briciole

Lavash cracker

In Italian, we use the English word cracker. The singular and plural forms are identical¹.

Another month without tragic tales of disaster to tell: does it mean that I am getting better at handling the challenges? It it probably too early to tell.

I liked this month's challenge as it asked us to make something I had been wanting to try for a while, i.e., crackers. And I like that the recipe was light, more in the style of a flatbreads than of crackers I am familiar with. Once again, I read the recipe, followed it, and things worked out fine. The result of my efforts was highly appreciated. It was appreciated so much that a crunching noise became the soundtrack of the house. A second batch produced the same result. And the third followed suit. Hence, if a constant crunching does not irritate you, I recommend you give this recipe a try.

First of all, many thanks to the this month's hosts, Natalie of Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl. They left us free to top the crackers however we liked. And they asked us to create an accompaniment (dip, spread, relish or salsa) for them that was vegan and gluten free (vegano e senza glutine).

For my decoration, I simply opened the cupboard where my spices are jumbled together (disorder there reigns supreme) and let my hands go wherever they wanted. They chose semi di sesamo (sesame seeds), semi di papavero (poppy seeds), paprica (paprika), cumino (cumin), sale marino con tè verde matcha (matcha salt), zucchero non raffinato e cannella (unrefined sugar and cinnamon).

To go with the Lavash crackers, I made a batch of plum spread using agave nectar instead of honey (which I have been using to make my fruit spread local, but is not vegan). I don't call it plum jam, because the proportion of sweetener to fruit I use is about 1 to 10. For some reason, I don't feel comfortable about using pectin, so I just let my fruit spread simmer longer. The beautiful color comes from deep purple prugne I got at our farmers' market.

I hope you will take the time to go around and look at the gorgeous creations of my talented fellow Daring Bakers.

¹However, on Italian cracker packages one can often find crackers printed.

Hear me pronounce the words on the Lavash cracker audio file [mp3] or go to the Lavash cracker audio page for more listening options.

Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: melanzana

Fresh Produce of the Month: the roundup

A month chock-full of delicious recipes all featuring eggplant: what a delight!

Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders starts the series of Indian dishes (there will be several more in this roundup) with a "side dish that is spicy and tangy and can be eaten with rice." The dish is Enna/ Oil Kathrika/ Eggplant Kozhambu/Gravy.

To make it, Srimathi uses an appam pan, though a regular wok can also be used.

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Jayashree of My Experiments With Food "decided to stick the eggplant in the microwave. The rest, as they say, is history." Note that you still need to make slits on the surface of the eggplant before you microwave it (see below).

The microwaved eggplant was then used to make baingan bharta.

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Sra of When My Soup Came Alive got hold of "a recipe for stuffed brinjals (eggplant) from an aunt, and... decided to go the whole hog with the grinding of the paste."

The stuffed eggplants are then fried on a slow simmer: "the result is a wonderfully stuffed and almost (but not quite) charred mixture."

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Cinzia of Bread and Cherries brings us from India to Italy to taste a classic dish: Parmigiana di Melanzane, which "with some variations is very common in all of Southern Italy. In Naples the eggplants’ slices are just cut and fried, in the internal regions of Campania they are coated with flour and eggs."

After this introduction, Cinzia shares with us her family's traditional recipe. Step-by-step accompany her description.

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Lori Lynn of Taste with the Eyes treats us to an All About Eggplant banquet:

• Grilled Skirt Steak over Grilled Eggplant and Salsa Verde Black Beans Cilantro Garnish
• Salad of Grilled Eggplant and Slow Roasted Tomato with Bûcheron Dijon Vinaigrette (photo)
• Festonati Pasta, Grilled Eggplant, Homegrown Tomato Topped with Grated Smoked Scamorza, Fresh Basil Olive Oil, Garlic, Red Chile Flakes
• Grilled Eggplant, Melting Scamorza Homegrown Tomatoes, Fresh Basil with Garlic Anchovy Oil

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Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi tell us about Kashk, fermented whey, which is used in Iranian cuisine. I must admit I did not know about this food.

With it, they made Kashk e Bademjan (Persian Eggplant Spread), which they served with rye crackers. If you don't have access to a jar of kashk, do not be discouraged: "Don’t hesitate to make this even without kashk. It is delicious drizzled with plain yogurt/sour cream or on its own."

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"A heavy, firm, eggplant with a glossy purple-black skin" inspires Susan of Food Blogga to make Grilled Eggplant with Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade, "an ideal appetizer for a party."

"The wonderful charred flavor of the eggplant is only enhanced with a boldly flavorful tapenade of savory roasted red peppers, salty olives, and fragrant fresh herbs."

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Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook shares with us her own recipe for a dish "flavored with ras el hanout [a complex Moroccan spice that, depending on the preparer, can contain up to 50 ingredients], preserved lemon and currants, a celebrated Middle Eastern specialty that satisfies spicy, salty and sweet cravings in the same dish": Stovetop Eggplant Tagine.

It is "especially good the next day after flavors meld and develop."

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Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf had "never ever tried Vietnamese." She tried to find an easy Vietnamese dish and found a Poached Eggplant Salad that "is easy to make and tastes nice."

Then she (virtually) traveled all the way from Vietnam to Sicily to make Pasta Alla Norma. This famous dish honors the bounty of the island and one of its sons, the composer Vincenzo Bellini and his great opera, Norma.

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We go back to India in the company of UjjU of Cuisine Point.

She offers us Baingun Bhaja and tells us that "Baingun (Brinjal / Eggplant in Hindi) Bhaja is a bengali dry curry, served as part of a traditional wedding feast along with rice creations. It also makes a good appetizer."

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And then we are back in Italy with Astrofiammante of Mangiare è un pò come viaggiare (Eating is a bit like traveling). Her Zuccottino di melanzana ripieno [recipe in Italian] is made by shaping roasted eggplant shells into domes and filling them first with chopped eggplant pulp (seasoned with roasted garlic and parsley), then with finely chopped cherry tomatoes, olives, capers and basil and finally with more eggplant pulp. 

You may also take a look at her carpaccio di melanzane marinate agli agrumi.

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The back-and-forth continues and it is time to go to India, where Shail of Shail offers us Baigan ka Bharta or Chokha, which is "generally eaten with Litti or Paranthas."

Shail tells us that some in her "family love it, but some are very wary of it. But Baigan always turns out tasty."

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It's Italy now, this time in the company of this event's creator, Marta, a.k.a An Italian in the US. She made two versions of Melanzane alla Parmigiana then submitted them to the taste buds of a circle of trusted friends asking them to choose their favorite version. They were all more than happy to comply with her request. I won't reveal the verdict here: find out on her blog.

"In any case, whichever version you choose: this dish is a winner."

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I told the story of a memorable melanzana disaster that should serve as a warning: never forget to cut some slits on an eggplant before roasting it.

After years of avoiding roasting whole eggplants, I took the plunge and made a melanzana arrosto that becomes a tasty spread with the addition of various ingredients, including labneh.

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I hope you have enjoyed this culinary itinerary celebrating eggplant in many delicious dishes. Marta, An Italian in the US, will host the next edition of her event and she has just announced the theme: pears.

If you want to participate, here are the simple rules:

1. Put a post on your blog with a recipe involving pears. Add a link to the announcement and mention that it's an entry for the Fresh produce of the month event. If you like it, feel free to place the logo of the pear-centered event on your post.
2. Send an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name to Marta at chemcookitATgmailDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh produce of the month: Pears' as subject.
3. If you don't have a blog just send Marta an email with your recipe and, if you have a picture of the food you made, that's even better: she will add it to the roundup as well.

The deadline for entry submission will be October 31st (not an easy day to forget).

fagioli all'uccelletto

beans little bird style

If you are thinking the name of this dish sounds cute, you are not the only one. There is actually no bird in this Tuscan dish, which I had never cooked before. The inspiration to try came from finding fresh beans still in their pods (fagioli da sgranare, literally: beans to be shelled) at the farmers' market: somehow that sight evoked in my mind the name of the dish heard of old, and it became imperative to make it come alive in my kitchen.

There is a good dose of irony in my getting excited about fresh shelling beans. As a child, I dreaded them, because shelling was a task assigned to me and I disliked beans, so there was no consolation in my toil. Now, being older and at least somewhat wiser, I approach tedious tasks like the shelling of beans with a meditative frame of mind and, of course, my taste buds welcome beans.

I forgot to write down the name of the beans when I bought them, so that piece of information is missing but thanks to my friend Carol I retrieved the missing piece of information: speckled bayo. I just bought some fresh borlotti (cranberry beans) that will be made all'uccelletto soon, and the dish can be made with dried beans as well. Before describing my rendition of this dish, I will give you the link to the recipe from La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well) by Pellegrino Artusi, the classic cookbook first published in 1891. 

Once the shelling was completed, I had half a pound of beans. I cooked them slowly in plenty of water until just tender and drained them, reserving the liquid. I prepared a simple tomato sauce, warming up a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and adding to it two garlic cloves, a few sage leaves (salvia - I used some of the pineapple sage from my herb garden) and the leaves of a couple of thyme sprigs (timo - this ingredient being my idea). After a couple of minutes, when the garlic was golden, I added a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes and cooked for a few minutes. I used the immersion blender briefly to make the diced tomatoes into more of a sauce, then added the beans and cooked for 12 minutes or so, until the beans tasted just right. Add some of the reserved bean liquid if the sauce becomes dry. I adjusted the salt, added freshly-ground pepper, and served the fagioli hot, topped with grated parmigiano - another idea of mine.

Addendum: Using fresh tomatoes
The borlotti I mention above were cooked all'uccelletto today and, for the occasion, I decided to make the sauce with fresh tomatoes. After all, 'tis the season. Another motivation was to give a try to this tecnique for crushing tomatoes. It worked nicely. I followed the same recipe as above until, instead of opening the can of diced tomatoes, I poured in the saucepan the result of crushing three tomatoes as in the video. I let them cook for 10 minutes, then added the beans, and followed the rest of the recipe. The sauce being more watery, there was no need for additional liquid.

This is my entry for the September edition the lovely event My Legume Love Affair - Third Helping, brainchild of Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this month by Lucy of Nourish Me. Here is the roundup.

Hear me pronounce the words on the fagioli all'uccelletto audio file [mp3] or go to the fagioli all'uccelletto audio page for more listening options.

Novel Food #5: the finale (one serving)

The summer solstice brought us a thunderstorm, a calm ocean and some amazing skies.

Thus started my portion of the roundup for the previous edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started last year. I read it as I started to write the roundup for the current edition and thought I would add a bit of follow-up. That evening, the thunderstorms ignited wildfires in the county where I live and throughout California, kicking off a very early fire season. The fight against fire raged on for weeks. When I wrote that sentence I had no idea of what was in store.

After this reflection on the past, I will present some interesting literary works that inspired the preparation of dishes. Each contribution is, as usual, a double invitation: to read a literary work and to taste a dish inspired by it. Lisa and I had fun organizing the event. This time, I will make it a small gathering around a campfire, where people share food and literary nourishment.

Rachel, The Crispy Cook, tells us about Diana Abu-Jaber's second novel, Crescent, " a beautifully woven tale about an Iraq-American woman who is the chef at a Lebanese restaurant in Los Angeles." She starts "a romance with a haunted Iraqi professor of Arab literature."

The novel inspired Rachel to look up Arab recipes and, among them, she chose to share with us a Yemenite Eggplant Salad.

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Adele of Tales of the Basil Queen was inspired by the novel Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris, the third volume of a trilogy of food that started with the famous Chocolat. Five Quarters of the Orange is "a dark, compelling tale of war, family, and the sly ways in which the past returns to haunt the present." 

The book caused the preparation of not one, but two dishes: a fish stew and an apple-and-dried-apricot clafoutis (pictured left).

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Lauren of I'll Eat You recently picked up a copy of Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires, her memoir of her early days as a critic at the New York Times. The book "includes some of her best reviews from over the years" and also recipes.

Overcoming her hesitation about egg yolk, Lauren prepared Spaghetti Carbonara, described by Reichl as "bacon and eggs, but on pasta instead of toast."

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Sara of Heaven on Earth tells us about a feast offered to Natasha, the heroin of Tolstoy's War and Peace, which includes "mushrooms, biscuits of rye flour made with buttermilk, honey in the comb, foaming mead made from honey, apples, nuts raw and nuts baked, and nuts preserved in honey... preserves made with honey and with sugar, and ham and a chicken that had just been roasted."

Sara offers us buttermilk biscuits, apples and honey in a comb.

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Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska was inspired by Andrea Camilleri's Montalbano novels: "One week later, thoroughly captivated by the cantankerous, world-weary, enigmatic inspector, I finished the last of the six books."

In The Snack Thief, Montalbano is invited to a lunch that starts with Pasta alla Norma (Spaghetti with Eggplant and Tomato Sauce): how can he refuse such an invitation?

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The recent release of the movie Brideshead Revisited made me pick up again the novel by Evelyn Waugh. Images from the 1981 TV mini-series, watched not too long ago, were very vivid in my mind, preventing my imagination from running unfettered.

From a meal ordered at a French restaurant by the protagonist and narrator, I was inspired to make a soufflé di ricotta al limone (lemony ricotta soufflé) served with homemade sorbetto alle more (blackberry sorbet).

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If you started reading the roundup of the fifth edition of Novel Food here, make sure you navigate to Lisa's blog, where you will find another set of appetizing literary and culinary works. They include Lisa's own contribution inspired by the novel Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo: Hamburger Casserole (a.k.a. Beef and Macaroni Bake).

The title of the novel makes me think of beloved Venice. The story, however, is set in a small town, Thomaston. Lisa found the novel "engrossing, poignant, rich, and delicious." The dish she was inspired to make is certainly all of that and also beautiful to look at.    

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I hope you enjoyed our literary/culinary party, the company and the suggestions for reading and for cooking. Our event will be back next season: stay tuned for the announcement that will be published in about two months'. See you then.

Novel Food #5: soufflé di ricotta al limone

lemony ricotta soufflé

I remember the dinner well - soup of oseille, a sole quite simply cooked in white wine sauce, a caneton à la presse, a lemon soufflé. At the last minute, fearing that the whole thing was too simple for Rex, I added caviare aux blinis. And for wine I let him give me a bottle of 1906 Montrachet, then at its prime, and, with the duck, a Clode de Bère of 1904.

Living was easy in France then...

Charles Ryder is having dinner with Rex Mottram at a restaurant in Paris called Paillard's. He has chosen both the place and the menu. Charles would like to be able to devote his attention to the food, but Rex wants to talk. That is why he has sought Charles out. The two men talk, but they don't communicate.

The soup was delicious after the rich blinis - hot, thin, bitter, frothy...

The sole was so simple and unobtrusive that Rex failed to notice it...

Presently he began again on the Marchmains:...

Lord and Lady Marchmain, and their children: Brideshead (Bridey), Julia, Sebastian and Cordelia. Rex's interest is in marrying Julia. Charles became close friend with Sebastian at Oxford. The novel is Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh. I had read it years ago, then, fairly recently, my husband and I watched the TV mini-series, starring Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder, Lawrence Olivier as Lord Marchmain and John Gielgud as Mr. Ryder, among others. This year, a new movie came out and, though I have not yet seen it, it has prompted me to read the book again.

I closed my mind to him as best I could and gave myself to the food before me, but sentences came breaking in on my happiness, recalling me to the harsh, acquisitive world which Rex inhabited. He wanted a woman; he wanted the best on the market, and he wanted her cheap; that was what it amounted to.

At this point, the connection between Charles and the Marchmains is his old friendship with Sebastian. Later, it will be his love for Julia, now the object of Rex's greed. 

After the duck came a salad of watercress and chicory in a faint mist of chives. I tried to think only of the salad. I succeeded for a time in thinking only of the soufflé. Then came the cognac and the proper hour for these confidences.

Charles has a fine sensitivity. Rex has no use for nuances. Later on, Julia would say that Rex

isn't a real person at all; he's just a few faculties of a man highly developed; the rest simply isn't there.

The description of the dinner of disconnect at Paillard's inspired me to make lemon soufflé. I had never made a sweet soufflé and wanted to try. The one I chose as inspiration (in Italian), allowed me to use my homemade ricotta. (I know, I have already hinted at this: I will soon talk about it in more details in a future post.)

I had not read the recipe carefully before embarking in my interpretation of it and I paid for such lapse when I found myself with 4 beaten egg whites and a recipe that talked about the egg white. I ended up using roughly half of the beaten egg whites. Notwithstanding the little crisis, the end result was very good, its texture not quite as airy as one expects from a soufflé, in favor of a delicious creaminess contributed to by ricotta. The use of only grated zest of lemon makes for a lemony nuance, versus a strong lemon flavor. This way, one can taste the ricotta.

Ingredients:

• 150 g ricotta (a bit more than 5 oz.)
• zest of 3 organic lemons
• 4 egg yolks
• one egg white
• 1/3 cup vanilla sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon corn starch

Preheat the oven to 400 F and pour one inch of water in a baking pan. In a bowl, whisk ricotta, lemon zest, egg yolks, sugar and corn starch until creamy. Beat the egg white until stiff peaks form and fold it into the cream. Pour into four 3" ramekins and bake in the pan for 15-20 minutes, until soufflés are golden. Because I used two egg whites instead of one, my soufflés puffed up more than the recipe desired, and, since I served them cold, as the recipe suggests, signs of deflation are clear on the surface. I served the soufflés paired with my most recent version of sorbetto alle more (blackberry sorbet). Charles Ryder would have appreciated.    

This is my contribution to the fifth edition of Novel Food, a seasonal literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I concocted last year and have been co-hosting ever since.

This post contains my portion of the roundup and a link to Lisa's portion.

Hear me pronounce the words on the soufflé di ricotta al limone audio file [mp3] or go to the soufflé di ricotta al limone audio page for more listening options.

mascarpone fatto in casa

homemade mascarpone

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Nobody that I know makes mascarpone at home in Italy. The reason, I believe, is that you can go to the grocery store around the corner and get some, so there is no real incentive to learn to do-it-yourself. Finding good quality mascarpone became less obvious once I moved to California. At some point, I read that one could make it at home. Still, things did not click in my mind, also because by then I could find imported Italian mascarpone to make tiramisù.

The inspiration to make mascarpone at home came from a delightful conversation I had last July with Trace Leighton, Chef de Patisserie of Nibblers Eatery & Wine Bar, in Pleasant Hill. She described to me the process she follows and, suddenly, the urge to try to replicate it was irresistible. The procedure to make mascarpone is variously described in several places on the web: this page has a clear explanation. The main differences with what I do are in the composition of the main ingredient and the draining (see below).

I have been halving the recipe, starting with 2 cups of main ingredient and adding to it 1/8 teaspoon of tartaric acid (purchased at a store that sells beer-making supplies)¹. I have tried three different blends of organic pasteurized ingredients (avoid ultra-pasteurized ones, as I have read that the flavor of the final product is adversely affected by the ultra-pasteurization process): 100% [heavy] whipping cream (I use Straus Family Creamery Cream-Top Whipping Cream, which has 35% butterfat²), 75% [heavy] whipping cream and 25% non-fat milk (1.5 cups and half a cup, respectively), 75% half-and-half (18% fat) and 25% [heavy] whipping cream. Trace described to me the first option. I tried the third one based on the information on the web page referenced above for the instructions. The middle option is of my own design and it is the one I have been using. In this option the overall fat contents of the mixture cream + milk is 26%.

The following paragraph will make sense after you read the instructions. I sterilize the implements that will come in contact with milk and cream by immersing them in boiling water for five minutes, then air dry. I don't have a double boiler; most recently, I have been using a stainless steel bowl set over a pan with water. I do not suspend the cloth as I do for labneh and Neufchatel, but simply place it in a small colander that fits over a bowl. Avoid what is sold as cheesecloth and use instead a piece of cotton cloth, like a handkerchief or, as in the case above, of bed sheet. The photo is not great, but it shows my setting for draining the whey. The yield from 2 cups of main ingredient is about 10 oz. of mascarpone.

What have I been doing with it? As described in previous posts, I have been using  mascarpone to finish off a risotto, as topping for fresh fruit, and also to make tiramisù (photo below) and crostate (photo on the right, a version with sliced fresh strawberries over the mascarpone-based filling). My homemade mascarpone is better than what I used to get in the stores: creamier, fresher, tastier. I love it! 

My very special thanks to Trace for generously sharing with me her knowledge, and inspiring me to make this happen.

¹ Update: I have also tried to coagulate the cream blend with one tablespoon (15 ml) of fresh lemon juice, and obtained a comparable result.

² In the US, heavy whipping cream has a higher butterfat contents than whipping cream. It is also more readily available in stores. In other countries, the term whipping cream is used. The important thing is the butterfat contents and that is why I specified the values involved. The brand of whipping cream that I use is at the high end of the range for butterfat contents of whipping cream and therefore works.

Hear me pronounce the words on the mascarpone fatto in casa audio file [mp3] or go to the mascarpone fatto in casa audio page for more listening options.

Per i lettori italiani. Non ho trovato un buon sito che spiegasse nei dettagli come fare il mascarpone in casa (qui c'è una descrizione sommaria), quindi vi spiego quello che faccio io. Le dosi che uso sono per circa 480 ml di panna fresca e latte, ma presumo che potete applicarle a mezzo litro senza problemi. Utilizzate ingredienti freschi, pastorizzati, non ultra-pastorizzati: ho letto che il processo di ultra-pastorizzazione ha un effetto negativo sul sapore del prodotto finale. Io ho provato tre combinazioni: 100% di panna da montare (35% di grasso), 75% di panna e 25% di latte magro, 75% half-and-half (metà panna e metà latte, un prodotto che non so se si trovi in Italia) e 25% di panna. L'opzione di mezzo è una mia idea ed è quella che uso. Si basa sull'aver letto che la panna utilizzata per fare il mascarpone ha un contenuto di grasso inferiore (25-30%) a quella che uso io (35%). In questa opzione, il contenuto di grasso della miscela panna + latte è del 26%.

Sterilizzare gli utensili che verranno in contatto con panna e latte immergendoli in acqua bollente per 5 minuti e lasciarli asciugare all'aria. Scaldare la panna, o combinazione di panna e latte, a bagnomaria fino a raggiungere 85 C. Io uso un contenitore di vetro pyrex messo dentro una pentola d'acqua, oppure una ciotola di acciaio posta sopra una pentola d'acqua. Sciogliere 1/8 di cucchiaino (0.6 ml) di acido tartarico in un cucchiaio di acqua (15 ml) e aggiungerlo alla panna: si sente subito che il liquido si addensa un po'. [Alternativamente, potete provare ad aggiungere un cucchiaio (15 ml) di succo di limone. Aggiornamento: Io l'ho fatto, e ho trovato che funziona.] Mantenere la temperatura a 85 C per cinque minuti, mescolando di tanto in tanto. Rimuovere dal fuoco e dal bagno d'acqua. Porre in un contenitore non-reattivo dotato di coperchio (oppure lasciare nel contenitore di cottura e coprire bene) e far riposare in frigo per 12 ore. Drenare poi il siero per 24 ore. La foto sopra fa vedere che per questo passaggio io utilizzo un colino foderato con un pezzo di cotone sterilizzato in acqua bollente (un fazzoletto pesante, o un tovagliolo o un pezzo di lenzuolo di cotone) messo sopra una ciotola per raccogliere il siero. Poi il mascarpone (280 g circa) è pronto: mettetelo in un contenitore e usatelo nel giro di pochi giorni. A casa mia non dura tanto.

melanzana arrosto

roasted eggplant

I love melanzane and I liked them also as a child (when most vegetables were on my black list), maybe because my mother did not cook melanzane, so they had an aura of mystery around them.

Such love was not affected by the worst kitchen disaster that ever happened to me the first time I tried to roast a whole eggplant (una melanzana intera). One day, I decided to make baba ganoush, first tasted some years before in a Lebanese restaurant in Tangier, Morocco. I bought a big eggplant and put it in the hot oven. The recipe made it clear that I needed to pierce the eggplant before roasting it, but I overlooked the recommendation and what a price did I pay for my mistake! At some point, I heard a strange noise with an explosive component to it, and, upon opening the oven door, I was presented with a mess that left me speechless. You have no idea how many seeds there are in an eggplant until you see them scattered all over your oven, no idea how much pulp a plump eggplant has until you must retrieve every shred of it from the remotest corner of your oven. That was it for me and whole eggplants, until very recently, when I decided I could handle the roasting process again, confident that the painful memory of the unpirced eggplant would prevent me from repeating the mistake.

The recipe I used as inspiration for this comeback comes from my beloved "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison, and it is called Roasted Eggplant with Dill, Yogurt and Walnuts. The interesting thing is that it requires to stick slices of a garlic clove in 4-5 slits made on the eggplant, so there is no way one can forget to pierce the eggplant before roasting it. The roasting occurs at 425 F and takes 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the eggplant. When the melanzana arrosto is cool, remove the skin and seeds, then chop the pulp finely and mash with it a fork. Add some labneh and mix well. I have been making labneh regularly recently, using as little as one cup of plain non-fat yogurt, so I have a steady supply to use in various dishes.

In a mortar, pound one clove of garlic with some salt (2 if they are small or the eggplant is big)¹. Finely chop some fresh aneto (dill) and some toasted walnuts (I blanch walnuts and toast them in the oven in batches, because I use a lot of them, so I always have some in the fridge, ready for use). Add the seasoning to the roasted eggplant and labneh mix, and stir well. Sprinkle some salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste. I don't measure the ingredients and prefer to adjust them based on the result of my tasting the final product. You can serve the melanzana as a spread (in which case you may want to make sure its consistency is creamy, maybe by adding a bit of olive oil) or as a side dish (in which case, a chunkier texture is fine).

¹ Addendum: I have made this recipe with roasted, mashed garlic instead of raw, pounded garlic and I personally liked it better. I would suggest this version if you prefer a less intense garlic flavor. Roast 2 unpeeled garlic cloves wrapped in foil for 15 minutes together with the eggplant. Once cooled, peel them and mash together with the eggplant pulp.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Fresh Produce of the Month, an event created by Marta, An Italian in the US, which I have the honor of hosting this month. Marta was actually one of the guests who tasted my first rendition of the dish.

Here is the roundup of the event.

Hear me pronounce the words on the melanzana arrosto audio file [mp3] or go to the melanzana arrosto audio page for more listening options.

risotto alle more

blackberry risotto

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Another season of blackberry picking has started in my neighborhood and it found me ready to explore uncharted territory. After using more mostly to make sorbetto (sorbet), this year I have expanded my repertoire to include plum and blackberry spread (sweetened with honey), and risotto alle more.

About a month ago, I wrote about risotto ai lamponi and the combination of ingredients I devised for raspberries works also very well for blackberries. I actually tried varying a couple of components, but comparison tasting favored the shallot and thyme base. The one variation I hereby propose is the use of fresh mascarpone to finish off the risotto. For the previous dish I used crumbled fresh chèvre: at the time I had not yet discovered the delights of making mascarpone at home.

In summary, for risotto alle more I used the same ingredients in the same quantities as in the recipe for risotto ai lamponi with the following changes:

• 6 oz. of blackberries, instead of raspberries
• 2 tablespoons of mascarpone instead of 1 oz. of fresh chèvre, plus a decorative dollop over each portion, to be mixed into the risotto by the happy recipient.

Having recently started sharing photos unrelated to the subject at hand, I would like to continue with an image of Fern Canyon, a gorgeous place located in Redwood National Park, CA.

Hear me pronounce the words on the risotto alle more audio file [mp3] or go to the risotto alle more audio page for more listening options.

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Per i lettori italiani. Mettere 170 g di more in una ciotola e aggiungere un cucchiaino di nettare di agave e mezzo cucchiaino di aceto balsamico. Lasciare marinare per un paio d'ore, poi frullare, e infine passare al setaccio per rimuovere i semini. Mettere da parte.

Portare a ebollizione 600 ml di brodo vegetale leggero. In una pentola, scaldare mezzo cucchiaio di olio d'oliva e aggiungere uno scalogno piccolo tritato finemente e le foglioline di due rametti di timo. Cuocere a fuoco basso per qualche minuto, poi aggiungere 200 g di riso carnaroli o arborio. Tostare il riso per un minuto, poi aggiungere un generoso spruzzo di vino bianco (non freddo). Lasciare evaporare il vino, girando il riso, poi cominciare ad aggiungere il brodo bollente, un mestolo alla volta. Mantenere il riso bagnato col brodo e cuocere, girando ad intervalli regolari.

Assaggiare dopo 15 minuti dalla prima aggiunta di brodo e se il riso è ancora un po' duro al centro, lasciar cuocere un altro minuto, poi assaggiare di nuovo. A questo punto, tenere il risotto un po' più secco del solito. Aggiungere il purè di more e 2 cucchiai di mascarpone (fatto in casa). Mescolare finché il mascarpone è ben distribuito, poi far riposare il risotto, coperto, per alcuni minuti. Correggere il sale e servire, decorando ogni porzione con un po' di mascarpone.

Ho aggiunto la versione in italiano di questa ricetta per poterla poi inviare a La cucina a colori, raccolta di ricette di Elena di Gnam Gnam.