briciole

scone alle fragole / strawberry scones

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] not your typical strawberry scones In The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, the author tells the story of how she built a new life for herself in a lakeside cabin in Michigan after back-to-back divorce and lay-off. Following the seasons of one year, she describes her food sources, meal plans and preservation efforts, and provides some recipes. I already do a fair amount of food preservation in the form of freezing and fruit preserves. I also bake bread, make cheese, kefir and broth.... Read more →

crostata di arance / orange tart

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a flavorful flower (place mat from La FABBRICA del LINO) Cara Cara oranges1 from the farmers' market and an invitation to a potluck inspired this crostata. The success led to encores. Citrus season (la stagione degli agrumi) is the perfect time to make this tart, which brings the sun to your table, regardless of what the thermometer says. Choose sweet, flavorful oranges. Their juicy freshness contrasts the buttery crust. The peach preserves offers another layer of flavor and texture. There is enough sweetness to please the palate without overwhelming it. In the... Read more →

focaccia alle pere e rosmarino / pear and rosemary focaccia

putting the new pear crop to good use Last June, I realized a wish I had held in my heart for many years: I learned to row (remare). Upon hearing of my new activity, one of my neighbors lent me The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. She thought I would enjoy the book and she was right. It tells the true story of "nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Olympic Games." The book trailer gives you an idea of the main story. The book sets that story within its historical context (the Great... Read more →

cobbler di pesche, frutti di bosco e rabarbaro / peach, berry and rhubarb cobbler

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] serving cobbler for breakfast A light, crisp crust draped loosely over a deep layer of tender, juicy fruit: this, in a few words, is a cobbler. It is usually served as dessert with a dollop of ice cream, but I like to serve it for breakfast (colazione), by itself. My cobbler — originally inspired by a recipe for apricot cobbler from Gourmet magazine — is rich in fruit and light in everything else, sugar in particular. It calls for the best fruit you can get. I have made it with various types... 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 →

žlinkrofi: ravioli di frutta secca sloveni / Slovenian dried fruit dumplings

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] greetings from Slovenia: Žlinkrofi I recently taught a pasta making class and a couple of participants mentioned their interest in learning to make ravioli. The class was about eggless pasta, i.e., pasta made with a semolina and water dough, so ravioli-making was not on the menu for the evening, but I went home thinking that I had not made stuffed pasta (pasta ripiena) in a while. While exploring a Slovenian cuisine website, I was struck by a type of stuffed pasta called Idrija žlikrofi. I made them and they turned out well,... Read more →

sorbetto alle more / blackberry sorbet

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] hunting high and low Blackberry picking is like living. The plumpest, most ostentatiously ripe blackberry, the one I want with concentrated desire, is the one an inch away from my grasping hand stretched at the end of my stretched body precariously balanced on my tiptoes at the edge of a mass of brambles on which I don't want to fall. As a child, during my summer blackberry-picking expeditions, I was reminded of my diminutive size every time the object of desire seemed within reach to my greedy eyes, but escaped my greedy... Read more →

crostata di prugne lussemburghese / Luxembourg plum tart

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] let it snow, let it snow, let it snow In Luxembourg, we'll have dessert, I said to myself. As I have never been to Luxembourg, I had to rely on information gleaned from the web to find a suitable candidate for the position. The Quetschentaart (plum tart) on the wikipedia page dedicated to the cuisine of Luxembourg looked like a perfect dish to celebrate our virtual visit to the small European state with a long history, the only remaining grand duchy. A bit of research returned a couple of recipes for this... Read more →

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... Read more →

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... Read more →