Author Archive for Lucina

Page 19 of 23

Roast Jerusalem artichoke,hazelnut and goat’s cheese salad

Published by Lucina, on 29 gennaio 2012 in English Recipes, salad and vegetables. 6 Comments Tags: , .
roast Jerusalem artichoke salad

It looks as if I’ll have to post another recipe and quick as Candi clearly hasn’t yet worked out how to upload photos using her new camera. Oh dear me! The trials and tribulations of new technology,eh? :-) I think I’ll personally  stick to my mobile phone. Ok , my photos are far from looking professional but still…you get the picture, right? And pardon the pun on words…Anyway, here’s a new salad recipe I tried the other day using Jerusalem artichokes. I found them in my last veggie box (it must be that time of year again) so decided to try something different from the soup I made last time (and blogged). The recipe is taken and adapted from a new recipe book I got at Christmas by Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall called River Cottage everyday. I’ve never roasted Jerusalem artichokes before but I’ve got to say I was impressed. They tasted really lovely and went very well with the goat’s cheese. In The River Cottage book the goat cheese used is the hard, crumbly variety which gets tossed in the salad itself, but I used the other type, grilled it and placed it on top. I reckon it is equally nice. Continue reading ‘Roast Jerusalem artichoke,hazelnut and goat’s cheese salad’

Where are the misdemeanors??

Published by Lucina, on 21 gennaio 2012 in Chiacchiere/Chatting. 4 Comments

We have called this blog recipes and misdemeanors but so far we have only blogged many recipes and NO misdemeanors. So here I am to set the record straight, partly for people like Alessandra who commented on the last recipe feeling inadequate about her culinary skills. The truth is that you can only learn and improve by…well, cooking. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But NOBODY just produces culinary delights from the word “go” without making SOME mistakes. There have to be some trials and errors. Like with many other things. There is a proverb here that says: “Practice makes perfect”. How true! If it’s any consolation, Alessandra, when I got married I could just about fry an egg. To vary on the theme sometimes I would add some ham or cheese, or cheese AND ham to be outlandish. Both myself and my poor husband soon got fed up with the lack of variety so I had to learn…and fast. Ok, it helps the fact I LOVE eating, but let’s face it: food is one of the pleasures in life. Right? We mustn’t feel bad or guilty about liking…loving….food.  Continue reading ‘Where are the misdemeanors??’

Fillets of salmon with dill and capers

Published by Lucina, on 5 gennaio 2012 in English Recipes and fish. 1 Comment

fillets of salmon with capers and dill

Well…..happy new year everyone! Sorry for the absence from the blog but Christmas time is no time to go on a computer! I have been extremely busy and I’m only now getting back to some sort of normality and into cooking mood. Actually, that’s not quite true as I have spent a big part of my holidays cooking for a houseful of men! Anyway…..time to start experimenting in the kitchen again. Last night I tried this very simple salmon dish from the BBC Good food magazine. It was really simple but very tasty so I’ve decided to share it with you. And that’s what we want, us busy ladies with jobs: straightforward, no fuss recipes! By the way I had to look in the dictionary the Italian word for “dill”. I confess I didn’t know. Apparently it’s “aneto”. Not sure how common it is in Italy or whether it is readily available. It goes very well with fish and potato salads. Do you use it Candi? I really like it. Anyway, enough chatting. Let’s get cooking! Continue reading ‘Fillets of salmon with dill and capers’

Pear and raspberry cake

Published by Lucina, on 16 dicembre 2011 in cakes and English Recipes. 0 Comments

pear and raspberries cake

How is it possible to combine an autumn fruit like the pear with a summer one like the raspberry? Thanks to globalization, that’s what! And I have got to admit I am feeling a bit guilty about it.  I am not sure how kosha, or good for the environment, it is to buy raspberries from Argentina in December. I hope readers will forgive me. Candi, do you remember when we were kids and there was none of this luxury of being able to find ANYTHING in the fruit and vegetable world at ANY time of the year? I very much doubt there will be many young people out there who KNOW for sure when certain fruits or vegetables are in season. And another thing: we might be able to find strawberries in the depth of winter but, let’s face it, they are rather tasteless! Anyway, enough rambling! I have made this cake a few times now and it has been a success on every single occasion. I found the recipe (which I slightly adapted) in the Rachel Allen’s book called Bake, which is shortly turning into a Bible for me, as I have made many things out of it already. Continue reading ‘Pear and raspberry cake’

Tomato and apple chutney

Published by Lucina, on 4 dicembre 2011 in English Recipes. 2 Comments
tomato and apple chutney

I’m blogging this recipe as Candi has publicly asked for it. And how could I refuse? :-) I gave her a jar of it  last time I saw her in September (we always give each other presents of an edible nature…or books!) and apparently it was a big success with her family. I confess I was amazed about how good it tasted, considering it was the second time in my life I ever attempted to make chutney. Incidentally the first was the beetroot chutney I have already blogged…equally delicious! See how this blog is pushing me to explore new culinary horizons?  I don’t know why I thought making chutney  would be a complicated affair. It couldn’t be further from the truth! Anyway, I did take some pics when I made it JUST IN CASE it would turn out well. So here’s the recipe I followed, taken from the Good food website and slightly adapted (I added a green pepper to it). The only nuisance is that you can’t eat it straightaway: you have to wait a few weeks, possibly a month for the flavours to develop. I confess I didn’t last that long before trying it. It goes with my impatient nature. By the way it’s only fair to mention:  all the vegetables I used were from my good friend Carmelita’s legendary vegetable patch. In fact we made the chutney together, so she should share in the glory too! Continue reading ‘Tomato and apple chutney’

Honey roast beetroot

Published by Lucina, on 23 novembre 2011 in English Recipes and vegetables. 2 Comments Tags: .

honey roast beetroot

I tried this recipe for the first time at the weekend but I tell you what! I’ll make it again. It was quick but really tasty. I was looking for an easy vegetables dish as I had guests for dinner and not much time to cook-the story of my life these days! :-( . I had beetroot in my cupboard which I needed to use so I started scouring the internet for possible recipes. I eventually found this one from the BBC good food website.It looked simple enough so I had a go. Really nice! My guests loved it too. So here I am sharing it with you.  I’ve discovered beetroot late in life: to be precise a year ago when I started ordering an organic vegetables box every week. You can’t choose the vegetables you get and sure enough one day I found beetroot amongst my delivery. I thought I didn’t like it as I had only ever tasted the awful sliced variety in vinegar before (the one you buy in a jar).  But hey, the real mc Coy doesn’t taste anything like it. … It’s delicious! Sweet and earthy. I love it now. I’ve already blogged a summer salad recipe with goat cheese and beetroot and here is a more wintery dish you can have as an accompaniment to many things, including roasts. Continue reading ‘Honey roast beetroot’

Roasted butternut squash with feta cheese

Published by Lucina, on 10 novembre 2011 in English Recipes and vegetables. 4 Comments

roasted butternut squash and feta cheese

Well…this is the season of pumpkins, is it not, with Halloween just gone, so it’s not surprising that  I’ve found myself cooking a lot of dishes which are pumpkin based. In this case I’ve used butternut squash, which belongs to the same family but it’s  perhaps a bit tastier. Anyway, this is a nice, simple dish you could have as a light supper on its own (perhaps with a nice salad) or as a side dish. The combination of the sweetness of the butternut squash and the saltiness of the feta cheese works particularly well. I have also added some parmesan for good measure, being a cheese lover. Continue reading ‘Roasted butternut squash with feta cheese’

Pasta e fagioli soup

Published by Lucina, on 1 novembre 2011 in English Recipes and Soup. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

pasta e fagioli

This is a nice, hearty soup ideal for those LOOOOONG winter nights when it starts getting dark at 4. How I hate this time of the year! By the way, I am using the Italian name for this recipe for two reasons: firstly it’s a well known Italian dish and secondly it sounds much better in Italian than in English. Its translation would be: pasta and beans soup . But would that sound appealing to my UK friends? I don’t think so. But if I give it its Italian name, hey presto! It sounds exotic and outlandish. In truth it is a humble peasant dish. Nothing exotic about it. I usually make it with chick peas. But I had run out of them so I used borlotti beans instead. It tastes nice with either. I cook it quite a lot when I’m pressed for time (which is very often these days) as it’s a quick soup to make but very tasty too. There are many different versions out there. I would be interested in knowing how you make it, Candi. Anyway my recipe is simplicity personified… Continue reading ‘Pasta e fagioli soup’

Chocolate and pear pudding

Published by Lucina, on 27 ottobre 2011 in cakes, Dolci and English Recipes. 2 Comments Tags: , .

chocolate and pear pudding

As Candi blogged a pear and chocolate conserve a few weeks back  I’ve decided to follow suit with a chocolate and pear pudding. As she has already mentioned, and rightly so,  the combination of pears and chocolate is simply divine. I’ve made this pudding several times already and it’s absolutely delicious. Success every time. And very simple to make too! It should be served warm with a hot chocolate sauce (see recipe at the bottom). What could be nicer on a hot winter night? I’ve used the mighty Nigella Lowson’s recipe, by the way. Candi was on a mission to try all her chocolate cakes back at the beginning of the year. Did you succeed, by the way?

Continue reading ‘Chocolate and pear pudding’

Pasta alla Norma

Published by Lucina, on 19 ottobre 2011 in Cucina regionale, English Recipes, pasta, Primi and sauces. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

pasta alla Norma

It’s about time to blog another pasta recipe, methinks. I have made this particular one several times before, therefore it’s well tried and tested. Its main ingredients are aubergines, tomatoes and salted ricotta. As I was in Italy at the end of September  on a quick visit (during which I met Candi! And what a great time we had, didn’t we?… Having lunch al fresco in a small trattoria by the river Adda, with 29 degrees and the sun shining…That’s the life!) I was able to buy this cheese – amongst MANY other things all of an edible nature!- and bring it back to the UK. But don’t worry English people. You don’t have to go on a trip to Italy to buy the ricotta just to produce this dish…..albeit it would be nice! You can substitute it with pecorino, which you can easily find in many supermarkets ! Anyway… the recipe is Italian (no idea who Norma is, though…) but ironically comes out of one of my many British cookery books,  Jamie Oliver’s to be precise  ( slightly amended). Everybody in England will be familiar with this “simpatico” chef! He toured Italy a few years back, did a TV programme about it and then proceeded to produce a book full of traditional recipes from the many Italian regions  (called, surprise surprise, Jamie’s Italy…). Off we go then… Continue reading ‘Pasta alla Norma’