Baker's corner...somewhere in my kitchen

Zucchini and Pancetta Pizza

2012-01-02T17:07:00.001+01:00

Like every year we're spending Christmas holidays with my husband's family who lives in Avellino, not far from Naples. And being here for two weeks it is hard to resist not eating pizza almost every day. My older daughter actually started complaining because she says we're eating too much pizza. But when you have such a possibility as to eat this good pizza, where even the worst pizza in town is hundred times superior to the best pizza back at home, how can you not to? The dough is just perfect, thin and soft, but slightly chewy, not crisp. Mozzarella is the very important part of the whole story, even when made with plain mozzarella, pizza tastes heavenly (it has nothing to do with that layer of plastic cheese you get elsewhere), and if you try it with mozzarella di buffala... you'll be speechless.
Seriously, no pizza made at home comes even close to the pizza they make here. And my dream is still to go to Naples before heading back to Modena, and finally see for myself one of the most famous pizzerias, Da Michele, where they say pizza is an ulterior experience. Even Elizabeth Gilbert mentions it in her book, Eat Pray Love. If she could go there and have a couple pizzas, I must, too. And if I do, you'll certainly know about it.

Since I don't like pizzas available in town where I actually live, the only alternative I have is to make it myself at home. I've tried different kinds of dough, and each of them has good and bad sides.
The dough in this recipe is particular because it's made with the addition of potatoes. They give such incredible softness to the dough.
I also chose a particular topping, "white", that is to say, without tomatoes, which is quite rare, because our favourite one is always Margherita, just tomatoes and mozzarella.
And with this home made version of pizza I'm wishing you a good start of 2012... and I'll go check if pizza is on our dinner menu, today ^__^

Pizza dough with potatoes
and Zucchini and Pancetta Pizza

Potato pizza dough:
(for 2 round pizzas)
300 g flour (I use Italian type "0")
125 g potatoes
12,5 g fresh yeast (or 3,5 g dry yeast)
1 teaspoon salt
1 TBspoon extra virgin olive oil

for Zucchini and Pancetta Pizza:
4 small zucchini
100 g pancetta or bacon
50 g Parmigiano cheese
1 mozzarella (125 g)
4 thyme sprigs
2-3 zucchini flowers
salt, pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into cubes. Steam cook them for about 10 minutes until soft.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, add the salt and the dry yeast (if using dry, if using the fresh yeast dissolve it in warm water), and the olive oil.
Mesh the hot potatoes with the potato ricer letting them fall directly into the bowl with the flour.
Adding the warm water bring everything together and knead on a floured surface to form smooth, elastic dough.
Place the dough into a clean bowl, cover and let rest in a warm place for 2 hours.
Drop the dough on a floured surface and divide it into two pieces.
Place each on a lightly oiled baking pan and flatten stretching it and pressing with your hands, in a way that the dough is thin in the middle and the border is slightly thicker.
If you have a pizza stone prepare the pizza as you usually do. You could also bake the pizza on a piece of parchment paper (sprinkled with flour or even better semolina flour) to have a similar, crispier bottom effect.

For the zucchini and pancetta pizza, toast the chopped pancetta (or bacon) in a dry frying pan. Transfer on a plate with a piece of kitchen paper to drain from the excess fat.
Wash and dry the zucchini. Cut off the edges and then slice them lenghtwise into 2-3 mm thick slices, then cut those in a way to obtain tiny sticks.
Place the zucchini into a bowl, add the fresh thyme leaves and the parmigiano cheese. Add the salt and pepper to your taste.
Distribute the pancetta over the dough first and top it with the zucchini and pieces of mozzarella cheese.
Bake the pizza in a really hot oven (the max. for mine is 250°C, hopefully, yours can reach higher temp.) for about 10 minutes and serve.

Pasta per pizza con patate
e Pizza con zucchine e pancetta

Pasta per pizza con patate:
(per 2 pizze tonde)
300 g farina tipo "0"
125 g patate
12,5 g lievito di birra fresco
1 cucchiaino raso di sale
1 cucchiaio di olio extra vergine d'oliva

per pizza con zucchine e pancetta:
4 zucchine medie
100 g di pancetta tagliata a cubetti
50 g di parmigiano grattugiato o a scaglie
1 mozzarella (125 g)
4 rametti di timo fresco
2-3 fiori di zucchina (se disponibili)
sale, pape
olio EVO

Per la pasta: Pelate le patate, tagliatele a tocchetti e cuocetele a vapore per circa 10 minuti o finché morbide.
Mettete la farina setacciata in una ciotola, aggiungete le patate (calde) passate allo sciacciapatate, sale, olio e
il lievito sciolto in mezzo bicchiere d'acqua tiepida. Cominciate ad impastare aggiungendo altra acqua necessaria (circa 1 dl) per ottenere un'impasto morbido ma compatto. Lavorate la pasta per qualche minuto sulla spianatoia infarinata, e poi lasciatela riposare coperta per 2 ore.
Riprendete la pasta lievitata e dividetela in due parti. Con le mani stendete ogni pezzo di pasta su una teglia per pizza leggermente oleata.
Lavate, asciugate e spuntate le zucchine, tagliatele a bastoncini (tagliatele prima a fettine nel senso di lunghezza e poi a bastoncini).
Metete le zucchine in una ciotola, salatele e pepatele, aggiungete le foglioline di timo, un po' di olio e il parmigiano. Mescolate bene il tutto.
Tostate la pancetta in una padella, senza aggiungere grasso, finché croccante, e poi lasciatela qualche minuto sulla carta assorbente.
Distribuite la pancetta sulla pasta stesa e leggermente oleata, e sopra aggiungete le zucchine e qualche tocchetto di mozzarella. Se avete anche qualche fiore di zucchina, lavatelo con cura, togliendo il pistillo e aggiungetelo sulla pizza.
Cuocete le pizze nel forno già riscaldato a 250°C per circa 10 minuti.

Tijesto za pizzu s krumpirom
i Pizza s tikvicama i pancettom

Tijesto:
(za 2 okrugle pizze)
*300 g brašna
*125 g krumpira
*12,5 g svježeg kvasca
*1 (ravna) žličica soli
*1 žlica maslinovog ulja

za Pizzu s tikvicama i pancettom:
*4 manje tikvice
*100 g pancette, narezane na kockice
*50 g krupno naribanog parmezana
*1 mozzarella (125 g)
*4 grančice timijana
*2-3 cvijeta tikvice
*sol, papar
*maslinovo ulje

Tijesto za pizzu:
Krumpir ogulite, narežite na komadiće i kuhajte na pari 10 minuta.
Prosijte brašno u zdjelu, u sredinu dodajte kroz tijesak protisnut (topao) krumpir, sol, ulje i kvasac otopljen u pola čaše mlake vode. Zamijesite sve sastojke dodajući postepeno još oko 1 dl mlake vode.
Mijesite tijesto na pobrašnjenoj radnoj površini dok ne postane glatko i meko. Ostavite tijesto da se diže na toplom, pokriveno čistom krpom ili plastičnom folijom oko 2 sata.
Podijelite tijesto na dva dijela i svaki rastanjite malo nauljenim rukama na nauljenom plehu na otprilike 1/2 cm debljine ostavljajući rubove malo deblje.

Za nadjev, operite i posušite tikvice. Odrežite im krajeve, a zatim ih prvo narežite na ploške debljine 2-3 mm (po dužini), a onda na štapiće. stavite ih u zdjelu i posolite i popaprite, začinite s malo ulja i listićima timijana, dodajte krupno naribani parmezan i sve izmiješajte.
Pancettu stavite u tavu (bez dodane masnoće) i popržite da bude malo hrskava. Premjestite je na par slojeva kuhinjskog papira da se ocijedi višak masnoće.
Rasporedite pancettu na tijesto, a preko nje tikvice i komadiće mozzarelle. Ako imate i cvjetova tikvice, operite ih, izvadite im tučak i dodajte ih povrh svega.
Premažite rubove pizze uljem i pecite je u dobro zagrijanoj pećnici (250°C), u donjem dijelu, 10-ak minuta.

White Chocolate Pralines with Strawberries

2011-12-30T19:20:00.000+01:00

Day by day, minute by minute and we have reached the end of another year. Good or bad? I don't like to draw sums, because I like to think there are always more positive than negative things, otherwise I probably wouldn't be here writing.
And I'm happy to be here, in my little virtual corner where I can share news from kitchen. I hope you had good time, too, and I hope you'll keep coming next year. Just in case I'll keep the coffee pot and a cookie tray on hand ^__^ Thank you for your comments and for sharing your experience, thank you for every recipe you've adopted, it's always a pleasure to hear from my readers and from other bloggers who stop by.

I hope your dreams can become reality and wish you joy and happiness, love and health above everything else.

Closing 2011 in a sweet way, how else... "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
This time, what you get is a sweet orange scented white chocolate ganache, with a little red surprise inside.
Enjoy!
Happy New Year!

White Chocolate Pralines with Strawberries

(for approx. 15 small chocolates)
* about 200 g good quality white chocolate (for pralines)
* 60 g white chocolate (for ganache filling)
* 25 ml heavy cream
* 2-3 drops of essential orange oil
* candied strawberries

Chop the chocolate for pralines finely. Put 2/3 in a small saucepan, and set the remaining 1/3 aside.
Put a little water in another saucepan, just slightly bigger than the first one. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and place the saucepan with the chocolate in it on top stirring it until it melts and reaches no more than 46°C. During the melting process it is important that the water underneath isn't boiling, but eventually simmering, and second, the bottom of the upper saucepan musn't be in contact with water but above it. Otherwise you risk scorching the chocolate. Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a microwave oven, at intervals not longer than 30 second and stirring thoroughly and measuring the temperature after each interval.
Once the chocolate is melted and has reached the right temperature, it is time to temper it and bring down do 29,5°C, the temperature at which chocolate will reach the stable crystal structure and produce nice glossy chocolates that will snap when bit or broken.
So, add the remaining 1/3 of finely chopped chocolate and stir until it has melted completely and reached 29,5°C (in case you should have a difficulty melting the additional chocolate place it for a few seconds again over the saucepan with hot water or just a couple seconds in the microwave. Stir the chocolate, don't just wait for it to cool to 29,5°C on its own, it won't give the same results.
At this point you need to create chocolate shells using chocolate moulds (silicone or polycarbonate ones, I only have the silicone ones). You can either fill the moulds with the tempered chocolate and then turn them upside down for part of chocolate to get out leaving the holes for a filling, or pour a little chocolate in each hole and then distribute it evenly using a small brush (in this case you may have to repeat the process at least twice).
Leave the mould at room temperature or in the fridge until the chocolate shell has set completely.
In the meantime prepare the ganache.
Melt the chocolate and heat the heavy cream almost to a boiling point. Mix the two to create a smooth cream, add the orange oil and set aside to cool at room temperature. It has to be cold but still liquid, so don't put it in the fridge.
Put a piece of a candied straberry inside the chocolate shells and then fill them with the ganache, leaving 2-3 mm to the rim empty. Leave the mould in the fridge for 10 minutes.
In the meantime check the temperature of the melted chocolate and if necessary warm it up a littly so that it is still at 29,5°C. Add a little bit more chocolate to the moulds to close the ganache filling, and leave in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
Unmould the chocolate pralines and enjoy.
They don't need to be stored in the fridge. If the chocolate has been tempered properly they'll keep perfectly fine at room temperature protected from humidity.

Vi auguro un felice Anno Nuovo!
Cioccolatini al cioccolato bianco e fragole

(per circa 15 cioccolatini)
* circa 200 g di cioccolato bianco di buona qualità (per il guscio)
* 60 g di cioccolato bianco (per ganache)
* 25 ml panna fresca
* 2-3 gocce di olio essenziale di arancia
* fragole candite

Sminuzzate finemente 200 g di cioccolato. Mettete 2/3 in un contenitore resistente al calore e posizionatelo sopra un pentolino con l'acqua che sobbolle (fate attenzione che l'acqua non bolle perché anche una sola goccia che potrebbe finire nel cioccolato rovinerebbe tutto, e poi, il contenitore con dentro il cioccolato deve stare sopra il livello dell'acqua non in contatto). Fate sciogliere il cioccolato mescolando e controllando la temperatura che non deve superare 46°C.
Togliete il contenitore con il cioccolato dal fuoco, e temperate il cioccolato aggiungendo il resto del cioccolato sminuzzato, mescolando energicamente per farlo sciogliere e fino ad abbassare la temperatura del cioccolato a 29,5°C.
Rivestite adesso gli stampini di silicone o policarbonato con il cioccolato temperato e lasciatelo asciugare (potete riempire gli stampini e poi rovesciarli per far uscire il cioccolato in eccesso lasciando uno strato sottile che forma il guscio dei cioccolatini, oppure versare un cucchiaino alla volta e spennellarlo per ricoprire bene gli stampini, ripetendo l'operazione almeno due volte). Se il cioccolato è stato temperato bene si dovrebbe asciugare in circa 5 minuti a temperatura ambiente oppure qualche minuto in frigo.
Nel frattempo preparate la ganache. Scaldate la panna quasi fino a farla bollire. Sminuzzate 60 g di cioccolato bianco e scioglietelo nel forno a microonde o a bagno maria. Mescolate la panna e il cioccolato fino a ottenere una crema liscia e densa, aromatizzatela con l'olio essenziale d'arancia. Lasciate raffreddare a temperatura ambiente, non in frigo.
Mettete un pezzettino di fragola candita in ogni guscio di cioccolato e poi ricoprite con la ganache, facendo attenzione di lasciare spazio libero per chiudere il fondo dei cioccolatini.
Controllate il cioccolato bianco rimasto, eventualmente riscaldatelo fino a 29,5°C oppure temperatelo di nuovo, e versatene un po' sopra la ganache per chiuderla.
Mettete lo stampo nel frigo per 15-12 minuti, togliete delicatamente i cioccolatini dagli stampi. Si conservano benissimo a temperatura ambiente (i miei hanno fatto anche un lungo viaggio per posta, arrivando sani, salvi, ancora croccanti e fragranti).

Sretna vam i slatka 2012. godina.

Bijele praline s jagodama

(za 15 manjih pralina)
* oko 200 g bijele čokolade (za praline)
* 60 g bijele čokolade (za ganache)
* 25 ml slatkog vrhnja (za šlag, nezaslađenog)
* 2-3 kapi (jestivog) esencijalnog ulja naranče
* kandirane jagode

Čokoladu za praline što sitnije nasjeckajte. Stavite 2/3 nasjeckane čokolade u posudu otpornu na toplinu (metalnu najbolje).
Stavite posudu s čokoladom iznad malo veće posude s vrelom vodom koja ne smije ključati. Čokolada se mora otopiti na pari i gornja posuda ne smije biti u dodiru s vodom ispod nje.
Neprestano miješajući otopite čokoladu i kontrolirajte termometrom da se ne zagrije preko 46°C.
Maknite tad posudu s čokoladom s vatre (tj. s posude s toplom vodom) i postepeno joj dodajite ostatak nasjeckane čokolade (ne sve odjedanput, već u 4-5 navrata, inače će se teško sjediniti i istopiti). Za slučaj da vam se dodana čokolada ne uspije sva otopiti vratite posudu par sekundi iznad posude s toplom vodom.
Pretresite čokoladu u keramičku ili porcelansku zdjelu i, ako je još uvijek dosta topla, nastavite miješati žlicom dok se ne ohladi na 29,5°C. Tek tada je spremna za upotrebu.
Ja sam radila u silikonskim kalupima, ako kojim slučajem imate one od polikarbonata postupak je puno lakši - uspite čokoladu u otvore kalupa, udarite par puta od stol da ne bi ostali mjehurići zraka unutra, a onda kalup odlučnim pokretom okrenite prema dolje da iscuri višak čokolade. Vratite u prvobitni položaj i ostavite da se čokolada stegne na sobnoj temperaturi ili par minuta u hladnjaku.
Ako radite u silikonskim kalupima, stavite žličicu čokolade u kalup i kistom je podižite prema gore da presvučete potpuno stranice. Ostavite na sobnoj temperaturi ili par minuta u hladnjaku da se čokolada stegne pa ponovite postupak. Ako vam se čini da su vam stranice pretanke možete ih premazati i treći put, ali obično mi nije potrebno.
Za ganache, sitno nasjeckajte 60 g čokolade i otopite (na pari ili u mikrovalnoj).
Zagrijte slatko vrhnje do vrenja. Dodajte par kapi jestivog esencijalnog ulja naranče, pa pomiješajte s čokoladom. Miješajte dobro dok se smjesa ne sjedini i postane glatka.
Ako nemate esencijalno ulje naranče, možete dodati naribanu koricu naranče, prokuhati skupa pa eventualno procijediti da odstranite korice, ili možete dodati žličicu nekog likera od naranče (npr. cointreau, arancello itd.). Ostavite ganache na sobnoj temperaturi da se ohladi a onda napunite pripremljene praline - prvo do pola, utisnite komadić kandirane jagode, pa dopunite kremom tako što ćete ostaviti oko 2-3 mm praznog prostora do vrha.
Stavite kalup s pralinama 10-ak minuta u hladnjak.
Zatvorite sad dno pralina ostatkom otopljene čokolade.
Stavite ponovo u hladnjak na 15-20 minuta.
Izvadite pažljivo praline iz kalupa.
Ako ste pravilno temperirali čokoladu praline će lako izaći van (kalupe od polikarbonata dovoljno je okrenuti prema dolje i lupnuti lagano od stol, same će ispasti, silikonske kalupe prvo malo povučem sa svih strana da se odvoje od pralina, a onda ih lagano pritiskajući dno istisnem iz kalupa), bit će sjajne i neće se topiti na sobnoj temperaturi. Nije potrebno čuvati ih u hladnjaku.

* Dok vam se jedan sloj čokolade steže u kalupima vrlo vjerojatno će vam se ostatak otopljene čokolade ohladiti ispod 29,5° - kontrolirajte temperaturu prije nego nanesete sljedeći sloj i eventualno stavite posudu s čokoladom kratko iznad posude s toplom vodom - temperatura se začas podigne, stoga pazite da ne pregrijete čokoladu jer ćete je onda morati ponovo hladiti, što opet oduzima vrijeme.
* Ako želite biti sigurni da ste čokoladu dobro temperirali, napravite mali test - Stavite malo čokolade na papir za pečenje ili umočite žličicu i ostavite da se osuši. Dobro temperirana čokolada će se stisnuti za najviše 3 minute, bit će sjajna, glatka i hrskava. Ako je još uvijek pretopla trebat će joj jako puno vremena, i svejedno će biti mekana i kad se osuši.
* Ako ste "zabrljali" već u početnoj fazi i čokoladu pregrijali, ne očajavajte. Ostavite je da se potpuno ohladi i krenite iz početka. Pokušate li nastaviti raditi s pregrijanom čokoladom, rezultati neće biti zadovoljavajući.

I za kraj... ako ste sve ovo pročitali do kraja i niste izgubili volju da se okušate u pripremi pralina, želim vam puno slatkih, krckavih zavodnica da vas utješe i nagrade za ulože trud

Pasta alla Norma

2011-12-29T13:57:00.001+01:00

Of all the vegetables, I think the eggplants made the biggest progress in my kitchen. In the sense that as a child I hated them, just didn't like how my mother prepared them, fried, soggy, often bitter, and now I can't have enough of them. I've learned many ways of preparing them and luckily it's one of the vegetables my husband loves, too, so it's a reason more to prepare them often and try new recipes whenever I can.
Pasta alla Norma is one of the classics in Sicilian cuisine. Dedicated to Bellini's opera Norma (Bellini being a Sicilian composer, from Catania), or rather indicating that this dish is so supreme in its quality as Bellini's opera is in the music world.
I'm sure every Sicilian family has its own recipe, and they may differ slightly or a lot between them in the preparation process, but what they all have in common is a short ingredients list: tomatoes, eggplants, fresh basil and salted ricotta. Therefore, the recipe I'm sharing today doesn't pretend to be THE recipe for Pasta alla Norma but one of many that I found delicious and simple to prepare at the same time.
Ricotta salata is ricotta that has been salted (with sea salt) and then dried for 10 to 30 days, after that it can be used, usually grated with pasta dishes especially with Pasta alla Norma. It has a stronger taste than the fresh ricotta, but I highly recommend it in this dish, if you can get your hands on it.

Ricotta salata

Pasta alla Norma

(4 servings)
* 400 g pasta (spaghetti, penne, tortiglioni)
* 400 g can of pelati tomatoes
* 100 g fresh tomatoes
* 2 cloves of garlic
* extra virgin olive oil
* salt
* 10-12 fresh basil leaves
* 2 medium sized eggplants
* ricotta salata (salted ricotta)

Wash, dry and cut the eggplants into 4 mm thick slices. Salt the eggplant slices and leave them in a colander for an hour. Then rinse them and dry well with kitchen paper.
In the meantime, heat a couple spoonfulls of extra virgin olive oil in a deep skillet with the garlic cloves. Add the fresh tomatoes cut into smaller pieces (if using cherry tomatoes just cut them in half and put in the skillet with the cut side down). Cook them for a few minutes, until soft, and then add the chopped pelati, salt and cook the sauce on medium heat until it reaches desired density. Towards the end, add the fresh basil leaves.
In another skillet heat some more olive oil and fry the eggplant slices until golden (don't fry them all at once or they'll just get soggy, but put just enough slices to be in a single layer). Take them out and leave on several layers of kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil. Once they are all fried, salt them.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it and add the pasta of your choice, cook it until al dente. Drain the pasta and then add it to the skillet with the tomato sauce. Stir well and serve, adding the eggplant slices to each plate and grating some salted ricotta on top.
You may also chop part of the fried eggplants and stir them into the sauce before adding pasta.

Pasta alla Norma

(per 4 persone)
* 400 g di pasta (spaghetti, penne, tortiglioni)
* 400 g di pomodori pelati
* 100 g di pomodori o pomodorini freschi
* 2 spicchi d'aglio
* olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale
* 10-12 foglioline di basilico fresco
* 2 melanzane medie (io preferisco quelle lunghe)
* ricotta salata

Lavate e asciugate le melanzane. Tagliatele a rondelle spesse circa 4 mm. Salatale e lasciatele in un colino per un'ora. Sciacquatele e asciugatele bene con la carta assorbente.
Scaldate in una padella un paio di cucchiai d'olio con l'aglio schiacciato e sbucciato. Soffriggete brevemente l'aglio e poi aggiungete i pomodori freschi tagliati a pezzettini (se usate pomodorini basta tagliarli a metà). Cuocete i pomodori a fuoco medio finché morbidi, poi aggiungete i pelati tagliati a pezzettini, salate e lasciate cuocere il sugo fino ad addensarsi. Verso la fine aggiungete le foglie di basilico spezzettate.
In un'altra padella scaldate l'olio EVO e friggete le fettine di melanzane (poche alla volta) fino a diventare dorate. Scolatele dall'olio e lasciatele sulla carta assorbente, salandole man mano che sono fritte.
Cuocete la pasta in abbondante acqua salata. Scolatela e saltatela in padella insieme al sugo di pomodoro. A piacere, potete sminuzzare anche una parte di melanzane fritte e unire al sugo.
Servite la pasta aggiungendo le melanzane direttamente nei piatti e con una grattugiata abbondante di ricotta salata.

Pasta alla Norma

(za 4 osobe)
* 400 g tjestenine (spaghetti, penne, tortiglioni)
* 400 g rajčica pelata
* 100 g svježih rajčica (cherry ili običnih)
* 2 češnja bijelog luka
* maslinovo ulje
* sol
* svježi bosiljak (10-12 listića)
* 2 srednja patlidžana (bolji su oni tanki duguljasti)
* slana ricotta

Patlidžane operite i posušite. Narežite ih na ploške debljine 4 mm.
Ako se plašite da će patlidžani biti gorki, nasolite ih i stavite u cjedilo (pritisnite odozgor nečim) i ostavite tako oko 1 sat. Zatim ih isperite i dobro posušite.
Zagrijte par žlica maslinovog ulja u dubokoj tavi s cijelim (očišćenim) češnjevima bijelog luka. Pazite da češnjak ne izgori.
Dodajte narezane svježe rajčice (ako koristite cherry rajčice samo ih prepolovite i stavite u tavu s presječenom stranom prema dolje). Pirjajte rajčice par minuta dok ne odmeknu.
Dodajte sitno nasjeckane pelate, posolite i ostavite kuhati na srednje jakoj vatri dok se salsa ne zgusne.
Pred sam kraj dodajte rukama natrgane listiće bosiljka.
Pržite u više navrata posušene kriške patlidžana na vrućem ulju do zlatne boje. Vadite ih na tanjur, na par slojeva kuhinjskog papira da se ocijedi višak masnoće i sasvim lagano ih posolite.
Skuhajte tjesteninu al dente, ocijedite je i umiješajte u tavu s umakom.
Poslužite tjesteninu u tanjure i u svaki dodajte kriške patlidžana i krupno naribanu slanu ricottu.
Po želji možete dio isprženih patlidžana nasjeckati na komadiće i umiješati u umak od rajčica zajedno s tjesteninom, a ostatak dodati u tanjure naknadno.

Tea Cookies with Dried Plums

2011-12-27T17:31:00.001+01:00

I hope everyone's had a nice and peaceful Christmas, ful of joy and happiness.
We had a couple big surprises for us and the rest of the family. So it all went pretty well.
Since I'm still far from home, and won't be back to my kitchen for ten more days, I'm getting a little bored, but fortunately I have some old recipes clean up to do on my blog, so I hope you'll be enjoying them.
These cookies for example... I made them sometimes at the end of the summer. I was sipping a cup of hot lemon and ginger tea, having caught a slight cold, and I thought about the jam I wanted to make... plums with fresh ginger... actually thinking it was a pitty I didn't find time to make it, as the plum season was already over.
But I had some dried plums and the idea to use all these flavours in a cookie to serve with a cup of tea, seemed so intriguing that I immediately set to making them.

The result was so delicious that I promised myself I'd try other combinations, like dried figs or dried apricots with different types of tea. The promise not fullfilled yet. I don't know if you have the same problem, but I'd love to be able to make and try so many different things that three lives wouldn't be sufficient.
These cookies have a very nice flavour, they are definitely not too sweet, have a nice crunch but are soft at the same time.
To say the truth, seeing them again, even if only in the pictures, makes me wish I had a few on hand to accompany a cup of tea on this cold December day.

Tea Cookies with Dried Plums

(for about 30 cookies)
* 200 g butter (at room temperature)
* 100 g brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 organic lemon
* 320 g AP flour
* 100 g corn flour
* 2 bags of tea of your choice (I used lemon ginger, you may opt for earl grey, green tea, etc.)
* 100 g dried plums
* 50 g finely ground almonds

Bring 2 dl of water to a boil, pour it over a tea bag you placed in a cup. Let it stand for 3-5 minutes, then pour the tea over the chopped dried plums.
Let the plums soak in the tea for 1 hour, then drain them and purée using an immersion blender.
For the dough, work the softened butter and the sugar with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon until creamy. Add the eggs, the grated lemon zest and 1 teaspoon of tea powder (open the second tea bag, and if the tea leaves are too big, reduce them into powder using a pestle. For stronger flavor add more tea).
Mix in half of the AP flour to get a soft mixture.
Take 100 g of the dough and mix it with the dried plums puree and the ground almonds. Transfer this mixture into a disposable pastry bag and refrigerate until use.

Add the remaining AP flour as well as the corn flour to the dough mixture and work it into a soft dough.
Divide the dough into two equal parts, wrap them and cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
Roll out each portion of the dough to 3-4 mm thick between two pieces of parchment paper. Try to get a nice 24x30 cm rectangle. Cut it into three 8 cm wide strips.
Using the pastry bag, distribute the filling along the edges of the dough strips. Carefully roll them up around the filling and seal the edges. Flatten the rolls just slightly and cut each into 6 cm long pieces. Transfer thus shaped cookies on a baking sheet and slightly press each with a fork.

Bake the cookies for 15-17 minutes in an oven preheated to 180°C.
Let them cool on a cooling rack before storing them. Dust them with powdered sugar before serving if you like.

Biscotti al thè con prugne secche

(per circa 30 biscotti)
* 200 g di burro a temperatura ambiente
* 100 g di zucchero di canna
* 2 uova
* 1 limone non trattato
* 320 g di farina bianca "00"
* 100 g farina di mais fioretto
* 2 bustine di tè a scelta (ho usato limone e zenzero, ma potete scegliere earl grey, tè verde, tè nero, ecc.)
* 100 g di prugne secche
* 50 g mandorle tritate finemente

Preparate il tè con una bustina di tè a scelta e 2 dl di acqua bollente. Lasciate in infusione per 3-5 minuti, e poi versate il tè così preparato sulle prugne secche tagliate a pezzettini. Lasciate le prugne in ammollo per 1 ora, poi scolatele e frullatele con un frullatore a immersione.
Per la pasta, mescolate bene il burro ammorbidito con lo zucchero usando un cucchiaio di legno o uno sbattitore elettrico fino a ottenere una crema. Unite le uova, la scorza grattugiata di un limone e un cucchiaino di tè in polvere (aprite la seconda bustina di tè e prelevate la polvere). Aggiungete metà di farina "00" e mescolate bene.
Prelevate 100 g di questo composto e mescolatelo con le prugne frullate e le mandorle tritate. Trasferite il composto in un sacchetto da pasticcere monouso e conservate in frigo fino al momento di usarlo.
Al resto del composto di burro e uova unite la restante farina "00" e quella di mais e formata una pasta liscia e morbida. Dividetela in due parti uguali, avvolgeteli con la pellicola e lasciateli in frigo per 1 ora.
Prendete la pasta e stendetela tra due fogli di carta da forno con un mattarello fino a formare un rettangolo 24x30 cm, di circa 3-4 mm di spessore.
Tagliate il rettangolo di pasta in tre strisce larghe 8 cm. Ripetete con il secondo pezzo di pasta.
Con l'aiuto di sacchetto da pasticceria distribuite il ripieno lungo le sei strisce di pasta. Arrotolatele facendo aderire bene la pasta al ripieno. Tagliate ogni rotolino in pezzi lunghi circa 6 cm e trasferiteli su una placca da forno. Premete leggermente ogni biscotto con una forchetta.
Infornateli per circa 15-17 minuti nel forno già riscaldato a 180°C o finché i bordi sono leggermente dorati.
Lasciateli raffreddare e serviteli eventualmente cosparsi con lo zucchero a velo.

Ovaj je mjesec doslovce proletio u pripremama za Bozic i svemu sto se odvijalo oko toga.
Sjetila sam se evo u zadnji tren da jos nisam poslala ni jednu ulaznicu za ovomjesecni krug igre Ajme koliko nas je. Stoga ove kekse, kao i Caj s ananasom i Praline s green chai karamelom, objavljene ranije na blogu, saljem nasoj domacici Ebbi s bloga Ebba's cuisine, koja nam je i zadala čaj kao temu ovog mjeseca.
Punjeni čajni keksići sa suhim šljivama

(za 30-ak keksića)
* 200 g maslaca (sobne temperature)
* 100 g smeđeg šećera
* 2 jaja
* 1 neprskani limun
* 320 g pšeničnog brašna
* 100 g kukuruznog brašna (sitno mljevenog)
* 2 vrećice čaja (od limuna i đumbira, ili drugi po vašem izboru, earl grey, zeleni, crni, itd.)
* 100 g suhih šljiva
* 50 g mljevenih badema

Pripremite čaj od 1 vrećice i 2 dl ključale vode. Ostavite da odstoji 3-5 minuta, a zatim ga ulijte u zdjelicu u koju ste stavili nasjeckane suhe šljive.
Ostavite šljive da se namaču oko 1 sat. Zatim ih ocijedite i smiksajte u kašu štapnim mikserom.
Za tijesto izmiješajte dobro omekšali maslac sa šećerom (drvenom žlicom).
Dodajte jaja, naribanu koricu limuna i 1 žličicu čaja (ne tekućine, nego čaj iz druge vrećice, koji možete još dodatno usitniti u mužaru/avanu ako su listići prekrupni).
Dodajte polovicu pšeničnog brašna i dobro izmiješajte.
Pomiješajte kašu od šljiva s mljevenim bademima i dodajte 100 g pripremljenog tijesta.
Premjestite nadjev u slastičarsku vrećicu (ja koristim prozirne za jednokratnu upotrebu). Stavite nadjev u hladnjak do upotrebe.
U ostatak tijesta dodajte preostalo pšenično i kukuruzno brašno. Zamijesite glatko i mekano tijesto. Ne brinite ako vam se tijesto čini premekano.
Podijelite tijesto na dva jednaka dijela i svaki omotajte plastičnom folijom i stavite u hladnjak oko 1 sat.
Tijesto (svaki dio posebno) razvaljajte tanko, 3-4 mm, obavezno između dva komada papira za pečenje da vam se ne zalijepi za podlogu. Nastojte dobiti pravilan pravokutnik 24 x 30 cm.
Narežite tijesto uzdužno na trake širine 8 cm.
Uz pomoć vrećice istisnite nadjev duž rubova trake (rasporedite ga tako da je jednako svugdje).
Trake smotajte oko nadjeva lagano pritišćući da tijesto prione. Na kraju neka vam je spoj s donje strane.
Izrežite ovako pripremljene rolnice oštrim nožem na komade duge 6 cm. Premjestite kekse na pleh obložen papirom za pečenje, pritisnite ih lagano vilicom (uzduž) i pecite ih u pećnici zagrijanoj na 180°C oko 15-17 minuta (dok malo ne porumene odozdo).

Marry Christmas!

2011-12-24T15:51:00.000+01:00

The story of Rudolph the Reindeer

Santa Claus visits all the children in the world every Christmas Eve
to deliver their Christmas toys and gifts.

A team of magical flying reindeer live at the North Pole
with Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and the Christmas Elves.

Mrs. Claus gave each of the reindeer a name,
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet,
Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.

There was another reindeer and his name was Rudolph.
Rudolph was always left out
because he had a bright red glowing nose.

Rudolph was never allowed to pull Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve.
He was always left at the North Pole with the elves.

The other reindeers laughed at Rudolph and called him names.
They never let poor Rudolph join in their fun and games.
So he played with the snowman.

Then one Christmas Eve, as Santa filled his sack with toys,
the sky turned dark and the weather became very foggy.

It was so foggy that Santa would not be able to find his way
and deliver the Christmas presents to the children.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer came to the rescue with a great idea!
His nose was so bright that it could act as a strong light
to guide Santa on his sleigh!

More toys were added to Santa's sack...
Prancer said that Rudolph could take his place
to lead the other reindeers pulling Santa's sleigh.

Mrs Claus and the elves thought this was a brilliant idea
and so did all other reindeer.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer became the hero of Christmas!
The other reindeers never laughed at Rudolph
or called him names again.

And the North Pole became a very friendly place to live!

Now every year Rudolph the Reindeer
helps Santa deliver toys and gifts to the children on Christmas Eve!

So ends the story of Rudolph the Reindeer
and all the children in the world lived happily ever after!

Mary Christmas!

Buon Natale!

Sretan Božić

Decorated Christmas Cookies

2011-12-18T22:46:00.000+01:00

At the end of this crazy busy weekend, and before even the creazier week before Christmas starts, I wanted to share a few photos of the cookies I made yesterday.
I'm so proud of my first-born decorated cookies. They are not perfect, there's so much space for improvement, but considering that I had no experience or the right tools, how could I not be satisfied?

Don't look for imperfections, just tell me they're cute ^__^

I used this cookie recipe as a base because I like them much better than plain sugar cookies. And they behaved quite well.
For the Royal icing I simply mixed 2 egg whites with approximately 300 g (or a little more) sifted powdered sugar and added a little lemon juice. Then I divided it and coloured using the colours you can see in the pictures (I used gel colours).

The difficult part was discovering I didn't have a single #1 or #2 tip, the smallest one I had was quite big, and I ended up with cookies loaded with icing.
Only this morning I checked my silicon chocolate pen and realized that would be much more helpful for final decorations than any of the tips I had on hand.

I've always liked glass snowballs, and therefore these cookies that vaguely resemble them are my favourite.
Have a great week getting ready for Christmas.

Strawberry Cookies

2011-12-14T18:16:00.000+01:00

I'm not a candied fruit type, but around Christmas, stores carry some things that I usually don't see around the year. So, when I put my hands on a package of these candied strawberries, it was love at first bite. I couldn't stop eating them.
The first box was shortly after followed by the next one, and if they didn't have one small problem - price - I'd be stocking on them like a squirel.
My enthusiasm was so high that I started looking through my cookie recipes to see if I could use them somewhere else, too. And the recipe for cookies with candied cherries seemed just perfect. I'm so glad I made them. Just a little note for myself and all of you who don't like too sweet cookies, a little less sugar wouldn't be bad.
Have you started with Christmas baking yet or at least making a baking list? I wonder what Santa would think of these, or perhaps he prefers chocolate ones.
And... the story of strawberries doesn't end here...

Strawberry Cookies

* 250 g flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 125 g butter
* 1 egg
* 150 g sugar
* 75 g candied strawberries (or cherries)
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 organic lemon (grated zest)
* a pinch of salt

Sift or whisk together the flour, the baking powder and the salt in a bowl.
Add just little softened butter (leave it about 1/2 hour outside the fridge) and rub it in to get crumbs.
Add the lightly beaten egg, the vanilla extract, the finely grated lemon zest and the chopped candied strawberries.
Mix everything with your hands to bring it all together into a soft dough.
Shape the dough into a log 5 cm in diameter, wrap it and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cut the dough into 5 or 6 mm thick slices and place them on a baking sheet about 2 cm apart (they spread lightly while baking).
Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes.
Move them to a cooling rack and store in an airtight container once they have cooled completely.

Biscotti alle fragole

* 250 g farina "00"
* 1 cucchiaino di lievito in polvere
* 125 g burro
* 1 uovo
* 150 g zucchero
* 75 g fragole candite (o ciliegie)
* 1 cucchiaino di estratto di vaniglia
* 1/2 limone non trattato
* un pizzico di sale

Setacciate insieme la farina, il lievito e il sale in una ciotola.
Aggiungete il burro lasciato ammorbidire mezz'ora fuori dal frigo. Strofinate il burro e la farina con le punte delle dita per ottenere un impasto granuloso.
Aggiungete l'uovo, l'estratto di vaniglia, la scorza di limone finemente grattugiata e le fragole tagliate a pezzetti.
Impastate con le mani fino a ottenere una pasta soda e liscia.
Formate un rotolo di 5 cm di diametro. Avvolgetelo nella pellicola e lasciate riposare in frigo per 1 ora.
Accendete il forno a 180°C.
Tagliate il rotolo di pasta in dischetti spessi 5-6 mm e metteteli sulla placca da forno distanziati tra di loro perché in cottura si allargano leggermente.
cuoceteli per 8-10 minuti o finché i bordi sono leggermente dorati.
Lasciateli raffreddare su una griglia e conservateli in una scatola di latta.

Keksi s jagodama

* 250 g brašna
* 1 žličica praška za pecivo
* 125 g maslaca
* 1 jaje
* 150 g šećera
* 75 g kandiranih jagoda (ili trešanja)
* 1 žličica ekstrakta vanilije
* 1/2 limuna (naribana korica)
* prstohvat soli

Prosijte brašno, prašak za pecivo i sol u zdjelu.
Dodajte maslac narezan na listiće (ostavite ga prethodno pola sata izvan hladnjaka) pa ga utrljajte u brašno da dobijete mrvičastu smjesu.
Jaje malo razmutite s ekstraktom vanilije.
U mrvičastu smjesu brašna i maslaca dodajte nasjeckane kandirane jagode, naribanu koricu limuna i razmućeno jaje.
Izmiješajte i zamijesite glatko tijesto (kratko ga izradite na dasci).
Tijesto oblikujte u rolnicu promjera 5 cm.
Omotajte je prozirnom folijom i stavite u hladnjak 1 sat.
Zagrijte pećnicu na 190°C.
Izrežite rolnicu od tijesta na ploške debljine 5-6 mm i stavljajte ih na pleh obložen papirom za pečenje malo razmaknute jer se u pečenju malo šire.
Pecite kekse 8-10 minuta ili dok rubovi lagano ne porumene.
Ostavite ih da se ohlade na rešetki, a zatim spremite u limenu kutiju.

Zucchini and Chickpeas Sauté

2011-12-12T15:35:00.001+01:00

After oveloading myself on sugar (how could I resist those tempting cinnamon rolls?), I needed to make up for it preparing something healthy. Balance is always the key. If I can't find it within the same meal, then I try to adjust the situation with the next one.
There was absolutely no doubt I'd love the zucchini and chickpeas combination, because I love them both. And this macrobiotic recipe for Garlic rice completed the meal perfectly, add a few sunflower seeds and my tummy was happy. My husband's comment was that the best part of the whole meal were zucchini, because he doesn't like either chickpeas or plain rice (although this rice was in my opinion more than delicious). But the point is, since he had no choice, he left nothing on his plate ^__^

Last summer I bought a book about macrobiotics and started reading a little bit about it. I'd really like to learn more about it. I like the whole idea of different kinds of energy deriving from different kinds of food. Basicly, I eat meat, but I'm not really a meat lover. I could definitely live without it, unlike the rest of my family. On the other hand I love vegetables, legumes, seeds etc. The only problem for me would be not eating sweets. It's my weakness, and I admit it. Or coffee, I know one gets used, but I love my cup of coffee in morning and a cookie to go with it. But since the author of this book encourages to try the macrobiotic diet even for one day, a week, a month or so, if one is not ready to adopt it as a permanent lifestyle, I started giving it a thought.
Another theory based on the blood type, suggests that I should be a vegetarian in order to avoid the risk of some life threatening diseases. So, I guess one plus one makes two, and let's see if I can take a first small step...

I've read the book, I've looked through the recipes in the book, but somehow either don't find the courage or miss the ingredients to cook something.
I've prepared a miso soup a few times, and that was simple and a first tiny move.
The other day I was in a pretty good mood and tried preparing myself a nice macrobiotic lunch for the first time. Very simple and basic. But I have to say, way too delicious, something I'll be making often, definitely.
The recipe for Zucchini and chickpeas sauté is adapted from here , and the Garlic rice from the book I mentioned earlier, Modern-Day Macrobiotics. I even prepared a dessert, Pear and Lemon Kanten from the same book.

Zucchini and Chickpeas Sauté

* 500-600 g shredded zucchini
* 400 g can of chickpeas
* 20 g butter
* 1 TBspoon extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper

Put the butter and the olive oil in a heavy bottom casserole. When warm, add the shredded zucchini and sautèe for 5-10 minutes.
In the meantime drain and rinse the chickpeas (I also removed the skins - just squeezing them with two fingers).
Add the chickpeas to the softened zucchini and stir.
Cut out a piece of baking paper and put it on top of the casserole, then put the lid over it, making sure it fits well. This will prevent the liquid from evaporating and the zucchini and the chickpeas will cook slowly without getting dry. Cook on low heat like this for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to your taste.

Garlic Brown Rice

* 200 g brown rice
* a 5 cm piece of fresh ginger root
* 2-3 cloves of garlic
* 1-2 TBspoons extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil
* sea salt
* parsley for garnish

Cook the rice in three times more water (1 part rice, 3 parts water) on medium to low heat until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
Peal the garlic cloves and mince them as finely as possible.
Peel the ginger root and mince it very finely.
Heat the oil in a wok or a deep skillet. Add the ginger and the garlic stirring continuously. Don't let them burn.
Add the rice and stirfry on high heat for a couple minutes. If necessary add a couple TBspoons water.
Salt to your taste and stir again for a few minutes.
Transfer the rice to a serving plate and garnish generously with finely chopped parsley. Serve warm.

Sauté di zucchine e ceci

* 500-600 g di zucchine
* 400 g di ceci precotti
* 20 g burro
* 1 cucchiaio di olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale e pepe

Spuntate le zucchine e grattugiatele usando una grattugia con i fori grossi.
Scolate e sciacquate i ceci (volendo togliete loro anche la pellicina esterna).
Scaldate il burro e l'olio in un tegame con il fondo spesso. Aggiungete le zucchine e fatele soffriggere a fuoco alto, mescolando continuamente per 5-10 minuti.
Aggiungete i ceci, mescolate bene e poi coprite il tegame, prima con un pezzo di carta da forno e poi con il coperchio. Abbassate la fiamma al minimo e cuocete per altri 8-10 minuti. Spegnete il fuoco, salate e pepate a piacere.

Riso integrale all'aglio

* 200 g di riso integrale
* un pezzo da 5 cm di zenzero fresco
* 2-3 spicchi d'aglio
* 1-2 cucchiai di olio extra vergine d'oliva o di sesamo
* sale marino
* prezzemolo per guarnire

Cuocete il riso in tre volte tanta acqua finché il liquido sarà completamente assorbito.
Scaldate l'olio in un wok o padella capiente. Aggiungete lo zenzero e l'aglio tritati molto finemente. Soffriggeteli mescolando continuamente.
Poi aggiungete il riso e mescolate velocemente a fuoco alto con una spatola di legno per alcuni minuti.
Se necessario aggiungete qualche cucchiaio d'acqua.
Salate e proseguite ancora per un paio di minuti.
Togliete dal fuoco, trasferite il riso in un piatto da portata, guarnite con il prezzemolo tritato finemente e servite subito.

Sauté od tikvica i slanutka

* 500-600 g tikvica
* 400 g di kuhanog slanutka
* 20 g maslaca
* 1 žlica maslinovog ulja
* sol i papar

Naribajte tikvice na krupni ribež.
Slanutak ocijedite i isperite (ja sam skinula i opnice).
U posudi debljeg dna zagrijte maslac i ulje i popržite tikvice na jakoj vatri 5-10 minuta.
Dodajte slanutak, promiješajte pa pokrijte posudu naprije komadom papira za pečenje preko kojeg stavite poklopac. Smanjite vatru na minimum i kuhajte oko 8-10 minuta.
Sklonite s vatre, posolite i popaprite po ukusu.

Integralna riža s češnjakom

* 200 g integralne riže
* komadić svježeg đumbira dug 5 cm
* 2-3 češnja češnjaka
* 1-2 žlice maslinovog ili sezamovog ulja
* morska sol
* nasjeckani list peršina

Stavite kuhati rižu u tri puta više vode na srednje jakoj vatri dok riža ne upije svu vodu.
U woku ili većoj tavi zagrijte ulje, dodajte što sitnije nasjeckane češnjak i đumbir. Popržite par minuta stalno miješajući.
Dodajte rižu i kuhajte opet par minuta neprestano miješajući (ako je neophodno dodajte par žlica vode).
Posolite i pirjajte još nekoliko minuta.
Maknite s vatre, stavite na tanjur za posluživanje, ukrasite sitno nasjeckanim peršinom i poslužite odmah.

Pear and Lemon Kanten

Kanten is a macrobiotic dessert prepared with fruit juice and agar agar. Basicly a fruit jelly with no sugar added.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

2011-12-09T08:00:00.002+01:00

I've always, always loved cinnamon. My mother often made cinnamon bread, and if she didn't have enough time to bake it, she'd cut it into rolls that took less time to bake. And I loved them even more than the cinnamon bread although the ingredients were the same. But there's something irresistible in that nice sugary crust on top and gooey, caramelized bottom side.
I still have this obsession with cinnamon. I love cinnamon anything. There must be something subconcious as well, because the other day I grabbed a bottle from the spice cupboard, thinking it was paprika, only to realize a few seconds later that I had added a generous amount of cinnamon to the chicken stew. Managed to remove part of it, but it still tasted sweet and cinnamon-y. However, that was a bit too much even for me.
Back to these cinnamon rolls. Since my mom's recipe was never written in any form, not even the most basic (she never actually measured anything, she simply made all yeast doughs "feeling them") I didn't know where to start from. One thing I know for sure is that her dough was made with eggs, and I think she used oil instead of butter both in the dough and for the filling.
When a couple years ago I saw this recipe for buttermilk cinnamon rolls, I finally gathered the courage to try making them. I never thought I would ever get even near my moms rolls, but the result was far beyond any of my expectations.
I've tried other recipes later, and they were good, but always went back to my favourite one.
Why? Because such a soft, fluffy dough that feels light like a feather, despite the abundance of butter and sugar, is just amazing. I totally lose every form of self-control when a pan full of those gorgeous things is out of the oven. And almost religiously get my tongue burnt every time, because I can't wait for them to cool, I always eat the first one immediately. And who do you think ate all the eight rolls from this picture between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning? It wasn't mice for sure.
Although this recipe makes approximately 16 rolls, I made only half the batch, for my own sake. But now I'm sorry I didn't make the whole batch and freeze part of it. Shame on me, really, because one just can't live without a goodness like this at least every now and then without running the risk of gobbling down the whole pan, hot from the oven.
... in the next episode... making up for all this sugar greediness. Stay tuned for the most delicious zucchini and chickpeas recipe.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls
(adapted from Culinary Alchemy blog)

Dough:
* 520 g flour
* 1 package dry yeast
* 3 TBspoons sugar
* a pinch of salt
* 470 ml buttermilk
* 35 g butter

filling:
* 150 g brown sugar
* 1,5 TBspoons ground cinnamon
* 55 g butter

Scald the buttermilk, remove from heat, add the butter and the sugar, and set aside to cool.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the salt and the dry yeast, whisk everything together.
Add the liquid ingredients (cooled) and mix together with a wooden spoon or with an electric mixer.
Transfer on a floured kneading board and knead shortly. The dough should be rather soft and just lightly sticky when kneading.
Put it back into a clean bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Take the dough and divide it into two parts.
Roll each part of the dough into a rectangle, more or less 20x25 cm (I like to roll the dough out even more thinly).
Work the softened butter into cream with a spoon or a fork. Spread half of the butter on each rectangle of the dough.
Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter.
Roll the rectangles into a logs and slice each one into 8 pieces (approx. 3 to 3,5 cm thick).

Line the bottom of a baking pan with a piece of parchment paper and grease it lightly.
Put the rolls in slightly apart with the cut side up.
Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for an hour.
Bake them in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 30 minutes.

Ho provato diverse ricette per le girelle alla cannella, le famose cinnamon rolls Americane, ma questa è la mia preferita in assoluto. Niente uova nell'impasto. Solo latticello e tanto burro per un risultato irresistibile.
Se siete amanti della cannella, dovete assolutamente prepararle almeno una volta, e poi ditemi che non vi siete innamorati a primo morso.
La ricetta viene dal blog Culinary Alchemy.

Girelle alla cannella con il latticello

Pasta:
* 520 g di farina "0"
* 1 bustina di lievito di birra secco
* 3 cucchiai di zucchero
* un pizzico di sale
* 470 ml di latticello (buttermilk)
* 35 g burro

ripieno:
* 150 g zucchero di canna
* 1,5 cucchiai di cannella in polvere
* 55 g burro

Scaldate il latticello quasi fino a farlo bollire. Toglietelo dal fuoco e unite il burro e lo zucchero. Mescolate bene perché si sciolgono e lasciate intiepidire.
Setacciate la farina in una ciotola, unite il sale e il lievito di birra. Mescolate con una frusta, poi unite la parte liquida (burro e latticello). Impastate con un cucchiaio di legno o usando il mixer elettrico fino a ottenere un impasto omogeneo. Trasferitelo su una spianatoia infarinata e lavoratela ancora per qualche minuto.
Mettete la pasta in una ciotola pulita, copritela e lasciatela lievitare in un luogo caldo per 30 minuti.
Riprendete la pasta, dividetela in due parti e stendete ciascuno in un rettangolo di circa 20x25 cm o poco più grande.
Lavorate il burro morbido in crema e spalmate metà su ogni rettangolo di pasta.
Mescolate lo zucchero di canna con la cannella e cospargeteli in maniera abbondante sopra il burro.
Arrotolate la pasta partendo dal lato più lungo e tagliate ciascun rotolo in 8 pezzi da circa 3-3,5 cm.
Ricoprite il fondo di una teglia con un pezzo di carta da forno e sistematevi delle girelle.
Coprite la teglia e lasciate lievitare le girelle per 1 ora in un luogo caldo.
Riscaldate il forno a 180°C e cuocetele per circa 30 minuti.

Moj omiljeni recept za rolnice s cimetom koji sam prije par godina otkrila na blogu Culinary Alchemy. Tijesto je tako lagano i pahuljasto da morate voditi rat sami sa sobom da ih prestanete jesti. Bogato su nadjevene maslacem koji se tijekom pečenja otopi i tijesto ga potpuno upije što tijesto čini dodatno mekanim. Obilno posute šećerom i cimetom, koji se tijekom pečenja velikim dijelom istopi i karamelizira na dnu rolnica. Ne znam koliko sam vam dočarala ove rolnice, ali vjerujte mi, probate li ih samo jedanput nećete požaliti, naprotiv, vraćat ćete im se često.
Mlaćenica je tekućina koja se izdvoji pri proizvodnji maslaca. Govorila sam vam o tome kod recepta za domaći maslac. U prodaji se također može naći mlaćenica s dodatkom bakterijskih kultura. U Hrvatskoj je možete naći pod nazivom Stepko. Ako je pak ne možete naći lako ćete kod kuće pripremiti brzinsku zamjenu: Na 250 ml mlijeka dodajte žlicu limunovog soka ili octa, ostavite da stoji 15 minuta, a zatim dobro izmiješajte i koristite odmah. Ili pomiješajte mlijeko i jogurt u omjeru 1:3, tj. 1/4 mlijeka i 3/4 jogurta.

Cimet rolnice s mlaćenicom

Tijesto:
* 520 g brašna za dizana tijesta
* 1 vrećica suhog kvasca
* 3 žlice šećera
* prstohvat soli
* 470 ml mlaćenice
* 35 g maslaca

punjenje:
* 150 g smeđeg šećera
* 1,5 žlica cimeta u prahu
* 55 g maslaca

Zagrijte mlaćenicu skoro do vrenja.
Maknite s vatre, dodajte šećer i maslac, dobro izmiješajte pjenjačom pa ostavite da se ohladi, tj. dok ne postane mlačno.
Stavite u zdjelu prosijano brašno, sol i suhi kvasac.
Dodajte ohlađenu smjesu maslaca i mlaćenice i izradite tijesto kuhačom ili mikserom, a onda rukama na malo pobrašnjenoj dasci. Tijesto treba biti mekano i pomalo ljepljivo, ali ne previše, naravno.
Stavite tijesto u čistu zdjelu, pokrijte i ostavite da se diže na toplom mjestu 30 minuta.
Podijelito dignuto tijesto na dva dijela i svaki razvaljajte posebno na pravokutnik otprilike 20x25 cm.
Maslac koji ste ostavili na sobnoj temperaturi da odmekne, izradite vilicom da bude kremast pa premažite cijelu površinu tijesta.
Smeđi šećer pomiješajte s cimetom i pospite obilno preko maslaca.
Smotajte tijesto u rolnicu počevši od duže stranice.
Izrežite svaku rolnicu na osam komada (debljine oko 3-3,5 cm)
Složite ih u malo namašten pleh (ja sam ga također obložila papirom za pečenje jer šećer se topi i karamelizira na dnu pa se rolnice mogu zalijepiti) malo razmaknute jedna od druge.
Pokrijte pleh i ostavite rolnice da se dižu 1 sat.
U međuvremenu zagrijte pećnicu na 180°C i pecite ih oko 30 minuta.

Buckwheat Cookies

2011-12-05T19:49:00.000+01:00

Very simple, basic cookies, if it wasn't for one special ingredient. Buckwheat flour.
It has a very distinguishable flavor. Actually it took me a while to get used to it and enjoy it. To be honest, the emptier my cookie jar was getting the more I was liking them. Not only in the morning with my caffè latte, but as an afternoon snack as well. Small things just are contagious.
It is another recipe from the book Regali golosi I bought recently. I made one smallest addition only - lemon zest, 'cause I just think it fits great everywhere.
If you'd like to learn more about buckwheat and its benefits, check here.
And now that these are gone, I had to console myself, and in the moment of utter craving made a batch of cinnamon rolls, so... I can't wait for breakfast. Those are just too dangerous.

Buckwheat Cookies
(recipe from the book Regali golosi, by Sigrid Verbert)

* 180 g buckwheat flour
* 100 g AP flour
* 125 g butter
* 65 g white sugar
* 60 g brown sugar (I used muscovado)
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* finely grated zest of 1 lemon
* a pinch of salt
+ 20 g brown sugar for sprinkling

Cream the butter with both sugars using an electric mixer.
Add the egg and the lemon zest and mix shortly again.
In the end, mix in both flours, the baking powder and the salt. Form the dough. Wrap it in a piece of plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
Take the dough and roll it out to 5 mm thick. Cut out the shapes and transfer the cookies to a baking sheet.
Sprinkle them with the additional 20 g of brown sugar and bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden.
Let them cool on a cooling rack and then transfer to an airtight container.

Biscotti di grano saraceno
(da Regali golosi di Sigrid Verbert)

* 180 g farina di grano saraceno
* 100 g farina "00"
* 125 g burro
* 65 g zucchero semolato
* 60 g zucchero di canna (ho usato muscovado)
* 1 uovo
* 1 cucchiaino di lievito in polvere
* scorza grattugiata di un limone
* un pizzico di sale
+ 20 g di zucchero di canna

Lavorate il burro con gli zuccheri usando uno sbattitore elettrico.
Quando diventa cremoso, aggiungete l'uovo e la scorza grattugiata di un limone. Mescolate brevemente e poi aggiungete le farine, il lievito e il sale.
Impastate velocemente, poi avvolgete la pasta con la pellicola alimentare e tenetela in frigo per un'ora.
Stendete l'impasto a uno spessore di 5 mm e ritagliate i biscotti.
Trasferiteli su una placca da forno e spolverateli con il rimanente zucchero di canna.
Infornate i biscotti a 180°C per circa 15 minuti.
Lasciateli raffreddare su una griglia prima di metterli in una scatola di latta ben chiusa.

*La mia unica modifica alla ricetta è stata l'aggiunta di scorza di limone.

Keksi s heljdinim brašnom
(iz knjige Regali golosi, Sigrid Verbert)

* 180 g heljdinog brašna
* 100 g pšeničnog brašna
* 125 g maslaca
* 65 g bijelog šećera
* 60 g smeđeg šećera
* 1 jaje
* 1 žličica praška za pecivo
* 1 limun (naribana korica)
* prstohvat soli
+ 20 g smeđeg šećera za posipanje

Maslac sobne temperature umutite pjenasto s obje vrste šećera.
Dodajte jaje i naribanu koricu limuna.
Na kraju umiješajte obje vrste brašna, prašak za pecivo i sol.
Zamijesite brzo tijesto, omotajte ga prozirnom folijom i ostavite u hladnjaku oko 1 sat.
Razvaljajte tijesto na 5 mm debljine, na malo pobrašnjenoj dasci ili između dva komada papira za pečenje.
Izrežite kalupićem po želji oblike i stavljajte ih na lim obložen papirom za pečenje.
Pospite ih s preostalih 20 g smeđeg šećera.
Pecite kekse u pećnici zagrijanoj na 180°, 15-ak minuta odnosno dok ne poprime boju po rubovima.
Ostavite ih da se ohlade na rešetki, a zatim ih spremite u metalnu kutiju.

Spinach Bread alias Alien bread

2011-12-03T16:50:00.000+01:00

Nothing to do. My daughters won't eat vegetables in any other form but soup, and even that can be risky if I'm not careful what spices I add.
The younger one says she eats "green stuff" only at school... we laughed... she cried because we didn't believe her ^__^.
Then on the day I made this bread, my older daughter brought a friend home, and they wanted bread and nutella for afternoon snack. When I said I had only this green bread their faces clearly said "Yuck" and immediately baptized it "alien bread". Of course, they couldn't eat nutella with this strange bread, but fortunately at least the white (normal) part was "edible".
I do hope sooner or later they'll start appreciating vegetables more and more. I'm jealous when I hear some moms saying how their kids will eat any vegetable on Earth. If I listened to mine, my menu would be highly limited, and I'd probably be writing 1000-ways-to-cook-potatoes series of recipes here on my blog. And to think that they ate everything, broccoli and cauliflower included, while they were still too little to decide what they wanted or didn't want to eat.
I wish I could tell you this bread changed anything, but it's not true. Although, I'm sure, once again, if they only gave it a fair chance, they might have enjoyed it as much as I did.
I don't usually make this type of milk bread or sandwich bread, but every now and then a nice, soft slice of bread can save your lunch when in a hurry. A quick and healthy sandwich, in my case with cheese and grilled vegetables won't hurt.
If nothing else, I enjoyed making it, and it's colourful aspect made me smile.

Spinach bread

* 500 g flour
* 250 ml milk
* 1 egg
* 20 g fresh yeast (or 1 package active dry yeast)
* 75 g butter
* 15 g sugar
* 10 g salt
* 75 g fresh spinach

Carefully wash the spinach and without drying it put it in a deep skillet. Cover and cook on medium heat (no need to add oil or other water, the water that remained on leaves after washing is enough) until the spinach has wilted, a few minutes. Drain the spinach and then purèe with a stick blender. Set aside to cool.
Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk mixed with sugar.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, add the salt, lightly beaten egg, softened butter and in the end the milk with the yeast.
Work the dough with your hands or with an electric mixer until smooth.
Divide the dough in two parts. Mix one part of the dough with the pureed spinach, knead well so that the colour is homogeneous, adding a little more flour as necessary for the dough not to be sticky and wet.
Let both doughs to rest covered with a cotton cloth in a warm place for 15 minutes.
Then divide each part of the dough into smaller pieces (a little bit bigger than table tennis balls).
Put the dough balls into a lightly oiled loaf pan, alternating the green and the white ones, in a single layer.
Cover the pan with a piece of plastic foil and let the bread rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until it has almost reached the foil.
Remove the foil and let it rise a bit more, almost above the rim, while you are heating the oven to 200°C.
When the oven's hot, put the bread in and bake it for 20-30 minutes or until the crust is nicely coloured.
Take the dough out of the oven and put it back in the oven, directly on the oven rack for 10 more minutes.
Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool completely before slicing it.

Pane variegato ai spinaci

* 500 g di farina
* 250 ml di latte
* 1 uovo
* 20 g di lievito di birra fresco (o 1 bustina di lievito di birra secco)
* 75 g di burro
* 15 g di zucchero
* 10 g di sale
* 75 g di spinaci freschi

Lavate bene i spinaci e, con sola acqua di lavaggio rimasta sulle foglie, metteteli in una padella, coprite e lasciateli cuocere per pochi minuti, a fuoco medio, giusto il tempo necessario per farli ammorbidire un po'.
Scolate l'acqua in eccesso e frullateli. Lasciate raffreddare il purè di spinaci.
Sciogliete il lievito nel latte tiepido con lo zucchero.
Setacciate la farina in una ciotola, aggiungete il sale, l'uovo leggermente sbattuto, il burro ammorbidito e il latte con il lievito.
Impastate bene e poi dividete in due parti.
Mescolate una parte della pasta con il purè di spinaci, impastate bene aggiungendo la farina necessaria se la pasta dovesse risultare troppo umida e appiccicosa.
Lasciate la pasta riposare per 15 minuti.
Dividete tutte e due parti (bianca e verde) in palline grandi più o meno come le palline da ping pong.
Mettete le palline in uno stampo da plumcake leggermente oleato, alternando i due colori, in un unico strato.
Coprite lo stampo con un pezzo di pellicola alimentare e lasciate lievitare il pane in un luogo caldo per circa 1 ora o finché la pasta non ha quasi raggiunto la pellicola.
Scoprite lo stampo e lasciate lievitare un'altro po'. Riscaldate il forno a 200°C.
Infornate il pane per circa 20-30 minuti o finché la crosta è bella dorata.
Toglietelo dallo stampo e rimettetelo nel forno, direttamente sulla griglia per altri 10 minuti.
Lasciatelo raffreddare bene prima di affettarlo.

Questo pane è particolarmente indicato per preparare dei panini al formaggio, con delle verdure grigliate e simili.

Šareni kruh sa špinatom

* 500 g brašna
* 250 ml mlijeka
* 1 jaje
* 20 g svježeg kvasca (ili 1 vrećica suhog)
* 75 g maslaca
* 15 g šećera
* 10 g soli
* 75 g špinata

Špinat dobro operite i stavite u dublju tavu (bez dodavanja vode ili ulja, dovoljna je voda od pranja koja je ostala na listovima), poklopite i na srednje jakoj vatri pustite da listovi špinata malo svenu, ne moraju biti skroz skuhani, dovoljno je da malo odmeknu.
Ocijedite ih i izmiksajte u kašu. Ostavite da se prohladi.
Malo zagrijte mlijeko. Namrvite kvasac u mlijeko i dodajte šećer (ako koristite suhi možete ga dodati izravno u brašno).
Prosijte brašno u zdjelu, dodajte sol, malo razmućeno jaje, omekšali maslac narezan na listiće i na kraju toplo mlijeko s kvascem.
Izmijesite dobro rukom ili mikserom.
Podijelite dobiveno tijesto na dva dijela.
U jedan dio tijesta dodajte kašu od špinata i dobro izmijesite dodajući još brašna koliko je potrebno da tijesto ne bude više vlažno i ljepljivo (radite to u zdjeli, a poslije dobro izmijeste na dasci da smjesa bude jednolične boje).
Ostavite oba tijesta da odmaraju 15 minuta.
Podijelite oba tijesta na kuglice (mrvicu veće od loptica za ping pong). Slažite kuglice naizmjenično u malo nauljeni duguljasti kalup. Stisnite ih da sve stanu u jednom sloju.
Pokrijte kalup nauljenom prozirnom folijom i ostavite na toplom mjestu da se diže oko 1 sat (dok tijesto ne naraste skoro do folije).
Otkrijte tijesto i pustite da još malo naraste, a pećnicu zagrijte na 200°C.
Stavite peći kruh kad je pećnica ugrijana. Pecite ga 20-30 minuta (dok ne vidite da je dobio lijepu boju).
Izvadite kruh iz kalupa i stavite ga opet u pećnicu izravno na rešetku još oko 10 minuta.
Ostavite zatim kruh da se potpuno ohladi na rešetki.

Kruh je naročito pogodan za pripremu sendviča sa svježim sirevima, grilanim povrćem, hladnim narescima, ili što vam se već sviđa.

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

2011-12-01T12:12:00.000+01:00

The cold weather, the frost bitten fingers and toes call inevitably for one thing. A nice cup of Hot Chocolate.
A cup of pure chocolate pleasure, the sweet warm wave that starts from your mouth and goes all the way down to the tips of your toes.
My tounge is still recovering from the first, still too hot, sip I took yesterday, but if I told you I was sorry for being too hasty, I'd lie. How can you be patient when you know what's waiting for inside that cup?
I saw a recipe for the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate here, a few days ago and new immediately I had to make it myself. Slightly modified because I didn' use any powdered milk. I don't know how different would it be with the addition of powdered milk, but I don't like it very much and for me it was fine just like this.
One note only. For my taste, it was a little bit too sweet, so I might put less sugar next time. And the caramel taste isn't so distinct as I expected, but it's fine, just the same. I couldn't resist adding a tablespoon of caramel sauce to the whipped cream, too, 'cause I am a caramel addict, after all.
I think a jar of this Hot Chocolate Mix would make a very sweet Christmas gift as well, at least I'd be happy to recieve one. Wouldn't you?

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

caramel:
* 250 g sugar
* 1 TBspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon fleur de sel

Hot chocolate mix:
* powdered caramel
* 50 g good quality unsweetened cocoa
* 25 g cornstarch
* 100 g brown sugar
* 180 g dark chocolate

to prepare 1 cup od hot chocolate:
* 100 ml milk
* 4 TBspoons of Hot Chocolate mix
* whipped cream for serving

First, prepare the caramel:
Prepare a piece of lightly oiled parchment paper.
Put the sugar in a medium pan or a non stick skillet and let it melt on medium heat without stirring - once it starts melting on the outside swirl and shake a little the pan so that the sugar melts evenly. When the sugar has melted and reaches amber colour remove the pan from heat, sprinkle the salt over and add the vanilla extract (it will bubble a little bit). Swirl the pan a little so that the salt and the extract mix a little bit with the caramel.
Pour it still hot and liquid on the prepared piece of parchment paper placed on a baking sheet.
Let the caramel set and cool completely.
Break the caramel into smaller pieces (you may use a rolling pin, a meat pounder or similar.
Put the caramel pieces into the bowl of your food processor and run it until the caramell is completely pulverized.
Proceede with the next step:
Add the cocoa powder, the sugar and the cornstarch to the caramel powder and give it another swirl.
Add the chopped chocolate and at first pulse a few times, then run the food processor in 15-30 seconds intervals until che chocolate has turned into powder as well. Be careful not to overmix or the chocolate will start melting.
Your Hot Chocolate Mix is now ready to be stored.
Fill the glass jars and close them tightly. Store them in a cool and dry place for up to 1 month.
The jars may be a nice idea for a Christmas gift. Just add a note with the instructions how to prepare a cup of hot chocolate.

How to prepare a cup of Hot Chocolate:
Heat the milk in a small saucepan to a boiling point.
Remove from heat, add about 4 TBspoons of the Hot Chocolate Mix, stir well and put the saucepan back on heat. Cook for about 3-5 minutes on low heat, stirring, or until it reaches the desired thickness.
Pour the Hot Chocolate into a cup or mug, garnish with some whipped cream if desired and enjoy!

Cioccolata calda al caramello salato

caramello:
* 250 g zucchero
* 1 cucchiaio di estratto puro di vaniglia
* 1 cucchiaino di fior di sale (fleur de sel)

Mix per la cioccolata calda:
* caramello polverizzato
* 50 g di cacao amaro di ottima qualità
* 25 g amido di mais / maizena
* 100 g zucchero di canna
* 180 g cioccolato fondente

Per preparare 1 tazza di cioccolata calda
* 100 ml di latte
* 4 cucchiai di Mix per la cioccolata calda
* panna montata per servire

Per prima cosa preparate il croccante di caramello. Mettete lo zucchero in un pentolino o padella antiaderente. Scaldatelo a fuoco medio fino a scioglierlo completamente, senza mescolare, scuotendo soltanto un po' il pentolino. Spegnete il fuoco a cospargete con il sale, versateci anche l'estratto di vaniglia. Scuotete un po' e poi versate il caramello su un foglio di carta da forno leggermente oleato.
Lasciatelo raffreddare. Una volta che il croccante si è indurito ed è freddo spezzettatelo con un mattarello o batticarne e mettete i pezzettini nel mixer / robot da cucina. Riducetelo in polvere.
Unite alla polvere di caramello ancora nel mixer, il cacao, lo zucchero e l'amido e mescolate per qualche secondo.
Aggiungete alla fine anche il cioccolato spezzettato o tagliato grossolanamente. Fate andare il mixer prima a brevi intervalli (pulsando) e poi per circa 15-30 secondi fino a ridurre anche il cioccolato in polvere fine.
Il Mix per il cioccolato caldo adesso è pronto e potete trasferirlo nei vasetti di vetro, conservarli in un luogo fresco e asciutto fino a un mese. O confezionarlo come regalini di Natale accompagnati dalle istruzioni per preparazione di Cioccolata calda.

Come preparare una tazza di cioccolata calda con questo mix:
Scaldate il latte in un pentolino. Toglietelo dal fuoco e aggiungete circa 4 cucchiai da tavola del Mix. Mescolate bene e poi rimettete sul fuoco. Cuocete per circa 3-5 minuti sul fuoco dolce mescolando continuamente con un cucchiaio o fino a raggiungere la densità che vi piace.
Versate la cioccolata calda nella tazza, decorate con un po' di panna montata e servitela calda in un pomeriggio freddissimo quando sentite bisogno di un po' di (cio)coccolle ^__^

Topla čokolada sa slanim karamelom

karamel:
* 250 g šećera
* 1 žlica čistog ekstrakta vanilije
* 1 žličica fine morske soli (fleur de sel)

Smjesa za toplu čokoladu:
* karamel (smrvljen u prah)
* 50 g kvalitetnog gorkog kakaa
* 25 g škrobnog brašna (gustina)
* 100 g smeđeg šećera
* 180 g tamne čokolade

za pripremu tople čokolade (za 1 šalicu):
* 100 ml mlijeka
* 4 žlice smjese za toplu čokoladu
* tučeno slatko vrhnje za ukras

Pripremite komad papira za pečenje. Sasvim malo ga nauljite.
Šećer (250 g) stavite u tavu i zagrijavajte na srednjoj temperaturi, bez miješanja, dok se sav šećer ne otopi. Kad se počne topiti možete malo protresti tavu ili je vrtiti, okretati da se šećer sam promiješa.
Kad se sav šećer karamelizirao maknite s vatre i pospite sol po površini i dodajte ekstrakt vanilije (ekstrakt će malo prskati pa pripazite). Protresite tavu, nije važno ako se ne rasporedi sve ravnomjerno.
Istresite sve na pripremljeni papir u tankom sloju i ostavite da se potpuno ohladi.
Izlomite karamel (rukom, batom za meso, oklagijom) pa stavite u zdjelu multipraktika i sameljite u fini prah.
Karamel prahu u multipraktiku dodajte kakao, škrobno brašno i šećer i opet kratko izmiksajte.
Dodajte sad i izlomljenu čokoladu. U početku miksajte u kratkim intervalima, a zatim neprekidno 15-30 sekundi dok se i čokolada ne pretvori u fini prah. Pazite da ne miksate predugo da se čokolada ne bi otopila.

Ovako pripremljenu smjesu pohranite u staklenke i čuvajte do mjesec dana.

za pripremiti 1 šalicu tople čokolade:
Zagrijte 100 ml mlijeka do vrenja.
Dodajte 3-4 žlice smjese, promiješajte i kuhajte 3-5 minuta na laganoj vatri, miješajući ili dok ne dobijete željenu gustoću.
Uspite toplu čokoladu u šalicu i ukrasite po želji tučenim slatkim vrhnjem.
*ja sam u umućeno vrhnje dodala i malo karamel umaka i opet kratko izmiksala.

Red Lentil and Saffron Soup

2011-11-28T17:29:00.000+01:00

You see that face in my bowl?
I didn't actually realize the saffron strands formed it until I looked at the pictures. But it must have been a warning.
Since the only way to make my kids eat some vegetables or legumes is to serve them as a soup, I'm pretty happy that they love soups of all kinds and colours. Actually, there's usually a table fight for the last ladle, and not once I had to give them my part too. But this time they dissappointed me (yeah, exactly, that's my face you see in the soup bowl!).
The soup was so creamy and delicious and yet they wouldn't eat it. The older one tasted it and didn't like the saffron ("you put something strange in it") and the little one refused to taste it because it wasn't yellow enough (she thought it was green).
You can't always expect the kids to eat everything, I know that, but I didn't expect I would have to eat the whole pot of soup by myself ^__^

Red Lentil and Saffron Cream of Soup

* 300 g red lentils
* 1 big onion
* 4 dl milk
* 1 sachet of saffron (0,125 g)
* 4 bay leaves
* extra virgin olive oil
* salt
* ground nutmeg

Peel the onion and slice it thinly.
Sautèe the onion with 2 TBspoons olive oil and bay leaves in a large pot for until soft.
Add the carefully rinsed lentils and sautèe for 5-10 minutes. Then add 1 liter of water, bring to a boil, salt and cook covered on medium to low heat for 30-40 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and puree the lentils in a blender or using a vegetable mill.
Pour it back into the pot, add the milk, the saffron adn a pinch of grated nutmeg. Heat the soup again and serve hot.
I also added some dry toasted sunflower seeds to my bowl.

Crema di lenticchie rosse allo zafferano

* 300 g lenticchie rosse
* 1 cipolla grande
* 4 dl latte
* 1 bustina di zafferano (0,125 g)
* 4 foglie di alloro
* olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale
* noce moscata

Mondate e pelate la cipolla. Tagliatela a fette sottili e rosolatela in un'ampia pentola insieme a due cucchiai di olio d'oliva e alle foglie d'alloro.
Aggiungete le lenticchie sciacquate e controllate con cura, mescolate, lasciando brasare a fuoco dolce per 5-10 minuti.
Bagnate con un litro d'acqua abbondante, portate a ebollizione, salate e cuocete per 30-40 minuti circa.
Togliete l'alloro dalle lenticchie e frullatele o passatele al passaverdura.
Aggiungete il latte, lo zafferano e una grattugiata di noce moscata.
Rimettete sul fuoco giusto per portare di nuovo a ebollizione, allungando con altra acqua se la crema fosse troppo densa.
Servite la crema calda.

Juha od crvene leće sa šafranom

* 300 g crvene leće
* 1 veća glavica crvenog luka
* 4 dl mlijeka
* 1 vrećica šafrana (0,125 g)
* 4 listića lovora
* ekstra djevičansko maslinovo ulje
* sol
* muškatni oraščić

Očistite luk i narežite ga na listiće.
Zagrijte dvije žlice maslinovog ulja u široj posudi i popržite luk zajedno s listovima lovora.
Leću dobro isperite i dodajte luku i lovoru. Pirjajte na laganoj vatri 5-10 minuta, a zatim zalijte s 1 litrom vode.
Kad provrije, posolite i kuhajte poklopljeno na laganoj vatri oko 30-40 minuta.
Izvadite lovor, a ostatak izmiksajte u blenderu ili propasirajte na pasirku.
Vratite u lonac, dodajte mlijeko, šafran i (ako volite) mrvicu naribanog muškatnog oraščića.
Zagrijte opet samo da kratko provrije i poslužite juhu toplu.
Ja sam je poslužila uz dodatak kratko poprženih sjemenki suncokreta.

Chocolate Cookies with Cappuccino Ganache

2011-11-26T23:15:00.000+01:00

Three days in Rome practicly flew, and what I have now are memories, photographs and a terrible backache. I hate hotels (at least those that I can afford to stay in) for those horrible stiff matresses. Sore feet were nothing compared to the pain I'm still feeling in my back. I've been walking like an old lady, making my kids laugh, of course. But never mind, seeing and visiting Rome was special enough to pay off for all the effort and consequences, no matter how unpleasant they might be.

A few days before we left for Rome, I happened to be walking around the shops and as usual entered in one of the bookshops. I'm always hoping to find a surprise, but it rarely happens. My dream is to find a shelf full of international cookbooks, but they rarely go further than the translation of 2 or 3 Jamie Oliver's books. Which is fine, but not even nearly enough to satisfy my thirst for cookbooks. A quick check, however, nothing new, and just when I was about to turn around and leave, I glanced upon a section that had nothing to do with cookbooks, just to find out that one of the cookbooks I've been wanting to buy for some time now, and was somehow planning to get myself as a Christmas gift at least, was 25% off. Well, if that wasn't a good enough excuse to grab it...
With a satisfied smile on my face I hurried home and didn't even get to fix myself something for lunch before I checked it thoroughly from the first to the last page. And then once more... I wasn't surprised that at least dozen recipes looked so inviting that I wanted to make them immediately, but to find myself craving the coffee flavoured cookies most, oh, yes, that was more than a surprise. You see, I can say I'm a coffee addict. I simpy believe that if I don't drink a big cup of strong Italian moka first thing in the morning I'll probably faint within half an hour. But coffee flavour in desserts, cakes, ice cream or whatever else, just doesn't appeal to me, at all. Even Tiramisù, the classical coffee flavoured one, is not on my list of favourite desserts, but if made with fruit, without coffee, I'll finish it off by myself ^__^
So, whatever it was that made me choose these cookies, I'm grateful. That coffee flavoured white chocolate ganache tasting like the finest cappuccino, only better, was so good, and I say soooooooooo good, that I had to make it twice. Simply because I finished half of it with a spoon and million ideas swirling through my head of other possible uses (ice cream being only one of them).
The book itself, Regali golosi, proved to be a good investment, I've already tried two other recipes for cookies, both great.
The recipe as I'm bringing it below is only slightly modified compared to the original, because I substituted 60 g of white sugar with muscovado sugar as I find it great in cookies as it melts and adds that slightly caramelized flavour. And I think more ganache is needed to fill the cookies, so you'll find that part modified too.
My advice, give these a try, you won't be sorry.

Chocolate Cookies with Cappuccino Ganache
(slightly adapted from Regali golosi, by Sigrid Verbert)

Cookies:
* 220 g flour
* 20 g unsweetened cocoa
* 125 g cold butter
* 65 g white sugar
* 60 g brown (muscovado) sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 egg
* a pinch of salt
Cappuccino ganache:
* 180 g white chocolate
* 60 ml heavy cream
* 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

Mix and sift together the flour and the cocoa into a bowl. Add both sugars and salt and whisk together.
Add the chopped cold butter and rub it in with the tips of your fingers until you have coarse crumbs.
Add the egg and the vanilla extract and quickly bring everything together into a smooth dough.
Divide it into two parts, shape them into balls and then flatten into discs. Wrap them in a piece of plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 160°C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silkmat.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface (or between two sheets of parchment paper) very thin, 2 mm.
Cut out little circles, 5-6 cm in diameter, using a round cookie cutter (you may cut out a smaller circle on half of the cookies - the ones that will be on top, or leave them whole).
Gather the scraps, chill them again before rolling and cutting the dough out again.
Place the cut out cookies on a baking sheet and bake them for 10-12 minutes.
Move them on a cooling rack to cool.
Prepare the ganache while the cookies are cooling down.
Finely chop, or even better, grate the chocolate.
Put the heavy cream and the instant coffee powder into a small saucepan and heat until it starts boiling. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until it's melted completely. In case it doesn't, put everything into a microwave oven for 10-15 seconds and stir again.
Let the ganache cool at room temperature and then fill the cookies. Wait until it gets just dense enough not to leak out of the cookies.
Put about teaspoon of filling on the bottom side of one cookie and sandwich it with another cookie.
Let them sit a while before storing them into an airtight container.
Perfect with a cup of coffee or cappuccino.

Biscotti al cappuccino
(ricetta adattata dal libro Regali golosi di Sigrid Verbert)

Biscotti:
* 220 g di farina "00"
* 20 g cacao amaro
* 125 g burro freddo
* 65 g zucchero bianco
* 60 g zucchero di canna (muscovado)
* 1 cucchiaino di estratto puro di vaniglia o 10 g di zucchero vanigliato
* 1 uovo
* un pizzico di sale
Ganache al cappuccino:
* 180 g cioccolato bianco
* 60 ml panna fresca
* 2 cucchiaini di caffè solubile

Setacciate la farina insieme al cacao e mescolateli agli zuccheri e il sale.
Aggiungete il burro freddo tagliato a pezzettini e strofinate con le punte delle dita per ottenere delle briciole.
Unite l'uovo e l'estratto di vaniglia e impastate velocemente.
Dividete l'impasto in due parti, formate due dischi, avvolgeteli con la pellicola e teneteli in frigo per 1 ora.
Stendete l'impasto su una superficie infarinata o in mezzo ai due fogli di carta da forno a uno spessore di 2 mm.
Ritagliate dei biscotti di circa 5-6 cm di diametro e sistemateli sulla teglia ricoperta con la carta da forno.
Cuoceteli per circa 10-12 minuti a 160°C.
Lasciate raffreddare i biscottini e preparate la ganache.
Grattugiate il cioccolato e mettetelo in una ciotolina.
Mettete la panna e il caffè solubile in un pentolino e fateli bollire. Versate la panna bollente sul cioccolato e mescolate bene. Se il cioccolato non riesce a sciogliersi ancora scaldate il tutto per 10-15 secondi nel forno a microonde. Lasciate raffreddare la ganache a temperatura ambiente e poi spalmatela sui biscotti coprendoli poi con un'altro biscotto.

Cappuccino keksići
(iz knjige Regali golosi, Sigrid Verbert)

Keksi
* 220 g brašna
* 20 g gorkog kakaa
* 125 g maslaca (hladnog)
* 65 g bijelog šećera
* 60 g muscovado šećera
* 1 žličica ekstrakta vanilije ili 10 g vanilin šećera
* 1 jaje
* prstohvat soli
Ganache s kavom
* 180 g bijele čokolade
* 60 ml svježeg slatkog vrhnja (ne biljnog)
* 2 žličice instant kave

Prosijte skupa brašno i kakao u zdjelu. Dodajte obje vrste šećera i vanilin šećer (ako koristite ekstrakt dodajte ga kasnije zajedno s jajetom) i sol i promiješajte.
Dodajte hladan maslac narezan na listiće pa ga utrljajte u brašno vršcima prstiju da dobijete mrvice.
Dodajte jaje i brzo zamijesite.
Tijesto podijelite na dva dijela, svaki oblikujte u kuglu koju spljoštite u disk, omotajte prozirnom folijom i stavite u hladnjak najmanje 1 sat.
Pećnicu zagrijte na 160°C.
Dva pleha od pećnice obložite papirom za pečenje.
Razvaljajte tijesto jako tanko, na 2 mm debljine, na pobrašnjenoj dasci ili između dva komada papira za pečenje.
Okruglim kalupićem izrežite krugove (rupica na gornjem keksu nije obavezna, ali pored knjige, jučer sam slučajno našla i kalupić koji sam dugo tražila pa sam ga morala iskoristiti).
Pecite kekse u zagrijanoj pećnici 10-12 minuta.
Ostavite ih da se ohlade.
Dok se keksi hlade pripremite ganache.
Naribajte čokoladu i stavite je u zdjelicu.
Zagrijte slatko vrhnje s instant kavom do vrenja. Istresite vrhnje (divno miriše!!!) u zdjelu s čokoladom i miješajte dok se čokolada ne istopi i smjesa postane glatka (za slučaj da se čokolada ne uspije lijepo otopiti zagrijte sve skupa 10 sekundi u mikrovalnoj).
Ostavite ganache na sobnoj temperaturi da se ohladi i stisne tek toliko da ne curi iz keksa kad ih napunite.
Stavite žličicu ganache kreme na donju stranu jednog keksa i poklopite drugim (ako ste ih pravili s rupicama, onda gore stavite onaj s rupicom). Ne pritiskajte previše.
Ostavite ih da se lijepo stisne krema i poslužite, uz popodnevnu kavu, cappuccino ili samo čašu mlijeka, što vam je već po volji... i uživajte
p.s. moj kalup je promjera 5,5 cm i dobila sam 20-ak gotovih (spojenih) keksa.

Zucchini and Pecorino Cheese Quiche

2011-11-18T15:59:00.000+01:00

Shhhhhhhh! We're slowly approaching number 10...

But as we're waiting to leave for Rome, we need to eat, don't we? Although this quiche sounds more like something you'd enjoy in the summer, when in a hurry, I'll take my chances even on a frosty autumn day. 'Cause it's so delicious. Zucchini and cheese, packed inside a thin, crisp shell, smell of basil and marjoram. Can you say no to such a beauty?

Unbelievably, my basil plant is still alive, it's a little miracle, considering that the last two days the temperatures are well below zero.

Ohhhh, I forgot to say, number 10 stands for our wedding anniversary ^__^

I'll be away for a couple days, visiting Rome to celebrate and spend a few days together, see you next week. Stay warm and eat well!

Zucchini and Pecorino Cheese Quiche

* 1 sheet of ready pate brisée (pie crust)

* 3 medium sized zucchini (about 300-400 g)

* 100 g fresh pecorino cheese (or some other cheese of your choice)

* 2 eggs

* 1,5 dl heavy cream

* 2 TBspoons grated parmigiano cheese

* a small bunch of fresh basil leaves

* 2 marjoram twigs

* salt and pepper

Roll out the dough very thinly and line a pie dish covering the bottom and the sides. Trim the excess dough (keep the leftovers for the top grid). Place the plate in the fridge while preparing the filling and heating the oven.
Shred the zucchini, salt them and leave in a colander for at least 10 minutes to lose some of the water. Squeeze well with your hands to remove some more water.
Whisk the eggs with the heavy cream. Add the parmigiano, the finely chopped basil and marjoram leaves, and the zucchini. Mix well, add salt and pepper to your taste.

Cut the cheese into thin slices or shred it.

Fill the quiche shell with layers of zucchini and eggs filling alternating them with the sliced/shredded cheese.

Cut the dough scraps into strips and form a grid on top of the quiche.

Bake the quiche in the oven preheated to 180°C for 35-40 minutes and serve warm.

NOTE: when I'm in a hurry, a storebought pate brisée is a good and quick solution. When I think ahead and am in the mood, though, I prefer making my own. Here's the recipe I usually follow:

Sift 300 g of flour with a pinch of salt on a kneading board, add 100 g of cold butter, chopped and rub it in to form coarse crumbs. Add approx. 125 ml ice cold water and quickly bring everything together - the less you knead it the better. Form a ball and then flatten it into a disc. Wrap it tightly with a piece of plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. For better results, let it sit in the fridge one day. It keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days or up to 2 months if frozen.

Quiche con zucchine e pecorino

* 1 rotolo di pasta brisée già fatta

* 3 zucchine medie (circa 300-400 g)

* 100 g pecorino fresco

* 2 uova

* 1,5 dl di panna fresca

* 2 cucchiai di parmigiano grattugiato

* un mazzetto di basilico fresco

* 2 rametti di maggiorana

* sale e pepe q.b.

Srotolate la pasta brisée e usatela per ricoprire una teglia tonda (tipo per le crostate). Tagliate via la pasta in eccesso ma conservatela per la griglia. Mettete la teglia con la pasta nel frigo mentre preparate il ripieno e riscaldate il forno a 180°C.
Grattugiate le zucchine con una grattugia a fori grossi, salatele e mettetele in un colino per circa 10 minuti. Poi strizzatele bene.
Mescolate le uova e la panna in una ciotola. Unite il parmigiano grattugiato, le foglie di basilico e maggiorana sminuzzate e le zucchine. Salate e pepate.
Tagliate il pecorino a fettine sottili o grattugiatelo con una grattugia a fori grossi.
Riempite il guscio della quiche con strati alternati di ripieno di zucchine e fettine di formaggio.
Tagliate i resti della pasta in striscioline e formate una griglia sopra il ripieno.
Cuocete la quiche nel forno caldo per circa 35-40 minuti. Servitela calda o tiepida.

Quiche s tikvicama i sirom

* 1 pakiranje gotove paste brisée

* 3 srednje velike tikvice (oko 300-400 g)

* 100 g svježeg pecorina (ili nekog drugog sira)

* 2 jaja

* 1,5 dl svježeg slatkog vrhnja (nezaslađenog)

* 2 žlice ribanog parmezana

* svežnjić svježeg bosiljka

* 2 grančice svježeg mažurana

* sol i papar

Tijesto razvaljajte tanko i utisnite u niski okrugli kalup tako da pokrijete dno i stranice. Odrežite višak tijesta tako da bude u ravnini s rubom kalupa (sačuvajte odrezane okrajke).

Stavite kalup s tijestom u hladnjak dok pripremate punjenje i pećnica se grije.

Ako želite sami napraviti brisée tijesto prilično je jednostavno, samo ga treba pripremiti unaprijed, najbolje dan ranije. Potrebno vam je: 300 g brašna, 100 g hladnog maslaca i oko 125 ml ledeno hladne vode. Prosijte brašno na radnu površinu i dodajte mrvicu soli.

Dodajte hladan maslac narezan na listiće i utrljajte ga vršcima prstiju u brašno.

Dodajte jako hladnu vodu (količina po potrebi, meni je trebalo otprilike 125 ml) i zamijesite čvrsto, elastično tijesto. Ne mijesite previše, tek koliko je potrebno da se sastojci povežu.

Omotajte tijesto prozirnom folijom i ostavite u hladnjaku najmanje 1 sat (još bolje preko noći).

Pasta brisée može stajati u hladnjaku 3-4 dana ili u zamrzivaču do 2 mjeseca (prije upotrebe odmrznite je).

Tikvice naribajte na krupniji ribež, posolite ih i ostavite u cjedilu 10-ak minuta.

Zatim tikvice dobro iscijedite stišćući ih rukama.

Pomiješajte u zdjeli jaja i vrhnje, razmutite ih pjenjačom.

Dodajte parmezan, sitno nasjeckani bosiljak i mažuran i iscijeđene tikvice. Dobro izmiješajte i posolite i popaprite po ukusu.

Pecorino (ili neki drugi sir vama po izboru, emental, gaudu, i sl.) narežite na tanke ploškice ili naribajte na krupni ribež.

Napunite tijesto tako što ćete stavljati naizmjenično slojeve tikvica i sira.

Od ostataka tijesta izrežite trakice i složite ih u mrežu preko nadjeva.

Pecite quiche u zagrijanoj pećnici, na 180°C, 35-40 minuta.

Tea with Pineapple Juice

2011-11-16T11:17:00.002+01:00

The last two days were quite cold. As if the autumn decided to strike all of a sudden, saying, "Ok, you've had enough of that mild, humid autumn weather." And the temperatures all of sudden dropped from 13-15°C to 0°C. I feel such a chill in my bones, I'm shaking all day long, even though I've pulled out the heaviest pullovers and jacket I have in my wardrobe.
All I can think about is "TURN ON THE OVEN" for some additional heat, "PREPARE A BOWL OF HOT SOUP" and I made some Pasta e faggioli yesterday for the great joy of my kids (seriously, my daughter said that was some awsome meal ^__^ )... and how about a cup of tea?
I love tea, but somehow I don't have the habbit of making it regularly.
During my stay in England, tea had a totally different taste. Even when I brought the same tea with me on my way home, it just didn't taste the same any more. So, I kind of gave up looking for that perfectly brewed cup of tea, at least until I'm able to visit England again.
Last year I got in touch with the lady I worked for as an au-pair in the early '90s (Hi, Kate!) and I was amazed to see her three boys who were 4, 6 and 8 at the time, and now are fully grown up young men in their twenties. Boy, time really does fly.

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is not a common cup of tea. It is enriched with some cinnamon and clove, slices of citrus fruit and some pineapple juice. It is something probably more adapt for another (read "WARMER") time of the year, but it did suit me pretty well yesterday, too. Drank while still warm with a little delicate rosemary honey (from Sardinia) and a couple slices of a simple tea cake.
Stay warm ^__

Tea with Pineapple Juice

* 2 teabags of Earl Grey tea (or 3 teaspoons of leaf tea)
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1 clove
* 4 slices of orange
* 4 slices of lemon
* 2 dl pineapple juice

Bring 3 dl of water with the cinnamon stick and the clove to a boil.
Add the tea bags (or leaves), cover and let sit for 3 minutes.
Add the orange and lemon slices and the pineapple juice (you may remove the tea bags or strain the tea to remove the tea leaves.
Mix in the pineapple juice and let it cool before serving. Sweeten with sugar or honey if you like.
You may serve this tea in the morning for breakfast or in the afternoon with a slice of cake or some cookies.

Tè al ananas

* 2 bustine di tè Earl Grey
* 1 stecca di cannella
* 1 chiodo di garofano
* 4 fettine di arancia
* 4 fettine di limone
* 2 dl di succo d'ananas

Portate a ebollizione 3 dl di acqua con la cannella e il chiodo di garofano.
Aggiungete le bustine di tè, coprite e lasciate riposare 3 minuti.
Aggiungete le fettine di arancia e limone e il succo d'ananas.
Lasciate intiepidire, poi dolcificate con lo zucchero o miele e servite.
Ottimo a colazione o nel pomeriggio con qualche biscottino o fettina di plumcake.

Čaj s ananasom

* 2 vrećice čaja Earl Grey
* 1 štapić cimeta
* 1 klinčić
* 4 kriške naranče
* 4 kriške limuna
* 2 dl soka od ananasa

Prokuhajte 3 dl vode sa štapićem cimeta i klinčićem.
Dodajte 2 vrećice čaja i ostavite poklopljeno 3 minute.
Dodajte kriške limuna i naranče i sok od ananasa u čaj, ostavite da se prohladi.
Zasladite po želji medom ili šećerom i poslužite ujutro uz doručak ili popodne uz komad kolača ili kekse.

Savoury Saffron Cookies

2011-11-14T15:40:00.002+01:00

A bit of a frenetic start today (blame it on Monday), but fortunately things calmed down. Now there's only the rest of the week to survive. Waiting for the next weekend... which is going to be a little different from our usual weekends. Something to celebrate, and we'll celebrate with a trip. It should be fun, just hoping for good weather.
If we were to celebrate at home, these savoury cookies would be a great idea for an appetizer.
But they're also nice as a quick snack, something always appreciated in my home.
They may look a little bit like crackers, but the taste and consistency are different. They're rather soft, but just like crackers would go great with cheese and some vegetables, and a glass of chilled Prosecco.

Savoury Saffron Cookies

* 100 g AP flour
* 100 g cream cheese or ricotta (or a mix of the two, or even better if you can find Italian Robiola cheese)
* 40 g butter
* 2 TBspoons grated parmigiano cheese
* 1 egg yolk
* 1/2 sachet of powdered saffron (1 sachet = 0,125 g)
* salt and pepper to taste

Sift the flour into a bowl, add the fresh cheese, the grated parmigiano, the softened butter, the egg yolk, the saffron dissolved in a tablespoon of warm water, salt and pepper to your taste.
Mix everything quickly with your hands bringing it together to form a soft, smooth dough.
Wrap it with a piece of plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.
Turn your oven on to 180°C.
Roll the dough out to 5 mm thick on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of baking paper.
Cut the shapes as you prefer - using a cookie cutter or a pastry cutter, like I did (I cut out small squares and triangles).

Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Punch them with a fork.
Bake them 12-13 minutes or until golden.
Move them to a cooling rack.
Serve these as a snack, or an appetizer with fresh cheese and vegetables.

Un gustoso snack, antipasto, finger food ecc., da servire con dei formaggi freschi o con verdure fresche.

Biscotti salati al formaggio e zafferano

* 100 g di farina "00"
* 100 g di robiola
* 40 g burro
* 2 cucchiai di parmigiano grattugiato
* 1 tuorlo
* 1/2 bustina di zafferano (1 bustina = 0,125 g)
* sale e pepe q.b.

Setacciate la farina in una ciotola, unite al centro la robiola, il parmigiano, il burro ammorbidito, il tuorlo, lo zafferano sciolto in un cucchiaio d'acqua tiepida, sale e pepe.
Impastate rapidamente il composto, avvolgetelo in un foglio di pellicola e lasciate rassodare in frigorifero per almeno 1/2 ora.
Riscaldate il forno a 180°C.
Stendete la pasta a uno spessore di 5 mm. Tagliatela con una formina o la rotellina per la pasta e metteteli su una placca ricoperta con la carta da forno. Punzecchiateli con una forchetta.
Cuocete i biscotti per circa 12 minuti o finché saranno leggermente dorati.
Lasciateli raffreddare e servite.

Vratila sam se sa šafranom i igram se dalje.
Danas su na redu slani keksići, zlatno žute boje, mekani i posebno aromatični.
I ovaj recept šaljem Dilajli u okviru igrice Ajme koliko nas je.

Slani keksi sa šafranom

* 100 g brašna
* 100 g krem sira ili ricotte (ili pomiješano)*
* 40 g maslaca
* 2 žlice naribanog parmezana
* 1 žumanjak
* 1/2 vrećice šafrana (1 vrećica = 0,125 g)
* sol i papar po ukusu

Prosijte brašno u zdjelu, dodajte svježi sir, ribani parmezan, maslac sobne temperature, žumanjak, šafran otopljen u žlici mlake vode, sol i papar.
Izmiješajte sve brzo da dobijete glatko tijesto.
Omotajte ga prozirnom folijom i ostavite najmanje 1/2 sata u hladnjaku.
Zagrijte pećnicu na 180°C.
Razvaljajte tijesto na 5 mm debljine na pobrašnjenoj dasci ili između dva lista papira za pečenje.
Izrežite ga na oblike po želji (kalupima ili vijugavim kotačićem za rezanje tijesta) i malo ih nabockajte vilicom ili drvenim štapićem.
Složite kekse na pleh obložen papirom za pečenje i pecite ih oko 12-13 minuta dok ne poprime lagano zlatnu boju.
Ostavite ih da se ohlade prije posluživanja.

* za one koji žive u Italiji, savjetujem robiolu

Pink Caramelle with Ricotta and Mushrooms

2011-11-11T17:22:00.003+01:00

Trick or treat?
Both, I'd say. A trick because these caramelle (candies) are not real, sugar candies, but they're a type of pasta. Treat, because they are so delicious, you won't even be sorry you didn't get any candies ^__^
I've had these on my mind for weeks, maybe even months. But the moment was never right, one or the other ingredient missing, no time, no something.
The idea was picked here and there, bits and pieces that I finally put together. Don't they look cute? Not only because of the colour, but the shape as well. As far as taste, you'll have to make them for yourself, as I'm keeping mine jealously for Sunday lunch, but if you think you can trust me... they're divine.

There's a bit of work when making homemade pasta, but the pleasure of serving it at the table will make you forget everything. And then even the game itself is worth it. Thinking about the shape, about the filling, about the seasoning. I must say I really enjoy the whole process from the beginning to the end. There are lot more ideas swirling through my brain, so I can't wait to take my pasta machine out again.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Pink Caramelle with Ricotta and Mushrooms

Pasta:
* 250 g flour
* 2 eggs
* 3 TBspoons beetroot juice
* a pinch of salt

Filling:
* 200 g ricotta cheese
* 150 g mixed mushrooms or only porcini
* 1 egg
* 2 TBspoons grated parmigiano cheese
* 1/2 small onion
* 10 g butter
* salt and pepper

For serving:
* butter
* sage leaves
* some porcini mushrooms, thinly sliced
* grated parmigiano

Sift the flour on the kneading board and form a deep well in the middle. Put the eggs and a pinch of salt in the middle. Start whisking them with a fork (gently, so they don't escape).
Add the beetroot juice, continue whisking with a fork, gradually adding the surrounding flour. At this point it is quite probable the eggs will start escaping so be quick in bringing everything together. Knead the pasta until homogeneous. In the beginning it may seem to stiff, but it will relax.
Wrap the thus formed dough in a piece of plastic wrap and let it rest about 1 hour at room temperature.

Divide the dough into 4-5 parts. Shape each into a little log and roll it out a little bit with a rolling pin dusting it generously with flour.
NOTE: when making filled pasta like ravioli, tortelloni and similar, I always work with one piece of the dough at a time - that is to say I complete the whole process from rolling the dough out to filling and shaping it before I take the another piece of pasta, avoiding thus the pasta getting dry and hard to shape, but it's also the question of space in my case.
Pass the rolled out piece of dough through the pasta maker (starting from mark 1 and passing to a higher number the next time; I usually end up with a very thin pasta, mark 8, on a scale from 1 to 9).

Cut the rolled out pasta into rectangles or squares (approx. 8x9, or 8x8 cm).
Put a small quantity of filling in the middle. Brush the edges of each rectangle with a little water. Roll the dough around the filling and then twist the two ends (basicly imagine you were wrapping a candy with a piece of wrapping paper.
Place the "candies" on a well floured cardboard tray or a mash pasta drying tray (picture on the right) and proceede with the nexte piece of the pasta waiting its turn.

The filling:
Slice or dice the mushrooms (I couldn't find any fresh porcini, so I used the frozen mixed mushrooms).
Finely chop the onion. Put it in a skillet in which you melted and heated the butter. Cook the onion on low heat until soft and translucent.
Add the mushrooms and sautee until they are soft and most of the liquid they release has evaporated. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Set to cool and then chop them very finely.
Whisk the ricotta cheese, the parmigiano and an egg in a bowl. Add the mushrooms. Check if you need more salt (I found the filling very, very tasty at this stage, almost ate it with a spoon).

Cooking and serving:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it, lower the heat and add the pasta. It is important to cook the filled pasta in lightly simmering water, or it may loose it's filling in the cooking water, and you might find yourself with a bowl of cheese soup.
It takes no more than a couple minutes for pasta to get cooked.
Heat the butter with a 3-4 fresh sage leaves (if you have any mushrooms left add a couple slices as well).
Season the pasta with hot butter and serve with some grated parmigiano.

NOTE: fresh pasta should be cooked almost immediately. If you're making it in advance, then I suggest you freeze it (it will keep well in the freezer at least 3-4 months) - freeze on tray(s) and then move to freezing bags. When you want to cook it, there's no need to defrost it, just drop it in the boiling water.

Caramelle rosa con ricotta e funghi

Sfoglia:
* 250 g farina
* 2 uova
* 3 cucchiai di succo di barbabietole rosse
* un pizzico di sale

Ripieno:
* 200 g di ricotta soda
* 150 g di funghi misti o solo porcini
* 1 uovo
* 2 cucchiai di parmigiano grattugiato
* 1/2 cipolla piccola
* 10 g di burro
* sale e pepe

Per servire:
* burro
* salvia
* un po' di porcini affettati
* parmigiano grattugiato

Sfoglia:
Setacciate la farina e formate la classica fontana. Aggiungete le uova e sbattetele leggermente con una forchetta. Aggiungete il succo di barbabietola e continuando a sbattere con la forchetta cominciate a incorporare la farina.
Impastate bene, avvolgetela con la pellicola e lasciatela riposare 1 ora a temperatura ambiente.
Dividete la pasta in 4-5 parti che lavorerete uno alla volta, lasciando il resto coperto con la pellicola.
Stendete ogni pezzo prima con il mattarello, infarinandolo bene, e poi con la macchina per la pasta (partendo dal numero più piccolo passando ai numeri più alti ad ogni passaggio - per la pasta ripiena di solito arrivo fino a 8, sulla scala da 1 a 9).
Tagliate la sfoglia in rettangoli o quadrati (circa 8x9 o 8x8 cm) e inumidite i bordi con un po' d'acqua. Mettete al centro un po' di ripieno e avvolgetelo con due latti opposti del rettangolo. Fate aderire la pasta intorno al ripieno e poi girate come per formare una caramella.
Lasciate le caramelle già formate su un vassoio di carta ben infarinato o sul apposito vassoio con la rete.

Ripieno:
Tagliate i funghi a pezzi o listarelle. Soffriggete la cipolla tagliata fine con il burro. Unite i funghi e fateli insaporire per qualche minuto (devono prima ammorbidirsi e poi asciugarsi quasi completamente). Salate e pepate.
In una terrina mescolate bene la ricotta con l'uovo e parmigiano. Unite i funghi, aggiustate di sale se necessario.

Cottura:
Portate a ebollizione una pentola con l'acqua. Salatela, abbassate la fiamma e mettete la pasta (per evitare che la pasta ripiena si apra in cottura e il suo prezioso contenuto viene perso, non cuocetela a fuoco troppo alto, basta che l'acqua sobbolle).
Scaldate il burro con qualche foglia di salvia fresca e condite la pasta. Servitela con parmigiano grattugiato.

Ružičaste karamele s ricottom i gljivama

Tijesto:
* 250 g brašna
* 2 cijela jaja
* 3 žlice soka od cikle
* prstohvat soli

Punjenje:
* 200 g čvrste ricotte
* 150 g miješanih gljiva ili samo vrganja
* 1 jaje
* 2 žlice naribanog parmezana
* 1/2 manje glavice crvenog luka
* 10 gmaslaca
* sol i papar

Posluživanje:
* maslac
* 3-4 listića kadulje
* naribani parmezan

Prosijte brašno na dasku. Napravite veću udubinu u sredini (razmaknite brašno toliko da se vidi daska).
Razbijte jaja u sredinu i prstohvat soli i lagano ih razmutite vilicom.
Dodajte sok od cikle i polako umiješajte vilicom u jaja, a onda postepeno dodajite okolno brašno (pazite jer jaja lako pobjegnu van).
Zamijeste čvrsto tijesto (može vam trebati malo manje ili više brašna ovisno o veličini jaja).
Omotajte tijesto prozirnom folijom da se ne osuši i ostavite ga da se odmara 1 sat na sobnoj temperaturi.
Podijelite tijesto na 4-5 dijelova.
Svaki prvo malo razvaljajte oklagijom na pobrašnjenoj dasci, a onda rastanjite na stroju za tjesteninu što tanje (ja rastanjim do 8 na skali od 1-9).
Radite s jednim po jednim dijelom tijesta dok vam je ostatak pokriven da se ne suši.
Rastanjeno tijesto izrežite na pravokutnike (moji su bili 8x9 cm) ili kvadrate.
Stavite na sredinu žličicu nadjeva i prvo zarolajte (navlažite rubove vodom da se bolje zalijepe), stisnite tijesto oko nadjeva, a onda uvrnite krajeve kao papir za karamele.
Stavljajte ih na pobrašnjeni kartonski pladanj (ili ovakav pladanj za sušenje s mrežicom).
Ostavite ih da se prosuše 10-ak minuta, a onda ih ili odmah kuhajte ili zamrznite na pladnju pa premjestite u vrećice i čuvajte u zamrzivaču do upotrebe (3-4 mjeseca). Smrznutu tjesteninu ne odmrzavati već staviti kuhati smrznutu u kipuću vodu.
Imala sam malo viška tijesta pa sam ga samo izrezala na rezance/ tagliatelle.

Punjenje od ricotte i gljiva:
Očistitte luk i što sitnije ga nasjeckajte.
Zagrijte u tavi malo maslaca (oko 10 g), popržite luk dok ne postane staklast, dodajte narezane gljive i pirjajte ih dok ne odmeknu i voda koju su pustile skoro sva ispari. Posolite i popaprite po ukusu.
Posolite i popaprite, ostavite da se prohlade, a onda ih još dodatno sitno isjeckajte.
*ja sam imala samo smrznute gljive (miješane).
Pomiješajte ricottu i jaje u zdjeli.
Dodajte gljive i parmezan, po potrebi još dosolite.

Priprema i posluživanje:
Skuhajte tjesteninu u dosta posoljene ključale vode. Neka voda ne ključa jako (kad proključa smanjite vatru i dodajte tjesteninu), da se pasta ne bi otvorila i punjenje iscurilo (ovo vrijedi za sve vrste punjene tjestenine).
Potrebno je svega par minuta da se skuha.
U međuvremenu zagrijte u tavi maslac s listićima kadulje i malo gljiva nasjeckanih na listiće (može i samo maslac i kadulja).
Dodajte kuhanu tjesteninu, pažljivo promiješajte i poslužite s naribanim parmezanom.

Chocolate Cake with Saffron

2011-11-08T14:18:00.000+01:00

Tried to resist... and I did... for a while, that is to say... until Sunday afternoon...
You've noticed there's been a whole series of savoury posts, and maybe even wondered what happened to my desserts. Have been making very few, to say the truth, some cookies ('cause I need them at least with my coffee in the morning), some muffins occasionally when there are some overripe bananas sitting around.
And then, the idea of a chocolate cake stuck like a mosquito in my head. Even though my husband told me I couldn't make any more cakes until I found a job, a new house, and a new car (phew!!!), I still made it!
It came out that I wasn't the only one craving it.
After the cake was done, I left it still in the baking pan on the stove top and went out of the kitchen.
10 minutes later, two little hands holding a plate with a big slice of cake each, stood in front of me with an ear-to-ear smile, "Look, we cut the cake on our own and helped ourselves". Proud and happy.
Little women growing up... But what was left of my cake looked rather like a battle field.
I thought I wouldn't be able to take a picture at all, but after some tailoring I managed to make it presentable.

The cake is very rich in texture and flavour (no wonder, with all that butter and chocolate), wonderfully moist.
I don't know if you've ever tried saffron in a dessert, I already have, several times. You may find it surprising, but it adds a little particular tone where you wouldn't expect it, in a sweet recipe, that is to say.
My kids loved it, I doubt you wouldn't, too. But just in case you don't like saffron, you may substitute it with some vanilla extract, rum or similar.

Chocolate Cake with Saffron

Cake
* 200 g dark chocolate (50% cocoa), melted and cooled
* 200 g butter, at room temperature
* 4 eggs
* 80 g sugar
* 80 g flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 sachet of powdered saffron (the whole sachet is 0,125 g / 0,0044 oz)
* 50 ml milk
Zabaione
* 3 egg yolks
* 3 TBspoons sugar
* 60 ml sweet marsala wine
* a pinch of powdered saffron

Melt the chocolate in a microwave oven or over a saucepan with simmering water and set aside to cool.
Put the softened butter and the sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the saffron, the chocolate and finally the flour sifted together with the baking powder. Add the milk and mix just enough to have a homogeneous batter.
Pour the batter into a 22-24 cm springform, lined with baking paper, greased and floured (or you can bake it in a muffin tin to have a single portion cakes).
Level the surface and bake the cake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 50 minutes (check with a wooden stick inserted in the middle), the cake should be baked, but still soft and moist, so don't overbake it.
Let it cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then move it to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

For zabaione, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a small saucepan, pour in the marsala wine, add the saffron and then cook on low heat for a couple minutes stirring continuously until the cream gets slightly denser, soft and foamy.
Serve the cake with warm or cold zabaione.

Torta di cioccolato allo zafferano

Torta
* 200 g di cioccolato fondente
* 200 g burro
* 4 uova
* 80 g zucchero
* 80 g farina "00"
* 1 cucchiaino di lievito in polvere
* 1/2 bustina di zafferano in polvere
* 50 ml latte
Zabaione
* 3 tuorli d'uovo
* 3 cucchiai di zucchero
* 60 ml di Marsala dolce
* un pizzico di zafferano in polvere

Imburrate e infarinate uno stampo a cerniera di diametro 22-24 cm.
Accendete il forno a 180°C.
Sciogliete il cioccolato nel forno a microonde o a bagnomaria, e lasciatelo raffreddare.
Lavorate il burro ammorbidito con lo zucchero usando uno sbattitore elettrico, finché cremoso e spumoso.
Unite le uova, uno alla volta, e poi lo zafferano, il cioccolato, e infine la farina setacciata con il lievito e il latte.
Versate nello stampo che avete preparato e cuocete nel forno caldo per circa 50 minuti. Verificate se la torta è cotta con uno stuzzicadenti infilato al centro.
Lasciate la torta nello stampo per 5 minuti, poi aprite lo stampo e trasferitela su una griglia e lasciatela raffreddare completamente.

Zabaione
Mettete i tuorli e lo zucchero in un tegamino e mescolate bene con una frusta a mano. Versate il marsala a filo e aggiungete lo zafferano. Mettete a cuocere a fuoco bassissimo per qualche minuto finché la crema sarà spumosa e soffice.
Servite la torta con lo zabaione caldo o freddo.

Ovomjesečna tema naše blogerske igrice, Ajme koliko nas je, jako me razveselila. Dilajla s bloga Svaštarica odabrala je šafran, jedan od začina koji volim i često koristim (koliko mogu, naravno, budući da se radi o najskupljem začinu na svijetu). Od rižota, do juhe, i raznih drugih slanih jela, lako nalazi primjenu kod mene, a nisam zaobišla ni slatke. Već ranije sam objavila recept za kuglice od ricotte sa šafranom, nedavno sam probala i krem desert sa šafranom i mangom, ostalo mi je naravno isprobati i ovaj za čokoladnu tortu.
Torta je odlična sama po sebi (tko ne voli šafran mogao bi je jednostavno malo obogatiti vanilijom, rumom ili sl.), bogate strukture i okusa, ali savršeno mekana i nimalo suha. Nije ju potrebno premazivati kremama ili filovati, ali jako fino paše ako je poslužite uz neku kremicu, poput zabaionea, engleske kreme, kreme od vanilije, šlaga i sl. Šafran joj dodaje jednu nijansu okusa više.
Kod mene su je čak i djeca u slast jela. Čak što više, od nestrpljenja, skoro da sam ostala bez torte za slikanje (ono što vidite na slikama iskrojeni su ostaci koje sam uspjela spasiti nakon što su je cure vješto izrezale) ^__^

Čokoladna torta sa šafranom

Torta
* 200 g tamne čokolade (najmanje 50% kakaa)
* 200 g maslaca
* 4 jaja
* 80 g šećera
* 80 g brašna
* 1 žličica praška za pecivo
* 1/2 vrećice šafrana u prahu (cijela vrećica je 0,125 g)
* 50 ml mlijeka
Zabaione
* 3 žumanjaka
* 3 žlica šećera
* 60 ml slatkog marsala vina (ili prošeka)
* na vrh žličice šafrana u prahu

Uključite pećnicu na 180°C.
Kalup za tortu promjera 22-24 cm obložite papirom za pečenje, namastite i pobrašnite (umjesto torte, možete napraviti peći u kalupima za muffine, pa ćete imati pojedinačne tortice).
Nakidajte ili nasjeckajte čokoladu i otopite je u mikrovalnoj ili na pari. Ostavite da se prohladi.
Maslac sobne temperature umutite pjenasto sa šećerom.
I dalje muteći mikserom, dodajte jedno po jedno jaje, a zatim šafran, otopljenu čokoladu i na kraju brašno prosijano s praškom za pecivo.
Dodajte na kraju mlijeko.
Sipajte tijesto u pripremljeni kalup i poravnajte žlicom ili špatulom.
Pecite kolač u zagrijanoj pećnici oko 50 minuta - provjerite drvenim štapićem zabodenim u sredinu, torta treba ostati mekana i sočna.

Zabaione
Izmiješajte žumanjke sa šećerom.
Ulijte u tankom mlazu marsalu i dodajte šafran.
Premjestite smjesu u šerpicu (ili stavite iznad posude s kipućom vodom pa kuhajte na pari) i kuhajte na jako niskoj vatri miješajući pjenjačom ili drvenom žlicom dok se krema ne zgusne i postane pjenasta i mekana. Ako primijetite da se slučajno malo zgrušaju jaja, procijedite kroz gusto cjedilo.

Poslužite tortu uz hladan ili topao zabaione, možete i bez, ali iskreno preporučam kombinaciju

Chicken Stirfry with Vegetables and Rosemary

2011-11-07T10:24:00.000+01:00

As much as I like complicated things, and enjoy the challenge of preparing them, I often need a quick everyday meal that can be prepared in more or less 30 minutes.
This is just a recipe for those occasions when everyone's starving and I need to be real quick or they'll start eating everything they find on their way or in the fridge, but yet don't have to compromise the taste or serve something boring and dull.
Stirfrys are excellent and delicious. Usually you do everything in just one skillet, but I wanted to save save oil (and to add that little "must complicate" thing) and rather grilled the chicken on a grilling pan - lighter taste, and less fat. The best part, however, at least for me, are the veggies. Cooked shortly, and on a relatively high heat, they are cooked just right, stay crunchy and become much tastier than in a salad.
I hope you too will find an occasion to try this quick and delicious dish, rich and simple at the same time, and that you'll love the flavour orange juice and balsamic vinegar add to it.

Chicken Stirfry with Vegetables and Rosemary

(4 servings):
* 600-700 g chicken breast (skinless and boneless)
* 2 rosemary twigs
* 1 clove of garlic
* 2 bell peppers (1 yellow and 1 red)
* 1 leek
* 1 zucchini
* juice of 1 orange
* 2 TBspoons balsamic vinegar
* extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper

Cut the chicken breasts into strips - first cut into approx. 1 cm thick slices (against the grain) and then half each.
Season the meat with salt and pepper, and oil just slightly.
Heat the grilling pan.
Separate the rosemary leaves from the twigs and chop as finely as possible.
Crush the garlic clove with a knife handle and then clean it.
Wash, clean and chop all the vegetables - peppers, leeks and zucchini (cut the zucchini in half lenghthwise and then into not too thin slices).

Grill the chicken on a hot grilling pan for a few minutes, on all sides. Leave the meat in a plate while preparing the vegetables.
Heat 2-3 TBspoons of olive oil in a deep skillet with the garlic clove and the chopped rosemary.
Add the peppers first and stir fry for 5 minutes on medium high heat.
Add the leek and stir fry for 5 more minutes.
Add the zucchini and the grilled chicken strips and stir fry for 3-4 minutes all together.

Salt to taste, pour in the freshly squeezed orange juice and the balsamic vinegar. Cook for a couple more minutes for almost all the liquid to evaporate.
Serve warm.

Un piatto veloce da preparare, circa 30-35 minuti in tutto, da mettere in tavola quando avete fretta o un esercito affamato che aspetta la cena. Ma non solo.
Straccetti di pollo saporiti e un misto di verdure croccanti, insaporiti con rosmarino, arancia e aceto balsamico.
Buon appetito!

Padellata ti pollo e verdure al rosmarino

(per 4 persone):
* 600-700 g di petto di pollo
* 2 rametti di rosmarino
* 1 spicchio d'aglio
* 2 peperoni (1 giallo e 1 rosso)
* 1 porro
* 1 zucchina
* succo di 1 arancia
* 2 cucchiai di aceto balsamico
* olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale e pepe

Tagliate il petto di pollo prima a fettine in sbieco, nel senso di spessore, e poi tagliate ciascuna fettina a metà. condite la carne con sale, pepe e un filo d'olio. Scaldate bene una bistecchiera.
Staccate gli aghi dai rametti di rosmarino e tritateli finemente.
Schiacciate e pelate lo spicchio d'aglio.
Pulite tutte le verdure, lavatele e asciugatele. Tagliate il porro a rondelle, i peperoni a piccole losanghe, la zucchina a metà nel senso della lunghezza e poi a fettine non troppo sottili.
Grigliate i straccetti di pollo sulla bistecchiera calda per qualche minuto, girandoli con una spatola. Trasferiteli in un piatto e teneteli al caldo.
Soffriggete l'aglio e il rosmarino tritato in una padella con 2-3 cucchiai di olio d'oliva.
Aggiungete i peperoni e cuoceteli per 5 minuti.
Unite i porri e proseguite la cottura per altri 5 minuti.
Infine unite la zucchina e il pollo, aggiustate di sale e saltate tutto a fuoco vivo per 3-4 minuti.
Irrorate con il succo dell'arancia filtrata e l'aceto balsamico. Lasciate evaporare parte dell'liquido e servite caldo.

Brza i jednostavna priprema sigurno će vas privući kod ovog recepta, a za nagradu dobit ćete ukusne pileće trakice i krokantni miks povrća sve obogaćeno ružmarinom, narančom i balzamičnim octom.
Kušajte i uživajte.
Dobar tek!

Piletina s povrćem i ružmarinom

(za 4 osobe):
* 600-700 g pilećih prsa (bez kože i kostiju)
* 2 grančice ružmarina
* 1 češanj bijelog luka
* 2 paprike (1 crvena i 1 žuta)
* 1 poriluk
* 1 tikvica
* 1 naranča (iscijeđeni sok)
* 2 žlice balzamičnog octa
* maslinovo ulje
* sol i papar

Meso narežite na trakice - prvo narežite na ploške po širini, a zatim svaku plošku na pola.
Posolite i popaprite meso po ukusu. Malo ga nauljite.
Zagrijte gril tavu.
Listiće ružmarina odvojite od grančica i sitno nasjeckajte.
Češanj bijelog luka prvo malo pritisnite drškom noža, a onda ga očistite.
Operite i očistite povrće.
Paprike narežite na komadiće, poriluk na kolutiće, a tikvicu prvo prerežite na pola po dužini, a zatim na ne previše tanke ploškice.
Ispecite meso na dobro zagrijanoj gril tavi.
Izvadite ga na tanjur i držite na toplom.
Možete također umjesto na gril tavi, meso popržiti u tavi na ulju, izvaditi ga, a onda nastaviti s pripremom povrća kao što je opisano u sljedećem koraku.
Zagrijte 2-3 žlice maslinovog ulja u dubokoj tavi zajedno s češnjakom i sitno nasjeckanim ružmarinom.
Dodajte prvo paprike i pirjajte ih 5 minuta na srednje jakoj vatri miješajući često.
Dodajte zatim poriluk i pirjajte još 5 minuta.
Umiješajte na kraju tikvice i meso. Pirjajte još 3-4 minute.
Dosolite, ulijte filtrirani svježe iscijeđeni sok naranče i balzamični ocat. Kratko još propirjajte da dio tekućine ispari (1-2 minute), maknite s vatre i poslužite.

Carrot buns

2011-11-05T22:50:00.000+01:00

Did I tell you about my bread baking kick lately? It doesn't really go well with my attempt to lose a few kilos stored during the last summer's vacation, but every bread I tried making during these past few weeks was so good that I couldn't help it making more and more. Especially after I've tried making bread with "biga". I'll tell you about those in some other post, because today I just wanted to share the cutest and softest buns I've ever made. They were soft like little pillows, and they were just as good and soft the following day, too. Which I rarely, almost never, found in other buns.
I think even Bugs Bunny would love them, wouldn't he? ^__^
It may sound and look a little messy making them, but trust me, make these and you won't be sorry.

Carrot Buns

Dough:
* 320 g bread or AP flour
* 10 g fresh yeast (or 3 g dry yeast)
* 170 ml water
* 100 g finely shredded carrots
* 10 g salt
Rye cover:
* 100 g rye flour
* 50 ml carrot juice
* 1,5 g fresh yeast

Wash, peel and finely shred the carrots.
*I decided to make my own juice, so I shredded 6-7 carrots and strained them well through a cheesecloth. I used the 100 g of the shredded and strained carrots for the dough and used the rest for a salad.
Put lukewarm water (30°C) in a mixing bowl, add the yeast and dissolve it.
Add the sifted flour (except 50 g, you'll need later for kneading). When the water has absorbed the flour (I mixed everything with my hands) add the carrots and salt.
Transfer on a kneading board and, adding the remaining flour as necessary, knead the dough for a few minutes until soft and homogeneous.
Put it in a clean bowl, cover and leave for 1 hour in a warm place.
For the rye cover, mix the carrot juice, the yeast and flour. You'll get a soft, sticky mixture. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

When the dough has risen, put it on a lightly floured kneading board and divide into 60-65 g heavy pieces. Shape each into a ball, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
Take each piece of the dough and roll it with your hand into a cone shape (thicker on one end and thiner on the other), resembling a carrot. Flatten it slightly.
When you have shaped all the "carrots", spread the rye cover over the surface - wet fingers are the easiest method for doing this.
Place them on a lightly floured baking sheet and sprinkle with rye flour.

Cover the buns, let them rest for 30 minutes again and turn the oven to 200°C.
Place an empty, shallow baking dish on the bottom of the oven and pour in a glass of water when you put the buns in, close the door immediately, so you don't lose the steam. The bun will be nice and crispy.
Bake the buns for about 15 minutes and then take out and let cool on a cooling rack.

These buns are excellent if served with fresh cheese (like cottage cheese, ricotta, robiola, stracchino, goats cheese etc.).

Panini alle carote

Pasta:
* 320 g di farina "0"
* 10 g di lievito di birra fresco
* 170 ml di acqua
* 100 g di carote grattugiate
* 10 g sale
Copertura di segale:
* 100 g farina di segale
* 50 ml succo di carote
* 1,5 g di lievito di birra fresco

Lavate, mondate e grattugiate le carote.
*Per fare anche il succo, ho grattugiato un po' di più carote (6 o 7) e le ho strizzate bene attraverso la garza per far uscire più succo possibile. 100 g di carote ho usato per l'impasto, e il resto per l'insalata.
Scaldate l'acqua a 30°C. Mettetela in una ciotola, aggiungete il lievito sbriciolato e fatelo sciogliere.
Unite la farina, non tutta, lasciate circa 50 g per lavorare l'impasto dopo. Quando l'acqua ha assorbito tutta la farina, unite le carote grattugiate e il sale. Impastate bene e lavorate la pasta su un piano di lavoro infarinato aggiungendo man mano la restante farina. Formate una palla, mettetela nella ciotola pulita, coprite e lasciate lievitare per 1 ora in un luogo caldo.
Per la copertura di segale, mescolate il succo di carote con il lievito e la farina di segale. Lasciate riposare per 30 minuti.
Riprendete la pasta alla carote e dividetela in pezzi di 60-65 g di peso. Formate le paline e lasciatele riposare coperte per 10 minuti.
Prendete una pallina di pasta e allungatela con il palmo della mano per ottenere una forma conica (in modo da farla assomigliare a una carota) e appiattitela leggermente.
Rivestite i panini cosi formati con la copertura di segale aiutandovi con le mani leggermente inumidite con l'acqua. Infarinateli con la farina di segale e metteteli su una placca da forno rivestita con la carta da forno e leggermente infarinata.
Coprite la teglia e lasciateli riposare ancora per 30 minuti.
Nel frattempo riscaldate il forno a 200°C. Potete anche mettere una teglia vuota sul fondo del forno nel quale verserete un bicchiere d'acqua nel momento di infornare i panini. In questo modo, cuocendoli con il vapore, avrete dei panini con la crosticina sottile e croccante.
Cuocete i panini per circa 15 minuti.

Servite questi panini con dei formaggi freschi (tipo robiola, stracchino, caprino ecc) e le carote a julliene.

Peciva mrkvice

Tijesto:
* 320 g brašna
* 10 g svježeg kvasca (ili 3 g suhog)
* 170 ml vode
* 100 g naribane mrkve
* 10 g soli
Premaz:
* 100 g raženog brašna
* 50 ml soka od mrkve
* 1,5 gsvježeg kvasca

Operite, očistite i naribajte mrkvu.
* Ja sam naribala 6-7 komada i onda ih procijedila kroz gazu da dobijem sok za premaz. Sok možete napraviti i posebno u sokovniku, ako vam je lakše, a naribati samo 100 g mrkve koliko je potrebno za tijesto.
Stavite u zdjelu umlačenu vodu (30°), dodajte namrvljeni kvasac i izmiješajte rukom da se istopi.
Dodajte brašno, ne odmah sve, ostavite oko 50 g za doradu.
Kad je voda upila svo brašno, kratko izmijesite, a zatim dodajte naribanu mrkvu i sol.
Dobro izmijesite na dasci dodajući preostalo brašno po potrebi dok ne dobijete glatko i podatno tijesto.
Stavite ga u zdjelu i ostavite na toplom mjestu oko 1 sat.
Za premaz pomiješajte sok od mrkve (ako od mrkve koju ste iscijedili niste dobili dovoljno soka, možete dodati i malo vode do 50 ml) s kvascem i raženim brašnom. Ostavite da odmara 30 minuta.
Podijelite tijesto na jednake dijelove teške otprilike 60-65 g (ja sam dobila 9 komada).
Oblikujte loptice pa ostavite da odmore 10 minuta na dasci, pokrivene.
Svaku lopticu valjajte dlanom da dobijete duguljasti oblik širi na jednom, a uži na drugom kraju, poput stošca, i malo spljoštite (da oblikom podsjeća na mrkvu).
Nanesite rukom premaz od mrkve i raženog brašna. Malo navlaženim prstima ga ravnomjerno rasporedite po površini peciva.
Pobrašnite s malo raženog brašna i stavljajte ih na pleh pokriven papirom za pečenje i posut s malo brašna.
Pokrijte i ostavite peciva da se dižu 30 minuta.
U međuvremenu zagrijte pećnicu na 200°C (ja sam zajedno s pećnicom zagrijala i prazan pleh na dnu, u koji sam ulila čašu vode nakon što sam peciva stavila peći radi pare).
Pecite peciva u zagrijanoj pećnici oko15 minuta.

Ova su peciva savršeno slažu sa svježim sirevima (kravljim, kozjim, itd.)

Risotto alla Milanese

2011-11-04T18:47:00.001+01:00

The toasted rice, the wine that evaporates quickly, addition of small quantity of stock until the rice is cooked al dente - these are just a few secrets of a well prepared risotto. The basic ones. Then you can use your imagination, add different types of cheese, sausage, mushrooms, crunchy pancetta, spices and herbs to create something new every time, and adapt it easily to your taste.
Another secret for a good risotto, of course, is the choice of rice. Not every rice is the same. Some chefs choose Arborio, others Carnaroli or Vialone nano. All three of them are very resistant in cooking and will stay al dente in the end. Personaly, I like my risotto to be creamy and well mantecated. I've used mostly arborio and carnaroli over the past years but I have started using vialone nano lately with really satisfactory results (like in this recipe for Risotto alla Milanese). At the moment, it's my favourite of the three.
Before moving to Italy I had no idea of how a good risotto should be prepared. My first attempts were not bad but I had a lot to learn. As it often happens, the most simple things depend a lot on the right preparation and combination of ingredients.
And even though a risotto can be considered a quick and simple dish, when you decide to make it, make sure you are there for it and enjoy every moment you dedicate to its preparation. You'll enjoy preparing it as much as you'll enjoy eating it.

Risotto alla Milanese is one of the classics, once you have mastered it, you'll be able to make any risotto with satisfaction.
It is excellent in all its simplicity, full of flavour. I love the flavour of saffron in it, and I absolutely warn you not to choose a cheaper option and substitute it with for example curcuma, it just want be the same. It is not the colour, but the overall taste that distinguishes this risotto from all the others.
When you are ready to take a further step, you may add some porcini mushrooms as well, and take it to the next level indeed.

Risotto alla Milanese
(4 servings)

* 320 g rice for risotto (arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano)
* 1/2 small onion
* 50 g butter
* 1/2 glass dry white wine
* 1 package (0,12 g) powdered saffron
* about 1,2 litre vegetable or meat stock
* 50 g grated parmigiano cheese
* salt

Clean and chop the onion very finely.
Put the chopped onion and 30 g of butter in a casserole and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent making sure it doesn't burn (if it should get dark, add a spoonful or two of hot water).
In the meantime, dry toast the rice in a skillet for a couple minutes stirring it with a wooden spoon.
Add the rice to the casserole with onion and mix well so that the rice is coated with butter evenly.
Pour in the wine and let it evaporate completely on high heat.
Start adding the stock - 2 ladles the first time, and then one ladle at a time, every time the previously added stock has been absorbed. There is no need to stir the rice continuously, but do give it a good stir after each addition of stock. Make sure it's never dry, but don't add too much stock either.
After approximately 2/3 of cooking time (approx. after 10-12 minutes) add the saffron dissolved in a spoonful of hot stock.
Continue cooking the risotto, adding the stock, until the rice is cooked al dente (total time is about 16-18 minutes). Don't let the risotto get too dry after the last addition.
Adjust the flavour adding salt to your taste.
Remove from heat, add the remaining 20 g of butter, the grated parmigiano and give it an energic stir until the cheese and the butter have melted. Cover and let the risotto rest for 2 minutes before serving.

You may serve this risotto alone, as a first dish (primo piatto) srinkled with a few saffron threads and additional parmigiano, or as a side dish with Ossobuco alla Milanese.

Risotto alla milanese
(per 4 persone)

* 320 g riso per risotti (arborio, carnaroli o vialone nano)
* 1/2 cipolla
* 50 g burro
* 1/2 bicchiere di vino bianco secco
* 1 bustina (0,12 g) di zafferano in polvere
* circa 1,2 litri di brodo di verdure o di carne
* 50 g parmigiano grattugiato
* sale

Spellate la cipolla e riducetela a dadini piccolissimi.
Sciogliete 30 g di burro in una casseruola e aggiungete la cipolla. Lasciate stufare per 5 minuti a fuoco bassissimo mescolando ogni tanto con un cucchiaio di legno, finché la cipolla diventi morbida e trasparente. Se dovesse colorirsi aggiungete un paio di cucchiai di brodo caldo.
Tostate il riso in una padella antiaderente, senza aggiungere grassi. Trasferitelo poi nella casseruola e mescolatelo per amalgamarlo bene alla cipolla.
Bagnate con il vino e lasciatelo evaporare a fuoco vivace.
Versate 2 mestoli di brodo bollente sul riso e mescolate.
Proseguite la cottura unendo man mano che si assorbe altro brodo bollente a mestoli mescolando.
A circa 2/3 della cottura (dopo circa 10-12 minuti) aggiungete lo zafferano diluito in un mestolo di brodo.
Continuate la cottura finché il riso è cotto al dente e regolate di sale. Non lasciatelo asciugare troppo dopo l'ultima aggiunta di brodo, lasciatelo a onda.
Spegnete il fuoco, aggiungete il burro rimasto e il parmigiano. Mescolate energicamente e lasciate mantecare coperto per 2 minuti prima di servire.
Guarnite a piacere con stimmi di zafferano e portate in tavola.

Rižoto alla milanese
(za 4 osobe)

* 320 g riže za rižoto (arborio, carnaroli ili vialone nano)
* 1/2 manje glavice crvenog luka
* 50 g maslaca
* 1/2 čaše suhog bijelog vina
* 1 vrećica (0,12 g) šafrana u prahu
* oko 1,2 litre juhe (mesnog ili povrtnog temeljca)
* 50 g naribanog parmezana
* sol

Tradicionalni recept predviđa također upotrebu goveđe koštane srži (oko 20-30 g) koja se usitni i poprži zajedno s maslacem i lukom na početku pripreme.
Ali nije obavezna, ja je nisam koristila.
Očistite i što sitnije nasjeckajte luk.
Stavite ga u posudu u kojoj ćete kuhati rižoto zajedno s 30 g maslaca i pirjajte na laganoj vatri oko 5 minuta da luk omekša i postane staklast, ali da ne potamni. Ako je neophodno (tj. ako vam luk počne tamniti) dodajte žlicu - dvije tople vode ili juhe.
Posebno u neprijanjajućoj tavi tostirajte rižu par minuta, nasuho bez dodavanja masnoće, miješajući drvenom žlicom.
Dodajte rižu omekšalom luku i dobro izmiješajte.
Zalijte vinom i pustite da ispari na jačoj vatri.
Dodajte 2 grabilice temeljca riži, promiješajte i dalje kuhajte dok riža nije kuhana al dente (ako koristite vrste riže navedene u sastojcima to je oko 16-18 minuta).
Dodajite po grabilicu juhe svaki put kad je prethodna skoro sva upijena i promiješajte.
Nije neophodno miješati rižoto neprestano, dovoljno je promiješati ga nakon svakog dodavanja juhe, ali pazite da se ne presuši. Juha mora uvijek biti vruća.
Nakon otprilike 2/3 vremena (znači nekih 10-12 minuta) dodajte šafran koji ste otopili u žlici juhe.
Pred kraj kuhanja posolite po ukusu.
Kad je rižoto kuhan (neka na kraju ne bude ni jako rijedak ni suh, u žargonu se kaže a onda, tj. valovit), maknite ga s vatre, dodajte parmezan i preostalih 20 g maslaca, energično promiješajte da se sir i maslac otope. Poklopite i ostavite rižoto da odmori 1-2 minute, a zatim poslužite.
Po želji ukrasite nitima šafrana.

Ovaj rižete poslužiti sam, kao toplo predjelo, ili kao prilog uz Ossobuco alla milanese.

Odabir riže jako je važan za konačni rezultat. Svaki od poznatih chefova ima svoju omiljenu, bilo da je to arborio, carnaroli ili vialone nano.
Dobar rižoto na kraju pripreme mora imati zrna riže još uvijek lagano al dente (dakle ni slučajno raskuhana), zato su ove tri vrste riže najpogodnije.
Ako volite kremastije rižote onda odaberite vrste bogatije škrobom kao arborio, ili još bolje vialone nano (koju sam ja koristila za ovaj rižoto)

Broccoli and Basil Pâté

2011-11-02T15:37:00.001+01:00

A looooooong weekend of All Saints is behind us. My in-laws left today, and the kids will be back to school only tomorrow. Usually, the evening before going back to school, my older daughter tries to remember everything she's done over the weekend looking for something interesting to tell in class. And this weekend was "rich", apart from being long (two more days and it will be weekend again!!!). We passed different phases from having to stay at home because my daughter had fever and terrible cough (she kept us awake all night), to joy for the arrival of their grandparents and one more tooth being extracted (event that the tooth fairy rewarded generously ^__^). And yesterday we decided to go out for lunch and choose an agriturism near Modena, which is also an acetaia, that is, a place where the traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is produced. The gentle owner, Mr. Paltrinieri, also showed us around and explained the whole process and why the traditional balsamic vinegar is of higher quality and more expensive than the industrially produced balsamic vinegar. I definitely couldn't afford to buy their 50-years aged balsamic vinegar (sold at about 1500 euros per liter), but did go home with a 2-year-old souvenir.
We also tasted their 12-year old balsamic vinegar with parmigiano cheese as an appetizer and a risotto with 4-year-old one. Excellent.

I've been pretty much into bread baking lately, and really wanted to make some rye bread. Not that the others appreciated it much, but I was totally satisfied with the result. While I was still thinking about the bread I came upon the recipe for this fabulous green and they seemed a perfect couple. I even managed to "sell" this combination to my husband who at first just frowned at the sight of this dark bread.The patè is basicly the basil pesto prepared with toasted hazelnuts instead of pinenuts with the addition of bright green broccoli. Delicious combination indeed.

Broccoli and Basil Paté
(from Cucina Naturale magazine, Oct. 2011)

* 350 g broccoli
* 20 whole hazelnuts
* 1 clove of garlic
* 60 g grated parmigiano cheese
* a bunch of fresh basil leaves (or parsley)
* 3-4 TBspoons extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper (to taste)

Divide the broccoli into florets, if too big, cut each floret in half. Put them in a pot with boiling, salted water and cook for 10 minutes until tender but careful not to overcook it. Drain and put the cooked broccoli into a bowl with cold water and ice so they don't lose their beutiful green colour. Once they are cold drain them again.
Keep a couple TBspoons of water in which you cooked broccoli, you may need it later.
Dry toast the hazelnuts in a skillet shaking and stirring until golden and crunchy. Let them cool.
Carefully wash and pat dry the basil leaves.
Put the basil, the hazelnuts, the cleaned and halved clove of garlic, the parmigiano cheese and 2 TBspoons of EVOO in the bowl of a food processor. Start processing everything adding the remaining oil in a thin streak until you get a smooth pesto.
Add the broccoli, salt and pepper to your taste. Mix again. If too dense add a little cooking water you preserved.
Put the patè in a glass jar, cover the surface with a little extra virgin olive oil and keep refrigarated until use.
Serve the Broccoli and Basil Patè with slices of rye or wholewheat bread, or with crackers and similar.

The Rye Bread in these foto is prepared following the recipe for No Knead Oats Bread in which I substituted 300 g of wheat flour with whole grain rye flower, and used about 1 TBspoon molasses and a little barley malt syrup instead of sugar and honey.

Patè di broccoletti e basilico
(da Cucina naturale, ott. 2011)

* 350 g di broccoletti
* 20 nocciole intere
* 1 spicchio d'aglio
* 60 g parmigiano grattugiato
* 1 mazzetto di basilico fresco (o prezzemolo)
* 3-4 cucchiai di olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale e pepe

Dividete i broccoletti in cimette, tagliate a metà quelle grandi. Tuffatele in abbondante acqua bollente salata e cuocetele per 10 minuti, finché tenere.
Scolatele conservando un po' d'acqua di cottura. Mettete i broccoli in una terrina con l'acqua fredda e ghiaccio per mantenere il colore verde brillante.Tostate le nocciole in una padella senza olio fino a farle diventare dorate e croccanti.Lavate e asciugate le foglioline di basilico. Mettete il basilico, le nocciole, il parmigiano, l'aglio pulito e privato del germoglio e 2 cucchiai dio olio EVO. Frullate il tutto aggiungendo altro olio a filo ricavando un pesto omogeneo. Unite i broccoletti scolati, sale e pepe e frullate di nuovo aggiungendo un po'di acqua di cottura se dovesse risultare troppo denso. Trasferitelo in un vasetto di vetro, coprite con un filo d'olio e conservate in frigorifero.

Servite questo patè con pane di segale o integrale, o con i cracker, gallette e simili.

Il pane alla segale nelle foto ho fatto con la ricetta per il Pane all'avena, sostituendo 300 g di farina di frumento con la farina integrale di segale, e la melassa e malto al posto di zucchero e miele.

Pašteta od brokule s bosiljkom
(iz časopisa Cucina naturale, list. 2011)

* 350 g brokule
* 20-ak cijelih lješnjaka
* 1 češanj bijelog luka
* 60 g naribanog parmezana
* 1 svežnjić svježeg bosiljka (ili peršina)
* 3-4 žlice maslinovog ulja
* sol i papar po ukusu

Podijelite brokulu na cvjetiće, one veće prerežite na pola. Ubacite ih u veću posudu s kipućom, malo posoljenom vodom i kuhajte 10 minuta, dok brokula nije mekana. Ocijedite i stavite odmah u drugu posudu s hladnom vodom i ledom (da zadrži lijepu zelenu boju), dok se ne ohladi. Sačuvajte par žlica vode u kojoj se kuhala brokula, može vam zatrebati kasnije.
Tostirajte lješnjake u tavi bez masnoće dok nisu zlatne boje i krokantni.
Listove bosiljka operite i posušite tapkajući kuhinjskim papirom.
Stavite bosiljak, ohlađene lješnjake, naribani parmezan, očišćeni češnjak, kojem izvadite klicu iz sredine, i 2 žlice ulja u zdjelu multipraktika. Miksajte dodajući ostatak ulja u tankom mlazu dok ne dobijete prilično gladak pesto. Dodajte dobro ocijeđenu brokulu, sol i papar i izmiksajte ponovo sve skupa. Ako je potrebno, regulirajte gustoću dodajući žlicu ili dvije vode u kojoj se kuhala brokula.
Paštetu stavite u staklenu teglicu, zalijte s maslinovim uljem površinu i čuvajte u hladnjaku.

Poslužite ovu paštetu uz kriške integralnog ili raženog kruha, kao i uz krekere, galette i sl.

Raženi kruh na slici pripremila sam po receptu za Zobeni kruh koji se ne mijesi - napravila sam ga s 300 g raženog i 100 g pšeničnog brašna, med i šećer zamijenila sam jednom žlicom šećerne melase i malo ječmenog slada.

Turkey Roll with Thyme Scented Frittata

2011-10-30T23:30:00.001+01:00

One thing my family loves unconditionally when it comes to food, is roast meat. Whether it's turkey, veal, pork, they don't mind, but start bouncing around the kitchen as soon as they can feel the smell coming out of the oven.
Therefore I'm always looking for something new and different to try. And this seemed a really interesting recipe, an elegant and nice way to jazz up a little bit otherwise boring and little dry turkey.
I must say, though, the kids weren't so crazy about the frittata, as I thought they would be. They normally like it, but I guess the herbs were the aliens they were scared of.
Contrary to them, I love herbs and I try to add them everywhere, especially while I can still enjoy the fresh ones from my balcony.

Turkey Roll with a Thyme Frittata

* about 800 g boneless and skinless turkey breast
* 2 eggs
* 2-3 fresh thyme twigs
* 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley
* 1 marjoram twigs
* 2 rosemary twigs
* 1/2 glass dry white wine
* 2-3 dl vegetable stock
* extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper
* 1 teaspoon corn starch
* 1/2 to 1 TBspoon sour cream

Using a sharp knife or a mezzaluna, finely chop the thyme leaves with parsley and marjoram (only leaves removed from twigs).
Beat the eggs with a fork, add the chopped herbs and salt.
Heat an 18-cm skillet with a tablespoon of oil, pour in the beaten eggs and make a thin frittata.
When done on both sides, transfer the frittata on a plate and let cool.
Cut the turkey breast in a way to get one big slice about 1 cm thick.
Season the meat with salt and pepper and place the frittata on top.
Roll tightly and tie with a piece of cooking twine, inserting a rosemary twig underneath.

Heat a cast iron pot (or a similar baking dish that can be used on stove top and in the oven) with two TBspoons olive oil and then roast the meat on all sides until golden crust has formed.
Add the wine and let evaporate, turning the meat several times to absorb the flavors evenly.
When the wine has almost completely evaporated, add the vegetable stock and the other rosemary twig, cover and transfer into a hot oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes.
Check the meat every now and then, in case the stock has evaporated, add a little bit more.
Take the pot out of the oven, and let it sit covered for 10-15 minutes.
For the gravy, strain the meat juices through a fine mash strainer and put in a small sauce pan (if necessary add a bit more stock). Bring to a boil. Dissolve the corn starch in sour cream and add to the gravy. Cook stirring until it reaches desired density.
Remove the cooking twine and slice the meat.
Serve with vegetables of your choice and the gravy. I served it with Glazed carrots and Brussels sprouts.

Rollé di tacchino con frittata al timo

* circa 800 g di petto di tacchino (tagliato in una larga fettina)
* 2 uova
* 2-3 rametti di timo
* 1 cucchiaino di prezzemolo tritato
* 1 rametto di maggiorana
* 2 rametti di rosmarino
* 1/2 bicchiere di vino bianco
* 2-3 dl brodo di verdure
* olio EVO
* sale e pepe
* 1 cucchiaino di maizena
* 1/2 o 1 cucchiaio di panna acida

Tritate finemente le foglioline di timo, prezzemolo e maggiorana. Sbattete le uova in una ciotola con un po' di sale e al trito di erbe.
Ungete una padella con un cucchiaio d'olio, versatevi le uova e preparate una sottile frittata.
Appiattite la carne tra due fogli di carta da forno, salatela e pepatela. Copritela con la frittata e arrotolatela su se stessa. Legatela con lo spago da cucina inserendo un rametto di rosmarino tra lo spago e la carne.
Scaldate due cucchiai di olio in un tegame e rosolatevi l'arrosto. Irrorate con il vino e lasciatelo evaporare.
Aggiungete il brodo e l'altro rametto di rosmarino, coprite (se non avete un tegame con il coperchio che può andare nel forno, usate un foglio di alluminio). Cuocete l'arrosto nel forno già caldo a 180°C per circa 30 minuti. Controllate durante la cottura e se necessario bagnate con altro brodo caldo.
Togliete l'arrosto dal forno e lasciatelo riposare coperto per 10-15 minuti. Poi togliete lo spago e tagliatelo a fette.
Filtrate il brodo di cottura allungandolo con un'altro po' di brodo se necessario e scaldatelo fino a ebollizione. Sciogliete la maizena nella panna acida e aggiungetela al sugo. Cuocetelo a fuoco lento mescolando fino a addensarlo.
Servite l'arrosto con il sugo e un contorno a piacere, per esempio le verdure glassate al timo.

Bilo koje pečenje da se pravi u mojoj kuhinji, djeca i muž slave čim osjete miris iz kuhinje. Djeca su ovaj put malo frktala nosićima jer im se ona zelenkasta frittata u sredini nije baš sviđala. Problem srećom lako riješen ^__^
Ovo mirisno pečenje i prilogom od povrća s timijanom prilažem kao svoju posljednju ovomjesečnu ulaznicu u igri Ajme koliko nas je, i šaljem ih Katarini s bloga Laka kuharica koja nam je kao temu zadala upravo timijan (majčinu dušicu).

Pureći svitak s frittatom s timijanom

* oko 800 g purećih prsa (u komadu)
* 2 jaja
* 2-3 grančice timijana
* par grančica peršina
* 1 grančica mažurana
* 2 grančice ružmarina
* 1/2 čaše suhog bijelog vina
* 2-3 dl povrtnog temeljca (ili od mesa)
* maslinovo ulje
sol, papar
* 1 žličica škrobnog brašna (gustina)
* 1/2 do 1 žlica kiselog vrhnja

Odvojite listiće timijana i mažurana od grančica pa ih zajedno s peršinom što sitnije nasjeckajte.
Razbijte jaja, dodajte im usitnjeno začinsko bilje, posolite i razmutite vilicom.
Zagrijte tavu sa 1 žlicom ulja i ispecite u njoj tanku frittatu.
Pureće prse izrežite tako da dobijete jednu veliku krišku debljine 1/2 do 1 cm.
Stavite komad papira za pečenje ili plastične folije preko mesa pa istucite malo batom za meso, posolite i popaprite.
Stavite frittatu na meso i zarolajte.
Uvežite kuhinjskom špagom, ispod koje umetnite grančicu ružmarina.
U posudi koja može ići i u pećnicu (ja koristim ovalnu posudu od lijevanog željeza, dutch oven) zagrijte dvije žlice maslinovog ulja s preostalom grančicom ružmarina.
Popecite meso sa svih strana da dobije boju i uhvati se korica.
Ulijte vino i pustite da ispari. Ulijte 2 dl juhe.
Pokrijte aluminijskom folijom (ili ako imate posudu kao ja stavite poklopac) i pecite dalje u pećnici zagrijanoj na 180°C oko 30 minuta. Po potrebi dolijte još juhe tijekom pečenja.
Odstranite špagu i narežite meso na kriške.

Procijedite sokove i masnoće od pečenja kroz mrežasto cjedilo. Zagrijte da provrije, a onda umiješajte 1 žličicu škrobnog brašna koje ste razmutili u 1/2 do 1 žlice kiselog vrhnja. Kratko još prokuhajte da se umak malo zgusne pa ga puslužite toplog uz meso.

Roasted Stuffed Peppers by J. Oliver

2011-10-29T13:04:00.000+02:00

I guess I'm repeating myself, but when I'm in search of a new recipe to use some seasonal fruit of vegetables, my favourite place to search is Jamie's Jamie at Home book. It's so well organized per seasons, with those tempting pictures that simply invite you to try the recipes. I always find his recipes so perfectly balanced and yet simple and easy to make.
I prepared these roasted peppers at the end of summer, with the peppers I brought from my father's. They were really delicious, and had that familiar smell that only homegrown peppers have, nothing to do with the artificial stuff I usually buy at the supermarket.
If you're having a dinner party, barbecue or similar, they can be a perfect appetizer or a side dish, but if you love peppers as much as I do, you may serve them as a main dish as well.
I added some mozzarella di buffala to complete this meal and enjoyed it hundred per cent.

Roasted Stuffed Peppers
(by Jamie Oliver, Jamie at Home)

* 2 yellow bell peppers
* 2 red bell peppers
* sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 clove of garlic
* 25 cherry tomatoes
* 2-3 fresh hot peppers (chilli or other)
* 1-2 TBspoons capers
* a handful of stoned black olives
* fresh basil
* 1 TBspoon wine vinegar
* 3 TBspoons extra virgin olive oil
* 4 big slices of rustic bread
* 4 mozzarellas
* 2 handfuls of arugula (rocket salad)

Turn the oven on to 200°C.
Cut the peppers in half lenghtwise - remove the seeds but leave the stems.
Season them with salt and place on a baking tin lined with baking paper, cut side up.

In a bowl mix together the finely chopped garlic, the tomatoes cut in half, the finely chopped hot peppers, the rinsed and dried capers, the chopped olives and basil leaves.
Season with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. Mix well with your hands.

Fill the empty peppers with this mixture. Jamie also suggests to put a slice of pancetta on top (for a non-vegetarian option).
Cover the whole baking tin with a piece of aluminium foil and bake for 20 minutes. Being baked covered in this way, the peppers will release steam and thus soften.
Remove the aluminium foil and bake for additional 20-30 minutes, until the peppers are golden on edges and crisp.

While the peppers are in the oven, cut the bread slices in half and toast them - I did it on a hot grilling pan.
Place one pepper on each slice of toasted bread, cut it through so that the juices can soak the bread, top it with a mozzarella cut in half and a little arugula salad. Season with sea salt and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.
These peppers can also be served with fish or pureed and served as a soup, any leftovers can be used to season pasta.

Peperoni arosto con peperoncini e pomodorini
(di Jamie Oliver, La mia cucina naturale)

* 2 peperoni gialli
* 2 peperoni rossi
* sale marino e pepe nero appena macinato
* 1 spicchio d'aglio
* 25 pomodorini ciliegia
* 2-3 peperoncini rossi freschi
* 1-2 cucchiai di capperi
* una manciata di olive nere denocciolate
* basilico fresco (un ciuffo)
* 1 cucchiaio di aceto di vino (rosso o bianco)
* 3 cucchiai di olio EVO
* 4 fette di pane
* 4 mozarelle
* 2 manciate di rucola

Scaldate il forno a 200°C.
Tagliate i peperoni a meta per il lungo, togliete i semi, ma lasciate il gambo.
Salateli fuori e dentro e metteteli su una teglia ricoperta con la carta da forno, con il lato tagliato verso l'alto.
In una terrina mescolate l'aglio tagliato finemente, i pomodorini tagliati a metà, i peperoncini affettati, i capperi lavati e asciugati, le olive e le foglie di basilico. Condite con sale, pepe, olio e aceto e mescolate il tutto con le mani.
Riempite ogni mezzo peperone con il ripieno assicurandovi che in ciascuno ci sono tutti gli ingredienti. Versate sopra i peperoni il sughetto rimasto nella terrina. Se vi piace, adagiate sopra ogni peperone una o due fettine di pancetta (per una versione non-vegetariana).
Coprite la teglia con un foglio d'alluminio e infornate per 20 minuti (i peperoni rilasceranno il vapore e si ammorbidiranno a punto giusto).
Scoprite la teglia e cuocete per altri 20-30 minuti fino a quando i peperoni saranno croccanti e con i bordi dorati.
Tostate le fette di pane (tagliate a metà) sulla bistecchiera ben riscaldata. Posate su ogni fetta un peperone arrosto. Incidetelo con un coltello fino ad arrivare al pane che ne assorbirà il sughetto.
Servite con metà mozzarella e un po' di rucola. Completate con un po' di sale marino e un filo d'olio extra vergine d'oliva.

Questi peperoni sono buonissimi anche serviti con del pesce arrosto, quello che avanza si può usare per condire la pasta.

Pečene paprike s ljutim papričicama
(by Jamie Oliver, Jamie at home)

* 2 žute paprike
* 2 crvene paprike
* morska sol i svježe mljeveni crni papar
* 1 češanj bijelog luka
* 25 cherry rajčica
* 2-3 svježe ljute papričice
* 1-2 žlice kapera
* šaka odkoštenih crnih maslina
* svježi bosiljak (listovi)
* 1 žlica vinskog octa
* 3 žlice ekstra djevičanskog maslinovog ulja
* 4 kriške kruha
* 4 mozarelle
* 2 šake rikule

Uključite pećnicu na 200°C.
Paprike prerežite na pola - izvadite sjemenke i unutrašnje pregrade, ali ostavite peteljke.
Nasolite ih i stavite na pleh obložen papirom za pečenje s prerezanom stranom prema gore.

Pomiješajte u zdjeli usitnjeni češnjak, rajčice prerezane na pola, nasjeckane ljute papričice, isprane i posušene kapere, nasjeckane masline i nakidane listiće bosiljka.
Posolite i popaprite, dodajte ocat i ulje pa sve dobro izmiješajte rukama.

Napunite polovice paprika.
Jamie također predlaže da se preko nadjeva stavi i kriška pancette, tko želi.
Pokrijte pleh s paprikama aluminijskom folijom i stavite peći u već zagrijanu pećnicu 20 minuta.
Paprike će ovako pokrivene otpuštati paru i odmeknuti.
Zatim skinite foliju i nastavite peći još 20-30 minuta dok ne postanu krokantne i porumene po rubovima.

Prepecite kriške kruha (ja sam ih prepekla u gril tavi dok su se paprike pekle).
Na svaku krišku kruha stavite pečenu papriku, dodajte pola mozzarelle i malo rikule.
Posolite s mrvicom morske soli i malo maslinovog ulja.

Jamie također kaže da su ove paprike odlične kao prilog ribi s grila, ili ih se može ispasirati, dodati im malo vode i napraviti juhu, ostaci mogu također poslužiti za začiniti tjesteninu.

Fish Medallions with Thyme

2011-10-27T11:38:00.000+02:00

I can't believe this is the very first fish dish on my blog. It's not that we don't eat fish, but I usually prepare it for dinner, and you know, fish must go to the table immediately, there's no time for pictures or stalling. Cold fish is not much to my liking.
The second problem with fish is THOSE who don't like it. HE growls and mumbles as soon as he opens the entrance door and feels the smell coming from the kitchen.
The kids believe it's enough to have it once a week at school (thanks God, at least that they always eat).
And I could eat it more or less every day, if it wasn't so expensive and sometimes troublesome to prepare but even more to eat. You see I mostly like those species like sea bream or other types of sea fish that you just stick in the oven (whole, with the head, skin and everything) with a little olive oil, a few lemon slices and herbs. Delicious, but when you have to clean it for yourself, for your husband and the children, and you're the last one to eat end even get critisized if you miss to remove a bone as if you intentionally tried to kill them. Well, in that case, you may easily opt for types of fish that are easier to prepare.
Fish fillets (although I avoid them, because even more expensive) can be an easy solution to satisfy everyone. When I don't have much time or want to cheat them (shhhhhhhhhh!!!) I use this strategy. And you? Would you be easily attracted by these golden medallions?

Fish Medallions with Thyme

Medallions
* 400 g fish fillets (I used grouper, you can use any fish you like)
* 3 small potatoes
* 3-4 twigs of fresh thyme
* 2 TBspoons extra virgin olive oil
* salt, pepper
* cornflour

Stuffed cherry tomatoes
* 250 g cherry tomatoes
* 4 small zucchini
* 1 clove of garlic
* 10 mint leaves
* extra virgin olive oil
* salt

Carefully wash the potatoes and put them in a pot with cold water. Cook until tender.
Peel them and cut roughly into pieces. Let them cool completely.
Season the fish fillets with salt, pepper, olive oil and thyme leaves. Cook them in a heavy bottom skillet for about 5 minutes on both sides, being careful they don't burn.
Mesh the potatoes with a fork. Add the fish and mix together. Check if there's enough salt for your taste and, with wet hands, shape the mixture into 8 medallions.
Coat them with corn flour. Place them on a baking sheet lined with a slightly oiled piece of baking paper. Drizzle just a little oil over the medallions and bake them for 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 190°C or until lightly golden.

In the meantime, cut the zucchini into tiny sticks or shred them. Put a little EVOO into a skillet with a garlic clove and start warming it up. Add the zucchini and sautee for 10 minutes on medium heat. Salt and put aside to cool. Add the finely chopped mint leaves.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and using a small scooper or a spoon remove all the inside. Salt them on the inside and fill with the zucchini.
Serve these tomatoes as a side dish with fish medallions.

Medaglioni di pesce al timo

Medaglioni:
* 400 g di filletti di pesce (ho usato cernia)
* 3 patate piccole
* 3-4 rametti di timo fresco
* 2 cucchiai di olio EVO
* sale e pepe
* farina di mais per impanatura

Pomodorini ripieni
* 250 g di pomodorini
* 4 zucchine piccole
* 1 spicchio d'aglio
* 10 foglioline di menta
* olio EVO
* sale

Lavate bene le patate e mettetele a bollire. Una volta cotte, spellatele e tagliate a pezzettini. Lasciatele raffreddare.
Condite i filetti di pesce con sale, pepe, olio EVO e foglioline di timo. Cuoceteli in una padella con fondo spesso per circa 5 minuti a fuoco medio, facendo attenzione a non bruciarli.
Schiacciate le patate con un forchetta e unite il pesce. Mescolate bene e aggiustate di sale se necessario.
Con le mani inumidite formate 8 medaglioni e passateli nella farina di mais.
Metteteli su una placca da forno rivestita con un pezzo di carta da forno leggermente unta con l'olio d'oliva.
Cuoceteli per circa 15-20 minuti nel forno riscaldato a 190°C.

Nel frattempo preparate i pomodorini ripieni.
Tagliate le zucchine a pezzettini oppure grattugiatele. Scaldate un po' di olio con l'aglio in una padella. Unite le zucchine e fatele saltare per 10 minuti a fuoco medio. Salate e lasciate raffreddare. Poi aggiungete le foglioline di menta tagliate finemente.
Tagliate i pomodorini a metà e svuotateli dai semi. Salateli dentro e riempiteli con le zucchine.
Servite questi pomodorini come contorno con i medaglioni di pesce.

Uspjela sam ubaciti još jedan arhivski recept za ovomjesečni krug igre Ajme koliko nas je. Domaćica nam je Katarina s bloga Laka kuharica, a zadala nam je kao temu timijan (majčinu dušicu), koja se kod mene često nađe, kako u povrću tako i s mesom, jajima, i kao u ovom receptu, s ribom.

Riblji medaljoni s timijanom

Medaljoni
* 400 g ribljih fileta
* 3 manja krumpira
* 3-4 grančice svježeg timijana
* 2 žlice maslinovog ulja
* sol, papar
* kukuruzno brašno za paniranje

Punjene rajčice
* 250 g cherry rajčica
* 4 manje tikvice
* 1 češanj bijelog luka
* 10-ak listića mente (ili zamijenite bosiljkom ako ne volite mentu)
* maslinovo ulje
* sol

Krumpir dobro operite i skuhajte u ljusci.
Ogulite ga pa narežite na komadiće i ostavite da se ohladi.
Riblje filete (ja sam ovaj put koristila kirnju, možete i druge vrste po želji) posolite, popaprite, začinite maslinovim uljem i listićima timijana.
Popržite ih u tavi s debelim dnom, barem 5 minuta na jačoj vatri, pazeći da ne izgori.
Zgnječite krumpir vilicom i dodajte namrvljeno meso ribe. Provjerite je li vam smjesa dovoljno slana.
Vlažnim rukama oblikujte medaljone (ja sam dobila 8 komada). Uvaljajte ih u kukuruzno brašno (ako nemate za kupiti gotovu kukuruznu smjesu za paniranje, može i obično kukuruzno brašno), i složite na pleh obložen papirom za pečenje.
Sasvim malo nauljite medaljone i stavite peći u pećnicu zagrijanu na 190°C dok ne porumene - okrenite ih na polovici pečenja (15-20 minuta bi trebali biti dovoljni)

Prilog:
Sitno nasjeckajte ili naribajte tikvice. Zagrijte malo ulja u tavi sa češnjem bijelog luka. Dodajte tikvice i pirjajte 10-ak minuta na srednje jakoj vatri. Posolite ih ostavite da se prohlade.
Ako ste ih samo nasjeckali, izgnječite ih poslije vilicom i dodajte desetak sitno nasjeckanih listića mente (ili bosiljka).
Rajčice prerežite na pola i žličicom izdubite sjemenke.
Malo nasolite unutrašnjost i napunite ih tikvicama.
Poslužite medaljone uz prilog od rajčica s tikvicama.

My herbs this summer (plus the guardian)

Banana Hazelnut Muffins

2011-10-26T09:40:00.001+02:00

Of all fruit available, bananas are probably my least favourite kind. My daughters seem to have inherited that same taste when fruit is regarded. And yet, every now and then I find myself with a bunch of bananas sitting on the kitchen counter... yes, sitting and gradually changing colour, first to bright yellow, then small dark spots start colouring them as if they are embarassed for being there for so long without anyone paying attention to them, and then one day I find myself with all those black skinned bananas that noone even dares to touch.
Time to save them and transform into something that everyone will love for sure.
Ever since I tried the banana bread for the first time I was enthusiastic about the flavour bananas are able to give to a cake. You'll most likely never see me eating a banana flavoured ice cream or some other dessert, but cakes, muffins and similar baked goods are a whole different story.
In my opinion some fruits just give their best in certain combination and when baked (like that divine taste of concord grape in Tuscan grape focaccia). And I believe that banana - chocolate - nuts combination is as close to perfection as it can be.
I couldn't wait to taste these muffins once they were out of the oven, the smell was wonderful, and they absolutely didn't disappoint me (or the kids). A cute message on the tea bag I used was saying, "Don't think, thank". And I'll just add, "Don't think, make these" ^__^

Banana Hazelnut Muffins

* 70 g butter, melted and cooled
* 3 very ripe bananas
* 3 eggs
* 50 ml milk
* 200 g flour
* 120 g brown sugar
* 50 g finely ground hazelnuts
* 30 g unsweetened cocoa
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 75 g chocolate drops

Put the bananas into a mixing bowl and mesh them with a fork (don't use a mixer or a blender).
Add the melted butter, the eggs and the milk. Shortly whisk everything together.
In another bowl mix all the dry ingredients: the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the cocoa and the hazelnuts.
Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir just enough to bring everything together. Stir in the chocolate drops.
Place the bowl with the batter in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180°C.
Line muffin pans with paper cups (you'll need 16-18) and fill them with the batter up to 2/3.
Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle doesn't come out clean.
Let them cool on a cooling rack.

Muffin alle banane e nocciole

* 70 g di burro
* 3 banane molto mature
* 3 uova
* 50 ml di latte
* 200 g di farina "00"
* 120 g di zucchero di canna
* 50 g di nocciole tritate finemente
* 30 g cacao amaro
* 1 bustina di lievito per dolci
* 75 g di gocce di cioccolato fondente

Mettete le banane in una ciotola e schiacciatele con una forchetta (non usate il frullatore).
Aggiungete il burro fuso freddo, le uova e il latte. Mescolate con una frusta a mano.
In un'altra ciotola setacciate insieme la farina, il lievito e il cacao, mescolateli con lo zucchero e le nocciole.
Unite la miscela di uova e banane e mescolate con un cucchiaio di legno. Aggiungete anche le gocce di cioccolato e mettete il composto in frigo per 10 minuti.
Nel frattempo riscaldate il forno a 180°C e rivestite la teglia per i muffin con dei pirottini.
Riempiteli per 2/3 con il composto e cuocete i muffin per 20-25 minuti o finché uno stuzzicadenti infilato al centro non esce pulito.
Lasciateli raffreddare su una griglia.

Muffini s bananama i lješnjacima

* 70 g maslaca (otopljenog i prohlađenog)
* 3 jako zrele banane
* 3 jaja
* 50 ml mlijeka
* 200 g brašna
* 120 g smeđeg šećera
* 50 g mljevenih lješnjaka
* 30 g gorkog kakaa
* 1 vrećica praška za pecivo
* 75 g čokoladnih kapljica (ili nasjeckane čokolade)

Stavite banane u zdjelu i dobro ih izgnječite vilicom da dobijete pire (NE miksajte ih u blenderu).
Dodajte bananama otopljeni maslac, jaja i mlijeko. Izmiješajte sve ručnom pjenjačom.
U drugoj zdjeli pomiješajte prosijano brašno, šećer, kakao, mljevene lješnjake i prašak za pecivo.
Dodajte smjesu od jaja i banana u zdjelu sa suhim sastojcima i izmiješajte drvenom žlicom tek toliko da se sve sjedini. Umiješajte čokoladne kapljice i stavite zdjelu u hladnjak 10 minuta.
Rasporedite smjesu u kalupe za muffine obložene papirnim košaricama. Napunite kalupe do otprilike 2/3.
Po želji pospite još krupno mljevenih lješnjaka po površini i stavite ih peći u pećnicu zagrijanu na 180°C, 20-ak minuta (provjerite čačkalicom ubodenom u sredinu jesu li pečeni - čačkalica mora izaći čista).

Millet Au Gratin with Vegetables and Mushrooms

2011-10-25T10:47:00.002+02:00

This is the kind of dish I've been cooking often lately. Cereals, vegetables and some king of protein, whether it's mushrooms or cheese or chicken for example. Delicious and healthy combination, not to mention it's easy to prepare and serve.
Millet is an ancient cereal that has been unjustly ignored and forgotten for a long time. It is a cereal extremely rich in minerals (iron, calcium, potassium, zink, fluorine) and B vitamins (folic acid, B1, B2, B6), along with other elements like silicic acid . It is gluten free, so it's suitable for persons suffering from coeliac disease.
If you eat millet regularly you are very likely to notice positive changes on your hair and finger nails.

I've tried millet in other recipes (prepared it like risotto, and also made a bread), but this one is so far my favourite recipe. Really delicious and nutricious, you may add other vegetables, but I do recommend you stick to the basic ones (zucchini, carrot, fennel), because they fit so perfectly with mushrooms in this dish.

Millet Au Gratin with Vegetables and Mushrooms
(4 servings)

* 200 g millet
* 750 ml vegetable stock
* 1 zucchini
* 2 carrots
* 4 big champignon mushrooms (crimini / button mushrooms)
* 1 small fennel
* a handfull of green beans
* 1 onion
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 40 g ground almonds
* extra virgin olive oil
* salt

Clean and wash all the vegetables. With particular care clean the mushrooms, remove all dirt (if necessary quickly wash under the running water and dry).
Cut everything into small (ok, not too small) pieces.
Heat 2-3 TBspoons of olive oil in a deep skillet, add the finely chopped onion, the thyme and the chopped vegetables and mushrooms. Sautee for about 15 minutes on medium heat stirring often.
Add the millet, sautee for 5 more minutes and then add the vegetable stock, salt to your taste, and cook covered for about 35 minutes or until almost all liquid has been absorbed.
Pour the millet and vegetable mixture into a shallow baking dish and spread evenly in a 1,5-2 cm layer.

Sprinkle with ground almonds and drizzle with little olive oil.
Put the dish in a hot oven preheated to 210°C for 10-15 minutes.
Serve warm or cold with a seasonal salad.

Miglio grattinato con verdure e funghi
(per 4 persone)

* 200 g di miglio
* 750 ml brodo vegetale
* 1 zucchina
* 2 carote
* 4 funghi champignon grandi
* 1 finocchio piccolo
* una manciata di fagiolini
* 1 cipolla
* 1 cucchiaino di timo secco
* 40 g mandorle tritate
* olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale

Pulite e lavate le verdure. Pulite con particolare attenzione i funghi, tagliando via la parte terrosa del gambo.
Tagliate tutto a pezzettini non troppo piccoli.
Trittate finemente la cipolla e soffriggetela con 2-3 cucchiai di olio EVO e timo secco. Aggiungete le verdure e lasciate cuocere a fuoco medio per circa 15 minuti mescolando spesso.
Unite il miglio e lasciate insaporire per 5 minuti ancora. Poi versateci il brodo, salate e lasciate cuocere coperto per circa 35 minuti o finché quasi tutto il liquido si sarà asciugato.
Ungete leggermente con l'olio una pirofila e versateci dentro il miglio con le verdure. Stendetelo in uno strato di circa 1,5-2 cm.
Cospargete la superficie con le mandorle tritate e gratinate nel forno già caldo a 210°C per 10-15 minuti.
Servitelo tiepido o freddo, accompagnato da un'insalata di stagione.

Ovaj mjesec u igri Ajme koliko nas je, domaćica nam je Katarina s bloga Laka kuharica a igramo se s timijanom (majčinom dušicom), začinskom biljkom koju obožavam i već godinama sadim na balkonu. Ove godine sam na moju veliku radost uspjela pronaći i limun timijan. Nažalost svake jeseni se moram oprostiti sa svojim biljčicama jer ne prežive hladnoću (jedini koji prilično dobro odolijeva je ružmarin).

Zapečeno proso s povrćem i gljivama
(za 4 osobe)

* 200 g prosa (prošene kaše)
* 750 ml povrtnog temeljca
* 1 tikvica
* 2 mrkve
* 4 velika šampinjona
* 1 manji koromač
* mahune (otprilike jednu šaku zelenih ili drugih)
* 1 glavica crvenog luka
* 1 žličica suhog timijana (majčine dušice)
* 40 g badema
* maslinovo ulje
* sol

Očistite i operite sve povrće, posebno pažljivo očistite gljive.
Nasjeckajte sve povrće na manje komadiće i sameljite bademe.
Stavite 3-4 žlice maslinovog ulja u dublju tavu, popržite sitno nasjeckan luk, dodajte timijan i narezano povrće pa pirjajte 15-ak minuta često miješajući, na srednje jakoj vatri.
Dodajte proso, pirjajte još 5 minuta, posolite i zalijte povrtnim temeljcem i kuhajte pokriveno oko 35 minuta, dok se tekućina skoro sasvim ne osuši. Naročite pripazite pred kraj da ne zagori.
Stavite kuhanu smjesu u malo nauljen pleh da bude u sloju otprilike 1,5-2 cm debljine. Pospite površinu mljevenim bademima i zapecite 10-15 minuta u pećnici zagrijanoj na 210°C.
Poslužite ovaj složenac topao ili hladan uz sezonsku salatu.

Thyme