Author Archive for Lucina

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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’

Lasagne primavera

Published by Lucina, on 9 aprile 2012 in English Recipes and pasta. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

lasagne primavera

Looking back on the recipes we have blogged so far  I’ve realized we are very rich in cakes and all manner of sweet things (and I wonder why) but rather poor in pasta dishes. This won’t do!  Considering Candi and myself are Italian I’d say this oversight is close to a crime, so here is a nice recipe suitable for vegetarians I half invented (I saw a similar one in a free supermarket magazine in Italy. I get inspired by all sorts!) which I made the other night. I LOVE all types of baked pasta, particularly lasagne. I’ve tried different combinations over the years (traditional, with spinach and ricotta, with aubergines and mozzarella, with salmon and broccoli, the one Candi blogged with pumpkin and gorgonzola…you name it) and, to be honest, you can’t really go wrong with it. It always tastes great! In this particular one I put grilled courgettes, asparagus and peas. Plus a bit of ricotta cheese for some added interest. I always make my bechamel sauce in the microwave, which makes it dead easy to accomplish. For this particular recipe as the theme was spring (hence the name “primavera”, which means spring in Italian. I used the Italian word for special effects :-)) and the dominant colour was green I used spinach lasagne sheets. Continue reading ‘Lasagne primavera’

Pear and frangipane tart

Published by Lucina, on 2 aprile 2012 in cakes and English Recipes. 5 Comments Tags: , .

I absolutely ADORE all types of frangipane tarts but I had never attempted to make one until now. I knew pears worked very well with frangipane and I had a few organic ones  which needed using (funny things are pears: one minute they are too hard, the next too soft. I’ve thrown away MANY in my life! But not this time…) plus a group of Italian ladies about to descend on me to discuss our latest book (I belong to two groups: an English one and an Italian one. In both the making of the cake is as important, if not more important, than the discussion of the book. Draw your own conclusions. ha ha). The decision was made for me.  I did a bit of research on line for a suitable recipe and stumbled upon this one by the Michelin starred chef Angela Hartnett which sounded promising. Ok, I admit it’s not a “throw everything in and mix” type of cake. In fact it is a bit of a faff, particularly as you need to poach the pears beforehand AND you need to make that shortcrust, crumbly type of pastry that every woman in the right mind hates . Still, I was determined to go ahead (talk about bees in one’s bonnet). I poached the pears the previous night and made the rest the following day. I can honestly say it tasted DIVINE!  Ok, I’m blowing my own trumpet a little here BUT there is no point in being accused of false modesty, is there? All Italian ladies praised it to the sky and demanded I blogged it, so here it is. Enjoy! Continue reading ‘Pear and frangipane tart’

The twitter palaver

Published by Lucina, on 17 marzo 2012 in Chiacchiere/Chatting. 3 Comments

Hello readers, this posting has got nothing to do with food. I just want to share a few funny thoughts about Twitter. As you can see from the blog website we have a Twitter feed. If people subscribe they can see when I’ve posted one of my English recipes (I think Candi has stopped Tweeting hers…). Anyway, I confess I know precious little about Twitter. Not sure about its uses, to be honest or the purpose of it all. It was my youngest son Tom (a tweeting fiend)  who forced me to include Twitter on my blog page and  gave me a crash lesson on how to use it. None of my friends tweets  in truth (we still talk on the phone. Remember that?). Anyway, my eldest son Mike , who is one of my followers and he’s fast becoming a foodie, last week rang me in desperation. Apparently my tweets were all wrong! I was putting the link to the main blog webpage rather than the individual recipe I was alerting people about (stay with me, reader!). ALSO I wasn’t shortening the web address link, which immediately alerts people to the fact you are COMPLETELY clueless. What was he on about?…NO IDEA ! So he had to explain in VERY simple terms how to go about it PROPERLY. And if you think I’m thick , slow and a right old luddite talk to my colleagues in the office. I’m Bill Gates, compared to them! Anyway, I think I’ve done it right now. My new tweet should pass the test. Please Mike confirm! The things you learn,eh? Loving every minute of it, of course! :-)

Cornbread

Published by Lucina, on 17 marzo 2012 in bread and English Recipes. 6 Comments Tags: .

cornbread

My friend Carmelita donated a bag of organic polenta flour to me the other day. Yes, I know, my friends and I don’t give each other standard presents.  For some reasons they tend to be of an edible, home made nature…I wonder why.  :-) Anyway, I was really keen  to use it. As I had made some soup I scoured my  books for some interesting, quick bread recipes to go with it and finally found this one for cornbread.  BINGO!  I could use my polenta! The results were very pleasing indeed:….. the bread looks like a light sponge cake but of course it is savoury. It is really soft and it has a delicate taste, not to mention the lovely yellow colour. Furthermore it  has a slight crunchy texture, thanks to the polenta flour, which makes it particularly interesting. It would be delicious with other added ingredients, like grated cheese, chilli, sweetcorn or bits of bacon. I have been so impressed with it that I’ve decided to share it  rightaway, before other recipes that have been patiently awaiting their turn to achieve blog status. Ha ha… Surprise, surprise it is by Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall. Yes,  AGAIN!  Where has he been all my cooking life? But what can I say? I love his recipes! Continue reading ‘Cornbread’

Seville orange marmalade

Published by Lucina, on 9 marzo 2012 in English Recipes, jam and marmellate. 1 Comment

Seville orange marmalade

Hands up who has ever had a Seville orange? Well, I had never bought or seen one before but I decided to get myself some as I had decided to try my hand at making home made marmalade ( as you know I’m very much into jam/chutney making now). I had tasted Candi’s excellent one in the past but never tried making it myself beforehand, despite the fact I LOVE it. So I dutifully ordered a bag of organic Seville oranges from the Riverford people, who supply my weekly organic veggies. In fact it was described as a marmalade kit, as it was complete with recipe. So what could be more convenient than that? Well, when they arrived I must confess I was a bit disappointed….ok, a LOT disappointed. They didn’t look a patch on the beautiful waxed, shiny ones you can buy in my local supermarket. They were smallish and deformed. Definitely ugly looking. Oh well, I assumed they would taste delicious all the same. Sometimes you can’t judge the book by its cover, right?  So on Saturday I decided that the day had come to have a go and gathered all the necessary ingredients. But when I started cutting the oranges in half in order to squeeze them…LO AND BEHOLD….they were full of pips! AND they tasted incredibly bitter. So: ugly AND foul tasting. Had I been robbed? Continue reading ‘Seville orange marmalade’

Beetroot and pecan nuts hummus

Published by Lucina, on 29 febbraio 2012 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food..., English Recipes and starters. 1 Comment Tags: , .

beetroot and pecan nuts hummus

Dear Candi, here I am with another healthy recipe, in answer to your  “naughty” mousse. I’m DETERMINED you try cooking with beetroot. I thought I didn’t like them myself until I cooked my first one, remember? It was love at first sight…ok taste. You MUST have a go and force your family to reconsider their hate for this glorious vegetable. The colour alone- a lovely shade of shocking purply/pink- is worth cooking with, don’t you think? AND, apart from anyhting else, it has incredible properties (it cleanses your kidneys, bla bla bla). Anyway, this particular recipe is absolutely gorgeous and bound to convert a few philistines. It’s easy to make, it tastes divine and it’s ideal as a starter with crudités (see picture). Or I guess as an accompaniment to cheeses or cold meats. You must try it when your next hoard of famished people descends on you! Once again I found the recipe, which I slightly adapted, in my River Cottage Every day book already mentioned (…. more than once in fact. I’m fast becoming a fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I must bring you a copy of this particular book when I come to Italy in March). Wouldn’t you agree that the colour alone is amazing????? By the way, I doubled the doses stated in the recipe as I had quite a few hungry people coming for dinner and didn’t want to run out…. Continue reading ‘Beetroot and pecan nuts hummus’

Happy birthday to us! Happy birthday to us….!!!

Published by Lucina, on 19 febbraio 2012 in Chiacchiere/Chatting. 6 Comments

Yes! Today is our FIRST birthday! Ok, our blog’s….Isn’t it amazing, Candi? An idea born during one of our get together, when I was recovering from chemotherapy, still going strong. I had a look yesterday. The first recipe you shared on line was the red pesto recipe (which is delicious, quick and I’ve made a lot ever since) on 19th February 2011. I’ve got to say I’ve really enjoyed doing this shared blog EVEN if it’s just me, you and the spammers (what on earth is the point of these people I REALLY do not know!)  who access it (well…I know that there are a few faithful followers). It pushes me to experiment and try new things in the kitchen.  One of my current catch phrases, after I have cooked something which looks particularly good, is :”I have got to blog this!”, much to my husband’s chagrin who is not allowed to touch it before I have taken a picture of it.  Ha ha…Let’s face it: as well as being an achievement in itself, cooking is often a fun,  enjoyable shared experience, is it not? Not to mention the de-stressing effect that messing about in the kitchen has! :-)  Looking back over the past 12 months here are, from the top of my head, some of the new “foodie” frontiers I have crossed on this blog journey: discovering beetroot and Jerusalem artichokes (never cooked with these two vegetables before. In fact I didn’t even know what a Jerusalem artichoke looked like. The ignoramus that I am!), having a go at making jam and chutney (and where have they been all my life? They are SOOOOO easy to make!), making home made gnocchi (much easier than I thought!) learning a few fish names in both languages. I have, of course, tried LOADS of new recipes , much to the delight of family and friends, particularly the female variety. Remember Candi: cooking is an act of love. NEVER feel bad or guilty about spending time experimenting in the kitchen! It is NEVER a waste of time. EVEN when things go wrong (see: misdemeanors). Wasn’t it the great George Bernard Shaw who once said of failure: “Try again, fail again, fail better”? Food for thought…. Have a great day Candi! And thank you for sharing all your good ideas with me….

Baked sea bream with fennel and onion

Published by Lucina, on 17 febbraio 2012 in English Recipes, fish and Pesce. 1 Comment Tags: , , .
baked sea bream with fennel and onion

I am blogging this  über healthy recipe to counter balance the very indulgent ones we have been sharing recently. We seem to favour cakes and all manner of sweet, and may I add unhealthy, delights on our blog but not as many main courses (meat/fish, etc). I wonder why that is. :-) Anyway this particular dish can’t be accused of being “bad” for you or fattening so here I am promoting it to our little group of foodie friends. An interesting thing to report here is that I had NO idea what the Italian word for sea bream was when I embarked on the idea of cooking it. I had had sea bream in restaurants before, of course, but had no idea what the Italian word for it was. In truth something linguistically very peculiar has been taking place with fish ever since I moved to this country many many years ago. Namely, I know the English- Italian translation of many bog standard fish (like salmon, trout, sole, cod, etc.) but navigate a little further afield (in the world of the sea bream, sea bass, red snapper and such like) and I’m totally and utterly lost. Clueless in fact! Continue reading ‘Baked sea bream with fennel and onion’

Honey and peanut butter cereal bars

Published by Lucina, on 7 febbraio 2012 in cakes and English Recipes. 7 Comments

honey and peanut butter cereal bar

I MUST blog these delicious, moist cereal bars which I made for the first time last week. I found the recipe in the Everyday River Cottage recipe book I’ve already mentioned in my last posting.They are divine and everyone has been remarking on how good they taste. My dearest hubby liked them so much he decided to make a batch himself to take to work. Sure enough his colleagues were mightily  impressed. Particularly when they heard HE had made them. Ok I supervised him a teeny weeny bit but still… Anyway, they are a cinch to make and are a lot healthier than the bog standard cereal bars you  buy in the shops. …. They are packed full with oats, seeds and dried fruit so they have got to be good for you, right? RIGHT! I grant: there is also butter, sugar, honey and peanut butter amongst the ingredients, which are hardly healthy, but who’s looking,eh? They are ideal to take to work and munch when you need an energy fix. By the way, I LOVE peanut butter. I confess I could happily scoff half a jar by myself…..Mmmmmhhhhh! On to the recipe then…. Continue reading ‘Honey and peanut butter cereal bars’