Irish soda bread

Published by Lucina, on 18 maggio 2012 in bread and English Recipes. 0 Comments

Irish soda bread

I love soda bread but for some bizarre reasons I had never thought of making some. Until last weekend, that is. God knows why I never tried before  as it’s got to be one of the easiest breads EVER to make. Honest!Unlike other traditional yeast based breads it doesn’t require any proving time. So basically, if you have the right ingredients (which are pretty standard), you can knock one up in no time at all. It’s nice warm from the oven with butter spread on it and perhaps some jam, or maybe as an accompaniment to soups , but I found it’s equally nice the day after toasted. I used white flour for this particular one but next time I want to try wholemeal or spelt flour, or perhaps half and half. Continue reading ‘Irish soda bread’

How to be a domestic slut

Published by Lucina, on 18 maggio 2012 in Chiacchiere/Chatting. 2 Comments

How to be a domestic slut (during cooking)

And WHO is this domestic slut, I hear you ask? Or perhaps slob would be a bit kinder…Well, none other than yours truly! Ok I’m a bit harsh on myself. My title is a bit tongue and cheek aimed to grab the reader’s attention. In truth I simply want to share with you a few amusing thoughts about house keeping….or more precisely cooking. First of all, for the Italian people who don’t know (the English people will immediately recognize my hidden reference) the play on words derives from a very famous chef here in the UK called Nigella Lowson. She has appeared in many a television cookery series . One of her cookery books is entitled How to be a domestic goddess. And a goddess she certainly is…at least to the male population. She is rather beautiful and curvaceous and she flirts with the viewers in a rather overt way. I’m not a prude, don’t get me wrong, but I DO confess I get a bit irritated at times after the umpteenth flutter of her eyelashes and conspiratorial looks while she is opening her MASSIVE fridge (I want one of them!) and talking about yet another of her nightly food forays. Not to mention the way she unashamedly flaunts her boobs. Am I harsh? Perhaps… Anyway, what I want to chat with you about has got nothing to do with Nigella. Continue reading ‘How to be a domestic slut’

Kohlrabi, carrot and cumin salad

Published by Lucina, on 12 maggio 2012 in English Recipes, salad and vegetables. 5 Comments

kohlrabi, carrot and cumin salad

What on earth is kohlrabi? I hear you ask….Well, I confess I didn’t know myself until I got one in my veggie box (if you don’t know what it looks like scroll down. I took a lovely pic of it to show you). The thing is I can’t choose the vegetables I get delivered in my season box. This has its downsides, the main one being that when it’s cabbage season you get it EVERY week (different ones, I grant you)…and let’s face it, there is a limit to HOW MUCH cabbage a human being can cope with (or his/her intestines to be more precise. Sorry for being blunt). The upside of not being able to choose, however, is that on occasion you get some vegetables you just would not buy but which turn out to be not too bad after all (see my comment on beetroot). And other times, like in the case of the Jerusalem artichoke or indeed the kohlrabi, you get something which you just haven’t got a clue in hell as to A) WHAT it is and B) HOW to cook it. In the case of the mysterious kohlrabi I discovered a few interesting facts. The first one being that although it is pretty unknown here in England, and I gather in Italy too (Candi, please confirm or deny the allegation) in Germany and Eastern Europe it is very common. How to describe its taste? Continue reading ‘Kohlrabi, carrot and cumin salad’

Pesto di aglio orsino

Published by Candida, on 9 maggio 2012 in Chiacchiere/Chatting, Primi and Ricette in Italiano. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

Ci sono giorni in primavera in cui in alcuni posti si sprigiona all’improvviso un pungente profumo di erba cipollina. In realtà, l’ho capito solo quest’anno, si tratta di aglio orsino (Allium ursinum L.). E’ una pianta bulbosa dai fiori bianchi e foglie larghe, delicate e setose, dall’odore pungente di aglio appartenente alla famiglia delle Liliaceae come il tulipano, il giglio, il mughetto ed altre. Una volta appuratene la commestibilità mi è venuta voglia di farci qualcosa. Il primo esperimento ha prodotto questo pesto. Poi è ricominciato a piovere e non sono più andata a spasso :(  Qui ci sono altre ricette per consolarci. Continue reading ‘Pesto di aglio orsino’

Linguine with purple sprouting broccoli, goat’s cheese and walnuts

Published by Lucina, on 5 maggio 2012 in English Recipes and pasta. 3 Comments Tags: .

linguine with purple sprouting broccoli

Yes I know, what a long title for a recipe! But that’s the name the Riverford people (the organic vegetable company I buy my veggies from)  gave it . Every week I get my seasonal vegetables box delivered to my door, which includes a leaflet with recipe ideas. I have tried quite a few already over the months and I must say they are usually very nice indeed. This one is what I made last night as in the last box I got I found a bag of purple sprouting broccoli (they are called cime di rapa in Italian). I really enjoyed it so here I am presenting it to you. If you knew what time I’m writing this you would think I have looped the loop, so to speak. It’s exactly 4.08 in the morning to be precise (according to the computer) and it’s still dark outside. But what can I say? I couldn’t sleep so instead of tossing and turning in bed I decided to share my recipe. If that’s not dedication to the foodie cause tell me what is! And by the way Candi, I’m curious to hear whether cime di rapa is a common vegetable in Italy. My mother never made it for us, for example. Continue reading ‘Linguine with purple sprouting broccoli, goat’s cheese and walnuts’

I gnocchi di zucca di Meret

Published by Candida, on 1 maggio 2012 in Chiacchiere/Chatting, Primi and Ricette in Italiano. 2 Comments Tags: , .

Ok, questa NON è una ricetta svizzera, ma sarà ben servito a qualcosa passare sette mesi in Italia. I ragazzi di Intercultura hanno speso qualche domenica tutti insieme a spadellare in italiano. Meret ha ripetuto l’esperimento a casa con gran successo. La zucca sta uscendo dalle nostre dispense, ma visto che la primavera stenta a venire, possiamo ancora indugiare per un po’ su questi piatti invernali: voglia di crogiolarsi ancora per un po’ al calduccio, in casa. Continue reading ‘I gnocchi di zucca di Meret’

Two greedy Italians

Published by Lucina, on 29 aprile 2012 in Chiacchiere/Chatting. 7 Comments

Hello England, I’m not here to blog a recipe but to chat. About the Two Greedy Italians, to be precise. I’m curious to hear people’s opinions. And Candi, to enlighten you: this is a programme broadcast by the BBC (the second series is under way now. It’s on BBC on a Thursday at 8 o’clock.There has already been one series) about these two Italian chefs, called Antonio Carluccio (he is very famous. He has opened a chain of restaurants in London) and Gennaro Contaldo, who have both lived and worked in England for donkey’s years (there’s a nice idiom for you to learn). For the programme they went on a tour of Italy to see whether things have changed since they were there all those years ago (the simple answer: oh yes!). They also show you some regional recipes while on their travels. For the first two episodes in series 2 they were down in Calabria and in Liguria. In truth it is also a bit of (a lot of) a comedy: Continue reading ‘Two greedy Italians’

Pollo ai peperoni

Published by Lucina, on 28 aprile 2012 in chicken, English Recipes and Meat. 1 Comment

pollo ai peperoni

Once again I’m “cheating” by using the Italian name for the dish I made last night. It sounds much more chic and sophisticated in Italian (despite the photo which doesn’t really do it justice! The peppers look distinctly pink. Yuk! But I guarantee these are not the true colours. Honest! It must have been the artificial light) . Your attention, English people! Peperoni in Italian doesn’t mean ”pepperoni” (which is a horrific spicey, hard sausage I haven’t had the courage to try yet!) but peppers! So the boring English translation of the title would be: chicken with peppers. Anyway, this is a simple, no  fuss, mediterranean dish which is ideal to make when you haven’t got the time to be  messing about in the kitchen (read: nearly always in my case. Busy lives, see? COME ON! Who has the time to be making home made pasta and the likes after a hard day in the office? Or teaching Italian to students, in my case?). It was my good friend Carmelita who suggested this recipe to me. Continue reading ‘Pollo ai peperoni’

Lemon curd and almond cupcakes

Published by Lucina, on 22 aprile 2012 in cakes and English Recipes. 2 Comments Tags: .

lemon curd cupcakes

You have got to try these little cakes! They are UTTERLY delicious!!! And a doddle to make…. The original recipe (from our good friend Hugh Fearnley….who else?) is actually to make muffins but I put mine in biggish paper cases and the result was they looked more…well  like cupcakes than muffins. So I’ll blog them as such. Mine are actually a variation of what Hugh does as I have mixed the flour with some ground almonds (in the original recipe there is just flour). They are really light and ever so soft. I love their zesty taste of lemon and their yellow colour. And by the way, if you Italians don’t know what lemon curd is (not even sure whether it exists in Italy) look at this recipe to make it. I confess I bought mine at Marks and Spencer but there is nothing stopping you from making your own. In fact, even better! I hope that my son Mike will have a go at making them to impress girls and colleagues alike…:-) Continue reading ‘Lemon curd and almond cupcakes’

La treccia di pane di Meret. Il vero Speckzopf svizzero

Published by Candida, on 18 aprile 2012 in bread, Ricette in Italiano and Torte salate, pizze. 2 Comments Tags: .

No, Meret non porta le trecce, almeno abitualmente, ma alla domenica mattina può decidere di alzarsi prima e infornare la gloriosa treccia svizzera o Speckzopf  (la tradizione dice, chissà, che ha quella forma perché le vedove si tagliavano la treccia e la seppellivano con il marito). Allora avrete la casa che profuma di buono e a pranzo una ricca e fragrante pagnotta che è ottima  soprattutto con l’antipasto, per un brunch o anche da sola. W la Svizzera!

Se non avete Meret (la signorina Emerenzia Servitori) sottomano dovrete accontentarvi della sua ricetta. Eccola qui. Continue reading ‘La treccia di pane di Meret. Il vero Speckzopf svizzero’