Archive for the 'English Recipes' Category

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Coffee and walnut cake

Published by Lucina, on 22 febbraio 2015 in cakes and English Recipes. 2 Comments
coffee and walnut cake

coffee and walnut cake

If you are afraid of butter look away now. If on the other hand you don’t think the occasional dairy treat is going to kill you, read on. I made this cake on a bit of a guilt trip on Valentine’s day.  I confess I completely forgot about it and failed to buy my poor husband a card, never mind a present. Yes, I know, it’s all commercial exploitation, bla bla bla. But tell that to aforementioned husband who not only bought me a nice card but also sent me a lovely bunch of flowers. So, in an attempt to ask for his forgiveness I decided to make him his favourite cake of all times. The one he always buys when we go to cafes , in other words. Also the one I had never made for him. Partly because of the high amount of butter needed to make this cake ( and sorry, I have done my research on line and all recipes seem to contain vast quantities ) and partly because  you have to make two layers and sandwich them together which in my book spells faff. But I had to make the effort on this particular occasion so I pulled out all the stops. Well, he certainly enjoyed it and was very thankful. So if you want to treat someone do consider this cake. The recipe comes from the BBC Good food website, slightly adapted. Continue reading ‘Coffee and walnut cake’

Venere rice with courgette and prawns

Published by Lucina, on 4 febbraio 2015 in English Recipes and rice. 2 Comments Tags: , , .
Venere rice with courgettes and prawns

Venere rice with courgettes and prawns

If you have never come across this unusual rice let me enlighten you. Venere rice is a black/purply wholegrain rice which has only relatively recently become known. Originally from China, it is now cultivated in Italy too. Would you believe it was served at the Emperor’s of China court? Apparently it was called the forbidden rice as it was said to be a potent aphrodisiac (hence its name. Venere- Venus in English- was the goddess of love). Well, I can’t pronounce myself on that alleged property but what I will say is that it’s got a very interesting look and texture! AND it would seem it is rich in essential amino acids, fibre, phosphorous and Vitamin B5 and is full of minerals like calcium, iron, zinc and selenium. It has a high content of anthocyanins which are powerful antioxidants. So it would seem this amazing black  rice is very good for your health AND your love life! :-) Unfortunately it is not widely available  here in the UK. I managed to buy a packet in a wholefood shop in London but I have never seen it up North. In Italy, however, you can buy it in any well stocked supermarket. The recipe I am blogging seems to be well known as there are many on the web. I really enjoyed its nutty, unusual flavour and I thought the combination of prawns and courgettes worked really well. Continue reading ‘Venere rice with courgette and prawns’

Chilli cheese cornbread

Published by Lucina, on 28 gennaio 2015 in bread and English Recipes. 0 Comments Tags: .
chilli cheese cornbread

chilli cheese cornbread

I recently tried this cornbread recipe, from the mighty Jamie Oliver. And very interesting and unusual it was too, both in terms of taste and texture! I gather this is an American dish from the Southern States. I am not sure how/when the Americans eat it but I must say I really liked it. I reckon it would go very well with a soup or a bean stew, or indeed a salad. Mind you: if you don’t like polenta don’t even attempt it as the best way to describe it is a savoury, cheesy polenta bread. I found it  even nicer the following day, sliced and toasted, with melted cheese on the top. You would definitely not need much else to eat as it’s rather filling! Continue reading ‘Chilli cheese cornbread’

Red rice salad with grilled vegetables and toasted almonds

Published by Lucina, on 18 gennaio 2015 in English Recipes, salad and vegetarian. 5 Comments Tags: , , .
red rice salad with grilled vegetables

red rice salad with grilled vegetables and toasted almonds

Yes, my dear Candi! Another healthy recipe from me. I really must stop and blog a highly calorific cake instead. I am getting kind of boring. The thing is  I wanted to introduce to the community of amateur cooks like myself a recipe taken from a very interesting new book I got at Christmas called Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour. As the title suggests these are all recipes from the Middle East, and beyond (apparently). The recipes all look very colourful and appealing. Mouth wateringly so. The only snag sometimes is getting hold of the ingredients. You would struggle to find some of them in your local supermarket. For example in this recipe one of the ingredients was dried barberries. EH? I have heard of many berries but barberries have never crossed my culinary path. I wouldn’t have a clue what they look like. Anyway, no harm done. I used cranberries instead and very successfully too. This dish would make a vegetarian person very happy. It’s healthy, it’s tasty. What more can anyone wish for? Continue reading ‘Red rice salad with grilled vegetables and toasted almonds’

The ultimate nut roast

Published by Lucina, on 8 gennaio 2015 in English Recipes and vegetarian. 2 Comments Tags: , .
the ultimate nut roast

the ultimate nut roast

First of all happy belated New year to everyone! Sorry for the absence but I have been too busy to blog during the holidays, partly as I was engaged in a major decluttering exercise (but that’s a different story!). What I am about to share with you here is the nut roast I made for my son at Christmas. He always asks for one and I dutifully oblige. All the previous nut roasts I made were lentil based but this year I decided to ring in the changes. This one contains mushrooms, parsnips, nuts and chestnuts as the key ingredients and it’s wrapped in savoy cabbage leaves. The result is a very moist and flavoursome dish. My son was very complimentary about it and said it was one of the best he had ever had – and he has eaten a few, I tell you. I spotted it in the Guardian. It’s by Felicity Cloake. I definitey will not wait till next Christmas to make another one! Continue reading ‘The ultimate nut roast’

Spiced red cabbage

Published by Lucina, on 26 dicembre 2014 in English Recipes, vegetables, vegetarian and Verdure. 4 Comments Tags: , , .
braised spicy red cabbage

spiced red cabbage

Welcome back, dear Candi! How I missed you… I did patiently wait for you return but I do confess it was beginning to feel like a monologue. Well …merry belated Christmas and a happy Boxing day to you and everyone else who reads this blog. For my Christmas lunch yesterday I made a nice roast crown of turkey (my vegetarianism took a bit of a knock) but also a nut roast (recipe to follow). Of course I also made lots of lovely vegetables to accompany them. One of them was the spiced red cabbage you see here, which is traditional to make at this time of the year.  My sister in law Stefania asked for the recipe so I thought I might as well blog it. There are many similar recipes around. I used one from Riverford, the organic farms website. I am not a lover of cabbage, I have got to be honest,  but I have got to say this way of making it is rather nice. The good thing about it is that you can make it in advance and eat it cold as well as hot. It keeps really well. The only problem is I slightly overestimated the amount we would need. I could probably have fed a battalion with the quantities I made! :-) By the way another nice variation on the theme this year in the vegetables department was with the brussel sprouts. Instead of the ones with chestnuts I usually make  I cooked them with caramelised onions and blue cheese. Yummy! Definitely a success!  Continue reading ‘Spiced red cabbage’

Caponata siciliana

Published by Lucina, on 21 dicembre 2014 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food..., English Recipes, starters, vegetables, vegetarian and Verdure. 1 Comment
caponata siciliana

caponata siciliana

This is a famous sweet and sour Sicilian dish which I had been meaning to make for a very long time and somehow never got round to do until recently. There are several versions available out there, depending on what part of Sicily they are from (please Carmelita don’t shoot me down if this recipe is not how you make it :-)) . The basic ingredients are aubergines, celery, onions, tomatoes, sultanas, capers and olives. But I have also seen it with peppers and pine kernels and a few other things besides. The version I have made was a bit of a compilation of  the recipes I saw on line. In some of them you have to salt the aubergines beforehand in order to make them expel some of their liquid. I didn’t bother doing that. Life is too short. Caponata is better eaten the day after you have made it so that the flavours get a chance to develop. Also it shouldn’t be served hot but at room temperature. I served it as a starter with some homemade bread but it could accompany a variety of other dishes and dips. Ideal for a buffet. It’s really delicious!  Continue reading ‘Caponata siciliana’

Raspberry and white chocolate traybake

Published by Lucina, on 7 dicembre 2014 in cakes and English Recipes. 1 Comment
raspberry and white chocolate traybake

raspberry and white chocolate traybake

I made this traybake today to share with a group of friends at lunchtime. Yummy! There was enough to offer later on in the afternoon when some lady friends came to have tea at my house. So I basically killed two birds with one stone. The advantage of making a traybake is that you can easily cut smallish portions to share with a large group of people. It’s much trickier to do that with a cake. Anyway, I am glad to report it was a success! I don’t know about you but I love the combination of raspberry and white chocolate. I have got to come clean and confess though that, unlike my previous healthy recipe, this has got a lot of butter in it. :-(BUT, as you can cut it in many dinky little squares, a little piece of it won’t send your cholesterol level off the scale. By the way you’ll never believe where I got the recipe from: it was on the packet of my McDougall flour! And why not? Continue reading ‘Raspberry and white chocolate traybake’

Pumpkin and raisin tea loaf

Published by Lucina, on 30 novembre 2014 in cakes and English Recipes. 0 Comments

pumpkin loaf

After making my Porotos Granados  soup (see previous recipe) I was left with half a sad and lonely butternut squash in the fridge. What to do with it? Surely not another soup…. My attention was drawn to this recipe at the end of the River Cottage Veg everyday book, apparently one of Hugh’s favourites. I decided to try it. What appealed to me was the fact that it has no fat in it. YES, NO FAT! Can you believe it? Or more to the point: can a cake still taste decent without any fat in it? I was somewhat sceptical. Butter free experiments in the past hadn’t been all that successful but I have got to say I was impressed with this loaf. It was tasty and moist and it had a lovely yellowish tinge. Great with a cup of tea/coffee. I confess I did smear a little butter on my slice for added flavour but you don’t have to!   Next time I will try making it using a pumpkin. It might work well even with grated carrots. One would need to experiment. By the way: it definitely tastes better the following day!  Continue reading ‘Pumpkin and raisin tea loaf’

Porotos granados

Published by Lucina, on 22 novembre 2014 in English Recipes, Soup and vegetarian. 0 Comments

 

porotos granados

porotos granados

While waiting for Candi to re-emerge (she has been very busy with her work) you’ll have to suffer my experiments again. I haven’t blogged a soup for a long time but following a request from my sister in law Stefania who, like me, is a fan of soups and has tried most of the ones I have blogged so far, I decided the time had come to experiment again. She needed some inspiration and I was more than happy to oblige! With winter approaching what better than a nice, hot soup complete with some home made bread  (yes! I made that too !) to warm the cockles of one’s heart ? This time I went to Chile for the inspiration. The literal translation of the soup’s name, according to Google, is bean stew. Well, considering it is rather thick and rich perhaps it’s not far off a stew. The good thing about it is that it contains beans, hence proteins, making it a complete meal in itself. I used cannellini but any smallish beans will do (like pinto, aduki, borlotti etc.). I really liked it and will definitely be making it again.  Once again there are many recipes out there for porotos granados but I followed Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipe out of his River Cottage Veg every day book (I am afraid you will see a lot of his recipes in the near future as I have turned vegetarian) with a slight variation at the end as I added fresh basil to it which I had seen in other recipes on line. Also, and I am sure it’s not very Chilean, I served mine with grated parmesan.  Live dangerously, I say! I would put parmesan on everything, me! I have even tried it on porridge. Yummy! :-) By the way, if the Italians can’t get hold of a butternut squash I reckon this soup would be equally good made with some good quality pumpkin (not the watery and tasteless Halloweeny variety, mind!). Continue reading ‘Porotos granados’