briciole

zuppa stile caldo verde / caldo verde-inspired soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

green goodness

With a name as sensuous as caldo verde (literally, green broth), a soup's future is secure. Who doesn't want to eat some caldo verde? I certainly wanted to, but there was a little glitch: I don't eat sausages, I stopped eating them years ago, for various reasons. I have nothing against chouriço or linguiça, which are called for in the recipe for caldo verde, a traditional Portuguese soup, often referred to as Portuguese kale soup. And I don't like to eat "imitation" something, so I set about making a soup "inspired by" caldo verde, without sausages. I didn't go all the way vegetarian, because I used some of my homemade light chicken stock, but if you substitute that with vegetable broth, you have a vegetarian version of this satisfying soup, perfect whenever you need a good plan to use kale overflowing from your garden.

I actually used a mix of rainbow chard (bietola) from Redwood Roots Farm and Red Russian kale (cavolo riccio) from my garden, cut as shown in this video (starts at around 7:45" — as an aside, I disagree with her assessment of chard stalks flavor: I like making this dish with them).

various shades of greens

For my rendition, I selected this recipe on the BBC site as guide, then, as usual, went my own way, giving precedence to ingredients I had available. In particular, instead of using an onion, I took advantage of freshly harvested baby leeks (porri novelli) and of shallots (scalogni) from my garden's 2012 production. Locally grown, dried shiitake mushrooms add a nice note to the rustic soup and contribute to its earthy color.

Ingredients:

• 7 dried shitake mushrooms
• 3 baby leeks, white and light green portion, sliced and thoroughtly rinsed
• 3 medium shallots, finely chopped
  
• Alternative to leeks and shallots: 1 large onions, finely chopped
• Olive oil of good quality
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 lb potatoes, well scrubbed and diced
• 1 parsnip, well scrubbed, trimmed, and thinly sliced
• 2 cups light chicken stock or vegetable broth, possibly homemade + water as needed
• 1 bay leaf
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 bunch of kale and rainbow chard (see below for quantity details)
  
• A generous squeeze of fresh Meyer lemon juice

Before you start preparing the vegetables, place mushroom in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let them fully rehydrate.

Warm up some olive oil in a soup pot and gently cook baby leeks and shallots until soft, stirring often. Drain mushrooms, remove stems (and save to make broth or stock), and slice caps. Add to the pot mushrooms and the water where they soaked, stir and cook for a few more minutes.

Add potatoes and parsnip to the pot and stir well. Add bay leaf, stock and enough water to cover the vegetables well. Bring to a boil and cook gently until potatoes and parsnip are tender and easily smashed with the back of a spoon.

While the soup cooks, wash the greens and separate the leaves from the stalks. (Set aside the chard stalks and make this dish or something else with them.) Thinly slice the greens as shown in the video mentioned above. Basically, chiffonade. Make a stack of leaves, then roll it lengthwise. Hold the roll with one hand and with the other cut thin slices across (as if it were a salame). Make another stack and repeat. I am not a paragon of knife skills as you can see from the photo: the greens should be cut a bit more thinly, if possible.

Season soup with salt and pepper, to taste, then process with an immersion blender. I left some texture in the soup. Add some hot water, if the soup is very dense. Bring soup back to a boil.

My guide recipe instructs to blanch the greens, but I didn't see the need to involve another pot, because the greens I use don't taste bitter to me.

Add as much of the pile of cut greens as the soup can support and as you prefer. As you can see from the photo, I didn't use a light hand here. Simmer for a few minutes, until the greens are tender. Add the Meyer lemon juice and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper and serve this warming and satisfying soup. Should I mention how healthy an nutritious it is?

the view from above

This was not my first foray into Portuguese cuisine. Some time ago, I followed detective Pepe Carvalho's instructions and made an excellent pot of caldeirada (fish soup).

This is my contribution to the third installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. C like Canja (Portugal) is hosted by Patrizia of La Melagranata.

On this page you will find Canja's recipe and the list of dishes submitted to the event.

If you are interested in participating, this post has the complete list of countries, hosts and time frames.

This is also my submission for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

zuppa stile caldo verde

or launch the zuppa stile caldo verde audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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soup, potato, kale, chard, Portuguese recipe

Per i lettori italiani

bontà verde

Con un nome sensuale come caldo verde (brodo verde), il successo di una zuppa è assicurato. Voglio dire: chi non vuole assaggiare del caldo verde? Certamente io volevo assaggiarlo, ma c'era un piccolo ostacolo: ho smesso di mangiare salsicce, per motivi vari. Non ho nulla contro chouriço o linguiça, che vengono elencati come ingredienti del caldo verde, zuppa tradizionale portoghese. E non mi piace mangiare prodotti che sono l'imitazione di qualcos'altro, quindi ho preparato una zuppa "stile" caldo verde, senza salsicce. Non ho fatto proprio una versione vegetariana, dal momento che ho usato del brodo di pollo, ma se lo sostituite con brodo vegetale, il risultato è una versione vegetariana di questa ottima zuppa.

Il verde nel mio caso è un misto di bietola "arcobaleno" che ho raccolto a Redwood Roots Farm e cavolo riccio "Red Russian" raccolto dal mio orticello. Le foglie le ho tagliate, come si vede in questo video (cominciando a 7:45" — tra parentesi, non sono d'accordo con il giudizio della chef sulle coste: a me piacciono e le uso per preparare questo piatto).

vari toni di verde

Come guida per la mia versione, ho scelto questa ricetta sul sito della BBC, poi, come al solito, ho fatto di testa mia, dando la precedenza ad ingredienti che avevo a disposizione. In particolare, invece di usare una cipolla, ho sfruttato dei porri novelli che avevo raccolto insieme alla bietola e degli scalogni dal mio orticello (raccolto del 2012). Funghi shiitake secchi di produzione locale hanno contribuito una nota rustica (e in loro colore).

Ingredienti:

• 7 funghi shitake secchi
  
• 3 porri novelli, la parte bianca e verde chiaro, tagliati a fettine e sciacquati accuratamente
• 3 scalogni medi tritati
• In alternativa a porri e scalogno: 1 grossa cipolla tritata
• 2 spicchi d'aglio pelati e schiacciati 
• Olio extra-vergine d'oliva
• 225 g patate, lavate accuratamente e tagliate a dadi
• 1 pastinaca, lavate accuratamente e tagliata a fettine
• 475 ml brodo di pollo o brodo vegetale fatto in casa + acqua
• 1 foglia d'alloro
• Sale fino e pepe macinato fresco, q.b.
• 1 mazzo di bietola o cavolo riccio (vedi sotto per dettagli)
• Succo di limone (possibilmente Meyer)

Mettere i funghi in una ciotola, coprirli con acqua calda e farli reidratare.

Scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola capiente e aggiungere porri e scalogno. Cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando sono teneri, mescolando spesso. Scolare i funghi, rimuovere i gambi (e metterli da parte per usarli come ingredienti in un brodo) e affettare i cappelli. Aggiungere alla pentola i funghi e l'acqua nella quale sono stati reidratati, mescolare bene e cuocere per qualche altro minuto.

Aggiungere patate e pastinaca e mescolare bene. Aggiungere alloro, brodo e abbastanza acqua in modo da coprire bene le verdure. Portare a bollore e cuocere fino a quando patate e pastinaca sono tenere e si possono schiacciare facilmente con un cucchiaio.

Mentre la zuppa cuoce, lavare bietola e cavolo riccio e separare le foglie dagli steli. (Mettere da parte le coste e prepararci questo piatto o qualcos'altro.) Tagliare le foglie a nastri fini come si vede nel video menzionato prima. In pratica, fare una piccola pila di foglie e poi arrotolarle per il lungo. Tenere il rullo con una mano e con l'altra, tagliare fettine fini (come se fosse un salame). Fare un'altra pila di foglie e ripetere. La foto dimostra che non eccello col coltello: i nastrini dovrebbero essere più fini.

Condire la zuppa con sale e pepe, a seconda del gusto. Usare il frullatore ad immersione. Io non ho reso la zuppa proprio omogenea, ma l'ho lasciata un po' rustica. Aggiungere acqua calda, se la zuppa è troppo densa. Riportarla a bollore.

La ricetta guida dice di sbollentare le foglie, ma io non ho ritenuto necessario coinvolgere un'altra pentola dal momento che non percepisco l'amaro nelle verdure in questione.

Aggiungere alla zuppa tante manciate di nastrini quante la zuppa assorbe o a seconda del vostro gusto. Come si vede dalla foto, io sono stata generosa. Cuocere per alcuni minuti, fino a quando le verdure appena aggiunte sono tenere. Spruzzare del succo di limone e mescolare bene. Correggere sale e pepe e servire quest'ottima zuppa, che è anche nutriente e salutare.

vista dall'alto

Questo non è il mio primo assaggio della cucina portoghese. Un po' di tempo fa, ho seguito le indicazioni dell'investigatore Pepe Carvalho e ho preparato un'eccellente pentola di caldeirada (zuppa di pesce).

Questo è il mio contributo alla terza tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. C come Canja (Portogallo) è ospitata da Patrizia de La Melagranata.

Su questa pagina trovate la ricetta per Canja e la lista dei contributi all'evento.

Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

Black and White Wednesday: la galleria di foto / the photo gallery

Many thanks to all who illuminated my week by contributing their images to edition #72 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event. And a big thank you to Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook who created the event and to Cinzia of Cindystar who is now organizing it.

Enjoy this week's show!

Shri of TiffinCarrier Antic/que's: Green Peas Kachori

Meena of Encourage Spice: A Busy Day in my Kitchen

Paz of The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz: Four Chickens and a Pig

Cinzia of Cindystar:

Tuscan Kale

Ribollita

Shruthi of Food & Clicks: Kheema Biryani

Princy of Reflections: Hot Chocolate

Nandita of Paaka Shaale: Kidney Beans

Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu:

Elegant Dining Room 

Beautiful Kitchen

Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums: Precious Hazelnuts

Simona of briciole:

special Carnival beads for LongHouse Austin

"step away from the takeout menu"

I hope you like the page divider I have used in the post. I downloaded it from this page.

As of today, Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte aka kochtopf is accepting submissions for edition #73 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event. You can send her your contribution to kochtopf AT gmail DOT com.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the event. And if you are interested in hosting, contact Cinzia at casacortella AT tin DOT it.

I do hope I have not left anybody out of the roundup. If you find that, notwithstanding my best intentions, I actually have omitted a photo , please send me a note.

Arrivederci a presto

orecchiette di grano arso / burnt wheat orecchiette

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

pretty in monochrome

Le fate esistono. Fairies exist. Here is how I know. Last October, shortly before going to Italy to visit my family, I learned about a special flour from Puglia (Apulia) called farina di grano arso (literally, burnt wheat flour). This flour was traditionally obtained by milling durum wheat grains gleaned from the fields after the stubble had been burnt. I had of course known about the gleaning that happened after harvesting, but never about combing through the burnt fields, a back-breaking job yielding burnt berries. However, in a situation of need, they were better than nothing. The grano arso was then milled and mixed to regular durum flour to make pasta, bread and focaccia.

Nowadays, the product is obtained via toasting (I wish I knew more about how it is done), a safer process, since burning produces unhealthy compounds. The resulting gray flour smells slightly smoky and is appreciated for its unusual color and pleasant nutty flavor.

I had to get some.

Unfortunately, I could not find any in my home town (Perugia). I was disappointed and determined to be better organized the next time I visited Italy (possibly ordering the flour online to have it delivered to my family's address). A few weeks later, however, a good fairy made my wish come true: she sent me a package with a jar of farina di grano arso in it. What a wonderful gift! In this post you can read about her experience learning about grano arso during her visit to Puglia.

farina di grano arso

I have used the precious farina di grano arso to make orecchiette, using one part of farina di grano arso and three parts of semolina flour. That was not difficult. Taking photographs was arduous. The images I selected do only partial justice to the beauty of the light gray color of the flour and the darker gray color of the pasta made with it. 

striking color

I made orecchiette di grano arso twice and both times I cooked some purple sprouting broccoli in the same pot. As I am still working out the details of the preparation, I will talk more about this pairing in a future post. Update: You can read the details in this post.

As a reference, from my previous post about orecchiette, here is a very short segment shows my hands making one orecchietta using a dough made with semolina flour:

You may watch videos that show the use of a tool to shape orecchiette: I am more comfortable using my hands. The dough made using farina di grano arso is softer than the one made only with semolina flour: I floured my fingers every now and then to prevent sticking. And I let the orecchiette dry a couple of hours before cooking them.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 25 g / 1 oz. farina di grano arso
• 75 g / 2.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• A pinch of salt

Make a dough with the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let it rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the orecchiette. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 cm / 3/8 inch long pieces. Shape each small piece into an orecchietta using whatever method suits you. I drag the piece of pasta over the kneading board with my right thumb away from me, then, with my left hand, I turn it inside out over my index finger and lay it out to dry.

After letting them dry for a couple of hours, cook the orecchiette and dress them as you like, but make sure to avoid strong flavors that would overwhelm the delicate nutty note of the pasta.

I know what's in your mind: where can we get some of this flour? I have not yet found a source for it in the US. If and when I do, I will certainly let you know. In the meantime, if you visit Puglia, make sure to bring back some.

This is my contribution to edition #372 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Terry of Crumpets & Co..

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

orecchiette di grano arso

or launch the orecchiette di grano arso audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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handmade pasta, grano arso, semolina flour, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

bellezze monocromatiche

Le fate esistono. Ecco come lo so. Lo scorso Ottobre, poco prima di venire in Italia a trovare la mia famiglia, ho letto un articolo sulla farina di grano arso, prodotto tipico pugliese. Per chi non lo sapesse (magari io ero l'unica ad essere all'oscuro), questa farina una volta si otteneva dalla macinatura del grano duro spigolato dopo la bruciatura delle stoppie e veniva aggiunta alla farina "buona" per fare pasta, pane e focaccia. Insomma, un prodotto della necessità che aguzza l'ingegno.

Oggigiorno la farina viene prodotta tramite tostatura (e mi piacerebbe conoscere maggiori dettagli del processo), dal momento che la bruciatura crea delle sostanze nocive. La farina grigia e dal profumo un po' affumicato viene apprezzata per il suo colore insolito e il sapore delicatamente torrefatto.

La volevo trovare, ma a Perugia non ci sono riuscita e sono tornata a casa in California delusa e decisa ad organizzarmi meglio la prossima volta, magari ordinandone un po' online e facendola recapitare alla mia famiglia. Qualche settimana dopo, una fata gentile ha soddisfatto il mio desiderio: mi ha mandato un pacchetto con un vasetto di farina di grano arso. Un regalo bellissimo! In questo post (in inglese) potete leggere come lei ha conosciuto il grano arso durante la sua visita in Puglia.

farina di grano arso

Con la farina di grano arso ho fatto delle orecchiette, usando una parte di farina di grano arso e tre della semolina flour che trovo nel negozio dove faccio spesa di solito e che io uso come se fosse semola rimacinata. Fare le orecchiette è stato facile. Il difficile è stato fotografarle. Le immagini che ho scelto danno solo in parte l'idea del colore della farina e della pasta fatta con essa.

un bel colore

Ho fatto le orecchiette di grano arso due volte e in entrambi i casi le ho cotte con delle infiorescenze di broccoli viola. Devo definire i dettagli della ricetta e quindi la riservo per un post futuro. Aggoirnamento: i dettagli della ricetta sono in questo post.

Come riferimento, dal mio post precedente sulle orecchiette, ecco un breve video che mostra le mie mani che formano un'orecchietta con l'impasto normale:

 

Ho visto video che mostrano l'uso di un attrezzo per formare le orecchiette, ma io mi trovo meglio ad usare le mie mani. L'impasto è piu morbido di quello che faccio solo con la semolina flour e ho dovuto infarinarmi le dita alcune volte per evitare che l'orecchietta rimanesse un po' attaccata. Ho fatto asciugare le orecchiette un paio d'ore prima di cuocerle.

Ingredienti:

• 25 g farina di grano arso 
• 75 g semola di grano duro (rimacinata o meno, o un misto, a seconda di quello che prevede la vostra ricetta di famiglia)
  
• 50 g acqua calda
• un pizzico di sale

Lavorare gli ingredienti fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. Farlo riposare, coperto, per almeno mezz'ora.

Formare un salsicciotto e tagliarlo a pezzi da lavorare uno alla volta, mentre gli altri rimangono al coperto. Rotolare fino ad ottenere un serpentello grosso come una matita (anche qui ho notato un po' di variabilità, ma questo è quello che ho fatto io) e tagliarlo a pezzetti di 1 cm. Fare ad ogni pezzetto di impasto la forma di un'orecchietta usando il metodo che preferite. Io trascino il pezzetto di impast con il pollice destro allontanandolo da me e poi lo rivolto sopra l'indice destro aiutandomi con la mano sinistra. Lasciar asciugare per un paio d'ore.

Cuocere le orecchiette in abbondante acqua salata e condirle a piacere ma non con ingredienti dal sapore forte altrimenti quello delicato delle orecchiette viene soffocato. E se siete pazienti saprete presto come faccio io.

Ai miei lettori non italiani non posso dare indicazioni precise su come trovare la farina di grano arso fuori dall'Italia, ma voi non avete limitazioni e potete trovarne in commercio diretto oppure online e fare questa pasta che rende omaggio ad una bellissima regione e rende onore ad un retaggio culturale che ci ricorda la vita per nulla facile di tante persone.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 372 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Terry di Crumpets & Co..

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

Edizione speciale: Novel Food #18 / Announcement: Novel Food #18

spontaneous deconstructed journal

I usually start my announcement of a new edition of Novel Food by sharing the title of the book I am currently reading. This time, instead, I am showing you a book I just made. In January, I attended a nice workshop taught by artist Jill Berry where I learned to make a Spontaneous Deconstructed Journal. When I left for Austin to attend the LongHouse Food Revival, I carried in my bag a set of pages and various writing and drawing tools. I wrote and drew and marked the pages while I was in Austin and also collected material to add to them later. A few days ago, I completed the pages and bound the journal: voilà!

Almost everything I did, saw and listened to during my stay in Austin is recorded in the journal, so in the future, I can go back to it to remind myself of events, people, places, words.

And now on to the business of the day: I am hereby announcing a new edition of Novel Food, the culinary/literary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started in the fall of 2007. I am now carrying the torch. I am a bookworm and this event is really close to my heart as it brings together two of my passions, as does the other lovely culinary/literary event I am involved with, Cook the Books.

Every edition of Novel Food is a little voyage of literary discovery, as you learn about literary works new to you, and it is also a delightful banquet made up of the literary-inspired dishes contributed by the event's participants.

I hope you will join the party. I am looking forward to learning about a published literary work (a novel, novella, short story, memoir, bio, poem, etc.) that provided you with culinary inspiration.

Here are the simple rules for participating in Novel Food:

1. Prepare a dish of your choosing that has a connection to a published literary work (novel, novella, short story, memoir, bio, poem).
2. Publish a post about it on your blog by the end of Sunday March 24, 2013 (midnight, Pacific Time), referencing the Novel Food event. Include a link to this announcement. If you wish, you can use the Novel Food logo.
3. Send an e-mail to simosite AT mac DOT com and include your name, blog name and blog address, and a permanent link to your post. Please, include the words "Novel Food" in the email subject, so I can more easily retrieve the message in my inbox.
4. Non-English submissions are fine. If possible, include an introduction in English.

If you don't have a blog, send me an email telling us about the dish, the literary work that inspired it, and, if you have it, a picture of what you made: I will add it to the roundup as well.

Note #1: If you don't receive an answer to your email or a comment on your post within two days of sending me the email, please contact me again: sometimes email messages get lost in cyberspace.

Note #2: If you follow this link, you will be able to browse my portion of the roundup of all previous editions. In relevant posts, you will find a link to Lisa's portion of the roundup.

collane e grembiule / beads and apron

special Carnival beads for LongHouse Austin

After showing you one of the tables we set, here are two more images from LongHouse Food Revival Austin. At the entrance, people could pick up a strand of appropriately themed Carnival beads.

"step away from the takeout menu"

Kate of The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking set up this nice table with copies of her book. Don't you love the apron?

If you are curious to see more about the event than the details I shared, on this page there is a nice slide show of images by Jo Ann Santangelo.

---

This week, I have the honor of hosting Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event. created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar. Send your contribution at simosite AT mac DOT com, namely

• your name
• your blog's name
• the image(s) (max 500 px wide, either orientation)

You have until Tuesday, February 26 at midnight Pacific time to do so. If you are unfamiliar with the event or need a reminder of the rules, you will find the details in this post (and in Italian here). Feel free to use the logo below. If you have a photo, but no blog, send it to me and I will include it in the roundup, which will be published on Wednesday, February 27.

Since messages can get lost, please, contact me again if you don't get an answer to your email or a comment on your blog within a couple of days of emailing me.

This is my contribution to edition #72 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Simona of briciole.

The photos were shot in color and then converted, the top one to sepia (Lightroom preset Sepia Tone) and the bottom one to black and white (Lightroom preset Split Tone 2).

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

Related articles

la tavola è pronta / the table is set

insalata di patate con salsa cremosa di peperoni e anacardi / potato salad with red pepper and cashew dip dressing

potatoes dressed in red

I crave color these days, even though the weather has been mostly bright and sunny. A batch of my roasted red pepper and almond dip, made last summer and frozen, brightened me for a few days. I was about to thaw another one, when, in the freezer, I found a container of roasted Round of Hungary peppers, also from last summer. 

Round of Hungary (or pimento cheese) peppers

I thawed them and used them to make half a batch of the roasted red pepper and almond dip substituting almonds (mandorle) with cashews (anacardi). I like the result: I detect the flavor of cashews in the background of the peppers.

Although I like them a lot, I have never used cashews in my kitchen. That's about to change, thanks to a collection of recipes focused on cashews that I received recently. In the meantime, having cashews in the kitchen gave me the idea of trying them in a known recipe.

purple majesty potato plant

The photo above is from last year, but I have a few plants like that in my vegetable garden now: I love the bicolored leaves. I also harvested some potatoes a few days ago, which screamed to be boiled and turned into a salad. Some were Purple Majesty and some of a pale-fleshed variety I don't remember (you can see it in the photo in this post). I selected the smallest ones and added to them, for variety's sake, a couple of red-skinned, white-fleshed potatoes from Warren Creek Farms (the same farm where I get the beautiful beans you've seen featured in several recent posts).

Based on how well the red pepper dip had worked as pasta sauce for my chestnut flour gnocchetti, I decided to use the cashew version as potato salad dressing. With a couple of small adjustments, it worked quite nicely. I am giving here the ingredients I used for a salad for two, but it is easy to increase them to match the number of people you wish to serve.

Ingredients:

• 10.5 oz. / 300 g new potatoes
• Fine sea salt, to taste
• 2 tablespoons roasted red pepper and almond dip made using cashews instead of almonds (see note below)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil of good quality
  
• Sherry vinegar, to taste

Note: cashews are sold already skinned, so no blanching + skinning is required. Toast them in the oven until golden. Carefully monitor them while they are in the oven to avoid burning. 

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in a pot of water until tender. Drain, cool and cube to obtain bite-size pieces. Season lightly with salt. Add the dip, olive oil and a touch of vinegar and toss lightly but thoroughly.

Let the salad rest before serving. If you refrigerate it, take it out ahead of time so it is not eaten cold.

This is a light and lovely salad, perfect served for dinner after a bowl of winter squash soup (recipe to be published soon, I hope).

This is my contribution to No Croutons Required, a monthly vegetarian soup and salad challenge hosted jointly by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. Jacqueline is the host for February and she chose potato salad as theme.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di patate con salsa cremosa di peperoni e anacardi

or launch the insalata di patate con salsa cremosa di peperoni e anacardi audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

potato, sweet pepper

Related articles

gnocchetti alla farina di castagne / chestnut flour gnocchetti

žemlovka: budino di pane alle mele / žemlovka: apple bread pudding

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

would you like a slice?

Ever since I could read, I have known about Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, because it is one of the twin cities of Perugia, my home town. But I have never been in that part of Europe, so Bratislava is still a name and a dot on the map.

Recently, I heard on the radio a report on Košice, the capital of East Slovakia, which is the 2013 European Capital of Culture. Hopefully during the year that city and its cultural heritage will become better known to the rest of Europe. 

Browsing the web in search of a Slovak dish that would inspire me, I came across žemlovka, a bread pudding enriched with apples. After reading several recipes for this dessert, I came up with a personalized version, based mostly on the recipe from the BBC site with a couple of elements from the recipe on the Slovak Cooking site. In particular, I cut down the amount of butter substantially and of sugar a bit. I grated the apples left unpeeled and used some of my homemade ricotta instead of farmer's cheese. As a personal touch, I sprinkled the surface with sliced almonds.

I like to identify recipes that are not simply a one-off endeavor, but can become part of my repertoire, and this certainly makes the cut. A light dessert, perfect served by itself or with some of my homemade ice cream, and also nice for a sweet breakfast (colazione) or a brunch.

just out of the oven

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 oz. / 50 g raisins (uvetta)
• 2 medium apples
• Freshly squeezed Meyer lemon (or regular lemon) juice
  
• 1 1/4 cup / 10 fluid oz. / 300 ml non-fat milk
• 1 tablespoon / 14 g browned butter, cut into pieces
• A bit of regular butter for greasing the baking dish
• 2 pastured eggs
• 1/4 cup / 50 g (unrefined) sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (cannella)
• a generous dash of ground nutmeg (noce moscata)
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2 1/2 oz. / 70 g homemade ricotta
• 6 oz. / 170 g homemade challah, baked two days prior
  
• 1/4 cup / 25 g sliced almonds

The recipe from the BBC site instructs you to soak the raisins in cold tea. I did not have time to comply, so I covered the raisins with warm water. (Next time, I will use cold tea: I am curious to taste what difference it makes.)

Grate the apples using an extra-coarse grater (or shred them in the food processor fitted with the shredding disk). Sprinkle a bit lemon juice and stir. Butter a baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. I used a 2 qt. pyrex gratin dish (11 x 7 x 1.5").

Warm up the milk in a saucepan, then add the butter and allow it to melt. Let the milk and butter cool.

Put the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in a bowl and beat with an electric beater at medium speed until well combined. Add the buttery milk and beat briefly at low speed until combined. Finally, add the ricotta and beat some more at low speed.

Cut the challah into 1/2-inch cubes and make a layer in the baking pan. Strain the raisins, discarding the liquid, and scatter them over the bread. Distribute the apples in an even layer on the bread. Pour the batter slowly over the apples. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on the surface.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes until the pudding has set and its surface is golden.

As I said above, my version of  žemlovka is a lovely dessert, lightly sweet and very satisfying.

This is my contribution to the second installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. B like bryndzové halušky (Slovakia) is hosted by Terry of Crumpets & Co..

This page contains bryndzové's recipe and the list of contributions to the event.

If you are interested in participating, this post has the complete list of countries, hosts and time frames.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

žemlovka 

or launch the žemlovka: budino di pane alle mele audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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bread, apple, egg, ricotta, Slovak recipe

Per i lettori italiani

volete assaggiarne una fetta?

Conosco Bratislava, la capitale della Slovacchia, da quando so leggere, dal momento che è una delle città gemellate con Perugia. Ma non l'ho mai visitata, e quindi Bratislava rimane per me un nome e un punto sulla cartina.

Qualche giorno fa alla radio ho sentito un servizio su Košice, la seconda città della Slovacchia in termini di popolazione, che è Capitale Europea della Cultura del 2013, Questo dovrebbe servire a rendere maggiormente note sia la città che il suo ricco retaggio culturale. 

Girando su internet alla ricerca di un piatto slovacco che mi ispirasse, ho incontrato žemlovka, un budino di pane alle mele. Dopo aver letto un certo numero di ricette, ho preparato una versione personalizzata, basata sulla ricetta sul sito della BBC con alcuni elementi della ricetta sul sito Slovak Cooking (entrambe in inglese). In particolare, ho:

• diminuito drasticamente la quantità di burro
• usato un po' meno zucchero
• grattugiato le mele non sbucciate
• usato un po' della mia ricotta fatta in casa (invece del farmer's cheese)
• aggiunto come tocco personale le fettine di mandorle sulla superficie

Mi piace trovare e provare ricette che non siano solo una tantum, ma che possano diventare parte del mio repertorio e questa certamente rientra nella categoria. Come dessert, l'ho servito da solo e con un po' del mio gelato fatto in casa, ed è anche ottimo per una colazione dolce o un brunch.

just out of the oven

Ingredienti:

• 50 g uvetta
• 2 mele medie
• Succo di limone (io ho usato limone Meyer, che è meno acido)
• 300 ml latte magro
• 14 g burro noisette tagliato a pezzetti
• Un po' di burro per ungere la teglia
• 2 uova codice 0
• 50 g zucchero
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) cannella
• Un pizzico generoso di noce moscata
• 3/4 cucchiaino estratto di vaniglia
• 70 g ricotta (nel mio caso, fatta in casa)
  
• 170 g challah, (nel mio caso, fatta in casa) di due giorni
• 25 g mandorle a fettine

La ricetta sul sito della BBC indica di far rinvenire l'uvetta nel tè freddo. Per mancanza di tempo, io ho usato dell'acqua calda, come al solito, ma la prossima volta ci provo: sono curiosa di capire che differenza fa.

Grattugiare le mele grossolanamente (a mano o con l'apposito disco del robot), spruzzarle con del succo di limone e mescolare. Ungere una pirofila bassa da due litri e riscaldare il forno a 180 C.

Scaldare il latte in un pentolino, aggiungere il burro e farlo sciogliere. Far intiepidire.

Mettere uovoa, zucchero, cannelle, noce moscata e vaniglia in una ciotola e sbattere con un frullino elettrico a velocità media fino per incorporare bene gli ingredienti. Versare il latte con burro e mescolare a velocità bassa. Infine, aggiungere la ricotta e mescolare ancora un po' a velocità bassa.

Tagliare la challah a cubetti di 1,25 cm di lato e formarci uno strato nella teglia. Scolare l'uvetta e distribuirla sopra il pane, poi fare uno strato con le mele. Versare il liquido lentamente sopra le mele. Distribuire le mandorle sulla superficie.

Cuocere in forno per circa 30 minuti, fino a quando il pudding ha una superficie dorata.

Come ho detto sopra, la mia version di žemlovka è un ottimo dessert, leggermente dolce e molto soddisfacente.

Questo è il mio contributo alla seconda tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. B come bryndzové halušky (Slovacchia) è ospitato da Terry di Crumpets & Co..

Questa pagina contiene la ricetta per bryndzové e l'elenco dei contributi all'evento.

Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

Related articles

vaniglia pura / pure vanilla

gnocchetti alla farina di castagne / chestnut flour gnocchetti

A little (edible) math:

a new version of a pretty pasta shape

+

a beloved dip repurposed as pasta sauce

=

a cheerful plate of pasta

Besides exploring new pasta shapes, I like creating variations of known ones. Today's pasta is an example. I took the pasta dough made with 50% farina di castagne (chestnut flour) previously used in making a version of strascinati and I tried making gnocchetti sardi (Sardinian gnocchi) with it. That worked very nicely.

I then took some roasted red pepper and almond dip (made last summer and frozen), and repurposed it as pasta sauce. The result? Sparkling!

The word "peppers" (peperoni) immediately brings to mind the summer farmers' market and the many varieties of this vegetable that I can find there, from sweet to mildly spicy to fiery hot. Fortunately, during pepper season, I did a bit of preservation work. 

Round of Hungary (or pimento cheese) peppers

Sweet, meaty Round of Hungary peppers are perfect to make roasted red pepper and almond dip . A batch yields quite a bit, so a few times I froze half for future use. Hence now, in the dead of winter, I have some of the bright red spread to eat as usual or use in innovative ways.

soft in sepia (for Black and White Wednesday)

My original post on gnocchetti sardi  includes a short video, which I am reposting here. The video shows my hands cutting the rope of pasta and shaping gnocchetti. As in the video that inspired me, I am showing two ways of shaping the pasta: you can use your thumb or your index finger, depending on how you feel more comfortable. You'll see in the video that the position of the gnocchi board depends on the finger you want to use. 

 

The trick here is to apply the right amount of pressure on the piece of dough while dragging it along the board so that you get the sort of curl with the grooves on the surface and the nice nook on the other side. If you press too hard, the dough gets sort of smushed and the dough sticks to the board. Make sure to flour lightly the gnocchi board as needed to prevent sticking. Also, if you have experience making gnocchetti with the original dough, be advised that in this version they are softer, so a light touch is called for when shaping and handling them.

Ingredients:

• 50 g / 1.75 oz. chestnut flour
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. all-purpose flour
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• 55 g / 2 oz. lukewarm water (I recommend weighing the water)
  
• 2 tablespoons roasted red pepper and almond dip

Make a dough with the first four ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the gnocchetti. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 cm / 3/8 inch long pieces. Shape each small piece into a gnocchetto using a gnocchi board or other method, and lay out to dry.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the gnocchetti in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). They will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of the gnocchetti, how dry they are, etc., but it is relatively short. Don't wander far away from the pot, so you can carefully check the process.

While the pasta is cooking, place the red pepper dip in a bowl and add 1/2 tablespoon or so of the pasta cooking water to soften it (adjusting the quantity based on the density of the dip). Drain the pasta and transfer it into the bowl with the sauce. Stir well with a delicate touch. Plate and serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

This is my contribution to the second edition of Pasta Please, a new pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by Lisa of We Don't Eat Anything With A Face. The theme this month is: peppers. 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

This post goes to Pantry Party, an event created by Elizabeth of The Law Student's Cookbook whose February theme is pasta. (My handmade pasta does not come from the pantry, but the flour(s) I use to make the dough do.)

This post contains the roundup of the event.

This is my contribution to edition #71 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Shruthi of Food & Clicks.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia (using Lightroom preset Sepia Tone).

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

gnocchetti alla farina di castagne

or launch the gnocchetti alla farina di castagne audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

handmade pasta, chestnut flour, sweet pepper

making more garganelli

you start with a square of dough

I made a lot of garganelli to test various alternatives in preparation for my post on this lovely pasta shape. Here are two images I particularly like from those I took while merrily rolling squares of pasta dough into garganelli.

and you end up with a lovely garganello

I was away for a few days, but I am back home now, ready to work on a new chapter of my pasta adventures. In the meantime, enjoy a plate of garganelli.

This is my contribution to edition #70 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Alex of Food 4 Thought.

The photos were shot in color and then converted to sepia (using Lightroom preset Sepia Tone).

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

Related articles

garganelli / handmade garganelli

la tavola è pronta / the table is set

lassi alla salsa di mele / applesauce lassi

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

heatlhy breakfast beverage

"Everything tastes better with applesauce" has been a tenet of our household ever since I started making roasted applesauce. It is easy to make, healthy, and has an intense apple flavor undisturbed by extraneous ingredients. Just to give a couple of examples, I have used it to dress gnocchi di ricotta, to accompany French toast, and, of course, simply spread on bread.

I've been making kefir at home for 13 months now. I use it in various ways, in particular to prepare lassi for my husband's breakfast (colazione): strawberry or peach lassi, when either fruit is in season, or mango lassi, when I find good mangoes at the store. One day that I had no suitable fruit available, I decided to try using roasted applesauce. The result was applauded and therefore, this has become the classic winter lassi.

The batch of applesauce in the photo turned out of a lovely pinkish color thanks to the inclusion of some apples of red-skinned apple varieties to make it.

not the last jar of roasted apple sauce

Ingredients for one portion:

• 1/4 cup [60 ml] roasted applesauce
• 1 cups [240 ml] plain kefir, possibly homemade
• agave nectar or honey, optional and to taste (I don't use any)

Put apple sauce and kefir into the blender. Blend, taste and, if desired, add a bit of sweetener. Pour into a tall glass (bicchiere) and serve. 

This is my contribution to edition #370 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

lassi alla salsa di mele 

or launch the lassi alla salsa di mele audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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kefir, apple

Per i lettori italiani

bevanda ottima per la colazione

"Tutto è piu buono con la salsa di mele" diciamo spesso in casa da quando faccio la salsa di mele arrostoo. È facile da preparare ed ha un intenso sapore di mele non disturbato dall'aggiunta di ingredienti estranei. L'ho usata per condire gli gnocchi di ricotta, per accompagnare del French toast, e, naturalmente, semplicamente splamata sul pane.

Faccio il kefir a casa ormai da  13 mesi e lo utilizzo in vari modi, soprattutto per preparare una bevanda per la colazione di mio marito: lassi alla fragola o alla pesca, quando questi frutti sono di stagione, oppure al mango. Un giorno che non avevo frutta adatta ho provato ad usare un po' della salsa di mele arrosto e, dato il successo del risultato, questa versione della bevanda è diventata un classico del periodo invernale.

La salsa di mele nella foto è venuta di colore rosato grazie alla presenza di mele dalla buccia rossa.

non è l'ultimo vasetto di salsa di mele

Ingredienti per una porzione:

• 60 ml (60-65 g)  salsa di mele arrosto
• 240 ml kefir, possibilmente fatto in casa
• nettare di agave o miele a piacere, facoltativo (io non ne uso)

Mettere nel frullatore salsa di mele e kefir. Frullare, assaggiare e, se necessario, aggiungere del nettare di agave o miele. Versare la bevanda in un bicchiere e servire.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 370 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Brii stessa.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.