Saturday, November 29, 2008

just sky

skies from where i live.










Saturday, November 15, 2008

delectable broccoli

i'm still sick with the cold and flu and in the past days it was raining as hell, so i was in the mood for some already winterish soup.

when i was a kid broccoli to me was the thing that goes with orecchiette pasta and nothing else. we used to eat this very italian dish now and then, in the season of fresh broccoli, and nothing could convince me this vegetable was to be used to make something else.
dont get me wrong, i really like broccoli.. it's probably one of my fav vegetables ever. i just loved that pasta so much and my mother was not using it to make anything else. besides, even though i like cauliflower too, broccoli in my mind was something like the cool brother of cauliflower LOL

i'll make some broccoli pasta soon, with maybe fresh orecchiette or strascinati.. lots of garlic and olive oil, a little chili pepper and tons of broccoli eheh

anyway the other day i made this awesome soup.. to be honest i was surprised with the result, it came out so velvety and creamy i was amazed :)
i cant really give precise doses because with vegetable soups i tend to measure things roughly just with a look.. besides, maybe it's the fact that i love vegetables, maybe it's because i know if i have just the soup i'll be damn hungry in 2hours, i tend to make a lot of it eheh
broccoli&potato soup
500g potato
500g broccoli
100ml cream
chicken stock
olive oil
100ml cream
garlic and chili pepper
parmesan cheese

boil the vegetables, chopped, in chicken stock. if the stock is good and well balanced, it wont need to add salt to the soup. strain them a moment before they're completely done and let cool a bit.
put the vegetables and some few spoons of stock in the mixer and mix them well, till they make a soft creamy mixture.
in the meanwhile sautee some garlic with olive oil in a saucepan, then pour the broccoli mixture, the cream and the chili pepper. stir well and cook on a low heat for about 10min, adding some spoons of stock if needed.
serve grating some parmesan cheese all over the soup and accompany with some toasted bread slices.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

saffron memories

i've always loved saffron.. the world's most expensive spice by weight, dried crocus stigmas, luminous color, beautiful aroma. i recall when i was a kid.. dad making risotto and me being the one who prepared saffron.. i would carefully open the little bag, one dose packaging, saffron in powder.. and make it melt in warm water.. smelling the perfume, watching the color changing.

risotto alla milanese is just so good.. saffron and parmigiano cheese.. marvellous match, melting in mouth rice, the meat stock aroma in the background.
in italy we also have the strega (literal meaning: witch) a herbal liqueur, sort of digestif, colored with saffron (and tasting like hell since it's about 40% vol eheheh) and i remember my grandparents had this bottle of yellowish stuff in the living room.. i was fascinated by that but i must admit when i eventually tasted a drop of it i was quite a disappointed kid :D

just lately, maybe a couple of years or so, i've been trying saffron in sweet food for real.. and i really like saffron buns and saffron bread, so delicious :)
these scones are so yummy.. i just tried to mix some saffron in a basic recipe and they came out awesome, i didnt expect such a good result! definitely one of my fav scone ever.
saffron scones
(makes 6-8)
300g plain flour
60g sugar
60g butter
120ml milk
a pinch of salt
baking powder
saffron and nutmeg, ground

melt saffron in warm milk. mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. rub the ingredients with butter till fine crumbs and mix in milk. flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut rounds.
bake the scones for about 15min in preheated oven at 180°C.

Monday, November 10, 2008

carrot principle #2

if you havent thought of baking with carrot,
there's a whole world for you to discover.
my mom never tried to really bake carrots.. she was a little skeptical when i made roasted carrots there for the first time. for some reason, here carrtos usually go raw or, if someway cooked, they're boiled. i definitely despise boiled carrots.. cant say why, but the taste and texture they get is awful to me eheh
actually carrot can be roasted with awesome results.. same way it is very good in baking recipes, such as cookies, breads, cakes and so on. i just grind it finely because i dont like too much the feel of shredded carrot in the dough.. still, i have to say there are some few recipes where a rougher texture just does the best.
so.. another carrot recipe :) as i said previously, i like carrots a lot.. that's why i decided to make one of my fav breads ever with the addition of this orange very versatile ingredient.
carrot scones
(makes 6-8)
240g plain flour
150g carrot
60g demi-sel butter
60g sugar
baking powder
a pinch of cardamom
80ml milk

grind carrot in the food processor and mix it with the butter. mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom with the cattor mixture. rub the ingredients and stir in milk.
flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut square, without dividing them. bake the scones for about 15min in preheated oven at 180°C.
divide the squares and enjoy!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

a rice cuddle

this is such a sweet cuddle.. rice pudding is an awesome thing :)
i'm still in full flu, so tonight i felt like eating something nice and cuddling myself a bit.

i use slightly salted butter because i like the taste better than unsalted butter in this recipe.. i also dont like it too sweet, if it's too sugary it tires me soon.
sweet milk&rice
100g rice
40g demi-sel butter
600ml milk
40g sugar
vanilla flavor
cinnamon, nutmeg
50g dark chocolate

cook rice with butter, milk, sugar and vanilla stirring often. let simmer for about 30min, adding ground cinnamon and nutmeg.
pour in a bowl (or single portion cups) placing a bit of chocolate in the middle. grate some chocolate on top.
you can eat it still hot, warm or let it cool in the fridge till the chocolate on top solidifies.

Friday, November 7, 2008

au marché j'ai acheté..

i'm sick as a dog.. the first flu of the season and my sinusitis is already raging.
so i havent been cooking that much, still i made some experimental scones that reminded me the match caprese salad is made of.. tomato and mozzarella, with some fresh basil, a little oil, salt and pepper :D

this afternoon i had to go out to the drug store and coming back, i stopped by a vegetable stand.. there were these marvellous looking tomatos (dont ask me how come we have such beautiful specimens in november.. i dont want to know LOL) whenever i go to an old school market, i love to look at the goods.. it always reminds me a song we learnt during my french course, that says au marché j'ai acheté [insert name of vegetable] kinda kiddie song to learn the names of stuff. no idea why i still recall it so good ehehe

these scones are awesome accompained by some fresh mozzarella (better if a burrata or a buffalo milk mozzarella) that tenderly melts on the scones.. but some fresh white cheese will work too.
tomato scones
(makes 8 big scones)
320g plain flour
100g olive oil
100ml milk
2tomatoes
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1tbsp sugar
fresh basil

mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and stir in the olive oil. rub the ingredients till fine crumbs and mix in milk.
when the dough is soft and smooth add the tomato chopped and the fresh basil. flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut rounds.
bake the scones for about 15-20min in preheated oven at 180°C.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

carrot principle #1

if you dont LOVE carrot cake, it's because you have not eaten a good one yet.
i've always been digging carrots. when i was a kid i used to crunch them, now i still eat them like that but i added some few variants eheh
at first i had to eat them because they told me to, it's good for your sight.. sure, i ate tons because of that. the result was that my sight kept on slowly worsening anyway and at school i got named bugs. ya know i have big teeth so, there you go LOL

at home we never got snacks.. i didnt like snacks myself to be honest, yea i was one of those nerdy kids eating fruit at school break and i enjoyed it.
but one day the parents came up with this new snack and i could eat it.. it was made of carrots so kinda apparently healthier according to mom, and i love carrots. so they bought me these camille.
i didnt have any idea about who this camilla was, but surely she had to be a lucky girl if she had these awesome treats named after her.. i was happy. they were so moist and carroty, not too sweet, wondefully crumbly.. i like everything about them, small delicious domes of orange, carrot and almond.

so thinking about a cake for mom's birthday i decided for carrot cake.. it's been a while since i made it last time and i'm looking forward to taste it :D

i make various versions of carrot cake.. and my two faves are with cream cheese filling and this one, with chocolate coating.
chocolate carrot cake
250g plain flour
120g butter, softened
175g sugar
300g carrots
120g almonds, peeled
3eggs
baking powder
1pinch of salt
orange flavor
- coating:
200g dark chocolate
50gbutter

mince almonds and carrots in the blender, set aside. beat the butter with sugar till creamy, add eggs and orange flavor.
stir in the flour mixed with salt and baking powder, then carrots. mix well and pour the batter in a baking tin (about 24cm diameter).
bake for about 45min in preheated oven at 180°C. let the cake cool.
melt butter with chocolate stirring. spread on the cake and keep in the fridge till serving.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

apple delight

yea i know i'm posting kinda twice today.. but this post i wrote it down yesterday then didnt publish it because i was busy doing and just saved the draft. here it goes then :)

i like apples.. i started to like cinnamon because i loved the match apple/cinnamon, but till a while ago i couldnt really stand cinnamon alone. i still dont like too spiced sweet food, like some nordic christmas breads and cookies.
i dont mind finnish piparkakut though, because they're so thin it's not really a cookie to me.. more like a cute sheet of sweet matter eheh

my fridge is filled with apples.. i usually eat an apple a day, after dinner, because it's such an versatile yet simple fruit.. it's fresh, can be tasty, if you peel it texture and taste are a little different, you can chop it, munch it, bake it, grate it, juice it.. you can store kilos of apples and they wont get spoiled (i bought some green bananas the other day and today they're already soft and brownish.. got to eat them quick like a monkey)
i'm not so much into apple juice though.. it's a bit strange to me, i'm never sure if i dig it or not eheh
apple clafoutis cups
2apples chopped
4tbsp plain flour
2tbsp sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1tbsp butter, melted
150ml milk

mix the dry ingredients together, stir in milk and butter. add some extra milk if the batter is not smooth enough, whisk it well.
put the chopped apple in 4 single portion baking tins and pour the milk mixture all over them.
bake for about 18min in preheated oven at 200°C.

about scones and informatics

i'm struggling badly with the net connection.. for some awful reason the wireless one is not working and this pissed me off hugely this morning.
i'm not too good at informatics and such.. or better, i could be pretty good if i was not so upset-able by the smallest trouble. when i get these warning messages about errors and programs closing by themselves i tend to freak out a little bit LOL

i was so annoyed and trying to find a solution that i skipped breakfast and when i checked the time it was already 1pm and i realized i was hungry as hell eheh so once again the choice went to one of my fav things and made some quick scones.
there's something weirdly attractive in scones.. they get on well with salty spreads, sweet spreads.. even better when there's a little contrast salty-sweet.. they're quite bread-like but it's not such a pain to make them (i made bread some few times and it came out good.. too bad it took me a lifetime ahah)
they're a bit like muffins.. extremely quick and easy to make, they give you almost total freedom of flavor choice.. you can put the hell in that dough and it will work :D
when i'm to make muffins and scones, usually it's a sudden decision and the approach is more like cooking creativeness on a very versatile basis.. i have a basic recipe and from there i can change it to suit a new ingredient, a different flavor.. mix all together a bit roughly (because you never have to mix these two kinds of dough too much or the delicious texture will be lost) and bake!these scones are pretty good.. i usually prefer not to put salty ingredients like bacon or seasoned cheese in the dough because i like to spread them with berry jams. in this case i dig spreading fresh cheese, cottage cheese or (in such moments of dreadful taste LOL) peanut butter. sounds weird but to me it doesnt taste bad at all on these here.
i used speck instead of bacon.. first of all because i had one and not the other, secondly i like speck way better than bacon eheh i have to precise though that usually i use pancetta, which is italian kind of bacon, of the smoked kind (that imo tastes way better)

bacon scones

(makes 6-8)
270g plain flour
150ml milk
50g olive oil
1tsp sugar
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1pinch of nutmeg and allspice mixed
bacon

mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, spices and stir in the olive oil. rub the ingredients till fine crumbs and mix in milk.
when the dough is soft and smooth stir in the bacon in thin stripes. flatten the dough (about 2.5cm thick) and cut rounds.
bake the scones for about 15min in preheated oven at 180°C.