briciole

dolce al rabarbaro (cotto al vapore) / rhubarb steamed pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. Our DB's host introduced us to two important elements of traditional English pudding: the ingredient, suet (sugna), and the cooking method, steaming (al vapore). Information on pudding and suet, and various recipes for pudding, both savory and sweet, can be found here. To start with, I decided to look up the work pudding in my dictionary, and this is what I found: 1 a dessert with a creamy consistency... Read more →

l'acquario di Monterey / the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Sea nettles Another week, another edition of the Friday Favorite Linky Party launched by Sandi of Whistlestop Cafe Cooking. Ever since I moved to California, the area around Monterey and Carmel has held a special place in my heart. The Carmel Mission (dedicated to San Carlos Borromeo) is very nice, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve is a jewel, the coast is beautiful. And then, there is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of our favorite destinations any time of the year. The last time we were there, we saw two special exhibits, Wild About Otters and The Secret Lives of Seahorses, and... Read more →

Novel Food #10: the finale (one serving)

About a month ago, Lisa of Champaign Taste and I announced the 10th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that we created two and a half years ago, as a result of a lively exchange of messages about the novels, whose protagonist is Inspector Salvo Montalbano. Readers of those novels relish not only the distinctive style the Sicilian police inspector brings to his job, but also his passion for good food. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. Like all its predecessors, the current edition presents an interesting set of both readables... Read more →

Novel Food #10: risotto all'arancia / orange risotto

ready to be savored Years ago, I found a copy of Michael Dibdin's Ratking in the room of the resort where I was vacationing. I was intrigued by the fact that the story was set in my home town of Perugia, so I read it. Later on, I learned that Dibdin (who died in 2007) had taught at the university there. I have since read a few more novels by him, all featuring police inspector Aurelio Zen and each set in a different part of Italy. All the novels I have read contain interesting references to food and drink. In Back... Read more →

dolce di ricotta e avena / dessert of ricotta and oats

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] One of the beauties of belonging to a CSA is that you often get nudged into uncharted territory. I am a member of two CSAs: one of them, Shakefork Community Farm, is a grain CSA. Together with my share of whole and milled grains, every month I get recipes and other suggestions for use. One day, I received instructions on how to toast hulless barley prior to boiling. When I found hulless oats in my share (we usually get cracked oats, so this was an interesting surprise), I decided to apply the... Read more →

purè di patate rosato / pinkish mashed potatoes

One day, at the farmers' market, I overheard a person asking for beets other than red beets, because their bleeding "is so annoying!" The remark surprised me, as I thought everybody liked the color of the red beet (barbabietola rossa), which makes, for example, a beautiful risotto. To keep bleeding to a minimum, I do not trim the beet before baking, but scrub it very carefully, then snip off the thin root, if present. Finally, I wrap the beet in foil. One day, recently, I prepared a couple of red beets for baking (at 375 F) while also planning to boil... Read more →