briciole

sette link

seven links

Paola of An Italian Cooking in the Midwest and Brii of briggishome have invited me to the seven link challenge (here and here): albeit with some delay (for which I apologize), I am hereby taking it up.

It is a difficult challenge to answer, because it asks me to choose a post with specific characteristics and since I have about 500 posts, it is not easy to keep all of them in mind. So, my choices come with the disclaimer that they represent my current thought and are subject to my memory. In a month, I may have a different set of answers. But maybe I am taking this a bit too seriously (I am known to do so) and should just relax and have fun.

1. The most beautiful post

It takes me time and effort to write a post, so they are all beautiful to me.

2. The most popular post

homemade mascarpone

Measured by number of page hits according to google analytics (which I started using a bit more than a year after I started the blog), it is the post on making mascarpone at home. If you have not tried the recipe, I recommend you do it: the mascarpone you get is vastly superior to anything you can buy in the US. (The post has also the Italian version.)

3. The most controversial post

Being controversial is not my style. Probably the most controversial statement I made is in my second post. Nobody knew me at that time, so I didn't get any reactions.

4. The most helpful post

This is really difficult to answer, because the perspective can be that of the writer or that of the reader. I certainly don't know which of my posts is considered the most helpful by readers, though I have received nice testimony to that effect for a number of posts (like this one on Swiss chard).

In general, I consider writing my posts always helpful for myself for a number of reasons:

• writing forces me to make myself clear
  
• in the case of a recipe, writing makes me being precise
• questions from readers may point to areas that need clarification
• writing a post is part of the big conversation that having a blog entails
• in a number of cases, I have used material from a post to write a longer article

I have added clarifying notes to my post on making mascarpone at home a few times in response to comments or references to my post. The post helped me realize that differences across the world pertain not only measurements, but the name of ingredients, in this case whipping cream.

5. The most surprisingly successful post

ingredients to make spaghetti al burro e parmigiano

I did not expect that my post on pasta al burro e parmigiano would become popular and be referenced by a number of esteemed bloggers. This and pasta with ricotta were my favorite pasta options as a kid.

tagliatelle con la ricotta

6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved

Answering this makes me a bit uncomfortable, as it is a veiled criticism of readers for not paying attention. In each of my posts, I try to convey a bit about me and a bit about my cultural background, besides whatever dish or other topic I am discussing. Publishing means that you offer what you have to the public, but you also have to accept that not everybody may share your interest or feel like expressing their appreciation (or otherwise) publicly.

In the fall of 2007, Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started Novel Food, an event that brings together literature and food. In the four years we have been co-hosting it (most recently, I have hosted it by myself, as Lisa is taking time off blogging), we have had a group of devoted participants. It is an event very dear to my heart and I will continue hosting it. I am taking advantage of this venue to bring it to people's attention: I believe it deserves it. It is a bit more challanging than other events, but it is quite rewarding. (The next edition will be announced some time in February.)

7. The post I am most proud of

The very first one. Short as it is (the original was shorter than the current one, since the second sentence was added afer I published the post it references), clicking on the Publish button to send it out there took some courage and I am proud of that.

Looking at my first post also gives me a sense of how far I have traveled, in terms of my writing, my photos and my circle of friends in the blogosphere. Thank you all for being there!

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Pola of An Italian Cooking in the Midwest also kindly presented me with the Cannolo Award, which I have been proudly displaying on my sidebar ever since.

I would like to pass the award to two bloggers:

Ann of La Buona Cucina pays homage to her Italian heritage in the kitchen of her home in South Carolina, where she lives with her beautiful family. Besides cooking for her family, she teaches cooking classes.

Kathy of Food Lover's Odyssey knows a lot about Italy and its culinary traditions and her blog is a rich source of information. I am particularly grateful to her for her weekly review Italy on a Plate: The Week in Italian Food, an always interesting collection of carefully selected blog posts, news and events (here is the most recent edition).

Annuncio: raccolta di fondi con lotteria

Announcing a special fund drive with raffle

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Siri at the Vaidehi Ashram with (L-R) Vasavi, Sivasri, Bhuvaneshwari and Samatha on her lap

I am very excited to participate in a fund drive organized by Siri of Cooking with Siri to benefit Vaidehi Ashram for Destitute Girls near her house, in Hyderabad. Siri tells the story of her first and second visit to the Ashram so beautifully with both words and images (like the one above) that I don't want to add anything. 

Siri has published a post that explains how to participate. The post includes the list of more than 40 prizes for which you can bid (all contributed by fellow bloggers).

I am honored and delighted to contribute a prize to the raffle: labeled as RW6 in the list of prizes, it is a journal I made where the paper on the covers is decorated using suminagashi, an ancient Japanese marbling technique, and the binding is also of an anciente type, calle coptic (dimensions: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches).

Make sure you read the details about the bidding process and also about the shipping, since some of the prized are shipped within a specific geographic area, while other are shipped worldwide. This post has images of all the prizes.

You can contribute via PayPal or credit card. You can donate any amount. Each $10 donation will give you one raffle ticket towards a raffle prize of your choice. You can click on the ChipIn! button below to donate or you can do it on Siri's site. Once the donation process is completed, please forward your payment confirmation message to info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com, clearly specifying which raffle prize(s) you are interested in. Within 24 hours, your name and contributed amount will be added to the 'Fund Drive Supporters List'. If you want to stay anonymous, please let Siri  know in advance. For any correspondence/questions/queries, use the comment section or the email address mentioned.

You can add multiple bids on one prize or one bid to more than one prize. And the fact that someone has already set his/her eyes on a prize should not deter you from bidding on it. The fund drive will finish on February 25. Thank you!

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fund raise, prize

Per i lettori italiani

Siri al Vaidehi Ashram con (S-D) Vasavi, Sivasri, Bhuvaneshwari e Samatha in braccio

Sono molto contenta di partecipare alla raccolta di fondi organizzata da Siri di Cooking with Siri a beneficio del Vaidehi Ashram per bambine povere che si trova vicino a casa sua, a Hyderabad, in India. Vaidehi Ashram ospita 108 bambine e ragazze dai 3 ai 22 anni d'età che sono senza genitori o ne hanno uno che non si può prendere cura di loro. Siri ha scritto due bellissimi post raccontando a parole e immagini la sua prima e seconda visita all'Ashram e non me la sento di aggiungere nulla. Le foto soprattutto sono molto eloquenti.

Siri ha pubblicato un post dove spiega come partecipare alla lotteria che lei ha organizzato per raccogliere fondi a beneficio dell'Ashram. Il post comprende la lista dei premi sui quali si può puntare. In breve, ogni contributo di $10 acquista un biglietto che si può utilizzare per puntare su un premio a scelta. Un contributo di $20 acquista due biglietti che si possono utilizzare per puntare su due premi a scelta, oppure entrambi su un premio. E non importa se qualcun altro ha già puntato sul premio che vi attira: potete farlo anche voi. Leggete bene i dettagli riguardanti i limiti di spedizione perché alcuni dei premi vengono spediti in tutto il mondo mentre altri solo in un'area geografica limitata. Su questo post ci sono le foto di tutti i premi.

Il mio piccolo contributo alla lista degli oltre 40 premi ha il codice RW6 e lo spedisco dovunque nel mondo (quindi anche in Italia ;): è un diario che ho rilegato io a mano e per il quale ho anche decorato la carta che lo ricopre utilizzando il suminagashi, una tecnica tradizionale giapponese per marmorizzare la carta molto antica (dimensioni: 11,5 x 14 cm).

Potete contribuire con carta di credito o PayPal (che non so se in Italia esiste) e potete donare quanto volete. Potete cliccare sul ChipIn! qui sotto oppure potete donare dal sito di Siri.

Quando avete completato la donazione, inoltrate il messaggio di conferma a Siri all'indirizzo info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com, specificando a quale premio o premi siete interessati. Entro 24 ore, il vostro nome e ammontare contribuito verrà aggiunto alla lista dei sostenitori, ma se preferite restare anoiomi, fatelo sapere a Siri e il vostro nome non comparirà. Contattate me a simosite(at)mac(dot)com o Siri all'indirizzo qui sopra per qualsiasi domanda o dubbio.

La raccolta di fondi continua fino al 25 Febbraio e poi saranno le ospiti dell'Ashram ad estrarre i premi. Grazie per l'attenzione!

nasse per granchi

crab pots

crab pots for fishing Dungeness crab

Dungeness crab season is very important on the West Coast for fishermen and people who like crab meat. During crab season, you can see the light from fishing boats at sunset and early in the morning, like in the photo above.

In Trinidad, CA, towers of crab pots can be seen near the harbor.

Dungeness crab is labeled best choice by Seafood Watch because of the sustainable practices applied to the fishery. In particular, female crabs and crabs below a certain size must be put back in the water.

This is my submission to week #27 edition of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. Savoring the weekly gallery is highly recommended: it's a very special mid-week treat.

The top photo was shot in color and then converted to light sepia.

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

riepilogo del weekend di erbe aromatiche numero 317

Weekend Herb Blogging #317: the roundup

[cliccare il link per andare direttamente al raccolto della edizione italiana di WHB]

As the host of last week's edition of WHB, I am pleased to present an interesting set of posts submitted by bloggers from various countries. For each contribution, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a short quote or brief description that summarizes it, a teaser that invites you to follow the link to read the relevant post. Follow me: it will be a fun little trip.

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Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen made a Roasted Beetroot salad with Walnuts and yogurt
"Beets, walnuts and some yogurt make for a perfect and nourishing salad for the cooler months."

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Stash of The Spamwise Chronicles prepared Roasted cremini mushrooms with garlic and parsley
"Roasted mushrooms are a regular menu item during the winter. They have a deep earthiness that often reminds me of a forest floor strewn with pine needles."

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Graziana of Erbe in Cucina presents Aromatic Risotto with Spumante
made with sparkling wine, gorgonzola, bresaola, broccoli "and an homemade aromatic mixture with thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, mint and many herbs harvested last summer."

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Janet of The Taste Space prepared Smoky Split Pea Soup with Roasted Garlic and Sage
"Split pea soup is underrated... Like most bean dishes, the spices and seasonings are integral to the final dish."

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Cinzia of Cindystar presents Mashed pot-apple
Not properly a sauce, but an unusual accompaniment to any kind of meat, especially pork; it cleanses the palate.

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Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once offers Blueberry upside-down cakes
For once, Haalo resisted the urge to eat blueberries fresh and made something with them while in season.

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Joanne of Eats Well With Others prepared Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas, Feta and Swiss Chard — "the only thing better than a slightly spicy smoky tomato chickpea swiss chard sauce topped with feta...is the same thing topped with a runny egg yolk."

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Brii of Briggishome prepared French Orange-Honey Compote
White wine vinegar is infused with spices and reduced before being added to the fruit to make a compote good with meat or fish.

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Simona of briciole (your host for this week) made a Savory tart with ricotta and baby leafy greens
Baby leafy greens from her vegetable garden, homemade ricotta and "alternative" puff pastry make a nice entree or an appetizer.

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A heartfelt Thank you! to all who contributed to the event. Cinzia of Cindystar is currently accepting submissions for this week's edition of Weekend Herb Blogging. You can always look ahead to who's hosting on this page. And if you are new to the event or need a reminder, the rules for participating are detailed on this page.

A final thank you to Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, who has been organizing for over three years the event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. It gives me special pleasure to be part of an established tradition that links so many food bloggers around the world.

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Per i lettori italiani

Come ospite dell'edizione di Weekend Herb Blogging della scorsa settimana, ho l'onore di presentare un'interessante raccolta di post. Per ogni contributo, specifico i dati ufficiali (autore, nome del blog e titolo del post) e poi aggiungo una citazione o breve descrizione che riassume il post, un assaggino che vi invita a seguire il link a andare a mangiare leggere il resto.

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Graziana di Erbe in Cucina presenta Risotto aromatico allo spumante e gorgonzola
con gorgonzola, bresaola, broccoli e un misto di erbe "con timo, origano, salvia, rosmarino, menta e parecchie altre erbe raccolte l'estate scorsa."

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Terry di Crumpets & co. ha preparato Burger di vitello e avocado
Una ricetta "leggera e gustosa che va bene per chi si vuole un pasto non troppo pesante… gli ingredienti son pochi e semplici..."

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Marta di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare ha preparato Quasi una parmigiana di zucca
Gustosa risposta alla domanda: cosa fare con una grossa zucca bella fuori ma non proprio entusiasmante per il palato?

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Nuccio di Il Blog di Max presenta Tortiera di pesce spatola e radicchio 
"Qualcosa di veramente speciale, il radicchio rimarrà croccante e si unirà al gusto del pesce darà così quella nota particolare del suo gusto..."

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Elena di Zibaldone culinario ha preparato Insalata di germogli di soia, kiwi e sedano bianco
"Una insalata con abbinamenti un poco particolari,.. una vera scoperta l'uso dei kiwi, che con la loro acidità danno carattere al piatto."

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Annarita, Branka e Conchita di Fragoliva presentano Lasagne di zucca e salsiccia
"Possiamo assicurarvi, l’impatto sul palato dei nostri… degustatori ufficiali è stato decisamente positivo!"

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Cinzia of Cindystar presenta Puré di mele
Non proprio puré, non proprio salsa, ma un insolito accompagnamento per carni che rinfresca il palato.

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Ale di Emotional Trees offre Rape e finocchi gratinati al Silter
Un connubio di rape nostrane, finocchi e uno dei meravigliosi formaggi della Valle Camonica, il Silter.

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Brii di Briggishome ha preparato della Composta Francese di Arance agrodolci
Aceto di vino bianco infuso con spezie e ridotto viene aggiunto alla frutta per fare una composta buona sia con la carne che con il pesce.

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Simona di briciole presenta una a Torta salata con ricotta e verdure novelle
Verdure novelle dal suo orticello, ricotta fatta in casa e pasta sfoglia "alternativa" per un piatto che si può servire come pietanza o come antipasto.

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Grazie di cuore a tutti coloro che hanno contribuito all'evento. Questa settimana l'ospite di WHB è Kris di Tutto a occhio. Se volete saperne di più sull'evento potere andare su questa pagina. Qui invece trovate chi ospita e le raccolte delle edizioni passate.

Un ringraziamento finale ad Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, che organizza da oltre tre anni la versione "madre" dell'evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen (che ho avuto il piacere di incontrare di persona) e a Brii di briggishome che organizza la versione italiana. È bello far parte di una tradizione che unisce da tanto tempo food bloggers in tutto il mondo.

torta salata con ricotta e verdure novelle

savory tart with ricotta and baby leafy greens

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Last November, I planted some rainbow chard in a section of my little vegetable garden (orto) and I have been able to harvest leaves a few times. I cannot take credit for the tidy state of the garden: while I like planting and harvesting, I am an inconstant gardener and therefore need help in keeping weeds (erbacce) and slugs under control.

In this photo (taken with ShakeItPhoto), you can see the leafy greens I can harvest in my garden right now. Left to right: Icicle radish green, cavolo nero (Lacinato or Dinosaur kale), Red Russian kale, chard, collard, borage (borragine). [I am actually not sure I should harvest the radish greens, but I take only a leaf or two at a time and I have a number of plants.] Depending on how I am planning to use them, I will, as in the case of the recipe I am about to describe, harvest young leaves. The gardeners among you may like to know that except for chard, of which I planted seedlings, and Icicle radish, which I planted from seeds I received as a gift, the greens are from seeds from my garden.

I have made the tart of the title with baby chard only and also with a mix of the greens. Spinach (spinaci) would also work: the ones in my garden are not yet baby spinach, so I could not harvest any. Besides leafy greens, the tart filling includes ricotta and Parmigiano-Reggiano (a combination reminiscent of my stuffing for mezzelune) And the base is the "alternative" puff pastry (pasta sfoglia "alternativa") from my most recent post. More than a recipe, this is a suggestion: you make the puff pastry and then you have a canvas on which you can try a combination on ingredients that you think will work. And of course, the given quantities can be adjusted to fill a bigger tart.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for torta salata con ricotta e verdure novelle

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 oz. (125 g) baby chard or a mix of baby leafy greens
• a medium shallot (scalogno), finely chopped
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste
• 4 1/2 oz. (125 g) ricotta, possibly homemade, mashed
• half a batch of "alternative" puff pastry (or equivalent amount of regular puff pastry)
• 2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Wash the greens and don't drain them completely. Discard the tougher end of the stalk of kale and collard greens. Cut off the stalks from baby chard, and chop them finely. Cut leaves into ribbons no more than 1/2-inch wide.

Warm up a bit of oil in a small skillet and cook the shallot for a couple of minutes, stirring often. Add the chard stalks and continue cooking for a few more minutes, again stirring often. Add cut leaves and cook in the water clinging to them for a few minutes. Stir to make sure the greens cook evenly and don't stick to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let cool briefly.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Roll out the pastry until fairly thin (I got a 6" x 8" rectangle), then place it on the lined baking sheet. Add ricotta to the greens and stir well. Spread over rolled pastry, leaving a border all around (about 1/2 inch). Sprinkle Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly on the surface.

Pinch the pastry all around to raise it slightly and make a kind of border (see photo above). In earlier versions of the tart, I rolled the pastry into a circle and made a narrow border galette-style, which you can see in the photo of the "alternative" puff pastry post. However, the pastry swells as it bakes, so the galette effect was lost, because the border was too narrow. I didn't want a wider border, so I adopted this solution of just pinching the pastry to raise it and I am happy about the result.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the visible crust is light golden, about 25 minutes. As usual, the time varies with the oven. Check the tart after 20 minutes and estimate the time remaining.

Take out of the oven, let rest briefly, then cut the tart, serve and enjoy.

My husband was eating the other half for his lunch while I took the photo above. This is not something you want to make every day, since puff pastry is rich in butter. Cut into smaller pieces, the tart makes a nice appetizer (antipasto). And you can boast about having made the puff pastry yourself.

This is my contribution to edition #317 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by me, Simona of briciole.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

torta salata con ricotta e verdure novelle

or launch the torta salata con ricotta e verdure novelle audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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puff pastry, ricotta, savory tart, leafy greens, chard

Per i lettori italiani

Lo scorso Novembreho piantato delle bietole in una parte del mio orticello e ho raccolto foglioline alcune volte. Non è merito mio se il mio orticello è ordinato: mi piace piantare e raccogliere, ma sono una giardiniera scostante e quindi ho bisogno di aiuto per tenere sotto controllo erbacce e lumache (la roba bianca che si vede è una barriera di conchiglie frantumate che serve a fermare le lumache).

In questa foto (che ho scattato usando ShakeItPhoto) potete vedere le verdure da taglio che posso raccogliere in questo periodo nel mio orticello. Da sinistra a destra: ravanello "Ghiacciolo" (così chiamato perché è bianco e lungo), cavolo nero, cavolo riccio "Red Russian," collard (un tipo di Brassica dalle belle foglie larghe), borragine. [Non sono sicura che sia corretto tagliare le foglie dei ravanelli, ma ne raccolgo solo una o due per volta e ne ho diverse piantine.] A seconda di quello che ho intenzione di fare, raccolgo le foglie quando sono ancora piccole.

Ho fatto questa torta salata sia utilizzando solo bietola novella che utilizzando un misto di verdure. Gli spinaci sono un'altra possibilità, ma quelli che ho piantato non sono ancora nemmeno novelli e quindi non ho potuto raccoglierli. Oltre alla verdura, la torta salata contiene ricotta e Parmigiano-Reggiano (una combinazione simile al mio ripieno per le mezzelune) e la base è fatta con la pasta sfoglia alternativa di Marta che ho descritto nel mio post precedente. Più che una ricetta, questa è un'idea: fate la pasta sfoglia e avrete una tela sulla quale fare esperimenti di composizione di vari ingredienti che pensate vadano bene. E naturalmente le dosi si possono adeguare alla grandezza della torta che volete fare.

Ingredienti:

• 125 g bietola novella o un misto di verdure novelle
• uno scalogno medio tagliato fino
• olio d'oliva
• sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco, q.b.
• 125 g ricotta, magari fatta in casa, schiacciata con una forchetta (in Italia la ricotta vera, fresca e buona per vostra fortuna si trova facilmente)
• metà della pasta sfoglia "alternativa" che ottenete seguendo le dosi della ricetta (oppure la stessa quantità di pasta sfoglia tradizionale)
• 2-3 cucchiai di Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato fresco

Lavare le verdure senza sgrondarle del tutto. Scartare la parte più dura del gambo di cavolo nero, cavolo riccio e collard. Tagliare i gambi della bietola e tagliarli a pezzetti. Tagliare le foglie a nastri non più larghi di 1,25 cm.

Scaldare un po' d'olio in una padellina e cuocere lo scalogno per un paio di minuti, mescolando spesso. Aggiungere i gambi della bietola e continuare a cuocere per alcuni minuti, sempre mescolando spesso. Aggiungere le foglie e cuocere per alcuni minuti nell'acqua che hanno ancora attaccata. Mescolare e fare attenzione che le verdure non si attacchino al fondo della padella. Condire con sale e pepe a piacere e far intiepidire.

Scaldare il forno a 190 C e foderare una lastra da forno con tappetino di silicone o carta da forno. Stendere la pasta sfoglia fina (io ho fatto un rettangolo di circa 15 cm x 20 cm) e poi muoverla sulla lastra foderata. Aggiungere le ricotta alle verdure e mescolare bene, poi distribuire sulla pasta sfoglia lasciando tutto intorno un bordo di circa 1,25 cm. Spargere il Parmigiano-Reggiano sulla superficie.

Pizzicare la pasta sfoglia tutto intorno per sollevare leggermente il bordo (vedi foto qui sopra). Le vote precedenti avevo steso la pasta sfoglia a formare un cerchio e poi fatto un bordo ripiegato stile galette (come si vede nella foto all'inizio del post sulla pasta sfoglia "alternativa"), ma la pasta si gonfia in cottura e l'effetto galette andava perso perché il bordo era troppo stretto. Non volevo fare un bordo più largo e quindi ho adottato la soluzione descritta sopra e sono rimasta soddisfatta del risultato.

Infornare e cuocere fino a quando la crosta è dorata, 25 minuti circa. Come si sa, ogni forno è un po' diverso e quindi è bene controllare la torta dopo 20 minuti e valutare quanto tempo manca.

Tirare fuori la teglia dal forno, far riposare brevemente la torta e poi tagliare e servire.

La metà che manca nella foto la stava mangiando mio marito per pranzo. Questo non è un piatto da fare tutti i giorni, dal momento che la pasta sfoglia è ricca di burro. Tagliata a quadrotti, questa torta salata può essere servita come antipasto.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 317 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da me, Simona di briciole.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

pasta sfoglia "alternativa"

"alternative" puff pasty

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

I agonized a bit over the title for this post. Marta of Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare (eating is a bit like traveling) whose post inspired me, calls it pasta sfoglia light, using the English adjective in a way that is very common in Italy to describe food items that are less caloric (usually due to a lower fat content) than their traditional counterpart (disclaimer: this is simply a linguistic explanation; I don't know how the all-butter puff pastry I make compares to the one described below in terms of calories, so I make no claims in this regard). One of the posts Marta references calls it finta sfoglia, fake puff pastry, which I don't like as it may also discourage people for giving the recipe a try. The other post referenced calls it sfoglia dei poveretti, poor people's puff pastry, a nice alliteration that has an interesting social connotation: however, it doesn't quite apply to the US, where true ricotta is very hard to find. So, I decided to use "alternative" puff pastry, meaning, it is not the traditional all-butter puff pastry, but an alternative you may choose to make.

As a child, I thought that puff pastry was magical: I mean, what makes all those layers that give the pastry the texture everybody loves? In my case, the magic was demistified a few years ago:

In July 2008, I interviewed Trace Leighton, Chef de Patisserie of Nibblers Eatery & Wine Bar, in Pleasant Hill¹ for an article that was later published on Edible East Bay (you can download the pdf of "The Physicist and the Baker" from this page). The main topic of our conversation was puff pastry, and I owe to Trace the fearlessness of my first attempt at it, which was a success. Therefore, puff pastry is now part of my repertoire. A great characteristic of puff pastry is that it can be frozen and, in fact, for this recipe I used part of a batch that I had made and frozen a few weeks ago. The recipe for vol-au-vents on the Daring Bakers' site has also instructions on how to make puff pastry. [from my post on vol-au-vents]

The recipe in Marta's post caught my attention because it uses ricotta as an ingredient, together with flour and butter (farina e burro). As most of you know, I make ricotta at home fairly regularly, using the whey (siero di latte) from various cheeses I make, so ricotta is an ingredient that is readibly available to me. A portion of the first batch of ricotta that I made after reading Marta's post went into the preparation of this alternative puff pastry. The rest went into the filling of the tart I made with some of that pastry. The recipe for the tart, the first rendition of which is portrayed in the photo at the top, will be in the next post.

In the traditional puff pastry recipe, the dough contains a certain amount of water. The alternative puff pastry does not have water among its ingredients: the whey in ricotta contributes the liquid component. Thanks to Lory of La Mercante di Spezie for sharing her recipe (which uses ricotta), to Adriano of Profumo di Lievito for offering his take (which uses cream cheese instead of ricotta and lowers the amounto of butter) and photos, and to Marta for her version, which combines the previous two in using ricotta as the first one and the amount of butter of the second one.

Here, I am providing the English version of Marta's recipe, plus a couple of personal notes based on my experience making it.

Ingredients (see the notes below):

• 125 g (4.4 oz.) all-purpose flour (about a cup minus a teaspoon)
• 125 g (4.4 oz.) ricotta, mashed
• 80 g (2.8 oz.) cold unsalted butter (a little less than 6 tablespoons) cut into small pieces
• a generous pinch of salt

Note #1: invest in a digital kitchen scale that has both metric and US units. I use cups and spoons, but more often than not, I weigh ingredients. And having a scale allows you to follow recipes not written for a US audience.

Note #2: the amount of whey in my homemade ricotta depends on the length of the draining period. Differently from gnocchi di ricotta, this pastry does not require a very dry ricotta, but you don't want something dripping whey. After the regular draining period, I let the unmolded ricotta sit overnight in a bowl (in the fridge) and the morning after I take my 125 g from the top layer. I also usually have a small quantity of whey at the bottom of the bowl and I remove it.

Note #3: I am not good at cutting butter into flour with anything other than my hands, so that is what I do. Some people like to grate the very cold butter using a coarse grater. I prefer cutting it into small pieces, but it is good to have options, isn't it?

Cut the butter into the flour and then add the ricotta. Make a dough, shape it into a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick (see photo above), wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one day. The dough won't be nice and homogeneous at this point and that is fine.

The following day, fold the dough. To make one fold, roll the dough in both directions into a thinner rectangle. Fold along the longer side: fold the right third towards the center, then fold the left third over it to make a letter-shaped package (see photos in this post). Wrap the folded dough again and refrigerate for half an hour or so. (If it is more, it is fine: I honestly never time part of the process.)

Repeat the fold twice more in the same way. In the process, you will see that the dough becomes more homogeneous and smoother. After the last fold, refrigerate again and use as you wish. (I ended up making a fourth fold, just to see what would happen.) As mentioned above, puff pasty can be frozen, which makes it a great resource to have on hand. If you roll it and then freeze it, it will take less time to thaw when you need it.

Marta halved the quantity of the ingredients used in the recipes she quotes and I followed her lead. Whenever possible, I recommend making a smaller batch of a new recipe until you become comfortable with the process, then go for the full amount. The recipe as given makes a nice amount of puff pastry to play with.

Once you have the savory puff pastry, you can make vol-au-vents, tarts, pizzette (my childhood's dream party food brought to life in the post referenced by Cara and Stefano of Due Spaghetti), etc.

¹ The restaurant is now called The Fig Tree.

I am submitting this recipe, bookmarked on the blog Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare to the January edition of Bookmarked Recipes, an event originally started by Ruth of Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments and now hosted by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pasta sfoglia "alternativa"

or launch the pasta sfoglia "alternativa" audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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puff pastry, ricotta

Per i lettori italiani

La ricetta che presento è praticamente la traduzione in inglese della ricetta per pasta sfoglia light di Marta (a.k.a. Martissima) del blog Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare. Nel suo post, Marta spiega la genealogia della ricetta e fa riferimento ai post che l'hanno ispirata. Le uniche due differenze tra la ricetta di Marta e quella che ho seguito io sono l'uso di un pizzico abbondante di sale invece di un cucchiaino e quello della mia ricotta fatta in casa. Grazie, Marta!

La foto qui sopra ritrae la torta salata che ho preparato utilizzando la pasta sfoglia di cui sopra: la ricetta della torta sarà argomento del mio prossimo post, che farà parte della raccolta per Weekend Herb Blogging di questa settimana.

ful medames

Egyptian fava bean dish

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Outlaw Cook by John Thorne, with Matt Lewis Thorne (1992). I started reading the book from the beginning, but then decided to follow my interests and jump around, choosing chapters based on their subject.

I enjoyed the chapter on plowman's lunch, which includes various recipes, like those for Welsh rabbit (yes, rabbit, not rarebit), soused cheese, and bread and cheese pudding. Considering that various types of homemade cheese are always available in my kitchen, I could have chosen one of the recipes, but I discarded the idea, because I don't like beer (birra), my knowledge of alcoholic beverages is very limited, and my knowledge of ale or stout is nil, so choosing a pairing with my cheese would have been a wild guess.

I read the chapter Monet À Table, which is the review of a book about the cooking journals of Claude Monet, with a special perspective: by pure chance, we are watching the TV mini-series The Impressionists, where an old Claude Monet tells the story of his career and his relationship with Renoir, Bazille, Degas, Cézanne and Manet to a journalist, and at some point offers him some of his homemade plum brandy. From Thorne's piece I learned that Monet grew greengage plums for it in his two-and-a-half-acre walled kitchen garden.

I also read with interest the chapter on ful medames, "Egypt's national dish" (piatto nazionale egiziano). From reading this post by Kalinda of Wheat-Free Meat-Free, I knew that ful medames is prepared using a special kind of small fava beans, but I had other plans. The dish had been for a while on my to do list as a way of making use of the locally grown and dried fava beans (fave secche) that I get as part of my mostly-grain CSA and that I have mentioned in the post about macco di fave.

You can read the chapter and Thorne's recipe. I halved the quantity of fava beans, used the optional lentils (lenticchie) as a belated homage to the New Year, and then adjusted the other ingredients to my taste:

• 1 cup of dried fava beans, soaked for 16 hours (or as needed) in plenty of water, then skin removed
• 1/4 cup green lentils
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus to taste
• a pinch of dried lemon zest (this was my idea)
• a generous pinch of ground cumin (from freshly toasted and ground cumin seeds), plus to taste
• a garlic clove (spicchio d'aglio), peeled and chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• two small sprigs of fresh parsley (prezzemolo)

Bring to a boil 3 cups of cold water in a saucepan. Add the fava beans and cover. Bring back to a boil, cook for 10 minutes then lower the heath, add the lentils, cover again and simmer until the legumes are soft and can easily be mashed. (I cooked them for 50 minutes.) Note: I realized afterward that this 10 minutes are planned within the context of fava beans still in their skin. The next time I prepare this dish, I will add fava beans and lentils to the boiling water at the same time. This may well affect the cooking time. Mash the legumes roughly with a potato masher and let cool. The mash will absorb the water as it cools.

Pour the legumes into the food processor and add olive oil, lemon juice and zest, cumin, garlic, a bit of salt and pepper and parsley. Process until garlic and parsley are well distributed, then taste and adjust salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use. Adjust lemon juice and cumin after the ful medames has rested for a while (I added more cumin). I think that the flavor matures and improves with time (at least one day).

The photo shows a plate I prepared for my husband's lunch, which included, besides the ful medames, drained homemade kefir (think of labneh made with kefir instead of yogurt), a hard-boiled egg (uovo sodo) and slices of my homemade challah.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

The fave secche make this post suitable for My Legume Love Affair 43, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Claire of Chez Cayenne.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

ful medames

or launch the ful medames audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

fava bean, Egypt