdered cloves, nutmeg and lemon juice.

Sprinkle in the jam sugar and bring everything to the boil, stirring continuously. Boil for 5 minutes or until it has reached the consistency you like.

Fill the sterilized jars and seal straighaway turning the jars upside down until completely cold.

Store in a dark and cool place and put in the fridge after opening.

Note: this preserve goes well with game dishes.

Coffee pastries

2005-09-07T04:47:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 200gr white flour, 110ml vegetable oil, 40gr sugar, 1 tsp soluble decaf coffee, 40gr Ener-g (equal 2 eggs), 1 tbsp baking powder, fine powdered sugar for decoration

In a bowl mix sugar and Ener-g with 80ml of water. Work the mixture with a fork until it becomes soft and creamy without lumps. Add coffee, flour, baking powder and oil. Work again until you it gets soft and homogeneous. Take two spoons and a put a bit of the compost in one of it. Help yourself with the other spoon, working the compost to create a drop-shaped pastry. Repeat until you get the right shape. No hurry, it just takes a bit of practice and time. Arrange the drops on a oven tray covered with oven paper or slightly oiled. Cook in a pre heated oven for 15 minutes at 180 C. (350F)Leave it to cool and decorate them with fine powdered sugar. You will get about 12 pastries that will be eaten in about 12 seconds!

Shark and Sea Spinach salad

2005-09-07T04:39:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 4 shark's steaks, mixed lettuce leaves, some cherry tomatoes, sea spinach, 1 garlic clove, salt, pepper, oil

Sea spinach are very much similar to the normal spinach but a bit bitter and more salty. They can be found especially near the sea side. I have them in the garden which is infact very close to the sea. Shark is typically available frozen as steaks and fillets.

A simple way to cook it then is to cut the steaks into cubes and roast them with a little bit of oil and crushed garlic. Let it cook at least for 5 minutes until brown.

In the meantime prepare the salad with the cherry tomatoes, add oil and a pinch of salt. In a non-sticky pan, cook the sea spinach with a tiny bit of water until soft and tender, but do not overcook them. They should result crispy.

Lay the salad on a plate, add the shark on top and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Distribute the sea spinach beside and there you have it.

Candied Ginger

2005-08-27T04:53:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 350gr fresh ginger, 225gr sugar, 120ml water

Place the ginger in a saucepan, cover with water and boil for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain, let the ginger cool and peel it. Cut the ginger into approx. 5mm slices.

In a heavy-based saucepan, dissolve the sugar in 120ml of water and cook without stirring over a low heat for about 15 minutes until the mixture becomes syrupy.
Add the ginger slices and continue to cook gently,

shaking the pan occasionally to prevent the ginger sticking, until it has absorberd the syrup.

Remove the cooked ginger slices, place them on a wire rack and leave to cool.

Eat in the morning to give you energy, with tea or just when you feel like :)

Pickled mushrooms

2005-08-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 250ml white vinegar, 150ml water, 1 tsp salt, 1 red chilli, 2 tsp ground pepper, 250gr shiitake mushrooms, halved if large

Bring the vinegar and water to a simmer. Add the salt, chilli, pepper and mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes. Sterilize the preseving jar and drain until dry. Transfer the mushrooms, together with all the liquid to the jar. Seal and leave for at least 10 days before serving.

Note: it is a good idea to dress the mushrooms with olive oil when serving, to temper the sharpness of the vinegar. Serve as an appetizer or as part of a buffet lunch.

Yellow Pumpkin Gnocchi

2005-08-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 700gr pumpkin flesh, 20gr Ener-g (equal 1 egg), 100gr white flour, 60gr grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg, sage, salt, pepper, olive oil as needed

Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seed and the skin. Mix the flesh in a mixer and cook it for about 5 minutes to let the water in excess evaporate. Let it cool and add the Ener-g (or 1 egg), the grated cheese and the flour bit by bit, stirring continuously.Pay attention there, as you need as much flour as the water contained in the pumpkin. So remember that the dough has to become firm but not hard. Add or stop adding flour accordingly. Adjust with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Boil some water in a large saucepan and add a bit of salt. (approx 1 Tbsp). Pre-heat the oven at 200 C (390 F). Take an oven safe tray and grease it with a little bit of oil.
With a spoon, gather a bit of the compost, as much as to make a 4cm2 minutes starting counting from when the water is boiling again. Arrange them into your tray and continue boiling gnocchi until the dough is finished.

Add grated cheese on top, fresh sage and olive oil. Cook them in the oven for 5 minutes until the cheese has melt. Serve immediately :) gnocco. Put them into the boiling water and cook for

Note: you can prepare this dish a day before or the evening before your guests arrive. Just add the cheese only when you intend to eat it.

Chocolate and mint vegan cake

2005-08-03T04:36:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 3 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 6 tablespoons unsweetned cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt, 5/6 fresh finely cutted mint leaves, 2 cups of water, 3/4 cup olive or vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 teaspoons of essence vanilla

Preparation time: 15 min
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients first. (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and mint). Once the mixture is even, mix in wet ingredients. (oil, vinegar, vanilla). Continue mixing until you obtain an even batter with no lumps. Pour into a cake pan and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes. Yummy with vanilla ice cream or just on its own ;-)

Garlic in oil

2005-07-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: 300gr fresh peeled garlic, 2 rosemary branches, 500ml water, 2 tbsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 150ml white wine vinegar, 24 ground black pepper grains, 500ml olive oil

Clean the garlic one by one. Wash the rosemary branches and let it dry completely. Boil water with salt, sugar and vinegar. Cook the garlic for 5-10 minutes. Drain and dry on kitchen paper. Put the garlic into sterilized jars with the ground pepper and rosemary.
Cover with oil and close the jars storing them in a dark and cool place for at least 2/3 weeks before eating. Store in the fridge or in a cool place after opening. Garlic can be used into salads, like an appetizer, with cold or hot meat dishes. You can also use the oil to flavour other dishes.

from the book "Ricette per il Corpo e per l'Anima" by Eve Landis