Prune and chocolate torte

Published by Lucina, on 2 novembre 2014 in cakes and English Recipes. 0 Comments Tags: , .
prune and chocolate torte

prune and chocolate torte

Well…I can’t be blogging healthy things all of the time so here’s a nice, chocolatey cake which requires egg whites rather than whole eggs. That’s right! Rather unusual, isn’t it? I had had my eyes on it for a while. As it happened today I discovered a packet of soft punes in the cupboard plus I knew I had some egg whites which had been languishing in the fridge for a few days so , voilà, I decided  to try it.  I have got to say I was impressed with its taste and texture: it was really soft and moist. A must for all lovers of chocolate then. Also on the plus side the fact that the quantity of butter in it was unusually low. The recipe comes from the BBC Good food website. I wonder if you could substitute the flour with ground almonds or rice flour to make it suitable for gluten intolerant people. I might experiment next time. Continue reading ‘Prune and chocolate torte’

Mujaddara

Published by Lucina, on 25 ottobre 2014 in English Recipes, vegetables and vegetarian. 1 Comment

mujadarra                                                                                                    mujaddara

Although I confess I had never heard about this dish until my son waxed lyrical about it and urged me to add it to my vegetarian repertoire (I think I have already mentioned I have more or less dropped meat from my diet ), it is apparently very popular in the Arab world. It’s a one pot dish made with lentils, rice and caramelized onions as a base. It’s great to make as it’s a complete meal : it contains proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables. And it’s dead simple as well as being cheap, filling and surprisingly very tasty. What more can anyone want? I have seen different spellings of it as well as different recipes on line. What I am blogging is a combination of what I’ve found. It worked for me but feel free to experiment with spices and herbs. My son’s recipe for example was a bit simpler than the one I ended up making. And by the way, isn’t it nice when one gets ideas of things to cook from her own son? I must have brought him up well then… :-) By the way it’s nice served with a dollop of Greek yoghurt. Continue reading ‘Mujaddara’

Fiori di zucca in pastella di farina di ceci (la pastella vegana)

Published by Candida, on 20 ottobre 2014 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food..., Ricette in Italiano, vegetables, vegetarian and Verdure. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

DSC_0125 Ecco qua un altro prodotto dell’orto condiviso di Matteo e dei suoi amici. Non solo i crochi viola dello zafferano, ma anche questi bellissimi fiori gialli di zucca. E allora avanti con le pastelle. Del resto è da poco che Lucina ha postato una deliziosa combinazione di verdurine in pastella. Ma oggi, complice quello che c’era in dispensa e il desiderio di limitare le uova, mi è venuta l’idea di provare una nuova pastellina. E poi… una delle mie bimbe preferite è diventata vegana. Allora ecco qua una pastella per lei e per la sua mamma. Si può usare naturalmente con altre verdure. E chissà anche con pesce e gamberetti… se non sei vegano naturalmente.

A casa è piaciuto molto il suo sapore di farinata…

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Baklava

Published by Lucina, on 14 ottobre 2014 in cakes, Cucina regionale, Dolci and English Recipes. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .
baklava

baklava

These incredibly rich, gooey, sweet pastries are definitely not for diabetic people or anyone on a diet, I am warning you. HOWEVER, they are delicious and a little piece of them goes a long way which makes them ideal to share with a group of friends. They are made with  layers of buttered filo pastry and contain lots of chopped nuts. What holds them together is honey or syrup. So you can imagine the high number of calories that these little beauties possess. Even an hour of Zumba I am not sure would be able to shift them. Anyway, the inspiration to make baklavas came from my holiday to the Greek island of Paxos, back in September, where they seemed to be sold everywhere (Oh happy, sunny days! If only I could be back there. Autumn is definitely upon us now :-(….). I understand, however, that they are Turkish in origin. Making baklava was also one of the challenges on one of the episodes of the Great British Bake off programme, which has just finished. So I had to have a go, didn’t I? The recipe I used came from the BBC Good food website, slightly adapted. I checked other recipes online and they all seem to be very similar. Unlike in the GB Bake off competition I most certainly did not make my own filo pastry. Come off it!  Life is too short for that! Anyway, they were very nice and made some colleagues at work happy. Continue reading ‘Baklava’

Maionese vegana senza uova

Published by Candida, on 8 ottobre 2014 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food... and Ricette in Italiano. 1 Comment Tags: , .

2014-08-02 09.50.50 Potrebbero scappare tutti. Soprattutto se lo sanno. Ma se la metti lì senza dire niente la mangeranno senza fiatare. La si fa in un batter d’occhio

Una bella idea per alleggerire un po’ i nostri piatti. L’ho presa da Araba felice che in fatto di trucchi, trucchetti e cucina “furba” è una maga! E, intanto che la preparate ascoltatevi e meditatevi questo bellissimo nuovo Cohen, Slow

 

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Uova ripiene al tonno

Published by Lucina, on 5 ottobre 2014 in English Recipes and starters. 0 Comments

uova ripiene

These eggs take me back to when I was a little girl and was visiting my grandparents. My grandma  always made these stuffed eggs with tuna as an antipasto when we visited- amongst other things (I still salivate thinking about them. She was such a good cook!). I didn’t mind the fact that she didn’t vary the repertoire as I used to love them. As I was taking a trip to memory lane I decided to recreate them. I’m not sure I have got the quantities right but I think I am roughly on the right track. They are ideal as a snack/starter and really easy to make. The only problem is shelling the hardboiled eggs , which can be a bit of a bugger sometimes!

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Breadcrumbed fennel

Published by Lucina, on 28 settembre 2014 in English Recipes, vegetables, vegetarian and Verdure. 1 Comment

breadcrumbed fennel

I don’t know about you but I adore fennel! I love its aniseedy flavour. I often steam it and then add a bit of crème fraiche and grated parmesan to it. Simple and delicious. But today I was in the mood to try something new. Cast your eyes on the left hand side of the picture to see what the final result looked like. Ignore the rest. I was impressed with how nice this way of cooking fennel was. Ok, I confess: it’s a bit of a faff and your kitchen will look  like a bomb site by the time you have finished ( you have to dip it in three different things before frying it) BUT it’s worth it. I had it with salmon and mangetout, as you can see, but I think these delightful slices of breadcrumbed fennel  would go equally  well with some sort of dips as a starter or indeed as an  accompaniment to any roast. Try it for yourself! Continue reading ‘Breadcrumbed fennel’

Meringhe allo zafferano

Published by Candida, on 23 settembre 2014 in Chiacchiere/Chatting, Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

2014-07-20 16.25.08 Le meringhe sono il mio punto debole. Credo di averlo già detto, ci ho messo quasi trent’anni per imparare a farle, almeno finché non ho incontrato questa ricetta infallibile di Dario Bressanini.

Poi, visto che Matteo sta coltivando lo zafferano e andando in giro per corsi, mi racconta le cose che prova dopo aver zappato, ho colto la palla al balzo e ho aromatizzato le meringhe. Buonissime!

Tanto ci sono piaciute che abbiamo continuato l’esperimento e le abbiamo fatte versione aftereight, con un po’ di menta in sciroppo nell’impasto e della glassa di cioccolato sciolto.

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Milk bread loaf

Published by Lucina, on 16 settembre 2014 in bread and English Recipes. 2 Comments

milk loaf2

Hello everyone, I am finally back after my Greek holiday and rearing to cook again (and share my recipes with you). I confess it is a bit depressing to come back to Autumn after some lazy sunny days spent on the island of Paxos. On the other hand it is nice to be able to throw toilet paper down the loo again (which is forbidden in Greece, in case people don’t know…). Anyway, moving on swiftly, let me share with you the recipe of this milk loaf bread (courtesy of Dan Leppard) which I made for the traditional book group ladies tea party  which takes place every year in August. The idea is to use the best china and produce a top notch afternoon tea. Everyone has to contribute. All the ladies belonging to the group are excellent cooks so it is always delicious and worth the extra calories. This year the host was my good friend (and lover of all things Italian), Jill. She made a lovely job of setting it up (as you can see from pics below). I would have paid top dollars to partake of what turned out to be a most delicious afternoon tea, which would have made  Jane Austen proud. My brief was to make dinky sandwiches so I couldn’t possibly buy a ready made Warburton loaf, could I? I had to make my own. This one was really lovely: soft and delicate. A bit of a cross between a brioche and bread.  I’d recommend you try it! Obviously you have to cut the crusty bits off but they are so nice I scoffed the lot. 😉 Continue reading ‘Milk bread loaf’

Blackberry jam

Published by Lucina, on 30 agosto 2014 in English Recipes and jam. 2 Comments

blackberry jam

Dear readers, apologies for the long silence but we encountered technical problems on the blog. Basically when we logged in  as administrators it was all a big blank, as if everything had disappeared. Cue in panic attack…What? The work of over 4 years down the drain? Luckily Candi has a techno savvy son and he managed to sort it out for us (thank you Matteo!!!) but we had to wait until he came back from his holidays. He was trying to explain to me what had gone wrong but it was like he was speaking double dutch. FTP files? What are they? Plugins? Akismet?  They sound like characters out of the Muppet show…Anyway, we are back in business so today I would like to share how to make blackberry jam with you. I love this jam, seeds and all, and it is so easy to make. It sets really well and quickly. Honestly: everyone could make it. I have already made 3 batches as blackberries are beginning to ripen now (earlier than usual) and are readily available if one knows where to look. Do take yourself in the countryside, collect some and have a go! And by the way, you will have to be patient once more as both me and Candi will be away for the next 2 weeks. Continue reading ‘Blackberry jam’