RISOTTO FOR THE FALL

I love Fall, it's my favorite season with all its beautiful colours and new warming cuddling ingredients.
All kind of apples and different shape butternuts fill in my kitchen table centerpiece...I just love it!

Today I'm preparing a risotto to honor apples!
Apples are very good for you and this risotto it's very tasty...try it!!!

RISOTTO WITH APPLES and Provolone or Caciocavallo CHEESE


Ingredients for 4 people:

2TBS unsalted butter + 1TBS olive oil
half onion finely chopped
2 firm sweet apples, like Gala, peeled and diced
1+ half cup of Arborio rice
half cup of white dry wine or prosecco
half cup of apple cider
4/5 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of provolone or caciocavallo cheese grated on a large grater
(in NY you can find it at Italian gourmet shops),
freshly ground black pepper

In a large saucepan, combine butter, oil and onion and cook till onion softens for about 5 minutes.
Add apples, stir and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add rice and stir frequently until rice is translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add white wine or prosecco and let it evaporate, then add apple cider.
When apple cider is absorbed, add 1 or 2 ladles of broth and cook
stirring frequently.
As soon as broth is absorbed add more and stir.
Continue adding broth and stir for about 15 minutes, then taste rice.
If rice is tender yet firm to the bite stop adding broth and remove from heat.
Add cheese and a generous pinch of pepper, check salt, then cover and let stand for few minutes.
Serve immediately and enjoy it!

Recepe inspired by "La cucina Italiana" magazine, Nov 2013 edition

Alternative healthy protein

Everybody knows that too much meat is not good for your good health,
so it's important to find other sources of protein in your diet.
Substitute meat with fish,legumes, eggs and soy.
A tasty soy product is tempeh.
Tempeh is made from cooked and slightly fermented soybeans formed
into a patty, similar to a very firm veggie burger.
One serving of tempeh (100 grams) provides around 200 calories,
18.2 grams of protein (that's even more protein per gram than tofu!),
and 10% of the RDA of both calcium and iron.
Tempeh is a naturally cholesterol-free food, as are all vegan foods.

I want to share with you a delicious recipe(created by chef Melanie Ferreira)
from my Academy of Healing and Nutrition manual:

TEMPEH SCALOPPINI WITH MUSHROOMS

Ingredients for 4 people:
1 (8 ounces) package of tempeh
(you can find it in the fridge of Health Shops or at Trader Joe)
1/4 cup of soy sauce or shoyu
4 cups of water or enough water to cover tempeh
3 slices of ginger
1 clove of garlic
1 short piece (2") of kombu

unbleached white flour for dredging
6TBS extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine or rice wine
1 package od shiitake mushroom and 5/6 cremini mushrooms
1tsp chopped basil
1tsp chopped oregano
1TBS lemon juice
1TBS chopped parsely to garnish

Add shoyu, water, ginger, garlic and kombu into a pan with the piece of tempeh.
Cook tempeh for 20 minutes, drain water, reserving 1 cup of liquid, and cool tempeh.
Cut tempeh on a diagonal in 1" slices. Dredge each slice in flour, shaking off excess flour.
In a medium frying pan heat oil and fry tempeh till golden on both sides.
Add wine and reserved liquid and bring to boil.
Add sliced mushrooms, reduce heat and cook untill mushrooms release juices and become tender.
Add herbs and cook untill liquid thickens.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and parsely.
Serve it with basmati rice.

SUMMER FENNEL SOUP

During summer I usually don't prepare soups, but as we enter Fall,
I start to crave them.
To anticipate the soup season, today, I made a fennel soup.
Fennel is a refreshing summer vegetable that has many benefits.
It's good for anemia, indigestion, constipation, heart problems and
it is full of antioxidants, vitamin C and potassium.

Here is the recipe!


FENNEL SOUP

Ingredients:
2 cups fennel, chopped (2 bulbs)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 Italian squash (zucchini)
2 TBS chopped parley
2 cups of vegetable stock or water
2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
sea or Himalayan pink salt, to taste

1 small potato, peeled and diced (optional)

In a large pot, heat oil over a medium heat and saute' all vegetables
till tender.
Add vegetable stock (it must cover ingredients), parsley and salt.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Pour the soup into a food processor or use a hand blender
(a must have in the kitchen) to puree untill smooth.
Serve the soup, warm or cold, into bowls and garnish with sprigs of fennel leaves.

COCONUT MACAROONS

At the moment me and my daughter are avoiding flour and levening agents
like yeast or baking soda,
so this is the perfect time for one of my favourite sweet snacks:

Coconut macaroons:

Ingredients for 10 macarrons:

1/3 cup of white sugar
1 large egg white or 2 if small
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped almond or almond flour
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 pinch of salt

Warm up oven at 350F or 180C.
Wisk together sugar and egg white till thick, then stir in other ingredients.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Put a tablespoon of mixture on the baking tray and make it round and
compact using your fingers.

Bake for 15 minutes or till they are golden.

Super healthy summer tart

Peaches, apricot and prunes talk about summer,
nice warm days full of cicada's songs and bright sun light.
I prepare a lemonade, I bake a fruit tart and I'm ready to
enjoy a lazy afternoon in the garden laying down on a chaise long!

You can do the same!

Peach tart

Ingredients:

for pastry:
1 cup almond flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
a pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients well and spred evenly on a oiled pie dish.

for filling:
4 big peaches
1TBS brown sugar
4 amaretti
1TBS almond flour
1TBS Martini liquor

Peel peaches and slice them.
Mix with other ingredients and pour them on the pastry.

Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.

For this recepe you can also use apricots or prunes.

DATES AND PISTACHOS BALLS

Dates are the best sweetners for a healthy snack!
They contain lots of fiber, beneficial for the digestive system,
minerals and Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3 and C.
Pistachos are a good source of Vitamin B6, essential for healthy nervous system,
Vitamin E and carotenoids.

This said, go for this delicious sweet treat with no guilt!!!

Dates and Pistachos balls

Ingredients:

1 cup pitted and diced dates
1 cup crashed pistachos
1 tsp honey
half tsp cinnamon

dried coconut flakes for decoration

Toast pistachos and grind them in a mixer or chop them finely with a knife.
Mix pistachos well with remaining ingredients.
With your hands form small balls, then roll them in the coconut flakes.

Dates and pistachos balls can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge.

GNOCCHI ALLA SORRENTINA

When we were living in Cape Town the best Italian restaurant for us was "Pappa and Ciccia".
The owner was Nando, who then became a very good friend of ours.
One of his many specialities were "Gnocchi alla sorrentina", my son Luca's favorite dish.
I prepared them the other night and I decided to share the recepe with you!

Gnocchi alla sorrentina



Ingredienti for gnocchi:

(Ingr. for 4/6 people)

850 g white potatoes
200 g flour
1 egg
nutmeg

Boil potatoes with skin on for around 40 min or till soft.
Let them cool down, peel them and mash them on a wooden board.
Add flour, egg and 2 pinches of nutmeg and form a dough.
If dough is too soft add more flour.
Form a ball.
Cut a small piece from ball and roll it in a tubular shape of half inch diameter.
Then cut it with a knife in small cubes.



Ingredients for tomatoe sauce:

1 can of tomatoes puree
1 celery stick
1 carrot
half onion
1 clove of garlic
origanum
olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2 TBS parmesan cheese
basil leaves


Cover base of a pot with 2/3 TBS of olive oil.
Add garlic, onion, celery and carrot and warm it up.
Add tomatoes puree, a pinch of salt and oreganum.
Cook for 15 min then add basil.

Cook gnocchi in boiling salted water till they come up to surface
(4/5 minutes), then drain them.
Mix gnocchi with a bit of tomato sauce, add mozzarella and stir well.
Add more tomato sauce, sprinkle with parmesan and decorate with basil leaves,
if in season.

A FEAST WITH MY ITALIAN FRIEND, THE CHEF!

My friend Elisa is a talented Executive Chef and she is staying for
few days at my house as a special guest!
What a joy this morning when she offered to cook for us!
We went shopping together at WholeFood for good quality ingredients
and I came back home excited for the experience to come.
She decided to prepare "Tagliolini with asparagus cream,
topped with bacon", "Saltimbocca alla romana" and "Peperonata"
as a side dish.
I thought I had to share these superdelicious recepes with you!

Elisa in action!


"TAGLIOLINI ALLA CREMA DI ASPARAGI CON BACON"


Ingredients for 4 people:
1 pound homemade tagliolini (we bought them in Arthur Avenue)
2 bunches asparagus
3 TBS cream
8 slices bacon
olive oil
salt
pepper
parmesan or pecorino cheese

Slice bacon in small pieces and fry them in 4 TBS olive oil till crispy.
Remove them from oil and let them dry on a paper towel.
Reserve oil for later.
Wash asparagus and cut the woody part.
Cook them in boiling salted water till very tender.
Blend asparagus till creamy.
Add cream and 2TBS bacon flavoured oil.

Cook Tagliolini in salted water for 6/8 minutes, drain them and put them in
a frying pan with asparagus cream.
Sautee' them adding a bit of the asparagus flavoured water.
Add bacon bits, sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.

Let's get ready with the meat!


"SALTIMBOCCA ALLA ROMANA"


Ingredients for 4 people:
1 sirloin steak (or 8 veal meat slices)
8/10 Parma ham slices
8/10 sage leaves
flour
butter
oil
1 glass dry white wine
salt
pepper

Cut sirloin in thin slices, then cover each slice with clingpaper and beat them
with a special tool or the back of a frying pan till they flatten.
Cover each slice with flour on both sides.
Lay a slice of prosciutto on each piece of meat.
Top it with a sage leaf and pin the three ingredients together with a toothpick.

In a frying pan melt 2TBS of butter, add 2/3 TBS og olive oil and when warm
add the pieces of meat with ham facing down.
Let them cook for few minutes, till the prosciutto is crispy, then turn them
and cook for few minutes.
Add wine and let it evaporate. Add some water (2/3 TBS) if sauce is too dry.
Season with salt and pepper and serve warm.

Time for the side dish!


"PEPERONATA"


Ingredients (for a big quantity, you can keep leftovers in fridge for a week):
6 different colours peppers
2 onions
1 clove of garlic
3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup of pine kernels (pignones)
1 cup raisin
2/3 TBS balsamic vinegar

Wash peppers and cube them.
Slice onions in small pieces.
Peel and cut garlic.

Soften raisins in water.
Roast pine kernels in a frying pan.

Put oil in a pot with peppers, onions and garlic.
Season with salt and pepper and let ingredients cook slowly for about 15/20 minutes.
Add pine kernels and raisins and stir.
Add balsamic vinegar and cook for few more minutes.

Serve "Peperonata" warm or cold as a side dish.


I had LOTS OF FUN!

THANK YOU ELISA!

RICOTTA AND STRAWBERRIES TIRAMISU'

When my friend Mara invited me to partecipate to a cooking workshop at the
local school's Italian Club, I had to make up a recepe that would represent
the Italian flavour and could be easely prepared by children
without being baked.
I thought that ricotta together with "Savoiardi" biscuits and strawberries
(children love them)would do the trick.
The result looks like a Tiramisu', but it is a fake tiramisu' in the content
because doesn't contain eggs and coffee, the main ingredients to keep you
awake and energetic
("Tirami su" in Italian means "lift me up").

Ricotta and strawberries tiramisu'



Ingredients for 4 dessert bowls:

8 TBS of ricotta cheese
6 TBS white sugar
1 grated lemon peel
1 lemon juice
8 TBS of sliced strawberries
8 "Savoiardi" biscuits (Lady fingers)
2 TBS water (or liquor for adults)
8 mint leaves

Wash strawberries and slice them in small pieces.
Put them in a bowl and sprinkle them with 2 TBS of sugar and the lemon juice.
Mix well and let them rest in the fridge for half an hour or more.

Put biscuits in a plastic bag and crash them.

Mix ricotta with 4 TBS of sugar to obtain a smooth cream.

Strain strawberries to collect the juice in a bowl.
Add water and mix.

Put 2 TBS of crashed biscuits at the bottom of a bowl and mix with 1 TBS of
strawberries juice.
Tap it down with a spoon to form a firm layer.
Add on top 2 TBS of ricotta to form a second layer.
End with 2 TBS of strawberries.
Decorate each bowl with a mint leaf, so to have the Italian flags colours
(red, white and green).

Enjoy it!

TUNAFISH BURGERS

I believe that almost everybody loves burgers!
The recepe I'm sharing with you is a healthy way to have a nice burger sometimes.
Tunafish, besides its protein content, is also rich in omega 3, vitamin E and K
and mineral salts like potassium, iron and iodine.
This burger has a fresh taste and reminds me of holidays in the Caribbean.
Serve it with the frisee salad published in my blog in March.

TUNAFISH BURGERS

Ingredients for 8 burgers:

1 pound fresh tunafish
1 TBS chopped parsley or cilantro
2/3 chopped scallions
1 TBS mayonnaise
2 inch chopped fresh ginger
half red chile
salt and pepper
oil

Cut tuna in small cubes.
Stir in chopped parsley, ginger, chile, salt, pepper and mayo.
Mix well.
Shape tuna in 8 patties, put them in a plate, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate
at least for one hour.

Heat oil in a frying pan and cook burgers until browned on both sides
(about 2 minutes for each side).

Place it in a bun, spread with a little bit of mayonnaise or sweet and sour sauce,
and serve with a nice salad.

Nutella roulade cake!

One of my daughter favourite cakes is "Rotolo alla Nutella",
that my mother used to prepare for her when she went visiting.
Here is the recepe that you can find also in Italian in my book
"Memorie d'infanzia".

NUTELLA ROULADE CAKE


Ingredients for 4 people:
3 eggs
100 g white sugar
3/4 TBS milk
60 g flour
60 g potato flour (if you don't have it, add more flour)
1 pinch of salt
half tsp of baking powder
Nutella

In a bowl beat egg whites to obtain soft peaks.
In another bowl mix sugar and egg yolks till creamy.
Add milk, flours, salt and baking powder and mix well.
Pour mixture in a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
With a spatula spread it to a rectangular shape.
Bake at 350 F or 180 C for 15 minutes.
Once out of oven, cover it with a wet cloth and turn it upside down.
With the help of cloth roll sponge cake and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Unroll it, spread it with Nutella and roll it again tightly.
Sprinkle it with confectionary sugar or spread top with whipped cream.

A perfect light lunch

It is an exciting experience to go shopping for nice fresh food
at the local fish market and farm stall!
This is what I did yesterday! I came back home with a freshly caught
red snapper, organic lemons, a head of crispy frisee salad, grapefruit,
bloody orange and red sweet strawberries!
These are the perfect ingredients for a light Sunday lunch!

RED SNAPPER IN PAPILLOTE


Ingredients:

a big piece of red snapper fillet serving 4 people
1 organic lemon
black pepper
salt
1 inch fresh ginger
2 sprigs of fennel green top
1TBS parsley leaves
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic or 2 scallions

Put fish fillet on a big piece of parchment paper.
Season with salt, pepper and oil, then cover with lemon rounds,
ginger and garlic slices, fennel green sprigs and parsley.
Close the parchment paper forming a parcel and bake in oven at 375 F
(180 C) for about 25 minutes.
Open parchment and leave in oven for few minutes.

Serve with a salad.

FRISEE AND CITRUS SALAD


Ingredients:

Half head of frisee salad
1 bloody orange
half grapefruit
half fennel bulb
1/2 cup peeled almonds

Wash salad and slice leaves in halves.
Peel orange and grapefruit with a knife to eliminate also the white skin.
Slice them in small pieces.
Wash fennel and cut in small cubes.
In a pan toast almonds for few minutes and cool them down.

Prepare a vinaigrette.

In a bowl mix together juice of half lemon and half grapefruit,
1/4 cup of olive oil,1 tsp honey, 1 pinch of salt, pepper,
1 TBS finely chopped parsely.
Whisk mixture well till creamy.

Mix all salad ingredients and toss them with vinaigrette.

End lunch with fresh strawberries dipped in sugar (only for this special occasion!).

Orange, almond and chocolate biscotti

Biscotti are one of my favorite treats!
I love them with a foamy cappuccino in the morning,
a hot green tea in the afternoon or whenever I need
something sweet.
I have tried many different recepes but the following is
the one I prefer the most.

ORANGE, ALMOND AND CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI


Ingredients for about 40 biscotti:

3 cups (375 g) flour
2/3 cup (100 g) sugar
1 stick (110 g) butter
3 beaten eggs
1 TBS orange peel
1 TBS orange juice
1 TBS liquor (Amaretto or Martini)
1 tsp vanilla essence
half tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 cup almond slivers
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Heat oven at 350 F/ 180 C.

In a bowl combine soft butter with sugar, orange zest, vanilla,
orange juice and liquor; beat until creamy. Add eggs and mix well.
Mix flour with salt and baking powder and add it to the liquid mixture.
Blend ingredients and add toasted almonds and chocolate chips.
Form mixture into two rolls and place them on a baking shit.
Cook for about 25 minutes until lightly golden.
When ready, remove them and put on a rack or a wooden board to cool a little.
When you can handle them, cut them with a serrated knife on the diagonal into
1 cm slices.
Place slices flat on two baking shits and bake again for about 15 minutes.

Cool them and store in an airtight container.

ENJOY IT!

Mushrooms soups

Mushrooms are a star ingredient during winter.
Now that winter is nearly at its end I want to celebrate them by making a nice
mushrooms soup.
Mushrooms have no fats, no cholesterol, very low carbohydrates, high proteins,
vitamins and minerals, a lot of water and fiber.
Shiitake mushrooms, in particular, contain the compound lentinan that,
not only helps boost your immune system, but can also help prevent cancer.

Is this enough to make you try this delicious soup?

MUSHROOMS SOUP


Ingredients for 4 people:

300g (1 package) of portobella or cremini mushrooms
100g (1 package) of shiitake mushrooms
1 small potato
1 bunch of scallions + 1 clove of garlic
1 TBS parsely
2 stalks of celery
Himalaian pink salt (or normal sea salt)
Olive oil

Coat the base of a deep pot with olive oil (2/3 TBS)and warm it up.
Add chopped scallions, garlic and celery.
Clean mushrooms with a papertowel and slice them.
Add them in with a peeled and cubed potato.
Stir the ingredients for few seconds.
Add enough water to cover them (about 4 cups).
Add parsely and a teaspoon of salt and bring to boil.
Let it simmer at low heat for 30 minutes.
Use a blender to transform mixture in a creamy soup.

Serve with a sprinkle of parsely.

Healthy chocolate truffles

Lots of studies have verified that cocoa has lots of benefits.
Besides helping to stabilize blood pressure, blood vessel health,
insulin sensitivity and HDL Cholesterol formation, cocoa is also
good to relieve stress and anxiety.

Cashew nuts are a very rich source of essential minerals like:
manganese, potassium, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc and selenium.
Cashews are also rich in many essential vitamins
such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6),
riboflavin, and thiamin (vitamin B-1),
responsible of easing stress, anxiety and depression.

Conclusion:
The combination of cocoa powder and cashew nuts is an explotion of
goodness for your health and your taste buds.

Here is a recepe that combines the two ingredients creating
magic chocolate truffles.
Thank you Stephanie Filardi for sharing it with me!

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES


Ingredients for about 50 balls:

1 cup cashew nuts
1 cup good quality cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli or Trader Joe)
half cup maple syrup
2 TBS water

Coatings:

cinnamon powder
curry powder
paprika
pumpkin spice mix
ginger powder
coconut flour

Grind pecans in a mixer then add cacoa.
Pulse them, then add maple syrup and water (just enough to make mixture soft but not liquid).

Let it rest in the fridge for 3/5 minutes.

Meanwhile, put coatings of your choice in small bowls.

Take half teaspoon of mixture and make a small ball using your hands.
Transfer ball in the bowl and cover it with chosen coating.

Put truffles in a tin or a glass container with lid and store in the fridge up to a week.

Chia seeds and cocoa mousse

Chia seed is a super food.
The chia seed was once a staple food of the Aztecs, loved for its ability
to sustain and to give endurance.
Actually, you could live off chia almost entirely, because it has
19 amino acids, with all of the essential amino acids except taurine.
Chia is gluten free.
It is super high in dietary fibre, making it great for digestion and healing
digestion issues.
It contains 20% Omega 3 ALA, making it a super food for the brain and heart.
(Chia has eight times more Omega 3 than salmon!)
It boasts 20% protein.
It is high in antioxidants.
Chia contains five times more calcium than milk.
Chia contains seven times more vitamin C than oranges.
It contains three times more iron than spinach.
It contains twice the potassium content of banana.
It is food for healthy skin, hair and nails.
It has a positive impact balancing blood glucose levels.
Chia makes a great egg replacement. Just combine with water to form a gel,
and add it to recipes that call for egg.

Here for you a delicious recepe to use chia seeds.

CHIA SEEDS AND COCOA MOUSSE


Ingredients for 4 ramekins:

1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 TBS chia seeds
2 TBS maple syrup (or more if you want it sweeter)
1 TBS peanut or almond butter (smooth)
Half tsp cinnamon

Add all ingredients in a blender,then transfer liquid in 4 ramekins.
Cover with cling paper and chill in fridge for at least one hour.

Serve cold with a sprinkle of cinnamon or grated white chocolate.

A special butternut risotto!

I know, I have already published another butternut risotto recepe,
but this one is even better than the other one!

I love risotto!!!

BUTTERNUT RISOTTO


Ingredients for 4 people:

for broth:

1,5 lt of water
2 celery sticks
2 carrots
1 fennel
2 butternut slices
salt to taste good


for risotto:

5 handful of arborio rice
1 small onion, diced
3 TBS olive oil
half butternut,diced
1TBS sour cream
1 handful grated parmesan
pepper

Cut in half a butternut, peel it and put aside 2 slices for broth.
Dice it and roast in oven at 400 F for 20 min or till soft.

Put water and all ingredients in a pot to prepare a vegetable broth.
Let it boil for 30 minutes.
Drain broth and keep butternut aside. Squash it to obtain a puree.

When broth is ready, put oil and onion in another pot and let onion cook
till translucent.
Add rice and toast it for few minutes, then add the pureed butternut and mix.
Add 2 ladles of broth and stir well.
When rice gets dry add another ladle of broth and stir.
Keep repeating this process for about 15 minutes.
Taste rice to check if cooked and stop adding broth.
Add roasted butternut and mix well.
When all liquid has evaporated, add sour cream and stir well.
Switch off stove, add parmesan and pepper.

Let risotto rest for at least 5 minutes before serving it.

BRUSSEL SPROUTS, BACON and JAM

Brussel sprouts have recently become part of my diet.
They are very good for our health, rich in protein, dietary fiber, vitamins,
minerals, and antioxidants, which work wonders to get rid of many health troubles.

Brussel sprouts are an excellent source of vitamin C.
Together with other antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin A and E,
it helps protect the body by trapping harmful free radicals.
It is one of the excellent vegetable sources for vitamin-K,
good for bone health and prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
They are also rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium,
iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

I suggest you to try this recepe where the healthy vegetable pairs with the
superdelicious bacon.

BRUSSEL SPROUTS, BACON and JAM

Ingredients:

1 pound (450 g) brussel sprouts
5 slices (200 g) bacon
1 TBS apricot jam
3 TBS balsamic vinegar
salt

Blanch brussel sprouts, drain and slice them in halves or quarters.

Slice bacon in thin stripes and cook in a hot frying pan.


Add brussel sprouts and let them cook for 5 minutes.

Dilute jam in 1/3 cup water and add to vegetables.


Cook for few minutes then add balsamic vinegar and salt.


Serve them on a toast or as a side dish.

LEMON PANCAKES

Since I live in New York I have tried to make pancakes many times without success!
Finally I have found the right recepe that allows me to make pancakes soft
as a cloud.
This is Melanie Ferreira's recepe from the Academy of Healing and Nutrition
and, of course, is also a very healthy one!
In this recepe flour is soaked overnight to make it more digestible.
I use yogurt to add some probiotic that helps build up healthy bacteria and
flora throughout the intestine, promoting digestion.

LEMON PANCAKES


Ingredients for 10/12 pancakes:

1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups Greek or plain yougurt
half lemon juice and grated peel
2 eggs
half tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBS melted butter

Maple syrup and sour cream to serve.

Soak flour in yogurt and lemon juice overnight.
Add eggs, salt, baking soda, lemon peel, butter and stir well.
I suggest to use an electric grill but if not available you can use a cast iron
skillet to cook them.
Warm up grill at 350 F, brush with a little butter and add a spoonful of mixture
(on electric grill you can cook 6 pancakes at the time).
When small bubbles start forming turn pancakes upside down.
Cook them till golden and puffy.
Cover with maple syrup, add few drops of lemon and a dollop of sour cream and serve!

Buon appetito!!!

Apple and raisin "frittelle"

My friend Mara asked if I could make her favourite Mardi Gras "frittelle",
so here you are with another fun recipe to celebrate "Carnevale".

Apple and raisin "frittelle"

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 glass milk
2 TBS sugar
350 g flour
1tsp baking powder
1 golden apple
100 g raisin
Half lemon

In a bowl mix flour with sugar, baking powder and salt.
Dice apple and cover with half lemon juice and add half lemon peel grated.
Soak raisin in water.
In another bowl beat eggs with milk, then add flour mixture little by little alternating with raisin and apple.
Fill in a frying pan with lots of vegetable oil (peanut or corn oil) and
warm it up.
When oil is warm fry small dollops of dough till they are golden on both sides
(use a small teaspoon to take dough and another one to help remove it
into the oil).
Transfer them on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Dip them, one by one, in a bowl of sugar so they get well covered.

Serve them with a nice cup of tea!

The Carnival "Chiacchiere"

Carnival or Mardi' Gras will arrive soon and I'm ready to welcome it
happily making fragrant "Chiacchiere".
When I was young I knew this tipycal Carnival dessert with the name
of "Cioffe"(dialect for bow).
Stripes of sweet pasta dough were shaped like bows, fryed and sprinkled
with powder sugar.
They have different names in different regions (cenci, crostoli, frappe,etc.)
and shapes can be very different.
Here you find my recepe as published in my book "Memorie d'Infanzia".

Ingredients:

250 g flour
50 g sugar
25 g butter
2 eggs
1 TBS Martini Bianco
1tsp grated lemon peel
confectionary sugar
vegetable oil

Dispose flour on a wooden board and make a hole in the middle.
Add eggs, sugar and liquor and beat lightly with your hand.
Mix liquid with a little bit of flour then add soft butter and
mix well.
When you obtain a homogeneous dough, flatten it with a rolling pin.
Once very thin, cut dough in stripes 3 cm wide and 10 cm long,
then pinch each stripe in the middle to give it a bow shape.
Fry in warm oil (it is at right temperature when you put in a
small piece of pasta and small bubbles appear)till brown on both sides
(it happens very quickly).
Put them on a kitchen paper to absorb excess oil then transfer on a plate
and sprinkle with confectionary sugar.

Share them happily with friends!

BRAIDED BRIOCHE

As a challenge in my kitchen for 2013 I have decided to experiment with bread!!!
I will try to bake different kind of bread using a French book I bought long time ago and borrowing recepes from my Italian tradition.
The first bread I have baked is:

Treccia di pan briosce
a very soft bread similar to the challah bread from the Jewish tradition.

Ingredients:

for yeast base:

1/2 cup bread flour
1 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm milk




for dough:

5 eggs
3 cups bread flowr
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
2 sticks (230 g) butter

for decoration:

1 egg
sesame seads or
granulated sugar


Prepare yeast base mixing all ingredients in a bowl, cover mixture and let
it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Prepare dough beating 5 eggs, one at the time, in yeast base till smooth.
Add flour, sugar and salt and knead to mix well ingredients.
Soften butter and incorporate it to dough little by little.
When all butter is incorporated well knead dough for 5 minutes.
Put dough in a bowl, cover with cling paper and let it raise in the fridge
for about 2 hours.
Take dough out from fridge and cut in two pieces.
Knead one piece and then cut it in 3 parts.
Roll them in a rope shape, then braid them together.
Put braided bread on a baking tray, cover and let it raise for 1 hour and half.
Repeat same process with other piece.

Beat remaining egg with a TBL of water and brush loaves with it.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds or sugar and bake at 400 F for 30 minutes.

Once cooled slice it and serve with jam, Nutella or prosciutto.

GINGER COOKIES

After the holidays, there is a time when I start feeling nostalgic about festivities warmness and joy!
What do I do then?
I bake ginger cookies to sparkle my day again!
Ginger cookies are a bomb of heat because they contain lots of warming spices.
I make them even more powerful adding cocoa powder and chocolate......
....a delicious explotion of joy!
In this form they remind me of Mostaccioli, a sweet Christmas speciality
from my region in Italy.

Here it comes the recepe!

TRADITIONAL GINGER COOKIES

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ginger powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp garam masala or all spices
1/2 tsp cloves powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1/2 cup sugar (use brown one if you have it)
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 stick butter (120 g)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

In a bowl mix all dry ingredients, then add melted butter, oil and egg.
If it is too dry add a bit of water.
Mix all ingredients well, transfer on a wooden board and knead it.
Shape dough as a ball and transfer in a bowl and cover with cling paper.
Let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Turn on oven at 350 F.

With a rolling pin press dough to half inch thickness.
Cut with a ginger man shape.
Put cookies on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes.

Once cooled decorate cookies with icing.

GINGER COOKIES AFTER CHRISTMAS

Add to ingredients 2 tsp of cocoa powder.
Use same procedure except cutting and icing.
Cut in a round shape.

Once baked and cooled dip them in melted dark chocolate.
Put them in a tray on a parchment paper and let the chocolate
cool down.

Enjoy them with a nice cup of tea!!!