briciole

lassi alla fragola

strawberry lassi

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

strawberry lassi made with kefir

Having a steady supply of homemade kefir means being able to experiment with it on the spur of the moment. My husband likes Indian food and when he eats at an Indian restaurant, he always orders a mango lassi, so it was not difficult to choose that fruit flavor for my first try at using kefir to make the beverage. But then, of course, I had to invent something different.

You may remember from last year (and if you don't, I'll remind you right now) that I tried roasting strawberries (fragole) flavored with balsamic vinegar, then explored a couple of ways of using them, namely gelato and frittata. To be totally honest, the first time I prepared strawberry lassi, I used fresh strawberries and the verdict was: not enough strawberry flavor. So then, the idea of using roasted strawberries formed itself.

roasted strawberries

Strawberries are available at the Temescal Farmers' Market, in Oakland, one of the places where I shop, so it was easy to go from thought to action and the result was greeted with warm approval. Hence, this has now become a standard item on the breakfast menu at our house.

it was good!

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for lassi alla fragola

Ingredients for two portions (porzioni):

• 8 oz. [225 g] organic or pesticide-free strawberries
• 1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (aceto balsamico) of good quality
• 1/2 teaspoon ultra-fine sugar
• 2 cups [475 ml] plain kefir, possibly homemade
• agave nectar or honey, to taste (the quantity depending on the sweetness of the strawberries and your personal preference)

Wash strawberries and carve out stem. Place in a bowl, sprinkle balsamic vinegar and sugar, and toss gently. Heat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat that is wider and longer than the sheet, so no juice can escape from any side. Place strawberries on the sheet on a single layer. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Let strawberries cool completely. They will juice while baking, so when moving them to the blender in the next step, scoop up the juice as well.

Put half the strawberries and juice into the blender, add 1 cup of kefir and a bit of agave nectar. Add a bit more kefir, if you wish, depending on your personal taste in terms of flavor and texture. Blend, taste and adjust sweetener. Pour into a tall glass and serve. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries and the other cup of kefir, or make one portion and store the strawberries for later use.

This is my contribution to edition #329 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 Simona of briciole (a.k.a., me).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

lassi alla fragola

or launch the lassi alla fragola 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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kefir, strawberry

Per i lettori italiani

lassi alla fragola fatto col kefir

Avere a disposizione kefir fatto in casa vuol dire poter fare esperimenti non pianificati. A mio marito piace la cucina indiana e quando mangia in un ristorante indiano da bere ordina sempre un lassi al mango. Il lassi è una bevanda preparata con yogurt che può essere sia dolce che salata. La prima volta che ho provato a fare il lassi usando il mo kefir sono andata sul sicuro e ho usato del mango. Ma poi, naturalmente, ho voluto inventare qualcosa di diverso.

Forse vi ricorderete (altrimenti ve lo rammento io adesso) che l'anno scorso ho provato a cuocere al forno le fragole aromatizzate con aceto balsamico e poi le ho usate per fare il gelato e la frittata. In tutta onestà, la prima volta che ho provato a fare il lassi alla fragola ho usato fragole fresche e il verdetto è stato: insufficiente sapore di fragola. E allora mi è venuto in mente di provare ad usare le fragole arrosto.

fragole arrosto

Le fragole le trovo al Temescal Farmers' Market, ad Oakland (la stagione delle fragole in California è molto lunga, grazie al clima), quindi mi è stato facile passare ai fatti. Il risultato è stato ben accolto e quindi il lassi alla fragola è entrato a far parte del menu della colazione a casa nostra (mio marito, da buon americano, necessita di una colazione sostanziosa).

che buono che era!

Ingredienti per due porzioni:

• 225 g fragole bio
• 1/4 cucchiaino aceto balsamico di buona qualità
• 1/2 cucchiaino di zucchero finissimo
• 475 ml kefir bianco, possibilmente fatto in casa
• nettare di agave o miele a piacere (la quantità dipende dalla dolcezza delle fragole e dal gusto personale)

Lavare le fragole e privarle del picciolo. Mettere le fragole in una ciotola e spruzzare aceto balsamico e aggiungere zucchero. Mescolare bene con delicatezza. Scaldare il forno a 175 C. Foderare una lastra da forno con un tappetino di silicone che sia più lungo e più largo, in modo che il succo prodotto durante la cottura in forno non finisca sotto il tappetino. Disporre le fragole sulla lastra. Mettere in forno e cuocere per 30 minuti. (La temperatura in gradi Fahrenheit che uso io, 350, è un po' al di sopra di 175 C e un po' al di sotto di 180 C. Ho deciso di specificare la temperatura più bassa poiché preferisco essere cauta. Potete lasciare le fragole in forno qualche minuto in più, ma fate attenzione che il succo non bruci.) Lasciar raffreddare le fragole.

Trasferire metà delle fragole e del succo che producono durante la cottura nel frullatore, aggiungere metà del kefir e un tocco di nettare di agave o miele. Aggiungere un poco di kefir, a seconda del gusto per quanto riguarda sapore e consistenza. Frullare, assaggiare e, se necessario, aggiungere del nettare di agave o miele. Versare la bevanda in un bicchiere e servire. Ripetere il procedimento con l'altra metà delle fragole e del kefir, oppure preparare una porzione sola e conservare le fragole per usarle più avanti.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 329 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Simona di briciole (cioè me).

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

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

bere il tè a casa

drinking tea at home

In a recent post, I talked about my habits as far as making and drinking coffee at home. My day however, always starts with two cups of tea. This is a ritual that I follow no matter where I am, including Italy. It was in fact during my recent trip there that I bought the cute mesh tea ball in the photos.

Until a few weeks ago, my morning tea came in a mug, but then I received as a gift a tumbler that — it was advertised — would not melt or otherwise be damaged by hot water, and would protect both the furniture and the temperature of my tea. I have been using my tumbler for my tea daily since I got it and I am really enjoying it.

I never put a saucer under the tumbler. I used two small plates for the photos because I wanted to play with their reflections. And honestly, I could not take a photo of the tumbler in its normal environment, i.e., my desk, because it's rather cluttered.

If you are wondering about the tea in the tumbler, I'll satisfy your curiosity without delay: it's the ChocolaTea blend by SerendipiTea. I also drink their lovely Colonille.

Many thanks to the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program and Tervis for the tumbler.

This is my submission to week #21 edition of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. Savoring the weekly gallery is highly recommended: it's a very special mid-week treat.

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

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

FTC discosure: as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with Tervis, I received a tumbler at no charge. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for mentioning the product on my blog.

tea

bere un caffè a casa

drinking a coffee at home

Things are pretty simple in our house when it comes to coffee preparation: I have my moka pot and my husband his espresso machine. We have no need to contemplate other ways of making coffee (fare il caffè).

In the very early days of my blog, I wrote a few posts about Italian words related to drinking espresso, a sort of survival manual for Americans visiting Italy:

• un caffè
• variazioni sul tema: un caffè
• bere un caffè al bar

The coffee in the photo above is a homemade version of caffè americano, thus defined in my earlier post:

the shot of espresso is served in a cappuccino cup together with a small pitcher of hot water so the customer has control on the level of dilution.

I usually order a cappuccino when I visit a coffee bar in Italy, but that is a story for another day (soon, as I have a couple of recent adventures to share).

When I moved to the East Bay 18 years or so ago, I was introduced to Peet's. In the years, I have visited many Peet's stores, both in the East Bay and in San Francisco. For example, Peet's in Lafayette or Orinda is where I usually get together with two dear friends. And the original Peet's on Vine Street (Berkeley) is next door to my hairdresser, in the so-called gourmet ghetto, close to the restaurant Chez Panisse and the Cheeseboard. We are talking about important historical places here. 

So, when the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program offered me to taste two new Peet's coffees, I readily signed up. I didn't know then that I had another sentimental reason for doing so. The two medium-roasted coffees are called Café Domingo and Café Solano. When I looked them up on the company website, I discovered that they are named after two of the Peet's stores in Berkeley: one on Domingo Avenue and the other on Solano Avenue. The store on Domingo Avenue is very close to our East Bay residence and I have ordered a cappuccino there many times (served in a ceramic cup), then sat with it on the outdoor bench that you see in the photo on the web page. And I have been several times to the store on Solano Avenue (a famous East Bay thoroughfare split between Berkeley and Albany).

I usually don't drink coffee at the end of a meal: my one-cup stovetop coffee pot gets used twice a day, mid-morning and early afternoon. For the top photo, I prepared coffee using Café Domingo in my moka pot, poured it in my pink cappuccino cup and then added hot water to make a caffè americano. A slice of panettone seemed like a good partner for the coffee and you can imagine the photo to portray your afternoon break or your dessert time around the Holidays (panettone being an Italian traditional Christmas cake).

Some time ago, I used a gift certificate to purchase a little gadget that makes hot milk foamy and in the photo above, you can see a homemade cappuccino that once again uses coffee made with my stovetop coffee pot. It has not become part of my coffee ritual at home, but it's nice to have it handy, should withdrawal symptoms manifest themselves, which can happen more easily after I come back from Italy and from a frequent consumption of the real thing. I drink cappuccino rigorously by itself and not after a meal.

The coffee I received was already ground. The default grinding in the US is for drip coffee and is too coarse for either the stovetop coffee pot or the espresso machine, so before using it, I briefly ran the coffee in the coffee grinder until it was of the desired fineness. 

I will end this post with a quote from my article on how I make coffee at home:

At the end, preparing coffee is a ritual, and mine (rooted in early life experiences) is just as good as yours and my husband’s. His old La Pavoni workhorse hisses furiously to let him know it is ready, and in response he maneuvers the handle to direct the steam through the basket containing the freshly ground coffee... I still reach for my little moka, smiling at its familiar look and feel. Life’s good, it tells me: Here’s your coffee.

Many thanks to the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program and Peet's for offering me the opportunity to taste the new coffees.

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

bere un caffè a casa

or launch the bere un caffè a 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.]

FTC discosure: as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with Peet's, I received two 12 oz. bags of Peet's new medium roast coffees — Café Domingo and Café Solano — at no charge. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for mentioning the product on my blog.

coffee

infuso di tè e zenzero

infusion of tea and ginger

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

In the previous post, I mentioned that from our recent visit to the Big Island I brought back some locally grown organic ginger. Until I moved to the US, zenzero for me was only an ingredient used in the pan di zenzero (gingerbread) featured in fairy tales (favole). My horizon has since expanded, yet ginger maintains an aura of exoticism. According to this informative page

Ginger, the underground stem, or rhizome, of the plant Zingiber officinale has been used as a medicine in Asian, Indian, and Arabic herbal traditions since ancient times. In China, for example, ginger has been used to aid digestion and treat stomach upset, diarrhea, and nausea for more than 2,000 years.

I like tea and since coming back from our trip I have been treating myself to a delicious infusion of tea and ginger. I have some nice Indian tea (a gift from my dear friend Christine) that pairs well with ginger. I bring water to a boil and pour it into the cup (tazza) where the tea infuser is, as usual, but where there are also 2-3 thin slices of ginger, freshly cut. I don't peel the ginger, but clean it well with a vegetable brush before slicing it (remember that it is organic — bio in Italian, short for da coltivazione biologica). I let the ginger infuse longer than the tea (basically, I leave it in the cup after I remove the tea infuser). I like the resulting flavor, which is pleasantly gingery. I have also tried the combination with some oolong tea and again the result was quite nice.

Besides providing me with gustatory pleasure, drinking my infuso di tè e zenzero has helped me overcome some digestive disturbances that have affected me recently.

This is my contribution to edition #219 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 yours truly.

This post presents the roundup of the event.

Hear me pronounce the words on the infuso di tè e zenzero audio file [mp3] or go to the infuso di tè e zenzero audio page for more listening options.

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Per i lettori italiani.

Nel post precedente ho raccontato di aver riportato a casa dal nostro recente viaggio nella Big Island (isola di Hawaii) dello zenzero bio coltivato localmente. Prima che mi trasferissi in California, per me lo zenzero era solo un ingrediente usato per fare il pan di zenzero delle favole. Da allora, i miei orizzonti si sono allargati, ma lo zenzero mantiene un non so che di esotico. Secondo quanto riportato su questa pagina ricca di informazioni (in inglese, traduzione mia)

Lo zenzero, il rizoma della pianta Zingiber officinale, è usato fin dall'antichità nelle tradizioni medicinali asiatica, indiana e araba. In Cina, per esempio, lo zenzero è usato da oltre 2000 anni per il trattamento di disturbi di stomaco, diarrea e nausea.

Il tè mi piace molto e da quando siamo tornati a casa dal recente viaggio mi concedo spesso un delizioso infuso di tè e zenzero. Ho del buon tè indiano (regalatomi dalla mia amica Christine) che si sposa bene con lo zenzero. Porto ad ebollizione l'acqua e la verso nella tazza dove c'è l'infusore del tè, come al solito, ma dove ci sono anche 2-3 fettine di zenzero appena tagliate. Non sbuccio lo zenzero, ma prima di tagliarlo lo pulisco bene con uno spazzolino per verdure (ricordatevi che è bio). Lascio infondere lo zenzero più a lungo del tè (in pratica, lo lascio nella tazza dopo che ho rimosso l'infusore con il tè). La bevanda che ottendo mi piace molto: ha un sapore piacevolmente "zenzeroso" (parola inventata in questo momento). Ho anche provato l'accoppiata con tè oolong e anche in questo caso il risultato è stato di mio gradimento.

A parte il piacere gustativo, bere il mio infuso di tè e zenzero mi ha aiutato a trattare dei disturbi digestivi che ho avuto di recente.

variazioni sul tema 'un latte'

variations on the theme un latte

If you want to make sure you are not served a glass of cold milk, these are a couple of words you can add to your basic order of un latte:

• caldo: steams the milk so it is hot and frothy
• macchiato: steams the milk and adds a shot of espresso
• caffelatte: warms up the milk, so it is hot but not frothy, and adds coffee. This is what I had for breakfast as a child. I would never order it in a coffee shop: it would be embarrassing.

Hear me pronounce the words on the variazioni sul tema 'un latte' audio file [mp3] or go to the variazioni sul tema 'un latte' audio page for more listening options.

variazioni sul tema 'un caffè'

variations on the theme un caffè

Forget about large and red-eye and all the other specifications that have currency in American coffee shops. These are some words you can add to your basic order of un caffè to obtain slight variations:

• ristretto: concentrates the espresso so the cup is no more than half-full and the flavor more intense
• doppio: double-shot
• lungo: adds a small amount of hot water so the cup is almost full
• macchiato: adds a small amount of hot milk; a small pitcher with cold milk is usually available on the counter and customers are free to help themselves
• corretto: adds a small amount of liqueur, which needs to be specified (e.g. corretto col cognac)
• con panna: adds a dollop of whipped cream on top
• freddo: iced
• al vetro: served in a glass cup; I have heard this expression in Rome, where it is actually pronounced ar vetro
• americano: adds more hot water than in the case of lungo; the shot of espresso is served in a cappuccino cup together with a small pitcher of hot water so the customer has control on the level of dilution. The request for an americano usually elicits an expression of sadness in the face of the barista, who has to witness the debasement of his/her creation.

Hear me pronounce the words on the variazioni sul tema 'un caffè' audio file [mp3] or go to the variazioni sul tema 'un caffè' audio page for more listening options.

un caffè

1. an espresso
Ordering un caffè results in the delivery of a single-shot of espresso with a layer of froth on the top, served in a small cup.

The reason you drink it is not to quench your thirst, but to sip an intensely-flavored nectar that leaves behind a wonderful aftertaste.

2. a coffee
Most Italians do not have an espresso machine at home: they use a stovetop coffee pot called moka. In 1933 Alfonso Bialetti revolutionized home coffee-brewing in Italy with the introduction of the Moka Express aluminum stovetop brewer. This simple, reliable machine became a design icon of the 20th century and even today the Moka Express can be found in nearly 90% of Italian households. (Source: Bialetti website: company history)

caffè

coffee

Italians roast the best coffee in the world.
People who like French roast should send their taste buds to rehab in Italy. 

latte

milk

In Italy, if you order un latte, you may get a glass of cold whole milk straight out of the carton.

To avoid misunderstandings, it is better to clarify your order: see variazioni sul tema 'un latte'.