briciole

polpette di fagioli / bean cakes

When the movie Come l'acqua per il cioccolato came out, I watched it and enjoyed it. I then read the book (in Italian translation) and liked it. So, when I saw that Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel, was the Cook the Books Club selection, I was glad to be offered a reason to read again the novel. While re-reading meant enjoying again certain parts of the book, I must admit that others elicited a different reaction. For example, the only thing I could see of Pedro was his selfishness. And I got a bit impatient with Tita for not... Read more →

cuocere al forno / to bake

After walking on the beach, for today's edition of Sandi's Friday Favorite Linky Party I go back to the kitchen (cucina) where I ♥ to bake. Putting something in the oven (forno) and taking it out after a certain amount of time transformed into a (hopefully) delicious dish always feels like a kind of magic to me. I believe that part of my fascination with baking comes from the fact that my mother baked rarely, so that seeing the oven on always filled me with anticipation. I love baking bread (pane) and other dishes, both sweet and savory. May I offer... Read more →

Edizione speciale: Novel Food #10

Special Edition: Announcing Novel Food #10 I am donning my herald's garb today to call all readers with a passion for cooking and cooks with a love of literature: I am spreading the good news that the equinox has brought a new edition of Novel Food, the culinary/literary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I co-launched a few seasons ago. (Are we really at number 10 already? Indeed, we are!) As in the previous editions, we are interested in published literary works (a novel, novella, short story, memoir, bio, poem) that provided you with culinary inspiration. If you are new... Read more →

camminare sulla spiaggia / to walk on the beach

Sandi of Whistlestop Cafe Cooking has sent out an invitation to share favorite things on Friday, any kind of thing: "Food, Clothes, Design, Poetry, Blogs~ anything goes!" So, here's my contribution to today's edition of Sandi's Friday Favorite Linky Party. You already know some of my favorite activities: cooking (cucinare), reading (leggere), making cheese (fare il formaggio), etc. I also love walking on the beach. I like to be where water meets land. I particularly like to do this around sunrise (alba) or sunset (tramonto), when the light takes on warm tones. I love to walk on the beach any time... Read more →

arte bianca / the art of making bread (literally, white art)

I am not an artist (artista) in any art, let alone making bread (fare il pane), just passionate about it. And I like the Italian expression: it recognizes the special talent of all the people who give us good bread. Buono come il pane (as good as bread), we say in Italian, instead of "as good as gold." Here are a few images from my most recent home productions (versus recent productions made elsewhere: a story I will tell in a future post). All recipes are in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day. onion and forbidden (black) rice bread (wild rice... Read more →

risotto ai porri / leek risotto

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of Melbourne Food Geek and Jess of Jess the baker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf. The recipes are available here. I make risotto very often and I like to create variations on the theme, as it can be inferred from the recipes I have posted in the past: risotto ai lamponi (raspberry risotto), risotto alle more (blackberry risotto) and risotto integrale al pomodoro e... Read more →

erba cipollina / chives

(Allium schoenoprasum) I like to make experiments in my little herb and vegetable garden (orto). I do not call myself a gardener, and manage not to get too disappointed when things don't happen according to expectations. On the other hand, I get very excited when things go well: I feel like I receive a gift I do not deserve. Last year, I had a small bed built along one side of the house, and in it I planted, among other things, chives. The plant did well (I guess it liked its environment) and I harvested leaves from it for several months.... Read more →

formaggio coi buchi fatto in casa: Leerdammer / homemade cheese: Leerdammer

Last December, I bought a package of Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii, since I had decided that I wanted to make some cheese with holes (formaggio coi buchi). The holes are called "eyes" — which I think is a nicer name — and are bubbles of carbon dioxide created by the microorganism just mentioned during the ripening period, as you can read here and also here. For my first attempt, I chose a recipe for Leerdammer from the book 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes. The main reason behind the choice was the shorter time of ripening, which would have... Read more →