Monthly Archive for luglio, 2013

Avocado, kiwi and blue cheese salad with toasted seeds and nuts

Published by Lucina, on 30 luglio 2013 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food..., English Recipes and salad. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

avocado, blue cheese and kiwi salad

Hello everyone I’m finally back from my holidays in the Italian Dolomites. I really had forgotten just how beautiful they are!!! I must make a point of going there more regularly than I have done of late. Last time we visisted those beautiful mountains was over 20 years ago! While I was there, aided by the stunning weather, I did lots of amazing walks, one of them with a lovely ex student of mine and expert climber-Lynne- who coincidentally was in the same area at the same time.  Also, and more importantly for this blog, I tried lots of interesting tyrolean dishes some of which I intend to blog as soon as I have got rid of the excess weight I gained. :-( But how can you not feast on those lovely strudels and canederli  when you are on holiday? You can’t, is the answer but then you have to deal with the consequences which is nearly two extra kilos in my case (and my husband’s!). It would have been even more if we hadn’t gone for punishing walks, I’m sure. ARGH!… Anyway, to cut a long story short I’m back in the UK and on a strict(ish) diet. Continue reading ‘Avocado, kiwi and blue cheese salad with toasted seeds and nuts’

Torta di farro alle albicocche e pistacchio

Published by Candida, on 22 luglio 2013 in cakes, Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Lo so che è un tormento accendere il forno con questo caldaccio. Ma lo si può sempre fare alla mattina presto per avere questa torta estiva pronta per mezzogiorno. L’acidulino delle albicocche la rende quasi dissetante. E poi il verde dei pistacchi è così carino con l’arancione della frutta. Ho preso e modificato questa ricetta da un vecchio post di cavoletto, l’ho resa più leggera diminuendo il burro e mettendo un po’ di olio. Ho sostituito la farina normale con quella di farro, così da variare un po’. Poi l’ho fatta più sbrigativa eliminando il montare gli albumi a neve. Per pigrizia e il risultato non è stato male lo stesso. Vedete voi… Continue reading ‘Torta di farro alle albicocche e pistacchio’

Roast chicken with sumac,za’atar and lemon

Published by Lucina, on 7 luglio 2013 in chicken, English Recipes and Meat. 2 Comments

 

roast chicken with sumac, za'atar and lemon

And what on earth are sumac and za’atar, I hear you ask? Well…I didn’t know either, until I got my very first Ottolenghi cookery book for Christmas (called simply: Ottolenghi, the Cookbook. Not much imagination in the title, then) . I started leafing through it (while salivating profusely just looking at the pictures as all the dishes looked incredibly appealing) and quickly realized I had to invest some money in buying these two spices as they seemed to pop up time and time again in his recipes. So there you have the answer to my question: sumac and za’atar are spices used a lot in middle eastern dishes. To be precise: sumac is a spice made from the crushed berries of a small Mediterranean tree and za’atar is a blend of dried thyme, toasted sesame seeds and salt. I think I’ve mentioned before that Ottolenghi is an Israeli chef (with an Italian granddad, you will have guessed from his surname). I tried some of his recipes before and found them delicious. But I confess to be unfamiliar with some of the ingredients he uses, including these two spices. Unfortunately they are not commonly found in supermarkets. Certainly not in those in the north East of England where I live. Perhaps in London would be a different story. Anyway, fear not! If you live in the metaphorical culinary desert, like myself, you can simply buy them on line (which is what I did), together with other fancyful middle eastern ingredients (like orange blossom water, rose water, etc.).  Continue reading ‘Roast chicken with sumac,za’atar and lemon’