Monthly Archive for gennaio, 2014

The legendary pretzels

Published by Lucina, on 30 gennaio 2014 in bread, Cucina regionale and English Recipes. 2 Comments Tags: , .

pretzels

I absolutely ADORE pretzels but I always thought they could only be done professionally hence never attempted making them. Until very recently, that is. As you know I am experimenting with all things yeasty at present so decided that the moment had come to try them out. Why not? At worst they were going to be a disaster not to be repeated and blogged as a misdemeanour, right? So imagine my surprise when I sank my teeth in my very first pretzel and ….. WOW! I discovered it tasted damn close to the real thing! Ok, ok…I am sure that what I produced was not 100% kosher and a German person might very well turn his/her nose up at my creation (Beate? Your comment, please) but oh boy! They were soooooooo good!! I made them reasonably big in order to be able to cut them in half and butter them. I have tried them three times now and every time they were a success. They are not dissimilar from bagels in the sense that you need to boil them in water first before baking them. But that’s hardly complicated, right? The recipe was found on the BBC Good food website. I have adapted it slightly. If anyone out there likes pretzels DO HAVE A GO! You will be surprised about how easy they are. By the way I had to put a search on google for a video to show me how to knot them up. If you just go on Youtube  you’ll find more than one. Once you have learnt the technique you can do them with your eyes shut. I promise! Rocket science it ain’t!

Continue reading ‘The legendary pretzels’

Le simil camille

Published by Candida, on 24 gennaio 2014 in Chiacchiere/Chatting, Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

Non siete anche voi sempre alla ricerca di qualche merendina o snack che non lasci intasate le vostre arterie peggio che la tangenziale milanese alle cinque di venerdì sera? E’ anche una questione che il marketing di varie e note aziende ha ben sfruttato.  Per la serie cosa mi porto domani in treno a parte la solita mela che non mi sazia e mi lascia esposta indifesa alla tentazione-bar brioche e cappuccino? Questo è un tentativo. Una briochina leggera a base di carote, arancia e mandorle. Pochi grassi e non animali o idrogenati e qualche fibra in più. Ci sono tante ricette in rete, ne ho vagliate molte e poi ho fatto le mie modifiche (essenzialmente gli albumi a neve, per aggiungere leggerezza e diminuire i grassi). Continue reading ‘Le simil camille’

Blinis with cream cheese and smoked salmon

Published by Lucina, on 18 gennaio 2014 in Cucina regionale, English Recipes and starters. 2 Comments Tags: .

blinis with cream cheese and smoked salmon

I don’t know about you but sometimes I get stuck when I have to produce starters or canapés. Heaven knows why as  there is all sorts of things one can do! Still the imagination sometimes lets me down. And that’s where these little babies can come in handy! Blinis are small pancakes made with buckwheat flour. They are traditionally made in Eastern countries. Candi must know about these as they are popular in Russia. They have become widely known here in the UK too ( I am not sure about Italy) and are sold even in supermarkets. However, it is much more satisfying to produce your own, don’t you think? I had never tried to make them before but I tell you now: I shall do them again. They are really very straightforward and can be made in advance and garnished at a later stage making them ideal as finger food at buffets and parties. Obviously you could top them with lots of other things. Caviar would be very nice, I reckon, if a bit expensive! For this recipe you could use crème fraiche as an alternative to cream cheese. There are many recipes out there to make blinis. I simply used the one written on the packet of the buckwheat flour I bought, which tasted perfectly nice. So here I am sharing it with you. Continue reading ‘Blinis with cream cheese and smoked salmon’

L’avventura del miso. Un guest post di Fabio Consonni

Published by Candida, on 10 gennaio 2014 in Chiacchiere/Chatting and vegetarian. 4 Comments Tags: .



味

噌

こんにちは,  ciao.

Il miso è un alimento/condimento che si presenta in forma di pasta, composto prevalentemente da riso, soia (o altri legumi) e sale fermentati a lungo. Il miso non pastorizzato ha spiccate capacità probiotiche ed è fonte di nutrienti essenziali ad elevata digeribilità. Numerosi sono i vantaggi derivanti dall’assunzione quotidiana di miso… ma soprattutto: è buono!

 

La mia passione per questo alimento mi ha condotto ad approfondirne lo studio ed infine alla sua lunga ed attenta preparazione, rispettando la tradizione delle comunità rurali giapponesi; senza alcuna aggiunta di conservanti e senza procedimento di pastorizzazione che ne degrada sapori e profumi oltre a inattivare gli organismi viventi contenuti. Continue reading ‘L’avventura del miso. Un guest post di Fabio Consonni’

Cream of cauliflower and stilton soup

Published by Lucina, on 8 gennaio 2014 in English Recipes and Soup. 1 Comment Tags: , .

cream of cauliflower and stilton soup

After the excesses of the past couple of weeks and the distinctive lack of vegetables in my diet in favour of sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and all things calorie laden I am back on healthier stuff. In short ….bring back the soups and the salads!!  Soups are a firm favourite of mine and I’m always on the look out for new ones. Sometimes they are just a good way of using whatever veggies you have languishing in the fridge. This cream of cauliflower is a case in point:  I had a piece of sad looking stilton left over from Christmas, one cauliflower and …voilà…this soup was born. I confess I am not a fan of cauliflower (unless it is encased in béchamel sauce!)- not to mention its smell- but I must say I was surprised as to how creamy and tasty this one was. My husband was full of compliments and urged me to blog it as he enjoyed it so much. So how could I refuse? So here goes…. Continue reading ‘Cream of cauliflower and stilton soup’