briciole

kefir fatto in casa

homemade kefir

mango lassi made with kefir

A couple of months ago, I made kefir using this culture. The process was straightforward and in about 24 hours, we could taste it. I ended up making fresh cheese with it: I will described that in an upcoming this post.

While my first adventure with kefir was unfolding, Jeri, who writes the blog of the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company, published a three-part summary of information received by readers of their newsletter: 1. ordering kefir grains; 2. growing kefir grains; 3. using kefir grains.

In the first post, I learned more about kefir grains (grani di kefir) and the difference between them and the culture I had used. The cultures have probiotics in them, but "nowhere near as many as in the living grains." Probiotics are defined as living organisms, which upon ingestion in certain numbers, exert health benefits beyond inherent basic nutrition.

Kefir is a unique cultured dairy product due to combined lactic acid and alcoholic fermentation of lactose in milk. Kefir is produced by microbial activity of “kefir grains” which have a relatively stable and specific balance of lactic acid bacteria and yeast. [source]

I decided I needed to get some first-hand experience of the interesting-looking kefir grains. At the same time (and I guess this was all part of a grand scheme), Claudia of Honey from Rock wrote about her adventures with kefir. Shortly afterwards, I spent a few days on the Big Island and visited Claudia

Among the many goodies that Claudia gave us (I already mentioned one in this post), there was a small bag with some kefir grains in a milk bath. They did fine on the trip back and as soon as I got back home, I started my first batch of kefir.

Basically, it does not get easier than this. You still need to be careful about sanitizing the tools you are using, but really, making kefir at home is a breeze: you only need a glass jar, a strainer and a spoon or something similar to move the kefir grains. I sterilize the glass jar in the oven and the lid with boiling water. When the jar has cooled, I strain the kefir grains (from the previous batch of kefir or from the milk in which they were resting in the fridge).

The photo above is from a while ago. Most recently, instead of straining the kefir grains, I spoon them out, taking advantage of the fact that they tend to be at the surface of the jar of ready kefir. I then strain the content of the jar to separate small grains left behind. I have not read this anywhere: I feel like this way I stress the grains less. In any case, when straining kefir grains, be gentle.

Add milk of choice to the jar (I use pasteurized organic milk straight from the bottle) and then the strained kefir grains, cover the jar (leaving the lid just a bit loose to allow the CO₂ produced to escape), then set it aside in a warm, dark place (or wrap it in a kitchen towel). The kefir grains will take it from there and deliver kefir within a certain number of hours. It takes me 24 hours to get kefir, sometimes a bit longer, depending on the temperature. Once strained, I store kefir in the fridge and let it ripen for a day or two before using it.

Rather than go into the details of the set up, which is described in details in a number of places on the web — like this page and also this page, the one most people reference — I have summarized in a diagram the ways in which I have used kefir in its natural or drained state (arrows pointing down from "kefir"). The arrow pointing up from kefir grains means that I reculture milk with the grains strained out of the previous barch. I don't make kefir continuously. When I don't need more kefir than I have, I place the grains in a jar, cover them with milk and put them in the fridge for a few days. Since the grains grow while also making kefir, you may want to find a friend who wants to try and give her/him the extra grains that you get.

I have already shown one of the ways in which I use kefir in this post, where it substitutes sour cream topping for soup. The mango lassi in the top photo was made with

• chopped ripe mango
  
• kefir
  
• a bit of agave nectar as sweetener (the quantity depending on the sweetness of the mango and your personal preference).
  

And the beautiful scones below were made using kefir instead of buttermilk (latticello).

curry pumpkin and ginger scones

If you go to Honey from Rock and enter "kefir" in the Search field, you get the list of posts where Claudia talks about her adventures. The idea is that once you have kefir, you come up with various ways to use it. That is, at least, what happened to me.

Due to the claimed health benefits of kefir which include reduction of lactose intolerance symptoms, stimulation of the immune system, lowering cholesterol, and antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic properties, kefir has become an important functional dairy food and consequently, research on kefir has increased in the past decade. [source]

There are indeed a number of scientific papers describing research that looked more closely at the composition of kefir grains and at various effects of kefir administration to mice and rats. There are studies on specific health effects of kefir consumption in humans. For example, in this one on people with lactose maldigestion, kefir improved lactose digestion and tolerance. In other areas, results have been mixed (as this article summarizes): I hope larger studies will be conducted. In the meantime, I will continue enjoying making and using kefir at home.

Exciting update (May 26, 2012): my kefir story is featured in today's post on the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company blog.

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

kefir fatto in casa

or launch the kefir 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.]

kefir

Novel Food #15: the finale

Welcome to the roundup of the 15th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007. 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 lovely set of readables and edibles. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. For each contribution, I will offer a small bite to whet your appetite for more: follow the link to read the details of the inspiring work of literature and of the inspired recipe. I hope that by the time you reach the end of this post, you will have a nice reading and cooking list to be used in the near future.

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Ruhama of rumahama presents Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins,
which inspired her to parepare Chicken Tiki Masala

Jasmine leaves behind "the comfort of knowing who she is" to spend a summer with her family in the country of her mother. She also leaves behind a business and her love. She resists the challenge of the new environment, but not its food.

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Jo of Not An Everyday Circumstance read  At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson and prepared Chocolate Wafers then used them to make an Icebox Cake

"In each chapter, the reader is taken through each room of the house and regaled with its evolution and history of use, the various materials and inventions that adorn them, and the colorful characters that invented them."

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Rachel of The Crispy Cook read  Frankie's Place: A Love Story by Jim Sterba
and prepared Vanessa's Beans (or Frankie's 'n Beans)

Reading the book, "makes you feel like you are visiting friends at their summer camp on Maine's Mount Desert island." It is "an atmospheric account" of the author's "courtship of, marriage to and many felicitous summers spent with fellow author Frances "Frankie" FitzGerald."

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Deb of Kahakai Kitchen was inspired by the modern Gothic novel The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson to bake Warm Lavender Almond Cakes

"A curl-up-in-a-comfy-chair-on-a-stormy-night kind of story, and a lovely escape to the south of France. If you enjoy Provence, beautifully descriptive writing, Gothic tales and ghost stories, and/or have a sense of mystery, you will like this book."

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Brii of briggishome read Leonard Walsh a San Vigilio by Claire Sargint
and baked special cookies connected to the inn of the book: San Vigilini

The book tells the story of Leonard Walsh and the Locanda San Vigilio of which he was host for 50 years. It "also gives a romantic and fascinating glimpse of the life in Garda during the same time. There are photos, newspaper clips and letters received by Leonard from the more or less famous people that came to visit the Locanda during all those years."

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Paz of The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz read The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri (one of the Montalbano novels) and made Trapanese Pesto

"Inspector Montalbano is good at his job of solving crimes that come his way in Sicily. In addition to the way he does his job, I like the way he enjoys his food. He doesn’t mind company when eating, however, he prefers silence during the meal, so that he can concentrate on it."

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Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, was inspired by The Silence of the Sea by Jean Bruller 
to prepare a steaming bowl of Café au Lait

"An impassioned and compassionate study of the mandate of French resistance played out in a provincial village with only three main characters: von Ebrennac, an idealistic and naive Wehrmacht officer billeted in the home of an elderly man and his niece, whose names remain hidden from the reader."

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Ana of Sweet Almond Tree read The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje and prepared three Sri Lankan dishes: Sri Lankan aromatic rice, Vegetable curry with cashews and Tropical salad

The novel is about an 11-year-old boy, “green as he could be about the world,” on a sea voyage in the early 1950s. "If the captain's table is the place to sit on a sea voyage, then Ondaatje's cat's table is just the opposite: one of the least privileged dining assignments aboard the cruise ship Oronsay."

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Ambika of Ambika's Kitchen was inspired by the story The Luncheon by Somerset Maugham
to prepare Barley and Vegetable Skillet Salad with asparagus

In the story, the protagonist learns that the advice "never eat more than one thing for luncheon" is subject to personal intepretation. Her guest's interpretation costs him a whole month's savings.

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Libby of Libbysbookblog contributed three posts

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and Waves of the Danube Cake

"The novel is about is an actual book: the Sarajevo Haggadah. A Haggadah is a book that everyone uses to follow along and read from during the seder, the Jewish ceremony held during Passover." While in Vienna, the protagonist tastes "is served coffee and Waves of the Danube Cake."

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo and Matelote

"This classic French fish chowder is not as well known as Bouillabaisse, but it is wonderful--often known as the fisherman's coq au vin. Coming from an inland region of France, it traditionally uses eel or other fresh fish--and either red or white wine."

Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway and "Islands in the Stream" cocktail

"Try to find coconut water that has 'pulp.' The pulp is little cubes of young, soft coconut... Hudson says that the angostura should make the drink look "rusty." So, you need three good 'glugs,' I think."

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Inspired by North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, Simona of briciole
prepared Coconut and mango friands

In the novel, Gaskell takes a close look at labor tensions in Milton, a (fictional) industrial city in the north of England... The two protagonists, John and Margaret are on a collision course every time they meet. Still, their relationship evolves towards the satisfying novel's final scene.

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Simona of briciole was also inspired by Mark Twain's perspective on Venice in Innocents Abroad  to bake some unusual zaletti (cornmeal cakes)

"And sure enough, afloat on the placid sea a league away, lay a great city, with its towers and domes and steeples drowsing in a golden mist of sunset."

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My special "thank you!" goes to the event's participants. The next edition of Novel Food will be in the summer: I will announce it here and on The Food Blog Diary, so stay tuned. The Food Blog Diary is the lovely event announcement site created and maintained by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes. Visit the site to read about current events and 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 foods, and otherwise savor life's local and seasonal offerings.

Arrivederci!

Novel Food #15: zaletti (gialletti dell'Artusi I)

Artusi's cornmeal cakes (I)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

It was a long, long ride. But toward evening, as we sat silent and hardly conscious of where we were -- subdued into that meditative calm that comes so surely after a conversational storm -- some one shouted --

"VENICE!"

And sure enough, afloat on the placid sea a league away, lay a great city, with its towers and domes and steeples drowsing in a golden mist of sunset.

Thus ends chapter 21 of Innocents Abroad (1869), Mark Twain's account of his 1867 trip to Europe and the Holy Land. "The book began as a series of travel letters written mainly for the Alta California, a San Francisco paper." In chapters 22 and 23, we see Twain exploring Venice, meditating on its present and past, and enjoying his gondola rides.

Twain approached Venice the same way I have done many times, by train. My most recent visit, however, started differently. After landing at Venice airport, I took a boat that slowly crossed the lagoon north of the city, stopping briefly in Murano on its way, and giving passengers ample time to admire the setting sun embracing the city in warm colors.

As soon as I dropped my suitcase in my lodging, I went out again. At night, Venice acquires a contemplative mood and it is easier to connect with it when the tourists have magically disappeared. Twain also discovered the magic of Venice by night:

In the glare of day, there is little poetry about Venice... But in the moonlight, her fourteen centuries of greatness fling their glories about her, and once more is she the princeliest among the nations of the earth.

I respectfully disagree with Twain's first statement, though. It may be more difficult to find the poetry of the city under glaring light and surrounded by many people, but it is possible: just step outside the fixed itineraries, go roaming around and chances are you'll find interesting and quieter corners. When I visit Venice, I usually have a rough plan of action, but mostly I let chance encounters set the agenda. I make use of the waterways very rarely, preferring to find lose my way around on foot.

Twain, on the other hand, enjoyed going around on a gondola and was fascinated by it.

The Venetian gondola is as free and graceful, in its gliding movement, as a serpent. It is twenty or thirty feet long, and is narrow and deep, like a canoe; its sharp bow and stern sweep upward from the water like the horns of a crescent with the abruptness of the curve slightly modified.

The stern of the boat is decked over and the gondolier stands there. He uses a single oar--a long blade, of course, for he stands nearly erect. A wooden peg, a foot and a half high, with two slight crooks or curves in one side of it and one in the other, projects above the starboard gunwale. Against that peg the gondolier takes a purchase with his oar, changing it at intervals to the other side of the peg or dropping it into another of the crooks, as the steering of the craft may demand -- and how in the world he can back and fill, shoot straight ahead, or flirt suddenly around a corner, and make the oar stay in those insignificant notches, is a problem to me and a never diminishing matter of interest. I am afraid I study the gondolier's marvelous skill more than I do the sculptured palaces we glide among.

forcola

The "wooden peg" is called forcola: each one is a work of art, crafted to fit the individual gondoliere and hence unique, one of the approximately 280 pieces that make a gondola.

During my last visit, I arranged my plans so that I spent three nights in Venice and since I was staying in a quiet corte off Riva degli Schiavoni, every evening I walked along the wide and relatively uncrowded Riva, took in the view across to San Giorgio Maggiore, reached St. Mark's Square, passed by the Caffè Florian then crossed towards the Caffè Quadri on the other side, then retraced my steps via a different, quieter, and darker route.

And at midnight... we have lonely stretches of glittering water --of stately buildings--of blotting shadows--of weird stone faces creeping into the moonlight--of deserted bridges--of motionless boats at anchor. And over all broods that mysterious stillness, that stealthy quiet, that befits so well this old dreaming Venice.

In the windows of pastry shops in Venice, you can see zaletti, their elongated shape dusted with powdered sugar, raisins peeking out here and there with a promise of more once you take a bite. (I don't have a photo, but you can see a nice one in this post by Kathy of Food Lover's Odyssey.) Twain does not mention any food in the chapters about Venice, so I don't know if he ate any zaletti (or zaeti). These baked goods are also known as gialletti: the name reportedly refers to the yellow color (giallo) given to them by the cornmeal (farina di mais) with which they are made. My memory of zaletti is very vague, hence totally unreliable as a base for working in the kitchen, so I looked around for recipes: they are all rich in butter and sugar and I wanted something simpler.

I then checked Artusi's cookbook Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (1891) and there I found two recipes for gialletti, the first of which uses yeast. I decided to explore this path further. None of the modern recipes I read uses yeast, relying instead on baking powder as leavening agent. However, an article on cookaround (in Italian) mentions a cookbook older than Artusi's and the recipe for zalletti alla veneziana (Venetian-style) in it uses leaven and no sugar. The book is called La nuova cucina economica and was authored by Vincenzo Agnoletti. The first edition dates to 1803 and the second, titled La nuovissima cucina economica, to 1814. At the end of my search, I felt good about my determination to make zaletti with yeast according to Artusi's recipe. I am planning to follow Agnoletti's recipe, which differs from Artusi's in several ways, for the next phase of my exploration of zaletti.

Artusi's recipe is fairly detailed but it does not provide pieces of information like the amount of water and the time for leavening and baking. I also decided to experiment using all cornmeal (from my CSA share, hence locally grown and freshly milled) and then substituting part of it with corn flour, which is more finely milled than cornmeal. The gialletti made with only cornmeal are a bit more rustic. My husband favored them, while I had a slight preference for the ones with also corn flour. The original recipe calls for half butter and half lard. I have some homemade lard, so I used a bit of it. Overall, I halved the quantities given by Artusi and obtained eight gialletti.

Ingredients:

• 50 g / 1 3/4 oz. all-purpose flour [as usual, I used King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour], divided into two
• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml of water at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 150 g / 5 1/4 oz. cornmeal [or 50 g / 1 3/4 oz. cornmeal and 100 g / 3 1/2 oz. corn flour]
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons / 90 ml of hot water
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar [I used ultra-fine sugar]
• 1 oz. / 2 tablespoons / 30 g butter, softened [once I used 1/3 lard and 2/3 butter] (see Note at the end)
• a pinch of salt
• 50 g / 1 3/4 oz. raisins

In a small bowl, mix half of the wheat flour, the yeast and the water at room temperature. Let it ferment until bubbly. I did it for 45 minutes. In the meantime, in another bowl mix the cornmeal, the remaining wheat flour, the sugar, and salt. Pour the hot water in the bowl, add the butter and mix well.

Add the pre-ferment to the flour mixture and knead to combine well. Add a bit of water, as needed, to make a dough that is easy to knead. Finally, add the raisins and knead a while longer to incorporate them.

Cut the dough into eight pieces and give them oblong shapes (see photo below). Place on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. With the back of a knife blade, make a grid on the top of each gialletto. Cover with a cloth and let leaven in a warm place (I did it for 1 1/2 hour). They will rise a bit, but not a lot, given the flour mix.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Bake the gialletti for 15 minutes or so (I baked them for 16 minutes). Transfer to a rack to cool.

I enjoyed eating Artusi's gialletti with some of my homemade cheese and they also pair well with chocolate. My husband likes them au naturel.

Note: you can find the English version of the recipe in the translation of Artusi's book that I have referenced in the past. The translation shows "50 g (about 1 ounce)" of butter. Based on the original and the conversion value, 50 appears to be a typo: it should be 30. Also, the translation directs you to make a pre-ferment with half the cornmeal and the yeast. The original uses half of the wheat flour.

This is my second contribution to the 15th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I have started some time ago.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

This is also my submission for the third installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. C come Chioggia is hosted by Marta of Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare. Chioggia is a town south of Venice and in our tour it represents the region Veneto.

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

zaletti (gialletti dell'Artusi I)

or launch the zaletti (gialletti dell'Artusi I) 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]

cornmeal, raisins, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

Al termine del capitolo 21 de Gli innocenti all'estero (1869), l'autore, Mark Twain, arriva a Venezia nell'ambito di un viaggio in Europa e Terra Santa compiuto nel 1867. Nei due capitoli successivi, vediamo Twain esplorare Venezia, meditare sul passato e presente della città e godersi i giri in gondola.

Twain arriva a Venezia in treno, come ho fatto anch'io tante volte. Ma per la mia visita più recente sono arrivata in aereo e dall'aeroporto mi sono goduta la lenta traversata della laguna al tramonto. Appena arrivata al mio alloggio, ho lasciato la valigia e sono uscita a fare una passeggiata per Venezia di notte. Anche Twain è affascinato dalla città in versione notturna.

Quando visito Venezia ho una vaga idea di quello che voglio visitare ma per la maggior parte del tempo lascio che sia il caso a dirigere il mio cammino. Raramente uso i trasporti sull'acqua, preferendo girovagare e perdermi a piedi.

Twain, invece si muove in gondola ed è affascinato dai movimenti del gondoliere tanto da confessare di prestare più attenzione a studiare la maestria del gondoliere che ad ammirare i palazzi. (I passaggi ai quali mi riferisco sono riportati in originale nella versione inglese del post. Perdonate l'assenza della versione italiana: non ho trovato una traduzione di Twain online e a farla io non mi sento qualificata.)

forcola

Durante la mia visita recente, durata purtroppo solo un giorno, ho focalizzato la mia attenzione e la mia macchina fotografica sulla forcola. L'ispirazione mi è venuta dall'essermi trovata di fronte ad un laboratorio di remèr. Ho imparato che ogni forcola è fatta a misura del gondoliere ed è un pezzo unico nonche un'opera d'arte. Se osservate una gondola parcheggiata, potete notare che c'è un foro rettangolare dove va posizionata la forcola. Quando la gondola è a riposo, la forcola viene rimossa sia perché essendo sporgente può essere urtata e sia perché è un pezzo prezioso e non viene lasciato incustodito. Questo me lo ha spiegato un gondoliere.

Nelle vetrine di forni e pasticcerie a Venezia, tra i vari dolci in mostra, ci sono gli zaletti, dalla forma allungata e la superficie imbiancata di zucchero a velo dal quale fanno capolino acini di uvetta. (Non ho una foto ma ne potete vedere una in questo post di Kathy del blog Food Lover's Odyssey.) Twain non parla di quello che ha mangiato a Venezia quindi non so se ha assaggiato degli zaletti (o zaeti). Chiamati anche gialletti, il nome pare si riferisca al colore giallo dorato che viene loro dalla farina di mais con cui sono fatti. La mia memoria di zaletti è vaga e inaffidabile come base per prepararli e quindi ho guardato in giro alla ricerca di ricette. Quelle che ho trovato sono ricche di burro e io volevo qualcosa di semplice.

Mi sono quindi rivolta all'Artusi, nel cui libro ci sono due ricette per gialletti la prima delle quali usa il lievito di birra. Ho deciso di esplorare questa alternativa. Le ricette moderne usano tutte il lievito chimico. Un articolo su cookaround menziona un libro di cucina che precede quello di Artusi e la ricetta per zalletti alla veneziana che esso contine utilizza pasta lievitata e non contiene zucchero. Il libro si intitola La nuova cucina economica ed è opera di Vincenzo Agnoletti. La prima edizione risale al 1803 e la seconda, intitolata La nuovissima cucina economica, al 1814. Al termine della mia ricerca, sono soddisfatta della mia determinazione a preparare gli zaletti con il lievito naturale. Ho intenzione di provare a seguire la ricetta di Agnoletti, che è diversa da quella dell'Artusi, per la prossima fase della mia esplorazione degli zaletti.

La ricetta dell'Artusi (che riporto in fondo al post) è piuttosto dettagliata, ma non fornisce informazioni quali la quantità di acqua e il tempo di lievitazione e cottura. Le prime due volte ho usato tutta la farina di mais tipo fioretto che ottengo come parte della mia cassettina di granaglie (e che quindi è macinata fresca), mentre la terza volta ho sostituito una parte con della farina di mais macinata più fina (fumetto). I gialletti fatti solo con il fioretto sono un tantino più rustici e mio marito li preferisce. Io invece ho una leggera preferenza per quelli fatti anche con farina più fine. La ricetta originale usa metà strutto e metà burro. Io ho dello strutto che ho fatto e quindi ne ho usato un pochino. In totale, ho dimezzato le quantità date dall'Artusi e ho oattenuto così otto gialletti.

Ingredienti:

• 50 g farina di grano (medio-forte, dal momento che useremo il lievito secco o di birra)
• 30 ml acqua a temperatura ambiente (o tiepida)
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) lievito secco istantaneo [Artusi userebbe 10 g di lievito di birra]
• 150 g farina di mais tipo fioretto [o 50 g di fioretto e 100 g di farina di mais fumetto]
• 90 ml acqua bollente
• 1/2 cucchiaio (7.5 ml) zucchero fine
• 30 g burro morbido [o 10 g strutto e 20 g burro]
• un pizico di sale
• 50 g uvetta

In una tazza, mescolare metà della farina di grano, il lievito e l'acqua a temperatura ambiente. Lasciar fermentare fino a quando si vedono bolicine in superficie. Per me, 45 minuti. Nel frattempo, in una ciotola, mescolare la farina di mais, il resto della farina di grano, zucchero e sale. Versarci sopra l'acqua bollente e mescolare bene.

Aggiungere la pasta fermentata e impastare bene. Aggiungere poca acqua, se necessario, per ottenere un impasto che si lavora bene. Aggiungere l'uvetta e impastare fino a quando sia ben distribuita.

Tagliare l'impasto in otto pezzetti e formare dei fusi / mandorle (vedi foto in basso). Adagiarli su una lastra da forno coperta con tappetino di silicone per forno o carta da forno. Con la parte dietro di una lama di coltello, incidete una griglia sulla superficie. Coprire con un canovaccio e lasciar lievitare in luogo caldo (per me, un'ora e mezzo). I gialletti lieviteranno leggermente, ma non in modo spettacolare, dato il mix di farine.

Scaldare il forno a 175 C. Cuocere i gialletti per 15-16 minuti (Artusi dice che devono rimanere morbidi). Trasferire su una griglia e lasciar intiepidire.

I gialletti dell'Artusi accompagnano bene il mio formaggio fatto in casa e anche il cioccolato. A mio marito piacciono al naturale.

Questo è il mio secondo contributo alla 15ima edizione di Novel Food, l'evento culinario/letterario che Lisa di Champaign Taste ed io abbiamo creato qualche tempo fa.

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento.

Questo è il mio contributo all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. C come Chioggia è ospitata da Marta di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare

Questo post contiene la lista dei contributi: che buon menu!

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592. GIALLETTI I

Signore mamme, trastullate i vostri bambini con questi gialletti; ma avvertite di non assaggiarli se non volete sentirli piangere pel caso molto probabile che a loro ne tocchi la minor parte.

Farina di granturco, grammi 300.
Detta di grano, grammi 100.
Zibibbo, grammi 100.
Zucchero, grammi 50.
Burro, grammi 30.
Lardo, grammi 30.
Lievito di birra, grammi 20.
Un pizzico di sale.

Con la metà della farina di grano e col lievito di birra, intrisi con acqua tiepida, formate un panino e ponetelo a lievitare. Frattanto impastate con acqua calda le due farine mescolate insieme con tutti gl'ingredienti suddetti, eccetto l'uva. Aggiungete al pastone il panino quando sarà lievitato, lavoratelo alquanto e per ultimo uniteci l'uva. Dividetelo in quindici o sedici parti formandone tanti panini in forma di spola, e con la costola di un coltello incidete sulla superficie d'ognuno un graticolato a mandorla. Poneteli a lievitare in luogo tiepido, poi cuoceteli al forno o al forno da campagna a moderato calore onde restino teneri.

Novel Food #15: tortine al cocco e mango

coconut and mango friands

"Oh, mamma, that shows you never saw Mr. Thornton. He looks like a person who would enjoy battling with every adverse thing he could meet with — enemies, winds, or circumstances. The more it rains and blows, the more certain we are to have him. But I'll go and help Dixon. I'm getting to be a famous clear-starcher. And he won't want any amusement beyond talking to papa. [...] You know I never saw him but once, and then we were so puzzled to know what to say to each other that we did not get on particularly well."

"I don't know that you would ever like him, or think him agreeable, Margaret. He is not a lady's man."

Margaret wreathed her throat in a scornful curve.

"I don't particularly admire ladies' men, papa. But Mr. Thornton comes here as your friend — as one who has appreciated you" —

"The only person in Milton," said Mrs. Hale.

"So we will give him a welcome, and some cocoa-nut cakes. Dixon will be flattered if we ask her to make some; and I will undertake to iron your caps, mamma."

By the time I read this passage in Chapter 9 (Dressing for Tea) of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South, I had already seen the BBC movie and so I knew how the story would progress.

Since we don't watch TV and don't really follow TV-related news, I choose DVDs based on interest. My husband and I like period drama and the BBC productions are usually very good. We had already seen Wives and Daughters and Cranford adapted from Gaskell's novels, so North and South was a natural choice. Little I knew how much I would like the movie and then enjoy the book as well. I also didn't know that the movie was such a great success.

In this novel, Gaskell takes a close look at labor tensions in Milton, a (fictional) industrial city in the north of England. John Thornton, the male protagonist, is the owner of a mill. Margaret Hale is the daughter of a clergyman who leaves the Church of England and moves the family from rural Helstone, in the south of England, to Milton. Every time John and Margaret meet, they collide. The way their relationship evolves is quite interesting.

Two other characters that are important in the book and got amazing performances in the movie are Mrs. Thornton, John's mother, and Higgins, the mill worker whose daughter is befriended by Margaret.The scene where John proposes to Margaret reminded me a bit of that of Mr. Darcy proposing to Elizabeth Bennett. North and South is very different from Pride and Prejudice and yet there are some subtle links, as pride and prejudice play a role in both novels.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing scenes from the movie, but if you have not seen it, I would recommend you watch it from the beginning and enjoy each of the episodes. And yes, there are differences between the book and the movie, because they are different media. For example, while the book can follow Margaret analysis of her feelings and of her tormented conscience (she has lied to a constable and Mr. Thornton knows, but she cannot reveal to him the reason why she did it) the movie has to show this. This is a story in which people change due to events and also other people's influence. For example, Higgins ends up establishing a relationship with Mr. Thornton, who becomes his employer after being the enemy during the workers' strike. In the movie this relationship is nicely portrayed.

The final scene in both the novel and the movie is heart melting. They two scenes are different in setting but they show the same event: both Margaret and John come to acknowledge their feelings for each other. All right, I will go so far as to admit that North and South has turned me into a great fan of Richard Armitage. (Watch the movie and you'll agree with me.)

Going back to the excerpt which opens the post: As Margaret explains, she and Mr. Thornton have met once before and the meeting was not particularly successful. Right after the scene in the Hale's house, in the same chapter, we see Mr. Thornton getting ready for the visit. Her mother warns him against Miss Hale: she casts her as the poor girl looking for a rich husband.

"Mother" (with a short scornful laugh), "you will make me confess. The only time I saw Miss Hale, she treated me with a haughty civility which had a strong flavour of contempt in it. She held herself aloof from me as if she had been a queen, and I her humble, unwashed vassal. Be easy, mother."

"No! I am not easy, nor content either. What business had she, a renegade clergyman's daughter, to turn up her nose at you! I would dress for none of them — a saucy set! if I were you."

Mrs. Thornton is an important character and in fact the book ends with a reference to her, no less.

What kind of coconut cakes did Dixon, Mrs. Hale's faithful maid, prepare for Mr. Thornton? I am not sure and decided not to worry too much, and focus rather on what I would make for Mr. Thornton. I imagined small, dainty cakes, something light and appropriate to eat with tea. I then remembered seeing something interesting in Haalo's blog Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once: an Australian sweet treat called friand. Haalo says:

The history of Friands is a little sketchy as they almost appear to have come from nowhere but they have won our hearts. They seem to be based on a French cake called Financier.

Haalo's recipe for Mango friands was a favorite among the ones she has presented. In it, coconut is included as flour. I also liked a slightly different version, where the friands are baked in mini-pans. I have those molds and rarely use them. In the end, I took element from both recipes, added a personal touch and came out with my version of friands for Mr. Thornton. I have never tasted a friand, so I am not sure how mine compares to what is served in Australia. Maybe I should visit again and find out. (We were there many years ago and I have fond memories of our trip, especially of our stay in Tasmania.)

coconut and mango friand

The full batch would make six cakes, but for our small household, I halved the quantities and this "reduced" recipe is what I give below. 

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons [36 g] ultra-fine sugar
• 1/4 cup [33 g]  all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup [22 g] (desiccated) shredded coconut [I actually used a mix of coconut flour and shredded coconut and weighed the ingredients]
• 2 tablespoons [15 g] almond meal
• 2 egg whites at room temperature
  
• 2 oz [56 g] butter, melted and cooled a bit
• 1 cheek of fresh mango, finely diced
• 2 dried apricots (albicocche), finely diced

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Grease three mini loaf tins (4 x 2 1/4 inch) and set aside. Alternatively, line the bottom and short sides using a strip of parchment paper and grease the long sides of each tin. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy/soft peak. Pour melted butter into dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add half the mango pieces and stir to combine. Add a portion of the egg whites and fold gently, then add the rest and fold as well.

Spoon the batter into the tins. Distribute mango and apricot pieces on the surface. Put in the oven and bake 20-25 minutes or until the tops are light golden. Apply the toothpick test to make sure the friands are cooked. Remove from the oven and cool in tins for a few minutes. Gently take the cakes out of the tins and cool on a wire rack.

nice texture

As usual, my efforts did not produce something elegant, but the friands were nice and they were much appreciated by Mr. Thornton my husband.

This is my contribution to the 15th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I have started some time ago.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

tortine al cocco e mango

or launch the tortine al cocco e mango 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.]

coconut, mango, dessert

minestra d'orzo

barley soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

barley soup

The second region we are visiting as part of the Italian tour recently started in Valle d'Aosta, is Trentino Alto-Adige. This time, I cannot rely on personal memories to say something, because I have been to Trentino Alto-Adige only once, many years ago and have no photos to share.

I am also not knowledgeable about the cuisine of this region beyond a dish I described twice on the blog (here and here): canederli, or knödel, which are gnocchi made with pane raffermo (bread that is a day or two old). I therefore consulted the tome La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy for enlightenment and inspiration. There, I found two recipes for barley soup, one from Trentino and one from Alto-Adige. I have hull-less barley (which is whole grain) from my grain CSA and my husband likes it a lot, so it was an easy choice. My rendition takes some ingredients from the recipes to make a rather minimalist soup. The result was nice and considering that I used ingredients I normally have available (for example, the herbs grow in my little garden), this is a soup that can be easily made whenever I feel like.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup hull-less barley, rinsed well [the original recipes use pearl barley]
• 2 cups (homemade) chicken broth, or vegetarian option
• 3 cups water, or as needed
• olive oil
  
• 1/2 large onion (6 oz. / 170 g), finely chopped
• 1 celery ribbed, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 potato, peeled and diced small (optional, see below)
• 1 small sprig rosemary (2 inches long)
• 1 sage leaf (salvia)
• 1 small sprig of fresh marjoram (maggiorana)
• sea salt and freshly milled pepper, to taste
• 1 cup cooked canario or white beans
• 1 tablespoon minced parsley (optional, see below)
• freshly grated Montasio (or other hard cheese of choice), to taste

Warm up a skillet over medium heat. Toast the barley in the skillet, shaking the skillet or stirring the barley with a wooden spoon to prevent it from getting scorched. After a short while, the popping starts. Keep shaking the skillet or stirring the barley until the popping subsides (not all the groats will pop).

Pour broth, water and barley in a soup pot. Bring to a boil and cook, covered, for half an hour. In the meantime, warm up an oiled skillet and place onion, celery and carrot in it. Cook on medium-low for about ten minutes. Empty skilled into the pot and add the three aromatic herbs, plus the potato, if using. Add water, if needed to obtain a soup of the desired consistency. Bring back to a boil and cook, covered, for half an hour or until barley and vegetables are soft. Remove sage leaf and the two sprigs. Add beans and parsley (if using) and cook for another couple of minutes until the beans are heated. Serve hot with grated cheese sprinkled on each bowl.

The recipes in the cookbook include potatoes, but I decided to forgo them and instead I enriched the soup with beans I had just cooked. You can certainly use both. The recipes also include parsley, which I decided to use, but adding it at the end. I then forgot all about it until after I had taken the photo. I added it to the soup still in the pot.

After having a bowl for lunch, my husband asked for another bowl for dinner. However, I didn't try to take a photo in artificial light, so the soup in the photo above is the parsley-less version. Both are excellent.

Addendum. The question regarding hulled barkey from tigerfish (see comment) prompted me to add the following notes, which first appeared in the post on fava bean and barley soup.

Hulless (or hull-less) barley is a type of barley in which the tough inedible outer hull adheres losely to the kernel, so that when this barley is harvested, the outer hull usually falls off. Because hulless barley requires minimal cleaning, most of the brand and endosperm is left intact and the germ is present.

Hulled barley is barley that has been minimally processed to remove only the tough inedible outer hull.

Either type of barley is whole grain (integrale) and therefore a healthy choice.

This is my submission for the second installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. B come Bolzano is hosted by Brii of briggishome.

And I am sending this hearty soup to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

minestra d'orzo

or launch the minestra d'orzo 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]

soup, barley, beans, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

minestra d'orzo

La seconda regione che visitiamo nel giro d'Italia che abbiamo cominciato in Valle d'Aosta è il Trentino Alto-Adige. Stavolta non ho ne' foto ne' memorie da condividere: sono stata solo una volta in Trentino e non ho visto praticamente nulla. Insomma, ci devo tornare. Sono stata anche allo Stelvio a sciare un'estate di molti anni fa, ma siamo saliti dal versante lombardo.

Sono anche piuttosto ignorante per quanto riguarda la cucina di tale regione, al di la dei canederli, or knödel, dei quali ho parlato in precedenza (qui e qui). Pertanto, per il mio contributo all'evento, ho consultato il librone La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy (versione per il pubblico americano delle ricette che si trovano sul sito dell'Accademia italiana della cucina) per trovare ispirazione. Nel libro ho trovato due ricette per la minestra d'orzo una del Trentino e una dell'Alto-Adige. La scelta è stata immediata, dal momento che ho dell'orzo mondo che ottengo come parte della mia cassettina dei cereali e a mio marito piace molto. Questo tipo di orzo, a differenza di quello perlato, è integrale.

Per la mia versione di questo piatto ho preso diversi ingredienti dalle due ricette e ho preparato una minestra piuttosto minimalista. Il risultato è buono e considerando che gli ingredienti che ho usato sono di solito a mia disposizione (per esempio, le erbe crescono nel mio orticello), questa è una minestra che posso facilmente rifare quando voglio.

Ingredienti:

• 100 g orzo integrale (orzo mondo), sciacquato con cura [originale: orzo perlato]
• 500 ml di brodo di pollo o vegetale fatto in casa (se possibile)
• 700 ml acqua, o quanto necessario or as needed
• olio d'oliva
• mezza cipolla grossa (170 g) tagliata a pezzi piccoli
• una costa di sedano tagliata a pezzi piccoli
• una carota tagliata a pezzi piuttosto piccoli
• una patata pelata e tagliata a dadini (facoltativa, vedi sotto)
• un rametto di rosmarino (5 cm)
• una foglia di salvia
• un rametto di maggiorana
• sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco
• 250 ml di fagioli cotti (per es., cannellini)
• un cucchiaio di prezzemolo tritato (facoltativo, vedi sotto)
• Montasio grattugiato fresco (o altro formaggio a scelta), a piacere

Scaldare una padella su fuoco medio e versarci l'orzo. Scuotere la padella o muovere l'orzo con un cucchiaio di legno per evitare che i chicchi brucino. Dopo un po', col calore i chicchi cominceranno a scoppiettare. Continuare a muovere la padella o l'orzo fino a quando lo scoppiettio diminuisce (non tutti i chicchi fanno "pop").

Versare brodo, acqua e orzo in una pentola da minestra. Portare a bollore e cuocere, coperta, per mezz'ora. Nel frattempo, scaldare una padella con un po' d'olio e aggiungere cipolla, sedano e carota. Cuocere a fuoco medio-basso per circa 10 minuti. Versare il contenuto della padella nella pentola e aggiungere le tre erbe aromatiche e la patata, se utilizzata. Aggiungere acqua, se necessario, per ottenere una minestra della consistenza desiderata. Riportare a bollore e cuocere, coperta, per mezz'ora o fino a quando orzo e verdure sono morbidi. Togliere la salvia e i due rametti. Aggiungere fagioli e prezzemolo (se utilizzato) e cuocere per un paio di minuti fino a quando i fagioli siano ben caldi. Servire la minestra molto calda cosparsa di formaggio grattugiato.

Entrambe le ricette originali comprendono le patate, ma io ho deciso di non metterle e invece ho arricchito la minestra con dei fagioli canario che avevo appena cotto. Se volete, potete certamente usare sia i fagioli che le patate. Le ricette utilizzano anche il prezzemolo, che io avevo in programma di aggiungere all fine, poi me ne sono dimenticata fino a dopo aver scattato la foto quindi l'ho aggiunto alla minestra che era ancora nella pentola.

Dopo averne mangiato una porzione a pranzo, mio marito ne ha chiesta un'altra a cena, ma non ho provato a fare una foto con la luce artificiale, quindi la foto in alto è della versone senza prezzemolo. Sono buone entrambe.

Questo è il mio contributo all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. B come Bolzano è ospitata da Brii di briggishome.

Questo post contiene la lista dei contributi e uno slide show gustosissimo.

una pasta veloce per cena numero 254: il riepilogo

Presto Pasta Nights #254: the roundup

It's Friday and therefore it's time to share the pasta dishes that I have received in my inbox throughout the week — links and photos, of course, though I certainly wish someone could figure out a way to receive actual tasting samples.

 Without further ado, here is the roundup of edition #254 of Presto Pasta Nights, the popular event created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. For each contribution, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a short quote or brief description — a teaser that invites you to follow the link to read the relevant post.

---

Abby of eat the right stuff prepared pizzoccheri (traditional buckwheat pasta from Valtellina)
With spinach, potatoes and cheese, "the resulting dish is rich, creamy but with surprisingly delicate layers of flavour."

---

Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe shares with us Cheesy Cauliflower and Bean Pasta
A quick weeknight dish inspired by a cauliflower asking for attention turns out "surprisingly good" and it gets recorded on the blog.

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tigerfish of Teczcape - An Escape to Food presents Seaweed Sweet Corn Miso Udon Noodle Soup
"The big NO NO in miso soup: DO NOT BOIL miso as boiling alters the fresh miso flavor, and destroys beneficial enzymes and microorganisms."

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Tandy of Lavender and Lime shares with us Red tomato and capsicum pasta sauce
"With no pasta and no potatoes 5 days a week, each pasta dish has to be something special. I can promise, this one is."

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Francy of Burro e Zucchero prepared Risotto with arugula and walnut pesto
"A super fast recipe (you can prepare the pesto in advance, as I did!)... I have cooked, photographed, eaten it and back to work in 45 minutes (my lunch break)."

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Alisha of Cook. Craft. Enjoy. presents Quick Tortellini Alfredo
"This recipe was almost one of desparation... I grabbed a package of frozen tortellini and this dish was born. The most amazing thing about it?  It was delicious."

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Ruth of Once Upon a Feast prepared Sweet & Spicy Butternut Squash & Chorizo Pasta
    A little butternut squash goes a long way. Combined with cured chorizo sausage and woody cremini mushrooms it makes a great pasta dish.

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Heather of Girlichef shares with us Chicken Spaghetti
A dish of comfort food from a book reviewed inspires a rendition with ingredients at hand and the family is pleased with the result.

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Ruth of Makey-Cackey prepared "Carbonara"
"Intrigued how far the dairy free substitution can be taken... I turned my attention to Carbonara. And the results were surprisingly good!"

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Simona of briciole (your host for this week) presents frittata di pasta
"This is not so much a recipe as a recycling approach. The frittata is a bit different every time, depending on the base pasta and possible additions, usually cheese."

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And that concludes my roundup, which will be added to all the previous Presto Pasta Nights roundups and continue the lovely tradition started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

As you read this, edition #255 is already under way, hosted by Alisha of Cook. Craft. Enjoy.. To participate, send your entries to desertmemories (at) hotmail (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by Thursday March 16.

Many thanks to all who contributed to produce an interesting collection of pasta dishes for this edition of Presto Pasta Nights. 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.

Arrivederci a presto

superficie

surface

One of the cheeses I have made this year is this pretty canestrato, for which I followed Jim Wallace's recipe. Jim's post describes the cheese, whose name comes from canestro (basket), and includes a number of nice photos. Not having a canestro, I used a ricotta basket to mold the cheese. My rendition looked really pretty at this stage.

The cheese is about half way through its aging period (stagionatura): I will cut it in a couple of months and then share the result of the tasting.

Black and White Wednesday is on hold while Susan takes some time off to focus on her health. Following on the footsteps of Brii and Haalo, I am publishing a black and white photo post on Wednesday as a special well-wishing card for Susan.

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

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

superficie

or launch the superficie 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.]

frittata di pasta

pasta frittata

with pink tagliatelle

My first vacation away from my parents, at age 16, was quite adventurous, food-wise. I spent 10 days or so in the Calabrian city of Rossano, and during that time, I tasted for the first time a whole array of foods that I liked a lot, like caciocavallo silano and swordfish. One day, my host prepared a frittata with leftover spaghetti. It sounds pretty basic, but I had never had anything like that before. My mother always weighed pasta before cooking it, so we never had leftover spaghetti or rigatoni. If we had leftover tagliatelle al ragù, she would warm them up in an oiled frying pan: the result is quite good, just not a frittata.

Unlike my mother, I often turn leftover pasta into a frittata. This is not so much a recipe as a recycling approach. The frittata is a bit different every time, depending on the base pasta and possible additions, usually cheese. I adjust the number of eggs and pan size to the amount of pasta at hand and choose among the cheeses I have available the one that I think pairs better with the pasta.

The spaghetti frittata I tasted many years ago was made with pasta that had been set aside for the purpose right after draining (scondita, i.e., not yet dressed). In my examples here, the leftover pasta had some dressing (condita):

• pasta made with roasted red beets turns a lovely pink color: while farfalle are pretty, they take time to make, so more often I cut the dough into tagliatelle and dress them with burro e parmigiano
• pasta made with borage, on the other hand, turns into a speckled green; if I have some of my homemade ricotta, I use that to dress these tagliatelle, otherwise, good old burro e parmigiano is always a winner
• pasta al pesto (recently featured) appears regularly in my kitchen and leftovers make a tasty frittata

with borage tagliatelle

The cheese on the pink tagliatelle frittata was my homemade robiola. The cheese on the borage tagliatelle was my homemade French Neufchâtel and over the pesto pasta frittata I sprinkled a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

with fusilli al pesto

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for frittata di pasta

Ingredients:

• leftover pasta
• olive oil
• eggs of good quality (I used pastured eggs); if you have leftover whites, this is a good place to use one or two
• 1 tablespoon of water for each two eggs
• sea salt, to taste
• cheese of choice, thinly sliced or crumbled or grated, depending on consistency

Spray a skillet with olive oil and warm up. Empty leftover pasta container into the pan. Warm up the pasta and lightly sauté it for a couple of minutes, stirring every now and then.

While the pasta is warming up, break the eggs in a bowl and whisk them lightly with a fork until just blended. Add the water, then a few pinches of salt and whisk briefly. If you are using grated cheese, you can add it to the eggs, if you wish; I like to distribute it on the surface, so I hold on to it until later. Turn on the broiler. (If your oven allows it, choose the "low" setting.)

Pour the eggs slowly into the skillet. With the fork, gently arrange the pasta so it is evenly distributed. Cook over low heat until the eggs are set. After the edge is set, run a spatula under it and shake the frittata gently to ensure the bottom does not stick to the pan.

Evenly distribute chosen cheese on the surface. Place the skillet in the oven, leaving the door ajar, for a couple of minutes. The frittata will puff up a bit. Take the skillet out of the oven (don't forget that the handle is hot) and let rest of a couple of minutes, then slide the frittata onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve.

Final note. Rossano is famous for the Codex Purpureus, an amazing VI century illuminated manuscript of the New Testament written on purple-dyed parchment.

This is my contribution to edition #254 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that would be me).

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

frittata di pasta

or launch the frittata di pasta 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.]

frittata, pasta, egg

ciao Lucio

goodbye Lucio

On Friday morning I woke up to the news that singer-songwriter and musician Lucio Dalla had died. I have been trying to find the words to explain how important he was to me and millions of other Italians, but I can't, so I have looked on YouTube for a video to share and decided upon one (uploaded by elbex) from the historical Banana Republic Tour with Francesco De Gregori (remember my Dinner Table book? De Gregori is one of the "potential guests"). The title of the song, Cosa sarà, means What is it? (Lucio Dalla is the one who sings first and the video shows him playing the saxophone, one of his instruments.)

Cosa sarà
questo strano coraggio
o paura che ci prende
e ci porta ad ascoltare
la notte che scende

What is it
this strange courage
of fear that assails us
and makes us listen to
the falling night

Lucio Dalla was born on March 4, 1943 and everybody knew it because it was the title of his first hit. His career spanned four and a half decades and he wrote a large number of songs that are part of us. Tomorrow, March 4, there will be the funeral in his home town of Bologna. This article includes the video of another one of his most popular songs, Caruso.

Ciao Lucio!

Annuncio: una pasta veloce per cena (numero 254)

Announcement: Presto Pasta Nights #254

The fireworks are still lighting the sky over the celebrations for the firth anniversary of Presto Pasta Nights, the popular event created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast, but, since life goes on, I am here to announce edition #254 of the event, which I am hosting this week.

Pasta comes in a myriad shapes and it is so versatile that you can make something as simple as pasta al burro e parmigiano and as complex as a pan of lasagne, every component of it homemade.

Week after week, Presto Pasta Nights captures snapshots of the countless realizations of pasta dishes by food bloggers around the world.

I will be delighted to receive your contribution to this week's edition of Presto Pasta Nights. The rules to participate are detailed on this page. Feel free to let me or Ruth know if you have any questions.

Entries for this week's edition of PPN must be posted during the days covered by it, meaning, from Friday March 2 through Thursday March 8. In your post, include a link to Presto Pasta Nights and also to briciole. You can download the PPN logo to add to your post.

Send your entry to me at simosite AT mac DOT com and cc Ruth at ruth AT 4everykitchen DOT com, specifying PPN #254 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 see a comment on your post, please contact me again by leaving a comment on this announcement.

The deadline for submitting your contribution is Thursday night March 8, 2012. I will post the roundup on Friday.

¹ A note about the title of this post: una pasta veloce per cena is not the literal translation, but my rendition of the original Presto Pasta Nights.