Semplicemente perfetto. x
A juicy, Italian mouthfull.
Risotto al pomodoro.
Inspired by Ula Pedantula, whom I’ve discovered over a year ago. A good looking, balsy and inspirational Polish lady with an excellent youtube channel and a couple of decent books behind her belt. A fellow Italianophile.
Every time I make a decent risotto I think I should make them more often. Especially in spring and summer. This particular risotto can be made anytime during the year, as a small bottle of Mutti passata has been used for it. I didn’t follow Ula’s recipe all the way; she doesn’t drink, so her risotto was made only with stock, I used a glass of vermentino in mine. She finished hers with lots and lots of butter, I think there a generous teaspoon at the end, after the parmigiano is plenty. I also added some green peas to mine- it looks great, gives the dish more texture and a touch of sweetness. It was enjoyed by us all. 🙂
Matcha shortbread.
I saw this recipe somewhere on the internet long time ago, copied it and resisted making it due to the size of my waist. I’ve been trying to eat less after Christmas, definitely drink less and snack as little as possible, so butter cookies were not urgent to make, shall we say.
Today I decided to give them a go, the weather is really cold, while at home it’s warm, clean, cosy and lovely and now it also smells with matcha.
I used 240g of plain flour and 20g of matcha. 170g of soft butter got creamed together with 120g of icing sugar and a pinch of salt. 2 egg yolks added, then the flour and matcha combo, slowly, bit by bit. 50g of chopped white chocolate, but also a generous handful of unsalted pistachios, not in the recipe, but I had some, I love them, so why not.
Once all nicely combined I rolled the dough into a couple of sausages with the help of cling film, chilled them in the fridge for over an hour and then sliced and baked in 180 degrees for about 15 minutes. I’m pleased to say they are not overly sweet, Florek says they would benefit from some more white chocolate, I like them a lot. I recently chucked my Wilton food colourants, as they were out of date and not used in a long, long time. My palate has changed a lot, those days of indulging in macaroons and baking a couple of times a week are long gone. These days I’d always choose some cheese and another glass of wine instead of a sweet treat.
Second coffee of the day is on the horizon, alongside a cookie or two. 🙂
Nigella’s London cheesecake.
Last day of the year, there were plans of a fairly large party this evening with Steve, Ale and their friends and Casellas. But the location intended for the party turned out not available, so we split the party up and we’re heading to Casa Casella later tonight, 6 of us, not 17. I’ve made a cheesecake and it’s a good thing it will not have to be divided between 17 people. It really is rather good, I must say. After a comfortable rest in the fridge I have portioned it and tried it and there will be no shame, shall we say! 🙂
It was all baked yesterday. For the base I used 150 g of Biscoff biscuits, crushed in the food processor. Nigella recommended digestive biscuits, but there was only a chocolate version in Esselunga. This blitzed with 70 g of melted and cooled butter was pressed into the lined round tin.
700g of Philadelhia cheese, 3 eggs, 3 yolks ( my cholesterol levels are rising just by typing this), gently combined together by KA. 150 g sugar added, some of it vanilla. A big fat drop of vanilla paste. Good squeeze of lemon juice. A bit of my candied orange peel. All this poured into the tin and baked in 180 degrees, in bain marie, for 50 minutes. Then a quick topping of sour cream, about 150 ml, some icing sugar and more vanilla paste added to the top, another 10 minutes and out of the oven. Left to cool completely, into the fridge for the night.
Obviously in Nigella’s book it looks stunning, my top layer wasn’t glamorous enough, so I grated a bit of dark chocolate on top and a few flaked almonds.
It is super moist and creamy. And delicious. And it will be the last thing we’ll eat this year. 🙂
Granola, with Italian twist.
Until today I thought my brother makes the best granola. He once told me how to, but mine wasn’t as good as his, so I left it and settled for shop bought, overly sweet Kellogs.
But lately, in the new book by Ula Pedantula called ” Kuchnia Pedantuli” I saw recipe for homemade granola, one that uses olive oil alongside honey (Mariusz only uses honey). We went to Ikea this morning, where I picked up a few bits to make the storage in my kitchen a bit better, then, in Esselunga I got what I needed to make the granola. I combined some oats, hazelnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds( a must, beautiful flavour when toasted!), sesame seeds, a heavy dusting of cinnamon ( of course) and then a good drizzle of olive oil and honey, enough to coat everything.
I baked the granola in 150 degrees, on a baking paper and tossed it every 10-15 minutes, until it was golden and smelled fantastic. It took about 45 minutes. I left it to cool completely, while still tossing and then transferred it to a sexy new jar I got from Lara last Thursday. Very much looking forward to having it tomorrow morning with yoghurt and fresh fruit.
Natale 2024
The best idea I’ve had about this Christmas was to not invite anyone. After last year I fancied Christmas for us, with the food that we like. With no nerves, no stupid conversations at the table, having waited for the guests who were always late- my time was not important, right? Last year’s Christmas with the family left me pissed off, tired and frustrated.
I did ask my mum a few weeks ago if they’d come over, especially after the September flood has left Stronie looking like a warzone, but mum declined. So we had a lovely, relaxed Christmas, just Florek, Iza and me. And the cats. In terms of tradition I only made barszcz with uszka- yes, this year I could be bothered. On Christmas eve there were 2 courses, after barszcz I served some panfried plaice and prawns, clementine pie for dessert.
On Christmas Day we fancied steaks, so we had steaks. There were no fussy, ungrateful vegetarians to waste time on ( have you made the pastry from scratch? Have I ****, for you???!!). And then on Boxing Day the guests arrived! Yes, but guests unrelated to us, not those we felt we should invite, but those we were excited to celebrate with. Lara, Sergio and Ilan, Steve, Ale and Lydia. All arrived with food and wine. Steve made panettone from scratch. All great bunch to dine with, they loved my barszcz, turkey has flown off the plates and Ilan was disappointed he couldn’t have thirds. Port was a hit and we taught Sergio to say “wanker”. 🙂 Ale was surprised to find out why the work “anticipo” makes me giggle. Festive Italian lunch that finished …at 7pm.
Izzie said it was the best Christmas ever. I’m sure Nintendo DS had something to do with it. x
Pepper chicken.
Marion’s. I’ve cooked it today for the second time, last time I was too hungry to bother with photos, but this evening it was so tasty ( all 3 Bankses were unanimous) that I simply must write about it. Not the fastest of stir fries, as the chicken’s double cooked, but worth the effort.
Chicken breasts ( thighs at Marion’s) were thinly sliced and marinated quickly in soy sauce and grated garlic. Sauce was prepared out of oyster sauce, a good splash of Shaoxing, dark soy, some sesame oil and a serious fat teaspoon of black pepper, this is perfectly enough as far as I’m concerned.
Chicken pieces were then tossed in cornflour and quickly panfried, then drained on the kitchen towels, I did that in 2 batches. Marion’s right, it is quite difficult to stop eating those chicken pieces, while the rest of the work is happening.
An onion, chopped quite thickly and some red pepper into the pan/wok, till a bit charred, in goes the chicken, in goes the sauce ( lovely smell of Shaoxing all over the kitchen), toss, toss, toss and it’s all ready to devour. I served it with rice, everything was eaten this evening and I was thanked profusely by the other 2 Bankses. Applause! 🙂
First olive harvest!
There is so much to learn, but I’m really enjoying the process! Last Sunday, finally dry with lovely spells of sunshine during an otherwise very wet autumn, we have taken out the nets the previous owner has left behind and for the first time ever took down the ripe olives from our few trees. We only have 9 trees, some of them very heavy with fruit, some had barely any, so we only ended up with 12kg of olives, which all fitted in a big Esselunga bag. That same afternoon we took it down to a local frantoio in Torre, which was closed, but two lovely blokes who were there said we could drop them off and come pick up our oil 2 days later.
Sergio and Lara, who have around 100 trees had a really impressive harvest.
On Tuesday afternoon, having picked up Izzie and Ilan from school we stopped at the frantoio. It was open and busy and the smell in there was astonishing! I wish it could be bottled and preserved! It was like a freshly cut grass, but oily, olive like super fresh scent. Lovely community feel in there too, people come over with their harvest, all chat and look inside, in spite of the sign Ingresso Vietato.
So, we brought home a small can of fresh, cloudy olive oil, some of which was made with our olives. It cost 6 euro to have it made. I baked a small sourdough with pecans to go with it and it was an absolute treat.
We keep learning new things. My project for next spring is a small veggie garden under the olive trees, which will have to be well planned, as we need to flatten out some of the big slope we have. Then I will give all the olive trees a decent cut, I hope if we look after them, they will be more productive.
Tons of happiness nevertheless.
The last nod from the cinghiale.
Out of 3 dishes I have made with that chunk of cinghiale, the last one was excellent. I decided to mince the remaining meat I had leftover from Sunday. I purchased a small, silly looking mincer especially for that purpose, it was hard work, but I got there in the end. All of the veggies from the sauce went in, plus some soaked porcini and also some cup mushrooms and onions that I had fried, there is always space for more flavour. It needed no extra seasoning. This filling went into some very sexy pierogi, that were finished off with crispy guanciale ( excellent idea, taken my cholesterol levels) and enjoyed thoroughly by all three of us.
That done and finished I will shelve my cinghiale ambitions for the time being, I will happily enjoy it cooked by someone else.
Cinghiale and other autumnal flavours.
Summer has finished so abruptly this year, it felt like somebody switched off the light at the beginning of September. Lots of rain immediately followed, the pool got covered over a month ago, jackets were taken out. Nectarines disappeared from Esselunga, but there are plums, wonderful dark purple plums, which which I have baked a couple of times and shared the cake with the neighbours.
A breath of fresh air in terms of my sourdough baking. I neglected my starter a bit and it become unattractive in looks and smell, so I made a new starter from scratch and also decided to reduce the bread recipe by half and bake smaller loaves regularly, without wasting too much. I now tend to take the starter out of the fridge in the morning, get it warmed up and bubbly at room temperature, prepare the bread in the evening, leave to rise on the worktop overnight and bake it first thing in the morning while getting ready for school. This morning’s loaf is a beauty;
It was enjoyed with some canned tuna, avocado and tomatoes.
I should also mention that we have finally gotten around to testing our blood, Florek and I and we both have high cholesterol. It’s very annoying, as I really don’t think I cook unhealthily. Yes, we love cheese, but do we eat too much of it? Butter and full fat milk, yes, all the way, but in moderation, I think! And yet the numbers were ugly. I have started my daily pilates again, something must be done ( but butter stays!!).
With the help of Lau I have bought a chunk of wild boar meat( kinder in terms of cholesterol than regular pork), divided it in half and got cooking. The first batch was turned into cinghiale ragu, I used the recipe from youtube. It wasn’t a revelation, it must be said. We all ate it, but all agreed that my other, traditional ragu is much more exciting on the plate.
Last night after defrosting the other part of the meat I cooked it in the slow cooker, without recipe this time, following my instinct. Served in its own sauce with kluski slaskie and a lovely roasted beetroot salad. Again, nice, ok, not mind blowing in anyway. The roasted cinghiale Nadia treated us to a few weeks ago was the kind of plate to aim for. Still, I have some left for Wednesday lunch time, Steve will come over and help us chop up the mimosa tree that has fallen last weekend.
And the next weekend it will be time for our first ever olive harvest! Even if we get a bottle or 2 of olive oil from those few trees we have here- still, we’re doing it!
