Pistachio and cardamom shortbreads

Published by Lucina, on 5 dicembre 2013 in biscuits and English Recipes. 3 Comments

pistachio and cardamom shortbreads

Yes! Yet another biscuit recipe to share with you, my friends! From the woman who never used to bake them it’s pretty impressive,uh? I have come to the conclusion biscuits are rather a  versatile thing to make! You can offer them to friends when they make a surprise call, have one with your tea or coffee when you are feeling peckish or take one to work with your packed lunch to make it less boring and impress your colleagues. And all without feeling you are overindulging too much. Somebody will point out that these little babies aren’t without a calory or two, judging by the quantity of butter that goes into them but I choose to ignore the remark. Anyway I baked these beauties a few weeks ago and they went down a treat with my Italian lady friends. My husband’s work mates were also suitably impressed. I LOVE pistachios and adore cardamom as a spice so when I spotted this Ottolenghi recipe containing both I just KNEW I had to try them. And sure enough they didn’t let me down. They were definitely worth the effort. Lovely and crumbly, with a rather moreish, delicate flavour. I’ll make them again for sure. I was thinking how lovely they would go with some coconut ice cream or similar….YUMMY! Food for thought…. Continue reading ‘Pistachio and cardamom shortbreads’

Castagne al brandy

Published by Candida, on 28 novembre 2013 in Chiacchiere/Chatting, Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 2 Comments Tags: , .

  Per un chilo di castagne non sbucciate e 3 vasetti medi.

300 gr. zucchero

300 gr. acqua

un bacello di vaniglia

1 stecchetta di cannella

la scorza di un limone BIO non trattato

100 gr. alcol puro

250 gr. brandy

 

Faccio uno sciroppo con lo zucchero, l’acqua e le spezie. Lo faccio bollire 8 minuti. Spengo, filtro e quando è tiepido ci verso dentro l’alcol e il brandy. Intanto ho fatto le caldarroste. Io ne faccio 1/2 kg alla volta in microonde: solo grill per 10 minuti più 5 minuti con la funzione mista, grill e onde (avendo cura di inciderle tutte per bene, altrimenti scoppiano).

Sbuccio le castagne ancora calde (è più facile) e le metto in tre vasetti medi sterilizzati (in forno a 120° o bollendo almeno 10 minuti). Vi verso lo sciroppo con il brandy in modo che siano ben ricoperte. Chiudo bene e conservo in luogo fresco, asciutto e buio per almeno un mese. Fatele adesso per Natale.

Poi le posso mangiare: non solo come dolce. Sono deliziose con formaggi forti tipo pecorino o con il lardo.

 

Canederli agli spinaci

Published by Lucina, on 24 novembre 2013 in Cucina regionale, English Recipes, Primi and vegetarian. 3 Comments Tags: .

canederli agli spinaci

As I promised on my return from my summer holidays in the Dolomites here I am blogging a typical dish from that area ( which I finally got round to making) : the legendary canederli. What are they? I hear you ask…. Well, the best way to describe them is they are big bread dumplings which are cooked in boiling salted water. A bit like gnocchi. They were originally a peasant dish. I have made the vegetarian version (with spinach and cheese) but the traditional ones contain speck which is a smoked ham from those mountains. I tried both versions when I was in Italy, as well as those made with beetroot. All delicious,  and a great way to use stale bread. They are not difficult to prepare and are very tasty (as well as VERY filling). Recipes on the internet vary but here’s what I did. It worked first time. Continue reading ‘Canederli agli spinaci’

Biscoitos de maizena (take 2)

Published by Lucina, on 15 novembre 2013 in biscuits and English Recipes. 0 Comments Tags: , .

 

biscoitos de maizena (take 2)

If Candi is also jumping on the maizena band wagon I can’t NOT (can you have a double negative in English? I am not sure!) blog the second experiment with maizena biscuits which I promised you. The ones only using  maizena flour, remember? The advantage of this version is that they can be enjoyed by gluten intolerant people. I must say this 100% maizena flour variety is every bit as nice as the previous one and certainly as easy to make, if not easier. I particularly like their yellowish colour and their slightly coarser  texture, (because of the maizena flour which basically resembles polenta, only finer). I reduced the amount of butter and sugar the recipe suggested but even then I confess there is quite a lot of both in them. Oh well!   You only need to have ONE with your tea or coffee. It won’t send your cholesterol levels sky high, surely! Continue reading ‘Biscoitos de maizena (take 2)’

Torta caprese al limone… di nuovo la maizena

Published by Candida, on 10 novembre 2013 in cakes, Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

Ho adattato e rifatto una ricetta di Giallo Zafferano per questa torta un po’ calorica ma davvero goduriosa. Niente farina, solo maizena e mandorle che le danno corpo. Io sono partita dalle mandorle intere (mi erano appena arrivate dalla Sicilia) che ho sbucciato tuffandole per qualche minuto in acqua bollente, ma niente impedisce di comprare la farina di mandorle che si trova dappertutto. Dà veramente tante soddisfazioni. Continue reading ‘Torta caprese al limone… di nuovo la maizena’

Biscoitos de maizena

Published by Lucina, on 5 novembre 2013 in biscuits, Dolci and English Recipes. 8 Comments Tags: .

biscoitos de maizena

Yes, I am blogging in Portuguese! Well…at least the name of the recipe. It sounds much more enticing. Let me tell you why I ended up making these lovely little biscuits. The inspiration to bake them actually came from Candi’s post (biscottini al limone). Last weekend I tried making them but sadly they turned into a misdemeanour (read:they ended up in the bin). Why? Because I must have put too much bicarbonate of soda in them and you could taste it when you ate them. Oh dear!  Candi’s teaspoon must be much smaller than mine. :-(  Never mind: I know what to do next time. Anyway, I noticed that one of Candi’s biscottini al limone’s ingredients was maizena. Only a tablespoon of it but still. It so happened that I had a small bag of it in my cupboard, still unopened and about to expire with NO idea what to make with it so I started searching the net for biscuits recipes requiring maizena flour. Continue reading ‘Biscoitos de maizena’

Torta velocissima di mele alla lavanda

Published by Candida, on 30 ottobre 2013 in Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

  Continua la sperimentazione della lavanda in cucina (grazie a Elena, naturalmente). E così un profumino estivo entra dentro la solita torta autunnale di mele, leggermente colorata di scuro grazie alla più sana farina integrale e dell’avena. Il problema è sempre andare piano con la lavanda perché troppa fa l’effetto saponetta. Qui, con queste dose il profumo è leggerissimo, si può anche aumentare un po’, va a gusti naturalmente. Questa è una torta da tutti i giorni, quasi senza grassi. Continue reading ‘Torta velocissima di mele alla lavanda’

Involtini agrodolci di melanzane e zucchini

Published by Candida, on 25 ottobre 2013 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food..., Ricette in Italiano, vegetables, vegetarian and Verdure. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Ho preso questa ricetta dal sito di Io Donna, il magazine cosidetto femminile del Corriere., cambiandola un po’ ed estendedola anche alle zucchine.  Giusto un modo di acchiappare la coda dell’estate che se n’è andata prima di immergerci nelle mille varietà di cavoli che ci offrono l’autunno e l’inverno. In effetti è molto fresca ed è più adatta alla stagione calda. Continue reading ‘Involtini agrodolci di melanzane e zucchini’

Rhubarb and creme fraiche tart

Published by Lucina, on 20 ottobre 2013 in cakes and English Recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

rhubarb and creme fraiche tart

I fear this recipe will cause some problems for the Italians as rhubarb is something unknown in Italy. You can’t buy it in supermarkets over there, for example . In fact I would be surprised if an Italian knew what rhubarb looks like. Am I right? Please Candi/Italians, correct me if I’m wrong. However don’t despair: you could probably adapt this recipe and use another soft fruit instead, like raspberries or blueberries. I don’t know about you but I really love rhubarb. It’s really lovely stewed with some sugar and then eaten with yoghurt. Would you believe that  in Holland it is classified as a vegetable and eaten as a side dish to accompany meat? Really quite bizarre! Anyway, this tart was made by one of the ladies that belongs to my book group. I liked it so much that I asked for the recipe. I have already made it a few times, slightly adapted from her original one. If you have the time to make your own shortcrust pastry this is a lovely dessert worth the faff. Continue reading ‘Rhubarb and creme fraiche tart’

Biscottini al limone

Published by Candida, on 14 ottobre 2013 in biscuits, Chiacchiere/Chatting, Dolci and Ricette in Italiano. 1 Comment Tags: , .
Ecco una ricettina per i biscotti della domenica. Da fare assolutamente il giorno prima e lasciare al fresco, meglio in frigo, una notte.Altrimenti rimangono troppo sbriciolosi. Niente foto perché ho il computer rotto e sto postando con un iPad in prestito e non riesco a caricare la foto con questo aggeggio infernale tanto amato da Lucina.
Ho modificato una vecchia ricetta di Araba felice, mettendoci un po’ meno burro e un po’ più zucchero. Ho messo tutti gli ingredienti nel mixer e con la funzione discontinua ho impastato finché si è formata una palla da cui ho fatto un salamino. L’ho messo in frigo per qualche ora, e l’ho tagliato in fette da circa 1 cm l’una. Ho cotto a 180 per 10 minuti. Ho poi messo in frigo una notte. Continue reading ‘Biscottini al limone’