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
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’
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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
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’
savoury brioche with ham, cheese and olives
Hello everyone, I bet you are all reeling from the Christmas excesses. Well, here’s another excess you MUST indulge yourself in: this incredible savoury brioche. It’s to die for! Amazingly soft and very, very tasty. You will impress family and friends if you produce one of these, I am sure. I have already made it three times with very pleasing results. This one has ham in it but you could make it vegetarian by substituting the ham with mushrooms. What I like about it is that, unlike other brioches I have seen, it doesn’t contain ridiculously high amounts of butter. I found the recipe on this amazing Italian blog called Zenzero e limone (Ginger and lemon to you!) and slightly adapted it. The lady who blogs is clearly passionate about cooking and knows her stuff in the kitchen . I will be trying some more of her recipes soon for sure!! Anyway, if you are interested in trying your hands at some yeasty type of bread try this one. Success guaranteed! Continue reading ‘Savoury brioche with ham,cheese and olives’
chelsea buns with mincemeat
And here’s one of the things I made with my homemade mincemeat. Chelsea buns go back a long time. According to Wikipedia (so it must be true…ha ha) they made their first appearance in the 18th century. The traditional variety are made with an enriched dough and contain currants, brown sugar and spices. They have a nice, sticky glaze on the top. I decided to give them a Christmas twist by using mincemeat and lovely they were too. Candi blogged a Swedish version, similar in looks to these, but made with cinnamon and cardamom last year (see here). As they are type of bread buns they are best eaten on the day. Continue reading ‘Chelsea buns with mincemeat’
mincemeat with brandy
I can already see Italian people puzzling over the word “mincemeat”. Surely you can’t mix minced meat with brandy, right? RIGHT! I was puzzled too when I first came to England and realized that there is no meat in this traditional mixture that you use to make mince pies (one of the the traditional sweets to have here at Christmas time). Phew! Mincemeat is actually a sweet concoction made with raisins, sultanas, candy peels, sugar, spices, etc. So why is it called mincemeat? I really don’t know, is the answer. Must go on google and see whether I can find the solution to the riddle. All I know is that traditional mincemeat contains suet which is fat from meat. Could that be the reason why? Anyway, last year I made frangipane mince pies which turned out to be really nice, but I used mincemeat I had bought. This year I decided to make my own. Oh yes! And a cinch it was too! I didn’t use suet for mine but butter, as suggested by the mighty Mary Berry (the inspiration came from watching a Christmas programme with her and Paul Hollywood). I have already used some for the frangipane mincepies but ALSO to fill some Chelsea buns, which I will blog as well. They were both a success. Continue reading ‘Home made mincemeat with brandy’
Dopo i buonissimi biscotti di Lucina, se deve essere pistacchio, che pistacchio sia! Vi manca qualche regalino? Si potrebbe rimediare con un vasetto di questa specie di Nutella di pistacchio a base di cioccolata bianca. La dose per tre vasetti medi (quello che vedete nella brutta foto è il rimasuglio). La cosa importante è non essere appena andati a farsi le unghie, visto che ve le distruggerete a forza di pelare pistacchi.
date and honey wholemeal bread
Despite my previous post this bread was not made with sourdough. Anybody can do it, don’t worry! (Having said that I confess I am now in the habit of adding a dollop of sourdough to all the breads I bake. It is supposed to improve the texture.) My fascination for bread continues, following the two bread making courses I attended. I hardly ever buy bread from the supermarket these days. At a push I get it from the local artisan bakery but I have now got into the swing of baking my own. Once you get into the routine it is really quite easy. Plus I get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction out of it. I’m sure it’s much better for your health anyway (have you looked at the ingredients list of those supermarket loaves- the sliced ones sold in plastic bags, I mean? There is all sort of rubbish! How else could they last for weeks? SCARY!). Continue reading ‘Date and honey wholemeal bread’
- The legendary Tomik the sourdough. View from above
Followers of this blog may recall that back in April I “gave birth” and started experimenting with sourdough. Tomik is how I christened it (apparently master bakers give names to their sourdough starters. Not that I’m a master baker of course but I liKed the idea!) Some of you might wonder, after all these months, whether the love affair has continued or if I managed to kill the baby sourdough off….. WEEEELLLL, you’ll be happy to know that Tomik is alive and kicking and has never been healthier. It (he?) even survived being put in the freezer during the summer while we went on holiday (Yes! can you believe it? You can freeze sourdough!) Since it was born I have made lots of things with it: pizza, pancakes (blogged) and obviously different types of bread ( not blogged as I don’t want to become a one trick recipe pony). I won’t lie to you: it is a bit of a faff to keep it alive. You have to feed it regularly (only with flour and water, don’t worry. I wouldn’t want you to think I have a strange beastie lurking in my house!). Definitely a labour of love then! BUT don’t be put off: the results are very pleasing indeed. And let’s not forget that sourdough is all natural stuff and that the bread made with it is much easier to digest? Continue reading ‘How is Tomik??? Is he still alive?’
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