briciole

riepilogo del weekend di erbe aromatiche numero 272

Weekend Herb Blogging #272: the roundup

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

As the host of last week's edition of WHB, I have the honor of presenting an interesting set of posts submitted by bloggers from around the world. 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 small bite, a sample of the delicacy to be fully savored by reading the relevant post.

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Mimi of foodie and the chef presents gratin de coquilles St. Jacques
"The eye-catching, delicate, jade-green seaweed scattered on top of the shells is called salicornia or grasswort, which has a lovely crunchy texture and naturally quite salty."

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Graziana of Erbe in Cucina contributed Morning Glory Muffins with Mint
The dough contains many ingredients and thanks to a some chemical miracle, using the given doses you can taste all the flavors in each morsel

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Megha of i2cook presents Spinach & corn casserole covered with mashed potato
A spinach and corn bake minus the white sauce that makes a gluten-free meal

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Claudia of Honey from Rock prepared Grilled Ahi and Vegetable Pasta Toss
"Assemble some fresh vegetables to complement the fabulous fresh fish, a few herbs and seasonings, you're on a roll."

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Daphne of More Than Words prepared Nata DeCoCo Coconut Jelly
A refreshing dessert to counteract the hot weather: a dual flavor jelly, one layer of nata de coco and one layer of coconut milk and agar agar

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Sra of When My Soup Came Alive prepared Green Upma
A "contrary and subversive mood" inspires Sra to make the usually white upma green, with green beans, green peas, green curry leaves' powder

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Ago of Pane, burro e marmellata baked Tangerine and Green Pistachio of Bronte Little Cakes
"These little cakes with pistachios and tangerine were born to brighten up the breakfast with their bright colors and the tangerine segment smile on them."

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Shu Han of Mummyicancook prepared Celeriac and Hazelnut Soup
Celeriac, the ugly duckling of vegetables, "but peel away the outer layers, and you have a beautiful cream-coloured inside,that gives off a sweet nutty smell and flavour"

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Acky of Ackyart described A journey in ‘Culinaria’: tempering and tasting chocolate
After a long journey, the seeds of Theobroma cacao become chocolate, which is tempered before being molded and finally enjoyed using all five senses

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Anna of Morsels & Musings prepared Persian Pomegranate Soup (Ash-e Anār)
"A sour, tangy soup rich with Middle Eastern flavours and aromas. The pomegranates give it a sour, earthy flavour and the lamb adds intensity and richness."

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Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once made Green Mojo
"Mojo means sauce and these sauces have their origins in the Canary Islands... this vibrant green variety [is] delicately spiced with ground cumin and a touch of smoked paprika."

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Cinzia of Cindystar prepared Fava Bean Creamy Soup
A mistake leads to something delicious and comforting: a pound of fava beans cooked by accident were recycled into a good creamy soup for the evening

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Joanne of Eats Well With Others prepared Oven-fried chicken and waffles with a juniper-infused pomegranate maple syrup — Juniper "is a berry. It tastes kind of like pine. It's beautiful when simmered with pomegranate juice for an hour and then mixed with maple syrup."

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Brii of Briiblog in English prepared Ginger syrup
"Very easy and soo good! With the ginger that remained after the filtering of the sirup" you can make candied ginger

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Simona of briciole prepared Roasted Cauliflower and Delicata Squash Soup
When it is cold outside and there are delicata squashes and cauliflower inside, the right strategy is to roast the vegetables and then blend them in a nice soup

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Many thanks to all who contributed to produce an interesting collection of dishes for this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging. I do hope I have not left anybody out of the roundup. If you find that, notwithstanding my best intentions, I actually have omitted a post, please send me a note.

Yasmeen from Health Nut is currently accepting submissions for this week's edition. 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 two 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 gruppo 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 assaggio di quello che potete gustare andando a leggere il post.

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Libera di Accanto al caminetto ha preparato Boccioli di tarassaco sott'olio
Potete accompagnare questi boccioli ai bolliti (sia carne che pesce), a formaggi, o mangiarli così con il pane appena sfornato

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Graziana of Erbe in Cucina ha contribuito Tortine all'ananas e menta
"L'impasto contiene molti ingredienti, e per qualche miracolo alchemico con queste dosi vi posso assicurare che i sapori si sentono proprio tutti a ogni morso!"

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Ago di Pane, burro e marmellata ha sfornato Piccoli Cakes ai Pistacchi di Bronte e Mandarino
"Questi piccoli cakes ai pistacchi e mandarino sono nati per rallegrare le colazioni di questo periodo con il loro colore allegro ed il sorrisino dello spicchietto di mandarino."

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Marta di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare ha preparato Sformatini di patate ripieni di funghi
Un contorno di funghi che si veste a festa grazie alle patate: insieme diventano degli eleganti e saporiti sformatini

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Acky di Ackyart descrive ‘Culinaria’, Roma: temperaggio e degustazione del cioccolato
Dopo un lungo percorso, i semi dell'albero Theobroma cacao diventano cioccolato, che viene temperato prima di essere versato negli stampi e poi, finalmente, degustato coi 5 sensi

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Cinzia di Cindystar ha preparato una Zuppa di fave
Un errore porta a preparare qualcosa di delizioso e confortante: mezzo chilo di fave cotte per errore vengono riciclate nella preparazione di una buona zuppa cremosa per la cena

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Brii di Briggis recept och ideer ha preparato dello Sciroppo di zenzero
"È semplicissimo e buonissimo. Con lo zenzero che è rimasto dopo il filtraggio" potete fare uno "zenzero candito"

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Simona di briciole ha preparato Zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata"
Quando fuori fa freddo e dentro ci sono zucche e cavolfiore, la strategia corretta suggerisce di cuocere le verdure al forno e poi unirli in matrimonio in una bella zuppa

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Ringrazio tutte coloro che hanno contribuito la loro creatività a questa edizione di Weekend Herb Blogging. Spero di non aver omesso nessun post nel riepilogo. Se, nonostante le mie buone intenzioni, ho dimenticato qualcuno, per favore mandatemi un messaggio.

Brii di Briggis recept och ideer, organizzatrice dell'edizione italiana di WHB, questa settimana fa anche da ospite. 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 due anni la versione "madre" dell'evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen (che ho avuto il piacere di incontrare di persona un paio di anni fa). È bello far parte di una tradizione che unisce da tanto tempo food bloggers in tutto il mondo.

panna cotta al tè verde matcha e biscottini

The February 2011 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

If it weren't for the DB's challenge, I don't think I would have ever tried making panna cotta. How come?, you may ask. You are Italian, you should love panna cotta. Let me explain. Panna cotta is a dessert typical of Piemonte, a region quite far from Umbria, where I grew up — panna cotta-less, as it happens. The first time I tasted panna cotta was after I moved to Milan: I was underwhelmed, so our relationship did not develop. But I think it is important to go past first impressions and so I welcomed Mallory's choice for the challenge. The recipes she suggested for the challenge are available here.

I wanted to find a lighter recipe than the one suggested. After some roaming on the web, I landed on a recipe from Epicurious that satisfied my requirements: small quantities, less cream (panna), just a little gelatin (gelatina) and sugar, and matcha. As I recounted in a recent post, I bought some good quality matcha, so using it to make panna cotta sounded perfect.

I made the recipe twice, using the observations made during the first attempt to get a prettier result the second time. The original recipe is on this page and these are the changes I made:

• 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar (I then omitted the vanilla extract)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons matcha
  [decreasing the sugar and increasing the matcha are changes suggested by a reviewer]

Sprinkle gelatin over water, making sure the grains absorb water (based on this recommendation by David Lebovitz). Heat the liquid to a fairly high temperature (though below boiling point). I used the traditional bamboo whisk, called chasen (shown in the photo above) to mix well matcha and half and half. I divided the liquid into three portions and instead of pouring it into custard cups, I used my vintage ice cream glasses, so later I didn't need to unmold the panna cotta to serve it. After the panna cotta set, I could see from the outside a bit of the matcha deposited on the bottom of the glasses. However, that did not seem to affect the flavor of the dessert.

To accompany the panna cotta and fulfill the challenge's requirements, I got tempted to make fiorentini closer to the tradition, as shown in this post (in Italian), but then decided to try the given recipe to see how the quick oats (fiocchi d'avena) would taste in this context. I divided the quantities by four, because I wanted a small number of cookies and then halved the sugar to bring the sweetness to an acceptable level. This is the list of ingredients I used:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (1.5 oz or 40 g)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) quick oats
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 g)
  
• 25 g (a scant ounce) all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tablespoon (30 ml) agave nectar (there is no corn syrup in my pantry — and never will be)
• 1 tablespoon (30 ml) milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a mini-pinch of salt
• a small quantity of 70% cacao chocolate (cioccolato), chopped finely

I followed the instructions in the given recipe and obtained nine cookies, which I let cool on the baking sheet. When ready, I melted the chocolate and drizzled it on top of the cookies, then let it set.

I decided to call the cookies I made biscottini (literally, small biscotti), because they are approaching the realm of pasticcini. In Italian, the word biscotto has a different meaning from that in the US, as explained in this post. Pasticcini (singular pasticcino) are either small pastries (of which you can see an example in this photo) or rich cookies usually served as an accompaniment to tea (pasticcini da tè, of which you can see an example on this page).

I have since seen recipes for panna cotta that use agar or egg whites instead of gelatin and I am planning to try those next. 

A special thank you goes to our host for her choice and her efforts. It was a nice challenge. I hope you will take the time to go around and look at the creative output of my talented fellow Daring Bakers.

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

panna cotta al tè verde matcha e biscottini

or launch the panna cotta al tè verde matcha e biscottini 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.]

zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata"

roasted cauliflower and delicata squash soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Another soup? You bet! For two good reasons. First of all, it is cold (fa freddo). In case you are wondering why we are getting a freezing-cold snap at the end of February, here is the reason: because Simona has planted pea seedlings. I put off planting peas for three weeks, though we had nice weather and working in the garden would have been pleasant. When I finally gave in, thinking that the danger of frost was behind us, bam! the temperature has plummeted.

The second reason is that I have a certain fairly large amount of winter squashes (zucche) in my storage room that I need to use. In particular, I have several delicata squashes. I really like the flavor of this kind of winter squash, which stands well on its own (as in this recipe from some time ago) and also pairs well with other flavors.

Last Saturday, I bought some cauliflower, thinking I would make this tried-and-true recipe, but then decided to build upon a recent experience with a roasted vegetables soup and make a roasted cauliflower soup. Cauliflower and what else? was the question and the prompt answer was: delicata squash. I can't tell where the answer came from, but I decided to accept it anyway and act upon it. From this recipe, I got some suggestions for the aromatics, while from this recipe, I got the idea of using curry. I then added other elements I wanted and made the soup. I liked the result so much that I immediately made a second batch, which allowed me to refine a few details. Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata"

• 17-18 oz. (500 g) cauliflower, cut into florets
• a delicata squash (1.5 lbs or 700 g), cut in half lengthwise, seeds and strings removed (a grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool to do this)
• 2 shallots (2 oz or 60 g), skin removed but left whole
• 3 cloves of garlic, left unpeeled
• olive oil
• 3 cups of homemade light chicken stock (or vegetable alternative)
• 2 cups of water
  
• 1 bay leaf (foglia di alloro)
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• fresh lime or lemon juice (optional)
  

Heat the oven to 375 F. Place the delicata squash, cut side down, on a small baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. Wrap the garlic cloves in aluminum foil. Do the same with the each shallot (scalogno) and place the foil wraps next to the squash. Spray a baking pan with olive oil and distribute the cauliflower florets in it. Spray some more olive oil on the cauliflower and stir to coat. Hopefully you'll be able to fit both the baking sheet and the baking pan in your oven, so you can do all your baking at once. Stir the cauliflower after 10 minutes of baking and then again 5 minutes later. Make sure the cauliflower bakes evenly. Keep an eye on it and remove the pan from the oven when it is ready (about 30 minutes). Garlic and shallots will be ready after 20 minutes. The squash will take about 30 minutes. Let everything cool slightly, so you can handle the vegetables without worry.

Put the cauliflower, peeled garlic cloves, sliced shallots and the flesh of the delicata squash in a soup pot. (The grapefruit spoon that has helped you clean the squash will also be of assistance in scraping the flesh from the skin.) Add the curry powder, bay leaf and thyme, and the liquids. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until the cauliflower is very tender. Remove the bay leaf. Purée using an immersion blender if possible. If you use a food processor, purée in batches and use extreme care. Add more water, if needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Reheat the soup and serve hot, by itself or accompanied by cooked hulless barley or another cooked grain you like (possibly whole), or a slice of homemade bread, toasted. After plating, I squeezed a bit of lime juice in my bowl and mixed well before diving into the soup. Adjust the quantity of juice based on personal taste. Optionally top the soup with some sliced almonds toasted briefly in a dry skillet.

This is my contribution to edition #272 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:

zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata"

or launch the zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata" 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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Per i lettori italiani

Un'altra zuppa? Ebbene si' e per due buoni motivi. Prima di tutto fa freddo. E il motivo per cui è arrivata un'ondata di freddo è che ho piantato i piselli. Ho rimandato per tre settimane, nonostante il tempo fosse bello e quindi indicato per lavorare nell'orticello. Quando finalmente mi sono decisa, pensando che il pericolo di gelate fosse passato, la temperatura è precipitata.

Il secondo motivo è che ho una certa notevole quantità di zucche e devo usarle, alcune di esse della varietà "delicata" (che è diversa dalla zucca "delica" che ho visto in Italia). Questo tipo di zucca mi piace molto perché si accompagna bene con altri sapori ma può anche cavarsela da sola, come in questa ricetta di qualche tempo fa). Se non trovate la zucca delicata, potete utilizzare un altro tipo di zucca.

Sabato scorso ho comprato del cavolfiore, pensando di utilizzarlo in questa ricetta, ma poi ho pensato di continuare sulla stessa vena di un recente esperimento con zuppa a base di verdure arrosto e ho deciso di fare una zuppa di cavolfiore arrosto. Cavolfiore e che altro? mi sono chiesta e mi sono subito riposta: zucca "delicata." Da questa ricetta ho derivato alcuni suggerimenti per aromatizzare la zuppa, mentre da questa ricetta, ho preso l'idea di utilizzare la polvere di curry. Ho aggiunto alcuni elemente che desideravo e ho preparato la zuppa. Mi è piaciuta così tanto che l'ho rifatta subito, il che mi ha aiutata a precisare alcuni dettagli. Ecco la ricetta:

• 1 o 2 cime di cavolfiore (500 g) tagliato a pezzi
  
• una zucca "delicata" (700 g) tagliata nel senso della lunghezza e pulita [vedi Nota sotto]
  
• 2 scalogni (60 g) interi, sbucciati
  
• 3 spicchi d'aglio non spellati
  
• olio d'oliva
• 700 ml di brodo di pollo leggero fatto in casa (o brodo vegetale)
• 500 ml d'acqua
  
• una foglia d'alloro
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) di foglioline di timo fresco
• 1/2 cucchiaino (2,5 ml) di polvere di curry
  
• sale e pepe macinato fresco a piacere
• succo di limetta o di limone fresco (facoltativo)
  

Nota: la zucca "delicata" è relativamente piccola e la polpa non è molto spessa. Se utilizzate un'altra zucca, preparatela per il forno e arrostitela in base al tipo e della grandezza.

Scaldare il forno a 190 C. Porre la zucca con la parte tagliata in basso su una lastra da forno piuttosto piccola coperta da un tappetino di silicone per forno. Avvolgere gli spicchi d'aglio in un pezzo di alluminio. Fare lo stesso con ognuno degli scalogni e porre i pacchettini di alluminio accanto alla zucca. Oliare una teglia e distribuire i pezzi di cavolfiore. Spero che riusciate e mettere nel forno sia la teglia che la lastra in modo da poter fare la cottura al forno in modo efficiente. Mescolare il cavolfiore dopo 10 minuti e poi ancora dopo altri 5. Assicuratevi che il cavolfiore arrostisca in modo uniforme. Controllatelo spesso e tiratelo fuori dal forno quando è pronto (30 minuti circa). Scalogni e aglio saranno pronti dopo 20 minuti, la zucca dopo circa 30 minuti (questo dato varia a seconda del tipo di zucca). Far intiepidire leggermente le verdure.

Mettere il cavolfiore, gli spicchi d'aglio sbuciati, gli scalogni affettati e la polpa della zucca in una pentola capiente (un cucchiaino da pompelmo è utilissimo sia per pulire la zucca che per rimuovere la polpe dalla buccia dopo la cottura). Aggiungere curry, alloro, timo e i liquidi. Portare a bollore e cuocere per 30 minuti o finché il cavolfiore è molto morbido. Togliere la foglia d'alloro. Ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer. Aggiungere acqua, se necessario, per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Aggiustare sale e pepe.

Riscaldare la zuppa e servirla da sola o accompagnata da orzo nudo cotto o altra granaglia cotta, o una fetta di pane fatto in casa tostata. Dopo aver versato la zuppa nel piatto, io ho spremuto un po' di succo di limetta sulla mia porzione e ho mescolato bene prima di tuffarmi nella zuppa. Potete anche distribuire sulla zuppa delle mandorle a fettine tostate in una padella (senza olio).

Questo è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 272 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di Briggis recept och ideer, e ospitata questa settimana da Simona di briciole (che poi sarei io).

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento e informazioni sull'edizione corrente.

Annuncio: weekend di erbe aromatiche numero 272

Announcement: Weekend Herb Blogging #272

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

This week I have once again the honor of hosting Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, and now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once.

The rules for participating are detailed on this page. You can download the logo on the left to add to your post.

I will be delighted to receive your contribution to the event at simosite AT mac DOT com. Please, specify WHB #272 in the title of the message.

In your email please include the following information:

• Your Name
• Your Blog Name/URL
• Your Post URL
• Attach a photo (maximum width 400px)

Sometimes messages get lost in cyberspace, so if you don't receive an acknowledgment of your email or a comment on your post, please contact me again by leaving a comment on this post.

The deadline for submitting your contribution is Sunday February 27, 2011 at 2 pm PST (5 pm EST).

I will publish a roundup of the event on Monday, February 28. Ready? Go!

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Per i lettori italiani

Questa settimana ho l'onore di ospitare anche la version italiana di Weekend Herb Blogging, evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di Briggis recept och ideer.

Le regole per partecipare all'evento le trovate su questa pagina. Se volete, potete scaricare e utilizzare il logo qui a sinistra nel vostro post.

Sarò felice di ricevere il vostro conntributo all'evento all'indirizzo simosite AT mac DOT com. Per favore, specificate WHB #272 nel titolo del messaggio.

Nel messaggio, includete le seguenti informazioni:

• Nome
• Nome e URL del blog
• URL del post
• foto allegata (larghezza massima 400px)

Può succedere che un messaggio si perda nel ciberspazio, quindi se non ricevete una risposta alla vostra email o un mio commento sul vostro post, per favore contattatemi di nuovo lasciando un commento su questo post.

La scadenza per mandarmi il vostro contributo è Domenica 27 Febbraio alle 18 ora italiana.

Pubblicherò il riepilogo dell'evento lunedì 28 Febbraio. Tenete conto che vivo in California e quindi sono 9 ore indietro rispetto all'Italia. A seconda dell'ora di pubblicazione, per voi potrebbe essere già martedì 1° Marzo.

Novel Food #12: the finale (one serving)

About a month ago, Lisa of Champaign Taste and I announced the 12th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that we created in 2007, following a lively exchange of messages about the novels, whose protagonist is Salvo Montalbano, a Sicilian police inspector with a passion for good food. Since Montalbano's creator, Andrea Camilleri, keeps writing novels that have him as protagonist, as American poet Stephen Sartarelli keeps translating them, our conversations on the subject continue. If you are curious, you can pick up a copy of The Shape of Water, the first novel in the series, and see if you like it (if you follow the link to google books, you will be able to read excerpts of the novel). I am hoping that the movies made based on most of the novels and some of the short stories will be available soon for rental in this country: I have seen the originals and they are a treat.

Back to our main feature: Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. Like all its predecessors, the current edition of the event includes an interesting set of readables and edibles, of which I will introduce half. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. At the end, I will give you directions to reach the other half of the roundup, brought to you by my co-host, Lisa.

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Rachel of The Crispy Cook made Double Snackers in homage to Bill Richardson's novel Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast Pillow Book.

A sequel to Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast, the novel is "a continuation of the adventures of Hector, Virgil and their circle of friends, punctuated by recipes, recommended book lists, many verses of bad poetry and letters from guests who have stayed at their B&B." Inspired from one such letter, Rachel tried to find a recipe for Double Snackers and when that failed to materialize, she created her own version: a savory kind of sandwich cookie, "salty, crispy, but also gooey. And cheesy." Rachel's post contains more information on the book and, of course, her recipe for Double Snackers.

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Ana of Anasbageri was inspired by Isabel Allende's Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses to prepare Portuguese Rice Pudding "Arroz Doce" (Sweet Rice)

In Allende’s words, Aphrodite is a "journey through the regions of sensual memory, in which the boundaries between love and appetite are so diffuse that at times they evaporate completely.” The author writes that once she had a dream where she was diving into a pool filled with her favorite dessert, rice pudding: "I dived in, and that delicious creaminess caressed my skin, slipped into all the crevices of my body, and filled my mouth." Ana prepared Arroz doce the way her grandmother used to: creamy and eggless, decorated with cinnamon. Follow the link to Ana's post to get the delicious recipe.

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Adele of tales of the basil queen found inspiration in Ann Patchett's novel Bel Canto and baked an orange-scented dulce de leche cake

A flawless dinner party is followed by a famous soprano's performance but the evening ends with the guests being taken hostages. The dinner menu becomes a distant memory amid wrapped sandwiches and prepared casseroles. Yet a slice of dark cake is important for Gen, the interpreter, and since it is not clear from the book whether he ever got to eat it, after he had to set aside his meal to do some translation, Adele decided to console him with a cake especially baked for him. Take your time to read Adele's post where she sets the stage for the grand entrance of her cake and shares her recipe.

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Ana of Sweet Almond Tree was inspired to prepare Corned Beef and Cabbage with Beets by the story A Painful Case contained in the collection Dubliners by James Joyce

"A Painful Case” is a story about isolation: Mrs. Sinico, a married woman who feels unfulfilled and is neglected by her husband, and Mr. Duffy, a bank cashier who leads a solitary and meticulously orderly life, develop a deep friendship. Then events take a wrong turn and a few years later, during a solitary dinner "as he was about to put a morsel of corned beef and cabbage into his mouth his hand stopped." You will learn more about Mr. Duffy's epiphany when you read Ana's post, where you can also get detailed instruction on how to make corned beef and cabbage with beets (St. Patrick's Day being not too fat into the future provides another reason to get acquainted with this recipe).

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Brii of Briiblog in English found inspiration in Fabio Gaggia's Il Mulino dei Padri Camaldolesi (The Mill of the Camaldolese Friars) and prepared a Whole-wheat bread

The book tells the story of a flour mill and of the Monastery of San Giorgio (in Bardolino, Italy) and the Monastic community of Camaldoli. The story of the mill and of its owners starts in the 9th century. The mill continued to work for over a thousand years, until the beginning of WWII, so the story is rich in events and people. "Stories of birth, death, love stories, quarrels, war and peace" at the heart of which there is the flour mill. Brii's post has the recipe for the whole-wheat bread in the photo and the story of how she started to bake bread at home.

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Simona of briciole read Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch and was inspired to make neufchâtel fatto in casa / homemade Neufchâtel, a mold-ripened cheese

Once you've done your stirring and your waiting and your thinking and the time is right, there is a single moment, and I'm not messing with you here, there is one single moment when it all comes together and you realize that your milk is gone and your cheese is on its way.

One of the protagonists of the novel shares nuggets of wisdom about making cheese at the beginning of each chapter. Two young people are expected to fall in love, but they resist. The demands and joys of cheese making as background to a few other stories populated by a lively set of characters. Read Simona's post to get more details about this modern fairy tale and the cheese whose making it inspired.

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My event partner, Lisa of Champaign Taste, read World and Town, the latest novel by Gish Jen and was inspired to prepare Vinegar Peanuts

Hattie Kong, the novel's narrator, is half Chinese and half American. Born and raised in China, she was sent to live with her mother's family in Iowa as a teenager, when her home in China was threatened by war. Now in her late sixties, Hatties befriends a family originally from Cambodia. "This is a big, complex novel filled with fascinating, engaging characters and lots of humor, despite the losses and the tragedies." Lisa's post describes making one of the foods Hattie missed from China.

---

You have not one, but two reasons to go over to Lisa's blog now: to read the details of her submission for the event, and to enjoy her portion of the roundup. Many thanks to all who contributed to our event and to my partner Lisa.

The next edition of our event will be in three months or so: we will announce it on our blogs and social network pages and also on The Food Blog Diary and Is My Blog Burning?, so stay tuned. The Food Blog Diary is the lovely event announcement site created and maintained by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes. Let her know about your event and she will post it on her well-organized site. Thank you, Jacqueline!

In the meantime, read good books (maybe with the next Novel Food in mind), cook good dishes, and otherwise savor life's local and seasonal offerings. Spring is only a few weeks away. Arrivederci!

zuppa di verdure miste

vegetable medley soup (a.k.a. "vegetables you have in the fridge" soup)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Before owning an immersion blender, I rarely made soup. My first attempt at using the food processor to purée a soup ended in a spill of hot liquid that I did not want to encore. Enter the immersion blender, and I now make soup at least once a week. In winter, it's more like twice a week. I have a nice supply of homemade stock, mostly chicken, but also vegetable. I make chicken stock according to Julia Child's recipe every time I roast a chicken and have discarded bones, skin, gizzard, neck, etc., so preparing soup is mostly a matter of deciding what vegetables to use. I am whittling down my stash of winter squashes (zucche) by roasting them and making soup, but then there is my vegetable crisper, which sometimes ends up containing one of this and another one of that and the medley just screams SOUP. So soup it is.

Yesterday's survey yielded a variety of vegetables that by dinner time had become the soup in the photo. The recipe below is an example of variation on a theme, in the sense that, while certain ingredients are fairly fixed (onion, celery, carrot), others depend on what's available. Usually the result of this mix-and-match is really good (though difficult to replicate exactly).

A few days ago, as I was looking for a soup recipe that used kale, I skimmed a recipe on Simply Recipes that put into my mind the idea of roasting vegetables prior to using them to make a soup. Having a bunch of root vegetables seemed like the perfect time to realize such an idea.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di verdure miste

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots (not small)
• a parsnip
• a large leek (porro), white and light green portion (keep the dark green leaves to make vegetable stock)
• a yacon
• a celery root (or half, if it is gigantic like the one I had)
• olive oil
• 6-8 oz cipollini onion or other sweet onion (I used 3/4 of a very large cipollini onion)
• 1 large or 2 small celery ribs (including leaves, if present)
• 1 teaspoon groud cumin (possibly from freshly toasted and ground seeds)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock
• water as needed to bring the soup to desired consistency
• 10 leaves of baby chard (bietola novella)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Wash carefully, peel as needed, and cut into chunks the first five vegetables in the list above (the leek into one-inch slices). Spray with olive oil and toss lightly. Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat and roast for 40 minutes at 375 F, stirring them twice during the baking period.

In the meantime, warm up some olive oil in a soup pot and add onion and celery, chopped. After 3-4 minutes, cover the pot and let the vegetables cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Cut away the stem and a bit of the center rib from the chard leaves and chop them. Slice the leaves into ribbons and set aside.

A word on the onion I used. I got the "cipollini" onion in the photo from my mostly-fruit CSA, Neukom Family Farm. The name "cipollini onion" as applied to the representatives of the category in the photo brings a smile to my Italian face. Cipolline (which turned into "cipollini" in English) means small cipolle, i.e., small onions, while the onions above easily weigh half a pound and often more. Name aside, these onions are excellent in flavor and keep very well, so I am partial to them.

Back to the soup pot: add cumin and paprika to onion and celery, stir, then add the roasted vegetables, chard stems, stock and water to cover everything. Cover, bring to a boil and cook until the vegetables are soft, half an hour, possibly more. Purée with an immersion blender. Add more water, if needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Add the chard ribbons to the soup, and cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

Serve hot by itself or accompanied by cooked hulless barley or another cooked grain you like, or a slice of homemade bread. You can top the soup with freshly grated or crumbled cheese (the one in the photo above is my homemade gouda), chopped toasted walnuts or toasted sliced almonds.

This is my contribution to edition #270 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 Lynne from Cafe Lynnylu.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

zuppa di verdure miste

or launch the zuppa di verdure miste 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.]

[jump to Comments]

Per i lettori italiani

Prima di acquistare il minipimer, raramente preparavo zuppe. Adesso ne faccio una alla settimana, e d'inverno anche due. Ho una scorta di brodo di pollo e anche vegetale. Preparo del brodo di pollo secondo la ricetta di Julia Child ogni volta che faccio il pollo arrosto e che ho gli avanzi (ossa, pelle, collo, ecc.). Quindi poi preparare una zuppa diventa un discorso di scelta delle verdure da utilizzare. Sto pian piano riducendo la mia scorta di zucche che arrostisco e poi trasformo in zuppe, ma c'è anche il cassetto delle verdure del frigorifero che alle volte contiene varie verdure e l'insieme chiede chiaramente di essere trasformato in una zuppa: e zuppa sia.

La ricognizione che ho fatto ieri ha dato come risultato una serie di verdure che entro l'ora di cena sono diventate gli ingredienti della zuppa nella foto. La ricetta è un esempio di variazione sul tema, nel senso che mentre certi ingredienti sono piuttosto fissi (cipolla, sedano, carota), mentre altri dipendono da ciò che ho sotto mano. Di solito il risultato di questo connubio non pianificato è ottimo, anche se difficile da bissare.

Qualche giorno fa, mentre cercavo una ricetta per una zuppa che utilizzasse il cavolo verde, ho dato un'occhiata a questa ricetta su Simply Recipes che mi ha messo in testa l'idea di arrostire le verdure prima di utilizzarle in una zuppa. Avere un po' di radici da cuocere mi è sembrata un'occasione perfetta per mettere in pratica l'idea.

Ingredienti:

• 2 carote (non piccole)
• una pastinaca
• un grosso porro, la parte bianca e verde chiaro (tenete da parte le foglie scure per fare il brodo vegetale)
• un yacón (radice delle Ande peruviane)
• un sedano rapa (o mezzo, se e gigantesco come quello che avevo io)
• olio d'oliva
• 200 g di cipolla, possibilmente dolce
• una costa di sedano o 2 se sono piccole, foglie comprese
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) di cumino in polvere (possibilmente da semi appena tostati e macinati)
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) di paprika affumicata
• mezzo litro di brodo di pollo leggero o vegetale fatto in casa
• acqua quanto ne necessita per portare la zuppa alla consistenza desiderata
• 10 foglie di bietola novella
• sale e pepe nero macinato fresco a piacere

Lavare bene, pelare se necessario e tagliare a pezzi le prime 5 verdure della lista degli ingredienti. Tagliare il porro a fette di 2.5 cm. Spruzzare con olio d'oliva e mescolare, poi distribuire su una lastra da forno coperta con un tappetino di silicone per forno e cuocere a 190 C per 40 minuti. Mescolare le verdure due volte durante la cottura.

Nel frattempo, scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola capiente e aggiungere cipolla e sedano tagliati a pezzettini. Dopo 3-4 minuti, coprire e far cuocere per 8 minuti, mescolando di tanto in tanto per evitare che si attacchino al fondo. Separare le coste dalle foglie di bietola e tagliarle a pezzetti. Tagliare le foglie a strisce e mettere da parte.

Le cipolle nella foto vengono chiamate "cipollini onion," nome che a me suona buffo anche perché le cipolle in questione, di produzione locale, non sono affatto piccole. Nome a parte, queste cipolle sono ottime e si matengono bene, per cui le consumo volentieri.

Tornando alla zuppa: aggiungere cumino e paprika a cipolla e sedano, mescolare e poi aggiungere le verdure tolte dal forno, le coste, il brodo e abbastanza acqua da coprire bene il tutto. Coprire, portare a bollore e cuocere fino a quando le verdure sono morbide, mezzz'ora o più se necessario. Ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer. Aggiungere acqua, se necessario, per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Aggiungere le foglie di bietola e cuocere per altri 5 minuti. Aggiustare sale e pepe a piacere.

Servire ben calda da sola o con orzo mondo cotto o altra granaglia o una fetta di pane fatto in casa. Si può aggiungere del formaggio grattugiato o sbriciolato (quello nella foto in alto e il mio gouda fatto in casa) oppure noci tostate e sminuzzate o mandorle a filetti tostate.

Questo è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 270 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di Briggis recept och ideer, e ospitata questa settimana da Cinzia di Cindystar.

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento e indicazioni sull'edizione corrente.

Novel Food #12: neufchâtel fatto in casa

Novel Food #12: homemade (French) Neufchâtel

If you think cheese is just food, you're an eejit¹, because it is so much more than that. It's poetry. It's passion. It's pathos.

Crisp remarks like the one above introduce each chapter of the novel Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch. The source of wisdom is Joseph Feehan (Fee) who, together with Joseph Corrigan (Corrie), makes cheese at Coolarney House (in Schillies, County Cork, Ireland) using milk from their own cows (including Princess Grace, named after Grace Kelly).

Once you've done your stirring and your waiting and your thinking and the time is right, there is a single moment, and I'm not messing with you here, there is one single moment when it all comes together and you realize that your milk is gone and your cheese is on its way.

Even after two and a half years of making cheese (fare il formaggio), the moment when I realize that milk is gone and cheese is on its way is one of the two best moments of the whole cheese-making experience. The other one being, in due time, the tasting (assaggio):

In that fantastic explosive moment when you realize just how [...] good it is, you know it's all been worth it.

The road from exciting moment #1 to exciting moment #2 is not always short nor straight:

Of course, you don't want to get too full of yourself after that one single moment because there's still a fair bit to be done.

 Including some stumbling about, hoping for the best:

Remember, despite all the rules there really are no rules. Some of the best cheeses in the world have only been discovered by the cheesemaker making a ballyhays² of something else.

But I don't want you to think that musing on making cheese is all there is about the book. Blessed Are the Cheesemakers is a modern fairy tale (fiaba) with a cast of colorful characters that includes, besides the elderly Corrie and Fee, Avis (an energetic woman who oversees the milking operation and the house), the milkmaids (all young, pregnant and vegetarian), Abbey (Corrie's long-lost granddaughter) and Kit (a former New York investment banker).

Abbey has escaped from a South Pacific island and her abusive husband, while Kit has been sent away from New York after losing his wife, his job and his grip on life. They both end up at Coolarney House and once there, they are expected to fall in love, marry and continue the cheese-making tradition. Easier said (by Fee) than done, due to circumstances that have to be dealt with. In the meantime, Abbey and Kit learn to make cheese.

There is a lot more about the story, especially in terms of the threads that connect the various characters and also in terms of surprises (What happened to Corrie's wife? Why does Abbey's mother want her daughter to leave immediately?). There is suspense, humor, and then there is the cheese that is made every day at Coolarney House and that requires daily care while it matures. As the cheese-making process reveals itself to the two apprentices, so do old stories, and when new events rock the boat, our heroes understand what needs to happen in their lives. I can't tell you more, can I?

Actually, there is one thing I can tell you, that I actually must tell you to explain what comes afterwards. Among the cheeses that Corrie and Fee make, there is a special one:

The Coeur de Coolarney was a secret and scarcely used weapon in the battle for love. They made one of the brie-style cheeses every year on the first of June, the day that Corrie's grandfather Joseph Corrigan had decided to propose to Corrie's grandmother Mary Roberts in 1893.

In preparation for the event, Joseph Corrigan crafted a heart-shaped mold and used it to make a mold-ripened cheese that he then shared with Mary after he had proposed to her and had been accepted. (Isn't it interesting that in this sentence, the word "mold" appears twice with two completely different meanings both related to cheese making?)

Reading about the Coeur de Coolarney steered my cheese-making path towards mold-ripened cheeses, a family of cheeses I had not yet tackled. The two most famous members of the family are Brie and Camembert. They ripen from the outside in and are characterize by a white velvety outer layer called "bloomy rind" (which is edible). Mold-ripened cheeses require attention during the draining and maturing process, with daily turning and careful monitoring of their progress.

For my first foray in mold-ripened cheese land, after securing a packet of Penicillum candidum spores, I chose French Neufchâtel cheese, because the recipe in the book 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes called for a relatively short ripening period and also because it is traditionally made into a heart-shaped mold: after all, this all started because of Coeur de Coolarney.

The very first cheese I made two and a half years ago was actually a kind of neufchâtel. In the US, neufchâtel cheese is a soft, fresh unripened cheese. It is a great beginner's cheese, as it takes only a day and a half or so between warming up and culturing the milk and tasting the finished cheese. The traditional French neufchâtel³ is a very old cheese, dating back more than a thousand years. Penicillum candidum is added to the milk when making this cheese, and the curds are drained in molds. After the bloomy rind develops, the cheese is ripened a little longer and then consumed. The adorable trait of this cheese is the traditional use of heart-shaped molds. (The photo above shows the mold shortly after being filled with curds.)

For my trial run, I used only half a gallon of milk and one of my cylindrical molds. Since the result was good, I purchased a heart-shaped mold to make the first official batch. I was so intent on doing a good job that I misread the instructions and added salt to the curds after the first half of the draining process instead of at the very end. It wasn't really a ballyhays², but still I was a bit upset at myself. I immediately made another batch and followed the instructions properly. As a result, I had four neufchâtel cheeses maturing in a container in my fridge: two heart-shaped and two round. Inspired by the Valentine's Day spirit, I added vanilla salt (sale aromatizzato alla vaniglia) to the curds of the second batch. In caring daily for my two pairs of cheeses, I realized I started to develop a close relation with each one of them. If I let this go on for a little longer, I'll soon become a cheese whisperer.

Ah, the satisfaction of cutting a slice of your own cheese and finding it really good! I shared the round Neufchâtel from batch #1 with some guests last Friday: we tasted it with slices of pear buckwheat bread. I cut the round Neufchâtel from batch #2 last Sunday, and it was difficult to stop eating piece after piece of it paired with Finnish rye bread (enriched with flaxseed). For the photo-op above I paired the cheese with a slice of my homemade challah. The result was worth every minute of my time, every moment of worry, every turning of the cheeses, and all the sweet words I whispered to them.

A heart-shaped cheese (formaggio a forma di cuore) is a perfect way to celebrate the love story described in Blessed Are the Cheesemaker. It is not only the love between Abbey and Kit, but also the love of Corrie for his granddaugher, and of the two lifelong friends (Corrie and Fee) for each other. (There are two other couples in the story, but I won't reveal their composition here.) Love makes a difference in the life of all the characters. Love was what was missing in the first marriage of both Abbey and Kit. Love produces good milk and makes good cheese. But love, as good cheese, needs to be nurtured and taken care of, otherwise it spoils.

Many thanks to Cynthia of The Smiling Eggplant for suggesting to me this book. I really enjoyed it, with the joy of a child reading a fairy tale and of an adult enchanted by cheese making. Learning that the author is a New Zealander added to my delight: my visit to her country is one of the best memories of my life. I have a few photos from that trip on this page. (The album may take a bit to load, but if you are patient, you'll see some nice images of a beautiful country and of adorable penguins.)

On the author's web site, there is an excerpt from the book that you may enjoy reading: the episode involves the actual serving of some Coeur de Coolarney ("a secret and scarcely used weapon in the battle for love") to the unsuspecting couple. And on this page, there is an excerpt from chapter one, where you can read about the cheese called Princess Grace.

Here's one last bit of Fee's wisdom:

If you can see the magic in cheese, you can see the magic in everything.

The page note su neufchâtel fatto in casa contains additional information on making this cheese.

¹ A silly person (Dictionary of Hiberno-English [Irish English])
² A mess, a piece of bungling (Dictionary of Hiberno-English [Irish English])
³ Versione italiana delle note sul neufchâtel

This is my contribution to the 12th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I have been co-hosting for some time. It all started from a conversation on the food in the Montalbano's novels, which gave us the idea of marrying literature and food in a blog event.

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

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

neufchâtel fatto in casa

or launch the neufchâtel fatto in casa 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.]

riso rosso bhutanese con bietola novella

Bhutanese red rice with baby Swiss chard

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

This story starts with a plan for risotto with baby Swiss chard (bietola, also called bieta) from my little vegetable garden. That was Plan A and it had to be shelved due to an insufficient amount of Carnaroli rice in the box. Plan B, which entailed the use of Arborio rice, had to be shelved too, for the same reason. Clearly, my pantry (dispensa) inventory tracking system is not working properly.

Plan C started to take the shape of using whole-grain Carnaroli rice, when the small bag of red Bhutanese rice found itself in the trajectory of my hand. I resisted the idea: red Swiss chard would not stand out, color-wise, when cooked with red rice. On the other hand, this red rice is really good. I relented: I would use the red rice, but the dish would still be a risotto with baby Swiss chard.

I have a deep respect for my little chard plants. They withstood several intense storms during the Holidays and put out tender leaves (foglioline, diminutive of foglie, leaves). They are currently enjoying a spell of nice weather (bel tempo), some well-deserved sun after days and nights of rain and wind. Besides red, I also have a few yellow chard plants (the color refers to the chard stalks), but their leaves were not quite ready to be picked, so I kept my original plan to use only red chard for the risotto.

Bhutanese red rice is flavorful and quite nutritious. According to this page, it is the only product exported by Bhutan, a kingdom on the Himalayas. If you go to the page of the importer of the rice¹, you can read:

Bhutanese Red Rice has been grown for thousands of years at 8,000 feet in the fertile soil of the Paro Valley, irrigated with 1,000-year-old glacier water rich in trace minerals... this quick-cooking whole grain is a nutritional and culinary superstar. It will entice you with its complex, nutty, earthy flavor, soft texture and beautiful russet color.

For the original risotto plan I had set aside some freshly made leek vegetable stock. It's a vegetable stock prepared according to the recipe for Quick Vegetable Stock from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison, made with less onion and the roots and dark green leaves of leeks that have been discarded from other cooking projects.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for riso rosso bhutanese con bietola novella

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• a small shallot, minced
• 1 cup Bhutanese red rice
• 1 and 1/2 cup homemade vegetable stock + 1 cup water
• a generous splash of white wine (vino bianco), not cold
• 8-10 leaves of colored baby chard, or a handful of baby spinach leaves (spinaci novelli, see Variation below)
  
• salt, to taste
• freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

Wash the baby chard leaves, cut the stalks  and chop them finely. Bring the diluted stock to a simmer in a saucepan. In another saucepan, warm up half to one tablespoon of olive oil, then add the  shallot. Cook on low for a couple of minutes, then add the chopped chard stalks and continue cooking for several more minutes, until the shallot is translucent. Add the rice and let it toast for one minute, then add the white wine. Let the wine evaporate, while stirring the rice, then add enough broth to cover the rice. Continue to add the simmering broth, a ladleful at a time, letting the rice absorb it. Keep the risotto at a nice simmer and stir it at regular intervals. Make sure the rice is always quite wet. (This rice behaves differently from Carnaroli or Arborio when cooked risotto style.)

After 30 minutes, add the chard leaves, cut into ribbons. Continue cooking until the rice is done (5-7 minutes). Add 1/4 cup of parmigiano reggiano. Stir until the cheese is melted, then let the risotto rest, covered, for a few minutes while you gather the guests around the table. Adjust the salt. Serve with additional parmigiano reggiano on the side.

Variation: you can make this recipe using a handful of baby spinach, left whole, added at the same time as you would add the chard leaves.

The result is a departure from traditional risotto, but a tasty one. You eat something special and you know it. My husband now calls this "my favorite rice."  (I may have generated a monster here.)

This is my contribution to edition #269 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 Janet from Taste Space.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

riso rosso bhutanese con bietola novella

 or launch the riso rosso bhutanese con bietola novella 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.]

¹The link is for information only: it is not an advertisement. I do not have a business relationship with the company referenced.

[jump to Comments]

Per i lettori italiani

Questa storia comincia con lidea di fare un risotto utilizzando bietola dal mio orticello. Purtroppo ho dovuto cambiare tale idea perché mi sono accorta di non avere abbastanza riso carnaroli e neppure arborio. Il mio sistema di controllo delle scorte evidentemente non funziona bene.

L'idea numero 3, cioè utilizzare il carnaroli integrale è stata sovvertita dall'incontro tra la mia mano e il pacchetto di riso rosso bhutanese. Non ero convinta perché riso rosso e bietola con le coste rosse non fanno un buon contrasto di colore. D'altra parte, questo riso rosso è davvero buono. Cosi ho deciso di usarlo cuocendolo come un risotto.

La mia bietola ha resistito al maltempo del mese di Dicembre e ora gode del tepore di alcuni giorni di sole. Ho alcune piantine di bietola gialla (cioè con le coste gialle), oltre a quelle di bietola rossa, ma le foglie erano ancora un po' piccole e quindi ho tagliato solo delle foglie dalle piante di bietola rossa. (So che la bieta rossa si trova anche in Italia, per lo meno a Verona. Qui negli USA, la bietola colorata si chiama col nome generico di "rainbow chard", ovvero "bietola arcobaleno" e viene venduta a mazzi composti da coste di vario colore, come potete vedere in questa foto da un mio post di qualche tempo fa.)

Il riso rosso bhutanese è gustoso e nutriente. Secondo il testo su questa pagina, è l'unico prodotto esportato dal Bhutan, uno stato che si trova sull'Himalaya. Sul sito web dell'azienda che importa il riso rosso, si può leggere (traduzione mia):

Il riso rosso bhutanese è coltivato da migliaia di anni a 2400 metri di altitudine nella Paro Valley e irrigato con acqua di ghiacciaio ricca di minerali... questo riso integrale cuoce rapidamente.

Per fare il risotto avevo messo da parte del brodo vegetale preparato con meno cipolla e foglie e radici di porro scartati da un altro progetto culinario (la ricetta per il brodo vegetale che uso è dal libro  "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" di Deborah Madison).

Ingredienti:

• olio d'oliva
• un piccolo scalogno tagliato finemente
• 200 g di riso rosso bhutanese
• 350 ml di brodo vegetale fatto in casa + 250 ml di acqua
• un generoso spruzzo di vino bianco, non freddo
• 8-10 foglie di bietola novella colorata, o una manciata di spinaci novelli (vedi "Variazione" in basso)
• sale a piacere
  
• parmigiano reggiano grattugiato al momento
  

Lavare la bietola e separare le costine, che taglierete a pezzetti. Portare a ebollizione il brodo vegetale diluito e mantenerlo a leggero bollore. Scaldare un cucchiaio di olio d'oliva e aggiungere uno scalogno piccolo tritato finemente. Cuocere a fuoco basso per un paio di minuti, poi aggiungere le coste tagliate e continuare a cuocere per qualche altro minuto finché lo scalogno è translucido.

Aggiungere il riso e tostare per un minuto, poi aggiungere il vino bianco. Far evaporare il vino mescolando il riso e poi aggiungere abbastanza brodo da coprire il riso. Continuare ad aggiungere il brodo, un mestolo alla volta, lasciando tempo al riso di assorbirlo e mescolando ad intervalli regolari. Mantenere il riso bagnato. (Questo tipo di riso si comporta diversamente da carnaroli o arborio quando è preparato stile risotto.)

Dopo 30 minuti, aggiungere la bieta tagliata a striscioline. Continuare a cuocere fino a che il riso è pronto (5-7 minuti). Aggiungere 3-4 cucchiai di parmigiano reggiano e incorporare nel riso. Far riposare per alcuni minuti. Correggere il sale e servire con parmigiano grattugiato a tavola.

Variazione: al posto della bietola, utilizzare una manciata di foglie di spinaci novelli lasciate intere.

Il risultato è un piatto diverso dal risotto tradizionale, ma molto gustoso.

Questo è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 269 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata e questa settimana anche ospitata da Brii di Briggis recept och ideer.

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento.

legumi che passione! numero 31: il riepilogo

My Legume Love Affair #31: the roundup ¹

I just published the roundup of the 31st edition of MLLA, the famous event created and orchestrated by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook which I had the honor and pleasure to host for the month of January.

The roundup is divided into two parts, to make reading easier. For your reference, here are the two links:

— part one
— part two

A beautiful set of legume-centered dishes awaits you. I am sure that you'll be inspired by the recipes presented. Sandy of Sandhya's Kitchen is hosting My Legume Love Affair #32 and will be happy to receive your contribution(s) to the event. The deadline for submitting of your legume dish is February 28. You can always find out who is hosting on this page.

¹ A note about the title of my post: legumi che passione! is not the literal translation, but my personal rendition of the original My Legume Love Affair.

legumi che passione! numero 31: il riepilogo (seconda parte)

My Legume Love Affair #31: the roundup (part two) ¹

To facilitate reading, I have divided the submissions I have received into two sets. The roundup of My Legume Love Affair #31 started in this post and continues here.

Make yourself comfortable, then follow me on a journey of flavors, colors, traditions and culinary creativity. For each submission, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a one-line description that summarizes it.

If reading about all these great recipes has inspired you and you would like to participate, My Legume Love Affair #32 just started and is hosted by Sandy of Sandhya's Kitchen. The deadline for submitting of your legume dish is February 28. You can always find out who is hosting on this page.

At the end of this portion of the roundup, I reveal the lucky winner of the event prizes.

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Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen prepared also Greek Lentil Soup (known as fakes)
This soup is often eaten during Lent and is typically made with brown lentils and vegetables

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Smitha of Kannada Cuisine prepared Alasande dantu Sapneeru / Spicy broth and braised black eyed peas and red spinach — Sapneeru is a very healthy dish, made with practically any vegetable, any greens and any pulses

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Harini-Jaya of Tamalapaku prepared Choliya/Green Bengal Lentils Curry
A refreshing change from dried beans, these green ones are easy and quick to cook

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Denny of Oh Taste n See prepared Carrot Beetroot Vadai
Verdict: Crispy, crunchy, sweet, yet spicy. Tasty and colorful, perferct for a party.

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Denny of Oh Taste n See prepared also Spinach Scallion Pesarettu
Pesarettu is a traditional Andhra dish. You can make dosas immediately after you grind the batter.

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Ivy of Kopiaste to Greek Hospitality prepared Vegan Black Beans Spanakopita
No eggs or cheese are used for this strifti spanakopita (a roll which is then twisted)

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Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe prepared Aussie bbq tofu with rice noodles and carrot salad
A spice mix for red meat is used to rub tofu and some thoughts about the floods are shared

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Honeybee of HoneybeeCooksJackfruit prepared Mexican Refried Bean Dip 
Make "refritos" (i.e., well cooked) beans and enjoy this dip with homemade avocado salsa

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Ambreen of Simply Sweet 'n Savory prepared Sev ( Fried Gram - flour Noodles )
The dough is pushed through the Sev press directly into the hot oil where it fries into crisp noodles

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Manju of Three Tastes prepared Boston-style Baked Beans (via Tokyo)
Full-flavored, umami-licious and tender baked beans with miso and olive oil instead of pork

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Eftychia of Dream of Cakes prepared Black Eyed Beans cooked in Fresh Tomato Sauce
Called louvia in Cyprus,these beans shine when paired with a simple tomato and celery sauce

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Valerie of More Than Burnt Toast prepared Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Cumin
Chickpeas go exotic with a lemon and cumin dressing and spinach provides a tender bed for them

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Shu Han of Mummy I can cook prepared Chorizo and Chickpeas in Paprika-Tomato Sauce
Fully cured chorizo makes plan A, a stew, turn into plan B, a delicious sauce

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Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes prepared Bulgur & Chickpeas Salad
A very colourful salad, yummy, healthy, filling and prefect to carry to a picnic

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Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes prepared also Sprouted Moth Beans, Beets & Cucumber Salad
Grated fresh beets gives crunchiness to the salad and cooked moth beans taste marvellous

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Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook prepared Shiruko - Japanese Mochi and Azuki Bean Dessert Soup
A sweet slurp of red azuki bean broth decorated with a floating raft of grilled mochi

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Krithi of Krithi's Kitchen prepared Paneer Green Salad with Ginger-lemon dressing
Cubed and marinated paneer contributes proteins makes the salad more interesting

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Bala of A Life Journey Together prepared Bolivian Peanut Soup
A creamy soup without cream that freezes well and is quite filling

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Valerie of City|Life|Eats prepared Spicy Black Bean Dip
Made with black and azuki beans, it is gluten-free, vegan and has no soy, nuts or oil

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notyet100 of Asan Khana prepared Chana Masala - Spiced Chickpeas
Already boiled chickpeas prepared into a simple curry by the husband for his sick wife

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notyet100 of Asan Khana prepared also Missi Roti (to accompany butter chicken)
A simple chicken recipe shines with tasty roti and a colorful spinach and red cabbage salad

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Cinzia of Cindystar prepared Chickpea & Leek Cream Soup with Ginger (and Vanilla)
A hot, creamy soup that will warm you up and even give a sort of embrace to your stomach

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Brii of Briiblog in English prepared Alici in Salad with Chickpeas
Carrots, spinach, fennels, radicchio, chickpeas and anchovies go into the making of this splendid salad

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Jayasri of Samayal Arai - Cooking is divine prepared Black Channa/Black Garbanzo stirfry
A stir-fry with a twist: protein-rich quinoa powder

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Simona of briciole prepared zuppa di fagiolina del Trasimeno / cowpea of Lake Trasimeno soup
Aristocratic fagiolina shines in a soup recipe originally for vegetarian cassoulet

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And now the announcement of the winner of any cookbook or food-related book selected from Amazon U.S. (valued at not more than 15USD for the book itself) and of a Hurst Bean Box (a case of six bags of the winner's choice of Hurst Bean products). I used a random integer generator and the program gave me the number 2. The 2nd name in the list of participants to submit an entry (minus the host, the organizer and previous winners) was Siri of Cooking with Siri. Congratulations to the winner! Susan will contact the lucky winner to arrange the shipment.

Thank you so much to all who participated and made this edition of MLLA a success!

I believe all the submissions I have received are presented in the roundup. However, mishaps are part of life, so if you find anything missing or in need of amendment anywhere in the roundup, please do let me know.

¹ A note about the title of my post: legumi che passione! is not the literal translation, but my personal rendition of the original My Legume Love Affair.