Archive for the 'English Recipes' Category

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Polenta and ricotta cake with dates and pecans

Published by Lucina, on 1 giugno 2016 in cakes, Dolci, English Recipes and teatime. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
polenta and ricotta cake with dates and pecans

polenta and ricotta cake with dates and pecans

I’ll start by confessing I didn’t make this cake. Technically my husband made it, although, to be fair, he was largely executing orders with me standing over his shoulder. The reason why we made this cake together was that he had promised his colleagues at work he would bring a cake in made with his own fair hands. We had ricotta in the fridge as well as the most gorgeous Palestinians dates. Bingo! I found this recipe on the Delia Smith’s blog.  I wasn’t sure about it at first as it has no eggs in it. Also when it first came out of the oven after the recommended 1 hour and three quarters I thought I had overcooked it. However I needn’t have worried. I really liked it, and so, apparently, did my husband’s colleagues. So success all around. And in truth: how could Delia be wrong? Impossible! This is a cake I’ll definitely make again. Continue reading ‘Polenta and ricotta cake with dates and pecans’

Thai red prawn curry

Published by Lucina, on 7 maggio 2016 in Cucina regionale, English Recipes, fish and rice. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
Thai red prawn curry

Thai red prawn curry

Hello hello hello and welcome back to me (and to messing about in the kitchen). I confess that not much experimentation has been going on in the last month or so.  What a lazy so and so. In my defence this is mainly due to the fact that I was in Italy for 2 weeks. When I get back from my holidays I am always out of the swing for a little while. This doesn’t mean I am not doing any cooking, you understand, but I tend to opt for the tried and tested. Anyway, enough trying to justify myself. And what’s wrong with being a bit lazy in the kitchen, now and again?. 😉 This recipe comes from the Jamie Oliver’s 30 minutes meals recipe book which I must admit, I haven’t used all that much. Anyway I was astounded by how good this curry tasted and how easy it was to make. I thoroughly recommend it. I slightly adapted it. For example in the original recipe Jamie uses two different types of prawns: the bog standard ready cooked ones and some raw ones. Well, bollocks to that. Too complicated! I went for the easy ready cooked option and ignored the raw ones, which incidentally made the recipe even easier. Also Jamie cooks sugar snap peas in the curry. I chose to serve them separately, hence they are omitted from the recipe. Continue reading ‘Thai red prawn curry’

Bunet

Published by Lucina, on 5 aprile 2016 in desserts, Dolci and English Recipes. 1 Comment
bunet

bunet

What a peculiar name, isn’t it? Well…in actual fact the name is not even Italian but comes from the Piedmont region of Italy. This is a well known, traditional dessert that they make over there. My parents  are both from Turin, the regional capital of Piemonte, so I thought it would be a good idea to blog it and rediscover my roots, so to speak. Candida has already blogged it, but in Italian, under the name of budinasso. My ingredients are slightly different, albeit the no faff preparation comes from her. There are many different recipes out there. I kind of had a look and did a medley. But, silly me,  I haven’t yet explained what a bunet is. Essentially it’s a big creme caramel enriched with amaretto biscuits, cocoa powder and a bit of liqueur. It’s utterly delicious and dead simple to make. Also not too rich, which I like. I’ve already made it twice since Easter (one was made FOR Easter). The truth is that when I made it the first time round  I had a minor misdemeanour as I totally burnt the caramel (you basically have to watch it like a hawk. One second is golden and ready, the next burnt and fit for the bin!). I had to start over. Anyway, once I mastered the caramel making the rest was a synch. The good thing about it is that you can make it well in advance, as it has to rest in the fridge for a good few hours before being served. In fact you can easily make it the day before you need it. Continue reading ‘Bunet’

Victoria sponge cake

Published by Lucina, on 24 marzo 2016 in cakes and English Recipes. 0 Comments
Victoria sponge cake

                       Victoria sponge cake

Hello everyone and sorry for the disappearing act but I fell victim to the most vicious flu I have ever had in my life. Loads of my students had it and I have got to admit I wasn’t overly sympathetic with them…until I got it myself, of course! It took me nearly 3 weeks to feel human again! Next year: vaccine here I come. But enough of my state of health. What I am blogging today is a classic of English baking: A Victoria sandwich cake, which is basically a plain sponge cake filled with buttercream and raspberry or strawberry jam.  Every tea room will have one on sale. It is that common. And yet I had never actually made one until just over a week ago when my husband, who is very partial to it, kindly requested one on his birthday. How could I refuse? Plus it is not a particularly difficult cake to make. The only “complication” is that you have to bake two cakes of the same diameter. I have got to say I really enjoyed it. In truth I prefer more simple types of cakes. The recipe is taken from Felicity Cloake’ s Guardian column . Continue reading ‘Victoria sponge cake’

A simple carrot cake

Published by Lucina, on 20 febbraio 2016 in cakes and English Recipes. 0 Comments
a simple carrot cake

                        a simple carrot cake

Hello again. Here is the carrot cake I made for the Amnestea event which I promised to blog. Much simpler than my previous 2012 version (see here). There must exist hundreds of different carrot cake recipes out there and I reckon I am entitled to blog a different one every four years, aren’t I? 😉  I had never made this particular one before but I must say I thought it was very good. The recipe is an adapted one I found, would you believe, on the sachet of the Italian baking powder Pane degli angeli.  The sultanas and the spices weren’t in the original recipe, for example. Anyway, here it is. Much nicer than its burnt sister. And Tomik the cat is much happier too! Continue reading ‘A simple carrot cake’

Roasted pumpkin with toasted sweetcorn soup

Published by Lucina, on 7 febbraio 2016 in English Recipes, Primi, Soup and vegetarian. 1 Comment
roasted pumpkin and toasted sweetcorn soup

  roasted pumpkin and toasted sweetcorn soup

Hello all you soup lovers! Who doesn’t like a soup when the weather is cold and grey like it is at the moment? Here’s a delicious recipe to add to  your repertoire.  Really simple but extremely tasty. And the colour is gorgeous: a lovely bright orange! I got the inspiration from Delia Smith but I adapted it quite significantly. For a start I roasted the pumpkin and scooped the flesh out instead of peeling it and cooking it from raw, which is what Delia does. It’s such a faff to peel a pumpkin and life ain’t long enough. I find that roasting it and using the cooked flesh is so much easier for soups and many other recipes besides (like risotto, for instance). Secondly I chose not to liquidize it as you get the nice texture of the sweetcorn this way. Anyway…try it and see for yourself how good it is! :-) Continue reading ‘Roasted pumpkin with toasted sweetcorn soup’

Pasta with cavolo nero, ricotta and pancetta

Published by Lucina, on 21 gennaio 2016 in English Recipes and pasta. 0 Comments Tags: , , .
pasta with cavolo nero, ricotta and pancetta

pasta with cavolo nero, ricotta and pancetta

Can you believe that now you can buy cavolo nero (literally: black cabbage) here in the North of England? For those who don’t know what it is: it’s a cabbage with a longish, knobbly, blackish  sort of leaf, very common in Tuscany. I confess I had never cooked with it before but apparently it’s packed full of minerals and vitamins and really good for you. I made this simple pasta dish not so long ago and was really quite pleased with it. Mind you, I made the mistake of not getting rid of the woody stalk which of the cabbage which was rather hard and chewy. Next time I would only use the leaves. I found the recipe on the Giallo zafferano blog. Continue reading ‘Pasta with cavolo nero, ricotta and pancetta’

Torta allo sciroppo d’arancia e mandorle ricoperta di cioccolato (se si vuole)

Published by Candida, on 10 gennaio 2016 in cakes, Chiacchiere/Chatting and Dolci. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

DSC_0147E adesso sembra una competizione! Da settimane avevo lì in bacheca la bozza di questa torta da postare e adesso Lucina ne posta una simile!!! Ma diversa! Dunque se volete provare un confronto, una variazione sul tema torta d’arance e mandorle. Ecco qui la seconda, una sua versione mediorientale e cioccolatata per di più (ma si può benissimo evitare la glassa al cioccolato). L’ho tratta dal bellissimo libro di Ottolenghi-Tamimi Jerusalem, scritto  da un ebreo e un arabo che celebrano la cucina della loro città e le loro tradizioni comuni. Nel libro la torta è pensata per le clementine, ma è detto che si può fare con quello di arancia, cosa che ho fatto, riproponendomi di provare anche la versione clementina. Dicono che si conserva a lungo (se coperta), ma noi l’abbiamo finita subito. L’idea di imbevere una torta con uno sciroppo mi è sempre piaciuta moltissimo.

NB. A proposito di tradizione ebree, musulmane e cristiane, anche la cottura a bagnomaria (usata per la glasse) le ricorda. Maria la Profetessa (per la leggenda Miriam la sorella di Mosè ed Aronne) era una dotta alchimista vissuta tra il primo e il terzo secolo dopo Cristo che inventò quel metodo di cottura per i suoi esperimenti (Balneum Mariae). Siamo un po’ tutte alchimiste (o streghe) quando cuciniamo!

Continue reading ‘Torta allo sciroppo d’arancia e mandorle ricoperta di cioccolato (se si vuole)’

Spiced orange cake with Christmas pudding ice cream

Published by Lucina, on 31 dicembre 2015 in cakes, Dolci and English Recipes. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .
orange spiced cake

orange spiced cake with Christmas pudding ice cream

While waiting to see the new year in let me share this amazing cake with you. It was recommended to me by my friend Janet, who is the unrivalled queen of all cakes, puddings and desserts. Well, I tried it over the Christmas holidays and was really impressed with it.  So thank you Janet! The good thing about it is that it’s fat free as well as gluten free. That’s right: no butter or flour! How great is that? And yet it’s so moist and flavoursome. Just think how many “difficult” friends you can cater for with this one. Unfortunately it is not suitable for vegans as there are eggs in it, LOADS in fact, but hey! You can’t please everyone, can you?  I really urge you to make it. You won’t be disappointed. Obviously you don’t have to make the ice cream to go with it. I did it as I had some leftover Christmas pudding. I confess it’s a doddle for me as I’m the proud owner of a Gaggia ice cream maker which Candi gave me many many years ago. It is still working and it makes some wonderful ice cream. Of course you can enjoy the cake as it is or simply serve it with some cream of course. The recipe is by Tom Kerridge, slightly adapted. Continue reading ‘Spiced orange cake with Christmas pudding ice cream’

Sicilian lemon and orange sweet bread

Published by Lucina, on 21 dicembre 2015 in bread, cakes and English Recipes. 0 Comments Tags: , , .
Sicilian lemon and orange sweet bread

Sicilian lemon and orange sweet bread

Christmas is approaching and what better than this lovely enriched bread which resembles panettone? The good thing about it is that it is not as difficult! I have already made it twice and both times it was a success. If you like experimenting with bread, try it! You won’t be disappointed. Lovely with a glass of spumante, I reckon. It is from Paul Hollywood’s Bread book. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients. It is actually straightforward. Have a Merry Christmas everyone! Continue reading ‘Sicilian lemon and orange sweet bread’