briciole

preparazione dei pierogi / making pierogi

the magic of making things by hand On a maple kneading board, with a maple rolling pin, I roll a soft dough. With a metal scalloped cookie cutter I cut a circle of dough and with a metal teaspoon I deposit on it a dollop of filling. With my hands, I make one half of the circle hug the filling and kiss the other half. A pieróg is born. This is my contribution to edition #136 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... Read more →

Novel Food #21: the finale

Welcome to the roundup of the 21st edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007 and that I continue to host with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. Like all its predecessors, the current edition includes a lovely set of posts, each describing a literary work that the blogger read and the dish that the reading inspired. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. For each contribution, I will... Read more →

semifreddo alla fragola / strawberry parfait

sweet elegance Parfait, which means perfect in French, is used to describe two different types of desserts: a dessert consisting of layers of ice cream, fruit, etc., served in a tall glass a rich cold dessert made with whipped cream, eggs, and often fruit American readers will be more familiar with the first meaning and French readers with the second. When I received the suggestion to create a strawberry parfait, I immediately consulted my favorite resource Frozen Dessert by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir, and under its guidance, I created a dessert in the French tradition. Their basic recipe for parfait,... Read more →

pane al lievito naturale con uvetta e noci / walnut raisin sourdough bread

a feast for the senses The seeds sprouting tomorrow are sown today. This is true for the bread baker as well, when the bread planned includes a preferment, like sourdough starter (lievito naturale or pasta madre), for which a bit of advanced planning is needed. I enjoy baking a variety of breads, yet if I were to choose one bread to carry with me on a deserted island, this walnut raisin sourdough boule would be the one: it has a crisp crust and soft crumb (crosta croccante e mollica soffice), a nuanced sour note, a sweet note thanks to raisins and... Read more →

giardino di alghe / seaweed garden

a garden of seaweeds A particularly low low tide (-1.862 ft / -56.75 cm) turned this Northern California beach into a special garden with many varieties of seaweeds, some of them edible, like kelp, nori, rockweed and sea lettuce. I didn't harvest any seaweed the day I took the photos, but I have in the past and have some at hand for use in the kitchen. and seagrass There were also tufts of seagrass. Note the interesting shape of the rock on the top left. This is my contribution to edition #135 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography... Read more →

broccoli al vapore con salsina al miso e noci / steamed broccoli with walnut miso dressing

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] fresh from the farmers' market When vegetables are this fresh and pretty, it is almost a pity to cut them up and cook them, so I try to treat them gently. In this recipe, I steam them until tender to my liking and accompany them with a nut-based dressing. just steamed I save the water at the bottom of the pot where I steam the broccoli and use it to blend miso and lightly toasted walnuts. red miso, walnuts and the dressing Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for steamed broccoli with walnut... Read more →

Dallas Divide Ranch

at the entrance Two images from our recent weekend in Western Colorado, land of many beauties. On our way back from Ouray to Telluride, the low gray sky kissing the green hills brought us to stop the car not far from the entrance of a ranch. We stood for some time in the silence of a moment totally owned by nature. hills and clouds Dallas Divide (el. 8,983 feet (2,738 m)) is a high mountain pass in the United States state of Colorado located on State Highway 62 about 12 miles (19 km) west of the town of Ridgway. The pass... Read more →

pane di Pasqua bulgaro / Bulgarian Easter bread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] my (non-traditional) version of kozunak It comes out of the oven looking beautiful and smelling delicately sweet. However, an inviting appearance must translate into the right combination of crust and crumb. In this case, a thin, crisp crust made crunchy by poppy seeds and a soft crumb tasting lightly of eggs enriched by the bold flavor and texture of raisins and walnuts — all in balance. The proof is in the cutting and the tasting. The blade chooses a place where to sink its teeth and a delicate sawing motion brings it... Read more →

nursery / vivaio

Seedlings everywhere On a recent sunny Sunday, we visited Trinity River Farm. In April and May, the farm stand there sells plant starters, then from June on, fruit and vegetables. I browsed the greenhouses, looking for a few plants for my little garden. The wood frame and the stove gave the older greenhouse a warm charm... peppers, tomatoes, basil and more while a newer structure looked more businesslike. I know myself and the microclimate where my garden is located well enough not to indulge in flights of fancy that include tomatoes, peppers, basil and other plants that need a lot of... Read more →

torta salata con carote e fromage blanc / savory carrot and fromage blanc tart

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] brilliant Did you read Carrot Top (Pel di carota) by Jules Renard when you were a child? Published in 1894, the autobiographical story recounts the childhood and the trials of a red-headed child. I don't remember anything about the book, except that it made me want to have red hair (capelli rossi). I was reminded of that episode from my childhood when, in the novel A Share in Death, author Deborah Crombie describes Gemma James as having red hair. This physical trait is one of the reasons I like that character of... Read more →