briciole

crema (da spalmare) di fagioli e zucca / bean and winter squash spread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] an appealing and appetizing spread on placemat from La FABBRICA del LINO A roasted winter squash is a gift that keeps giving. In other words, roast once, use in many ways. One day that I had a small amount leftover and I had just cooked some beans, I tried to combine the two and the result is a nice spread that, as I described in my previous post, I even used to dress pasta. my idea of a candy store (negozio di caramelle) I have made this spread with various squashes (like... Read more →

zuppa di lenticchie nere e verdure / black beluga lentil and vegetable soup

a few red beets give the soup its vibrant color In her book Funny in Pharsi, the current Cook the Books club's selection, author Firoozeh Dumas tells stories about her experience as an Iranian expatriate in Southern California. Some of the stories are funny, others less so, but the author tells them all with irony, so the reader is made to smile and at times laugh. Irony, however, is also a device behind which a writer can hide and this is what happens in this book. Being an expatriate myself, I am interested in reading other people's experience. The book reminded... Read more →

gnocchetti alla farina di ceci con barbabietole rosse / chickpea flour gnocchetti with red beets

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] half semolina and half chickpea flour You have seen my latest gnocchetti in black and white and you'll learn the details. Traditional gnocchetti sardi (Sardinian gnocchi) are made with semolina flour. After making them, I came up with a version using half all-purpose and half chestnut flour. Here, I am sharing a version that uses half semolina and half chickpea flour (a.k.a., garbanzo bean flour, besan). Chickpea flour is rich in proteins and naturally gluten-free. regular (with saffron) Chickpea flour has a distinct flavor, which gets toned down in the marriage with... Read more →

My Legume Love Affair #66: il riepilogo / the roundup

Hosting the 66th edition of MLLA, created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and now hosted by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen was, as in previous occasions, a great pleasure. Throughout the past month, I have received contributions from around the world, delicious variations on the theme of legumes. Hosting an event means having the pleasure of collecting and then sharing the collection — of savoring in solitude each dish as it is submitted to me, and then inviting everybody to the final banquet. It was a great pleasure to welcome new participants to the party and to say Hi! to old... Read more →

curry di fagioli con pomodoro e anacardi / beans in cashew and tomato curry

before the final stirring What does life look like in a country recovering from genocide? The novel Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin, which is the current Cook the Books selection, offers a fictionalized glimpse of life in Rwanda after the events of 1994. The protagonist, Angel Tungaraza, has moved from Tanzania with her husband, Pius, who works at the local university, and their five orphan grandchildren. The family lives in an apartment complex with other foreigners, who have moved to Rwanda to help with reconstruction after the genocide. Angel's home-based business baking and decorating cakes (torte) puts her in... Read more →

annuncio / announcement: My Legume Love Affair #66

I have the honor of being the host for the December 2013 edition of My Legume Love Affair (MLLA), the popular, legume-centered event that is the brainchild of Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and has been hosted by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen since February 2013. Participation in the event revolves around a recipe that showcases one or more legumes. The recipe can be savory or sweet but must be vegetarian. The legume (or legumes) must be one of the main ingredients, not a minor character. (Exceptions to this general rule are legumes whose flavor is so intense that they are used... Read more →

insalata di fagiolini "Rattlesnake" / Rattlesnake bean salad

marbled beauties Anything purple (viola) catches my attention at the farmers' market. And it does not need to be solid purple: a light brushstroke or a hint of that deep color is enough to make me head straight for the basket or box containing the irresistible produce. Each pod (baccello) of Rattlesnake bean is marbled purple in a unique way, like a sheet of marbled paper. The farmer celebrates singularity in each bean, just as the marbler does in each sheet of paper that he or she peels off from the water, rinses and then dries to reveal the pattern created.... Read more →

sagne incannulate con lenticchie al sugo / with lentils in tomato sauce

elegant shape I am not surprised that the authors of the book "Pasta by Design" were fascinated by the geometric shape of sagne incannulate. This pasta from Puglia, also called lasagne arrotolate and lagane incannulate, starts as a strip of pasta dough and ends as a long spiral that keeps its shape during cooking. On this page, you can see some lasagne arrotolate. Reading the description in Orietta Zanini De Vita's Encyclopedia of Pasta made me search for additional information and then run to the kitchen to make some eggless pasta dough. Zanini De Vita mentions the use of a round... Read more →

ceci al pomodoro per FBAH / chickpeas with tomatoes for FBAH

"Nearly one in five children in America lives in households that struggle to put food on the table" (source). This is not a statistics I just learned. I have been sensitive to the problem of food insecurity in this country for quite some time. The Alameda County Community Food Bank and Food for People are two organizations close to my heart and so is Share Our Strength. The recent documentary A Place at the Table from Participant Media—the same studio that brought us Food Inc.—follows three families struggling with food insecurity, and sheds light on the problem of hunger in America.... Read more →

insalata di fagioli e tonno / bean and albacore tuna salad

the right company for kale pesto The first scene brings us to a large rapeseed field. Our eyes luxuriate in the saturated colors of tall yellow flowers under a blindingly blue sky. As our mind wonders where such a beautiful place is, a painful sense of foreboding starts to distort the idyllic image. The young woman in the middle of the yellow ocean is panicking and the middle-aged men trying to reach her is anxious. The tension builds up as the camera switches vintage point until the scene goes up in flames — literally. Sidetracked, the first episode of the BBC... Read more →